Babies take the cutest, most natural photos

I am sure this is not new to all but babies are the most natural models. Nat knows that she needs to pose and would dance in front of the camera whenever the camera phone is turned on. And she enjoys scrolling through the end result! Guess this is an expected self discovery stage that all babies would undergo but I thought only adults who superficially wishes to look their best would request for a retake. It seems that the concept of vanity seems to develop out of our innate ability to appreciate beauty through everyday behaviours and micmickry of adults since a very tender age!

Appended below are some recent pictures of Natalie.. Look how fast you have grown my dear!

Updates

Felt like months have passed since my last entry!! Definitely been a hectic year end for me both at work and home. Keeping a running list to track the major happenings

• Natalie is growing into a fine lady, she has her usual share of tantrums but still manageable. She is turning 2 next month... and we are keeping fingers crossed that she don't suffer from the 'horrible 2' symptoms!
• New helper 'Mimi' for short, named by Natalie after the first introductory session, is doing well. She is more respectful than the previous helper who thinks she is boss. She is diligent and has a positive attitude towards work and treats Natalie well. Best of all, mum loves this new maid. So all's well back home .. or at least for now.
• Mum has been diagnosed with colon cancer last December. She is now recuperating from surgery. Really got to thank Dr Tay for doing such a wonderful job and keeping her on track. Though she scolded him 'black-hearted' for pressing hard on the side of the intestine which hurts after the surgery, and he stomped off after being scolded. Funny this, but Mum miraculously had a instantaneous recovery. In the end, she gave him a flower basket to thank him. No pain no gain I guess. She has to undergo chemotherapy next but things are certainly looking better. And we are watching her diet real closely, making sure she doesn't take any red meat going forward. She is definitely not too pleased about this. But prevention is always better than cure.
• At work, I have survived the worst peak of my life. Being the only person in-charge of compensation definitely means no room for error and on top of this I had to write the management reports and do up the remuneration paper for executive committee's approval. Tough season, especially when previous boss has left for greener pasture, leaving me 'the newbie' to figure things along the way. So glad the past is now over and I certainly look forward to the 4 months maternity leave by end this year =).
• Little baby in me is doing well despite the stress at work. "Glad you are there as the whole family pulled through the toughest times!"

About BB Oraljel

Nat has developed an ulcer on her lower lip. Cause might be due to hot food or accidental biting during mealtimes. It has been about 4 days since we discovered the ulcer. Am really tempted to place some salt to kill off the bacteria but this would instill quite a bit of pain.. not sure if she could take it. Anyway been googling on other methods and it seems that commercial products do have their side effects. Below is an extract, am keeping it as a reminder..
Active Ingredient

•The active ingredient in Baby Orajel, in any form, is benzocaine. Benzocaine is a commonly used pain reliever, because it numbs nerve endings. Parents need to check what the active ingredient is in any medication they give their children because it is that ingredient that will most likely cause a reaction.

Serious Side Effect of Benzocaine

•Benzocaine has been linked to a condition called methemoglobinemia. This is when there is too much hemoglobin in a person's red blood cells. According to the FDA, this complication tends to only occur when the medication is used incorrectly, either from too large of a dose or if used for a longer period of time than recommended. If the patient gets a gray/blue skin color during use of this medication, it is possible that she has too much hemoglobin in her blood.

Swallowing Medication

•If while using Baby Orajel your baby gets hives, has difficulty breathing or swelling of the face, lips, tongue or throat, call 911, or your local emergency services, immediately. These side effects can be caused if your child is given too much Baby Orajel and swallows some, which could numb his throat.

Other Common Side Effects

•Some side effects from Baby Orajel are not life threatening, such as a mild burning or itching to the area the gel is applied. Some children might get red in the area the gel is applied or white flakes will appear where the gel was applied. These side effects are not overly dangerous, but parents should stop treatment and discuss future use with their doctor before using Baby Orajel again.

The new year

There are good news and not so good news to share..

Good news is i'm pregnant! About 8 weeks now... So edd probably in July/ august. Hopefully my new boss would allow me to take my maternity leave all at one shot. Anyway am gaining weight real fast on this one. But baby seems to hate the smell of steam fish, and beef cooked with butter. Still having morning sickness, but realized a good method around this is to eat before you feel like throwing up, which explains the weight gain. Am feeling super thirsty all the time and had to pee like a zillion times. One doctor to be friend said it's pretty normal as my uterus is expanding. So my body needs loads of water at this stage. But I would need to monitor my diet and not overeat in order not to get gestational diabetes.

The not so good news is.... Maid wants to return home to get married and I've got to retrain the new maid. Had some earlier issues with getting her across before Christmas as agent kept telling me that there are no flights out from serembang. So we had to wait till end next week before she arrives in Singapore and hopefully passes the singapore's foreign domestic helper's assessment. Keeping my fingers crossed on this one as she had failed the test once. Perhaps with the delayed entry, this would give her more time to practice and remember her training. Can't really do without a helper at this Stage. So we really hope she could start work with us soon.

