Hubby had gotten hold of a few complimentary movie tickets to Kungfu Panda 2, and hence we enjoyed the treat this evening. It had been 3 years since Hubby and I went to a movie (the last one we watched together was CJ7, just 2 months before Ian popped.)
We had an early dinner at Suntec before the showtime. To our surprise, each complimentary ticket came with free popcorn and a can of coke. We collected the goodie bag on our way in.
Upon entering, Ian eagerly started his popcorn feast. He enjoyed the show on his Daddy's laps, although he did not pay full attention to the screen. He was distracted a few times by crying babies and turned around trying to find the source of the noise. Towards the later half of the show, he was losing interest in the movie, but luckily the snacks kept him occupied for a little while more, so that we could watch the ending.
It was a good test how he would behave in a movie-viewing session at the cinemas. Perhaps in another few months down the road, he would enjoy watching movies even more.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Gynae Checkup @ Week 34
My checkup has shortened to an interval of 2 weeks since my last visit at week 32. Today, we arrived about 20 minutes after the scheduled appointment because I was on the last slot. We still waited for a while, but it was not too bad! Just about 2 patients in front, though that was still about another half an hour of wait.
Dr first listened to the heartbeat, then checked the amniotic fluid level and said it was still good, and also estimated our baby's weight - 2.3kg. I was a little shocked at the 500g jump since our last checkup 2 weeks ago. My own weight was around 56.5kg, which I thought was still reasonable. At this rate of growth, she would be 3.3kg at 38 weeks?
She also told us that it was normal for me to carry this baby lower in the tummy because it was not my first child. (Several people kept asking if I was going to be due soon because my tummy looked pretty low already.)
Dr said since Ian came out at 37 weeks, there was a good chance that this baby would be out early too. But then, nobody could tell for sure at this stage. She also gave us the OK to watch a movie.
Dr first listened to the heartbeat, then checked the amniotic fluid level and said it was still good, and also estimated our baby's weight - 2.3kg. I was a little shocked at the 500g jump since our last checkup 2 weeks ago. My own weight was around 56.5kg, which I thought was still reasonable. At this rate of growth, she would be 3.3kg at 38 weeks?
She also told us that it was normal for me to carry this baby lower in the tummy because it was not my first child. (Several people kept asking if I was going to be due soon because my tummy looked pretty low already.)
Dr said since Ian came out at 37 weeks, there was a good chance that this baby would be out early too. But then, nobody could tell for sure at this stage. She also gave us the OK to watch a movie.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Another Fluffy Post
More fluff mail to add to my stash....a free Happy Heiny diaper with my purchase, an Evolution ION diaper, plus a pack of Bummis prefolds in infant size, a Thirties hemp prefold, plus a pair of hemp inserts. Also gotten 2 sample jars of CJ Butters, that are supposedly good as a diaper cream with cloth.
A pair of cute diapers from Bumcheeks, which is an Australian brand...
On this afternoon, I found some time to prepare my Bummis prefolds (unbleached organic cotton, I think), and the hemp prefold and inserts. (Preparation for natural fibres: boil for 20 minutes and finish with a hot wash.)
Surprisingly, the Thirties prefold and inserts still remained so soft after washing and line-drying, as I had read that hemp will stiffen up unless you use a dryer. Perhaps this is due to the combination of hemp and jersey material in these, but I love the softness!
A pair of cute diapers from Bumcheeks, which is an Australian brand...
On this afternoon, I found some time to prepare my Bummis prefolds (unbleached organic cotton, I think), and the hemp prefold and inserts. (Preparation for natural fibres: boil for 20 minutes and finish with a hot wash.)
Surprisingly, the Thirties prefold and inserts still remained so soft after washing and line-drying, as I had read that hemp will stiffen up unless you use a dryer. Perhaps this is due to the combination of hemp and jersey material in these, but I love the softness!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Toilet-Training: Success!
For about a month or so ago, we noticed that Ian had been randomly keeping his night diapers dry. Sometimes, he even woke up, took off his pants and diaper, and went to the toilet in the dark. Although the occurrence of a dry diaper was random at the beginning, he became more and more consistent until a fortnight ago, he had done it for almost an entire week, and was consistently waking up early in the morning to go to the toilet.
Last week, Hubby decided to take the gamble and put Ian in his undies (although Ian still wanted to wear his diapers!) for the night. Hubby would warn little Ian not to pee in his undies and to go to the toilet, after Ian had changed into his pajamas. It was gratifying that Ian had managed to keep his pants dry until now. And we were glad that he had done it without sacrificing his nightly bottle of milk during bedtime.
