Mosquito bite

We went out for dinner earlier with my parents, brother and sis-in-law.

I normally feed Cayden and try to get a mouthful of food myself. While Cayden was chewing his food, he saw the BCG injection mark on my arm. He thought it was a mosquito bite. He asked me "Mama, is it pain?" while touching it. I replied "No". He asked again "Mama, is it itchy?" and he started to scratch my "mosquito bite" for me. *smile*

Oh by the way, Cayden shocked all of us by eating a total of 3 strips of Pai Gu Wang (deep fried pork ribs). If you don't know, Cayden rejects meat. All types of meat, cooked in all ways... that is until today.

My brother concluded that its not the food that Cayden is rejecting. Its my cooking... not tasty enough...

Thoughts

I was reading this book "The Good Life" by Jay McInerney. At the beginning of the book, there is a paragraph that really struck a cord with me. Very aptly written which reflects my thoughts too:

"Manhattan was an existential town, in which identity was a function of professional accomplishment; only the very young and the very rich were permitted to be idle. Russell (the main character;s husband) had initially supported her maternal ideal, though, as the years went by and their peers bought vacation homes in the Hamptons, he couldn't consistently disguise his resentment over their straitened finances, or his sense that his stay-at-home wife had become translucent, if not invisible, within the walls of their loft - a nanny without salary. "

Though I can't say that I am being resented by hubby (that would be very bad!), but it more or less sums up my current situation - feeling like a a nanny without salary. Hubby has not voiced out his resentment being the sole breadwinner of our household, but he does nag quite often about finances. I guess while we are not struggling or worrying about our next meal, we are conscious about our spending and expenses.

As you can see, I am still struggling to decide if I should or should not return to the work force. No answer yet.

So malu!

I was out with Cayden yesterday. We decided to go to Orchard road for a bit of shopping and people watching.

Cayden wanted to go to the toilet to pee-pee so I brought him to the toilet. After he is done, I wanted to pee too, so I told him to wait for mummy. Mummy needs to pee pee too. He said ok.

We have always taught Cayden to pee standing up. So to him, pee pee = stand up. Poo poo = sit down.

While I proceed to sit down, Cayden said in his innocent but LOUD voice "Mama, you poo poo????" I whispered to him "No, mama pee pee, not poo poo".

He didn't understand. Why is mama sitting down when she goes pee pee? No, she must be poo poo-ing!

So he repeated "Mama, you poo poo????" That's right. Announce to the everyone in the toilet what mama is (NOT) doing! I didn't answer him this time.

Bad move. He proceed to repeat "Mama, you poo poo????" again and again, till he got a response from me. That's right. You are not loud enough! Not enough people heard you.

Sigh. What an embarrassing moment.

Toto

Just went online to check on the Monday Toto results. I won! Out of 7 numbers, I won 4. Ok, the amount is negligible but better than nothing. I won $90! Enough to buy me something pretty to wear for CNY. *Grin*

Little Gems

Remember these biscuits? I used to eat so many of them when I was in kindergarten. I would bite all the sugar top off first, then ate the biscuits. I guess all kids do that.

Cayden is no exception. I gave him some of these little gems on the drive to school. When I turned back to check on him, I saw that the box contained only the sugar-less biscuits!

Though I didn't want to encourage him, I couldn't hide my smile.

Talk, talk, talk

Cayden has been talking nowadays. Some funny moments, some sweet, some just downright rude!

Some memorable moments:

1. I have been trying to introduce Mandarin to him. So far, quite unsuccessful. However, after a while, he has finally recognized that his Mandarin name is Ming Hao. I am teaching him to respond to his Chinese teacher in school when she calls his name. I called him "Ming Hao" and taught him to respond "Shi!" (which means Yes) when I hold up him hand. Funny thing is he will only respond "Shi" when I raise my hand. That day, my mom wanted to try this trick, so she said "Ming Hao!" and held up her finger instead of her hand. He told my mom "No! Not like this! This is No.1! Its like this!" Then he held up his hand and showed my mom.

2. When anyone of us sneezes, he will come to us and ask "Are you ok?" with a concerned look.

3. He is crazy about Blue's Clues. He will sing along, dance, imitate everything that Steve is doing, including taking a note book and declare it his handy dandy notebook. If you are familiar with Blue's Clues, you will know that Blue The Dog doesn't talk in the show (except when he is in Blue's Room) but makes this "wow wow wow" sound effect.

2 nights ago, when I was putting him to sleep, we had this conversation:

Cayden: Mama, I - Blue, you - Steve, ok?
Me: OK (without thinking much of it. Sometimes, I do that. I zone out because he talks non stop!)
Me: Cayden, can you drink your milk?
Cayden: No! I am Blue!
Me: Sorry! Blue, can you drink your milk?
Cayden: OK! (Then he follows up with imitating the sound the Blue makes in the show - wow wow-wow WOW WOW!)

He makes me laugh

This little boy makes me laugh all the time. Not because he is a comedian by nature, but because of the things he says.

Today, I was helping him poo-poo. I lifted him onto the toilet bowl and sat down on the floor and waited... He was constipated, so he took a long time. I thought I would show him some support by making a "trying-hard-to-push-out-my-poo-poo" face. Immediately, he stopped 'pushing' and asked me "Mama. Are you angry?" Ha-ha! I couldn't help and started laughing. He laughed together with me.

