our dear little prince darren

a big sigh....

2010-02-08T12:25:00.002+08:00

The lazy mommy has been working and spreeing but no time to update the blog.
Well. Here goes

Firstly.. the one super sad thing happened over the past few weeks is tat the blur mommy lost her camera with all the photos and videos of Darren. Although it’s only abt one or two month’s worth of photos, they are all memories of tremendous progress of Darren has come over this period. Mommy particularly missed the video whereby Darren sing –along the “twinkle twinkle little star” while watching the “your baby can read” VCD, together with actions and movements. another video is Darren carrying his carebear bag and running around at home and another memorable one is him swimming with daddy at Intercontinental hotel over the xmas period. As for photos, there was the first zoo visit, and the staycation at Intercontinental Hotel.

Tat’s how the whole incident happened, we went to AMK hub for dinner and called a cab. Mommy slot the camera in her bermuda’s pocket. When we alighted along the road just outside AMK hub and wanted to take photos of the cny decoration outside, then she realized the camera was missing. However, the blur mommy wasn’t sure whether she got bring out in the first place. So we went to have dinner and walked around before finally went home at 9pm plus.

Upon reaching home and the camera wasn’t on the coffee table,then we finally confirmed the camera was lost. Daddy called the comfort lost and found hotline to report the loss. But the next Monday they called back and said they couldn’t find the camera and the staff suggested mommy to make a police report over the loss.

So mommy went to make a police report online. And subsequently the officer called her back and asked her to go down to the police post to make a written statement.. haizzz wat an experience.

Actually wat mommy really hope is to get back the SD card. The person who picked it up can keep the camera and everything, just return me with the memory card. But then again, she realized there is really a slim chance of getting back the camera. Even in the slimmest chance of retrieving the camera.. prob by now the person oredi deleted whatsoever in the card. Haizzz.

i finally weaned off pacifier

2010-02-08T12:23:00.001+08:00

[backdated]Wooho.. its’ a big achievement. I still remembered the adults intro pacifier to me when I was abt two months old. Cos mommy said I kept drinking milk. So with pacifier, hopefully can reduce my milk intake or rather lengthen the interval. Since then, I was hooked up to pacifier.

But for the past few days[early jan], I suddenly quit pacifier just like tat. Maybe cos I started going to school (but mommy still packed a pacifier in my school bag, and sometimes the teacher will give to me so tat I won’t cry so much), Maybe cos for the past week, I was coughing and had blocked nose, so with a pacifier, it’s difficult for me to breathe. So I decided to spit out? Or mayb I finally realize I am a big boy and no need pacifier anymore?

All in all, it’s really a good sign tat I am growing up. although I still woke up in the middle of nite and mommy has to pat pat me to sleep back, and I took longer to sleep back without a pacifier.

Staycation at Intercontinental over the Xmas

2010-01-16T17:23:00.016+08:00

I think it was a blessing in disguise. When mommy got to know abt the “stay one nite and another nite free” promotion at Intercontinental Hotel and called to book, actually there was no vacancy over the xmas weekend and she booked the 18-20 Dec instead, but how unlucky or lucky, I was having a fever tat weekend and daddy called to postpone and managed to book the xmas weekend at the same rate!

So on the xmas day, daddy and mommy made sure I had a good nap in the afternoon first before we set off to the hotel. Even though we were still in Singapore and the hotel is a 20 min drive away from our home, mommy still packed extra clothes / diaper for me. in the end, half of the luggage bag was filled up by my stuff. Daddy even brot my own playpen along in case I cannot sleep.

met up with wai gong at the lobby

our room

Then we met up with wai po and wai gong at the lobby. After check in and went up to the room, I was oredi very excited and was running around in the room. I was especially fascinated with the bathtub as we dun have it at home. And also the weighing machine in the bathroom as it shows in numbers and numbers now are my favourite now.

playing with bathtub and the weighing machine at the washroom.. mabye cos they are new to me

waipo put me in the basin.
then the laundry basket!

After waited for one hour plus for the porter to deliver our bags (in the end, the porter made a mistake and deliver our stuff to another room), we went for dinner at the Chinese restaurant Man Fu Yuen in the hotel. Although I oredi had my dinner, I still can eat some more noodles. I especially enjoyed the dessert. Mommy ordered the aballing as we forgot to celebrate “dong zhi” and a bowl of mango pomelo. Initially I dun dare to touch the a boling, then mommy took a bit to let me taste. After I got used to the taste, I took it and bit myself. It was really hilarious to look at me tackling the a boling.

at the lobby before going up for dinner

mommy feeding me the noodle

eating a boling

Think I was so excited tat I only slept at around 11pm tat nite.
can i fly like harry potter with this umbrella?

Day 2
After a tiring nite, the three of us only woke up at 8plus… daddy decided to take the breakfast downstairs even though it was not included in the hotel stay package. Maybe I was too distracted by the new environment, I didn’t want my usual porridge nor the bread or hotcake. After much attempt, mommy remembered I like to munch on cereal when I was at the childcare. So she asked daddy to get a bowl of cereal and indeed, I quietly sat on my highchair and munched the cereal on my own so tat daddy and mommy had some quiet moments to finish their own breakfast.

munching on cereal

It was swimming time after the breakfast. Although the hotel is in the city centre, it was quite a quiet and relaxing place with a few pple. Daddy brot me to the Jacuzzi pool as it’s covered and the water doesn’t feel as cold as the baby pool. Initially I was scared by the water. But after a while, I was happily playing with it and shrieking in excitement when daddy made me jump in the water.

enjoying my swim at the jacuzzi

Lunch was dim sum at wah lok. Daddy ordered a bowl of fish porridge for me to eat, but I was munching the fried ikan bilis and peanuts.. and refused to eat. Even after having a bottle of milk, I still cannot be pacified and wanted to come down from the high chair… guessing it was my nap time, daddy asked the waitress to help us tao bao and we went back to the hotel room.
Who knows, once back, I was ok oredi and playing with my toys and asked daddy mommy to read books to me and slowly I finished the bowl of porridge. Hahahaha..

Dinner was with mommy’s frenz at pasta de waraku… oo.. I ate some of the cream based pasta, played with the balloon auntie veron gave me. then after tat daddy and mommy brot me to TCC for dessert. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Even when they brot me back to the room to shower and got ready for bed, I was still actively playing and asking them to read books to me. then daddy and mommy got very tired cos they havent’ showered and wanted to get some rest. So daddy shut down all the lights and hoped I can go zzz soon. But who knows, I still can play in the dark and only knocked off after much coaxing or as daddy put it “ the battery finally run flat” at 12am! Tat’s a record timing for me!
ready to go dinner with mommy

playing with the balloon auntie veron gave me

Then next morning, we had a quick breakfast since we all slept until 9am plus. Then mommy went to the food court and bot me a bowl of chicken macaroni for lunch but I barely touched. And it’s almost time to check out. Yeah.. home sweet home.. here we come!

yeah.. home sweet home.. when is the next time we use these luggage bags again?

my first xmas celebration at childcare

2010-01-03T17:09:00.010+08:00

the childcare is open on the xmas eve for half day, and it's the xmas celebration with pot luck for lunch and gift exchange.

well, actually daddy and mommy were on leave, and we can actually skip it. but mommy thot its' better for me to participate since it's a new experience for me.

at bishan mrt station with daddy, since it was raining, mommy thot it would be better and faster to take train instead.

performances by various classes

watching the performance.

dancing to the music back at my own class. waiting for the gift exchange.

the gift exchange. alas.. only 3 kids from my class turn up!

yeah.. group photo with my teacher... but see my face. ahhaha

and lastly...eating fried bee hoon with my frenzzz

the zoo trip

2010-01-03T16:23:00.013+08:00

(23rd Dec) it's was an impromptu decision by daddy. actually i was supposed to go to the childcare and they oredi packed my school bag.
but daddy woke up and said to mommy "let's go to the zoo today!" and he made a even better suggestion by asking wai po along!

so we all rushed for preparation to get my porridge cooked.. changed.. and packed then we left house at 9am! then we went to pick up wai po at bt panjang since it's on the way.. and we reached zoo abt 945 or 10am.

at the entrance with daddy

since it's still school holiday, the queue was quite long with a lot of parents bringing their kids to the zoo too... then cos it's a last min decision, so we all didn't check whether there is any promo for the entry tickets. well.. all these dun matter. we got our tickets and here we came.

the first stop was the tamarine on the trees then we saw trees with a small wooden home. then we were just in time for the zoo keeper to take out the parrots and put them on the tree trunk. but dunno what happened, one of the parrots suddenly yakked very loudly and i got very scared by the sound.
as we walked further in, we saw a fresh water "crocodile" (actually was not it's real name, just assemble crocodile) then we saw the white tiger, pygmy hippo which i also scare, then kangaroo, oh this one is ok cos its' quite a distance in between us. then i got scared by the monkeys too. in fact, everything we saw, i tried to turn away and if the adults insisted, i cried in protest.
trying to run away

at the hippo... wanted to see, but dare not to be close.

with daddy on the safari car at the kangaroo's place

around 11am, we went to for the elephant show, while we waited, i was still ok, but once the show started, and the elephants appeared, i started crying again, so i had to be carried outside, but with so many pple crowding over there, it was quite impossible and i caught a lot of attention cos of my cry. so mommy got no choice but to left w/o watching the show.

at the elephants show with daddy & mommy

just a few min away, we reached a restaurant and we had lunch.. once i finished the porridged we brot along, i got intersted in the lemon tea on the table and wanted to drink.. guess wat, i fell in love with the ice lemon tea and i drank almost half the glass until mommy and wai po had to hide the glass.

totally enthu with the ice lemon tea

then we proceeded to the kids rainforest cos mommy heard quite good review with the water sports there for kids. since i showed my interest in playing with water previously. who knows, when we reached there and i was changed into swimming suit, i dare not enter in the playground.

since the sky became dark and started to drizzle and i dun want to play with water, we had to hide in KFC to wait for the rain to stop. end up, i drank lemon tea again! haizzz...

more ice lemon tea at KFC

maybe it's way past my usual nap time (the nap time at childcare is 12pm), i started to get cranky. and i dun want to sleep while we sat at KFC. so mommy made a decision to go home.

but it's still a long way to walk to exit and on the way, we managed to catch giraffe, lion and zebra and i cried so hard in front of zebra tat i puked out my lunch.

with the giraffe.. look at my face. hahah

and zebra is the last animal we saw on that day.

haizz... from this trip, i think i dun really like animals. and i definitely was a naughty boy, so it was a good idea to bring wai po along since she and mommy carried me throughout most of the time.

