Swimming freely

Heidi didn't want to nap yesterday and the sun was shining so gorgeously after like...forever...(its been light shower and drizzling in Singapore for the past 2 months). I was actually thinking of a quick trip to the zoo but then, it started to shower lightly out of a sudden but only for a short while before it stopped again.

Blessed are we that my cousin was staying around and she happened to be home, so we decided to head over to her place for a quick swim.

As the sky is still rather dark with threatening dark clouds looming over us, I decided not to hit the pool but hang around from the side instead. And with me hawking around Heidi, my hub decided to go for a swim. Sorta on her own...with no nosy, nagging parents right beside her, Heidi tried to make friends with the boys in the kiddy pool and to my utmost amazement...she learnt how to use the float and paddle in the pool!

Proud mommy moment...

Much thanks to the older boy who was fooling around with his float. Heidi imitated him and got braver at each attempt until eventually she figured out what we (the nosy and noisy parents), had been trying to tell her to do. :)

This is a new milestone and a very proud moment for me. I've sorta figured out that Heidi learn best with gradual exposure and through observation. But it works better only if the demonstrator's another child. I am blessed with a curious girl with a sense of humour and who picked things up rather quickly.

I shall look forward to our next swim...

12 Days of Christmas

This year we are very prepared...food, baking...shopping...gift wrappings...grocery shoppings...venues to go to and etc...

What I didn't count on though was...my hub's Christmas closure was 1 week shorter than mine!!! Boohoo...

Oh well...we still have loads of fun attending church (me and Heidi that is...) and gatherings with food and laughter with our dear friends and relatives.

This is Heidi post-sunday church photo where she pretended to be Mother Mary. Asked her where is baby Jesus and she told me he's in the cradle. We made it to NCC Christmas service and it was CRAZY!...good kinda crazy...

Mall hopping fun at Changi T3 and IMM and City Square mall.

Last but not least...all the blessings received from dear friends and relatives...

Blessed 2014 ahead...

Something to share - top pregnancy tips

The moment your bump becomes obvious or the moment the news is leaked, there will be well-meaning advises from everywhere around the world. Even strangers you bumped into at the lift will have advise for you...yes this statement is mentioned in pregnancy books and I've realised it is so true! I find myself giving advises to my preggie colleagues as well...ha!

I think I posted something like this before but heck...it is also true that your short-term memory storage has gone down a tad. (personally I think it is due to the lack of sleep and constant waking up in the middle of the night coupled with the fact that you no longer have the luxury of sleeping beyond 7am) Ok here goes my list...:

1) Get a good and trustworthy gynae.
Reason: if you are uncomfortable with the one you've sought, do not worry to try another. It is only when you are 3/5 months preggie will they encourage you to take a package. So shop around...find one thats pro-natural if you want a full natural delivery. Much credit is given to Dr WK Tan for calling off my epidural. Other ppl sure can't wait to pump that $900+ into your spine. (a nurse secretly told me that there are side effects to epidural but I heard different testimonies. Some mommies are ok, some claimed backache. But you will get a backache bending over your baby anyway...so just watch your posture no matter how)

2) Ask around for hand-me-downs.
Reason: There are always things that you will need for the first few weeks or so...you only need mittens for the first 16 weeks. Please take the bold step to learn how to trim your bb nails and don't keep them in mittens all the time. I've seen babies who seem more than 5 months old still in mittens! Reason is because one of the milestones is learning how to clutch and unclutch and pass things from right hand to left hand. We took off Heidi's mittens in time and she can self-soothe by sucking on her fingers and grabbing stuffs, passing from one hand to the other very soon. Why...she even will pass whatever she's holding to her right hand when we are trying to slip her sleeve into her left. Very clever. No one taught her. We just make sure we create the right learning circumstances for her.

3) Take note not to overstock on NB size pampers. We only bought 2 packs and Heidi started using S size very soon...but she's stuck on M size very long. So it all depends on your baby.

4) Read up everything on breastfeeding if you are determined to breastfeed. If you are determined, it can happen! Really! Especially with fenugreek(oral herb to boast your supply), ngor fish(I think its threadfin fish) have plenty of fish soup papaya and with the current powerful breast pumps in the market, even if your bb aren't cooperative, you can always count on your wonderful breast pump. Oh yah...and massage ladies...they can boast your supply with massage on your boobs. Damn painful but supply really go up.

Highly recommended breastpumps from my experience are: Medela's Pump N Style and Avent's Manual handpump (this is my life saver as it helped cleared block ducts)

hmm...meant to publish this back in 2010...but I simply forgot...so I am publishing now...nearly 4 yrs later but never too late...

Ballerina dream

Heidi's been telling me that she wanna learn ballet during the start of 2013 4th quarter. I asked her if she's serious, and she said she is. So I said...you have to give up drawing...and she agreed! (much to my disappointment...she's a really fast worker in drawing class and I get to see her completed work at the end of every lesson)

Oh well...but since its towards the end of the year...I am holding off her ballerina dream until she's 4 yrs old. There's a few centres around us that we can go for trials...I will start the hunt next year...that is tomorrow...and book us a few trial lessons.

