Nestle Rusk (Banana)

As advised by Auntie Annie, Sophie was given her first Nestle Rusk (Banana). I think she is more comfortable with a bigger piece of biscuit (better grip). She was happily chewing at it... dropped one so mama had to eat it too...

Super Saturday...

Morning routine as usual... Sophie's bath, breakfast and playtime before her lunch. However, Saturdays are usually busier for me because I still have to worry about papa's breakfast and lunch. On weekdays, Ah Gong and Ah Mah would come during lunch time so I get a few hours of relief... Fortunately, we still have Naenae to rely on...


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Today, papa's Auntie and Uncle took their grandson, Zhipeng, to Naenae's place for a visit. He is about 1 month older than Sophie. The two little ones had met a couple of time before... they are beginning to 'know' each other.

In the evening, we left Naenae's place for Aranda Country Club for Kayden's first Birthday party. His dad is papa's ex-colleague. Kayden's relatives were trying to matchmake Sophie and him... both have big eyes... haha... I think papa wants all boys to stay clear for the time being! We did not stay too long because Sophie was a little cranky in a room full of people.

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As our car was near Downtown East, we decided to get some grocery at NTUC there. We also grabbed a bite in a restaurant... where Sophie demonstrated her interest in drums... by mimicking my hands... Despite being extremely tired, we had quite a wonderful time...

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Clarke Quay (Pre-Mid-Autumn Festival)

So Mid-Autumn Festival is round the corner and 'tis all about family time, moon cakes and of course, lanterns. Back when I was young, I used to really love this period of time... mainly because I got to play with candles, matches and sparklers... aka FIRE! Ahhhh... fond memories of nearly burning everything in our path... Nowadays, children play with battery operated lanterns... it takes away the fun and sense of 'responsibility' (if we set the fire, we must put it out... in time!).

Okay, enough of nostalgia... tonight, we thought it would be good to check out Clarke Quay. There are some floating lanterns and decorations already put up (officially open on Sunday) and we were really bored.

Actually, despite the family theme... Clarke Quay at night is not a good place for children. All the loud music, drunkards and cigarette smoke almost made us leave immedately. Be brave...

"Sophie... putting up a brave front..."

"... then quickly distracted by bright, red lights..."

We found a spot in between crowds and a lamp post, just enough to see the floating lanterns and a taxi boat passing by... We probably lingered a little while too long as we found it quite stressful to move on.

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Moving on, we walked past the Reverse Bungy Jump and Swing... Sophie loved it when the people screamed and laughed up there. We paused again so that she could watch the whole process... then we continued towards Central Mall...

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By the time we reached Central Mall, the lights in the lanterns went off... hey, it was only 9 plus!!! Very disappointed, I needed something to cheer me up... Hokkaido Ice-cream?! Yeah... we also took the opportunity to visit papa's friend who runs a donut shop there. After that, we moved along again... Sophie was fascinated with the lights... like a moth attracted to bright lights! Some passers-by commented that Sophie was cute... or were the compliments for me?

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"Water" Colour

Last night, papa bought Sophie a "Aqua Doodle". Although it is meant for toddlers, I decided to let her try making hand prints... Of course I must demonstrate to her the "proper" techniques and surely Sophie would learn well... er... no need so much water actually... er... must put your hands on the mat...

So it seemed Sophie liked the water much more than hand printing... Okay, I gave up. I decided to let her play with water instead.

END PRODUCT... this was what Sophie thought of it... hahaha...

Power Puffs

Today, I let Sophie try some banana puff (finger food), hoping that she could somehow end up self-feeding. Okay, I was going to do it step-by-step... we started with tasting the finger food first... I held the tiny piece in my fingers and let her try it. She seemed to be okay with it... so far so good...

Maybe she would be able to pick up a piece and put it in her mouth... so easy, I was sure she learnt it after I taught her to eat it just now... Er...I was quite wrong... Sophie did not really know what to do with them...

Perhaps it would help if I put the pieces in a plate and let her explore... Surely she would eat the banana puffs... after all, she puts everything into her mouth... Again, I was not quite close to reality. She was distracted by the plate and its suction did not work at all... she grabbed the edge of the plate just when I tried to adjust her strap... and spilt everything! Hahahaha.... Luckily my hand blocked her and prevented the plate from hitting her.

I kinda gave up after that... maybe tomorrow I will try again. I had a lot of banana puffs (those that Sophie had spilt) to finish...

