Sunday, July 31, 2005
Understanding Simple Commands
Matthew is now 5 months and 6 days old. Time to time, we would tell him to do certain things, like "leg up" when we want to take him up from his high chair, "let go" when he pulls or tags at our hair or spectacles, "hold" when we want him to hold on to the side of the bathtub or a toy.
Today he demonstrated that he understood these commands in different situations. He has learned to stand supported. So when all opportunities arise, he would want to "stand". It is now difficult to try and dress him. When we tried to wear his pants standing, we said "leg up" and he actually lifted his leg!
Today he demonstrated that he understood these commands in different situations. He has learned to stand supported. So when all opportunities arise, he would want to "stand". It is now difficult to try and dress him. When we tried to wear his pants standing, we said "leg up" and he actually lifted his leg!
Matthew sent me to the airport today!!! His grandparents and little aunt are going for a trip to China, and so he came along!!!
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Angry Matthew???
I realised that it is impossible to take a photo of Matthew when he is angry. Because he had learned how to look the camera and smile. Haha.. Here's a photo of him which I took when he was angry. Obviously he didn't look angry, but a little flustered.. ;o)Friday, July 29, 2005
Celebrity Mother... so what?!?!
Zoe Tay gave birth to her Brayden one day earlier than me to my Matthew. In fact she stayed across the corridor from me in TMC. When I admitted into TMC, I still had not read the papers and did not know that she had given birth the previous day. It was only when we went up to my ward, we saw the security guard outside the deluxe suite, then I knew. (FYI - Matthew was delivered via elective c-section because he was too big for my small frame to deliver naturally!!)
As her Brayden and my Matthew were borned one day apart, I have always kept up the news on her boy to compare their development stages. Of course all babies are different. My Matthew was borned full term, whereas Brayden was a couple of weeks early. There are differences, but would be subtle.
I was also curious to know if she had managed to lose weight through her strict confinement practices and breastfeeding (bf). I was pretty encouraged by her commitment to bf for a year, something which requires commitment, support from the family, endurance and energy. Bf is actually quite energy-draining on the mother but the fulfillment is something that only bf mothers can understand. Of course, not saying that bottle feeding is no good.
When we saw her at the NKF Cancer Fund show earlier this month, she has obviously lost some weight but of course not her big boobs. It was a couple of weekends ago when I saw her in the Extrim X advertisement; at first I thought it was just an endorsement.
Then came the entertainment report in the local papers on her endorsement of a local spa brand. She admitted that contrary to reports, she did bathe, just once a day. FYI, it was previously reported that she followed strict confinement practices, such as no bathing, no washing hair etc.
At a Mediacorp press conference earlier this week, she clarified that she did not really bathed, she merely used a cloth to wipe down, using herbal mix. Now this really made me wonder, did she or did she not. Does it matter anymore? Then she said that Brayden did not drink fresh breastmilk (bm) for 2-3 weeks while she was taking Extrim, but frozen bm that she had stored earlier. Ok, to be fair, I also pumped my bm very often and did had lots of excess bm which I also stored in my freezer and it would be enough to last a month.
The whole point is that she is a celebrity, who has a huge following (like me, a new mother, to get tips, don't really like her acting) and lots of young fans. She was sending the wrong message to young ignorant mothers who may think that it's safe to take slimming pills while still bf. As a celebrity (also a public figure), she should be responsible for the type of message she is communicating to the public at large.
Btw, I have already lost all of the pregnancy weight (was 52kg pre-pregnancy and 65kg before birth) and more. Now I am a happy bf mother who weighs 48kg, with a much reduced butt and 27" waistline. All without pills and exercise. Only thing is my flabby tummy, can't do much now as I delivered via c-section, shall wait a couple of months more, before I work on it. The trick is bf and have a healthy diet (but remember input cannot be more than ouput, if not will never lose it, man!). My hubby always says, "aiyah, if only we knew, then no need to spend S$10k at Expressions!" HaHa...
so ya, just one more thing, if anybody noticed, Brayden was wearing Pampers Premium on the new Her World Cover.. ;o)
Just my two cents' worth... Cheers!