Ballerina dreaming~

Sending her for ballet has never been part of my dream for her. So I was genuinely surprised when she started requesting for ballet lessons. Why...even the only tutu dress I got for her is a BLACK one to match her black DVF black top from GAP...

But I will respect her will and decisions and send her to the best I can afford.

Super duper lack of updates but am still going to update...

Heidi's now...3 yrs old and going to 4.
So far she's been to Msia - Penang, Cameron Highlands, Selangor - Sekinchan, Petaling Jaya and Klang, Legoland and Hello Kitty Town, Thailand - Bangkok, HongKong. Not bad at all for a 3 yrs old.

Going anywhere next year?
Not really...now that our flat is almost ready!

Check out the progress of Segar Palmview!

Photo credit: Shik Adam from our FB group

Photo credit: Shik Adam from our FB group

I am so excited! I am scourging all over renotalk.com and will probably check out the latest edition of Squarerooms and Home&Decor later. I am also surfing Taobao...seems that a lot of Singaporeans are getting their lightbulbs, wall clocks, showerheads and what naught from Taobao. It is a home & decor dream site! :)

But first of all...gonna get more ideas from Ikea (I love their latest collection!!!) and Muji and FRANCFRANC! I am so glad FrancFranc decided to set up in Singapore. I just going in and walking around...its a dream shop to me!

Ohhh...and thanks to Joyce, here's the first item I bought for the new house.
Deal is still on at groupon.sg.

A retro black Eureka phone! I've wanted one since I was like...5 yrs old and I will make myself a pretend one with PLASTICINE! Back then in the 80s, playdoh wasn't invented yet.

Images from Groupon.sg:

That's it...one of my wishlist item fulfilled after....30 years...I am one blessed mama~

Back again...

Heidi is now 2 yrs old!!!(and 21days old)

There are many many many things I wanna talk about...but due to time constraint (me-time online with a keyboard)...I am going to keep this reviving short post to the point...

Couple kopi time...

That is one fine (and exceptionally rarer shot) of US! (without Heidi that is)...

Now that baby Coriander has arrived on Planet Earth, Heidi's been shuttling to and fro from home...to childcare...to my office...and to home again.

Why my office?

Cos I worked pretty far from home and by the time her daddy knocked off, picked us up...we will be home by about 8pm. So what I will do is, I will pick up Heidi, feed her and then by the time we are done, Kelvin would have reached.

The problem in the beginning was...what about her dinner? So I went to get a Thermo pot and prayed that the porridge will continue to stay warm till 6pm. At first my MIL cooked but I hiam the quantity too low, porridge too cold...so I went to da bao with the pot a bit. After a few periods of trial and error, I know Heidi loves mee sua and mee tai bak. Porridge I can't possibly da bao at all as it will dissolve and melt into water by the time we opened it.

Then my heart got tight again when my mom and colleague reminded me of the MSGs and stuffs in 'outside' food. Hence my journey to cook for my toddler begins...and the thoughts just came to me again and I just wanna blog about how hard I've worked for my gal and etc...you know...the kinda things you ran out of space in a FB status...so there...I be blogging again...really really soon...

Everytime I wanna blog...

...I was like...oh wow...I gotta blog this...I gotta blog that...and then when I finally get to logging in...I can't remember what I wanna blog about.

No doubt its all about Heidi...hehe...again...

Yes...even though I am at work...I am still breathing, talking and thinking Heidi. It doesn't help when my daughter is so funny...just this morning she was up at 6am and was rolling around the bed, trying to get me out of it as well. She kept pushing and shoving at me with her soles...yes I am still guilty of sharing our bed with Heidi but I don't friggin care anymore! I kinda like having my baby next to me so I can stroke her hair and cuddle and squeeze her whenever I like! So there! (yes my hub yabble yabble about eczema and etc etc...but he's not the one to get up and attend to her in the middle of the night what...sheesh...)

I did try to dump her back into her cot after she seem to be sound asleep but she will always sit up and goes..."mamamamamamama..." what am I to do???

We are trying to stop her from sucking on her finger...we managed to stop her...she stopped. But last night I heard her went zhuk zhuk zhuk again...apparently she's sucking her finger WITH the plaster on! DUH!!! Maybe we really should tape 2 fingers together....haiz...

I surrender to God...this habit of Heidi...that our Lord will help her kick it.

Now...to pick off where I stopped...Heidi's attending Bilingual Playclub at Julia Gabriel every Saturday now. Last Sat was her 4th lesson and I've started to shove my hub in to participate in the lesson with Heidi. Last last Sat, Kelvin did the 2nd half but Heidi was tired and thus a tad cranky. Last Sat, Kelvin did the 1st half while I go dabao some lunch for the poor starving parents. So after I dabao from Hatched, I went to find a place to sit and devour my Sir Benedict muffin. It is HEAVENLY...

Then after I am done, I went to peek at the father and daughter team...they were doing arts and crafts...so while Kelvin brought Heidi out to wash hands, I swopped duties with Kelvin. Kelvin's turn to eat! Heidi was angry with me for disappearing and she tried to ignore me for a while...but she can never last long at that...hehehe...

