Goodbye 2010...

My journey through 2010 was a tough ride through motherhood- firsts are always difficult.

Staying home taking care of Miss K for 7 months made me lost my head so many times; I felt so helpless...(also helped me loose all the pregnancy weight, and more!) but I really thank God for always being there for me, for hearing my cries and teaching me patience with each passing day.

I have never felt so happy going back to work in April. Work has given me a space of my own where I can have some 'me' time. I feel that I am more patient and I spend better quality time with Miss K as a full time working mum.

On the other hand, I also have other issues at work which made me think, at times, whether is this really where I belong?  did God put me here for a purpose? If so, why do I feel so dissapointed and the things I do go unseen/un-appreciated?

Anyway, on a happier note, a few photos to wrap up 2010.

Mum was the one taking care of Miss K (and me) for the first 4 months of her life. I owe mum so much! If not for her I dont think I will survive the first 4 months and I would have given up breastfeeding.
Thanks mum for always praying for me and for your love and care for Miss K.
I like this photo of Miss K and mum best:

Miss K has been the best thing that has happened to me. I never knew what a mother's love is until Miss K came into my life. A child is definitely a blessing.
My little one is growing up so fast!
Let me leave you with a collage of Miss K and the weighing scale.

This has been a blessed year.

16 months and a picky eater.

Definitely another milestone achieved.

She knows the names of ALL her classmates and Teachers (cannot pronounce but can point to face when I mention names, spot on 100% all the time!) . She knows every single lyrics to all the songs sung in class (also cannot read but will go to the right lyrics pasted on the wall). Her teacher is very impressed with her progress. Mummy too :)

Lately, am most impressed by her saying "please" (more like peeesh) when she wants something from me....and last evening when I picked her up from infant care, her teacher said she can now say 'excuse me'! That is new! I haven't heard that for myself yet!


On another note, mealtime war has officially begun! She has been refusing dinner for the past 2 nights, actually since out trip to Kuching last week. Consequences of not having dinner? Waking up at 3am for milk. *sigh*

Am telling myself its a passing phase, it will end....hopefully soon!

This is a collage I made while in Kuching; Flo if you are reading this, your niece loves your Pikachu!

Miss K and Pikachu!

Artwork from Infant Care

A few pieces of Miss K's artwork from infant care which I have up at my cubicle at work.
She started these when she could sit up unassisted.
I like the ice-painting best.

Miss K's first Turkey!

It is such a blessing to be able to spend Christmas with my loved ones this year. 
It has been a while (1995) since I spend Christmas with mum, dad and lil' bro. Its Miss K's first Christmas with her PoPo and Gong Gong and am sure both grandparents (and Miss K) are enjoying it loads.


She had her first taste of Turkey this Christmas. She happily chomped down a fair bit of it last night.


Here's Wishing Everyone A Very Blessed Christmas 2010

(took this picture after dad 'partially' carved the turkey!)

Organic snacks

Its the feasting time of the year (again!) and Miss K has loads of organic snacks to 'feast on' thanks to my sis!
Miss K wants to say thank you Ee ee for the yummy snacks all the way from Ireland!

She has been happily snacking on these since arriving Kuching on tuesday (on top of the pomelo, red dragon fruit and fish keropok, which she kept on pointing and did the ever so irritating 'eh eh eh' sound and drooled over, so I allowed her to have a taste of it)

Look at the amount of snacks Miss K has:

(Delayed post for 22nd December 2010)

Christmas Stockings

This was Miss K's first "homework" from school. It was supposed to be a parent-child christmas home activity.

I was so busy at work that week the assignment was given, I totally forgot about this (we were given 2 weeks to complete this) until Miss K's teacher called me one day passed due date and told me that she was the only one who has NOT handed in her stockings!

First thing which came to my mind - go BUY one and hand it in!

When I went to fetch Miss K that evening, I asked for more 'info' as to what type of stockings needed, etc. all the instructions to the 'assignment' (i know, so typical of me!) and one thing the teacher said which made me realised that I have been neglecting my little girl was "Miss K is very inquisitive, she loves art and craft, she always looks forward to these activities in class, sometimes, she will walk over to her younger friends and 'help' them with their work, I'm sure Miss K would love to make her christmas stocking with mummy".