As her Brayden and my Matthew were borned one day apart, I have always kept up the news on her boy to compare their development stages. Of course all babies are different. My Matthew was borned full term, whereas Brayden was a couple of weeks early. There are differences, but would be subtle.
I was also curious to know if she had managed to lose weight through her strict confinement practices and breastfeeding (bf). I was pretty encouraged by her commitment to bf for a year, something which requires commitment, support from the family, endurance and energy. Bf is actually quite energy-draining on the mother but the fulfillment is something that only bf mothers can understand. Of course, not saying that bottle feeding is no good.
When we saw her at the NKF Cancer Fund show earlier this month, she has obviously lost some weight but of course not her big boobs. It was a couple of weekends ago when I saw her in the Extrim X advertisement; at first I thought it was just an endorsement.
Then came the entertainment report in the local papers on her endorsement of a local spa brand. She admitted that contrary to reports, she did bathe, just once a day. FYI, it was previously reported that she followed strict confinement practices, such as no bathing, no washing hair etc.
At a Mediacorp press conference earlier this week, she clarified that she did not really bathed, she merely used a cloth to wipe down, using herbal mix. Now this really made me wonder, did she or did she not. Does it matter anymore? Then she said that Brayden did not drink fresh breastmilk (bm) for 2-3 weeks while she was taking Extrim, but frozen bm that she had stored earlier. Ok, to be fair, I also pumped my bm very often and did had lots of excess bm which I also stored in my freezer and it would be enough to last a month.
The whole point is that she is a celebrity, who has a huge following (like me, a new mother, to get tips, don't really like her acting) and lots of young fans. She was sending the wrong message to young ignorant mothers who may think that it's safe to take slimming pills while still bf. As a celebrity (also a public figure), she should be responsible for the type of message she is communicating to the public at large.
Btw, I have already lost all of the pregnancy weight (was 52kg pre-pregnancy and 65kg before birth) and more. Now I am a happy bf mother who weighs 48kg, with a much reduced butt and 27" waistline. All without pills and exercise. Only thing is my flabby tummy, can't do much now as I delivered via c-section, shall wait a couple of months more, before I work on it. The trick is bf and have a healthy diet (but remember input cannot be more than ouput, if not will never lose it, man!). My hubby always says, "aiyah, if only we knew, then no need to spend S$10k at Expressions!" HaHa...
so ya, just one more thing, if anybody noticed, Brayden was wearing Pampers Premium on the new Her World Cover.. ;o)
Just my two cents' worth... Cheers!
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Matthew's First Time to Sentosa
It was supposed to be a Botanic Garden outing today, but the sky decided to open up and pour buckets of water... After much discussion, Chris, Tianfa with Megan and Mike, me with Matthew ended up going to Sentosa for the Musical Fountain Show.
We reached Sentosa at about 5:30pm, so that we could have some time to stroll around. We parked at the Gateway Car Park. Btw, it is possible to drive into Sentosa now. It cost S$2 per person plus S$2 for the car. Gateway Car Park was originally the site of the closed-down Fantasy Island (a water amusement park).
Along the way to the Musical Fountain, we came upon the Sentosa Orchid Gardens. There were big, small, colourful orchids every where. When we showed Matthew one of the big orchids, he gently touched the colourful petals, then to our dismay, tried to tear the petal off!!! But of course, orchids are hardy flowers, they don't come apart so easily. Then there was this pond with lots of koi in it.
They swam up to where we were standing by the pond. Matthew stared at the colourful fishes swimming around. One of these days, we will bring him to the Underwater World.
As we moved along, we found ourselves in the Fountain Gardens. Matthew loves water (like all babies do). He looked intently at the fountains and wanted to reach out to touch. He was making happy sounds...
We were early for the show, but there was a pre-show featuring Secondary School students performing traditional dances. I took the chance to feed Matthew his rice cereal and he keenly finished it. Chris and Megan joined us and Megan too had her porridge.