the thing is once i was outside the zoo, i was back to my normal self.. and i fell asleep on the ride back. and when we dropped off wai po at bt panjang, i acutally woke up and cried to see wai po left. sigh....

~~~~

p.s. days after the zoo trip, when mommy showed the photos to me... i can still recognise the animals and say out their names.... woohoo.... think i am ok with the pics but for the real stuff.. mayb wait for me to grow a bit older.

an afternoon in changi airport

2009-12-21T16:24:00.013+08:00

haizz.. began this post with a sigh cos i was supposed to attend the May08 babies xmas party last saturday, the party was from 2pm to 5pm, and mommy oredi bot a xmas gift for exchange way way before that. but who knows, i fell asleep at 12pm+ and didn't wake up until 3pm+.

by the time we packed and went out, it's oredi 4pm! so daddy and mommy decided to give up the party and brot me to changi airport instead.

oo, when we reached terminal 2, there were some really big balls there. so this year's xmas deco theme is "BALL"

looking at the giant ball.

then we took the skytrain to terminal 3 and there were more balls. in fact there is a big air-filled castle in the centre for kids to play. too bad, it's for older kids and i am not old enough yet.

on the sky train to terminal 3.

more balls at T3

at the entrance to crown plaza.. wanted to have tea but too bad, we were just too late. end up we had our tea at xin wang, and i had my chicken porridge.

enjoying my barley drink.

well... although i didn't make it to the party, i enjoyed walking around in the airport too!

xmas light at orchard road 2009

2009-12-21T15:54:00.009+08:00

11 dec daddy and mommy took leave cos childcare centre was closed on tat day. anw, end up cos i was sick, so i didn't go to childcare for the whole week.

so tat's how we spent the day, morn was free and easy.

then afternoon, mommy brot me to watch the barney show at united sq. we went at 1pm, and guess wat, all the photo passes were taken up and there was a long queue for sitting near the stage. so mommy quickly brot me to the 3rd floor,outside the toys r us and chope a spot.

tat's before

tat's after... and mind you, it's a friday at 2pm.

since we were there early, mommy also brot me to the toys r us to shop for the gift for the coming may08 babies xmas party.

when we stood by the railings at around 140pm, there was oredi a crowd forming, and when the show started and barney appeared, i actually cried to see the full size barney. but after they started singing, i stopped and began to enjoy the show.

although the show was only abt 20min, i began to fidget halfway through and wanted to sleep. so once the show finished, mommy had to bring me back home to catch my nap.

in the evening, we met up with wai gong and wai po for dinner at lei garden. first a shot at the new shopping mall on orchard road.

and i enjoyed my self playing with the cutlery at the restaurant and their famous 鸡煲翅

but the best part of the day is after dinner, we walked along the orchard road and seeing so many lights and soak in the xmas ambience.

see this year's decorations on orchard road! i keep saying "ball".

mommy's fav photo for the nite.

inside the big big xmas tree outside ION.

i was totally mesmerized with the lighing, i didn't even feel sleepy at 10pm +.

my first wedding dinner

2009-12-17T23:26:00.011+08:00

on 12 dec, it's mommy's sec fren, auntie zhu zhu's wedding dinner.. initially daddy and mommy wanted to ask wai po to take care of me while they go themselves, then mommy changed her mind as it's time for me to try to expose to different events and also not to trouble wai po so much as wedding dinner often run into late nite.

so mommy helped me dress up first.

and then i got bored while waiting for mommy to dress up. so i decided to entertain myselfthen we took the cab to the hotel parkroyal on kitchener road. who knows there was a big jam there cos of a newly opened shopping centre.

finally we reached the hotel, just in time for the first march in.

me and daddy

me and mommy

clapping when the newly-weds made their grand entrance!

still excited over this new experience initially

then got bored and sleepy

finally i gave the cue it's time to go home, whether or not the dinner has ended or daddy mommy full or not.

my speech progress

2009-12-17T22:53:00.004+08:00

now tat i can walk and run, my next milestone will be to talk! or rather to talk in the language tat the adults can understand me.. well who ask there are more adults around me. actually all the while i have been talking, just tat they dunno.

i still babble in my baby language a lot, but now i made a conscious effort in pronouncing the words tat i've learnt. here are some of the examples.

1. on 7 dec, i finally called "pa-pa" and "ma-ma" together. it was the usual breakfast, daddy and mommy were reading newspaper while having their breakfast, then i just walked to them, looked at daddy and called "pa-pa" and then turned to mommy and called "ma-ma". this is really the first time i called them both. previously, i just called mamamama while i am in distress and crying big time.

2. then on the 10th, when i woke up first and mommy was still catching her precious last few min of sleep, i sat up on the mattress and started reciting "1-10" in chinese, and then followed by the alphabets. mommy was so so happy tat her previous efforts in showing flash cards began to show!

3. my fav phrase now is "oh no", i will purposely drop a stuff say remote control on the floor and then say "oh,no" then look at mommy in tat innocent expression.

4, almost know all the basic shapes, and tat day when i picked up a toy i haven't been playing for long time, and i can recognise the shape and said "heart shape"

5, know most of the colors, one example is on the first sunday of dec, when daddy and mommy brot me to see the doc, there was a slide outside the clinic, and when asked abt the colors of the different parts, i can say them all!

my love for the numbers and alphabets and words sure catch the attention of my teachers at the childcare centre. now my fav teacher is the chinese teacher Kong Lao Shi, as she will patiently read out the words when i point at them. when mommy went to pick me up, she told mommy tat while the other kids of my age prefer bright colors and shapes, i prefer to point at letters, characters and numbers and really point one by one and ask the teacher to read to me. and another teacher also mention tat i love the alphabet song and when she stopped playing the song, i cried!

now my fav action - pout my lips and look like a pig mouth

me in my school uniform!

the final decision

2009-12-05T17:28:00.002+08:00

just after one week in childcare, daddy was so heartache cos i cried every morning when they dropped me off and thus, my voice became hoarse. and i fell sick with cough & runny nose during the weekend. no choice, daddy & mommy had to send me back to nanny for me to recover since they stil need to go to work

maybe it's a blessing in disguise cos it gave the opportunity for daddy & mommy to think hard abt the childcare arrangement and source for alternatives. and so happen there is a new childcare centre opening soon near our home. then daddy thot of a good idea, to put me in the new childcare centre but since it closes at 7pm and both daddy and mommy work late, they had made the arrangement with the nanny to pick me up at 5pm + and then they go to the nanny's to fetch me home after they knock off.

but the plan fell through as the childcare was full and i couldn't get in. so after much deliberations, they have decided to bring me back to the one at mommy's office.

well. firstly cos barely after a few days at the centre, almost all the staff have known my name (maybe cos i cried the loudest) and being new, almost all the teachers have carried me to pacify me.

secondly, also cos i started to settle down day by day. now i cried less in the morning. and in the evening, when daddy & mommy pick me up, i dun cry anymore. and i also started to learn things. just the other day, the teacher told mommy tat i am able to feed myself now and i fed myself 3 bowls of macaroi for dinner. wat an achievement after effectively being in the centre for just a bit over one week.

and the teacher also started to notice my preference in reading letters, words and numbers. in fact the chinese teacher told mommy, i am the only one paying attention when she sings chinese rhymes and songs while the rest of the kids are busying playing and fidgeting.

i am sure i can learn more in the childcare and start being independent.

my first day in childcare

2009-11-21T13:58:00.015+08:00

This is a new milestone for me! on the 2nd week i turned 18mth, i started attending childcare.

the childcare centre is just downstairs mommy's office building. so for the first day (16 nov) mommy was with me. initially i was alrite when daddy and mommy brought me for tea first. when we stepped in the centre, i was busy looking at the fish tank at the recep area. there was another new friend joining on the same date. then mommy started to remove my shoes, and there is an auntie (the principal) holding the thermometer and tried to check my hands and feet, i started to sense something wrong and started crying.

on the mrt with daddy. although got a nice lady to give us seat, i was too active to sit down quietly.

at the recep area

mommy assured me everything is alrite and would be with me all the time. so we joined the class. when i saw all the little friends in the same class, i sort of quietened down a bit. the first activity is the outdoor play. then when we were putting on shoes again, and i saw pple walking in and out of the door, i was crying so hard and cling on the door, waiting for any chance to run away. the teacher held out a rope with little circle on it and asked each of us holding the hole, but i refused to and was wandering around myself. it was really dangerous at one time tat i almost walked off. lucky mommy was around to carry me. then it started to drizzle a bit, so the teacher called off the outdoor play and returned to the centre. all along i was crying, especially so when we were on the way back.

at the junior tots' class, i was observing and getting myself familiarise with the place.

it seems i wasn't ready to mix yet... end up i was playing with the rubbish bin myself

on the way to outdoor play, see i almost wandered off myself.

mommy guessed i was hungry cos i usually drink a bottle of milk around 9plus to 10am. so once reached the centre, mommy made a bottle of milk for me. just after a while after finishing the milk, it's lunch time for the junior tots. we went to the eating area and all sat down on the chair by the table. the teacher was scooping rice for everyone and placed the bowl with spoon for each of us. wow, most of my frenz know how to feed themselves, but not me. so mommy fed me and i finished two bowls.

tat's wat's left at the end of two bowls. but anw. one bowl doesn't mean full bowl. at most half filled. so i wasn't eating alot acutally.

then it's shower time, i was reluctant at first, but once i saw the water i was busy playing with it. maybe i was tired, i soon fell asleep when mommy put me on the mattress after the shower.

but i didn't sleep for long, mommy was called back from lunch by the teacher cos i was crying after waking up. when mommy finally came, i was carried by the teacher at the lift lobbying waiting for mommy.

so mommy was accompanying me at the eating area cos the rest of the kids were still taking nap. and there was a teacher accompany the early risers and we read story books and played toys while waiting for others to wake up.

soon the light lit up and it was time for teabreak and i was able to finish two servings of cakes. then my fav segment of the day, the chinese story telling... while the other kids fidgeting around, i really paid attention to the teacher. i only fussed while waiting for other kids to do the painting.

i wasn't really interested in the gym play either, end up i took the toys and played all by myself.

well, after tat i got hooked on with playing with water in the kids' toilet. i kept going in while the rest were still eating.

then it's the chinese time with a chinese teacher telling story. tat seemed to be the only time i really quieten down and paid attention. and mommy can finally sit there resting.

tat's the chinese story telling time.

soon it was dinner time and i ate another two bowls of macaroni. then we changed pampers and went home!

guess i was really tired from the day. i knocked off at 9pm at the nite.

Me at 18mths

2009-11-14T19:24:00.003+08:00

Time really flies and I am oredi 18mths. Mommy always says I am a big boy now and so I realized.

These are some new things I know when I am 18mths
1) love to point at numbers, and can say 1, 2, 3. 4 (pronounced as “sss” ) in mandarin.
2) Know how to put smaller thing into a bigger one.
3) Know how to hide an item and later find myself
4) Point to nose, head, ear when asked. Still point to nose when asked mouth or eyes which often gives mommy a good laugh.
5) Love to imitate adults like talking on the phone., will climb up to the sofa and take the phone and try to press and put beside the ear
6) Start to help out with the household chores, like this morning, I took the hanger mommy left on the bed after changing and walk to the door where are the hangers are and put back
7) Know how to wash myself during shower time, when asked “wash your body?” I will rub my hands up and down the tummy
8) Can say simple words like “car” and “star” (pronounced as “dar” and will do the open-close of the hand action) and the Chinese character “da”. Will try to imitate the sound when the adults pronounce, like ice-cream as “ai-sss-kree” and vegetables as “gee..” antique car as “tee-kar”.
9) Can pronounce letters A, B, D , E, G,H,K, L,O, R. S, T, and V.
10) Know how to throw tantrum when unhappy, esp when daddy or mommy says “no” when I am doing something. Either I will stomp my feet on the floor and start to cry. Or when daddy carries me up and I start kicking my legs in the air which daddy calls “air-walking”. For example, this morning, I was playing with daddy’s water bottle on the coffee table, mommy opened it and let me drink. Then it caught my fascination and I started to try to put back the cap back then opened it again, put my fingers inside and played with water. When mommy closed the water bottle and try to put away, I started to cry and stomped my feet.
11) Knows how to dance when hearing music from TV or when daddy and mommy say “Darren dance”.

The list goes on and on with new surprises every day.

Well all these small and little things mark my tremendous growth from a baby to a toddler and started to gain independence as a “self”. Mommy definitely misses the days when Darren was just a baby and needed constant attention. But she can’t be helped but feel proud when Darren can perform a small task himself and grow into a happy toddler.

new yoga pose

happy 18mth to me

my 1st swimming at Bishan swimming complex

2009-11-01T16:12:00.003+08:00

well, the bishan swimming complex is actually only 10 min away by walking from our home, but yesterday was the 1st time ever i visited there.... and on mommy's impulse.

i supposed to go for my first GUG lesson after one term's rest. in fact, we reached earlier and mommy paid money for the term and also filled up the withdrawal form since i am going to start childcare soon.

when mommy carried me into the class, i looked quite timid and remained quiet. in fact, i didn't even touch the toys on the floor. then other babies started to come in. all look smaller and younger than me. then i started to feel uneasy. so even mommy ensured me tat she will be around, i started crying when the teacher started counnting names. so mommy had to bring me to the corner and gave me some biscuits to quieten me down.

then we rejoined the group and we started singing the "good afternoon song", but i started crying again upon hearing and this time the biscuit also didn't help. mommy had to bring me outside cos i was disturbing the class. everybody was looking at me. oooppsss, i felt a bit embarrassed as i am the oldest yet, all the didi and mei mei were looking at me crying.

outside the class, i still couldnt' be pacified even with the pacifier. i cried louder and louder. with no sign of quietening down anytime, mommy had to go back to the class to take back my bag. once reaching the door, my cries are even louder. so mommy called daddy to come back so that he can hold me while mommy make milk. even half way thru the milk , i cried when daddy said i am a naughty boy.

mommy thot i was cranky cos of hunger and it's almost time for my nap (my nap time has become haywired recently, for the past few weekends, it's been 2-3pm), so they decided to skip the lesson and brought me home.

who knows, upon reaching home, all my sleepiness was gone! i was walking and climbing all over again. daddy & mommy were exasperated and tired. so mommy said " let's go swimming" as teh last resort, and in hope tat the exercise would tire me out. we changed and within 15 min, we were at the swimming complex!

we went to the "wading pool" which was only 0.45m deep and i can stand with the water only at my waist! yippee, the pool was not crowded with only a few other kids playing around. so i happily walked around with daddy or mommy holding my hand. after i gained more confidence, i even attempted to walk on my own. but i got my first taste of swimming pool water when i slipped and lost my balance.

i really like the pool cos i cried in protest when daddy and mommy brought me up and said "no more". but my cries soon died down when we went to the snack area and my mouth stuffed with chicken nuggets and fish balls. and i even finished 3/4 tin of milo.

i think i definitely look forward of our next trip here and of course the little teat of junk food after the swim.

and i finally knocked out after i changed, showered, watched one espisode of barney and finished one bowl of porridge at 6pm! Gasped...

little surprise

2009-10-31T18:42:00.002+08:00

last wed nite darren surprised me yet again.

He was sitting on his playmat, as usual, messing around with the flash cards. Suddenly he pointed at one of them with the Chinese character “大” and said “da”. at first I thot it was just his baby language and so happened tat he made tat sound. But he did again immediately. And after the dinner, he said it one more time.

Recently, he is trying very hard to pronounce the words. Like, he is very excited seeing the numbers on the lift changing as it moves up and down and we will say out the number to him. Now he can say “yi” “er” sometimes “san” and pronounced “si” as “sssss…”. And he likes to point and make you say out the word for him, sometimes, he will follow by trying to imitate the sound. Although might not be correct, at least he tried.

worst fall so far

2009-10-24T15:47:00.005+08:00

It looked like any normal day… daddy and mommy picked me up from the nanny’s , then we went home, had dinner and then mommy played with me. then I started walking around and mommy followed.. and suddenly she started to make heavy footsteps like what we used to play, then I shrieked in excitement and started to walk faster and almost ran..

Out of sudden, I fell in my face on the floor and started wailing loudly in pain. Mommy quickly picked me up from the floor, then she realized there were drops of blood on t-shirt. I was rubbing my face and still crying, then mommy removed my hands and saw blooding coming out from lips. The teeth must have cut the lips when I fell. Mommy suddenly remembered mommies on the forum said tat sugar can stop bleeding and called out daddy to take sugar from kitchen and rubbed some on my lips.

Realizing something on my lips, I started to lick and found it’s sweet and finally stopped crying. Daddy was angry with mommy for chasing me and asked her to pack and send me to the doctor’s.

By the time we reached TMC 24hr clinic, I was playing as usual. but daddy said cannot let me walk on my own for the time being. But the queue was so long, after waiting for some time and seeing me behaving normally, daddy decided to go back home.

Well, little expected the wound to grow worse over the days. First, it started to become swollen, then there were some whitish pus appearing. There are two wounds actually, one on the outer lips and the other was more inside nearer to the gums. At nite, I always cried out loudly in pain cos the skin broke and started bleeding. In fact, it got so bad tat I refused to take my pacifier in the middle of the nite and there was blood stains on the bedsheet.
the picture is not very clear after shrinking, but still can see tat the lips is swollen and the whitish pus on it.

Together with the fever after taking the MMR jab, daddy & mommy were not sure whether the fever came from the jab or the pus on the lips. So we still went to see the doc at TMC 24 hours, took the antibiotics and some cream to apply on the lips. While the fever didn’t subside over the weekend and the wound on the lips still looking grossly big, we went to see the PD on Monday and he changed the cream to an oral drip for ulcer to aide the wound to heal faster.

the scariest jab

2009-10-21T22:49:00.009+08:00

well, i supposed to take the jab when i turned 15mth old as recommended by pd, but then with things always cropped out last min, like i fell sick then the bintan trip. i only took it when i was 17mth old.

mommy has long heard the scary stories related to MMR, the fierce fever, the risk of having rashes or the worst, it's supposedly link to autism according to some weird reports. but then this jab it's compulsory by the MOH and sooner or later, i still have to be tuk.

so on saturday 10/10/09, daddy & mommy finally brought me to take the jab. as it's a saturday and the clinic was ful. we had to wait for quite sometime. so we went to the toys r us next door to spend some time.

i am the little transformer..

want to buy a car? let me recommend the latest model to you.

look at the mess i've made at the mega blocks section.

after almost 1.5 hour of wait. i finally got my tuk at 12 plus. i cried a while but like a macho boy supposed to be. i stopped crying soon. as it's time for lunch, we went to bakerzin and they served yummy kids menu.

hehe.. the kids set menu comes with a bottle of yakult. and guess wat, i finished it in 3 min flat.

the empty yakult bottle.

mommy ordered the grilled salmon with rice for me, but i only ate abt 1/3... mayb i was too full from the yakult.