Poor bb was all worn out by 3.30pm and she zonked out in my arms in the midst of all the song and dance...must be the previous 4 days of battle with the fever from the booster jab that worn her out. Glad the battle is won. (We have the victory in Jesus Christ!)

Honestly I felt a tad guilty that I haven't been teaching her any stuffs now that she's attending Julia Gabriel. All the exposure and fun from the 2 hrs session, I felt it made up for the whole week when I was at work. My bad. I seriously must make an effort to...
1) Read to Heidi more often
2) Expose her to paint and brush and coloring and painting (bad grammer....but they are all related lah...)
3) Make her brush her teeth TWICE a day. (its a discipline for me to make her brush at least once a day. Now I am going to increase it to twice a day!)
4)...hmm...Think thats about it till she gets a bit older...

I am still wondering if I should continue with her Julia Gabriel class once she start her CC at Learning Vision. Maybe I shouldn't, so we can have more time with her on weekends? Thinking thinking...

What Your Child Should Know by P1

I got the shock of my life...actually not that shocked since I've already received some prempting from other mommies...this news letter from Leapschool...

There see...what your child should be equipped with for P1...

English: Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing and Comprehension Skills!?

Mandarin: Han Yu Pin Yin and Word Recognition!? How about 听写？If I make my child have the chinese spelling earlier she will have an edge! Yiipppeee...

and then...Maths!!: What + - x and divide...how about Prime numbers and algebra? All in lah! Might as well start preparing them...

Surprised there's no mentioning of Science though...or do they still call it that nowadays? Have they gone into specific like Chemistry, Physics and Biology???

I was really like...WTH!???

The other day my FIL was chiding me and said I should start teaching Heidi to learn properly. Instead of playing with her all day long...zzzZZZzzzZZZzzz...

I pondered over what he said for a few days...ok lah...a few minutes...then decided...NNNNAAAHHH...I don't want to steal her childhood. She's going into Childcare soon and her teachers will teach her lah...

Peace out...

Heidi's already 18 months old!

Happy 18th month old, Heidi!

I am totally loving my baby...
for your curly locks...
for your beautiful smile...
for your perfect teeth and chubby cheeks...
who blows at my wounds, trying to make it better.
who said "Oh shit" when I needed some empathy.
who's eyes speaks of depth and understandings but is totally cheeky and imaginative.
who gave me time to understand her needs and cries and gives me a hug and kiss when I needed one.
who learns very well and meets her milestones so mama don't have to feel bad about being a part-time mom.
who looks remorseful at breaking the glass of honey even though its mama's fault for leaving it out there for you to break.
last but not least...for making mama your #1 choice...

You are still nursing a flu...


It started with a running nose...and as usual...even though we see a doctor early...her running nose will run into a cough and then the cough...haiz...to cut the usual long story short. This time I have to give my in-laws credit for bringing Heidi to see the doctor early. But I have to take some credit back when they refused to administer the medications properly.


Heidi was given 1. Cough syrup, 2. Running nose med, 3. Nose drop and 4. Paracentamol just in case theres a fever. And as usual...my in-laws chose to omit the nose drop altogether. Cough syrup and running nose med only when they hear her cough or see her nose running. (honestly, given their eyesight...haiz...)

So...I know something's not right when Heidi's nose is still running after a week. We brought her to see our fav physician. Her case wasn't that bad and she really enjoyed the chinese med. A week passed and we are soon due on board for our cruise trip to Redang...which I seriously am regretting going because it actually deprives me of my rights to vote for our President...

Double haiz when the air-con on board worsen Heidi's cough and her nose started running again...triple haiz when the food aren't fantastic and I see a 100% display of my FIL's kiasu-ness in rushing to the restaurants and etc. WORSE is...we have to queue with about 800 over ppl just to get on board the tiny boat running to and fro from ship to Redang. I feel so cheated. Honestly I will have a better time flying direct to Redang and staying at a resort there direct.

The only thing I like about the cruise is the slight swaying when you lie on the bed. But with a sick baby...mama don't get to sleep much...

Very the fucked up.

The only way I can feel better is to save all the money spent on the cruise back into our saving accounts and a trip to somewhere more worthwhile...

Think mommy tots

Everything is about Heidi nowadays. It seems I can do little else except breath and talk Heidi. Good thing about babies is they covered a whole wide range of topics that whoever is listening to my rattling on, will pick up something from my wide conversation.

And I will sense a pique of interest in the listener and zero in on the subject of interest, creating a lively conversation filled with interaction between my momsy topics and the listener, now engaged in the conversation.

Make sense?

Confusing, isn't it?

Sometimes I get confused with what I am trying to achieve with a blog post. I still blog on cos this is an outlet for me. But I hope to revamp my blog and make it a more interactive one. To make new friends I hope.
Honestly I am blogging now from my iPhone cos I m annoyed with what trespasses between us and terrible 4 yesterday.

4 was trying to close the sliding door and Heidi wanted to get into the room. Their grandparents room to be exact. So Heidi places her hand on the door while 4 continuous to close it. Kelvin was in my way so I couldn't whisk Heidi away. Kelvin was glaring at 4 who actually stares back at Kelvin (with an expression not unlike the boy in Omen, which Kelvin later relates).

