Just came home from out Sunday morning walk. Popo wanted to go to Macritchie today. I think we much prefer Botanic Gardens or Pierce reservoir. Breakfast was really dissapointing at the Mushroom Cafe. At least at Pierce we get to go to Casuarina for yummy prata.

Super hot day today, I wanted to take N to see the turtles but there were no more turtles at the zig zag pathway. Haven't been to Macritchie since before they did the revamp.

Looks really nice now, the pathways were a little difficult to manoeuvre with the strollers because some are quite steep and narrow or have steps. We passed a few famillies who encountered the same problems. There was a father who had to struggle with a tandem stroller with 2 kids while his wife held on to another toddler. Gong gong had to carry N while I heaved N's stroller down the steps. 💪 next time I'll leave the stroller and just carry N.

Botanical Garden has wider pathways so it's more accessible for strollers. Pierce has no slopes and is quite a comfortable stroll for us as well. Next week we shall go to Hort Park.

N and popo all lovey dovey this morning.

The rascal woke me up at 3 am this morning by pouring a glass of water over herself. She was damn fast. One moment she was next to me, the next moment I had cold water on my face. She had climbed onto my bedside table to grab the glass of water I kept there. Her pyjamas were soaked, as was my side of the bed. She knew she was going to get into trouble so she stayed absolutely still and kept really quiet. 😏

Dad's making char siew and roast pork now and the smell is making me so hungry… 30 mins to go… 😋

Super yummy roast pork. 😋 it's making me hungry again. Going to raid the fridge before I Skype the husband. Sooo hungry.

Breakfast with my lovely friend Anita. Miss her so much! It's been 8 years since we first met while working in HK. We used to hangout every weekend when she was posted to SG for rotation. We were both single then and we had so much fun.

Our lives are so different now. She's still travelling, working hard, playing hard, picking up lots of new hobbies along the way. I'm now devoting most of my time to N. While I feel a tinge of envy, I wouldn't trade N for the world and I'm happy that my friend..

.. is doing so well. Super thankful for friends who understand my new priorities and love N as much as they loved me (actually I think they love her more!). They rather take her to the garden/swimming than have drinks with just me. 😂

Completely knocked out after breakfast 😉

Just slapped on a face mask when N woke up after I put her to bed. 😏

My mom is hilarious, she's trying to teach N to say "I love you". She chased N all over the sofa and repeated "I love you" over and over again. While I was standing over them deciding whether to laugh or cry over what's going on, N started to babble and my Mom triumphantly announced that N said "I love you" to her. 😂 If moms are crazy, I say grandmas are worse! Crazy grandma!

TGIF! Happy Friday everyone! Going for my dental appointment, dreading what the dentist might say. Surely complain about my caffeine addiction. The last time I saw him was 2 days before delivery. I tell you, N has awesome timing. I managed to cut my hair, do my nails, get my teeth cleaned plus have an early birthday celebration all within 48 hrs before my waters broke. Super love baby N. Even my gynae applauds her timing. Haha

It'll be like taking part in the amazing race for me today, got to go to the dentist, run errands at ION, go to the supermarket (yes, again! 😁) and pick up a gift for my friend within 2 hours.

I can do it! 💪

Speaking of dentist, haiz think I cannot delay the inevitable already. Going to ask my dentist to recommend a pediatric dentist for N. Her grinding and gnawing is so terrible she chipped her two front teeth. The initial plan was to take her after her first birthday..

.. But I think we'll be seeing the dentist sooner. How come babies seem to like gnawing on super hard objects? The rods from the blind, plastics, metal rails. Or is it just my itchy teeth baby??

Barely made it, finally time to have lunch. Din Tai Fung again. 😁 no heroes welcome for this mama today. N was asleep when I came home. If I didn't know my helper better, I would think she drugs N on the sly. N is always sleeping when we come home and the helper would always tell me she went down without a fight and was a good girl. Why you bully me baby?!

My gums are super sore from the cleaning earlier. This is what happens when you don't see the dentist for a year. My dentist is super efficient but a little chor lor (rough) sometimes. Took me less than 20 mins to get everything checked and cleaned today. What I like about him is he's very pragmatic, if he thinks it's not worthwhile to do a treatment he would tell you. So in his opinion he thinks there's not much the dentist can do for N although he did give me a recommendation.

The best we can do is to be dilligent with her dental hygiene and monitor her grinding.

Made potato and beef curry croquette for N's dinner tonight and she ate 3 of them plus all her steamed brocolli. 😍 such a good girl. Please continue to eat like that.

Steamed veg are pretty much guaranteed to be well received, I'm surprised she didn't like the crust of the croquette. She ate the insides and fed me the crust. She now has this cute habit of sharing food. One bite for you, one bite for me. She doesn't take "No" for an answer. She would keep offering us her food till we take a ..

