May updates

Sighs, I've been really busy at night. ZK usually sleeps between 8.30 pm and 9 pm now, and after that, I have to tidy up the dining area, wash his bottles and prepare his bag for the next day before I could have my dinner and shower. That doesn't leave me much time to do much before I get sleepy. And I usually get sleepy by 11 pm...

Anyway, I love May because it always starts with a public holiday! :) But this time, Sito had to work, bah! So it was up to ZK and me to find something fun to do..

Spent the morning rolling around in the house. Was it that day that I introduced the mechanical giraffe? Can't remember.. Anyway, the giraffe was speeding across the room and ZK had fun chasing after it - and chewing on it!



I also decided to dismantle his baby gym that day. In this shot, it seemed as though he was a bit sad.. But his room looked like that for a couple more days cos I couldn't get the arches off the mat until the weekend! Then I moved his foam mat nearer his bed instead. I thought I would wash everything and put back only the mat and not the arches but yesterday morning, I rearranged his bedroom such that his bed was no longer at the window so I'm not sure if replacing the gym mat would make his room super cluttered.. We shall see...



He was very funny at breakfast - trying to poop!



He wasn't successful *.* But after his nap, he rolled on to the gym to play and suddenly, he just sat there quietly. The next thing I knew, his face was all red again! Success this time!

As I was changing his dirty diaper, we had a little conversation:

ZK: Papa?
mf: Papa is working :)
ZK: Mama?
mf: Mama is here changing your diaper!

Yes, he really made it sound like questions! And he turned to look at me to ask his questions!

Anyway, the plan of the day was to find Mother. He was all over the place! First on the floor...


Source: YQ

Then on me... (Please ignore the blue baby handkerchief on the auntie..)


Source: YQ

Then on the mesh chair! Eh, what's with that expression??


Source: YQ

Much better :)


Source: MZ

Decided to give him some bread for dinner that day but he just wasn't interested in all these little pieces! He just took them up and dropped them to the floor! I had to put only one on the tray before he would pick it up himself. Anyway, he's still toothless, though that Saturday, I finally spotted a bit of white under his gums..



That Friday, Sito was home real early so we spent some time together before ZK's bedtime. He was looking at his flashcard DVD.



So happy!



So 得意!



Then it was time for his bedtime story. It was about hands. He was really looking and enjoying himself right? :) A couple of weeks later, I walked into IFC to find him quietly reading some Chinese flashcards while the carer was busy - I was so proud!



Sito was sleeping in as usual when ZK pushed open our door.. I just let him :p



But this proved to be a prelude to what happened two weeks later - I woke to a noise at about 3 am and found him on the way OUT of our room! He had crawled out of his room, came into ours, and probably went one round before making some noise on his way out!

The next night was worse. I woke to him banging on our door on the outside. Not sure why he did not just push the door open. I set him back in bed and went to the toilet. But even before I turned the toilet light on, I felt something was wrong. I turned on the light and saw an ant bait outside the toilet - wrong location! I quickly checked for the second ant bait - not there! I turned on the light in the study and found that the books on the lower shelf were on the floor. This boy had really gone around the house! Eventually I found the second ant bait in the cleaning pail, phew!

Now I no longer keep his door ajar; it's not locked but it's closed, for his safety and our peace of mind! And just in case he learns to open the door some day, as he can already stand up behind the door, I have pulled the window grilles together and cleared reachable space of dangerous materials.

Anyway, that Saturday, he fell asleep on his own immediately after I set him down! Wow! He slept very well the couple of nights after we returned from Malaysia, including a 11-hour feat! But I found him sleeping on the foam mat halfway across the room in the middle of the night :p



But that couldn't beat the night of Vesak Day - half of him off the bed! Yes, I had to take a photo before I picked him up, if only to laugh with him when he grows up :)



We went to Plaza Sing for swim spa that afternoon and guess who entered the lift with us? Fandi and his family! Lovely family and the wife thought ZK looked bewildered. Well, he probably was - where are we? Who are they? Where are we going? :p

5 May is Japanese Children's Day!! I made a koinobori for ZK :) Later, I found that Daiso in Malaysia sold this; the Singapore one probably did too! Mine so ugly :(



But still, we hung it up for him. Look at my boys! :)



Our little boy has really grown that day when he first crawled into our room - 18 May. Besides knowing how to crawl and walk - with support - everywhere, he decided that the right way to get off our bed was to turn to let his legs reach the floor first. Very clumsy but he got the idea! Now, I only taught him that once about a week before that. And no one else had taught him that! Again, Mama so proud :)

Then, he started crawling on his knees instead of doing his usual lizard crawl. Not very consistent yet but it's a start - less dirty clothes for me to wash!

