Falling ill

The lack of post for the past week was due to Miss K and myself having an amalgamation of illnesses - sore throat, green nasal discharge (which most probably is due to some sort of bacterial infection), high grade fever of more than 40degC, headaches and joint aches (which might be due to some viral infection), cough (which is caused by the postnasal drip) and the newly acquired sinusitis, which could have occurred due to the mucus drainage plugging up the sinus passages!

A trip to the PD did not help much as Miss K has problems with oral medication (she was given amoxicillin for her sore throat). She 'empties her stomach' by throwing up every single time we administer medicine orally to her.

One thing I learn from my fellow mummy friends was to boil  南杏北杏 for her to drink. I'm glad she likes this drink.

No more fever since Tuesday, so I packed Miss K off to the Cove. She is adapting well. More pictures will follow when I get my heavy sinus-blocked-head back to norm.

Goodbye Cherie Hearts

I have never thought that making a decision to move Miss K from her current childcare to another is soooo hard.

We will miss the teachers, especially her infant care teachers who has been with her since she was 6.5 months old;
We will miss the green luscious environment and waving bye-bye to the soldiers on our way home;
We will miss the fun in the HUGE music room and gym room;
We will miss the smiles and laughter of all the little friends from Cherie Hearts.

Well, the die has been cast, I just hope that this decision will be the right one.
I am now trying to prep Miss K about the move. I am not sure whether she knows what's happening, but I hope that she will meet new (nice) friends at the Cove and teachers who will nurture and care for her, just like Teacher Farinah, 吕老师 and 陈老师 who has patiently taught her so much these 12 months and her Playgroup teachers -Teacher Shihui (Principle), Ruth (Assistant Director) and Melody (Director) who are the friendliest teachers and best management team that I have come across!

Thank You Teachers at Cherie Hearts Gombak for 12 wonderful months!
Saying goodbye is never easy...

Miss K's last month at Cherie Hearts.

Morning Fun at Sembawang Splash Park

It was a very hot and sunny saturday morning. Miss K and 10 of her little friends had lots of water fun at the Sembawang Splash Park.
(This Splash Park is at Level 3 of Sembawang Shopping Centre)

It was also really nice for me to meet my mummy friends again. No talks about work, just kiddy chit chats while enjoying the squeals of laughter from our little ones at play.

Miss K was NOT at her best behaviour this morning; she refused to put on her swimsuit, and refused to part with her hat when I told her not to get it wet. Well, I guess she is still a little lethargic from her DPT booster jab she had on Friday.

This is quite a neat place for both wet and dry play. I will definitely bring Miss K back again someday.
We checked into Astons Specialties, right next to the dry play area for lunch, value for money steak, I'd say!

The Wet - Thanks Itsy for the photos! :)

And the Dry

Graduating from Infant Class...

Miss K has officially graduated from Infant Class on 23rd February 2011.

I am still in the process of deciding which childcare to put her in permanently, so she is currently still at Cherie Hearts Playgroup 1 and is assimilating very well to the new schedule. We will do a trial with Caterpillar's Cove next week. Then its decision time...*sigh*

Miss K joined this infant class on the 15th of March 2010 and I am glad to say that her journey throughout these 12 months or so has been a great one.

I do not have much regrets and complains, apart from the few biting incidents which happened when she was about 8 month old, her knocks and falls (which I feel is part and parcel of her learning process to achieve certain milestones), and of course the most recent finger incident, which I guess is my only grouse thus far.

I am very grateful to the dedicated teachers at her infant care, especially 吕老师 and 陈老师 who has been with her since Day 1, and of course Miss K's favourite, Teacher Farinah.

Thank you teachers and thanks to everyone at Cherie Hearts for making Miss K's past 12 months a great one!

These are her monthly moments at Infant Class at Cherie Hearts:


March 2010 -
6 months enjoying her apple puree

 

April 2010 -
7 months holding her own milk bottle



May 2010 -
8 months listening attentively to 陈老师



June 2010 -
9 months is when her love for balls started!



July 2010 -
10 months learning how to draw

 

August 2010 -
11 months, started to be more adventurous

 

September 2010 -
12 months, able can drink from a cup!
Bottom right: With 吕老师

 

October 2010 -
13 months loves her morning outings and lunch time with friends!

 

November 2010 -
14 months, loves her gym, her books and 'art'.
Top right: With best friend Shuai Teng

 

December 2010 -
15 months, full of expressions.

 

January 2011 -
16 months having fun.
Top left: With Teacher Meiyi

   

February 2011 -
17 months outdoor fun
(I took this on her last day of Infant Class)

  

First trip to the Singapore Zoo

Kam came to my rescue (with free tickets to the Zoo!) when I started lamenting (on facebook) about how crazy I was getting the whole morning, trying to entertain my energizer bunny (who had 11 hours of sleep last night).
I was so glad that I need not crack my head further to think of fun places to bring her to, in hope that her energy level could be somewhat drained in the process, so she can have another 11hrs, uninterrupted sleep and (hopefully) I will not be overly exhausted.

