The Kids are fine. And so are we!: July 2006

The Kids are fine. And so are we!

"The trouble with being a parent is that by the time you are experienced, you are unemployed." ~ Anonymous

Monday, July 31, 2006

Right Un-Schedule

(Photo courtesy of Antmoose)

The days and weeks are seamless. Time is spent following the kid's schedule. At the age of 9 weeks, the kid should be:
Ø awake and feeding at 7AM
Ø taking a bath at 8 AM
Ø napping at 9 AM
Ø awake and playing at 9.45 AM
Ø feeding at 11 AM
Ø napping at 12 Noon
Ø awake and feeding at 2.15 PM
Ø napping at 4.30 PM (this is optional)
Ø awake and playing at 4.45 PM (if she napped at 4.30 PM)
Ø having a wipe down at 5.00PM
Ø feeding at 6.15 PM
Ø put to bed by 7 PM
Ø awoken at 10.15 PM
Ø feeding at 10.30 PM
Ø put to bed by 11.30 PM
(Important – the other times when the kid is not sleeping, feeding or getting clean, should be spent stimulating her to play or kick or socialise)

According to Gina Ford, if the kid adheres to this schedule, I will have a contented kid. And… And… I will have pockets of personal time. Hello. If you would just look at the schedule again!

Labels: books, routine, schedule

posted by Chris @ 1:10 pm 0 comments

Monday, July 10, 2006

"It wasn't me!"

The weekend was tough. The following is a list of the things we have to give up as a result of Miss Fuss-A-Lot:
1. Catching Superman Return (We got tickets for the evening show on Saturday.)
2. Getting a haircut (Wil's been needing a haircut for the longest time.)
3. Meeting family lunch/dinner (Weekend ritual for the longest time already.)
4. Sampling food at the Isetan Hokkaido Fair (An event that promises endless choices of Japanese goodies. Think Taraba crabs, Sapporo beer, Dango rice cakes and my fav, Manju cakes.)
5. Watching World Cup with the old guards, young punks and bookies at the coffee shop

Little Miss Sim turned into one cranky tyrant over the weekend. On Saturday night, she conquered the ZZZ Monster and was looking for people (namely yours sincerely, Wil and Auntie Lorne) to socialise with. With much coaxing, she withdrew her advances and had a bit of a shut eye. It was 3.15 am when Miss Needs-To-Feed announced to the One-Who-Provides (yours truly again) it was time. When aroused at such an ungodly hour, Rule #1-Distract the baby with something else, namely patting and shush-hing for 10 – 15 minutes. Should have known, Miss Needs-To-Feed-NOW protested louder. Ok, ok… It’s time. Keeping an eye on the clock, I thought it was unusual as that night, she was feeding for a much longer time – she must be hungry. Nope. She puked. That was the first time I saw the kid puke… Oh... My aching heart. It was my fault to let her feed for so long. How terrible was it to see the kid puke. And to clean her up. Then the mess. But you know what, the kid was smiling almost immediately after projecting out her feed.

I learnt that at the end of the day, we must know that we are doing everything we could to make her a contented baby.

Labels: list, milk, motherhood, sick

posted by Chris @ 4:02 pm 0 comments

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Dining in the City

The Singapore Food Festival has started. The entire month of July is devoted to culinary extravaganzas in all sorts of places. Shopping malls, link-ways under the MRT tracks, the Expo, convention centres… Chances are you will be able settle your lunch by sampling different food. This, “another Uniquely Singapore event” organised by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), tells one and all where to find food. You would think without this event Singaporeans would not know where to find good food fares. Hello? The population is well-known to order “cheng teng” to sweeten (no pun intended) the hour-long wait for a bowl of fish-ball noodles along Siglap Road. A cheesy (again, no pun intended) tribute to the on-going World Cup, there is even a Singapore FOOD BALL Festival for soccer fans. Foods that are normally set onto plates have been shaped into bite-sized spheres for easy consumption while soccer fanatics cheer for their teams.