He also showed his temper - he threw and broke his bottle of ruyi oil :( Mama had to scrub floor like mad ok.. When he isn't pleased, his little legs show it too:



But I always go "uh-oh" when he does something he shouldn't have. That day, when he threw a bottle cover to the floor, he went "uh-oh" after me!

We celebrated Mum's birthday at Forest that evening, where ZK tried some sour food! Not his first time :p He gave a face but was open to more. We also gave him ice cream - and realised it was teh tarik flavour! Oops :p But the attendant was very nice - he noticed and gave us a mango sorbet for ZK :) In fact, he also noticed that we preferred the small teaspoon for our appetiser to the plastic one that came with the baby set, and that a bowl was better than a plate for ZK's cereals. Good experience there. If only there's a baby changing room - Sito had to go to the ladies' with me cos ZK took a dump *.*



And he has been making clucking and plucking sounds - then he'll smile :) Or he'll stick his tongue out like :d

He's beginning to recognise more things, like the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - he would only rock with this song!



Vesak Day 24 May was the death anniversary of my maternal grandfather so we had a gathering at Ah Yee's place. It felt so strange to gather mostly in the back bedroom as the front bedroom was rented out. The front bedroom used to be the centre of activity.

This little boy rejected porridge for lunch and oats for dinner after we returned from KL. It took a few tries before he started to take the porridge in school again. But he rejected all my porridge until Vesak Day when he ate quite a lot! :) As for dinner, I was so happy that he accepted oats for the week or so before our trip! Now he likes only cereals for dinner. Easier for me but no variety and more expensive! So last night, I tried wholemeal bread with cottage cheese instead. The bread was ok but the cheese was not. Oh well, at least there's variety!

This evening, I gave him a bit of bread to hold and eat but he tore it up and threw everything to the floor :( Only fed him a little so I had to give him some cereals. Tonight, he didn't have milk before bed for the first time - he didn't drink much the past few days so I figure no need to waste.

Our little karate boy while waiting for the train. Went to Novena to shop for a pair of running shoes for Sito.



Last Saturday, we discovered something. Besides knowing how to get off our bed, he also knows when he needs to get his legs down first - I was squatting next to the bed and he just kept going headfirst onto my legs but when I put him back and moved further away, he turned around to get down! :)

We discovered that he could say "ball" at baby spa! :) Makes me want to get a 3D cake in the shape of a ball haha! Nah, I shall save money and get a usual cake with a picture on it.

But he keeps stuffing things into his mouth. I was clipping his fingernails last Sunday and he was playing with the cover with his free hand while I was at the other. Then suddenly, the cover disappeared! I had to quickly dig it out of his mouth! Gaar!

Our little boy seems popular with girls. Um, actually, just one girl. Need to bring him to meet other girls too haha!



Sito's Tumi was put to the test every weekend but last weekend, besides chewing on it and lying on it, he stood on it.



I like this series. He discovered that he could open the close the unused rubbish bin.



I close..



I open.. What can you do about that hur? :p



Love him in sleeveless - super cute!

Today, when I picked him up, his teachers said he said "noooo!" They said before that he seemed to say it and I thought I heard something like that the day before. But well, we like to "put words into his mouth", as Sito would say.. So it's now confirmed - he knows how to say "no". I hope he can also understand "no" when we tell him so!

Being angry with Sito

I wanted to post this the first time but I didn't manage to. Now that I have been angry with him a second time, I decided I must rant.

Some weeks ago, on a Sunday, ZK didn't sleep long enough and was cranky. I was halfway through keeping clothes from the dryer so things were all over the place. It was 11 am or so so I nudged Sito to wake up to help. He only acknowledged verbally but didn't move. After a few times, I was very pissed and packed ZK off to Mum's place before returning to finish up.

