Beanie's music classes

"Mom, you want me to play your violin as a cello?"

Caveat: I am not musically inclined and I barely can play the violin.

I am the least qualified music teacher in the world to teach my daughter music. But she is only 14 months old and seriously, I am too cheapskate to pay a few hundred bucks a month to expose her to music in those chi-chi music lessons, where I can actually do the same at home.

Well.... I did learn the violin before. So I have the Suzuki Violin CDs level 1 and 2, which I play once a week to conduct these "music classes" with Beanie. Whenever I play the CDs, I would hold her in my arms and dance around the house, according to the rhythm of the music. 

Beanie enjoyed the whole dancing-to-the-rhythm exercise because she:

1) got the chance to be carried by me (I seldom carry her at home because I want her to learn to play independently)

2) we jiggled around the house and when the tempo got fast, I started to swing her in the air and she would scream with joy. That adrenaline junkie!

As for me, it would be a TOTAL work-out. Try carrying a 10 kg bag of rice and jiggle around the house for like 10 mins.

After that, we would sit on the floor and I would then clap my hands or snap my fingers according to the rhythm of the music. Beanie would sometimes imitate me by clapping along, or she would simply shake her bum-bum according to the music and dance.

Sometimes I would take out my violin to let her play with it, or I would play a simple song, usually Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars. 

The "music class" seldom last more than 15-20 mins. Her attention span is only that long. After that, she will either just wander around the house or go to her toy box to dig out her favorite toys. 

There, I just saved myself a few hundred bucks a month. Ha!

Little Picasso at work

To encourage creativity and to hone Beanie's fine motor skills, I stuck 2 pieces of mahjiong papers on the walls of my balcony to allow her to scribble and draw freely at her will.

I would first demonstrate by drawing apples and stars, sang happy songs to keep the session fun and interesting.

However, Beanie doesn't like to draw. She would either just stare at me blankly and then ran away to chase after Cookie for like the 100th times since 7 am in the morning, or she would just open my drawers and cupboards and proceed to empty them.

Nonetheless, I persisted. I continued with the "art class" weeks after weeks.

When I gave her crayons, she ended up using her little fingers to scrape and dig at the tips of the crayons.

When I gave her chalk, she had more fun breaking the chalk to small pieces and subsequently she tried to eat them!

When I gave her magic pens, she ended up drawing her hands, which I am ok with. At least she was drawing something!

But she has absolutely no interest in drawing on the mahjiong paper.

So one day, I bought water soluble paints and a brush and showed her how to paint.

Finally, she managed to keep herself busy for like 15 minutes! She was intrigued by the water changing color whenever she dipped the brush. She enjoyed splashing water all over the place and most importantly, she finally got the idea of holding the brush and begun to paint!

Yeah! That's an important milestone in my opinion!

If only the mess wasn't such a pain. Thankfully the helper could help me with the cleaning up!

Cycling at East Coast Park

We brought Beanie to East Coast park last friday and she had her very first bicycle ride. She absolutely loved cycling! She was rather apprehensive at the beginning when I strapped her to the baby seat but once Hub started paddling, she started grinning from ear to ear and even raised her arms to feel the breeze. It got to the point where she would actually protest when we stopped for a break or to adjust her little hat.

As you can see, the sky was grey so after 30 mins of cycling, it rained on us and so we had to take shelter. Thankfully the rain cleared within half and hour and we continued on. It was a friday and after the rain, the cycling tracks were totally deserted. We had East Coast Park to ourselves! ;)

I am now thinking of buying a bicycle so that I can cycle to Bishan Park with Beanie. Time to go bike shopping!

Beanie at MacRitchie's submerged boardwalk

woooo... water!

Yeah! I have the boardwalk all to myself!

Hello Mommy!

The deepest part of the boardwalk barely reached her ankles

We brought Beanie to MacRitchie Reservoir 2 weekends ago. The idea was to allow her to breathe some fresh air and get in touch with Mother Nature.

Unfortunately, it started to pour when we arrived, so we had to take shelter for about 30 mins or so. Luckily for Beanie, the rain cleared and we continued to explore the reservoir.

Before Beanie came along, we used to run at the MacRitchie reservoir almost every weekend. Hub would usually do the 11 km route, while I would just run the 5.5 km route. Ahhh... those were the days!

There was a new feature at the reservoir, which was the Submerged Boardwalk where water from the reservoir would.. hrm, submerge the boardwalk lah.

Since we were there just after the rain, there wasn't a single soul. So Beanie had the luxury of having the boardwalk all to herself!