Unplanned Night

We were all ready to go... Wait! Call KK first to check if she was at home... fortunately I did. KK is loaning me Joshua's Jumperoo (I think that's how it is spelt...) so I thought we could pick it up tonight. But she could not take it out from the storeroom herself and Stanley is not at home... Hmm... since we were already dressed, we decided to go to Toa Payoh instead. After all, I had a book to pick up from Auntie Gina, who was kind enough to borrow it from the library for me and Sophie. We could also drop by Kiddy Palace and even surprise Naenae before we head for home.

"Mama, hand over your handphone... "

Sophie was sleeping by the time we reached Naenae's place, but still her presence was much appreciated. She eventually woke up and started interacting with Naenae and Uncle Simon. They seemed to hit it off quite well... with her showing off her standing and all. Just when we were about to leave, Ah Boh (Sophie's playmate) came back. So she went through another round of fun... until finally she was too tired and started her twisting, turning and ear-scratching.

So we headed for home, hoping that Sophie would be "guai-guai" in the car. She was actually quite docile ... surprisingly... holding my hand tightly. I kinda like the feeling of her little hands in mine...

Touchy... Munchy

I was beginning to think I have wasted my money buying Sophie those "touchy" books... she was never particularly excited with books, come to think of it... so today, I just gave her one of the books in her play-yard and let her do what she wanted with it. Hah! She was very interested in the gorilla's fluffy chest...and kept stroking it. YES! YES! YES!

I do not like teething biscuit because it creates a mess... yucky... but I read that 'tis time for her to start feeding herself with finger food... To me, I am a little "squirmish" about messy food... so I hesitated. At dinner today, I thought I would give teething biscuit a shot...

Sophie did not really know what to do with it even when I gave it to her. She waited a few seconds, looked at me for approval before giving in to her natural instinct and gnawed at it. Occasionally, she would still glance at me for any sign of disapproval.

Precious Time

Usually, I have to wait for my parents to come before I get to do anything for myself. But nowadays, Sophie allows me to take my shower after her bath in the morning. Actually, she did not really have any choice... on Monday and Tuesday, she took a leak on me straight after her bath so I had to put her down in her rocker and take a shower. Of course, I had to put her somewhere strategically visible and dry... and wave at her every 20-30 seconds. All in all, that takes 10 minutes... feels like an hour though.

I Love Myself...

I think Sophie may be narcisstic... she would often smile, sometimes even giggle or chuckle, when she looks at her own picture. 'Tis the perfect cure if she is moody or upset over something...

Hold On...

Just before we call it a day... Sophie made her way towards her water bottle at the other end of the play-yard. Guessing that she must be thirsty, we removed the cover to feed her some. To our surprise, she grabbed hold of the bottle and brought it to her mouth...

Can't Stand No More...

And I thought it would be just an ordinary day today since we had such a tiring day yesterday... Sophie had other plans. She stood up while crawling on the sofa and gave the three of us (Ah Gong, Ah Mah and me) quite a bit of excitement. Until now, she could not stand up vertically by herself. Now that she could, 'tis time for her to start taking a few steps with suport... wah... I must start clearing up my house... making sure there would not be any safety hazards..

When papa came back, Sophie tried and tried until she did it again... yeah!

Nature Walk (Alexandra Arch to Henderson Waves)

Papa was on half-day leave today and the weather was rather good so we went for the nature walk that we had wanted to do last weekend. As Ah Gong and Ah Mah were going with us, we decided not to be too ambitious... we would start off from Hort Park and see where we could go from there... As we set off, Papa would not miss a few shots before we leave Seasons Park.

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We reached Hort Park but we did not visit the place because we wanted to cross Alexandra Arch and move on. Poor Sophie, she was too tired even before we set foot on the bridge. I made the gravest mistake not putting her in a stroller... I thought the walk could not be that bad... BIG MISTAKE!!!


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After we crossed the bridge, Sophie woke up. She looked very grouchy and groggy... poor girl! There are four options from there and we chose to take the longest route (to Henderson Waves), which is 2.4 km. We walked on an elevated walkway through the secondary forest of Telok Blangah Hill Park... it was a rather interesting experience, being so high up through the forest. We were already quite exhausted before we hit the halfway mark. We felt a sense of accomplishment when we finally completed the walk...

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Then came the decision if we should continue towards Henderson Waves (Singapore's highest pedestrian bridge) that connects Mount Faber Park to Telok Blangah Hill Park, or make a U-turn. In the end, papa went back for the car so that we did not have to walk all the way back. Poor papa... make such a sacrifice for us... We still have to walk a short distance before reaching Henderson Waves. I was impressed by Ah Gong's stamina and the sheer determination of Ah Mah to finish the hike. While waiting for papa, we took a bit of rest at the start of Henderson Waves. So sorry I forgot to bring water and insect repellent... Finally, papa joined us and despite all, we walked till the end of the bridge and set foot on Mount Faber.