actually i am eyeing the chicken wing daddy & mommy were having... looks yummy...

quite a good outing for taking a jab, isn't it..

but 5 days later, i started to have a fever at 37 + for two days and a week later tat saturday and sunday, the fever shot up to 38+ which gave daddy & mommy a scare.

it's really a powerful jab to have effect even after so many days. considering i didn't developed any symptoms even when i took the pneumococcal jabs previously.

when i turned to 17mth

2009-10-21T22:40:00.002+08:00

when i turned to 17mth, i am a step closer to terrible 2.

firstly, i become very diff to feed. no longer the baby who just gobble down whatever stuffed into my mouth, now i really choose what i want to eat. sometimes, i just eat a few mouthful of the porridge and refused to eat any more. and i am not interested in eating fruits except golden kiwi. mommy can only do the trick of mixing them with yogurt. but it's just a matter of time before i realise it.

2ndly, at nite, play time becomes so precious tat i refuse to sleep at 930pm anymore. the latest record i held is 1052pm. which oredi tired mommy out. and in order to make me sleep, i can drink 200ml every half an hour from 9pm and by the time i finally slept at 1015, i have drunk 600ml plus. despite sleeping late at night, i still wakes up every early. for the past few days, i woke up at 6am plus. even earlier than the alarm clock mommy set.

haizz... mommy wonders where my energy comes from even though i am not eating and sleeping well.

ready for childcare

2009-10-03T17:36:00.008+08:00

as i am approaching 18mths in just another month's time. daddy and mommy thought long and hard abt childcare arrangement for me.

eventually they decided to put me in full day childcare for better interactions with other kids as well as learning to be more independent.

lucky there is a childcare centre in the same building as mommy's office, so i can go to work with daddy and mommy everyday from next month onwards. and mommy doesn't have to rush to pick me up as the centre closes at 8pm instead of the usual 7pm.

last monday, daddy and mommy brought me to the centre for so-called orientation. well, i dun think i need tat. once daddy let me come out from the stroller at the recep area, i was eager to push the door open and joined the kor -kor and jie-jie there.

can you see me? i am the one back facing the camera.... ooopsss. i joined the kindergarten class where i supposed to be in the junior tots. no wonder all of them look so big to me.

later the day, daddy and mommy brot me to the Junior League at united sq for a haircut. haha this time i was better behaved so the auntie had more time to cut my hair....to so short....

cutting in process... tat's only the beginning whereby i guai guai sit down.. later i had to stand up and daddy mommy holding me to stand still.

end product... look quite tuk hor.. dun u think so?

club med bintan trip

2009-09-28T22:48:00.012+08:00

Last week, daddy and mommy took long leave and brought me to our first overseas trip as a family ever. It supposed to be a relaxing trip, but turned out to be quite taxing for both daddy and mommy.

First, the packing is a big headache. Being KS parents, mommy brought extra set of clothes, my medicine in case I fall sick, whole tin of 400g milk powder and several packs of pigeon instant porridge to standby and one big pack of pampers + pull-ups + swimming diapers, on top of my other daily necessities. My luggage alone oredi took up half of the space. On top of tat, daddy is scared I am not used to sleep in the cot the hotel provided, he went to nanny’s place to get my playpen and brot along!

at the singapore ferry terminal, waiting to board.

on the ferry.. mommy trying to self-take.

On the way there, I was quite a good boy, although it’s the first time I took ferry, the sleep bug soon overtook me and I slept during the journey. On arrival, there was a long queue in front of the counter with luggage littered around and the bus was so crowded with guests, lucky daddy sang songs to keep me entertained during the bus ride to resort.

reaching bintan!

crowded bus ride to the resort.

it was raining heavily when we reached the resort.

Upon reaching the resort, we first settled in the room then we went for a quick hi-tea at the restaurant. sensing I should be tired over the journey, we headed back to the room for me to take a nap and mommy can continue to unpack. Maybe I was really tired, I slept all the way to 7plus Sin time (6plus bintan time). So when we dressed up and did some preparation time, it was time for dinner! Well, I turned out to be quite a notti boy, maybe I was too excited seeing so many diff pple altogether, I only ate abit of the porridge the restaurant made for me and refused to eat anymore of other food. end up mommy had to stuff me with a bottle of milk to quiet me down. Daddy and mommy quickly rushed to finish their own dinner and we had to head back to the room for me to get showered changed and ready for bed again. .

our room... my cot is on the right side. but it end up used as a storage space.

Well, tat proved to be only the beginning. Over the rest of the stay there, I only behaved myself during breakfast where there was jap seaweed (my new fav for this trip, I only allow this to go in my mouth), pancake, bread, plain porridge with grilled fish. As for lunch and dinner…. Hmm… I simply refused to eat and wanted to come down from the highchair and walked around. If mommy persisted, I screamed and cried until the other tables all looked at us. Hmmm.. tat’s from daddy and mommy’s eyes, to me, I just want to explore the new places and make friends, food comes secondary to me. anw there is milk mah. When I saw other kids around, I would walk up to them and observe, maybe hinting them “can I play with you?”

drinking the pigeon juice mommy brot there during breakie on the 2nd day.

ready to hit the pool

my hippo float.. cost a whopping SGD14 cos lazy mommy and daddy dun want to deflate the lion float at home and bring along the pump.

So for the 4 days and 3 nites there, we only managed to go to the swimming pool twice, went to the beach once as I was scared and didn’t dare to walk on the sands. Other time, the routine was like morning wake up – breakfast – shower and change – morning nap – lunch – play a while – afternoon nap – dinner – zzz again. Although I am small, I dictated the day and the two adults revolved around me.

As for the resort, mommy felt, it didn’t turn out as good as she initially thot maybe partly is cos of me (shy…). Though it’s baby friendly as they provide cot, sterilizer, food warmer and there is a baby corner at the restaurant with jar food and other stuff, there isn’t much activities for small babies below 2 like me. there is no baby pool , the shallowest pool is 1m and there is no playground like slide or whatever for me to play. The room is quite good with resort feeling. Although we booked the seaview supreme room but the view is blocked by the trees as we were on the ground floor. Service was above average, maybe too good as most of the time, our table was cleaned up for the next guest even though we just went to the food area to get food together and there was no one to man the table.

spot check by the coast guard on the ferry back.

Maybe I will become more dong shi as I grow up and the trip will be more enjoyable then?

“Ma-ma” are you calling me, Darren?

2009-09-27T23:18:00.002+08:00

When I turned to 16mth, I started to make sounds similar to “ma – ma” mommy got excited as I finally opened my mouth to call her.. but she is not sure initially. Cos I sounded like this to her “ ma – ma – ma.. wa – wa – wa…: and as I said it, I was looking somewhere else or walking around.

But over the last weekend, mommy becomes so much more sure tat I AM calling her. cos when I said “ ma – ma –ma”, I was “running” to her and then hugged her legs. And this morning, when mommy was changing in her room, I shouted “ma-ma” so loudly in the living room cos I couldn’t see her.

Ooohhhh.. mommy melted oredi. Daddy? Green with envy…

recently, i have a heightened interest in alphabets and numbers. i like to point to the letters and words and make the adults read out to me. and i can say "1 (yi)" and "2(er)" in chinese. hehehe

daddy's birthday

2009-09-26T22:39:00.006+08:00

hehe.. tis year is daddy's big 30, so he had so many rounds of celebrations.

1st.... with ma-ma, ye-ye and suk-suk at peach garden thomson plaza

who who.. who is the paparazzi??? today is for daddy's birthday, dun shoot me.

where is my food?

daddy's big birthday cake

daddy's lunar birthday... three pieces of cakes from cedele...

the actual day cake.. only a small celebration at home.

the ikea trip

2009-09-26T19:42:00.007+08:00

wat a lazy sunday afternoon whereby we were at home doing nothing and outside it was raining whole day. finally mommy said let's go out when the rain got lighter, if not really can grow mould at home.

so we decided to head to ikea at alexandra although even the taxi driver say the tampines one is bigger but too bad.. it's too far for us.

many pple had the same thought as us as the place is really crowded. mommy actually wanted to put me to the kids playing area but too bad i am not 90cm tall yet.

At the entrance

so we walked around the places first and mommy bought a few kids-proof safety items for me since i can walk around myself now.

me in the shopping cart.

i wish to have a swing like this in my room.

of course the highlight of the day got to be the cafe. we had many nice food there and i like the poached salmon with potato.. anw think tat's the only food i can eat now although daddy and mommy did let me try the meatball and cheesecake too.

our spread for the afternoon tea

yum yum...

me so loving going to the library

2009-09-26T19:31:00.005+08:00

one fine saturday afternoon, daddy and mommy finally decided to bring me to the library... lazy parents indeed, although there is a bishan library nearby,they have not brought me there for so long, the last trip there was when i was still a baby.

oh well, anw, i really like the kids section. there are so many kids there.. and being a friendly/kpo kid myself, i like to walk around and see what other kids are doing. many times, mommy had to carry me away cos i am being too nosey.. taking books or their stuff on the table wo asking... hahha... tat's my curious nature, ma....

reading book myself... can you see the serious expression on my face? oopppss. the book is upside down though.

the happiest moment when i was able to move abt freely.

i am very hardworking ok? i really listen intently...

so daddy and mommy, we should come here more often!

mommy's day off

2009-09-21T12:03:00.006+08:00

mommy took a day off to bring me to collect my passport.

first we sent daddy to work by taking mrt... quite a new experience for me since i have never taken mrt during peak hour on a weekday. lucky there was a nice uncle who gave up seat for mommy and me. but i prefer to stand (or rather to be carried by daddy)

then we went to lavender to take the passport, at the station, i was happily walking around in the platform.

i am a friendly chap

the collection for passport is really fast since mommy has made an online appt. so within 5 min, we were ready to go. since it's still early. mommy decided to bring me to the newest shopping mall on orchard road - ION after hearing so much abt it. and as it's a friday, wai gong is not working. so we met up with wai gong and wai po too.

happily walking at ION.

as long as daddy or mommy bring me out, i am super excited. after a few hours of walking around, even the adults wanted to sit down and relax, yet i was still not tired and refused to take nap.

flipping menu, wat's nice to eat?

arguing with wai gong? why no food for me?

lucky mommy and lucky me

2009-09-21T11:58:00.003+08:00

Since I was born, mommy got the habit of buying “mother & baby” magazine for its informative and helpful tips for new mommies like mommy. There were some quite good lobangs like the “chubbiest cheek” contest which mommy enrolled me but didn’t have time to bring me there.

For the june 09 issue, there was a contest of winning Drypers Drypantz hampers by sms-ing. Mommy thot “ why not, just try my luck lor.. after all it’s only a sms”.

Who knows, two months later, mommy got a call from the staff from Mediacorp Publishing asking what size of diapers I am wearing.

So last Friday (21 Aug) when daddy and mommy were both on leave (they went to enjoy the movie “UP” but left me with the nanny… bad bad bad…), they went to the office at YCK to collect the prize for me. there are 4 big packs of Drypantz in the carton. At the rate I am using diaper and with no sign of being potty-trained so soon, I am sure this can last me for some time.

Daddy's acting skill quite good hor. the diapers are not tat heavy lah

me and my diapers. there are 4 big packs inside.

another episode of sickness

2009-09-21T11:45:00.007+08:00

(19 Aug... lazy mommy again didn't update regularly)

Just thot I recovered from the very sinister cough not long ago. I started to have runny nose shortly after.. being very kiasi/kiasu parents, daddy & mommy brot me to see dr Ong again. Sigh.. think all the aunties in the clinic know me pretty well by now. See my face oredi know my serial number.. sigh.. is tat a good sign? Dr said it’s a new strain of flu bug again and gave me some flu medication and told mommy just let it run its course.

while waiting outside the clinic.

when the wait turned out to be unexpectedly long.... i was cranky and hungry.

Obviously I am not strong. Cos over the weekend, I started to have fever. So daddy and mommy brought me to see another PD I frequented at TMC. There I did a nose swab test for H1N1. luckily it was negative. After taking more medicine, I went home.

Although I still got fever on-off, I went for ma-ma’s birthday dinner at Tung Lok signature at vivocity. I really enjoyed it cos I get to eat all the nice food usually not allowed. Like the shark’s fin soup with shredded chicken.. spinach tou fu… and the spinach with eggs. Yummy… and for the first time, I ate rice with these nice dishes together.

father and son outfit

a rare family photo

my blur look when they sang the birthday song

But mommy regretted of bringing me out when I was not feeling well. Cos tat nite, my temperature shot up to 38.5. mommy had to give me a dose of nurofen to bring my temperature down and also sponge me in the midnite to keep me cool.

Since then, my fever hovered around 38 degree. Daddy and mommy decided to bring me to see doc again. And this time… I have to eat antibiotics. Sigh sigh sigh…

new pattern

2009-09-21T11:33:00.004+08:00

For the past national day long weekend, I have developed new pattern… maybe it’s true.. every month I will do something new, my way to celebrate that I am one month older.

For 3 days consecutively, I have only taken one nap during noon time. But this nap lasted long to be 2 hours. Saturday nite, I managed to sleep around 8plus.. then Sunday nite, I was cranky and slept at 7plus.. but Monday nite.. daddy & mommy brought me out for dinner with ma – ma, ye-ye and I was overexcited.

how happy i am.. with porridge in my mouth...

At the restaurant, I attempted to walk around but obviously not as good as at home since I am not used to walk in shoes.

Then mommy let me try some crab beehoon and shark’s fin soup, I think I enjoyed it cos when there was no more, I screamed… but mommy said I cannot eat too much cos it’s very salty with strong flavorings. But I do know how to appreciate better things in life rite?

when mommy refused to let me have more crab bee hoon

Then at the end of the dinner, there is some lime in the dessert. When I saw it, I gestured that I want to eat, then daddy held one slice in his hand and let me suck. Surprisingly, I wasn’t scared of sourness and actually quite enjoyed it.

Although I looked tired, I still refused to sleep when we reached home, I attempted to push chair around home again.. when mommy tried to bring me into bedroom, I held the door frame and refused to go inside. but mommy forced me to sleep on the bed even though I was screaming loudly. Soon I was on my way to lalaland.

passport finally

2009-08-22T17:32:00.004+08:00

mommy has been contemplating to do a passport for me for very long.. but with my often sickness as well as the current H1N1 situation globally, going overseas has never materialised. thus no immediate urgency to do a passport.

however, she did try to take a photo of me good enough for a passport at home. but with numerous attempts, including make me sit on the potty with a white board behind, on the barney dvd and make me sit in the highchair with the white board, or even asking help from wai gong using his DSLR which supposedly capture my action faster... alas.. none of the above succeeded as all the photos with me either not looking into the camera or not 100% front view with two ears showing...even the cropping failed. whenever mommy tried to load the pic for the online application, all has been rejected.

the need finally arose when mommy saw the Club Med promotion and decided we should go for a short getaway as a family. so yesterday, she and daddy brought me to a photo kiosk to take passport photo. it's definitely a hard job. daddy make me sit on his shoulders and he squatted down to make me just nicely fit in the white background. mommy stood beside the auntie and tried to catch my attention using the photo frame... the empty albums on the shelf. finally, a small mirror for customer did the trick. i looked right into the camera and the auntie was fast enough to capture tat moment....

viola! this is the final product.

i do look a bit shocked though.. don't you think so? but i like this pic too cos i was holding it all the time when i was back at home.. and even laughed at myself.

now i am positively looking forward to my new passport. or even more so, the bintan trip at club med with daddy & mommy in September!

no.. No... NO!!! DARREEN!!!

2009-08-15T21:27:00.000+08:00

tat's prob the most said phrase at home now. the close second being "darren, CANNOT...." who says it's terrible two, the "terrible-ness" starts at 15mth... or rather starts when the little one can start move around freely.

mommy is really amazed at how much the little one has grown overnite. at the 2nd week of my 15mth, i start to walk more on my own. i can drink from straw.. (FINALLY!!!) and i understand most of mommy's instruction. ok.. sometimes i just pretend not to listen... shhh... like when i want to open drawer repeatedly even though mommy said NO.. like when i start throwing things on the coffee table even though mommy said NO... like when i still like to stand just in front of the TV even though when mommy said NO...

think the little one is really at the stage tat whereby everyday will have new surprises.

this is something mommy finally caught me on video after numerous trys. mostly cos she has to keep an eye on me and try to video at the same time. and also partly cos i was too quick for her to catch. i just start walking unexpectedly and she has no time to grab the camera.

double happiness

2009-08-09T20:40:00.002+08:00

i turned 15mth today! and today is also the national day!

but the happiest moment got to be i am able to walk INDEPENDENTLY for abt 1o steps myself!
yippee, tat's a great achievement...

and it happened quite unexpectedly. we just came back from supermarket, and i was as usual crawling around, then i picked up a plastic stick under the table.. stood up while holding it and just WALKED... right from the coffee table to the tv consol.

mommy was overjoyed and she didn't really count properly... so she estimated ard 10 steps....

but after tat magical moment, i am back to my usual.. crawling, walking with support again...

waiting for my next magical moment... shouldn't be long though...

Naughty or timid?

2009-08-09T20:31:00.002+08:00

Although officially I still cannot walk independently yet, I just like to roam around in the house. Just a question whether I am willing to let go of the support. I’ve been practicing long and hard by pushing chairs all around the home.

There is this yellow child chair, the push walker, the red stool and now even my own high chair. Oh I attempted to push my own stroller too. The fav place got to be the kitchen, I will either lead mommy to walk to the kitchen or push a chair and walk there myself. Then I will let go of the support and turned to the drawers and start pulling and closing it. or open and close the cupboard door.. the expression is super funnie. When I am scared of hurting my fingers or the loud banging sound, I will close my eyes and with a very careful/scared expression on my face. Hahahah

caught in action!

Sometimes when I was holding mommy’s hand to walk, mommy will suddenly let go, and I can walk one or two steps on my own before falling on the floor. Now I know mommy’s trick liao, once she let go, I will lean back on her legs cos I know she is just behind me!

teething darren = cranky & whiny darren

2009-08-09T20:06:00.003+08:00

Its’ been quite a while for me with 8 teeth. But recently I started teething again. And this time is not one, not two.. but at least 6 or 8!

The two big molar on the upper jaw are oredi out which mommy only realized recently and suspected it’s been out for quite a while. Then over the last weekend, mommy can see the two incisor on the upper jaw going to erupt soon. Then the incisor on the bottom jaw also going to erupt soon cos the gum has become hard and can see a bit of whitish under the gum. When I finally willing to open my mouth, mommy thot she saw a bit whitish on the bottom left molar too?

Even though mommy has been brushing teeth for me using the finger brush with the first teeth toothpaste, there is still some blackish stain on my teeth. So mommy was thinking when would be an appropriate time to bring me to see a dentist. Maybe soon.. when I can understand mommy’s instruction.

my signature move during the past week, while one hand holding a spoon to bite..the other hand pushing the chair and walking around.

SICK again…

2009-08-09T18:59:00.005+08:00

It all started with mommy with blocked nose and phlegm in her throat… while mommy didn’t show any other symptoms, the bug was too strong for me.

I started with simple cough and a bit runny nose. So daddy and mommy quickly brought me to PD’s clinic in view of current situation of H1N1, it’s better to cure it early.

Who knows, the medicine didn’t work for me and the cough started becoming chesty and with a lot of phlegm. While the pd said throwing up is better since I dunno how to spit out the phlegm, it’s really very heart wrenching for daddy and mommy to see me merlion every now and then.