Beanie, the water-baby was thrilled to splash around and I had come prepared with a change of clothes and diaper. So I just let her loose and she had a great time horsing around on the boardwalk.

But as you can see from the pictures, the boardwalk wasn't very interesting nor educational. In fact, I was very disappointed and had expected more from the boardwalk. Maybe partially submerged plants could line the sides of the boardwalk, with colorful signs and drawings that explained how these plants helped in the purification of the water?

Nonetheless, it was still very relaxing to breathe in the fresh air, with all the greenery around us and the view of the beautiful reservoir.

We will definitely be back!

Beanie at Bishan Park 1

Erm Mommy... what are these blocks?

Yeah! Water!!!

 Look Mommy, I'm crawling in a drain?!?!

Little whirlpools for children to play

We went to check out Bishan Park One (the one nearer to Seletar) with Little Beanie many weeks ago. Way before she was sick... yup, I have that many back-log posts to update?!

Anyway, we heard good things about the water playground at Bishan Park One and so decided to bring Beanie, the water baby to check it out and boy, did Beanie have lots of fun!

Instead of the usual water fountain style of playground (think Bugis junction's water fountain), Bishan Park One's water playground was so much more interactive and interesting.

There were many little "dams" that children could operate on to accumulate water to form ponds and reservoirs. And upon release of these "dams", children would then experience first-hand, the pressure of water that flowed fast and furious down the drains and whirlpools.

There were also many little "molehills"for chidden to climb and basically monkey about.

Beanie was too young to understand all these. She was just so thrill to see water and splashing around with older kids and running after them.

It was so so cute to watch!

I highly recommend this water playground to parents with young children. In fact, there were a few kids who were about 8-10 years old, and they too, seemed to have enjoyed themselves.

Do note that this water playground operates from 8 am - 11 am, 4 pm to 8 pm on WEEKENDS only. If you were to go on a weekday, no water will sprout out. Not even a drop!

Dr Beanie

Dr Beanie and her patient, Bernie

Yes, it's your turn now. Please come in.

Beanie was down with viral fever for the whole of last week. Her fever wasn't high, it hovered between 37.5 to 38.5 deg C but she had some ulcers in her mouth, and that made her extremely fussy.

Yup, ulcers in the mouth but no ulcers on her hand or foot or butt. Thus, it wasn't HFMD.

But the ulcers didn't allow her to eat nor sleep and a hungry-and-sleepy Beanie was a fussy Beanie.

She wouldn't eat anything except yogurt and some cereal, but yogurt and cereal couldn't fill her stomach, so she wanted to nurse every 3 hours.

Even at night.

Yup, back to the dark days where I had to breastfeed her every 3 hours again?!

And because she was in such a bad mood, every little thing could cause a melt down.

Tried to get her to drink water, CRY.

Didn't give her the pacifier, CRY. (She is only allowed to have her pacifier at nap or bed-time)

Carried her out of the bath tub because bath-time was over. CRY.

Wanted to change her poopy diapers, also CRY.

Woah.... Beanie was driving me crazy!!!

Luckily, my FDW was around to help out and I could sneak in some previous sleep. Or else, I would have left Beanie at the Recycle Bin near my block.

After 5 days of fussiness, Beanie has made a full recovery and she is now back to her usual chirpy self. And she is sleeping through the night once again.

Hurray!

Book Review: Internal Drive Theory, Motivate your child to want to study

OK, this book review is way over due. I have actually finished reading the book months earlier but somehow simply did not have the time to write a proper review.

I am very proud to say that I actually know the author of this book: Internal Drive Theory, Motivate your child to want to study. How cool is that?! You can find out more about the author, Dr Petunia Lee and her book here.

Alright, back to the book review, here's what I like about the book:

i) It is is very easy to read. When I am reading the book, it feels like Petunia is talking to me. Concepts are clearly put across and easily understood.

ii) It is written within the context of Singapore's education system, which to me, is very important. I have read other books regarding early childhood and Home-schooling, but those books are written by authors who are from less rigorous education systems. Singapore's education system is not for the faint-hearted. We all know how competitive it is and this book shares tips and methods to encourage and motivate your child to want to excel in his/her school work.

iii) Real live examples. Petunia conducts her "experiments" on her son, so her methods are tried and tested with success! I guess it also helps that I read Petunia's blog regularly, and thus I can relate to her and her son, Little Boy very well.

iv) Very cute illustrations. Petunia's daughter is quite an artist! She designed the cover page, as well as all the illustrations in the book. These cute drawings kept me very entertained! ;)

v) Realistic. This book is written from the perspective of a mother. Other than to motivate your child to want to excel in his/her school work, this book also sets the right tone in encouraging parents to teach their children the important values in life.