The Omen look...

My SIL screamed and forced open the door and gave 4 a smack on her palm.

My mil scolded us for not whisking Heidi away sooner.

I was heartbroken to see for myself again how menacing 4 is to Heidi. Am glad I made the decision to take Heidi out of the equation. What if the adults were busy and 4 bullied Heidi? Or worse, what if Heidi learns from 4 and is a menace to the baby???

I do not wish any mishap on any of them and all I can do is pray that 4 will change.

Water confidence...

"Is this fake beach for real???" - captioned by Daddy

After a visit to the fake Mister Maker at CCK Lot 1 mall, we tried out the water play area. Heidi didn't squirm as I encouraged her to touch the water. She didn't resist and her hands remained outstretched throughout...hmm...maybe we should bring her to more of such places and slowly we venture to the pool again...I said to Kelvin.

Yesterday we have to leave the house as my in-laws made a spontaneous trip to Msia...so I suggested/insisted we go Vivocity. It was time for Heidi to take her porridge so Kelvin suggested we go to the waddle pool side to feed Heidi. The weather was great. Cooling and no sun...

I asked Heidi if she will like me to take off her shoes/socks/pants and we go waddle around in the pool. She nodded. *note: this may not mean anything as she is usually very game verbally or either that, she probably just enjoys nodding her head since she know it will make the recipient smile.

So after porridge, I kept my words and brought Heidi into the waddle pool. To my amazement...she showed little resistance...the pool is all that shallow and she can literally kick splash all day long! And so she did...even edging out further...I made her hold on to my hands ALL THE TIME. She's still a buay steady little toddler and I really don't want to risk her falling facedown into the water...

I love to see her baby fatty legs...we always kept her in long pants so I seldom get to admire her legs for so long...LOL...first class for Heidi will be swimming lesson (yes I haven't give up)

My 5-yr courses outline for her are:
1) Swimming - Marsden Swimming School
2) Baby Gym - am considering Little Gym at Forum
3) Music - researching about Suzuki Method. Its more of a hear and play technique instead of reading the notes.
4) Dance - I am not that keen to send her to dance classes unless she requested for it. The last attempt to get her a tutu skirt was turned down flat by missy herself.
5) Art - Mister Maker's our inspiration! Could be home classes...I can teach her myself. hehehe...
6) Aikido - Ms Aw-yong prefers a student whos like 3-4 yrs old lah.

was just chatting with Sandy and she suggested the following:
Chinese lessons!
Phonics!

I already made an order for some chinese storybooks...I am going to start reading to Heidi after milk/before bedtime every night from now onwards. I didn't do it cos I want her to sleep asap with with a full tummy.

Ideally her daily schedule should be like this:
Meal: 7am wake up/milk
Reading: Daily Blessings after milk
Activity: Brush Teeth
Activity: Potty Poo poo time *to be implemented
Activity: Bath
Meal: 9am breakfast cereal
Activity: free play or ka chiao around the house
Meal: 12pm porridge
Meal: 2pm milk
Sleep: 3 hrs long nap
Activity: Evening shower
Meal: 6pm porridge
Activity: free play or ka chiao around the house
Meal: 8pm milk
Activity: Brush Teeth *to be implemented
Activity: Bedtime story *to be implemented
Sleep: Power off (finally)


I really am glad Heidi's going to a childcare...there's no way we can stick to/draft up/keep to a proper learning plan for her...and u know what Sandy just told me? Nursery has assessment books already!!! OMG.....

The amazing 泡参

I am curious about 泡参...actually what about it that seems to strengthen Heidi so that she no longer felt too warm to touch in the middle of the night (teething woe...I need to feed her some water and let her sweat it out before her body temperature goes back to normal)

Some information from googling:
泡参汤不仅能加强肌体新陈代谢，调节生理机 能，提高免疫功能，而且对治疗各种疾病均有一定的疗效。人参全身都是宝：人参芦头可治疗泻痢、脓血、崩带、遗精等症。参叶是补中之药，有生胃津、祛暑、降 虚火、清头目、解酒醉的疗效。参花有生津液及兴奋作用，而参果能强心补肾、开胃健脾、调经活血的功效。除此之外人参的根、茎、叶、花果的皂甙含量很高，既 能制造珍贵的药品和高级的滋补品。

老行家為現代人忙碌的生活提供了即方便、又健康的進補食品——泡参汤。老行家泡参汤不燥不热，性质温和，适合所有体质。泡 参汤也是一种补充精力的上等中药。随着国人对身体健康和饮食的日愈醒觉，它渐渐普及和受重视。泡参汤不但能提升记忆力，抗衰老和舒缓紧张情绪还能有效增强 抵抗力调节神经系统如：提升学习和工作能力，增加对疲劳的耐力。泡参结合其它的中药之后，能够医疗心血管疾病和泌尿疾病。长期食用有助于调整体质、滋补强身，是日常生活中极受欢迎及不可或缺的养生食品。