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Finally, we got back to the car. I think my parents were really hardy and resilient people... if I could feel the muscle strain on my legs, I bet they felt worse. One more reason to respect my folks... our next trip, Boat Quay for Mid-Autumn Festival? Sentosa?

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In the car, Sophie was still in the mood to make us laugh... she saw my bottle of H2O and robbed it from me. I think she must be really thirsty... or maybe the cold bottle offered some relief for her gums...

Another Rainy Day... Out

We had lunch with Naenae and Ah Boh at Imperial Treasure Restaurant (Teochew Cuisine) in Takashimaya. We thought it would be great to drop by The Better Toy Store for the baby walker.

We fed Sophie before leaving the house, so she was rather subdued in the restaurant... partly also due to the fact that she had Naenae and Ah Boh around to entertain her. So good to have someone to look after her while I eat...

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After lunch, we went to Takashimaya Departmental Store for window shopping. It was quite enjoyable to look at Sophie's stuff with the family. Sophie seemed able to understand that those things are meant for babies like herself.

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We did not stay long as we wanted to stop by Sembawang Park to check out that place. It was amazing that it is so close to the sea, with restaurants and barbecue facilities. Sophie was fascinated with the sea and the waves that wash up the shore. She kept staring at the water... maybe it was the sound that attracted her.

Too bad it started to rain again and we had to leave earlier than planned. I quickly covered Sophie with a hooded towel and sheltered her with an umbrella..."Hey, first time Sophie was under an umbrella! Papa, take picture!!!"

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Bubbles...Bubbles...

Sophie loves "pong pong" time... and I love to show her the kind of nonsense I used to do in the bathroom as a little girl. One of my favourite games was making bubbles with soap. Sophie seemed quite intrigued by the bubbles created as I blew through my fingers in the shape of "O"... or was it papa and the camera??

Rainy Day...

It rained and rained the whole day, flooding us with lethargy and making Sophie restless. We waited and waited until we could not take it anymore. At breakfast, Pocoyo on TV... yummy oatmeal had been cleaned off her bowl... Princess Sophie was still not pleased and refused to take her nap... until Piggy came to the rescue...

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Even her play yard becomes somewhat boring for Sophie... she wanted to get out of the house for some real action...


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At 4 plus, we set off to Paragon despite the slight drizzle. We wanted to check out the "push-wagon" walker at ELC, but we did not eventually buy it. I prefer the one at The Better Toy Store which has a knob that tightens the wheels and controls the speed. It cost $20 more but I think we better play safe. We also took the opportunity to look at the pink Activity Centre at The First Few Years. Sophie looked very inquistive as she played around with the toys... but $200 plus so I think if she really likes it, we will rent instead ($50 a month).

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We ate at Spegeddies again... for dinner. This time, Sophie was moderately "guai" while she finished her cereal. However, she drove me crazy after that... when it was my turn to eat... although papa still found her cute...

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Ahh... peace and quiet at last as Sophie hit the sack at 10 pm. I finally have my moment to check my emails and do my blogs... how sweet the sound of silence... with some occasional noise from the Olympics Broadcast...

"Pong Pong" Time

We woke up slightly later than usual today... After Sophie's bath, papa took the opportunity to snap a few photographs. I find this particular one very adorable... So sorry to sound almost narcissistic... but she really looks cute (my genes!!!)...

As the Night Unfolds...

Kar Keng, Joshua and Serene came over for a short visit after their dinner. It was a refreshing deviation from our regular routine on a Friday night... Joshua was happily exploring Sophie's play-yard and toys; Sophie seemed to be watching him at times... I wonder if Sophie felt any jealousy. When Serene bounced her on her feet, Joshua joined in and they all had lots of fun... jumping around and using up all the energy left for the day. Tis great that once in a while, there are visitors to play with our little girl. I think she is getting bored with papa and mama.

When it was time for Sophie's last feed, papa took her inside and fed her. That gave me some personal time with my friends. We discussed about travelling with young children and concluded that we have to be realistic in our expectations and always go prepared. As each child is different, we really cannot tell for sure if they will enjoy themselves. Guess we just have to "do it" to know...

My Family Picture

Sophie loves to look at photographs of papa, mama and herself. She would grin and hit the picture happily. Somehow, looking at her own picture stops her crying. Tis a little tough to capture that moment... maybe I will try tomorrow with papa's help.

Naturally...Leisurely...