In conclusion, I will definitely recommend this book to parents who have young children. In fact, I can foresee myself re-reading this book again and again when Beanie starts her primary education.

False Alarm

Last 10 days have been rather stressful because of a possibility that Beanie might have a little sister or brother next year!

Thankfully, it was a false alarm. *BIG SIGH OF RELIEF*

Don't be mistaken, I do want Beanie to have a younger sibling, but I'm thinking of planning for one when she is at least 18 months old. Just not right now.

Phew... now I can go ahead and plan for a familiy holiday in Dec or early Jan next year. I'm thinking of Penang (especially after reading Petunia's trip). I have never been to Penang and I'm dying to eat the REAL Penang Char Kway Tiao, Laksa, Prawn Mee... etc.

Just the thought makes me very hungry already.

But what about Beanie?

On one hand, I think it's time for Hubba and I to have some romantic, couple time. And nothing bonds us more than good, cheap, solid street food. On the other hand, it will be fun for Beanie to experience Penang's laidback charm and I think she will enjoy the street food too!

Argh. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

To travel or not to travel. To lug Beane along or not to lug Beanie along?

Any suggestions?

My 2 cents on Early Childhood Education

When I was a kid, I went to a kick-ass kindergarten where I spent most of the time playing. The school had a huge playground and a little pool for water-play. I remembered running and playing “catching” with my little friends, climbing the monkey bars, eating grass and later discovered that grass tasted rather bitter. We would have 20-30 minutes of free play at the playground every day and 5 children would be chosen each day to play at the pool.

Oh, the joy of being chosen to play at the pool was beyond words. We would actively participate in our classes to earn points so that we could play at the pool. The teachers were very encouraging and always prompted us to be good children and gave us stars to boost our “scores”.

When it was time for the water-play, we would put on our raincoat and little boots. We would eagerly take the basket of toys and trotted happily to the little pool while the other children looked at us in envy. The girls would usually pretend to be their mummies while bathing the little dolls. The boys would have little boats and pretended that they were the explorers of the world, a-la mini Christopher Columbus. The teachers will just keep an eye on us to ensure our safety and other than that, they did not interfere and the children had 20-30 minutes of uninterrupted free play.

I did not remember there was any homework nor did we spend much time doing worksheets. Instead, we had many hours of art and craft work, and I remembered there were days where we had to prepare our own snacks by making sandwiches and other days we had to clean the toilets. School was really fun and I looked forward to going to school everyday!

How many pre-school curretly are like my Kindergarten, I wonder? Can I still find such a pre-school without paying through my nose?

Beanie is only 1 year old, so I am still taking things easy. Whenever I am at home and as long as weather permits, I will bring her to the playgrounds near my flat or a quick swim at the public pool. Children needs sunshine to grow and it upsets me to see young children coop at in an air-conditioned room, doing worksheets instead of sliding down the slides, spinning themselves silly on the grass and playing catching with their friends.

I have friends who are sending their barely 20 months-old kids to enrichment classes to learn ABC. Seriously? You mean, as a parent, you cannot teach your 20 month old how to read the ABCs at home? Or some Shichida class where the tearchers flash fashcards at 8 months old babies. *shudder*

All parents want the best for their kids, but at what expense, we need to ask ourselves. Kids can only be kids once... please let them have their childhood.

My pretty little Beanie

Are we going "gai gai" mommy?

Brought little Beanie out 2 weekends ago, and dressed her up, I did.

It's part and parcel of having a little girl, isn't it? The pink little dress, the pink headband, the pink little shoes... pink is the new black! ;)

I can't wait for Beanie's hair to grow longer and I start braiding little pig's tails.

Newsletter: My Health and Wealth

I've published a newsletter, tittled "My Health and Wealth" to share with my friends, clients and prospects. The idea is to publish the newsletter every quarter and I will share insights, updates and information on health issues, as well as wealth related matters, such as changes in our CPF policies and money management concepts.

I'm still working on crafting a HTML email where the readers can simply click on a link or an image of the newsletter, instead of a pdf attachment. Ugh... times like this, I feel like a cave-woman who has zero IT skills.

Nonetheless, I really hope that my readers will find this newsletter helpful and kindly let me know if you are interested to receive a soft copy.

All feedback will be most welcome!

Little Beanie at Gardens by the Bay

So much for a family shot?!!

Hmmm... another birthday party for me?

Woooh??!!!