OK,... I thought, I must (strike out) the BUYING idea. No more buying, MUST be something BOTH of us can do together i.e. handmade!

I slept on the idea for a night.

Next evening, I gathered some recycled materials which I have at home and in office and we both sat down and had really lots of fun making the stocking! Miss K loves to thread the ribbons in and out of the punched holes on the paper-stocking. I cut out some shapes and she helped me paste them on!

Yes,...indeed it was a fun christmas activity for mum and child. No $$$ spent, just got to get some creative juices flowing and lots of glue.

LEFT: Front View of the personalised Christmas Stocking
MIDDLE: The final product on our Christmas tree
RIGHT: The back view of the stocking (too tired to do more elaborate decor)

Walk the Dog

Sunday,12/12/2010....and that's when the dog-walking training starts!

Miss K took to the 'challenge' pretty well, gripping the leash tightly, never letting go.
Our little westie was rather behaved, she strutted along real slowly, sniffing along as they go about their 5 metres walk.

THe dog loves the grass,...BUT Miss K refuses to walk anywhere near the grass!

I am hoping that Miss K is not suffering from hastenburaphobia...(fear of grass)
We need more 'grassy' session this weekend when we bring the dog down/out somewhere for a walk - maybe botanical garden, somewhere with LOTS of grass!

Come on, stop scavanging!!



(Haha, muzzle on, no more scavaning) Good dog, let's go.



MAMA!! she refuses to walk, do you want to take over?

Mini playground

Decided to introduce the climb-and-slide and the rocking rhino at our mini playground to Miss K.

(This was 2 weeks ago. Her second visit was on Sunday. She had the playground all to herself both times! Will upgrade her to the larger one on the other side of the estate soon, this one is just right outside our lift)

She loves the rocking rhino, but got bored after a while. Definitely prefers climbing up and sliding down...



First time on the rocking rhino (with part of the slide on background)

 

Up to the top deck before sliding down

 I was holding onto her while she slides (hence no pictures of her ON the slide); might be deemed a little 'kiasi' but since that was her first time on the slide, I wasn't sure whether she would master the ability to slide down without falling off the side (I know... tell me I'm paranoid!)

Weekend with Ee ee

My sister and bro-in-law are both here for the weekend before flying back to Ireland. Miss K enjoyed the weekend with her Ee ee....such a shame I didn't manage to take a photo of them this time round!
Here's one which I took way back when they visited in April:

Ee ee, Miss K misses you already!

Phone, phones and ONLY 'real' phones.

Phone obsession to say the least.
Have been quite a while now...she used to be contented with just anything as a phone (remote control, even shoes!) but now, she only wants A 'real' PHONE!
My E72 is being abused ever so often.

BUT am gonna put a stop to phone abuse soon!
Discovered she LOVES this 'real' pink toy phone which she found in the church creche, I think I know what to get her for Christmas!

15 months & MMR

Decided to give Miss K just the MMR vaccine on its own without the chicken pox vaccine.

Miss K has all her jabs at the polyclinic and I'm very happy with their service so far - very prompt, needn't wait for ages (which we normally have to when we go and see her PD for 'difficult cases') and the nurses are all very friendly and professional.

This morning we waited only 10 minutes and it was our turn! The MMR was given on her left arm. All along she has had jabs on her thighs(?)...but she took the jab pretty well, only cried for say, 30 seconds? :)

Miss K's stats as of 15 months, 4 days:

Height: 79.5cm (>75%, just slightly shy of 90%)
Weight: 10.75kg ( >90%)
Head circ: 46cm (slightly >50%)
She has a small head *sigh*

She is still in her 'cleaning lady' mode...and I thought she has grown out of it after she stopped cleaning tables while we dine out....Here's Miss K happily cleaning "seats" at the polyclinic while waiting for the nurse to check on her injection site.

This is the way I brush my teeth, I brush my teeth, I brush my teeth...