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Ipad updates

I've given nat the iPad in the afternoon and she didn't quite demand for it at night so this kind of worked for me. I've also realized that playing the iPad in the afternoon doesn't seem as fun since she hoas other toys to tend to... So this really seems to be working. Her posture when playing with the iPad has improved from the slight slouch to proper seating at the play bench. I'll test this strategy out again today. Hopefully it's sustainable.

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ipad and nat

The fantastic thing about iPad is the wonderful applications that users are allowed to download. There are so many educational apps to select, and many comes free if you wait long enough or if its the lite version but of course one could always pay or upgrade to a full version if you want instant satisfaction. Nat has a couple of favorite ones and like a savvy iPad user she is able to zap through the applications quickly, flipping the pages with ease after 1 or 2 tries.

However on the flip side it's highly addictive! Last night, I've decided to go cold turkey on her and she cried and cried for half an hour. I couldn't appease her with any other toys. She just wants her iPad! She started with whimpers, trying hard to muffle her cries by using her hand to cover her mouth... I tell you this makes her look so super poor thing that my heart aches as she kept saying 'ipad' between her tears. After 10 mins of whimpering she realized she is not getting her way she decided on performing the full outburst! She cried like she lost her favorite friend! I endured another 20 minutes of this before her daddy came running into the room to find out what's wrong. And you know what.... He gave in immediately to her request! This is what happened:

Nat: pa pa pa pa....
Dad: nat what happened why are you crying?
Nat: no iPad sobs sobs...ma ....sobs....
Dad: so poor thing ...come papa give you some huggies
Dad to mum: why don't you give it to her? We bought the iPad and should maximize it's value right! I don't understand why you must put her through this?
Mum: she is over relying on the iPad and doesn't listen when I say stop. We should just stick to the conventional story books, else she doesn't even wants to read any other books except ebooks.
Dad: you are ridiculous make her suffer like this. I don't understand you. Just give it to her.
Mum: you give it yourself, I told her have ipad no mummy.
Dad: I need to send your mum home...she has been a good girl don't make her cry like this
Mum: you over pampers her!

So I ended up putting her to bed with the iPad that was handed to her by her father.

Hate it when one parent doesn't support the other.

He should not have given in to her tears! And I ended up going against my instructions. All her crying for nothing!

And Chris did not send mum home that night as she wanted to go shopping on her own.

Today I'll let her play with the iPad in the afternoon, a reward for good behavior. So daddy won't have the excuse to say " you never let her play in the day and you never let her play at night. So why buy the iPad? " .... My answer to this has always been.... It's for my blog :) , our entertainment and reward for her goodbehaviour.

Anyway Let's see how long we could endure her cries before the 'filial' father gives in to his princess tonight.



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Her first fight

Perhaps due to the reason that she is the only child and we have given her everything that she asks for. Nat has developed a slight territorial competitiveness when it comes to her toys. We brought her to Ikea and she went all possessive over the children's kitchen cabinet display. She doesn't allow other children to play with her. In fact she would push and pinch and even step on the feet of the older children just to get what she wants. We scolded and chided but somehow she stubbornly continues to not share her new found playthings. It was only until a bigger bully comes along that she decided to give in. Of course this began with a battle...

The boy looks 4 and he was much taller and stronger than nat. He came along with his grandma who couldn't make him listen. He took a fancy to the pots and pans in nat's hands and that's when the snatching started. It was a close call between him and nat who held on to the items with her tiny tight fists. They struggled for a good 5 min with adults on both ends trying to get them to stop. She was persuaded into giving in. And the funny thing was, she turned to me thereafter, touching her tiny chest and said "scared! Scared". I am so amused that she could relate her fears with the right situation and used the most appropriate body language and vocab to describe her feelings! This little girl just never fails to amaze me.




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Lyrics : Higglytown hero

Higglytown heros is one of those 2D animations that both Chris and I kinda enjoys watching with Natalie as it introduces the child to a different profession in each episode. Most importantly it teaches her the concept that each profession deserves recognition for the parts that they play in society as well as the need for respect for individual's contribution so anyone could be a hero in somebody's eyes.

Appended is the lyrics which I've been wanting to write down ....just in case if they get forgotten overtime =)

 

Wayne:"Someone special, who could it be?"

Twinkle:"This job's too big for you and me."

Fran:"We need some help!"

Kip:"But never fear-o...."

Eubie:"It looks like a job.......for a Higglytown Hero!"

All:"A Higglytown Hero!"

(enter the hero that sings the introduction:)

"I'm a Higglytown Hero, brave and true,

I help the town with the things I do

So work real hard, and you will see

That you can be a hero, just like me!

A hero just like me!"

(bulk of song is then sung, tailored specifically to the profession of the character or 'hero', ending in:)

"I'm a Higglytown Hero, bold and good,

I help my friends just like I should"

(characters now all join in together)

"So we'll work real hard, that's what we'll do....

So we can be a hero,

Just like you!

A hero just like you!"