泡参汤的功效：

大补元气，增強免疫力, 幫助血液循環,镇静安神，消除疲劳，抗老抗衰，养颜美容，惊悸失眠，心力衰竭以及全面调理。

适合人士：

1. 睡眠不足者有很强的降虚火作用
2. 容易伤风感冒
3. 免疫能力低弱者
4. 体质虚弱
5. 经常感觉疲劳

人参为五加科，味甘、微苦、性温，具有大补元气、生津止渴、轻身益气，延年益寿的功效。但按其加工方法不同，又可分为红参、生晒参、糖参、参须等。它们虽然都有补气之功效，但又各有千秋。
生晒参：性较平和，不温不燥，既可补气、又可生津，适用于扶正祛邪，增强体质和抗病能力。
红参：补气中带有刚健温燥之性，长于振奋阳气，适用于急救回阳。
糖参：性最平和，效力相对较小，适用于健脾益肺。
参须：以红参须为多见，性能与红参相似，但效力较小而缓和。
野山参：无温燥之性，大补元气，为参中之上品，但资源少，价值昂贵，很少用。附：西洋参：
近代临床验证，人参是一种滋补强壮药物，具有镇静大脑、调节神经、刺激血管、增进食欲、促进代谢、恢复疲劳、增强肝脏解毒功能、改善骨髓造血能力、活跃内分泌系统、加强机体免疾反应等功效。

Sounds good. Sounds like I should take some myself...

Wishlist for myself...

I wanna do the following things...

1. Learn crocheting (Maria already made a trip to spotlight for me...so touched..)
2. Learn bento making for Heidi (snack time at school or picnic or something)
3. Get table and chairs for Heidi from Ikea
4. Start Heidi on regular doodle session (so we can watch DVD movies in peace while she doodle away)
5. Sign Heidi up for Playgym classed with Julia Gabriel.
6. Practise my own drawings and stuffs.
7. Plan fun art lessons for Heidi.
8. Buy fruits home every Friday for Heidi's weekend.
9. Exercise regularly with Heidi and Kelvin. (ideally is swimming but I have to get Heidi into the water without crying first)
10. Constantly strive to be a better wife, mom and artist...(in that order. Strong and happy marriage produces happy offsprints)

 With Heidi and Kelvin snoring away, I finally have some uninterrupted 'me' time...I didn't even want to answer the phone that just rang...most probably my mom/dad...I've already discouraged them from calling at 9-ish pm because that is the time that Heidi is rolling around on our bed or if I am exceptionally lucky...like today...she's already soundly and deeply asleep.

 We were attending Baby Wendy's bday party just now and Heidi fall asleep on the way home. We are a tad worried because she didn't finish her porridge and milk was 'administrated' at 7.30pm instead of the usual 8.30pm. I am still wondering if I should do a dreamfeed...but oh well...let her wake me at 5am or so then...I really don't feel like disturbing her sleep. I only changed her diaper, shorts to long pants and patted her back to sleep. Didn't even change her out of her hoodie...

  I am seriously very into this entire motherhood thing and I felt very privileged to be such a big part of Heidi's life. I only pray that she is as loved and protected out of my sight as well. Entrusting that to me Abba...amen!

Bossini Smurf

I wanted to rush down to get Bossini for us the moment I saw the newsletter yesterday! Check out the site: http://www.bossinibehappy.sg/home/home.php

Bossini X Smurfs IPhone4 Case

Alas! work responsibility kept me from being irresponsible and happens that Kelvin gotta work late last night too.

I am hesitant about going to Bugis after Heidi's jab today. Her Prevenar 4. Which we've postponed quite a few times...1st time was because she caught viral flu and the GP prescribed antibiotics and we needed to wait 1 week after she ended her course. 2nd time was because there was a case of 4 infants death reported in Japan after they were administered Prevenar so we thought we should hold off the jab till HPB or something ok-ed it.

But anyway, we finally got Heidi to take her jab today and seeing that she's alright after crying for like 10sec...we decided to head down to Bugis anyway. So happy~ Smurfs smurfs smurfs~~~
I even managed to get the last 2 remaining tote bag in the store!

Now that we are home, I think this dress is pretty cute. I didn't buy any for Heidi cos the baby collections in Bugis don't allow me to use my VIP card. Guess I have to make a trip to Suntec....hehehe...

Lalalalalalalalala~ LA~ LA~ LA~ LA~ LA~~~~~~

Heidi knew how to sing ok? Don't pray pray...

She knows how to cluck her tongue, sing songs in lalalala, call papa, call mama, bird bird, dog dog, duck duck, yeye, nainai, popo, MMMooooooooo and nod her head and shake her head (which my hub totally disapprove of but how can you teach a baby to say only yes and not to say no???)

Oh and PD said Heidi's head size, weight...are of normal percentile but the height is a tad low. I said screw those percentile thingy...as long as Heidi is eating well, sleeping well...pooing well...bonding well with us...learning well...I dun fuck care liao! How to make her taller? Make her jump everyday meh? Skipping rope or basketball? Siao bo?

My 2 day long conversation with Nestle Singapore's helpline

Even though they signed off so lovingly...With love...my arse...I seriously don't feel loved at all.