..bite. Then she breaks into the brightest smile and would look really pleased with herself. For you my dearest, mommy would gladly eat all your slobbered veggies and unwanted crust. #crazymom 😍😍

Good morning! That was how I felt last night when N managed to fall asleep on her own without milk milk. No tears, no whining, no struggle. She just rolled around till she fell asleep on her tummy. Woohoo I did a silent victory dance and gloated to the Husband. Finally I'll be able to have some semblance of a social life in the evenings! Yes!!

Then she woke up. My victory didn't even last 10 mins. 😔

Nvm we try harder tonight. Must have her tired out in the day so that she doesn't struggle with me during bed time at night.

N skipped breakfast again. Going to stock up blueberries to add to her cereal to see if she would eat. 😉

Some me time this rainy afternoon.

Perfect day for a nice hot bowl of noodles.

Went to pick up some blueberries for N and couldn't resist getting a pack of the Disney Princess pastas. I'm such a sucker for stuff like these. N doesn't even like the pasta 😂

Also got some curry powder to spice up her food. Just a teensy weeny bit. See if she would take to it. Maybe make curry potato croquette for her.

I love going to the supermarket. I would find some excuse to go to the supermarket to get stuff everyday.

Seriously, I would make daily trips. Buy fruits la, buy snacks la, buy veg. Anything. Our driver back in JKT probably thought I was daft, everyday go supermarket, everyday forget to buy this and that. Hahaha. I think my helper will also complain to the Husband soon that Non is crazy, everyday go supermarket.

But it's so nice to see fresh fruits and veg and check out what's new. No? Maybe it's just the auntie in me. I love bringing N with me too. Show her how her food looks like.

True story. One of my brother's friends was so traumatised when she saw a fish for the first time. She thought fish always came in a fillet. She was 20 i believe. My BIL too, refuses to go near the meats when he accompanies me to the supermarket because he's afraid of seeing whole chickens. 😱

Also bought my first McD meal of the year just to get the happy meal toy. Now N can play masak masak but I don't know what to do with the McNuggets. Quite tempted to tell auntie to just give me the toy without the meal.

Waiting for HRH to wake up for dinner.

As expected, she no longer likes blueberries. Blueberries are soooo yesterday. Doesn't matter that mama went out in the rain to get it for her. Oh well.

But it's ok because she made it up to me by greeting me with an excited "Mama!" when I came home. First time ever! So much love 😍 #melts

By decree of the grandparents, granduncle and grandaunts. Hello kitty toy has been archived. They were concerned about the plastic used to make the toy. Doesn't help that N hit her head while crawling with it and now spot a bruise on her head.

Finally some quiet time. Husband has left for the airport. Baby and helper are both taking a siesta. House is finally quiet. Haiz now I've got to clear some emails and start planning dinner. Super not motivated to do either.

New stickers 😍!

I wish that was me getting a massage. Was telling the Husband I'm craving for a holiday badly. The last time we went on vacation was in my first trimester. He suggested Japan. I started fascinating about my favourite cities and food then remembered I have a baby tagging along. Don't think it's going to happen.

Parents are due to visit my brother in SF next March and going on a cruise to Alaska. Sooooo tempted to tag along but I'm not sure how we'll survive the 20 hr journey.

Its 7.35 and N is completely knocked out. I'm not sure if I should wake her up for dinner or just let her sleep. Dilemma.

We spent a good part of the afternoon at my gf's house playing her and her mom.

Early birthday present for N. Thank you Yiyi! I think we adults were more excited than she was. These are magnetic blocks and they are awesome. Like legos but easier to manipulate for babies like her. The possibilities are endless.

Her looking longingly at the door because the gf's brother went out. It was a fun afternoon, I haven't seen gf's mom in ages and we had a great afternoon sipping tea while we watched N play and talk about children and growing up.

A child really gives added perspective to us adults. I now see things through my parents eyes as I do the parenting. While the older generation now sees things through a child's eyes because they no longer have to do the parenting.

N was allowed cake (a couple of taste) and to eat as many blueberries as she could grab. She was one happy baby.

I can't wait for my friends to settle down and have their own kids. It's going to take a while but I really wished N would have a bunch of great friends to grow up with and share her childhood.

Feeling very loved today. A dear friend just arrived from HK for business and texted me to say she got me some mooncakes and lo por bang. 😍 can't wait to see her. Wish we could hang out after work like we used to and chat all night. It's ok I'll take what I can. Instead of after work dinner and drinks we'll do weekend brunch. 😁 super miss hanging out with my gfs. Thank goodness my hip and cool single friends have no qualms about meeting me around N's schedule. Got to love them for that. 😘

Husband asked if it's ok if he goes for futsal tonight and I said sure, as long as he finished his "homework" because he's leaving tomorrow morning. "Homework" = collating his guest list and packing his bag.

