The Apple's Diary!

Whenever we pick Jon up from his school, he would look on with glee when his schoolmates push and pull their trolley bags around. Since he likes it so much, we thought we would just get one for him. How hard could it be? The truth is we spent about 2 months to look for one that he reallly likes. Most of the trolley bags available are in designs that Jon doesn't fancy. He likes Mickey Mouse (I think that's the only cartoon he knows) so we have searching high and low for it. Finally we found it! Just last night at Kiddy Palace @ Clementi Mall. Jon is of course elated with his new toy. He has been pushing and pulling it around the house and putting things into the bag to keep. I hope this mickey mouse trolley bag will entice him to go school every morning. *cross my fingers*

24 August 2013 While the birthday boy was still battling with the viral + bacterial infection, he was in good spirit on his birthday. Jonathan woke up with presents surrounding him. The initial plan was to bring him to Hokey Pokey for a fun time with Matthew then back home for nap. Afterwhich birthday celebration at grandma's place. But as he was still sick, all plans were canceled. We still got him a birthday cake. No frill cake from Bengawan Solo. Jonathan was all ready to cut his cake... He sure cut his birthday cake like a pro. We gave him a small slice but he didn't really eat it. Still, I could see that he was delighted on his birthday. Blessed Birthday Jonathan! May God always shine His face upon you, keeping you safe and healthy!

For 2 years in a row, Jonathan fell sick during his birthday period. Today he was supposed to have his birthday celebration in school. I was looking forward to get to know his teachers and friends. In fact, I got the goodies bags ready since last Sunday. goodies bag for his friends But my poor boy was hit by RSV again. This time round, this RSV is more deadly. It left Jon with a ridiculously high fever (39.7C) and a croup cough. In fact we rushed him twice to A&E because he was so ill that he just lie on the bed and couldn't even open his eyes. His breathing left him in a "squeaky toy" state. We have to use suppositories on him, alternating voltaren and paracetamol on 3hourly interval. unexpected birthday present In fact, the 2nd time we rushed him to A&E, we were prepared to admit him as we felt that he would be better taken care of in the hospital. In the end, the PD assessed and preferred that he doesn't get admitted. So we are bac...

Now that I do not need to worry about pump schedule or neither I have a big tummy to worry, I have started Jonathan on enrichment class. Not going to be  kiasu parents at this stage but I notice Jon really appreciates music and has a good sense of rhythm. I am careful not to enrol him in stressful and meaningless music lesson. At this stage, I'm looking for lesson that will allow him to appreciate music and gets to explore different musical instruments. At the same time have a feel on the musical rudiments. Sounds difficult? But hey, no. Our Music Studio at Tanglin Mall was highly recommended by fellow piano teachers and friends. So last Sunday, Jonathan started his first trial lesson. I could see that he enjoyed his lesson and so I signed on a term with them. Jon having a go at the percussion  Each term consists of 12 lessons and they allow 2 makeup classes in the same term. Each lesson cost $30 and is actually 45 minutes lesson. But trust me, 45 minutes is a...

butternut squash with meat stock, flavored with dried scallop Matthew suffered from slight diarrhea today and I decided to let him try porridge instead of fruit and vegetable puree. I didn't prepare my usual stock of carrot, potato and spare pork ribs. For Matt's 1st bowl of porridge, I decided to use lean meat to cook and I also used dried scallop to enhance the flavor.  His only edible ingredient is butternut squash. Less than an hour, his porridge was ready but he refused to open his mouth. Really "wa wa wa" and more "wa wa wa" was that he opened his mouth for the maid to feed him, much to my chagrin. In the end, Matthew 少爷 ate a total of .... 5 mouths, out of which I only managed to feed him 2 mouths. Just hope he will be more keen in porridge later on.

9th August kickstarts a series of birthday celebration. First we have the important National Day and then, Jon is turning 2 and my dad just a few days after Jon's birthday. sharing a birthday cake with ah gong We had a simple celebration at my mum's place with pizza and sushi. Birthday cake was a no-frill Tiramisu. who wants the cake? Jonathan is really enthusiastic in cutting the cake, even before we could place the candles and sing the birthday song. Matt as usual is always drooling... haha. all of us It has been a long time since everyone gathered. Hope we get more of such gatherings in future.

my little angel If Jon is in a good mood, we could have a decent conversation with him. conversation #1 we were preparing to go out and he insisted to bring his skate scooter along. Me : Jon, your daddy is not driving a lorry. There's no more space in the car boot. Remember your stroller is still inside. He thought for a while and then he said, "sit taxi" Right, my dear son... Lol... conversation #2 (pointing to a calculator) Jon : What's this? Me : It's a calculator. Cal-cu-la-tor Jon : What's that? Me : uh hmm.... I was quite flabbergasted at that moment. How do you explain what's a calculator? Nonetheless, he's really a funny chap if he is not whining. Hope to have more of such conversation with him.

Heard and seen so much about Paris Baguette but never got a chance to try them. Thought that since they opened an outlet in the west @ JEM, I would got the chance to sit down and try their signature dishes. Alas, whenever I went there, it was ALWAYS packed. Seriously, I never see an empty table at any time or day of the week. So yesterday, we went to JEM for breakfast ( I know I'm crazy over the mall) and I hurried over to Paris Baguette with a cranky Matt. At least the queue was bearable and I quickly chose 2 cakes and their milk pudding, as takeaway (like I say, there's never an empty table). earl grey cake ($6.50) Earl Grey cake caught my eye. This was the 2nd time I saw an Earl Grey cake. Just got to try it. Well, I could taste the Earl Grey but the coarse texture of the cake was something I couldn't make out. My 2nd time having a coarse texture cake. Maybe there's something about the flour I didn't know. coco crunch ($6.50) Coco Crunch was...

Matt has been on puree and cereal for more than a month now. Slow but surely, he is enjoying his semi-solid meals now. His day starts with rice cereal as breakfast, followed a milk feed. Fruit or vegetable puree is served as his lunch and he has another milk feed. By the time I am home from work, he will have 1 or 2 milk feeds before sleeping. Perhaps he is eating more now, he has started to sleep through from 9+pm to 7+am. Really thank God because I was quite prepared to have him not being able to sleep through. veggie goodness As usual, I like to give organic food as much as possible. Yet, I realised that this time round, it was not so easy to get as compared to Jon's times. Very limited variety. So till now, Matt has only tried Cereal 1) Healthy Times Brown Rice Cereal 2) Healthy Times Oatmeal Cereal pink lady, anyone? Fruit 1) Pear 2) Apple 3) Avocado Vegetables 1) Sweet Potatoes 2) Potatoes 3) Broccoli 4) Butternut Squash 5) Carrots ...

my last pump I have no regrets. Matthew had been on breast milk 99% during his first 6 months. My pump yield had been going strong, getting 160-180ml 4hrly. There were surplus to freeze at times. However, after he turned 6 month old and started weaning, I decided to bottle feed him at night instead of direct latching. That was a very serious mistake. I had severe blocked ducts that cut my supply by half. Although I had the intention to reduce the pump sessions, I was not prepared to see my milk dipped to less than 100ml per pump. I tried hard to salvage for 2 weeks and now I am emotionally ready to let go. Matthew is now 7.5 month old and turning 8 month old in 8 days time. I still have frozen EBM for him to clear so what else could I ask for? Jonathan didn't even have such amount of breast milk. So really, I gave myself an A* for this moo moo module. Looking forward to contribute more in parenting Jon & Matt now!