School's out

Now that it's the school break, we'll have to think about other weekend programs for bb. The thing about school is that it gives us a bit of a routine on weekends. Now that it's out, It's a little frustrating as we have to think of other programs to better occupy her time. Popo said we are way too kiasu and that we should give her her own space to play and relax, but I could tell nat is bored with the toys that she plays with every day. So we ended up entertaining her during her waking hours and this is hard work! So tired yet enjoying every minute of it.

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Toilet training

Our Darling daughter is starting to tell us when she wants to do her business both big and small! Amazing! Not hundred percent foolproof yet but I guess this is a really good start from ground zero. Daddy and mummy are so proud of you!

Though we are not expert in this area but thought we,ll share some tips nonetheless.

1. Always put on a large smile, no matter how it stinks or how disgusting it looked.
2. Speak praises and words of encouragement.
3. Be hundred percent present, hold her hands, play or talk with her whilst she is seated on the potty.
4. Ask if she needs to go when you see her squatting or sitting quietly on her own.
5. Ask if she needs to go before bed and first thing in the morning.
6. familiarize yourself with the letting go expression.
7. Reward with kisses after she is cleaned up.
8. Teach her to say poo poo or shh shh as verbalizing definitely makes life easier for you and it is half the battle won.
9. Be vigilant, Watch for signs throughout the day.
10. Be patient, expect lots of pretense and slips.


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Ixoras from Nat

Flower from nat

Oh wanted to jot this down somewhere so I'll remember and reminisce about how sweet my little baby is ..=)

She gave me a bunch of ixoras this morning! She didn't want to let me go to work so grandma brought her to the garden and she returned with a bunch of ixoras =) so love this child of mine !

Saved the pic on my lousy phone will find a way to up load it =)

Spain Part 2

Had to upload the pics from our Spain trip slowly cause the resolutions are way to high and my home Internet speed is way too slow! Not too sure how picasa could speed up the process either.. anyway here are more pics of us enjoying ourselves in Spain.

Just a little bit of history on this famous historic architecture which we've visited...

Sagrada Familia or the Sacred Family is a privately funded catholic church. The proceeds that tourist spends or donates would go into the building of this structure which is taking eons to complete. This was the last work of the renowned catalan artist - Antonio Gaudi (1852 - 1926), who died without seeing the completion of this masterpiece. According to records, the church first began construction in 1988 and it still remain in complete to date. There is still a 3rd dimension which has yet to begin construction. Spanish guides mentioned that the aim of the government is to complete this structure by 2026 to commemorate Gaudi's 100th year death anniversary. By then perhaps we should revisit Barcelona again to see Sagrada in it's full form!

Pics below would give you a glimpse of how difficult it is to build this. The architecture is a combination of both art and science. Take for instance the roof structure. The idiosyncratic intertwinning beams which stretches out like trees with branches that supports the dreamlike roof top is not just aesthetically appealing but functional as well. The branch like roof forms a web concentric pattern that allows amplification of music. Amazing isn't it? Even the materials to be used for the beams and stain glass windows were specially chosen. No wonder it took so long to build =) But the final site is definitely worth the wait.

Anyway more of the interior. We took the spiral stairway leading to the top of the cathedral. Fortunately for us they have constructed the lift by the time we visited so we paid a small token to travel up and make our way down by foot. The scaredy cat me was so afraid of height. To be honest it's not just the height but it feels a little claustrophobic and bits of the stairway were so narrow or without railing that you have to thread real carefully... but this is erm at the tail end of the tower ..pretty close to walking from the fifth storey down. We took forever up in the tower as I had to take loads of scenic photos. The view was simply too magnificent and mesmerising.

BB's not working

I am sooo getting an iphone! This bb of mine is not working properly! Tried so many means and ways to type in a post but it just doesnt work! Cant be the firewall issue since I cant even use it when connected to home network. Think it's a editing thing .. which is too techy for me to resolve. Anyway, my company is organising a iphone purchase roadshow at highly discounted price. Will get a iphone4 so Chris and I could skype and Nat could see her daddy via video calls.

Pics from our spain trip

Destination : Barcelona - Part 1

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

 





Most comfy and artistic seat which I've come across. It literally sinks and take the shape of your butt when sat on.





 

Spainish Village





Barcelona Fiesta









nat at school

Natalie had been super good today! She was participative and interested in the learning delivered by her teachers. She helped lao shi keep the toys as she sang "hei yo hei yo keep your toys!"My little girl has grown and is ready to take on larger responsibilities.

Teacher Eliza brought out a tank of insects and she was not afraid of the crickets at all! Waited in anticipation as the tank of crickets get passed around and she even offered to help Teacher eliza hold the tank! What a brave little girl! Some little ones squealed and squirmed as the teacher handed them the tank. It was fabulous to watch Natalie make the initiation and this was definitely a major milestone as she overcome the fears and cries to start enjoying and participating in the course. Of course pre-preparation of the topics beforehand does play some part in calming the nerves as well.

Attached are pics of her enjoying her snacks (I believe it's her fav part of the day as she savoured her food slowly and insisted on finishing every single piece! )

Trip Pics

Wanted to upload these photos whilst touring but didnt get a chance to as hubby's pc couldnt read the SD card.. Anyway enjoy..