daddy and mommy brought me back to the PD on Saturday morning (25Jul). the PD suggested to do nebulizer once in the clinic, but given my previous exp, daddy and mommy quickly rejected the idea. So he changed my medicine to a stronger one…
Instead of getting better, I started to develop fever over the weekend. Daddy and mommy actually brought me to the TMC 24 hour clinic on Sunday nite, but looking at the long queue and with every visitor has to wear a mask, we eventually returned home without seeing the doc. Monday morning, daddy and mommy brought me back to the PD and this time there is no escape for me.. I have to be on nebulizer every 4hourly and again my medication was changed.

i am so used to the nebulizer tat i bit the tube...

So over the next two days before the review on Thursday, daddy and mommy took pains to come to the nanny’s place to do nebulizer for me during lunch time. And during mid nite, to pei me watch Barney at 2am and did the nebulizer at the same time.

When Thursday came and me didn’t seem to be any better, the doc suggested to continue with the nebulizer and monitored over the weekend, if not have to send to kk for H1N1 testing. mommy really had the urge to send me there straight away, but then would it be better for me? surely there will be a lot of sick kids around at the A&E, with the infamous long queue and inexperienced doctors, would it do more harm than good for me to go there? Scarly I catch another virus there? So in the end, mommy just shelve the idea.

The cough seems to drag on for a longer period now. And I have “successfully” passed the virus to daddy with daddy falling sick with the same symptoms. But daddy has to go to KL for a conference on Sunday evening. Sigh.. hope both of us recover fast.

tat's how much medicine i have accumulated over the last two + weeks!

Monday came with the scheduled review with doctor again, although the cough seems to be less frequent now, it still has a bit linger on. so the doc suggest to go on with the medicine, but no need to continue with the nebulizer and if I dun get better by weekend, then I have to go thru further test. But mommy feels it’s better for me to do it now rather than wait… so off we go to tmc to do the test.

Then there is a bit of confusion over there, the nurse at the clinic told mommy to go to the lab at tmc. So mommy went straight to the lab on the 4th floor. The staff saw the request form and said ‘we dun have the facilities here to do the test” with a few phone calls we actually supposed to go to the 24 hour family clinic on the 1st level.

Luckily wai gong came to accompany us. Cos the test is supposed to extract out my phlegm for culture test… the nurse said I better dun drink or eat.. but mommy smuggled some soy bean milk and pancake for me cos I am hungry liao and it’s my feeding time.

When it’s my turn, mommy carried me to the procedure room. The nurse asked mommy to put me on the bed… at first I am still curious and looking around then the nurse drew the curtain and asked mommy to wait outside.. then I started to become scary liao..
Mommy didn’t know what the nurse did to me, but she can hear my cries even standing outside.. sigh…

Mommy’s note: I think it’s better for me to stay outside, if I am in, I sure will break down and cry with Darren and snatch him away from the nurse. Even now when I think back, my eyes will still be damp…my poor baby… hope the worst is over.

P.S. after the two days culture test, the test result showed tat there are two germs inside me.. no wonder i took so long to recover... now i am under house arrest until i fully recover...

see... i am quite busy at home actually... tat's my lap top..

or do exercise by pushing chair around?

The 2nd haircut

2009-08-09T18:53:00.004+08:00

Officially this is only my 2nd major hair cut. First being at full month while they got me shaved botak while I was not able to defend myself. 2nd one was a minor trim just before the sean lau PS and I was oredi struggling big time. All mommy could say is this time was even worse.

At first I was quite alrite sitting on the chair, then once the auntie put the apron on me, I started to fidget liao. As my hair was quite a lot and getting very long and thick. The auntie used the shaver to make it thinner. But once I heard the “humming sound” from the electric shaver, I wanted to run away. The adults have to hold my head so the auntie can shave. But I still struggled a lot. End up, mommy had to carry me on her laps without the apron. But even like this, I still wiggled a lot.

So can you imagine the mess, all the cut hair are all over my body and mommy’s. and best of all, the hair was not exactly well cut. Some patches got shaved more and some less. And the fringe some short and some long. Sigh.. now I can only hope my hair would grow back soon… but then again, would I be subject to another hair cut?

Next time, mommy is going to ask the auntie to cut “Armani” style.. haha wat’s tat? Can eat?

before....

after... see the fringe is not evenly cut?

me and my yellow chair

2009-08-08T23:38:00.002+08:00

pardon the orientation haha... my daddy doesn't happen to be very good with camera.

new updates

2009-08-08T23:29:00.004+08:00

Mommy is getting lazy. She hasn’t really updated anything while I was making tremendous development in my own way…

At the end of 13mths.. going on to 14mths….what I can do at the moment.

1) climb to standing position with support, be it coffee table, tv cabinet, kitchen glass door, or simply a flat wall. I am able to pull myself to standing position with little support.
2) Walk with support or in another word “cruising”, along the coffee table, bench, tv cabinet, or while pushing the plastic stool in the bedroom. Recently I can walk a few steps while just holding one hand from mommy.

up to some mischief

3) Prefer to standing than sitting now which make bath time especially difficult. So sometimes mommy would do showering instead.
4) Like to use my finger to poke into small holes? Mommy presumes tat I am trying to practice my fine motor skills when I poke at her nostril and try to lift up her lips.
5) Loves to see myself in the mirror and laugh aloud. With a touch and a kiss too.
6) Able to babble a lot.. but still cannot make a word out of it. still waiting for the magic moment to call papa (dada) or mama, in whatever form.
7) Knows how to throw tantrum by screaming aloud. if taking away whatever I am holding, I will scream on top of my lung until the adults give in to me.

only quiet moment tat i can sit still is to watch my fav barney.

8) Can hold my own bottle but lazy. If mommy insists on putting my hand around the bottle, I can hold for a while. But after, I just drop the hand to roll my shirt or playing other stuff
9) Knows how to refuse food. I am no longer the big eater which just gobbled down everything stuff inside my mouth. If I dun like, I will use my hand to push away and scream to show my unhappiness. Even if I am hungry, now I will take longer to finish my food.

Last night (2nd jul) mommy is so happy over my improvments, it seems I have grown up a lot just over one night.

After wiping pipi after poo poo, I climbed down the sofa (where the changing mat is) all by myself in the correct manner – turned over and legs down first). Then I stood up using the support by the back of my yellow chair and walked around the whole living room by pushing it.

Then on the coffee table, there is a container with raisin and peanuts. Now I know how to hold it if I want to eat the raisins inside. Then mommy will open and feed me some raisins. Once I finished, I will look at her again, and she know it’s time for 2nd one. but sometimes, mommy refused to give me more cos it’s too sweet for me. And I just went back to my gerber star on the table instead of making a big fuss. I am a big boy now.

As for the gerber star, I am getting better at it by opening the lid using my teeth. That was an old trick I learned long long ago. The new one would be I know how to tilt the container and shake it a bit so the stars can come out.. and mommy always says “one at a time” so I just put my hand inside and take one only and put inside my mouth. See I understand instruction now. But occasionally , I still like to tilt the container all the way and all the gerber stars came out, yippee tat’s a “gerber star feast” for me.

my fav gerber star

gymboree trial

2009-08-08T23:15:00.009+08:00

Thanks to auntie Jessie from May08 thread who arranged this Gymboree trial at the HarborFront cos we got free trial voucher from the May birthday bash not long ago.

Although it’s early, was it 1015 on a Sunday morning? It’s good since there are only 4 babies in the same class and we had the whole playground to ourselves.

getting ready for the lesson to start

It started with some free play, but I was drinking milk at tat time. Once I finished, I joined in the fun. The teacher really had a very loud clear and angelic voice tat caught my attention, I was smiling all the way when she was singing.

Then it’s time for some physical movement, we were divided into two groups and climbed up the apparatus on the playground. I simply loved this part since I like to crawl all over the place.

climb climb climb...

chasing after the ball

climb again...

Then each baby took his turn to be carried in the parachute and rocked side to side. I was oredi laughing aloud when the other babies did it. so when it’s finally my turn, see how smiley I am.. I was mesmerized by the teacher’s voice.

see me in the big parachute... thanks to randall daddy to help mommy take photo

do you see randall and auntie jessie sitting on the mat?

my big smiley face.. i really enjoyed it.

Think the most enjoyable session is the part when all the babies were standing against a big log-shaped cushion and walked up and down. I was laughing so happily as I listened to teacher’s singing…

I really can’t bear to leave the place when it’s ended. As I still crawled to the toy’s corner and tried to take the toys and play.

oooppss. mommy caught me taking toys even the lesson has ended.

First trip to a park

2009-08-08T23:04:00.005+08:00

Daddy & mommy think it’s good for me to learn to love and appreciate nature. But mot of the time we tend to laze around at home during weekends rather than venture further out.

The chance finally came when wai gong, wai po, yee-ma and tong tong jie jie came over one Sunday. Wai gong just got a new DSLR and was eager to show off its prowess. So we decided to go to fort canning park, and wat’s more, we are going there by bus instead of the usual taxi.

So here we go, we took a bus to the bus stop opposite liang court, there is a flight of staircase leading up all the way. So we all started climbing…

getting ready!

As I haven’t started walking, wai po and mommy took turns to carry me. as a heavy baby at 13kg++, I sure gave a hard time to mommy and wai po. Especially wai po bah, cos she carried me most of the time.

see wai po's clothes is wet from sweat... thank you wai po!

As we are in no hurry, we took a slow stroll and stopped along the way to appreciate the fallen leaves, blooming flowers and the refreshing air.

tong tong jie jie enjoying herself

It’s really an eye-opening experience to me. to see so many trees, flowers. I was so eager to look around tat I kept turning right and left to catch all the views. At one point of time, yee ma got so excited to see those red seeds falling from the trees which she thinks it’s Xiang Si dou. And she and tong tong jie jie started picking it up from the ground. How I wish I can walk and join them in the fun.

When we finally reached the legends, alas.. it’s under renovation. Nonetheless, there were still a lot of activities. Saw a couple taking wedding photos, a malay wedding with loud music blasting, and some pet owners’ activities on the lawn..

from my smile, u noe i enjoyed myself!

mommy and me

Not bad, it’s definitely a refreshing change to shopping malls.

oooo............ finally!!!

2009-08-08T23:01:00.002+08:00

mommy has been trying to post new updates for me but the page keep having errors "javascript0" and cannot load up photos. a blog wont' be nice w/o photos...

hurray!!!! then the clever mommy went up to search and realised a lot of pple having the same prob.. finally someone posted a solution and it worked...

so now mommy is back in action.

My first step?

2009-06-27T17:58:00.002+08:00

Last Saturday(13Jun), when mommy brought me to GUG for lesson, I was standing up and mommy sitting behind me to support me. Then unknown to me, mommy suddenly let go her hand while I was listening to the teacher. And I was able to stand unsupported for a few seconds. And within tat few seconds, my right foot moved in front one small step!

Mommy was overjoyed and dare not to laugh out loud. But after tat hair splitting moment, I fell down on my butt.

Think I am still not ready to walk on my own yet bah…

Mommy noticed tat Darren always seems to be more active when attending lessons at GUG, he crawls a lot and he is more readily to stand up as compared to at home. When at home, he tends to bend his knees so tat he can crawl instead. Maybe tat’s the peer pressure?

the new In***n move

2009-05-24T11:41:00.003+08:00

haha.. i've been doing this for many times. and mommy finally caught me on video.
whenever i do this, daddy and mommy will have a good laugh.
ever since i was born, daddy & mommy always thot i am in***n by nature, cos i screamed "ney...ney..." when i wanted milk. and i was naturally dark even though daddy & mommy are considered fair.

with this new stunt, i even more look like one of them.

The beginning of little terror?

2009-05-24T11:02:00.005+08:00

Monday nite (18 May) while I was playing with mommy on the mat, I bit mommy. Usually, I will crawl my way over her legs but dunno wat happened to me last nite, I rested on her thigh and bit it. there is a little toothmark on her thigh now.

can you see the little square toothmark?

and my favourite places at home now are toilet and kitchen. Every morning, after mommy changes diaper for me and help me come down from the bed, I will crawl out of the room and turn left to the toilet at the master bedroom. Then when no one notices me, will crawl into the kitchen.
If not then crawl out of the main door and onto the access balcony, the floor got small pebbles and it feels really different from the marble floor in the home.

Even since I know how to stand up with support, I like to go up to the TV console, pull my self up and play with the disc on it. And throw it onto the floor one by one. or i wil crawl to the coffee table, pull myself up and take the gerber star container.

eat gerber stars

new popeye stunt?

thinking of doing some mischief later?

First time showering standing up

2009-05-24T10:59:00.000+08:00

a couple of Sundays ago, we went my wai po’s house for dinner. Daddy was helping yee ma to fix some computer stuff after dinner and it’s taking forever, so I got bored and was crawling around in the room to entertain myself.

Then it’s time for wai po to shower tong tong jie jie.. so she asked me whether I want to shower too since I was all sweaty and dirty from crawling. Initially mommy was a bit hesitant since there was no bath tub at waipo’s house. But in the end, she just let me go since we bought extra clothes tat day.

Its’ the first time I was showering standing up. and definitely a refreshing experience. Because now when mommy bathes me in the tub, I always wanted to climb up and turned to look around. So waipo asked me to stand up and hold the pipe to steady myself. And mommy was holding me up so that I wont’ fall down. Then wai po soaped me and used the shower head to rinse off. I felt so ticklish from the spray of water and I pee-ed. Mommy was laughing off her head over it.. bad mommy… hmmmm…

My 1st birthday party!

2009-05-11T22:56:00.015+08:00

Finally it’s the day, i officially turned 1 and is no longer a baby.. Welcome to the toddler hood!

the day started quite rushed though cos we have to reach my party venue, the grassroots club, earlier to set up the place. So we had breakfast and had bath… and mommy then dressed me in my birthday clothes. the new Polo tee mommy bought online. The Oshkosh jumper auntie Rachel bought when she went to the US and the Addidas shoes we bought together after my lesson at GUG a couple of weeks before.

Getting ready to party!

Mommy has packed my party stuff a few days before liao. So we just gathered all the stuff and off we go…

the sign at the Grassroots club, my name was printed on it!

When we reached the place, the uncle who helped us set up the balloons is already there.. and the place is oredi nicely decorated with balloons.. I am quite mesmerized with all the balloons and didn’t really pay attention to daddy and mommy..

Mommy passed a few more balloons she bot from auntie Veron and the uncle made them into a nice bouquet and placed beside the cake table…

the decoration at the cake table... without my banner yet.

Being first time at the children’s playroom, daddy was abit displeased with the place as he felt it can be further improved… and somemore wai gong has made me a nice short video montage since my birth. How to show to my guests if there is no projector and screen… but due to the restriction of the room and the club, I think daddy has to settle with the arrangement.

Shortly after, my birthday cake came… ok. It’s all wrapped in the box when they arrived and I can’t really see. Then daddy and mommy put up the cake stand and arranged the cupcakes and cake.. wow… it’s really a beautiful cake…and it has my name there.. then mommy arranged my party favor which consists of 3 pieces of cartoon character (pooh, tigger & minnie) cookies on the table beside the cake.

my big 3-tier cake

While waiting for the banner to come. I played with my tong tong jie jie in the playground full of balls. But too bad, I really duno how to throw the balls yet, I only know how to bite them.

we are busy playing. see wat see!

Finally, my banner is here. Thanks to uncle Duncan and daddy to help me hang it. now all the decorations are done and we were just waiting for the guests to come in… meanwhile, mommy has brought me to play somemore balls with yee ma, yee fu and tong tong jie jie… we were having a fun time throwing the balls around.

While waiting for the guests to streaming in, I had my lunch, took a nap to re-energise myself…

Finally the most impt moment of the day has come. Mommy carried me to the cake table and suddenly all the guests gathered there and started singing “happy birthday” to me! I am really stunned and I forgot to smile. Then daddy and mommy help me blow the candle and daddy guided me to cut the cake…….ehrrrmmm but I forgot to make a birthday wish!
er hem... i am more interested in chewing my finger.

I think the happiest moment for me would be seeing all the babies gathering together and mommy still tried to help me match making? Hehehe…

baby Zach, the youngest here.

baby Daphne and her beautiful mommy... my future girlfriend?

baby lucas... it's ur turn two months later!

A big thank you to all the uncles and aunties who have come all the way to celebrate for me. And thank you for all the presents and ang baos. Special thanks to uncles and aunties who brought their babies along to play with me.. although I might not understand what has happened now, one day when I grow up and daddy and mommy show me the photos and I will feel so loved by all of you.

my first lunar birthday

2009-04-29T12:06:00.014+08:00

Today is a special day for me. I am ONE by the Chinese calendar. So daddy and mommy took a day off specially for the occasion.

My day started with a special breakfast. Instead of the usual porridge, today I had meesua with egg (mommy says I cannot eat egg white yet, so it’s only egg yolk) and some veggie. Hmmm I am a good boy when comes to eating, I finish the whole bowl.

Then daddy and mommy brought me downstairs to buy their breakfast, and they went to this stall and bought two ang ku kueh for me too. Mommy heard from her colleague tat it signifies longevity, so she just followed lor. after back to home, mommy put the two ang ku kuehs in a bowl. It’s the first time I see something so red. Initially I dun dare to touch at all. Then daddy took a bit of the skin and feed me. Hmm… just yi si yi si bah, cos the amount is so tiny, I couldn’t really taste it. then I finally sum up enough courage to touch it, heeheehee, it feels soft and oily.
Two ang ku kueh

After my bath, it’s the highlight of the day… ZHUA ZHOU (choosing the item). Mommy laid out 10 items in a circle and each item symbolizes a career I might take in the future. The 10 items are

1) pen – journalist / writer
2) ruler – someone with judgement
3) book – scholar
4) thermometer – doctor or in healthcare profession
5) ball – someone in sports industry
6) mouse – IT profession
7) calculator – accountant
8) seal – someone with authority /power to approve
9) $10 note – businessman
10) Handphone – telecommunication

And guess what I chose? Firstly, I took up the mouse, one glance and I threw it away. Then I crawled to the calculator, grabbed it and then I am more attracted to the seal. Oh tat one I have n’t seen before. So I played with the seal for quite sometime. Then I saw the thermometer, the tip looks chewy. But after I put in my mouth, I got distracted by the seal again, I got to take tat one again.. then I went back to the mouse and calculator again.. but in the end, I took the $10 note and crawled away.. maybe I find money is the most practical after all?

After lunch, daddy and mommy brought me out for a little family time together. We went to Goodwood park for hi-tea. But the naughty me cannot sit still and enjoy the food and music. After a good 10 or 15 min, daddy and mommy have to take turns to entertain me, if not I will scream on top of my lung and the rest of the guests keep looking at me.

our birthday boy getting ready to go out.

where is my order?

Then daddy brought me to the swimming pool and let me play with the water…
Eventually mommy gave up, she carried me somewhere there is carpet and let me crawl on my own..i finally found something interesting and happily crawled away. Then we realized tat the place is just outside the hotel’s office. And those aunties will stop and smiled at me.

finally get to crawl. better check got anyone catching me?

Haiz.. I guess daddy and mommy never really enjoyed the hi-tea in peace. After all they specially took leave to accompany me. Nonetheless, it’s good to spend the time together as family.