When he finally woke, he explained that he had a headache - he kept having headaches on only weekends, probably the result of MSG from instant noodles the night before but hey I didn't tell him to have that supper!

I was very pissed because it suddenly dawned on me that if I were to die suddenly, ZK wouldn't just lose his mother, he would also lose his father cos he would just leave him with Mum and go play with him when (headache-)free. Wtf.

Then more recently, on our second night in KL, I got super angry again. Some background - when I bathe ZK on my own at home, I would lay out his towel before I start bathing him so that I can carry the dripping boy straight from bath to bed; when Sito is around, he can hold the towel and wrap ZK up immediately after I take him out of the bath. The second method is preferred in a hotel cos of the aircon.

That evening, ZK took a dump at dinner so we had a poopy diaper before his bath. That was nasty, and Sito had prepared a plastic bag for it so that he could bring it out to throw to avoid stinking up the room. That was fine. Except that he had to do it right after removing it from ZK when ZK had to go straight to the bath, and that he took such a long time doing it that when ZK was done with his bath, there was still no sight of him. I was shouting for him as I couldn't leave ZK on his own in the bath tub and I was so afraid he would catch a cold cos of the aircon. Suffice to say I totally flew off the handle.

After we put ZK to bed, he explained that he went downstairs to throw the freaking diaper so that it didn't stink up our corridor. Downstairs?! Really?! And knowing that ZK was going into the bath, which wouldn't take long?! I scolded him for getting his priorities all wrong. I couldn't care less about the diaper. It could stink up the room. Heck, let's sleep with it! But I couldn't let ZK fall ill! He was such a poor thing when he was ill. And since Sito couldn't take leave here and there, it would fall on me to shoulder the responsibility.

I very gladly take care of ZK on my own most of the time when Sito is away. But when he is not working, I expect only full attention from him on ZK. Is it really that difficult to be a more involved parent?

I had a thought some time ago, before the first angry episode, that I had married my boyfriend, not a father to my child(ren), cos he's great boyfriend/husband material but not that amazing as a co-parent. And that is fully demonstrated in his reaction to my anger. Both times, he apologised with that expression of his - a mix of "oh no, I don't know what I've just/not done :(" and "oh no, what have I just/not done?!" - and guess what? I smiled/laughed despite my best effort to stay angry.

I have failed miserably to stay angry with him for a prolonged period of time. I can only hope that my scolding got through to him, and that when it comes to disciplining ZK, I would not be "cutified" and break into a smile which would only be a sure recipe for recidivism.

ZK's first overseas trip!

We went to Malaysia!

ZK looked a bit lost as we left the house early Saturday morning. Yes, I'm in my PJs, but why are we not taking the stroller? And Papa is here with us too?

Let him sit with Papa for a while :)



He was all over the place - so excited he was!



When we got to Malacca, we went to find TaiMa - he eventually let her carry him on the second day :)



Found a fantastic rattan chair - see last photo in link - so they must have a photo together :) But dear son, why were you sulking?!



Much better!



We had lunch - ZK had bread with fish and tofu cos he refused the rice - and then stayed there for most of the afternoon. ZK played with some toy fruits and climbed up and down a few steps of the stairs in the house!

Then we checked into Hatten Hotel. It was nice enough but not kid-friendly - they had no baby cot or bathtub! There was a heated pool though but we had no time to use it. The breakfast buffet had a ridiculously long line. Thankfully Mum and Dad were there earlier so we just joined them else we would be late for ZK's breakfast!

I fed ZK some porridge, baked beans and bread. Kind of regretted the beans - he started farting quite a bit *.*

Dinner was at a Chinese Restaurant somewhere and we went to bed after that - followed ZK's bedtime! Although it was later than usual..

The next day, we left ZK with his grandparents and went out with our cousin KS to Jusco before joining everyone for a dim sum lunch. And ZK chose to take a dump just before the food arrived! We changed him on the sofa outside the restaurant - smelly poop!

And later, he got cranky. But for two minutes, I had my time - he refused to be carried by anyone but me! Ah, my Mothers' Day gift??! Anyway, Mothers' Day had been totally eclipsed by ZK taking his first overseas trip :)

It was off to TaiMa's place for the rest of the afternoon before KS drove us to KL where he lived. Cranky in the car after waking up from a nap. Then, cranky in the restaurant, Oversea Restoran where four of had us dinner - while comforting him by carrying him around, I realised that that was probably our last time to that place. The char siew was very good, but they ran out when we went. The place was too crowded. The service was no good. And the food was not cheap. When I shared that with Sito, he had the same thought as well. Ah well..