Up the Stairs

When we are back in Singapore, we stay with my parents at their house. Its a 2 storey house so usually we are quite paranoid about Cayden climbing the stairs by himself (in case he trips and stumble down the stairs).

Earlier today, I left him playing downstairs with his new train set (under my mom's supervision) while I went upstairs to check my email. Suddenly, I found him upstairs, just next to the staircase, with my mom chasing after him! My mom told me that he went around the house looking for me - in the kitchen, at the backyard and the garden. He asked my mom "Where is Mama? I want to look for Mama" and before she knew it, he was climbing up the stair on his own, without holding the railings!

Oh boy... he is growing up so fast.

Mineral Makeup

My sis-in-law from the US got me interested in mineral makeup. We were talking about makeup and she mentioned that she started using mineral makeup. She told me that mineral makeup offered good coverage without looking cakey, and it does not irritate her skin as her skin is acne prone. Plus its all natural. Plus it take all of 1 minute to brush it on your face. That is a BIG plus.

She recommended 2 brands - Philosophy and Bare Escentuals.

So I went online and found out that there is one store in Singapore that brings in Philosophy stuff - True Colors at Ngee Ann City. So I went to check it out at the store. I found that the prices were too extorbitant. So much higher than if you were to purchase from US. They sold the face primer, The Present, for S$64 (approxmiately USD45) but I remembered my sis-in-law telling me that is about USD25.

I decided to go home and check out some US websites and see if I can buy them online. I went to www.drugstore.com (recommended by one of my girlfriends) and saw that they carry Philosophy stuff! I bought some immediately. Bare Escentuals was not available on drugstore.com. Oh yes, I also bought the Hylexin Eye Cream at a fantastic price of USD95! They are selling this eye cream in Singapore for S$218 (equivalent to (USD152)!

Primer - to use before we brush on the foundation powder!

The mineral foundation powder

A seriously good buy! Only USD95!

As drugstore.com does not ship to Singapore directly, I used my vpost account and had them send it to Vpost USA and have Vpost send the parcel to me. It works out because drugstore.com offered free shipping within US for purchases above USD25. Now I am so excited! Just waiting for the parcel to arrive.

Cayden's Development So Far...

Thought I should jot this down before I forget...

Latest Stats
I brought Cayden to the pediatrician recently (20 Dec 2007). He is:

Weight : 16.5kg
Height: 97cm

He is getting really heavy. Saw an article about overfed babies on the Straits Times a couple of weeks ago and I am getting really worried. In the article, there was a chart on the ideal weight for children and Cayden is way off the chart! I distinctly remembered the chart:

12kg - 2 years old
14 kg - 3 years old
16 kg - 4 years old

Cayden is about as heavy as a typical 4 year old! I really hope he won't be obese in future.

His faves
1. Recently he has been talking and singing lots. He loves Blues Clues (for now) and he mimics everything Steve does in the show - walking, sitting on his thinking chair, kneeling down on one knee, singing all the songs.

2. He also loves to play with his Thomas The Train. It was his Xmas present from my brother & sister in law. He has been in love with it ever since.

3. Iced Milo. Eversince we returned to Singapore, he has been addicted to Iced Milo. My mistake. Just tonight, we went out for dinner with my dad-in-law and sis-in-law before she returns to the U.S. Its just a casual dinner at the coffee shop downstairs. I fed Cayden his dinner first before going for dinner. He had a full dinner, but when we were at the coffee shop I ordered him his favourite Iced Milo just to keep him occupied. I did not expect him to finish the drink because he just had dinner. To my amazement, he finished the drink in 10 minutes. He finished it even before our dinner arrived. *Faint*

4. Fishballs. He loves fishballs and he has been eating them at almost every meal since October. But in the recent 2 weeks, we stopped giving it to him. Why? He is allergic to it. Well, to qualify, I think he is allergic to the perservatives in it. He doesn't like the home made ones. He likes the commercial ones. They are springy. These springy fishballs gives him eczema. Too bad, so sad. No more fishballs.

His Dislikes

1. He still hates meat. Once I was feeding him minced pork porridge and he managed to store all the minced meat on one side of his mouth.

2. He still would not try most fruits. Only eating bananas and sweet pears (lai).

3. I think he is becoming tired of his formula taste. He has been on Gain IQ since he turned 1. Normally, he drinks a lot of formula milk, up to 1 litre a day. But recently, he has practically halfed his intake. I am waiting for him to turn 3 before I start him on Grow.

Resolutions for 2008

A bit late for my new year resolutions, since its 7th Jan already! But nevertheless, better late than never.

Here is a list of my new year resolutions (listed not in order of importance) :

1. Eat healthier. Less junk food, coffee and red meat! More fruits, veg and MILK! Drink more water!

2. Remember to take my vitamins!

3. Be more sociable. I gotta get rid of my bad habit of turning down an invite because I am too lazy! Also would like to host more lunches and playdates/tea gatherings for friends.

4. Spend more quality time with Cayden. I need to draw up a timetable as a guide for both of us! For example, Monday afternoon is playdate day, Tuesday afternoon is Numbers day, Wednesday afternoon is Alphabet day etc...

5. Spend wisely! Everything is getting so expensive nowadays!

6. Teaching Cayden to speak Mandarin! So far he knows "Cayden is Ming Hao" but he won't respond when I call him Ming Hao. He repeats after me when I say 1-10 in Mandarin, but he won't say "liu 6" or "jiu 9". Guess he can't master the pronunciation yet.

I guess that's all for now. I am not hard on myself at all, aren't I? :-p