~~~~* * * * *~~~~
Before mommy forget, darren did some of his firsts on his lunar birthday, first, he pulled himself up from kneeling position to standing position with the help of coffee table.

2nd, he finally poo-ed when sitting on the potty. Hahha but I still very angry over this. When the maid heard the noise, she just let him sit on the mat if not for the fact I asked her to bring Darren to the potty. But she never removed the pants and diaper lor. just placed him on the potty and held him still. My guess is tat she doesn’t want to clean the potty and darren’s butt. After all, poo on the diaper just need to throw away the diaper rite? Less work for her. sighzz…

Getting more active (naughtier) day by day

2009-04-29T11:00:00.006+08:00

I love my new found freedom!

Now I realized I can crawl to any places all by myself, I am so happy tat I dun even want to be carried. The happiest time of the day would be when mommy put me on the mat and let me roam freely. I like to go to the toys corner and take out all the flash cards and spill them on the mat, then pick up those I like one by one. when I got bored with the cards, I will crawl to my potty, not sitting on it, but playing with it by putting my hand in. I am always interested to know what’s there at the bottom. Then after I am done with that, I crawl to the activity mat that I used to lie when I was a baby, but now I dun want to lie there, I am more interested to play with the tag.

see, i am so happy crawling!

When nobody notices me, I like to crawl on the marble floor. Yippee.. and play with daddy’s mouse and keyboard. And if I am lucky, I get to play with daddy’s blackberry when he is charging it. then I will sneak under the study table to play with the wire.. uh-huh.. most of the time, before I even touch tat, I got pulled out by one of the adults cos they say it’s dangerous. Hmmm. What does “dangerous” mean?