We stayed in the Westin in KL. They provided a baby cot, a baby bath tub and - when we requested for it cos we left ours at Hatten - baby amenities. No diapers and wet unlike as St Regis but it was very good already. But well, ZK wasn't too keen on the cot - except to play! So he ended up on our bed again, and that night, he forced Sito off the bed to the sofa *.*

And despite me being in PJs and a freaking huge turban on my head, I'm posting this picture cos it's the only one of me and ZK on Mothers' Day! And that day also marked him turning 10 months, woohoo! (That was the adults' supper - mee mamak! - cos dinner just didn't cut it.)



At breakfast the next day...

"Huh, you mean this costs S$70?!"



Yes, my dear toothless baby who chews on hard breadstick all the same, it was an expensive breakfast! Just that we didn't know at that time!! Following our wonderful staycation at St Regis, we assumed breakfast was included in the rate but we had a rude shock at checkout :(

But it was still a lot of fun, especially after the first breakfast when ZK discovered Sito's wallet!! Um, a good thing that our baby loves to lie in a pile of cash, or not? :p



After he woke from a good nap, we left for Times Square - it was within walking distance. After walking around, we decided on Japanese for lunch. ZK had his cereals there too, and the staff were so friendly to him :) He had a great time too - he pooped ^.^

Next was foot reflexology! We remember doing that at this particular corner unit but it was run by different people, it seemed. And the prices had gone by a lot since end of 2009! We spent RM45 per person for an hour of bliss. Well, still cheaper than in Sg. And we could still feel the effects for the next couple of days!!

What followed was episodes of gluttony in the Tiny Taiwan section of the mall - sausage was followed by ham and cheese waffle on a stick, and then we had mango ice at Hui Lau Shan where ZK had his first taste of sourness! And he liked it! We packed some guilinggao and left.

Passed by another mall on the way back to the hotel, where Sito found this sign on the escalator - lots of funny stuff! Our fave at nine o'clock - what's that?!



Had time to check out the hotel pool - cold water - and the kids' club after a little rest before we went to Pavilion across the road for dinner. After some deliberation, as is normal when it comes to eating with Sito food, we decided on Duck King Express! We realised we were there the last time too but only for a little dim sum snack. This time, we found that they had super good char siew too! That's it, confirmed ditching Oversea Restoran!

And ZK was a Super Boy :)



Super cute :) But cranky - the whole place was littered with food he threw or spit out :( We left some change behind for the waiter.. But that was partly because he pooped - yes, second time that day! We packed a piece of cake and KFC (oops) before heading back to the hotel, where I got angry with Sito for the second time this year - more on that separately..

But the next morning, he was open to trying plum! I gave him a chunk to hold and suck but he dropped the whole thing pretty soon. He also tried peanut butter! No funny face with that one.



After a very good nap again, we had bah kut teh at Pavilion where he had a poop - smelly! Then we had more episodes of gluttony - mochi and crepe cake at the Japanese area of the mall, followed by grass jelly ice at Meet Fresh.

All too soon, it was time to go home.. But it was exciting too - ZK's first flight!!

ZK's boarding pass :)



And just before boarding with Mama! He was like, so what? Show him next time :)



*imagined conversation with older ZK*

ZK: Huh, my first flight was on a budget airline??
mf: You took your first flight before one. I took mine at 19 so shut up.

:p

On the plane with Papa! We had an infant seat belt around him but that didn't restrain him one bit! He was having lots of fun pulling stuff out from the pocket in front of them only to drop them. Managed to give him a dinner of bread I kopped from breakfast :p



We reached Sg just before 8 pm, very close to his bedtime. He fell asleep on the way back from the airport. So tired, poor boy. But he woke up when we came back so we gave him a quick shower and sent him off to bed.