The two kids interacted. Megan used her hand to signal "come come". She sayang (gently touched) Matthew. Matthew reached out and touched her hair and promptly tagged at her hair. Megan did not even let out a cry. She gently held on to Matthew's hand as we got his hand off. By the time the show started, it was time for Matthew to sleep. Even with the loud noises, he slept. It was a pity that he did not get to see the show. He would have enjoyed it. Megan enjoyed the show very much, shaking to the music, curious about the lights and sounds. We would go again.
We reached Sentosa at about 5:30pm, so that we could have some time to stroll around. We parked at the Gateway Car Park. Btw, it is possible to drive into Sentosa now. It cost S$2 per person plus S$2 for the car. Gateway Car Park was originally the site of the closed-down Fantasy Island (a water amusement park).
Along the way to the Musical Fountain, we came upon the Sentosa Orchid Gardens. There were big, small, colourful orchids every where. When we showed Matthew one of the big orchids, he gently touched the colourful petals, then to our dismay, tried to tear the petal off!!! But of course, orchids are hardy flowers, they don't come apart so easily. Then there was this pond with lots of koi in it.They swam up to where we were standing by the pond. Matthew stared at the colourful fishes swimming around. One of these days, we will bring him to the Underwater World.
As we moved along, we found ourselves in the Fountain Gardens. Matthew loves water (like all babies do). He looked intently at the fountains and wanted to reach out to touch. He was making happy sounds...We were early for the show, but there was a pre-show featuring Secondary School students performing traditional dances. I took the chance to feed Matthew his rice cereal and he keenly finished it. Chris and Megan joined us and Megan too had her porridge.
The two kids interacted. Megan used her hand to signal "come come". She sayang (gently touched) Matthew. Matthew reached out and touched her hair and promptly tagged at her hair. Megan did not even let out a cry. She gently held on to Matthew's hand as we got his hand off. By the time the show started, it was time for Matthew to sleep. Even with the loud noises, he slept. It was a pity that he did not get to see the show. He would have enjoyed it. Megan enjoyed the show very much, shaking to the music, curious about the lights and sounds. We would go again.Saturday, July 16, 2005
The Old and the Young
We decided to try our luck in the Straits Times' 160th anniversary car hunt. This word treasure hunt required readers to cut out 35 "hidden" letters in the newspaper from 1 to 15 July and with the help of 28 revealed letters in the puzzle, the complete puzzle would point to the mystery location of the prize, a 2.4-litre Mazda 6 silver car. With the help from my colleagues yesterday, we had solved the puzzle "Where the sun rises by the sea, from seven to eleven, Roland eyes a perfect game" and figured that it was East Coast Park. As a Singaporean, you would know that there's a MacDonald's restaurant and a bowling alley next to it.
By the time we got to the expressway exit, the whole place was swamped with cars. We literally waited one hour to get from one side of ECP to the other side (of course, the flyover was also jammed). While waiting, Matthew "screamed" because he wanted to sleep and I have forgotten to bring his pacifier and bolster. I got to carry and pat him to sleep on my shoulder.. So we decided to abandon our mission and make our way to the little canteen near my office in Kallang for breakfast.
After breakfast, it was almost 11am. We decided to make our way to Yishun to fetch Matthew's grandmother to Mike's grandmother's place in AMK. We reached AMK after 1pm and Matthew decided that he did not want to sleep anymore... He played with Mike's grandfather. see the photo we took, the youngest with the oldest in the family and they interacted well and at one point, he wanted Ah Gong to carry him. Interesting exchange between the two. Three generations apart, one "common" language. Totally amazed.