Sophie is going to be thrilled if she knows that we are taking her to the Southern Ridges as our weekend getaway... Actually, my dad was the one who suggested it because he read about the two new connections, Henderson Waves (Singapore's higest pedestrian bridge) and Alexandra Arch, some time ago. For me, the thought of walking for kilometres with Sophie in my arms worries me a little. But, it would be great to take nature walks and catch a glimpse or two of the panoramic view of Singapore, the harbour and the southern islands. Also, there are a series of intersecting trails to choose from.

Go to the website and take a look... if nature walks suit you as well...
http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/index.php?option=com_visitorsguide&task=attractions&id=62&Itemid=73

Other than nature walks, we intend to take her to Sentosa on 8 Septemeber... and visit 3 places. First it is the Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom. Papa has never been there and Sophie will probably love to touch butterflies (hopefully not crush them). Secondly, we will go to the Underwater World. I think Sophie can do some hands-on at the Touch Pool. My dad is also very excited as he has never been to the Underwater World as well. Lastly, it is the Palawan Beach. Sophie will get to feel sand (hopefully my mum will not stop us...) for the first time. How fun!!! If time permits, we will venture elsewhere... the idea came about when we finally decided not to take Sophie overseas this year. We wanted to just venture a little further, the whole day, and see how she respond to travelling. I know it is hardly the same... but one small step at a time. Maybe we can try a cruise trip or something...

Visit Sentosa website... http://www.sentosa.com.sg/index.html

Where's Mama?

We have a huge mirror in our bedroom and we often show Sophie her own reflection. Maybe she thinks there is another baby, smiling and playing with her, so she is always happily hitting her own reflection. She is also able to look at the mirror directly at our reflection. Only today, I was able to capture the moment...

Another antics of hers that tickles us, is her curiosity-induced actions. She will try to look at me in her highchair when I work in the kitchen... and I will wave at her and say "hi...".

Night Trip Out...

Sophie slept for almost 2 hours in the afternoon so we did not get to go for our evening stroll. When she woke up, she looked super "chao bin" and highly agitated. Guess she was bored... In order to make her tired enough to sleep later, we decided to take her out for a spin after dinner and give Naenae a surprise as well. Throughout the journey, Sophie still seemed rather restless... usually she just sleeps in the car.

We ended up in NTUC (Toa Payoh), buying groceries and baby food. Apparently, "Organic Baby" is cheaper here than Carrefour (Suntec) so we "coup" quite a few bottles. By then it was almost nine o'clock... we thought we could say "hi" to Gina at Money Supply but she "eat snake" and closed shop early.

At Naenae's place, Ah Boh was quite tickled by Sophie's babbling... Sophie was also showing off her ability to stand and crawl around on the sofa. Indeed, she was a pleasant surprise for both Naenae and Ah Boh... Unfortunately, we passed her bedtime and milk time so she was super cranky in the car. At one point, she even looked a little melancholic... as if she was in deep deep thought. I had to sacrifice my fingers to calm her down...

... when the effectiveness wore out, I gave her my tissue wrapper... which seemed to work better.

By the time we reached home, we lost no time making her milk and putting her to bed... 15 minutes and she was knocked out! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

An Alphabet For Parents

I came across this particular poem for parents... tis simple yet sums up how we should help our children read and write better... Due to copyright issues, go to their website and take a look yourself.

http://www.ncte.org/parents/tips/111033.htm

Enthusiasm

This morning, Sophie decided to sing and sway to "This Old Man" playing in the background... while clinging on to the side of her play-yard for her dear little life! Maybe 'tis time to get her a walker...

After lunch, I tried to introduce her to our local current affairs in Today... Sophie was obviously very thrilled and enthusiastic about the PM's speech and the new scheme... "Yeah! Baby brother and sister to play with!!!" Yah... right... dream on!

Sleepless@Seasons Park

Nowadays, Sophie would occasionally let me put her next to me on our bed and coax her to sleep. Most of the time, she wants me to hold her until she falls asleep. After that, I can very gently lower her into her own cot bed. On super good days, she is alright with Ah Gong, Ah Mah, Naenae or papa doing it. If she wakes up in the middle of the night, I am able to pat her back to sleep on our bed. Baby experts will definitely frown and wag their fingers at me, but to me, this is already a vast improvement from how she was before.

Prior to this, she had to be held until she was deeply asleep before we could put her down on our bed. We had to surround her with pillows and keep a watchful eye on her as she slept. She would wake up and cry if I try to put her in her cot bed. When she was even younger, she would cry her heart out whenever she was sleepy until she finally fell asleep, probably out of exhaustion. She also had to listen to my singing... although I fail to see how it could have possibly worked.