The next day, it was couple time as ZK continued to go to IFC. In the morning while Sito was sleeping, I finally opened a savings account for the little one. Also had a foot treatment downstairs - now I have softer soles! Then we lunched at Royal China - spent less than an hour there, given how quickly we ate! Iron Man 3 followed - loved it!! Picked ZK up together after that. I even taught Sito how to put ZK in bed - though many iterations of ZK rolling in bed! Very sad to have to return to work the next day but we think it has really been a good holiday for us all, Papa, Mama and ZK :)

ZK, ZK and more ZK! :)

Little ZK is sleeping now, nicely curled up in the middle of the bed, quite unlike this :p



Just uploaded the photo of ZK in the MBS jacuzzi pool in my earlier post - super cute! And here are more of him in MBS..

In the room with my in-laws - love that thoughtful look! And in a person so small - very cute! :)



This was at our dim sum lunch. Check out his sock - coming loose from his pull!



He soon fell asleep in my arms, awww...



Without his pacifier..



Baby spa followed - doing warm-up in his swim diaper!



And very happy to be in the pool :)



Saturday, 20 Apr 2013, was an important day. ZK crawled out from the room, looked at Sito who happened to go towards him and said "papa". Sito's eyes went wide and his mouth went small :p My boys :)

After baby spa yet again, we went to Mothercare to try on potties! Decided on the bigger BabyBjorn Potty Chair. We didn't buy it then and there cos I wanted a colour that wasn't available :p

Dinner came next and we ate a lot at a Sichuan steamboat buffet place in Vivocity. And so did ZK! I gave him some plain fish, tofu and rice soaked in chicken soup which wasn't salty. Think he must be really full that day... But we topped it off with some formula just before bedtime - this was the first day I stopped nursing before bed. So sad, no more fresh milk directly from milk milk factory :(

Since I'm not nursing, I also stop carrying him until he falls asleep. I would just let him roll on the bed until he sleeps. But he started to wake at all hours at night and wail non-stop. He didn't even want the pacifier! It was just hard to calm him.

On Sunday night, after he woke at 11 pm and smelled nasty, I brought him to our bed to check for poop. No poop but he was so super cute! He had his little chin on Sito's leg :) I was so tempted to just keep him with us that night! Sito gave a firm no. Yes, I should be firm too!

And on Tuesday night, actually early Wednesday morning, he woke at 4 am and cried so badly! :( Then he started going for my boob. Hungry?! But he hasn't had milk in the middle of the night for months! But no choice, I gave him a small bottle. After that, the pacifier worked, phew!

Last Sunday, he had a proper dinner for the first time. I heeded IFC's advice to give this hungry boy dinner. Gave him 50g of Heinz baby oats and a small bottle of milk to top it off. But yesterday and today, when I gave him Quaker instant oats, he rejected them! Why?! Yesterday, I ended up giving him milk. Today, I ended up sharing my scone with him - I was famished and had to buy a scone after fetching him.

Anyway, back to photos..

He now stands everywhere and he will pull on anything to stand! This was at our sofa - found Papa's bag strap, to chew on of course!



Mum gave him some cleaned containers to play with and he loved them! Now I'm using one set to distract him on the changing mat :p



He found his toy box and reached into it! I have a similar shot - digging into Mother's bag for food :p



When I pulled him away, he would only smile sweetly at me :)



Spent that Sunday just rolling around with toys, and he was happy! 自 high-ing :p



ZK could hold his milk bottle on his own already. But holding it while asleep - you win, baby!



But he drank very slowly that evening. I got a sense of how difficult it can be when Sito fed me Yukult through a tiny straw on Saturday while I washed dishes :p

He is also trying to transfer support - from the stool to the bench, from the bed to me, etc. Good for him!



And I heard he could even wave bye bye! He did that yesterday in IFC. Just not to me :(

He also knows how to say "no" - by using his hands! He used to just shut his mouth when we tried to feed him medicine *.*



Last Sunday, I finally took out some books. Wanted to read to him but...

What is this?



Oh, it's yummy!



This is yummier - times two cos there were pretty aunties to seduce too!



Anyway, after getting him used to having dinner, I'll introduce bedtime reading :)

Maybe baby

Last week, I effectively stated very publicly on FB that I would love to have another baby. And yesterday over a baby-free weekday lunch with LS they all, she commented that it would be challenging with Sito away most of the time. Sigh, how unfortunately true...