So he sat down to work on his guest list and was done in less than 5 mins. What?!? Went through his super short guest list with him. Less than 20 lines and reminded him of people he missed out along the way.

I was quite happy with our list and thought we did quite a good job of keeping it to the min. We didn't include distant relatives and only invited people we interact with on a weekly basis. Happily totaled up the numbers so that I could email them to the cafe and realised. 76 people already!! How did that happen?? Oh oh. 17 party packs to make and I haven't even included N's little friends from her weekly class.

Ok think I shall not be too ambitious with the DIY stuff or I won't be able to cope

Going to scour daiso for pretty bags instead of making hand stamped cotton bags as planned. No time to sew and stamp so many!

Lunch date with the husband today before our meeting at 2. The plan was to go have bak chor mee at the ION food court since N wasn't with us. Haha we romantic like that. Husband loves mee pok and every time he's in town he will go hunting for mee pok.

However, he changed his mind because he was wearing a white shirt and didn't want to risk getting his shirt dirty. So end up having jap again Itacho which suits me just fine because I 😍 scallop sushi.

Haiz should have totally expected it la. Today's meeting lasted 2 hours. I naively told the Husband, let's be done within 1/2 hour. I should have known better la. So by the time we said all the niceties and bid farewell it was already 4.30 pm. No time to go to daiso anymore.

Came home to take over baby duties from the helper.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful but sometimes I rather do without the help. She just drives me mad and creates more work for me.

Wa realised I have a lot to rant..

So gonna rewrite this in point form. Long post ahead…

Wastage

I can't trust her to make sure N finishes her food. At the slightest hint of rejection, she would say N has had enough or doesn't like the food and she would throw the food away. Food that I put in effort and love to make for N. Same goes for milk, I've lost count of the amount of my precious EBM she has dumped. I used to 💔 like mad and now I'm numbed. My mom and MIL (bless her) would sayang the EBM and try to cajole N finish it. While she would just warm up and dump saying baby is not hungry.

This afternoon she threw out the whole bowl of Chinese Yam soup that I took the whole morning to double boil. Said N didn't like it and fed N jarred baby peas for lunch instead. Haiz.

Talks too much

She talks ALOT especially to strangers. Can exchange phone numbers as well. The Husband hates it and gets very upset when she tells strangers personal details about our family. She's been warned many times but she still does it.

What I hate most is when she makes useless remarks especially when I'm already super frustrated. Like that time when N fell from the bed and was vomitting on the way to the doctor.

I was already feeling guilty and upset over it and she had to go rub it in in front of my MIL when she came to visit. Said N was really pale, she was so scared and she already told me not to put N on the bed. Yadah, yadah… Hello?!! Didn't we agree not to bring it up? And why are you now saying all this to my MIL? It's like stirring shit la. I know that's not her intention and she merely liked to talk but seriously wtf.

Takes me for granted

I'm fairly lax and I try to be as understanding as possible. It's not easy to be away from family and live in a strangers home. I believe I allow her a lot of liberty. I don't nag about chores as long as the house is fairly neat. Sometimes the Husband would complain but I close one eye. If I need to leave N at home for lunch, I will leave money for her to order delivery because I'm afraid she has no time to cook. If we eat out, she gets to pick whatever she likes.

Sometimes N would fuss just as we are about to have dinner because she's tired. We would then have to take turns to eat. I usually offer to let her eat first while I deal with the screaming diva. There she would be eating so slowly and chewing so deliberately my almost 80 yr old mah mah eats faster than her.

Happened again tonight, N was mega grouchy and was screaming in her playpen. She kept saying "Aunty quickly eat then come jaga you ok".

The Husband is rarely home for dinner and when he's home we would eat together so obviously she should watch N first. It's not as if I take very long to eat and we were having early dinner, but nope she sat down at the table to eat with us leaving N screaming. She kept cooing "Aunty eat fast fast and come play with you ok" but there she was eating like a princess while I was scruffing down food like mad cos N was losing it. Even the Husband finished dinner before her. Vomit blood.

Why do I put up with her

While she drives me mad, she genuinely loves N. She dotes on N a lot and wants to be with her constantly. Not in the psycho territorial way but in a nice warm fuzzy way.

I trust her, and it's hard to find trusthworthy help. Her sister was my family's helper and cared for me from I was 2/3.

She is careful with food preparation and hygiene. Very important with baby.

She speaks English

In my opinion the pros far outweigh the cons so just close one eye, rant and tahan la.

– end of rant –

N had a mild flare up last week, so we made an appointment with her paediatrician for today (no earlier slots available). Pleasantly surprised to find the usually packed clinic completely empty! No wait time at all. Awesome!