I've decided to switch from NanHA to NanPro first until Heidi's 3 yrs old before making the switch to more economically priced milk powder. But I am hesitant about the switch because NanHA 3 and NanPro 3 both are for babies up till 3 yrs old. So out of concern, I wrote an email to Nestle babyclub.

My conclusion, no wonder Heidi has a taste for bitter chinese med...its because her milk is already bitter. Maybe the bitter chinese herbs tasted better than her milk! which she clearly enjoyed. So the switch from HA to Pro is necessary to let her know what...to quote Nestle staff..."any other milk" taste like.

To proceed and read about my conversation with Nestle SG babyclub, please scroll to the bottom of this entry and read from start.
 From: Club,Baby,SINGAPORE,Marketing [mailto:Baby.Club@sg.nestle.com]


Sent: 17 March 2011 09:16

To: Seah, Ranna

Subject: RE: My baby is already 12 months 4 weeks old

Yes


With Love,

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Seah, Ranna
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 10:47 AM

To: Club,Baby,SINGAPORE,Marketing

Subject: RE: My baby is already 12 months 4 weeks old

Thanks for clarifying. But the nutrient wise, both are the same except that HA has the hypoallergenic formula to reduce allergies only rite? Am I correct to say that? Other than that the probiotics and stuffs are the same for both?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Club,Baby,SINGAPORE,Marketing [mailto:Baby.Club@sg.nestle.com]

Sent: 16 March 2011 10:44

To: Seah, Ranna

Subject: RE: My baby is already 12 months 4 weeks old

NAN HA 3 has a slightly bitter taste whereas NAN Pro 3 tastes like any other milk.

With Love,

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Seah, Ranna
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 10:16 AM

To: Club,Baby,SINGAPORE,Marketing

Subject: RE: My baby is already 12 months 4 weeks old



That I know about HA3. How abt Pro3?

How different are the taste?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Club,Baby,SINGAPORE,Marketing [mailto:Baby.Club@sg.nestle.com]

Sent: 16 March 2011 10:15

To: Seah, Ranna

Subject: RE: My baby is already 12 months 4 weeks old



Hi Ranna,

NAN HA 3 is a hypoallergenic formula whereby it reduces the risk of allergies.
Also, the tastes between the two are different.

With Love,

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



From: Seah, Ranna
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 10:03 AM

To: Club,Baby,SINGAPORE,Marketing

Subject: RE: My baby is already 12 months 4 weeks old


I’ve already bought Pro3.  is there any significant difference between the 2?

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Club,Baby,SINGAPORE,Marketing [mailto:Baby.Club@sg.nestle.com]

Sent: 16 March 2011 10:02

To: Seah, Ranna

Subject: RE: My baby is already 12 months 4 weeks old
Dear Ranna,
Thank you for your email.

If your baby is taking well to NAN HA 3, you should continue with it as NAN HA 3 can be consumed till the age of 3.
With Love,

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Seah, Ranna
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 11:12 AM

To: Club,Baby,SINGAPORE,Marketing

Subject: My baby is already 12 months 4 weeks old



Hi,
My baby has always been on Nan Ha milk powder and currently she is on Nan HA3. She is already 12 months 4 weeks old and I felt that it is time to switch to Nan Pro3. Is this advisable or should I stay on Nan HA?
Thanks!

Ranna

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Goodbye Avent(bottles), Hello Pigeon(bottles)

Heidi's been an Avent baby since born...thanks to Philips Carnival Sale...we...or rather, I...went berserk and overstocked on the newborn bottles and teats and etc...

150ml sized bottles don't last us very long as Heidi soon need another up to 180ml milk feed. We have 2 x 260ml bottles to stand by but we needed 4 more for feeding around the clock and having the luxury to wash the bottles only when Heidi is sound asleep.

And even though me and Kelvin agreed that we shouldn't fuss about BPA free and etc...it was at another Philips Carnival sale that we...or rather I...made a mistake and purchased the 260ml BPA free bottles~

And each one of them Avent BPA isn't cheap...about $15?

Other than price factor, there's this very much existing problem with leaking Avent bottles. They do leak. I will not hide this fact anymore. Although the problem can be fixed by doing a 'leak test' - quick shake to test and then unscrewing and rescrewing the lid...I hated holding the sticky bottles after leak test...

It is my every intention to switch to Pigeon. Not just because the bottles are cheaper...also because of the trade-in they offered. This really tempted me as I absolutely have no friggin idea what to do with unwanted bottles. So enviromentally UNFRIENDLY! So with the current Taka baby fair, we went to trade in our Avent for Pigeons.

Not my photo...until I have iPhone...
per BPA free bottle is $9+ after trade in.
L sized teat at $5.35 for 2.

I first traded in 1 and tested it out with baby Heidi. This textbook aka Angel aka sometimes Spirited aka milestone baby took really well to the Pigeon bottle. The only thing I have to worry about is to keep the cap away from her.  She will sit up from drinking suddenly to try to put the cap on the bottle...

I did a leak test with the Pigeon bottle. Great! No leak! No sticky milk bottle! But the only catch is that the cap is not as tight as the Avent's. The cap covered the entire teat + lid. Unlike the Avent where it covered the teat and half of the lid. So it takes some adjusting too but the test is successful and I am pleased with it.