This is the way Miss Kbrushes her teeth every night.
I started Miss K on a tooth brushing regime since she sprouted her second tooth at 9 months old.
(Started with the finger brush from Earth's Best)

At 1 yr old, when Miss K's 8th tooth appeared, I upgraded her to using the intermediate tooth brush from tommy tippee (not the one with bristles yet), with a dab of the banana and strawberry toothpaste from earth's best.

This is our night routine:

Me:  shall we go bathe and brush teeth?

Miss K: *immediately stops whatever she is doing, do the 'brushing teeth' action and walks directly to our bathroom*

Me: Alright, shall we take off your clothes first?

Miss K: *shakes head and points to her toothbrush*

Me: *yanks her top off and put her on her stool, and immediately pass her her toothbrush*

Miss K: *BIG grin*

She 'brushes' her teeth while i bathe her....keeps her occupied:

Report card from infant care

Since joining Cherie Hearts @ Gombak in Mid-March 2010, Miss K has been adapting very well to her teachers and the activities there.
This is the second time we got this "report card" - its actually a file with photos of her at play/'work' with a milestones chart recorded by her teachers.

At 14 months she was 10kgs in weight (I'm guessing the weight loss was due to our trip to Europe and her food strike then!) and 77.5cm in height.

Her teacher-in-charged, Teacher Kathryn, wrote these remarks:

Yoghurt

Introduction to yoghurt:

6 months - Yoplait Baby Yoghurt
12 months - Yoplait Petit Maim
14 months - Adult Whole Milk Plain Yoghurt
(side note: Miss K is now drinking fresh milk, no longer on Formula)

Miss K loveesss yoghurt. Its 'finger licking good'!


Slurp...



mmmm...yummy!





Ahhhh, icky fingers!



All smiles

Miss K has finally 'mastered' the skill of smiling for the camera!
When I hold up my phone and say "smile for mama" she will immediately give me that humongous smile.
With that, all her naughty moments just got erased; only good memories remains...
Am a happy mum :)





Miss K, the dog and the Bean Bag

We shifted the beanbag from the entertainment room to the study when the cot arrived as we needed to convert the entertainment room to Miss K's room...now the beanbags are back!

Main reason: Miss K inches towards the TV while watching her DVD...I don't like that. She stays put when we put her on the beanbag.

The dog loves to sleep on the beanbag...she used to have both beanbags all to herself, now, she has to share it with Miss K.

The Lil' TV addict with her fluffy friend

14 months; and the remaining holiday snaps.

Miss K is 14 months and she can walk very steadily now. Only started her first few independent steps while we were in Germany beginning of October.

When we tell her "go put on your shoes, we are going out".
She will happily go and select her shoes from her shoe rack, ask me to put them on, then stand up, go to the baby gate that blocks the kitchen and waves bye-bye to our westie.....then proceeds to the door!

A few interesting snaps from our October 2010 trip to Germany and UK. I love this wooden rocking horse at 'dm' (dm is something like watsons; a drugstore) in Munich. Am assuming it was stocking time, hence the large cart full of stuff in the background...

Rocking horse at 'dm'

while in the UK, I discovered Plum Organics...they have a wide range of snacks and baby food. Kate loves the blueberry, banana and vanilla smoothie, anyone coming back from the UK, mind helping me get some of those? :)

oh, this is her corn ring snack.

Those black cabs (has never been on one in Spore) are huge! I remembered my whole room could go into one black cab during Uni days...Whenever we get a cab in UK, the whole stroller+Miss K goes in, apparently its safer this way:

Will be short posts from now on until November ends....busy, busy, busy.

Munich 12 OCT 2010

I personally do not feel like a tourist in Munich anymore...but its Miss K's first...so, had to take a few snaps of her at the touristy spots while I stroll along for some retail therapy.
Our Hotel (Munich Holiday Inn - Never consider them if you have a choice!) is at a good location, only a short walk to Marienplatz but...its has the WORST service ever!!! 

Marienplatz 

Karlsplatz

The famous Gothic Church at Odeonplatz (- also meeting point for dinner as J's office is near odeonplatz)

Hofbrauhaus- good and cheap dinners, MUST top it all with A gigantic mug of refreshing Munchen beer!