In page 26 of their Singapore Food Festival Official Guide 1-31 July 2006, STB lists the Top 10 Must Try Dishes. They are:
Ø Chilli Crab & Black Pepper Crab
Ø Hainanese Chicken Rice
Ø Satay
Ø Bak Kut Teh
Ø Roti Prata
Ø Rojak
Ø Fish Head Curry
Ø Char Kway Teow
Ø Fried Carrot Cake
Ø Laksa

I would like to ask STB if it polled for the people’s opinions. Some of the dishes are can-eat-can-skip-it, over-rated types. The average tourist spends about 3-4 days in Singapore and if this tourist “must try” all the dishes, he can expect to pile on some kilos/pounds. Nothing to raise your brows over, for many of the dishes topped the high-cholesterol charts. On the other hand, what good food is sans lard? Since STB did not indicate if they surveyed the people, Wil and I came up with own Top 10 list. They are mainly from makan places in the East:
Ø Chilli Crab & Black Pepper Crab (Eng Seng along Joo Chiat Road)
Ø Ice Kachang (Hollywood in Bedok Interchange)
Ø Yu Tiao and Tao Huay Zhui (Geylang)
Ø Bak Chor Mee (Simpang Bedok)
Ø Roti Prata (Casuarina Road or Jalan Kayu)
Ø Rojak (anywhere is usually good. The ones in East Coast Food Centre usually serve with dried cuttle fish that are nice and crispy)
Ø Fish Head Curry (Banana Leaf along Race Course Road)
Ø Char Kway Teow (Old Hougang Market)
Ø Or Lua (Old Hougang Market)
Ø Mee Rebus (Inspirasi in Bedok Interchange)

What would you recommend for the Top 10 Must Try Dishes? Maybe STB can show the ratings in next year’s official guide.

Labels: feeding, list

posted by Chris @ 9:56 am 0 comments

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

The good people sleep better, while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more. ~ Woody Allen (Side Effects)

There must be a thousand and one ways to put a kid to sleep, but this kid wants them all. She must, she must be rocked and sang to all the way to la-la-land. That added to the time spent on nursing, the kid is being held for more than half a day. This leaves me with plenty to do with so little time.

Wil has been saying that she is growing longer and heavier daily. Dorh! Wonder if carrying her would improve the muscle tones (interrupted by the kid’s sleep noises, I hope she’s asleep again) of my upper arms. The cradling action seems to work only on the biceps. Wonder which carrying method could define those hard-to-target triceps muscles. (Ops, she signals again!).

My dear Kid, we are here when you need us; for comfort, food and love.
You can fall asleep on your own, but never be alone.
What gives to close your eyes and stop those thrashing arms?
Standing over Miss Sleepy Head, we pat your baby bums.

Good night my love, for you need to rest.
To grow strong and healthy, you really should’t protest.
Sleep tight my love, noises and nightmares aren’t real.
Just a little entertainment from your imagination.
Sweet dreams my love, of our faces, voices and warmth.
See you the next morning, and we shall sing your favourite song.

Labels: letter, sleeping

posted by Chris @ 9:07 am 0 comments

Monday, July 03, 2006

Stay-home versus home-stay

Did not blog over the weekend. In fact, did not even turn on the laptop over the weekend. Today, I nagged at myself to check emails, do some housekeeping of my email accounts, check out some sites and to blog. Why the nagging feeling to do so today? Today is Monday, and Wil is at work. On Saturdays and Sundays, Wil is my trusty companion. Just napping with him is great. When the week begins, the yearning to connect with the world beyond this four-walls is strong. How do stay-home mothers deal with this in the past? They join clubs and societies perhaps? Or immersed themselves in some Hong Kong (Korean is probably the fad now) TV serial? They remain in their stay-home roles for a long time (some of them, it's the only life they know). For me, this is a temporary stop-by. While I am just appreciating the stay-home time I have with the kid, I know I need to work. For my intellectual, social and emotional as well as financial well-being, stay-home is not the long term option. Even if the work sucks, it provides the much-needed interaction with creatures who form sentences to communicate. With the kid, I try to identify her needs from her cries. Don’t all cries sound the same? A cry with another pitch, tone or rhythm, is still a call for help. Tell me little one, oh what do you need?

Labels: motherhood

posted by Chris @ 10:11 am 0 comments