By the time we got to the expressway exit, the whole place was swamped with cars. We literally waited one hour to get from one side of ECP to the other side (of course, the flyover was also jammed). While waiting, Matthew "screamed" because he wanted to sleep and I have forgotten to bring his pacifier and bolster. I got to carry and pat him to sleep on my shoulder.. So we decided to abandon our mission and make our way to the little canteen near my office in Kallang for breakfast.After breakfast, it was almost 11am. We decided to make our way to Yishun to fetch Matthew's grandmother to Mike's grandmother's place in AMK. We reached AMK after 1pm and Matthew decided that he did not want to sleep anymore... He played with Mike's grandfather. see the photo we took, the youngest with the oldest in the family and they interacted well and at one point, he wanted Ah Gong to carry him. Interesting exchange between the two. Three generations apart, one "common" language. Totally amazed.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Sweet but too much is no good....
Matthew has been farting like nobody's business... and he has woken up in the middle of the night for two days now, half awake, stirring from 3am to 5am when he finally decided to CRY... only when I picked him up then he stopped and refused to be put down. He would then fall asleep on my shoulder. We started to suspect whether it was wind in his tummy...
I brought this up with my mom and she mentioned that sweet potato causes wind... soh des ne. that's the reason why he has been waking up in the middle of the night.
Last night, Mike decided to massage his tummy with Ju Yee Oil to make him more comfortable. After he applied Ju Yee Oil, he farted... Puut... just like the commercial on this traditional medicated oil... the little girl said to her mother after her mother applied the oil on her tummy "wo su fu duo le. Gang cai hai put le yi shen"
I brought this up with my mom and she mentioned that sweet potato causes wind... soh des ne. that's the reason why he has been waking up in the middle of the night.
Last night, Mike decided to massage his tummy with Ju Yee Oil to make him more comfortable. After he applied Ju Yee Oil, he farted... Puut... just like the commercial on this traditional medicated oil... the little girl said to her mother after her mother applied the oil on her tummy "wo su fu duo le. Gang cai hai put le yi shen"
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Hello all... Lemme intro myself. This is Matthew's aunt, or Sandy's little sister speaking. Am here to contribute to Matthew's growing up diary. :) *Applause!!*
Anyways, today was my granny's birthday, or Matthew's great granny's birthday. So Matthew's was all dressed up for the relatives that was coming, then promptly proceed to sleep 50% of the time they were here!! Well, can't blame anyone, cuz Matthew's everyday life runs pretty much like clockwork. If it's time to sleep, it's time to sleep. No arguments.
The food was good, too much, in fact. After dinner, Matthew started crying, so (his) Mummy, Daddy and me went upstaits to sayang him and also to "escape" from the noise downstairs... and while chilling upstairs, I asked Mike and Sandy why Matthew is called Matthew and said in jest that they have taken the name i wanted to call my son (that is, if i ever have one). Funnily, it's the first name they thought of, and they never had a female name in mind. So I asked, if Matthew was a girl, or if Matthew have a sister, what he would be called. Jolin, or Joline, or Jolene was favoured by Mummy, and this name was of course influenced, the one and only Angelina Jolie. I suggested Audrey... and then Mummy and I promptly went into a discussion as to whether it is pronounced as "Au-dri" or "Au-dray". Then we thought of males names too cuz Daddy suggested that if they do have another baby, it may not be a girl. Nothing came out of it. Any suggestions??
Anyways, today was my granny's birthday, or Matthew's great granny's birthday. So Matthew's was all dressed up for the relatives that was coming, then promptly proceed to sleep 50% of the time they were here!! Well, can't blame anyone, cuz Matthew's everyday life runs pretty much like clockwork. If it's time to sleep, it's time to sleep. No arguments.
The food was good, too much, in fact. After dinner, Matthew started crying, so (his) Mummy, Daddy and me went upstaits to sayang him and also to "escape" from the noise downstairs... and while chilling upstairs, I asked Mike and Sandy why Matthew is called Matthew and said in jest that they have taken the name i wanted to call my son (that is, if i ever have one). Funnily, it's the first name they thought of, and they never had a female name in mind. So I asked, if Matthew was a girl, or if Matthew have a sister, what he would be called. Jolin, or Joline, or Jolene was favoured by Mummy, and this name was of course influenced, the one and only Angelina Jolie. I suggested Audrey... and then Mummy and I promptly went into a discussion as to whether it is pronounced as "Au-dri" or "Au-dray". Then we thought of males names too cuz Daddy suggested that if they do have another baby, it may not be a girl. Nothing came out of it. Any suggestions??