Berlin-Munich-London-Birmingham-Singapore

Munich- London-Birmingham updates will be up as soon as I get the photos sorted :)

As for now, we are back in sunny Singapore!

Read from the papers (while in London) - the haze was real bad in Spore, was rather hesitant to be back, but thank God for the rain! love the rain! it cleared up the haze.

Was on a blogging hiatus for a while in UK as the T-mobile provider we were using did not allow me to create a blog in Blogger UNLESS i sign in with a UK credit card number! How weird is that!

Here are some photos of Miss K (which i took using my phone as we thought we lost our camera!), while on the Virgin train from London to Birmingham; enjoying her organix blueberry rice puffs.

More photos of our trip coming up...

Berlin IV

Day 5- SUNDAY
Sunday in Berlin is so dead quiet...no shops are open...papa has to work the whole day, so we ended up going to the nearby Tiergarten.

Fell asleep on our way to the duck pond in Tiergarten.

Day 6 - MONDAY
Decided to visit the 1.3km remains of the Berlin wall on the east side, just Miss K and I. Was rather difficult maneuvering/lifting Kate + stroller + backpack up and down stairs as some S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations did not have lifts!
Glad we bought an umbrella stroller as it was so much lighter than the normal ones.
It was a terribly cold day...my ears hurt, my fingers were so frozen after the 1.3km walk, and another 2km walk around Mitte thereafter.

Touristy gimmick - stamps used at checkpoints

The remains of the Berlin Wall is now a place for artists to express themselves, some are really artistic

Berlin III

And so....finally she is adjusting to german time.
Day 4 was spent at Potzdamer Platz in the morning. There were remnants of the Berliner Mauer (berlin wall) which has interesting illustration of the 'Berlin Story'.



And after a short nap, the lil' one was all happy for the next half of the day.

Had a nice stroll along the river and found some really interesting shops tuck away inside the cobblestone walks...

On another note, I was so glad I bought her these really comfy canvas-ey shoes from H&M on our first day in Berlin as she has now started walking and these shoes have kept her lil' toes all warm.Of course, she loves them too!

Berlin II

Yes, the lil' one is still on singapore time...Day 3 was a very sunny but cold day which was spent at the Schloss Charlottenburg, an exquisite baroque palace, a summer retreat of Sophie-Charlotte, wife of Friedrich III. Not as impressive as Versailles I have to say...

Entrance of Schloss Charlottenburg

The Schlossgarten was very pleasant. The lil' one is finally awake after a nice stroll along the park:

Happy after a long nap

And so its now milkymilky time!

We decided to swing by Alexander Platz for lunch and some shopping.
When its time to sightsee, yes you are right, its the lil' one's nap time again!

Marienkirche

Altes museum (old museum) at Lustgarten (built in 1830)

Berliner Dom

Am rather pleased that the lil' one loves her bottled baby food, especially these german ones...best of all most, if not all of them are organic.

Guten Appetit!

Berlin I

Failed TWICE to get to post as Blogger is in German and somehow I can't seem to 'create blog'. Anyway, as its working now, I better get blogging!
Hello from Germany!

DAY 1- WEDNESDAY
What amazes me is that baby who travels in a cab needs to be strapped in a baby seat. Miss K had her first cab ride in a Berlin cab:

First day was spent shopping and walking along Charlottenburg area where our hotel is.

DAY 2- THURSDAY

Visited Charlie Checkpoint and the site where the Berlin Wall once stood. This is the remains of the wall...the whole area is very touristy.

Would have to update with photos of the checkpoint once i get my hands on picasa.

Miss K is on Singapore time, so most of the time she is asleep while we sightsee:



Sleeping in front of Konzerthaus Berlin at Gendarmenmarkt.



Still sleeping while we were at Pariser Platz



And finally awake during dinner time!

Side note:
The Reichtag is a 'must see' in Berlin, the work of Norman Foster compliments the old and the new Berlin magnificently. We saw the bundestag (parlimentary) session taking place while we were there:

view from top of the bundestag in session