So last night I went to trade in 3 more bottles. Effectively cutting down our current 6 bottles to 4 bottles. We don't need so much anymore since Heidi's down to 3-4 feeds of milk per day.

Her solid intakes are really impressive. So impressive that I have to faster order a bigger food jar since I will be bringing her out over the weekends. She can break down into tears when she's hungry...so sad like the end of the world...then make me panic and guilty for not remembering that she's hungry. 有这莫夸张吗？

Chinese herbs for Heidi

Some herbs for babies...

Today I finally gave Heidi some paosheng. What I did was...take 2 slice from the main container and soak them in her water tumbler with hot water for 30 mins. Then I add in some cooled water before asking her to drink. She seem to like it.

The purpose of pao sheng is to keep fever at bay and strengthen her gums...something which my dear friend Janet had been advising me to give Heidi. But as we were too busy fighting bouts of flu, I didn't have a change to give Heidi pao sheng until now.

Nagmummy.com suggested that we give babies 2 days of pao sheng before vaccinations to prevent fever. I think its worth a shot especially now that Heidi's bottom lateral incisors and canine are threatening yet still not cutting through. Teething woe...haiz...4 buggers at the same time wor!


The next herb I will like to try is Jin Ying Hua.

I read on our MTB thread that it is good for healing heat rashes. One of the things I found out with Heidi is that everytime we beat a fever, the spiteful fever will leave some rashes behind. Heat rashes. Good to see them also as it meant that fever is over. But not so good when your see your gal kept scratching them. I used California baby, I used Neoderm (only for the mean looking rashes), I used nappy rash cream, I used Physiogel...they all worked to some degree but I am going to try the much shared method of soaked jin ying hua water and dab on affected area. Maybe I will make Heidi bath with them one day...haha...

Next up is Chrysanthemun Tea.

Funny thing is when we asked our PD and Heidi's TCM Physician about barley, both of them recommended giving Chrysanthemun instead.

Think I will keep some chrysanthemun aside in my nice Ikea glass container for Heidi. A cheaper alternative of paosheng perhaps...

Another item to have around the house...
Glucolin!!!
My mom was an advocate of Glucolin! I used to help myself to several tablespoonful of glucolin to make my water turn super duper sweet. But I totally forgot about it's uses after I failed to find the original Glucolin from supermarket shelves. It went out of stock for quite a while and I dislike the taste of the orange or grape favored Glucolin.

I was reminded of Glucolin again during this viral flu epic season by Heidi's physician! Dr Lee said if after Heidi's cough is fine and she is lethargic, we can add glucolin into her drink. Aha! But till date, I've not see Heidi staying still for more than 10 seconds during her waken hours. She does stay still and play by herself if there's something fresh and intriguing in her hands. Like the box of fuji polaroid films I thrown her...the box that is...after removing all the films. She actually sat there and tear at the box slowly for 20min?

Anyway...above stated items are good to have on hand. Along with ba bao san, bao ying wang, fei zai shui...but don't give them all to your baby at the same time though. Set a routine...bao ying wang or bao ba san before sleep everyday or Fei zai shui before sleep everyday...

For now, I will give Heidi pao sheng in her water tumbler for this week and next week until her vaccination on 26th March. Fei zai shui next round bah...

I have to be kiasu because Heidi caught her first bug when she's barely 4 months old and it was like one of my most unforgettable moment in life. Then after that she will fall sick at least once a month. It's alright for me to wake up in the middle of the night...several times...just to cuddle an uncomfortable baby. It's not alright when you see your baby in discomfort and there's nothing else you can do to make her feel better. Prevention is better than cure. If I have to sanitize and disinfect my niece with Dettol, I will do it! She's the sorta kid that will cough in your face and into your coffee...@#!@$#...

Playpen vs Cot

Where does the baby sleep? Was a question I never asked when Heidi was forming in my tum-tum. Thinking to save space and that its such a great idea because we are getting a great deal, I actually made my hubby drove around Singapore just to get the parts to put together a 2nd hand Amby cot aka ang moh style hammock.

Plan failed miserably when I couldn't sleep at all the first night we brought Heidi home. I have to make sure she stays in place as the raised hammock tend to let her roll off. I was looking in on her every second or so until my MIL can stand it no longer and request that we stop using the hammock...get a mattress instead.

So for the first 3 months of Heidi's life, she slept on our bed with me while her daddy slept on the mattress on the floor. My wise MIL stepped in again and pushed the playpen in. In place of the mattress so that Kelvin can go back to sleeping on the bed and all 3 of us can be comfortable.

But I see a few cons about the playpen(or rather I kept picking faults with the playpen) and finally we bought a cot...

 

Cot



Pros of a cot:

1. A transformable one that can be converted to a toddler bed.
2. Longer span...probably can use till Heidi's 5 yrs old?
3. Wider range of height adjustment.
4. More breezy compared to playpen.
5. Can be done up cosily and look magazine fab with bumpers and mobile (this is a super bonus for me and I will highly recommend Aussino baby set as each bed set comes with 2 bumpers! You can chose to put only 1 piece to cover half the cot or 2 pieces for full cover around!)
6. Not that easy to climb out when baby is of that monkey age
7. Ours comes with free quality mattress! hard and breathable cos its made of coconut husk.