This was Miss K's first trip to the zoo! When we got to the zoo, I briefly told her about the animals which we will be seeing in the zoo and she got all excited when I mentioned Elephant!
We arrived at the zoo at 4pm, so we managed to catch only 2 shows:
- The Animal Friends Show at Kidzworld Amphitheatre and
- The Splash Safari Show at Shaw Foundation Amphitheatre.

Personally, I still love the Birds and Buddies Show at the Jurong Bird Park more.

We spent altogether about 45 minutes at the Elephant Ride Area and the Elephants of Asia. Miss K is obsessed with Elephants.
  

Miss K's first Elephant Encounter.

Snapped these photos using my Nokia E72, not great, next trip will be with J's D60!

Kuih Kapek

Mum makes Kuih Kapek the traditional way - over a hot slab of charcoal, every Chinese New Year in Penang.
One needs good judgement on how hot the fire should be and very quickly fold the hot piece into a fan like shape.
It is always fun helping with the folding of the hot pieces.
I did not help this year as I had Miss K 'koala-ed' onto me all the time!

What I love best is when dad don his satay-man 'hat' and charcoal-grilled about, not too sure how many, but it looked something like 100 skewers of pork and chicken satay.
This often happens after we make kuih kapek. Never let charcoal go to 'waste', Dad says.
It was a great night feasting on such yummy home made food - Fantastic Satay, Fresh Salad (with herbs from Granny's garden) and Aunt's signature Potato Salad (and of course Kuih Kapek for dessert).
Best meal in Penang!

The steps involved in the making of Kuih Kapek-
Step 1 to 8 from top Left clockwise.

Off to see Chor-Chor

We are off to visit Chor Chor! This time round, Chor Chor would be able to see Miss K much better after her cataract surgery.
I'm definitely looking forward to the Penang hawker fare, and J's on a shopping trip this time round (I know!!)
And of course Gong Gong and Po Po cant wait to see their only grandchild again.

Changi Airport does live up to its stature of being the world's most-awarded airport. Some how I did not spot this baby stroller during my last trip. This baby stroller at T1 gets 5 star ratings from us! Miss K would give her thumbs up too.

Bon Voyage!

2011 Lunar New Year Happenings

This Lunar New Year holiday, which stretches through the weekend, gave us some opportunity to continue "training" Miss K to bring westie for a walk. She has improved. She knows how to 'detangle' herself from westie's leash, She knows how to stop when westie is sniffing at some corners and walk faster when westie is on a 'mission'.

Training in progress...

We had J's buddies and their family over for steamboat on CNY Day 2. I was happy with the soup stock I made (for the steamboat) as I initially thought I would not have enough time to prepare it before leaving for Day 2 visiting.
I managed to simmer the pork bones for almost 3 hours and it tasted yummy!
Miss K joined in the fun, she had steamboat for dinner too! She loves her mushrooms, sliced beef, noodles and eggs in soup.

And of course we had Yu Sheng as starters.
This Yu Sheng from Ichiban Sushi was really good!

Andrea and Anya Jie Jie came for the steamboat and brought this (and many more toys, which their mum said they had outgrown) for Miss K. Thanks for the toys!
Miss K was kinda scared of this yellow Dinosaur the morning of CNY Day 3 when she first saw it in our living room, but look at her at the end of the day! Totally loving it!

J says this toy has a sillhoute of a westie in the dark :)

Miss K's first 旗袍

I'm amazed that she likes her (slightly oversized) 旗袍 !
When she first tried it on, she wanted it OFF 5 seconds after I put it on!

I'm also amazed at her vanity (she's only 17 months!)... how she walks to the mirror as soon as I put her 旗袍 on and narcissistically look at herself,... smile,... smile even more, then, comes over for her hair clip and walk back to the mirror to admire her newfound 'look'.

Miss K's first 旗袍

So my 17 month old did enjoy her Chinese New Year reunion dinner with the cousins. 
A little shy at the beginning, but the night ended up with the kids all having a good time!

Charming Kyle...oh so cute!

Left: Miss K and cousin Kyle "Wesley why are you crying?"
Right: CNY2011 Line up, with the boys.

新年快乐!

The sun is out!

Finally, after the incessant rain throughout the weekend (which continued on through tuesday, and caused flood and catastrophe in neighbouring Johor) the sun is out to greet the Lunar New Year!

I will miss the morning mist and the cool hill breeze which greeted me while I wait for the lift every morning.

Mist has cleared, but its still nice and cool this morning.