Thinking back, we don't exactly have a very good track record. We had one whole year of failed attempts before we managed to get pregnant although we lost that one. And, the whole year of failed attempts happened in Singapore. We succeeded - twice - only in Evanston.

Is it the weather? Is it the stress? Is it the frequent consumption of "liang" stuff which is very common in our hot little island? Or is it the not-so-tasty TCM treatment I went through?

So to up our chances of having a new baby in our arms next year, I'm starting to cut out funny foods and rubbish food from my diet to prime my ageing body - after all, I'm not biologically young anymore... If need be, we'll enter phase two, which is to adjust Sito's diet as well. And if we still have no luck, well, it's back to acupuncture and nasty concoctions *.*

老了

早上经过Oblivion的电影海报时，赫然发现Tom Cruise老了。再搜索一下中学时期偶像的近照，原来年轻时的偶像都老了。再看看镜子，我们也老了。

不过，老了有老了的样子还是好的，但别太皱啦！那些老了又看起来太年轻的，老实说我还真觉得有点可怕！

那天有人说我介于28到32之间，现在听起来还可以接受，甚至感到欢喜。因为有小孩，我也觉得我多少要保留心境年轻才可以试图理解下一代年轻人的想法，以减免代沟。可是如果有人在我40岁时还这样说我，那是说我保养超好，还是说我的行为举止还未成熟呢？

前阵子，我发现了眼睛周围的皱纹，还问起老公有没有长白发（老公：没有）。最近，我留意到健壮（不错啦！）腹肌之上那层松弛的肚皮，是吸气再吸气也吸不掉的那种。可是，我还是蛮喜欢的！并没有想去减肥什么的。可以接受任何年龄、任何样貌的自己，算是一件很幸福的事吧？:)

He knows

First of all, I must admit that I got my dates wrong - not that I remember his birth date wrongly but I really thought Thursday was the 12th when I blogged about ZK turning nine months!

So well, on the 12th, which was yesterday, he finally crawled out of his bedroom on his own while I was busy in the kitchen! I heard little hands on the floor, turned and saw his little head showing just behind the laundry basket outside his room. Super cute :)

Today, I had to work in the morning. Sito and Mum brought him to MBS where he had a foot bath in the jacuzzi hoho! No swim diaper.. Will post photos here when I get them..

What are you thinking about, my dear one?



After lunch, we headed for the baby spa, at Plaza Sing again. This time, he was super happy! We think he is now able to recognise that this is a fun activity :)

This evening, we decided to give him a bath instead of the usual shower. New colourful balls from Daiso and two rubber duckies were waiting on the water for ZK who seemed happy to see bath toys like in the baby spa :)

Then as usual, Papa dried him on the bed while I dried myself. ZK was looking at me. Then, suddenly, he said "mama".

"Mama", not "mamamamamama".

Wow.

Sito said he thought ZK knew what he was saying.

Wow.

But guess what, I felt strangely calm, as if he had been calling me "mama" forever, as if it was to be expected. But of course, it IS expected!

Now that I think about that moment, it just feels extraordinary.

He hasn't been speaking much for the past couple of weeks. It wasn't until this afternoon that he started saying "mamamamamama" again. And then, he stopped at just "mama", while looking right at me.

My dear boy, 九个月了就是不一样 :)

ZK is nine months old! :)

Big boy now :) And looking ever so serious!



What? I'm still a baby! And I cheeew! (With my leg up like a little beng beng, no less!)



That day, he had quite a bit of "outside food" - I gave him my tofu, rice and the inside of my teriyaki salmon. Gotta time the feeds properly such that he finished his bowl after we were done so that we could up and leave should he get cranky when he realised there was none left! But thankfully, he was alright..

He is super efficient at his lizard crawl now - check this out:



Doesn't that just remind you of Sadako in The Ring?! :p

He's not terribly good at climbing yet, still burying his head a lot. But using my hand as a support, he could prop up his little butt and land his feet on the floor, even moving his feet forward to get into a standing position eventually!

He can also climb from the floor to his bed now, often with or in search of his pacifier! Or my iPhone *.*



Since two weekends ago, I've been doing some serious mopping so that I can let him crawl around. Sometimes he would have crawled to the door when I get to him! The first time he did that was last Monday just before Sito left at 5 am - I didn't know and hit his head with the knob behind the door :(

My first reaction was shock. I held my hands to my mouth before I reached in to shuffle him sideways so that I could get the door open to get to him. Almost cried with him but he stopped pretty soon!