Monday, July 04, 2005
Sweet Sweet Potato
The day did not begin on a bright note... One part because we were all knocked out by the late night; the other part because of the downpour!
We had sweet potato for breakfast at Grandmum's place. Matthew had his first taste of sweet potato and he loved it! Grabbing Grandmum's hand, wanting more... We were happy, seeing that he enjoys eating... That way, we need not worry that dinnertime becomes wartime!
If you want to try, start with local sweet potato (the orange type) first. Put the sweet potato is a pot with some water (not too much, about enough to cover half the sweet potato). Cook until soft. Japanese type (purple) is generally harder and would take a longer time and more water to soften. Can mix with rice cereal.
Matthew, you are as sweet as the sweet potato... We love you!
We had sweet potato for breakfast at Grandmum's place. Matthew had his first taste of sweet potato and he loved it! Grabbing Grandmum's hand, wanting more... We were happy, seeing that he enjoys eating... That way, we need not worry that dinnertime becomes wartime!
If you want to try, start with local sweet potato (the orange type) first. Put the sweet potato is a pot with some water (not too much, about enough to cover half the sweet potato). Cook until soft. Japanese type (purple) is generally harder and would take a longer time and more water to soften. Can mix with rice cereal.
Matthew, you are as sweet as the sweet potato... We love you!
Needles and Pain? Miserable Day?
Matthew took his second 6-in-1 jab yesterday. You know how some kids cry before the needle touches the skin or when the jab was being administered. Matthew did not even make a sound when the needle poked his skin or when the doctor was injecting the vaccine (wah... sound so chim)... Only after the doctor removed the needle completely, he gave out a muted cry.
No pain??? It has been a while since I took any jab, except the needles the health-screening nurse poked into me to draw blood samples for tests... I am not the type who is scared of needles... In fact, I donate blood if I could, but not now lah... Now still breastfeeding, so cannot do my part...
Anyway, the injection must have made him grouchy the whole day... He had a good nap at noon, but was miserable... No matter what we did, whether it was stand, sit, carry, lie down, play with toys or whatever - basically he was just not happy. Until...
Until Mike brought him to the playground, he was contented looking around. He was happier, making happy noises. Me? I was exhausted, so I took a nap while they were downstairs. Mike said that he was just happy, standing there and watching the "action" around him. Mike literally fell asleep on his feet.
He started having fever in the late evening, when he was about to sleep. We have already given him 0.2ml of paracetamol in the morning before the jab, so we gave him another 0.2ml. He slept well. His fever subsided by the time we woke him up for his night feed.
But he did not sleep after his feed, as he was wide-awake. Big mistake. We must always remind ourselves that no matter what he does, we should never never talk or play with him... Disaster as he did not sleep till almost 2am...
No pain??? It has been a while since I took any jab, except the needles the health-screening nurse poked into me to draw blood samples for tests... I am not the type who is scared of needles... In fact, I donate blood if I could, but not now lah... Now still breastfeeding, so cannot do my part...
Anyway, the injection must have made him grouchy the whole day... He had a good nap at noon, but was miserable... No matter what we did, whether it was stand, sit, carry, lie down, play with toys or whatever - basically he was just not happy. Until...
Until Mike brought him to the playground, he was contented looking around. He was happier, making happy noises. Me? I was exhausted, so I took a nap while they were downstairs. Mike said that he was just happy, standing there and watching the "action" around him. Mike literally fell asleep on his feet.
He started having fever in the late evening, when he was about to sleep. We have already given him 0.2ml of paracetamol in the morning before the jab, so we gave him another 0.2ml. He slept well. His fever subsided by the time we woke him up for his night feed.