Mommy and daddy said I am a determined young man. Cos whatever I catch the sight on, I will make sure I get it even though the adults put it away. Once they pull me away from the wires, I will try to find my way back! But the adults are as persistent as me.

now digging out my toys from the container.

Tat’s my usual routine at night, I must crawl to my content before I am wiling to go sleep. If not I will make a din and dun let the adults rest too. Sigh, daddy and mommy’s dark eye rings are getting darker. I am so happy to find my fav card.

But I am getting more fun to play with too. Whenever I crawl to the kitchen glass door or mommy’s dressing mirror, I will laugh aloud. Is tat the cute baby in the mirror me? Hmmm… not bad looking though… hahaha
first time sitting on the potty, still guai guai.....

but after that... hmmm... wat's inside? let me check....

Darren's first birthday bash!!!!

2009-04-11T23:45:00.005+08:00

Yippee.. i am turning ONE in another month's time. the preparation has started long ago. and now it's in the critical finalization phase....

so uncles, aunties and frenz.. pls do join the fun with me. here is my invitation to all of you:

in case it's not clear, the details are as followed:

Date: 9 May, Saturday (Vesak Day)

venue: Children's playroom, The Grassroots Club
190 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8 (just beside Yio Chu Kang MRT station)

Time: 1130 -1500.

Hope to see you there!

many firsts in the first week of Apr

2009-04-11T23:40:00.002+08:00

April so far has been a fruitful to me, I have learnt a lot of new things within the first week.

1) first of all, I finally know how to crawl. Although I can only crawl one or two steps, then I will lie down to rest a while. Tat’s cos I am too big size to support myself. But as I practice more often, (I even crawl with my eyes closed during mid of nite, I am hardworking hor), now I can at least crawl from one end of the mat to the other end… but I like to crawl on the marble floor more. When mommy put me on the mat, I will wriggle my way back to the marble floor. Even though I got knocked my head against the floor a few times, but I guess it’s more cooling

2) after much practice, now I know how to sit up by myself from crawling position. I surprised mommy one nite when she was too tired trying to pull me back from crawling to the marble floor and was lying on the mat resting. Then the next moment she saw me I was sitting up all by myself and was holding a toy and playing. And since then, there is no turning back.

3) My hair was getting long and in order to get prepared for my photoshoot on the Good Friday, mommy and daddy brought me to the kids salon at united sq after the GUG lesson. Firstly, mommy put me on the chair, then an auntie put an apron to cover me, suddenly I cannot see my hands, so I got a bit panicky and was trying to wriggle my hands out, then the auntie started using a pair of scissors to cut my hair… mommy was holding me to keep me still… so I got scared and trying to move my way out… at the end of it, the auntie was using a vacuum tube to clean my neck and arms of small hair, I was so scared by the sound and the tube moving on my body tat I really wailed… so in the end, mommy said the auntie never really did a good job, some parts of my hair are not really cut evenly.. hmmm… I wonder whether I will still be handsome in the photos?

4) Mommy think this is one of the most significant milestone of me. I started babbling with my baby language. Sunday morning, I woke up finding mommy and daddy are still zzz-ing, so I flipped around and playing by myself. After a while I got bored, so I went to pull mommy’s hair so tat she can wake up playing with me, but she didn’t move… so I decided to tell myself a story. It was rather interesting and I continued to babble throughout the day, It must have been the day tat I spoke most words eversince I was born. And mommy says it’s the most angelic voice tat she has heard.

5) Mommy is sad and green with ENVY.. cos she has to work OT for the beginning of apr as it’s the quarter closing. So these few days.. daddy picked up from the nanny’s. then last nite (7 apr). when daddy was playing with me, I was babbling “da, da,da-di” which got daddy so happy, he thot I was calling him “daddy”. Ok just let him be happy for a while.. maybe I just accidently made the sound tat resembled “daddy”?

separation anxiety

2009-04-11T23:37:00.002+08:00

the adults called it separation anxiety, but to me, i just want to be with daddy and mommy. tat day when mommy went out of the door, i thot she doesn't want me anymore, so i just cried and stretched out my arms and asked mommy to bao bao... but then it turned out tat she just went outside to wear shoes... silly me....

are you sure?

2009-03-26T13:03:00.001+08:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Vintage photographs - Pedigree

the unlucky March

2009-03-24T18:55:00.004+08:00

first of all, my left big toe got infected.

i woke up one day with fever, daddy and mommy decided to monitor first and still sent me to the nanny's, but in the afternoon, the nanny called mommy as the fever has not subsided. so mommy quickly rushed back from office and brought me to the doctor's. but the doctor was also puzzled as there was no other symptoms. so daddy agreed to have the blood test to see what's wrong. the doctor poked me at the back of the hand and squeezed out the blood. i cried and struggled. yet he said there was not enough blood. so i cried and pained for nothing! hrmmp...

the next day, nanny saw that my toe was red and there was some pus. then mommy remembered that a few days ago, the nail chipped and could have cut into the toe and the bacteria went inside. so daddy and mommy brought me to see doc again. and this time, the doc said i have to be on antibiotics (AGAIN) and apply cream on the toe to make sure the infection won't go further in.

tat's how my toe looked like after applying the cream.

then just a few days after the toe incident, i started coughing. at first mommy thot maybe my throat is dry as i sleep in aircon room. or maybe i used my finger dig inside the mouth and choke. but the cough got worse and i threw up one whole feed of milk on saturday nite.

so on Sunday (22 Mar), they decided to bring me to see doc. the doc listened from my back and said i got bronchitis! that's really shocking... so he said i need to rent the nebulizer to breathe in the medicine. u know the thing they do for asthma kids. i secretly hoped before i never have to use that when i saw other kids doing at the clinic.

so the nurse did once for me at the clinic, i am so scared by the mask putting on my face. and daddy was holding me so tightly.. what the adults are trying to do to me??? i want to run away. so i struggled and struggled. but they kept me still. i cried and mommy cried too...

but who knows, my ordeal has not ended. since the doc said i have to rent the machine, and i have to do it three times a day at home. and mommy counted, besides this, i got another 4 kinds of medicine to eat. plus the antibiotics that i have to finish. tat's 5 altogether.

and the bill for that ordeal??? a whopping 280... sigh....

mommy on the "your baby can read" vcd to distract me. can u see the smoke coming out from the mask?

i hope i will never be sick again.

getting naughtier day by day

2009-03-24T18:32:00.007+08:00

coming to 10mths, i realised i can do a lot more as a big boy and want to explore on my own. but it's getting tiresome for daddy and mommy to keep an eye on my 24/7. mommy cannot imagine the days when darren knows how to crawl/walk/run/jump.

first, stand at the coffee table and open the snack bottle by myself.

standing up by myself

open up the lid using my mouth and wondering still got how many more stars inside?

then, riding on daddy's shoulder is my fave pastime.

and biting on daddy mommy's handphone.

Daddy's phone looks like a toy to me

I like GUG... not the lesson, but the outing

2009-03-23T18:56:00.004+08:00

when i passed my 9 mth birthday, mommy signed me up for the "parent & babe" prog at Growing up Gifted at United Sq. every sat, daddy mommy and me will go out after lunch and attend the session. although only mommy and I are inside the room, daddy will wait for us outside.

since i am the youngest baby there, my attention span is very short. every now and then i will make some noise. even the teacher there also commented tat i only cry to show my presence, but teacher, tat's my way to express my emotion lor. just tat u dun understand what i am saying! although as the youngest, i might not be able to respond well. well... it takes time right?

anw, it's the after programme tat i really enjoyed. after each session, daddy and mommy will bring me to a dessert shop. the aunties there love me and while daddy and mommy enjoy there dessert, i got to eat my biscuit and occassionally "little treats" from mommy.

it's a great time to be with daddy and mommy on saturday afternoons and enjoy the time together as a family

"bio-ing" the little girl next table

Best Daddy Award

2009-03-11T19:12:00.002+08:00

I fell sick again a few weeks ago… and this time round the fever went up to 39.1, tat really worried daddy and mommy as they brought me to see doctor everyday since i got fever. but still the cause is not known.

And cos of that, I have to be fed with medicine almost every 4-6 hours. When mommy held the syringe with the orange paracetamol, I know it’s time for me to suffer again. Sigh.. so I quickly try to wriggle my way out by kicking my legs and bending my back behind. But there is always someone (is tat u, daddy?) holding me tightly.

Maybe cos I was teething too, mommy said she saw some little whitish thing coming out on the lower gum for the 3rd and 4th teeth. So my gums are hurt, my clothes are forever wet cos of the drool, I was hungry cos I scared whatever stuff in my mouth is medicine again and I feel hot cos of the fever.. imagine the discomfort. So daddy and mommy took turns to carry me, even when I was taking nap. Given my weight, tat must have given them quite sore arms and backs.

Daddy has to carry me when i take nap. see he used his tie to tie his hand together.

Daddy, when I grow up and see this picture, I will know how much you love me…. Hug hug….

untitled

2009-02-19T18:12:00.003+08:00

mommy say must upload this short video cos she finds my legs are so cute... hahha u watch then you know what she is talking abt.

the lil destroyer

2009-02-19T17:45:00.006+08:00

hmmm, think the photos will speak for themselves...mommy says i definitely inherit this from daddy...

that's the fan before.

this is what i have done to the fan.

uh-oh...tat's the remainder of the fan...

hey, my first chinese new year!

2009-02-19T14:53:00.006+08:00

Day One,

went to grandparents' place at puggol... naughty me... just grab the ang pow from ye ye without saying gong xi gong xi!
i am still aiming at the one in the pocket.

I am more interested in the tidbits tray...

Daddy say, since it's CNY, we can be more relaxed..

My first bite of peanut candy.

Day two

our family photo at wai gong wai po's place

maths session

2009-01-25T15:16:00.000+08:00

After reading many posts from various mommies online, mommy is inspired to do more early education with me after finding me most of the time only eat and sleep… hahahah.
So she bought famous book “how to teach your baby math” by Glenn Dorman and the whole set of the Maths dot set.

Actually mommy also bought the book “how to teach your baby to read” from the same author, but now it’s gathering dust on the bedside table. But this time mommy swears to do a good one with the maths session. So now she reads the book whenever she got time, especially during mrt ride to work.

The only doubt on her mind is how to complete 9 sessions a day when she only sees me in the morning and nite… and each session has to have at least half an hour in between.

8 month milestones

2009-01-25T14:31:00.005+08:00

time really flies, now our baby is 8 mth old. Mommy knows my baby is getter bigger and more sensible everyday and tat really warms mommy’s heart to see you grow well and healthy.

Just to recap what baby Darren achievements at his 8mths

1. now he got 6 teeth. 2 at the bottom and 4 at the upper jaw. the two teeth at the centre of upper jaw are really huge bunny teeth.

2. I dunno whether this considers an achievement, but baby Darren can do the chewing motion very well… (he even practises during sleep) a check with other colleagues shows some of their babies cannot chew yet even though they are older than my baby.

3. now he still stuff everything he can grab into his mouth. The harder the better… all the flash cards at home have not been spared. And he got huge appetite. He can still ask for food when he sees us eating even though he just had his feed. And the best part abt him is tat he is not a picky eater. He just eats anything tat we prepare, fast and thorough

4. now he can flip both ways very fast. Which is also the reason tat once he fell from the bed which mommy still blames herself for not taking good care of him and vows not to let this happen again.

5. baby Darren cannot crawl yet. But definitely showing signs of doing so. When he is on tummy, he will lift up his butt and push his legs and try to move forward. There are few times he really succeed in doing so, but only to move backwards and in centimeters only.

trying hard to crawl, but i can only go backward.

6. baby Darren now can sit unsupported for several minutes (longest record), but still have to have an adult behind him just in case he topples which happened twice oredi (again this mommy blames herself for letting this happen)

7. now he can stand with support. I gave credit to the exersaucer we placed him in when feeding and watching the “your baby can read” DVD. He seems enjoy himself when he is inside. Although most of the recent studies have objected the idea of putting baby in the walker, I still did in the hope tat can help him loose a bit of weight. However I do hope baby Darren to learn to crawl first. But given his big size, maybe I still have to wait a little longer (he only did a full flip over when he was 6 months plus which is slower than the average 4 months old)

8. he is now getting more responsive to people, especially his dad. When daddy makes funny faces and noises, baby Darren always laughs aloud which is such a joy to see. And he seems to understand what we are talking about by lifting up his head during our conversation. The most obvious sign would be smiling at the characters in the “your baby can read”.

photo shoot

2009-01-25T14:26:00.002+08:00

Again, “poisoned” by the forum mommies, mommy got this lobang to bring me to take photos by this uncle photographer. Actually tat thot has been on mommy’s mind for quite long, just takes time to search for the good one.

Since daddy and mommy are both on leave on the Boxing Day, they brought me to the studio called “foto-U” for a photoshoot. Had a fun time there, esp the photographer keep making funny noises to make me laugh.. and daddy and mommy also there to accompany me.

But towards the end, I am tired liao… dun feel like smiling oredi. And when we posed for the last pose, mommy was adjusting her hair while I was sitting unsupported then suddenly I toppled and fell on the parquet. Pain pain… tat makes me even more no mood to continue.

So that was the end of the session, though it’s short, we spent a happy time together as family.

here are some of the shoots

Christmas Party

2009-01-25T14:01:00.005+08:00

on the xmas eve, we had a little xmas party with some of mommy's frenz. while the adults were enjoying their food, for me, the happiest thing is to see lucas didi... but he doesn't seem very happy to see me when i tried to touch him. do i look too intimidating with my size?

me and lucas didi

little santa??? daddy, why u never give me any christmas gift? this is my first xmas, you know?

the catching up

2009-01-25T13:42:00.005+08:00

It’s been quite long since mommy last updated my blog. Mommy has been lazy.. also cos of it’s year end closing.. tat’s why she was also busy at work.