And in the morning, usually, I'll let him play in the room while I prepare stuff. Sometimes, he would crawl out happily :) But he has not gone too far from his room yet...

Another video of him crawling, this time at IFC:



Just that morning, I was thinking how nice it was to have all those toys in IFC; he would never get all of those if I were to take care of him myself! And that very evening, I saw how he enjoyed himself :) And the carer told me he was standing in the playpen and trying to move around the perimeter by holding on to the rim!

We went out quite a bit in the past few weeks - we were all healthy! Now let's stay that way...

The one day that Sito wasn't feeling too well, I cooked porridge for all of us - beef, spinach and pumpkin!



Alright, it looks pretty gross *.* But it was yummy! I added a sweet corn into the rice cooker too - it was so expensive ok, $2.40!

ZK is now taking two steady meals a day, each almost completely replacing milk. I said almost, because he seems to be eating more cereals at home and more porridge in school, and when he doesn't take enough, we give him milk shortly after.. I wonder why.. My porridge is so nice! And we use the same cereals!

Some time early last week, I stopped nursing on my left - he had not taken very well to that factory for a while by then. So now, it's just my right. Talk about dua suey liap... O_o

We were having dinner at Menya Musashi - there was absolutely nothing there that I could give him but he'd had milk so it was alright. But check out that little mouth!



This is not snot, Mama. This is my cookie. I just don't know how it got there...



I usually give him a cookie after his cereals so that I can clean up. Except last last Saturday - I got the timing wrong and his eyes were shutting as I fed him water after every few mouthfuls of cereals! It was pretty hilarious actually, that is, until he started whining cos he was too sleepy!

Oh, have I mentioned before? That day, 23 March, I was cooking porridge for him to bring to IFC as I had to work that Saturday. I delayed picking him up from his little seat and he went "mamamamamamama"! :) Whatever that means! :)

Anyway, with all these solids, he's pooping seriously gross stuff now. He must have had a stomachache on April's Fool day - instead of crawling or whining to be picked up, he lay on his belly on the floor, softly whining :( He kept whining softly as I massaged his belly on the changing table. Then it happened. Can't remember if it was then but there was once he pooped a little extra after I put on diaper cream! Thank goodness it was not projectile poop! And so I decided that that night, he would graduate - no more shit pad on his bed!

We've been going to baby spa more regularly too. He fits better into this now:



My little towkay :)



And last Saturday, we went to Plaza Sing instead of Harbourfront - they had containers with punched holes that totally mesmerised him!



We finally used the voucher from the baby spa when we signed up for a year - got a free framed photo:



It doesn't come in soft copy so I took the above using my phone hence the colour.. But the two below are nice! Cos we paid $30 for each, ouch!

Aiyoh, why so poor thing?!



We find this super classic. Many of us must have a photo sitting on some rattan chair!

Where are all the dead animals?

A lizard died on the TV bench yesterday. It looked like it just stopped in its track when I turned on the light upon returning with ZK. This morning, it was still in the same position, and I wondered if it was dead.. Then Mum called in the afternoon to say that she found it full of ants!

Ok, so it was dead when I found it. But how did it die?? 被吓死的??!

Actually I’ve always been wondering – what happens to animals (not pets) when they die? I mean, we bury or cremate our folks. But animals don’t light matches.. I imagine they won’t dig a hole for their folks too!

There are so many stray cats and mynahs and pigeons and crows in Singapore. Sure, sometimes you see a flattened bird on the road. But what about the majority of these animals? How do they die? Where do they die? What happen to the bodies?? Another scenario is survival of the fittest. I have seen it a number of times - a cat ready to pounce on a blur pigeon. But that really begs the question - who eats the cat?! Surely not the nice puppy next door! And no one will eat that nice puppy anyway!

So I did a little googling.. And ended up with a whole lot of spiritual things about where animals go to when they die!

I lost my train of thought here cos I just dozed off while thinking *.* Been very tired the past week. Or perhaps just sleepy. Maybe I'll research more on this topic another day...