But he did not sleep after his feed, as he was wide-awake. Big mistake. We must always remind ourselves that no matter what he does, we should never never talk or play with him... Disaster as he did not sleep till almost 2am...
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Fun in the Park
Nothing much to do today, so we decided to bring Matthew to West Coast Park.
First we took a wrong turn; instead of turning right, we turned left. Went as far as Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre to make a U-turn, because we missed our right turn to Car Park 1. Finally reached Car Park 1, but where was the big new McDonalds' that was opened recently? We thought we should just walk around and we would eventually find it...
But.. not a very good idea. Bad influence for young kids. There were cars and lorries parked around us. There were people inside them, doing... ahem... something.. ahem... well, some things are better left unspoken.
So we checked the street directory and decided to try our luck further down the road. And there it was! the new McDonalds' with McCafe. Remember that if you are going there, exit at Clementi Road (from AYE) and turn right at the junction with West Coast Highway, not left. It's at Car Park 3.
mm.. quite crowded, but we managed to find a car park lot quite easily. We walked around the park and was surprised by the re-development of the park.
There are six adventure playgrounds, with two specially designed for kids 3 to 6 and toddlers. Lots of open space, benches, shelters and even BBQ pits. There are also taps for washing up after playing in the sand. Lots of kids in the playground, adults and teenagers playing frisbees, flying kites and even practising softball.
We saw two ducks with five ducklings in the Marsh Garden. To me, it was a fabulous discovery. Obviously the little ducklings were borned in this little piece of wildery just a short distance from our busy bustling city centre. There were lots of fishes in the water. mm.. Matthew would learn to appreciate these little things when he grows up.
Matthew had fun, lots of it. He loves open space, blue sky, greenery.. He made lots of noise, happy noise. Kicked his legs, waved his hands. He was happy.
People love babies. They love to touch and coo with them. We had a student, who was there for a BBQ, coming up to us, talked to Matthew, held his hand and he smiled back at her. Amazing! CuteZ! How babies attract total strangers to open up and start a conversation? Well, like what my mom said, there are not too many babies to go round nowadays, I suppose.
I love you Matthew. You are a rare gem.
First we took a wrong turn; instead of turning right, we turned left. Went as far as Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre to make a U-turn, because we missed our right turn to Car Park 1. Finally reached Car Park 1, but where was the big new McDonalds' that was opened recently? We thought we should just walk around and we would eventually find it...
But.. not a very good idea. Bad influence for young kids. There were cars and lorries parked around us. There were people inside them, doing... ahem... something.. ahem... well, some things are better left unspoken.
So we checked the street directory and decided to try our luck further down the road. And there it was! the new McDonalds' with McCafe. Remember that if you are going there, exit at Clementi Road (from AYE) and turn right at the junction with West Coast Highway, not left. It's at Car Park 3.
mm.. quite crowded, but we managed to find a car park lot quite easily. We walked around the park and was surprised by the re-development of the park.
There are six adventure playgrounds, with two specially designed for kids 3 to 6 and toddlers. Lots of open space, benches, shelters and even BBQ pits. There are also taps for washing up after playing in the sand. Lots of kids in the playground, adults and teenagers playing frisbees, flying kites and even practising softball. 
We saw two ducks with five ducklings in the Marsh Garden. To me, it was a fabulous discovery. Obviously the little ducklings were borned in this little piece of wildery just a short distance from our busy bustling city centre. There were lots of fishes in the water. mm.. Matthew would learn to appreciate these little things when he grows up. Matthew had fun, lots of it. He loves open space, blue sky, greenery.. He made lots of noise, happy noise. Kicked his legs, waved his hands. He was happy.
People love babies. They love to touch and coo with them. We had a student, who was there for a BBQ, coming up to us, talked to Matthew, held his hand and he smiled back at her. Amazing! CuteZ! How babies attract total strangers to open up and start a conversation? Well, like what my mom said, there are not too many babies to go round nowadays, I suppose.
I love you Matthew. You are a rare gem.
Labels: west coast park