We checked out Gardens by the Bay last weekend and boy... the whole of Singapore was there too. It was blistering hot and crowded, and I was peeved by the $28/pax entry fee to the air-conditioned dome.

So we only paid $5 each to have a short stroll along the "Super Trees" instead. The view was decent and for the breeze and the break from the maddening crowd, it was $5 well-spent.

Beanie had fun despite the hot weather and all in all, it was a great trip with fellow friends and their kids.

But will I check out Gardens by the Bay again? Nay.... I still prefer the good, old Botanical Gardens!

Happy 1st Birthday Beanie!

I baked little cupcakes for Beanie's birthday. Can you see the "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"?

She was a little loss and did not understand what the fuss is about.

Finally, a smile from Beanie!

Only 1 present for her. haha... 1 present for her 1st birthday, next year there will be 2 presents for her 2nd birthday!

Hubby took a good shot of our dinning area.

My Little Beanie, I can't believe that you are now 1 year old!

Beanie turned 1 yesterday! Geez... I still cannot believe that my little Beanie is 1 year old.

Time flies when you have a baby. It seemed just yesterday that I was heavily pregnant and before I know it, my baby has turned 1.

A little update on Beanie:

• I am still waiting for her first steps. She can cruise very well and walks quite steadily if we were to hold her hand. But she does not have the self confidence to take her first steps yet.
• She is an adventurous little girl. Quite fearless and rather good with strangers. She does not have any stranger anxiety now; no longer cries when a stranger carries her.
• Really enjoys swimming. She will scream and shout with excitement whenever we bring her to the pool. 
• Starts to throw tantrums when she does not get her way. So far, distracting her with toys or new objects will quiet her.

All in all, I am very grateful to have a healthy, happy and bubbly little girl. She fills my heart with so much love that sometimes I think my heart will burst whenever I hug my little Beanie Girl.

Motherhood rocks!

Little Miss-cross-my-arms

Little Beanie's latest obsession: crossing her arms. She seems to find this arm-crossing action very amusing and she is crossing her arms all the time?!

She is turning one year old this coming sunday. Geez, I can't believe that my little beanie girl is turning into a toddler soon.

Time flies!

My exercise regime

Let me tell you a secret... I daydream about being a yummy mummy where I can carry Beanie with my toned arms and wear a bikini on a beach, without sucking in my stomach, and enjoy "I-hate-you" stares from fellow mothers.

THAT. HAS. NEVER. HAPPENED.

At least not yet.

Sigh.

Nearly 12 months has past since Beanie popped out and I am still struggling with my self esteem. Technically I am back to my pre-pregancy weight but why is my stomach still soft and saggy? Arms are not toned either and my face still looks kinda..... bloated???

To get back into shape, I have to work so darn hard. An ideal regime will be:

- jog at least 3 times a week
- weight trainings twice a week
- Pilates or yoga twice a week

As for diet, a low-carb high protein diet with lots of green usually works for me. But I am still breastfeeding Beanie and a low carb diet will affect my milk supply. Thus, I do need to eat my rice.

Argh.  To be a yummy mummy sucks.

Beanie goes to the Beach!

Mommy... I don't like sand...

Ewww,,, it feels weird!

Hmm, that little boy has more toys than me.

Ok, this is getting quite fun!

We brought Beanie to the beach once again! This time round, she was more comfortable with sand play although it took her about 10 mins to get comfortable with the grainy feeling of sand. 

For the first few minutes, she was frowning like a little old lady and kept giving me the "Ewww... this is gross, mommy" look. I had to show her how to dig a hole, how to bury her feet with sand before she finally got the idea that sand play could be fun.

I took her to the sea to feel the waves but it seemed that the moving waves scared her and she clung to my legs like a little koala and refused to even touch the water. Very weird because she is such a water baby and usually play with water with such gusto.

Nonetheless, I think she did enjoy herself and I look forward to the day where she will run towards the sea and chase after the waves, just like I did when I was a little girl. ;)

Honey Chcken vs Sweet & Sour Pork

Sometime last week, I was in a coffee shop, standing in a queue to buy "veggie rice". A very well-dressed old lady, who looked to be in her 70s was in front of me and she spoke in impecable Engilsh to the man behind the stall.

Old Lady pointed to a plate of meat: is that sweet and sour pork?

Man behind the stall in a thick Malaysian accent: no. No "pok" Honey chicken.

Lady: Oh. I want Sweet and sour pork. Can I have sweet & sour pork?

Man: Today no pok. Honey chicken. Bery nice. Bery good to eat. You take ok?