Goodbye, diapers!
Last week, Hubby decided to take the gamble and put Ian in his undies (although Ian still wanted to wear his diapers!) for the night. Hubby would warn little Ian not to pee in his undies and to go to the toilet, after Ian had changed into his pajamas. It was gratifying that Ian had managed to keep his pants dry until now. And we were glad that he had done it without sacrificing his nightly bottle of milk during bedtime.
Goodbye, diapers!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Vesak Day Dinner
I had forgotten my own lunar birthday, but my Mom remembered it and bought me pig kidney to share with Hubby and Ian. We collected it and the mee sua that she had prepared, and Hubby cooked it for our dinner. When Hubby added the egg into the bowl, Ian got excited and kept begging us for the egg, so the egg in the picture below went to Ian's bowl right after I took the photo.
Hubby also cooked Fish and Papaya Soup tonight, for the first time. The green papaya was extremely hard to find. We purchased the fish from NTUC last Saturday, but I only managed to find the green papaya from the Chong Pang wet market today. (This was after our futile search in the nearby wet market and 2 NTUC outlets.)
Surprisingly, Ian loved this soup! We would be counting on Hubby to cook it during my confinement! :)
Hubby also cooked Fish and Papaya Soup tonight, for the first time. The green papaya was extremely hard to find. We purchased the fish from NTUC last Saturday, but I only managed to find the green papaya from the Chong Pang wet market today. (This was after our futile search in the nearby wet market and 2 NTUC outlets.)
Surprisingly, Ian loved this soup! We would be counting on Hubby to cook it during my confinement! :)
Saturday, May 14, 2011
32 Weeks Scan
This morning, we visited Dr Tan for my 32 weeks scan. It had been a month since we last checked on our baby princess. We waited for some time because Dr had to attend to a case in the hospital.
It was good news this time round, because our baby finally turned down. Her weight gain was good, and estimated at 1.88kg as of date. Dr said that her weight was comparable to Ian's.
My visits would shorten to fortnightly after this, and one last month for us to finalize and settle whatever we needed to do. Time really flies!
It was good news this time round, because our baby finally turned down. Her weight gain was good, and estimated at 1.88kg as of date. Dr said that her weight was comparable to Ian's.
My visits would shorten to fortnightly after this, and one last month for us to finalize and settle whatever we needed to do. Time really flies!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
汤圆 For Mother's Day
I had promised Ian to make glutinous rice balls (汤圆) with him about 2 weeks ago, and had not gotten down to action until today. This morning, we woke up slightly earlier, and I prepared the dough as Ian was watching his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse again.
He was very excited when I brought the dough and the tray out to his little table. He rushed off to wash his hands and they were still dripping wet when he started to knead. I made him dry his hands first before allowing him to touch the dough. This was not the first time he was making the glutinous rice balls. He had done it in school a few months ago around the Chinese New Year period. Both of us kneaded all the rice balls, while Daddy was busy doing other things elsewhere in the house.
Here was our breakfast! As we were eating, Ian told me that he made these for Mommy!
He was very excited when I brought the dough and the tray out to his little table. He rushed off to wash his hands and they were still dripping wet when he started to knead. I made him dry his hands first before allowing him to touch the dough. This was not the first time he was making the glutinous rice balls. He had done it in school a few months ago around the Chinese New Year period. Both of us kneaded all the rice balls, while Daddy was busy doing other things elsewhere in the house.
Here was our breakfast! As we were eating, Ian told me that he made these for Mommy!
It was amusing how his funny Mandarin accent made 汤圆 sounded like 团员 (meaning reunion).
Friday, May 6, 2011
Fluffy Mail
Thanks to Earth Day, I purchased some of these items for 20% off.
2 wet bags - I saw some ladies spreeing for wet bags on the forum, and did not really understand their need for it since we had never used these with Ian. To me, plastic bags would do the trick. However, now that Ian has started full-day childcare, we had a lot of dirty clothes and a wet towel to bring home everyday. I gathered that on a long-term basis, plastic bags would not be the way to go. We would need a lot of these plastic bags (that were reasonably clean to put in his clothes) and it was not exactly eco-friendly.
The Earth Day promotion came just in time, so I ordered a Bummis medium bag, and a Planet Wise large bag. Anyway, we would need a wet bag for storing dirty cloth diapers in future, to keep the stink contained. The medium bag just fitted all of Ian's clothes and towel for childcare.