When we started depriving Sophie air-conditioning, she could not sleep at all. She would cry as her head became wet with sweat. No matter how we turned the fan towards her, she still woke up sweaty and cranky. It was a painful period because cold, dry air gives her sensitive nose a hard time yet the heat is unbearable for her. In the end, I had to manually turn her to her side and wipe her sweat off while she slept.

Although tough, it was better than the days when Sophie wanted to be held even after she fell asleep. I spent more than a month sleeping in the sitting position with her in my arms. After that, I tried to lower her onto our bed in the middle of the night. Not always successful but it was a relief for me. I remembered excruciating back pain during that period that kept me awake in the night. It was her so-called "colic" that made her super cranky and "needy" in the night. Actually, it was cow's milk allergy that gave her loose stools and wind. Once we replaced that with soy milk, her condition "improved".

The truth is, soy milk gave her hard stools instead. From one extreme, she swung to the other end of the spectrum. In the middle of the night, she would curl up her legs and slammed them down while moaning and groaning with her hands by the side of her head. It usually started at around 3 am and lasted a couple of hours. I had to rub her tummy to ease her discomfort in the middle of the night. Poor Sophie hardly have any sleep! Out of sheer heartache, I was willing to forgo all expert advice about independence and sleeping routine, and help her sleep better... whatever it took.

Then it was her asthmatic cough. She could not sleep throughout the night as she coughed and struggled to breathe through her stuffy nose. I put her next to me so that when she coughed, I could pat her back and do physiotherapy for her. It helped in preventing the phlegm from entering the lungs and causing infection while making it easier for her to cough it out.

Thank God those nights were over. Nowadays, she sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night to crawl around. We suspect she may be sleepwalking or shall I say, "sleepcrawling". We have to be alert because she may lose her balance, fall and hit her head, even if she is in her cot bed. I am almost terrified by the thought of her climbing off our bed and walking out of our room in the middle of the night. Guess it is part and parcel of her growing up... to date, I have not had a decent night's sleep since March 2007...and still counting...

Evening Walk...

Sophie looked bored so I thought we could go for a walk around the estate. It took me 15 minutes to get her ready and all set to go... then she "ern... ern..." and I had to change her diapers again. She tends to poo-poo when she is sitting upright. Well, it was a "happy problem" especially since the poo looked okay!

So off we went... Sophie did not look particularly excited or interested. I think we may have to walk a little further...

Fed up.. or never fed at all...

Sophie has learnt an array of techniques to communicate her displeasure of my cooking as I feed her. First comes the oldest and simplest "pursed lip" technique. If it does not work, it can be combined with the "head shaking" or "look away" evasion. If feeding still persists, the level of irritability rises by a notch and verbal protest is used "grr....grr...". Further attempts are countered by "kungfu" kicks and arm strokes... When forced fed, the "boo...boo..." method will be used to expel the food from the mouth. In the case of the battle of will... acting skills is required as false "vomiting" or "choking" may result in momentary recess of feeding. If all fails, divert attention of feeder by pretending to strain for bowel movements...

So lucky...

My parents, once in a while, would comment on the infrastructure and toys we gave Sophie... "so fortunate" they said. Chee Kiat also reflected that Sophie is "lucky despite her health issues" because her mama is willing to put her interest above everything else. Annie also mentioned in my blog that Sophie is "blessed" to have a mama like me. Their words all resonated in my head... the philosophical and intellectual side of it...

I think Sophie is definitely fortunate that papa can afford to let mama take care of her at home and buy her things... Despite her genetic disposition for asthma and diabetes, she has parents who are very well-informed and resourceful about preventive measures amd intervention strategies. Definitely, this is what a baby like Sophie needs... so she is fortunate to get what she needs.

However, other children are also very fortunate... in their own way. For instance, KK's Joshua is also lucky to have a capable and independent mama. With Stanley always on business trips, it is definitely his blessing that his mama can take care of him and drive him around. Also, his grandmama can babysit him when KK is working so he gets to play with his cousin, Gabriel. For him, this is what he needs and thus, he is fortunate to get it. I can never drive Sophie around... even though I have licence to drive. And poor Sophie will not have many opportunities to see her cousing, Zixin.

I can quote many other examples... but I will not as there are also many children who are not so fortunate. Life is always a challenge. Perhaps our little ones will have their own difficulties and hurdles in life, unique to their destiny and challenging in their own right. We can do nothing much except equipping them with skills and resources and maybe just pray very hard for them.