First time ever, the staff at the clinic manages appointments really well but this is the first time we have 0 wait time since its perpetually packed.

Same old, same old. Eczema, so moisturise moisturise and moisturise. Same old spots, back of knee, armpit and a spot on her face. Haiz. Husband starts to nag about me not being dilligent with her moisturising routine. Truth be told I got a little lazy because it's much more humid here. So don't take things for granted.

Paed also gave the green light to try dairy, as long as she doesn't have "strawberry jam" poo. N has infant proctocolitis. So all's good.

There was also absolutely no queue at Akashi where we usually have lunch in at Paragon.

To top it off, we managed to cut the taxi queue by a few people because the taxi uncle was going to change shift and was going our direction. It was drizzling and the queue was moving really slowly. Seriously lucked out today! 😁

Seriously, men. I suspect they have this shield to block out baby cries. Always complain about how we don't trust them, but tell me how to trust them la!? N woke up crying while I was dayre-ing in the living room and chatting with my parents. We all heard her from behind closed doors. What was daddy doing? Sleeping like a log right next to her!! He didn't hear her at all although she was crying out loud next to him, in his face. ARGH!!

N was super excited to see Daddy last night. She kept shrieking and hugging him. Haiyoh so sweet la. She was so happy to see Daddy that she even ignored her favourite Gong Gong when he came in. Gong Gong 💔

She now has a houseful of people to wait on her, gramps, mommy, daddy and aunty. Such a spoilt baby.

Even when half asleep she would clutch daddy's hand to make sure he was there. She kept unlatching, turn around check to make sure he was there before continuing to nurse. Silly babe

Super excited to find these cute Winnie the Pooh pasta for N. 😍 Going to cook them for her dinner 😊

The husband is on his way to the airport and will arrive just in time for dinner. I spy a huge box of mangoes from my FIL's tree. FIL is very proud of his mangoes, super sweet and with tiny stones.

Time to get cooking. I may not be the best cook or have the time to cook all the time but cooking a nice meal for loved ones is how I express my love for them.

On the menu tonight.

Steamed herbal chicken
Stir-fry spinach
Cabbage Otah rolls
Sliced fish and tomato soup

Turning back time to post about last nights dinner.

Hi @isapokk actually the rolls are really simple and I'm a little shy to post it but here it is 😁. The most difficult part is to make sure the leaves are intact when peeling and that's about it. I made the rolls with ready otah paste which my mom orders from Muar.

Cabbage Otah Rolls

8 – 10 cabbage leaves
1 pack of muar otah

– Wash and arrange leaves on a plate. Steam the leaves for 2 – 3 mins or until leaves have soften

– Immerse in cold water to stop the cooking process as well as cool the leaves for easy wrapping

– Portion the otah into 8 pieces. Its much easier if the otah is still partially frozen.

– Wrap the otah with the broader end of the leaves inside

– Steam for about 10 minutes or until otah is cooked

The rolls are smaller yesterday because I was trying to use up the remaining cabbage in the fridge and thus had only small leaves. It's a really easy dish and great for when you need to make something at short notice 😁

I sometimes add a curry sauce to the rolls but my family are not fans of it so I didn't make it yesterday.

TGIF, Oompa Loompa

TGIF everyone! Which means the Husband will be back tomorrow! Woohoo! This is N's default happy face. 🐽 Which also means I better start packing up our room or risk getting a earful. The Husband is super anal about leaving valuables about in the house because he has bad experiences of the help stealing from him and his parents in the past. On the other hand, my family had only 1 helper my entire life and trust was never an issue at home la.

So I really couldn't understand why he gets so upset when I leave my purse on the dining table or sofa when I get home or forget where I left my keys in the house. Until our last helper stole from us. A very expensive lesson and super drama.

Still habits die hard and we are now back in SG instead of JKT so I tend to revert to old habits of leaving my stuff like spare change and keys around. This really pisses him off so I better retract my steps and tidy up before he sees all that stuff about

Getting abit stressed up over husband coming back. Mom just noticed that N's hands are a little yellow. Oops.. too much carrots. Husband has been complaining about the carrots for a while. See these men complain so much when it's not them who do the cooking and feeding. Kept telling me not to keep cooking carrots lest N turns yellowish, but N really loves carrots and squash!! She got it from him, because he loves carrots too and yet he has the cheek to chide me.

I figured, just a 2 inch segment every other meal wouldn't hurt and kept brushing him off. Guess I thought wrong. Looks like I've gotta stop the carrots and squash for a while before my baby turns into an Oompa Loompa . Oops!

Spotted. A new tooth emerging, the upper right lateral incisor. This bring total tooth count to 8 now! Whee!!

Got to be extra dilligent with baby's dental hygiene now that she has more teeth. 😁