Just to recap what have happened over the past few weeks or so.
Think the biggest event of all is the question who to take care of me. The incident tat started off the debate is tat my aunt and cousin tong tong have come back to Singapore from japan for good leh. So wai po can no longer stay at bishan to take care of me alone. The arrangement of taking care of me has been a touchy and tricky topic between daddy and mommy. Although they only talked abt it when I was asleep, I can sense their unhappiness somehow.

me and my tong tong jie jie

When they first heard abt the news, they have found a nanny to take care of me during day time. But the nanny can only start in the mid of Jan and she doesn’t really stay near our home. The initial arrangement is to put me at the waipo’s for the two/three weeks, then pass to nanny’s. but after weighing various pros and cons, mommy changed her mind and wanted to put me at the waipos’ long term together with auntie Benita. Tat makes daddy really angry as he thot he’s been sidetracked.

Then they were talking abt it on the xmas and put me on the bed, I kaypoh kaypoh want to hear also, since it concerned me also mah… so I just rolled and rolled to get a better hearing.. end up, I fell on the floor… waaahhhhh.. it’s really painful and I immediately cried… but well, at least that put a stop on daddy and mommy’s conversation and they quickly rushed me to the KK. Tat’s how I spent my first Christmas. Sigh….

But then still, I have to spend the 3 weeks at waipo’s house cos no one else to take care of me. And it so happened it’s year-end closing period and mommy has no time to visit me. And I only get to see daddy and mommy when wai gong and wai po brought me back on Friday. Miss miss…. I immediately smiled when I see my daddy and mommy.

But these few day at waipo’s house, tong tong jie jie is very bad to me… she bit me three times. I want to complain.. dun bully me cos iam younger.. next time I use my weight to knock you down… hahahhaa

see the evidence on my forehead? no wonder i look so grumpy.

Oh.. I am sick again

2008-12-07T18:12:00.012+08:00

When wai po tucked me to sleep last nite (2 dec 08), she suddenly feel I was feeling warm. So qiao tat mommy just came back and then took my temperature.. it’s 37.8-37.9. so mommy, daddy and wai po quickly finished dinner then rushed me to the KK hospital to find out what’s wrong with me.

When we reached there at about 845pm, the queue was long. After we cleared the pre-consultation and registration, we went to the waiting area, there are so many babies and small kids pasted the same cooling pad as me…the queue was moving so slowly and I began to feel tired and wanted to sleep. Mommy carried me over shoulder and walked around and I started to feel drowsy… but I missed my bed, my pillow and my blanket. So she decided to put me in the stroller, I finally dozed off inside.. maybe I am just too tired.

see, i still look cute with the cooling pad.

when my number was finally called at 10pm plus, i was extremely tired. being woken up from my sleep is one thing, the other thing make me angry is that the doctor kepting talking to daddy abt his dengue rather the focusing on me. "who is the patient here?' so i screamed to show my dissatisfaction. when he finally turned and checked on me, i was extremely cranky, i cried screamed and shouted to the point of hysterical. but the doc simply walked off and asked daddy mommy and wai po to pacify me. then he used the tongue presser and made me gag... i felt so uncomfortable and puked. in the end, he just gave me some paracetamol and tat's it.

for the next one day or so, my fever hasn't subsided. it went down after i took medicine, but it shot back when the medicine wore off. then mommy and daddy got worried again and sent me to the thomson medical centre to see another PD. after doing urine and blood test, can only show i got some viral infection.

when the situation didn't get better, daddy and mommy decided to send me in the hospital for monitor. call them gan jiong spider. after spending two nites at the hospital, i am finally well again. ooohhhh... i dun want to be sick again.

i still played as per normal while the adults are so worried over me

do i look like Harry Potter with that scar?

My new sleeping pattern

2008-12-07T18:05:00.000+08:00

Recently I realize I can sleep better sideways…esp on the left side. So every time mommy or wai po put me to sleep, I will turn to the left side and fall into dreamland very fast.. but the downside of it… I will turn and turn and ended up on my tummy, then I will lift up my head and wake up.. and since I dunno how to flip back by myself and then will scream for help…. Mommy said the record so far is I can wake up up to 4 time a nite.. It certainly causes some interrupted sleep for wai po and mommy.

more and more new toys

2008-12-07T17:52:00.005+08:00

Daddy and mommy bought a few toys for me.. hahaha

1) The fisher price activity walker
As they said the traditional walker is not good for babies development, mommy is eyeing for this for quite long time. Finally tat day we saw it on offer at toys R us and immediately bought for me…but I dun think I can start using it yet.

2) ring stacker
This is to improve my motor skills leh.. the last time we went to see the PD, he said my motor skills development maybe slower than the rest of the babies due to my big size.. mommy is determined tat it won’t be true.. so hopefully this will help. Anw, now I am only interested in biting the rings.

2) leapfrog learn and groove activity station
Mommy bought this preloved one from the forum and carried it all the way from yew tee back to bishan alone. Now it has become another activity station for me as it trains me to stand up.. hahaha tell you a secret lah.. actually mommy was eyeing a evenflo exersaucer.. but too bad…

me eating teething rusk in my new exersaucer

biting the microphone on the exersaucer
me and the mag mag (chewing rather than drinking)

Baby Darren is Sick

2008-12-07T17:31:00.005+08:00

Today (24 Nov 2008) daddy and mommy brought me for the review cos for the past week, I was down with urinary tract infection and was on antibiotics. It all started on last Monday morning at 230am, i cannot fall asleep cos I felt warm even in the aircon room. So I tossed and turned and kicked away my blanket… mommy woke up several times to pull the blanket back…but I was still fidgeting away and felt so uncomfortable that I started to yee yee orh orh… then mommy must have sensed something wrong with me cos she took the thermometer to measure my temperature… oh it’s 37.9. she gave me one dose of the paracetamol and put the cooling gel pad on my forehead. Daddy was saying to rush me to the hospital, but mommy said to monitor first. After the medicine, I was still tossing around, but after a while, I guessed I was just too tired, so I finally fell back to sleep.

In the morning, the temperature shot up to 38 degree again, daddy and mommy quickly dressed up and rushed me to the paediatrician. After a few questions by the doctor, he asked the nurse to do a urine test for me. As I am only a baby and has no control over when I want to pee, the nurse put a little plastic bag around there and ask mommy to monitor… so now we just had to wait for me to pee.

me with the gel pad stuck on my forehead.

Meanwhile, it’s past my nap time liao and I really felt sleepy but cannot sleep. So I screamed to show my unhappiness. Mommy, daddy and auntie, no choice have to take turn to carry me walk walk.

Finally I pee-ed. And mommy called the nurse to do the test for me. She did the dipstick test twice and confirmed it’s urinary tract infection. So we went to see the doctor again, he gave me the antibiotic and fever medicine. For the rest of the week, mommy used the syringe to inject the antibiotic into my mouth… but I dun like the medicine even it’s syrup with strawberry flavor.. I always spit out the medicine… mommy is the bad guy who is holding the syringe… when I see her, I know she is going to feed me the awful medicine.

Luckily it only lasted for one week. At the review today, the urine test is clear… yippee.. but as a precaution, dr suggested to do kidney ultrasound and MCU… I dun understand all those jargons but mommy has heard of MCU before as one of the aunties in the forum has posted the procedure before and is painful...

Sigh… more tests for me…

my new stunt

my new food

2008-11-17T17:10:00.005+08:00

soon after i turned 6 month, mommy has let me try a few more food.

1) the sweet potato puree

2) the potato puree

3) banana

4) a little bit of apples, grapes and the teething rusks loh...

I really like the sweet stuff, especially the sweet potato puree and the banana... wish mommy can give me more of those ...

Wai Po and daddy also say I am very good with the teething rusks wor... just like my chinese zodiac sign (rat).

Although I only have 2 small teeth now, I can use them to slowly nibble nibble & finish the whole teething rusks on my own wor.

Yup, that's me with the teething rusks...

Wai Po sometimes calls me a "say lor pei", which is the dialect for greedy person... but that's because I got a figure to maintain mah ...

I am 6 months old

2008-11-15T20:49:00.005+08:00

hi all, today I am finally 6 month old... meaning i am ready for a whole lot of new food out there.. hehehe... and new toys and new adventures. being a big boy now... mommy said i have to be responsible of my own behaviours... hmmm... i am not sure what it means, but... i will try my best to be good boy... see my new image for the 6 month. handsome? tat's my new style!

but look at this pic! mommy strip me naked to take this... the "du dou" was given by my great grandmother to bless me with long life. see the two little cute mouses on it? tat's my chinese horoscope as i am born in the year of rat.

hmmmm.... mommy!!! shy shy lah.

incidentally today is also one of my uncles' wedding, in the moring, mommy and daddy brought me to the morning's tea ceremony as i was given an important task --- to jump on the marital bed!

the cute little girl is my elder cousin... u want to see me in real action? see the video below... i didn't look quite happy inside as i am really confused by so many pple surrounded me and i can't take nap.

it's SOLID time

2008-11-02T15:51:00.004+08:00

Last week mommy brought me for another jab. now i am 11.2kg and abt 71-2 cm bah... cos the nurse at the clinic said no need to measure height until 9mth assessment, so mommy secretly put me on the meausring tape when the nurse is not at the counter. hehehe...

dr ong also surprised to see how big i have grown, keep saying it's 1.5 year old's weight. so he finally gave me the green light to start me on solids. mommy has been so excited and has a long long plan for me to try out different foods.

for the past few days, i have been eating cereal for some times. hmmmm....maybe i am still not very good with swallowing, i kept spitting out the cereal but swallowed the milk. and frankly i got a bit bored with cereal.

finally, today mommy let me try a new food, the pumpkin puree. it looks delicious as it's orange in color and mommy put in a nice strawberry-shaped bowl. although it's the first time i tried it, i fnished half of the portion. quite an achievement for first timer!

tat's how my pumpkin puree look like... yum yum rite.....

see me in action!

i am a dancing KING

2008-11-02T15:38:00.004+08:00

recently i just discovered that i love to dance! mommy told me tat early in the morning everyday i will really swing my butt and legs. and with my eyes closed somemore! daddy always teases me that i am disco kid. tat however, caused mommy several days of black eye ring.

see the real action

I went swimming

2008-10-27T20:42:00.004+08:00

daddy and mommy brought me for my first swimming today. but i was nervous though, i clasp my two hands together so that i won't drown. even though the auntie there, daddy and mommy kept telling me to relax and be a brave boy, i still feel insecure floating in the middle of the tub alone. Initially i am still ok...

but after a while.....

anyway, i tell you hor.. swimming is really a tiring and hungry exercise for me. immediately after the swimming, i fnished one whole bottle of milk...and now i am soundly asleep... mommy hope that i can finally sleep through the night after a tiring day...keep her finger crossed.

FINALLY i can flip on my own

2008-10-26T18:20:00.003+08:00

today i made a huge milestone in my growth, i FINALLY can flip on my tummy on my own. Mommy is relieved cos many babies at 4mths plus can flip on themselves already, and I am oredi 5mth plus.

but but... i've been trying hard for the past few weeks. maybe cos of my big size, i always got stuck at the butt... then mommy or wai po have to give me a little push then i can flip... today after my two hours of beauty sleep, i finally gathered enough energy to flip on my own. the first time, daddy was shocked... and called out to mommy. since mommy missed the first time, she flipped me back, then i did it again... mommy was totally pleasantly surprised.

first trip to the airport

2008-10-26T12:11:00.002+08:00

today, mommy and daddy brought me to the new T3 cos wai po and wai gong are going to Shanghai for one week. we are sending them off as well as to explore the new T3. I am going to miss wai po cos no one to carry me to "orh orh".

T3 is really huge and spacious and i am curious abt the new surroundings. Hope mommy and daddy can bring me more often.

see ma, i am ready to eat solids!

2008-10-25T18:23:00.002+08:00

After hearing so many May08 babies started eating semi-solids, I am also eager to try and telling mommy by showing I am interested in whatever she eats during meal time. So finally, this morning, wai po made me sit on her lap, and mommy scoop a bit of porridge water from the bowl to let me try. hmm….tastes differently from my usual milk…so maybe I only took a bit then see how. Then mommy scoop a bit more. Uhmm… it doesn’t taste that bad… so maybe I drink a bit more….mommy put the spoon near my mouth again, I opened my mouth and this time, I find the porridge water tastes quite nice actually and I drank all on the spoon. When mommy took the spoon away and told me there is no more, I wailed “ mommy, I want more!” so mommy gave in and scoop a bit more to feed me. After I drank and realized there is no more, I screamed again”mommy, I am hungry, and I want more!”

mommy told me once I go for my jab next week and the doctor give the green light for me to start semi-solids, she will let me try all the nice food that she is eating… sound exciting… I can’t wait for the next week to come! But wait, I dun want to get “tuk” again.

mommy, spend more time with me!

2008-10-08T23:17:00.004+08:00

It’s another quarter end closing and mommy has to work late again. So she missed a lot of my achievements during the day which mommy is very sad abt it. By the time mommy reaches home, I am oredi in my lala land. And in the morning, she has to rush to get ready to work and has no time to even carry me. So now I only recognize my wai po and the auntie (aka the maid) who are with me all the time during the day. Daddy and mommy become vague strangers who Mommy is very sad about this and seriously consider switching to a less taxing job so that she has more time to spend with me.

As i am getting more curious about my surroundings, mommy also realized now is the time to start me with some brain development activities. Actually mommy is already quite slow liao. I know some of my baby friends in the May baby forum oredi started long long ago.

my new toy! leapfrog counting pal...

I can hold my head high

2008-10-08T23:05:00.004+08:00

The other achievement I have achieved during the 4th mth is tat I can lift up my head high when put on the tummy. Initially, i was quite lazy to do so when mommy flip me on my tummy, i would knock on the mattress instead. Or not moving at all. If after some time, i would start screaming if mommy doesn't flip me back. in fact after she does so, i feel so tired that i actually start panting.. hahahha but these few days, when i am on tummy, i can lift up my head and look around.

i am curious to explore the surroundings.

