Jayden @ 4.5

We have moved into our temporary home for about a month and a half now. Nothing has changed much except getting used to a new environment and a smaller space. Most of the stuff are still in boxes which we have no intentions of unpacking unless absolutely necessary.

Sleep had been an issue. Not only because it's a new place but also largely due to the unforgiving weather coupled with no air-condition in the house. (YES. NO AIR-CON)

And so to get our minds off the hot climate, I decided to cook (after a gazillion years later) on the HCP (Happycall Pan), which was bought half a year ago!

The son was my guinea pig when Dylan was outstation in KL. Safest choice to cook for a kid - Claypot chicken rice with lots of hot dog. Conclusion: He loves it! :)

Other than cooking, I got the son to understand the concept of housechores. I let him had a go at stiring the hot syrup to make Jelly! He was very delighted of course and stirred it really carefully without getting too close to the fire. End result: Ice cold jelly on a hot hot day!

So at 4.5 years old, Jayden has grown to be quite an independant boy. He wears his own clothes,  helps to do simple chores in the house and brushes his own teeth. Though sometimes, the kiddo does ask for treats in returnbut we gladly rewarded him.

This year on Mother's and Father's Day, we both received a personalized card from the son. Although I cannot compliment on his abstract drawing, the thought of it just fuzzes my heart even though he made our faces green. Tee-hee. And in return my son, we're bringing you to Hong Kong Disneyland in July! It's your first trip to a non-beachy country. We hope to create more beautiful memories with you. We love you too - Daddy & Mummy

Luck ran dry

We had 2 piece of good news at the start of the year.

#1: We've sold our flat for a decent price! Offer came in when we were travelling in Bangkok in early Feb. Although I must say, we never expected a middle age lady to appreciate our house reno. But still, we're glad that we're going to handover our nest to a nice lady. I felt a momentary loss when I accepted the cheque. After all, we have stayed in this home for the past 5 years. I didn't know we can experience seperation anxiety at this age too. Hahaha.

#2: We've bought our new place when I was travelling in Taipei!!! All happened in a span of less than a month. We spent a few months of deliberating on where our next place should be - priority was the Son's future school. But after reading all the possibilities and non-possibilities of trying to secure a school purely using distance, we decided to play safe and just put Jayden at either one of our school. No need to lose hair anymore. Heh.
So choosing a home become no boundaries. We wanted somewhere near in-laws but anywhere near Bishan is very very expensive. :( My only bottom line is I do not wish to stretch the dollar and stress ourselves over mortgage. So we shelved finding a private condo and decided to go for EC. After all, it is our last chance to get a subsidized house from HDB.

So we went around to look at a few current launches. The only EC that caught our eyes was Twin Waterfalls from Frasers. We love their layout and location was very near future Watertown - the next Centerpoint in a suburb. So we took our chances and went for the balloting. And bless our souls, we got it! :D Very high floor, the layout we wanted - everything penned out nicely!

So everything went well and smooth in Feb and early Mar. But our luck suddenly ran out in mid-Mar.

Dylan got into a minor car accident - thankfully unharmed but the car is disfigured. :(
A series of unlucky things happend on me too.

I am hoping it is just a temporary 'suayness'. After all, the biggest contentment is that we've found our new place but only ready in 2015!!! We'll take this 3 years to save up and hopefully can invest in another small unit for future investment. :)

As for now, we'll be busy busy busy in moving to a temporary shelter.

Let's hope April will be a good month for us!

Moving on to another school

Dear Son,

This post serves as my letter of explanation to you as to why I have decided to put you through another tormentous round of new environment, new friends, new teachers next year.

It has seemed like we have been changing school every year. As much as we try to avoid, the previous and the current ones just didn't fit the bill. When you were 2, we wanted to put you in a playgroup so as to build your social skills and understand the concept that your life just didn't evolve around the 4 walls of Bishan Street 13.

Even at the mere age of 2, school was already competitive with the atrocious long waiting list. And so you only enjoyed playgroup at Brightstart Montesorri with Teacher May for a couple of months before you moved on to a proper pre-nursery at Thomson Church Kindy.