Lady: Ok, I will take the sweet and sour pork. (She pointed at the Honey Chicken)

Man: Aunty! No pok already! HONEY CHICKEN! Aiyoh.... no pok no pok!

Lady: oh. Ok then. Can I have the green vegetables instead? (she pointed at a tub of greens)

Man piled green vegetables onto a plate.

Lady pointed at the Honey Chicken and in a striaght face: I want this Sweet and Sour pork.

Man went nuts and yelled at the lady: AUNTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I SAID NO POK! NO POK!!! HONEY CHICKEN!!!! AIYOH!!!!!! CHICKEN!!!!! 鸡肉!!! 鸡肉!!! 鸡肉!!!





Lady: ok, don't need to shout at me. (looked offended, looked away for 3 seconds, composed herself and pointed at the tub of Honey chicken again) I want this sweet and sour pork.

By this moment, everyone who was in the queue couldnt take it anymore and everyone burst out laughing.

Man at the stall rolled his eyes and simply put some Honey Chicken onto the plate.

Sigh. It was a funny but yet heartbreaking scene. The old lady most probably have dementia. But from her dressing and good command of English. She must have been very well educated. But the disease does not discriminate.

All of us will be old one day... and I wonder will I ever be in the same situation as this old lady...?

A little gathering

I met up with 3 blog friends last friday and it was so nice to finally meet these amazing ladies in person.

PetuniaLee: She is avid gardener who provides sincere and genuine advice at a local forum. In fact, it was at the forum where I first got to know Petunia. And from her blog, I got to learn wonderful tips on cooking, gardening, parenting... etc. She writes very well and reading her blog is always a treat. In fact, she has just published a book and I'm in the midst of reading it. Before I met her, I imagined her to be a little bit of a hippy... you know, long hair, slim, wears a long skirt and goes around bare-footed in her garden. A little dreamy, but yet full of good old common sense, very kind to children and animals... and guess what. Petunia looks just like that! Heh Heh.

Ting: This is a Super-cool mum with 2 teenage sons and seriously, you would never have guessed! She looks very well for her age and  she has such a zest for life. I felt very energetic already just by talking to her. Ting not only has green thumbs and fingers, but green toes as well. Whatever she grows will just flourish! From flowering plants, to edibles to ferns...Just looking at her balcony makes me go green with envy.

OKC: She is a mom-to-be and I'm so excited for her! She was radiant and glowing, pregnancy works very well for her! Her blog is the prettiest, with beautiful pictures of food, restaurants and countries that she has visited. A very stylish lifestyle blog that I follow regularly.

Thanks ladies for inviting me and Beanie. We had fun and hope to see 3 of you again soon!

Play Date with Little Silvia

"Hi Mummy, let me introduce my new BFF, Beanie" *puts hand on shoulder*

"I'm your new BFF?? Really? Ok, you can read my Princess book then"

"why are these people taking our pictures? We are just reading books. What is the big deal?"

It was just so cute to see these 2 little baby girls hanging out together!

Over the weekend, Little Silvia came over for a play-date with Beanie. It was so adorable to see both of them hanging out together, doing girly things like reading picture books, snatching each other's toys and the occasional pull of each other's hair... ... ;)

And this would be the last play-date for the year because Little Silvia will be relocating to Italy with her daddy and mummy real soon. 

So, take care Little Silvia and I really hope Beanie can go over to visit you soon!

Little Beanie goes to Au Jardin 

Yesterday, I had a all-girls lunch with my girlfriends and decided not to bring Beanie along. I really needed a "me-time" where I could sit down and enjoy a proper meal and conversation with my girlfriends without having to worry about feeding a baby, chasing after her or worrying that Beanie would fling her water bottle to the next table.

So Hub was assigned to a "Father-daughter bonding-session" and instead of bonding at home, Hub made a brave call to have brunch at Au Jardin with 2 of his friends.

I was like "Hrmm... I hope that it will not be the first and last father-daughter bonding session. Of all places, Au Jardin??? A fine-dinning place? Not exactly baby-friendly right?"

But of course, Hub must wine and dine in style. With or without Beanie.

So during my all-girls lunch, I was expecting a SOS call from Hub but that call never came. It turned out that Beanie was very well-behaved and set through a 4-course brunch! Hub had fun and enjoyed the attention of being a Hip-and-cool-dad-who-has-a-very-cute-daughter, while Beanie had her usual fun simply by being out of the house.

Well done to both Beanie and Daddy!

This will mean more father-daughter bonding sessions and more "me-time" for me. YEAH!