More fluffs! There was a "Buy 5 Get 1 Free" promotion on Bumgenius diapers (which others said was a good discount as there was seldom discounts on this brand), but I was lucky enough to find a better promotion with the 20% off. Hence, I bought 2 pocket diapers (a snap and an aplix), and a highly-raved Elemental all-in-one diaper. I also bought a FuzziBunz to try since the reviews on this were good too. There was a seconds sale and I grabbed a Flip cover for USD$8.55 with free shipping. The defect with this cover was a small tear at the edge, but for this price, I thought it was not a big deal.
This stash could probably last me for about a day of diapering our little princess, if used together with our cotton flats and prefolds.
2 wet bags - I saw some ladies spreeing for wet bags on the forum, and did not really understand their need for it since we had never used these with Ian. To me, plastic bags would do the trick. However, now that Ian has started full-day childcare, we had a lot of dirty clothes and a wet towel to bring home everyday. I gathered that on a long-term basis, plastic bags would not be the way to go. We would need a lot of these plastic bags (that were reasonably clean to put in his clothes) and it was not exactly eco-friendly.
The Earth Day promotion came just in time, so I ordered a Bummis medium bag, and a Planet Wise large bag. Anyway, we would need a wet bag for storing dirty cloth diapers in future, to keep the stink contained. The medium bag just fitted all of Ian's clothes and towel for childcare.
More fluffs! There was a "Buy 5 Get 1 Free" promotion on Bumgenius diapers (which others said was a good discount as there was seldom discounts on this brand), but I was lucky enough to find a better promotion with the 20% off. Hence, I bought 2 pocket diapers (a snap and an aplix), and a highly-raved Elemental all-in-one diaper. I also bought a FuzziBunz to try since the reviews on this were good too. There was a seconds sale and I grabbed a Flip cover for USD$8.55 with free shipping. The defect with this cover was a small tear at the edge, but for this price, I thought it was not a big deal.
This stash could probably last me for about a day of diapering our little princess, if used together with our cotton flats and prefolds.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Ian @ 3 Years 1 Month
Today marked the day of Ian beginning his full-day in school. When I picked him up in the evening, he was happily playing with a few of the classmates who were also waiting for their parents. It was a relief that he appeared to be adapting well, as what the teacher had informed me. The only problem that she highlighted was his lack of interest in eating. We would have to monitor his weight for the subsequent period.
For the past 2 weeks, we had been eating at home, because my Mom had undergone an eye surgery and was thus not able to cook for a long period. One benefit of eating at home was that Ian had been forced to self-feed, and we had managed to cut him off from TV and iPhone. When I told Hubby about this over the weekend, he thought that it was better for Ian as he was getting obsessive with watching TV and playing iPhone during mealtimes. However, that meant it would be tougher on us because he had to go grocery shopping on a few mornings and I had to cook in the afternoon. One good thing was that I did not have to worry about the weather, because it had been raining cats and dogs at those times when we were just about to leave the house (also depending on what time Ian woke up from his beauty nap)!
As of 3 years old, our little boy had become very talkative, and often talked to himself about his imaginary friends from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Backyardigans, or Little Einsteins. He had also found a pet dog (a soft toy that Hubby gave me many years ago) that he claimed to be his, and sometimes, we found him to be talking to the pet dog as well. It was a pleasant progress to us, because he was diagnosed with a speech delay when he was 2.
He also found a love for reading books, and always demanded us to read him a few before he was willing to take his milk bottle and go to bed. He was able to read some of the words in the books, but we were not sure whether he memorised the book, or he was actually reading the words. But it did not matter either way, because it was still a progress. One problem we were still facing now, was his lack of interest in the Chinese books. We let him choose most of the books that he wanted to read, and he seldom picked the Chinese ones. We had also noticed that he was unwilling to speak in Mandarin sometimes, and wondered why?
I also discovered a change in Ian's attention span, at least in watching cartoons! In the past, he would only watch for a few minutes at most, and then find something more interesting to do. But recently, he had been watching cartoons with his eyes glued onto the screen. I wondered if that was a natural progression in growing up?