Cons of cot:

Can't think of any at the moment...

Playpen

Pros of playpen:

1. Babies can roll around and knock around.
2. Great for napping.

Cons of playpen:

1. Base is too uneven for prolonged sleep.
2. Easier to climb out during monkey stage.
3. Not much breeze gets in there.
4. only 2 heights so its very wearing on the back.

Based on the above...its very obvious that I am biased! I chose cot over playpen! I love our white cot and I love how angelic Heidi looked when she's sleeping soundly in her cot by herself. But honestly, whether its a playpen or a cot you've decided...please make sure you never turn your back on your baby when he/she is on the bed. Always make sure that the baby is in playpen or cot where they are safe before rushing for the loo or something.

Cereal and Heidi

This is gonna be a post about Heidi's food...gonna be quite a long one which I will try to be as detailed as I can because I've actually spent proper time grabbing the images off Dumex and Nestle...hiak hiak hiak...

But I sure as hellaluva~ am excited about all those updates in Heidi's diet because she's gonna be 1 yr old!!! *throws confetti~*

Heidi is currently on NAN HA3 (milk for 10months to 3 yrs old). The transition from NAN HA2 to HA3 was so seamlessly easy that I wondered if I can try swopping Heidi to Pro now that she's older and fitter. She has probably gone pass that stage where she's prone to allergies...the only reaction she got was when I accidentally gave her Edamame (枝豆) and she developed rashes on her left thigh. (I didn't intend to let her eat at all. I gave her 1 to play with and she must have seen how I am chewing on them and she imitated and was chewing on 1 before Kelvin notices..which she then swallows and demanded for more...of which we didn't give in. Thank God!)

What Heidi is drinking currently...which is like $48 per tin.

  

Thinking of swopping to Pro which is $20 dollars cheaper than HA.

But then again...I might as well go for something more economically sound for a 1yr+.
Choices...choices...:
1) Nestle Nespray
Might be compatible as Heidi is currently taking Nestle milk(though of a more expensive grade) at the moment.

Original taste for 1 yr + kids. Only $16 per pack.

The giant tin for Honey favoured. Only $32 for a BIG BIG tin.

And they have them all the way up till for 5+yrs old.

2) Dumex Dupro
This might be compatible as well because before we switched to Nan HA, Heidi was on Dumex' Mamex Gold for infant. But she got constipated after her 1st month celebration at a chalet so I decided to switch to a 'better' milk for her. (actually I think I didn't follow the instruction clearly enough and didn't put enough water) But also because I have an issue with Mamex not dissolving well in water and also a lot of bubbles being blown out. You will be impressed by Nan HA as the solution don't create any bubbles when baby is drinking. Just like breastmilk. But of course the real thing is still the best lah...

All the way up till 6+yrs old.

I am not even going to consider other Stage4 formula milks out there because they are ridiculously priced and I ain't sure if my baby still need that much nutrients...at that age. Pediasure/Enfa/Friso/Similac ranges from $48 to $62!!! Siao ar!!! Unless Heidi can shit gold/diamond from drinking those atas powder...or unless I am convinced otherwise...

Thank God for the Nestle hamper...they came at a right time when I felt that we needed a after-milk breakfast for Heidi. She was rejecting the super plain Organix plain cereal and we were surprised when she took to several cereals from Nestle. (not forgetting to mention that they are more economically friendly to the wallet too)

Brown Rice cereal: one of Heidi's hot favorite of which her nainai approves. Approved so much that even her jie jie has switched from Frisocreme in milk to Nestle Brown Rice cereal in her milk.

Honey rice cereal. Alright we have this as part of the hamper. Yet to try...maybe until Heidi's like 13 months old or when her current cereals run out first...

Multi-grain and fruits cereal. Not in the hamper so I just bought it today! Can't wait to try on Heidi after her bday celebration. I felt this is probably safer to give since there's no honey.

GOLD - Oat and Prune cereal. I only have 1 satchet of this for sample. Yet to try on Heidi.

There is another GOLD cereal...Apple + Wheat which is part of the hamper. At first Heidi took to it really really well. (I love it too and secretly hope there's left-overs so I can eat them) It's really tasty...but then after sometime as she is a tad older, she hated it literally cos it is too sticky to swallow.

Chicken and rice cereal. Not in hamper, yet to buy, yet to try.

Rice & milk cereal. Part of the hamper. Heidi didn't seem to like it on its on, so we've started to mix it in with other rice cereal just to get her to finish them.

If Heidi takes well to the Honey Joy, I will get this at a latter stage.

Wheat and Ikan Bilis cereal. I bought this as its not part of the hamper. Heidi likes it occasionally but not guaranteed.

This, not in hamper, never get and not planning to get since Heidi had moved on to other taste.

And I shall be ending this entry with...still haven't gotten over the wish to get Heidi a damn cool pedal car. I can just imagine her pedaling around Botanical Garden while other kids looked on impressed...

Maybe for her 3rd bday?