Wai po tried to make me sit.

Daddy's contribution

2008-09-30T22:56:00.005+08:00

Daddy has been reading the blog and finally decide to do his bit of writing up. so here he goes:

Here are Daddy’s thoughts on baby Darren.
It is now day 2 since Daddy has been out of a job. I am enjoying the time that I have at home with baby. Watching him turn, watching him cry, watching him suck his little fingers, every moment is so precious.
Baby has been a good boy at home and has been sleeping most of today. The times when he is awake, he is playing on his favourite play mat and looking around. Sigh, I wish that these moments will never end.
Over the past few days, baby has also become more curious. In the past, he will sleep soundly on his bed after his milk and his lullaby. Now, he would prefer to have daddy and mummy to talk to him and bring him around the house, look around, and talk to him. Anyway, if there is something that baby behaves like daddy, it is the way that he loves his TV. Baby likes granny to carry him and watch TV. Now, baby and granny are watching the Taiwan TV serial (Yi Nan Wang) that is on from 4:30 on weekday afternoons.
As I am talking now, baby is sleeping soundly in granny’s arms and enjoying his pacifier in his little dreamland (zzz).
Sweet dreams my boy … I hope that I can always be there for you.

my two little teeth

2008-09-28T17:29:00.004+08:00

I have been drooling a lot for quite some time and i like to put my fingers into my mouth to poke around. mommy and daddy thot i might start teething liao… but didn’t really see the white pearlie coming out from the gum. wai po said it won't be so early. but my gum really feel itchy.

on 11 Sep 2008, just two days after i turned 4 mth old, mommy see a little white thing sprouted out from my lower gum. So cute. each day, the little white tooth grows a bit more. then the other one also started appearing. And for the first time, i dun like the milk bottle when mommy inserted the teat in. only when mommy let me suck suck then i quieten down and finally started drinking again.

So the gan jiong daddy went to guardian to buy the teething gel. Mommy put a little bit on her finger and put on my gum. But it doesn’t seem to work.. cos i still prefer my own little finger.

the 4th month and still growing fast...

2008-09-28T17:11:00.004+08:00

on 6 sep 2008, daddy and mommy brought me for jabs again. at pediatrician's clinic, the nures weighed me and now i am 9.855kg and 67cm tall. The nurse auntie commented that I can break the record for a 4 mth old baby.

and When Dr Ong gave me the injection, he even commented that he has not seen a 4 month old baby weighing 9.855kg. hahhaha...

but i oredi am not drinking as much as before. now wai po and mommy only gave me milk every 3 hours and each time 140-150ml. How come i am still puttin on weight so fast?

Do i look like the little michelin man?

Maybe the other indication tat i am too fat is that now i am wearing clothes for 9-12mth baby or if the cutting is small, sizd 12-18mth. Mommy is busy buying new clothes for me as i am growing out those at home. she even started buying those meant for 18-24mth baby.

Mommy's buying spree

2008-09-28T14:36:00.005+08:00

mommy has a newfound hobby - online shopping! here are a few of the items she bought for me

The playmat mommy bought from the bulk purchase from singaporemotherhood website has arrived! Think a lot of mommies bought the same alpha yellow bear design. So now it's my new playground.

me and my pooh friend on the playmat

The other good buy from the website is the cloth book, one is with the animal sound and the other one is for all the machines that move. So sometimes we just sit on the sofa. mommy and wai po will show the book to me. darren seemed to be interested by the sound, but only for a short while….

see, i can read.

another one is the leg warmers. suppposed to cover the legs when in air-con places so that the legs won't feel cold. but i dun really like them as they are too tight for my fat thighs.

the leg warmers are too tight for my fat thighs.

some of my firsts

2008-09-28T13:54:00.007+08:00

Just when mommy wonders when I can start turning. One morning, i turned to my side when mommy just went out of the room for a while. And while in tat position, i was still happily sucking his fingers.
see... i can turn myself.

I can sit too!

first tear captured on camera Watching tv with daddy.

like father like son... OR like son like fater?

Mommy is going back to work

2008-09-21T21:37:00.006+08:00

Fast forward to the 3rd month, mommy has to go back to work soon. although mommy really can't bear to leave darren, work is work.

the last friday before mommy started working, she brought me to have my vaccination. to our surprise, i am 8.84kg on 8 Aug 2008! tat's really huge! even the PD said I am overweight.

then mommy brought me to see the auntie doctor who delivered me. the nurses at the clinic were all amazed by my size. i just felt puzzled why suddenly so many pple crowded me. but the auntie doctor also said i am overweight. think mommy is thinking how to make me grow at the slower pace.
Little muscle man.

Finger-licking good! i am the new spokesman for KFC.

Mommy officially went back to work on 11 Aug. everyday she has to carry the pump with her so that i can still drink breastmilk.

Mommy and me, just before she is leaving for work.

Mommy says she is sad cos everyday she only get to see me in the morning for a while before she rushes to work. by the time she reaches home after work, it's almost time for me to sleep. and if she works late, i am oredi soundly asleep, she can only stand at bedside and look at me sleeping. I hope everyday is weekend so that i can be with mommy.

The little giant

2008-09-06T21:52:00.007+08:00

I've continued with my binge drinking. that's what daddy called cos i would just drink as much as i could even though i am full then throw up later. so mommy says the days just went by like tat.. bottle-feed then latch on, then throw up.... then feed again cos the tummy was empty from the throwing up. sometimes it's so scary tat i threw up like a little merlion.

mommy finally got very worried and brought me to see the PD. at the PD's clinic, surprising, my weight continued to climb. at 2mth + 3 days, i was 6.5kg. Dr Ong said "well done!" hahha. but still, he gave me some medication because i am little colicky. but guess i am fine, as long as i am gaining weight... i am growing well.

I dun really like tummy time, but mommy put me in this position everyday after my bath.

See my little play ground!

Doing shoulder massage for my daddy using my strong legs

the neverfull

2008-08-24T12:37:00.012+08:00

Mommy can't really remember what exactly happened in the 2nd month. Days seemed just passed with feeding, pumping and more feeding.

Suddenly, baby darren began to drink a lot. i also dunno why, my stomach seemed not full even though i just finished 120ml, so i cried for more milk. mommy gave me a new name, called "neverfull" cos i can cry for milk every 1-2 hour. the most memorable event is that mommy brought me out with her to the salon then dinner. within the 6 hours we were outside, i finished 4 feedings of 120ml!

see, i am so hungry that i can even eat my own napkin!

I want to hold my own bottle!
Oh... where is my milk???

This is mommy's favourite picture of me. see my sunshine smile.

The Little Botak

2008-08-23T22:43:00.006+08:00

Daddy and mommy decide to shave me botak shortly after one month. my hair will be used to make into chinese brushes. and thanks to wai po for the good bargain, i got one set of brushes which daddy and mommy said will give me as wedding present when i grow up. and an extra one for myself. but after the shave, mommy suddenly regretted cos i got a lot of hair and my hair was so smooth and silky to touch. and mommy keeps regretting that they shouldn't allow that uncle to shave my eyebrow and i got very nice shape.

just before the shave and i still dunno what i will be going through later, still happily sleeping

I've become a little botak, but i am still blur abt what's happening to me
that's my precious hair

The First Month

2008-08-22T22:20:00.006+08:00

The first month, or the first one week was quite traumatic for us as new parents.

firstly, the baby. when darren was discharged, the nurse oredi informed us abt the slight jaundice appearing around the cheek area. upon returning home, as my milk has not come, wai po tried to give him the pre-mixed formula milk from the hospital. but everytime, little darren only drank a bit, abt 10 to 20ml, and he was taking forever to finish that little bit. Darren was so sleepy that he didn't even wake up for milk most of the time. so the very next day, we went to his PD, Dr Ong WH for check up. when he opened up his diaper, there was little reddish dot there which the doctor said the urine has crystalised. it was a big worry to hear that as he is on the verge of dehydration. so Dr Ong suggested we go to the parentcraft to let the nurse there to help us. and at the same time, he drew some blood for jaundice test.

Wai po trying hard to feed me but i am just too sleepy

when we went to the parentcraft, the nurse helped me massage the breasts and pumped out the first milk - colostrum. To my surprise, the milk has already come and quite a lot too. meanwhile, they also tried to feed the baby via bottle as well as cup.

that afternoon, the jaundice report also came out and the jaundice level has gone up which also explained why he was so lethargic to drink. The nurse at the PD's clinic asked us to continue to monitor him as well as going back for review in two days' time.

tat evening, my confinement lady came. auntie Jin Hua took over the duty of feeding little darren, yet she also had not much success in doing so. he was still drinking so little. that nite, hy bought an electric pump for me. and since then, i started the routine of being a cow and religiously pumping milk every 3 hours.

when we went for the 2nd jaundice review, the result was even higher and since baby darren was still not feeding well, the doctor suggested to admit him for phototherapy as well as monitoring of his feeding by the nurse. so there we are, back at TMC. This time round, we opted for single room as well so that while Darren was having his suntanning at the nursery, we can stay with him and passed milk to the nurse to feed him. and the amount of milk he drank increased too, maybe due to the fact that he was under the light all the time.

Baby Darren under the light

when darren was discharged, the jaundice level went down but was not fully gone yet. so we still got to monitor him. so basically the next week was in and out of PD's clinic for jaundice level. The worrying part is even after the first session of phototherapy, the jaundice returned the next week which the doctor commented it could be due to the breast milk. so being kiasu parents, we sent him back to TMC for another round of phototherapy. it was so uncommon that even the nurse at level 4 (the children ward) recognised us. however this round of phototherapy was not very successful. the jaundice level only went down a bit. since darren was drinking well and appearing well enough, the doctor discharged him to be monitored and do sunbathing at home.

while baby darren faced the problem with jaundice and poor feeding, mommy was not so well too. when mommy was discharged on sunday, she brought home a little urine bag as well as the bladder muscle was not fully recovered from the delivery. After the milk has come, she also faced a whole lot of problems associated with breastfeeding. first of all, the engorgement, then the little blisters on nipples due to wrong technique of expressing. on top of all, the mastitis! mommy wasn't even aware of that untill Mrs Wong saw the breast when we went to the parentcraft. anyway, mommy became the regular at the parentcraft centre until the nurse there recognised her.

however the topmost problem we faced is that baby darren refused to latch on. initially it was your poor feeding. then the confinement lady auntie jing hua bottle-fed you so that mommy can rest. so by the time mommy was well enough towards the end of the confinement, you screamed so loudly everytime mommy tried to put you to breasts. so much so that we almost gave up. we can only tried to latch as often as possible so that you can get used to it. yet, everytime we still had to feed you through bottle.

mommy has really no idea how she survived the confinement month, with so much discomfort from the confinement traditions as well as the pain from engorgement. but the sweetest return she got is that baby darren finally started to drink more. toward the 3rd week, it really delighted us so much that darren started drinking 100ml per feed. and he started putting on more weight.

finally, it's the full month! it was an achievement to both the mommy and the baby after so many things happened. and it's really something worth celebrating for.

our family photo at the full month celebration

Baby Darren is on the magazine cover!

2008-08-19T22:31:00.000+08:00

the look-alike meter!

2008-08-19T22:26:00.003+08:00

just find out this website and let's see who darren looks like? Mommy or daddy?

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

the arrival of our bundle of joy

2008-08-19T15:18:00.008+08:00

our dear darren was born unexpectedly on 9 May 2008 at 1523 even though his expected date was 31 May. Daddy said he was too eager to celebrate the mother's day by breaking the waterbag. at 530am on 9 May, mommy, while still lying on the bed, suddenly felt water trailng down and quickly called out to the daddy. and the super sleepy daddy still asked " are you sure it's the waterbag?" when i confirmed it, i think all his sleep bugs disappeared!

we quickly grabbed the hospital bag and called the cab, with a towel in between my legs, we reached TMC at 555am. I was sent to the observation room immediately for the preparation work. once done, i was transferred to the labor ward no. 2. initially, i still happily chit chat with hy then the pain got worse. at 7am plus, we decided to have the epidural. then nurse told us the anaesthetist was stuck in the traffic jam. finally he came at 8am plus to administer the epidural.

when my gynae, Dr Eunice Chua, came at 9am plus, I was only 2cm dilated. She ordered the nurse to put some drugs in the drip to hasten the contraction so that i can dilate faster. after that, it's all a waiting game.

still manage to smile and pose before the actual pain comes!

In between, the nurse came in to check and found out that the heart beat of the baby was not very stable and asked me to lie on the left side. got once the nurse even commented that if the heart beat kept falling, i might need to go for a emergency c-sect which really gave us a scare. luckily the heart beat finally picked up eventually.

at 1pm plus, the gynae came to check again and i was 6cm dilated! oh, it's still a long way to go and she estimated that i am going to deliver around 5pm. soon after she left, i suddenly felt the dull pain like going to pass motion. when a nurse came, i told her abt it and she checked my cervix, it's suddenly 10cm dilated which means i am ready to push!

after that, everything went like a whirlwind.... the gynae came, plus the midwife and the husband, all started shouting "PUSH!!" then after a few pushes, someone put something heavy on my chest, then i realised our baby Darren has been brought into this world!

so on this day and at this moment, 9 May 2008 1523pm, our baby darren has arrived in this world. the nurse weighed you 2.695kg, measured your length at 48cm and head circumference at 33cm.

even after more than 3 mths, when mommy wrote this post, i still found the whole thing incredible. it's so like a dream. when both daddy and mommy laid our first sight on you, we know we are going to love you so much.

Baby Darren's first cry and see his rocket head!

our first family photo

the very first post!

2008-08-19T14:47:00.001+08:00

being a very lazy mom, i only thot of doing this blog for our little prince darren today. nonetheless, it's a good start to note down every milestone of his life.

as our dear little prince is soundly sleeping in the room, the mommy here can't help but reminisce the days passed ever since he was born. I shall begin from the day he was born.