Since Ian had been toilet-trained in the day for about half a year, Hubby and I had been playing with the idea of toilet-training him for night-time as well. We tried to put him on one of the cloth diapers for one night, and that was it. He refused to wear it subsequently, and I thought it was because the diaper was too tight on his chubby thighs and made it uncomfortable. Well, we would just save the diapers for his little sister then! However, the good news was that subsequently, he had kept his diaper dry for a few random nights. Recently, we had noticed that he woke up more frequently early in the morning, took off his diaper on his own, and went to the toilet in the dark. And, his diaper had remained dry. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this would continue (although that would mean we would get lesser sleep)! One thing that we did not change was his nightly bottle of milk, because some parents had cut off any liquid an hour before bedtime when they potty-trained their little ones for nighttime. I did not want to do that because I thought that it was essential for him to drink more milk at his age (without sacrificing solid food intake), especially when he was so willing to drink it.
Our little boy was also growing to be a bossy guy. For instance, if he wanted our attention and we were watching TV or looking at our phones, he would say "Daddy, stop watching. Come and sit on the floor.", or "Mommy, stop watching. Eat your lunch.". Sometimes, if I unfastened the seat belt before the car came to a full stop, he would chide me, "Mommy, your seat belt!". Somehow, I could not help but be amused by this little bossy guy.
Just a quick stat:
Weight: 16.4kg
I was astonished when I saw the number on the weighing scale, because I had not been carrying him for the past few months. But I was super pleased with his weight gain! I did not manage to measure his height, but a random guess would be around 100cm perhaps?
For the past 2 weeks, we had been eating at home, because my Mom had undergone an eye surgery and was thus not able to cook for a long period. One benefit of eating at home was that Ian had been forced to self-feed, and we had managed to cut him off from TV and iPhone. When I told Hubby about this over the weekend, he thought that it was better for Ian as he was getting obsessive with watching TV and playing iPhone during mealtimes. However, that meant it would be tougher on us because he had to go grocery shopping on a few mornings and I had to cook in the afternoon. One good thing was that I did not have to worry about the weather, because it had been raining cats and dogs at those times when we were just about to leave the house (also depending on what time Ian woke up from his beauty nap)!
As of 3 years old, our little boy had become very talkative, and often talked to himself about his imaginary friends from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Backyardigans, or Little Einsteins. He had also found a pet dog (a soft toy that Hubby gave me many years ago) that he claimed to be his, and sometimes, we found him to be talking to the pet dog as well. It was a pleasant progress to us, because he was diagnosed with a speech delay when he was 2.
He also found a love for reading books, and always demanded us to read him a few before he was willing to take his milk bottle and go to bed. He was able to read some of the words in the books, but we were not sure whether he memorised the book, or he was actually reading the words. But it did not matter either way, because it was still a progress. One problem we were still facing now, was his lack of interest in the Chinese books. We let him choose most of the books that he wanted to read, and he seldom picked the Chinese ones. We had also noticed that he was unwilling to speak in Mandarin sometimes, and wondered why?
I also discovered a change in Ian's attention span, at least in watching cartoons! In the past, he would only watch for a few minutes at most, and then find something more interesting to do. But recently, he had been watching cartoons with his eyes glued onto the screen. I wondered if that was a natural progression in growing up?
Since Ian had been toilet-trained in the day for about half a year, Hubby and I had been playing with the idea of toilet-training him for night-time as well. We tried to put him on one of the cloth diapers for one night, and that was it. He refused to wear it subsequently, and I thought it was because the diaper was too tight on his chubby thighs and made it uncomfortable. Well, we would just save the diapers for his little sister then! However, the good news was that subsequently, he had kept his diaper dry for a few random nights. Recently, we had noticed that he woke up more frequently early in the morning, took off his diaper on his own, and went to the toilet in the dark. And, his diaper had remained dry. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this would continue (although that would mean we would get lesser sleep)! One thing that we did not change was his nightly bottle of milk, because some parents had cut off any liquid an hour before bedtime when they potty-trained their little ones for nighttime. I did not want to do that because I thought that it was essential for him to drink more milk at his age (without sacrificing solid food intake), especially when he was so willing to drink it.
Our little boy was also growing to be a bossy guy. For instance, if he wanted our attention and we were watching TV or looking at our phones, he would say "Daddy, stop watching. Come and sit on the floor.", or "Mommy, stop watching. Eat your lunch.". Sometimes, if I unfastened the seat belt before the car came to a full stop, he would chide me, "Mommy, your seat belt!". Somehow, I could not help but be amused by this little bossy guy.
Just a quick stat:
Weight: 16.4kg
I was astonished when I saw the number on the weighing scale, because I had not been carrying him for the past few months. But I was super pleased with his weight gain! I did not manage to measure his height, but a random guess would be around 100cm perhaps?
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