Life was pretty smooth-sailing and you enjoyed your 3 hours session in school with Teacher Patrick and 陈老师。And there, we witnessed our once introvert son performed on stage to the music of "Round the clock" on your pre-nursery graduation day. We cannot be more proud of you, son. But family obligations never quite meet your life expectations and so we were once more made to believe that putting you in a daycare center would be the optimal choice.

I do not wish to recall the 26 cold calls I dialled sounding like a fanatic mom with no home for my son. I also do not wish to recall the heart-wrenching moments witnessing your 1st week at school, wondering amidst your tears why does school last from 8am to 6pm. And after all the ordeal, you have moved on being a more confident, conversant and independant boy. Good on you boy!

We thought we could finally put our minds at ease and Jayden can nuture his growing years in Agape. Unfortunately, finding a good school is like striking lottery nowadays. In a span of 10 months, the nursery class has changed 6 teachers - yes both English and Mandarin teacher! *covers jaws dropping* Some re-cap of their special characteristics.

Teacher Leela - Started her disappearing acts once Jayden joined school. Would only come to school once or twice in a week.

张老师 - The goofy one. She looked like Abigail twin sister. Once, Jayden came home in his inverted underwear - when I meant inverted, one of the thigh area went into waist area. *gua gua gua*. Finally left because she said she missed 娘家。-_-


Then Teacher Amy - Hooray! Local teacher! But this high class teacher only work half day because she has 'other commitments' in the afternoon. Fine. We accomodate. Unfortunately, she couldn't tolerate the kids and left. Very high class lor.

陈老师 - Sounded like a definite Malaysian but insisted she was from China. During the MTP, she even said kids at these age shouldn't put so much stress on studying so Jayden not being able to lift the pencil is a small issue. Somebody!! Please tell her she should be a nanny not a teacher!

Finally with Teacher Elnie and 庞老师。They are still around. I have lost hope trying to interact with them.

We have tolerated not switching schools despite the lack of discipline in maintaining the quality of the teachers. From local teachers, it dwindled to hiring only Filipinos and PRCs. I have no adverse feelings against these two nationalities. After all PRCs do speak proper Mandarin. But the last straw came when the entire school became infested with Filipinos who couldn't even convey proper messages to me when my son got hurt in school. I was further appalled to see Jayden doned in another classmate's uniform. Didn't the Filipino teacher notice the names on the name-tag?!? My son is not Rendall Seah! *smacks forehead*

Anyway, enough of grieving. My dear son, I hope you understand why Mommy and Daddy is putting you to another school. We're not sure if it will be better because we're not admitting that we're always right and know what's best for you. So we hope you have an enjoyable birthday celebration at Agape before you move on to your new environment at Elfa and make more friends.

Remember, Mommy and Daddy will only want the best for you. Keep smiling.

What's going on with the Yips these days?

Well, I haven't got much to say.

The man in the house is half the time out on weekends working and I cannot bring myself to get out of the house in the sweltering heat. I am almost ashamed to confess that the son and I spent most of the time doing unproductive stuff at home too.

On some days, we spent building sandcastles - not in the air but literally. The son has a penchant for getting himself muddy and wet and we reckoned that it's healthier to do some outdoor activity before he becomes a hermit and hides himself behind an iPad.

Just the other day, I finally embraced the courage to hand-make some cards together with the son for his teachers day. I was under the impression that he only had 2 teachers to prepare until he list out the rest of them he knew from playgroup to K2 that he insisted to give pressies to. *hears wallet crying*

So after holding his hand to write 10 teachers day cards, I am almost certain that next year it would be less labourious that I just print out labels instead. Thank you technology!!!

And lastly, in return of appreciation, the teachers decided to hold a surprise tea party inviting the parents to watch their precious one perform a surprise act. When I meant surprise, I was supposed to be there with an astounded-jaws drop-overwhelmed look when you watch your kid do his trick.

Well, I wasn't because Jayden got too excited and practiced it in front of me every night. Nonetheless, it was nice to see the son being comfortable on stage and enjoying himself. :)

And that pretty much summed up our lackluster lives these days. Don't you think we need a vacation soon?!?

Something about Jayden at 3.5

Hello Everyone,

Today is a public holiday and my mummy is not blogging. So I decided to take over the keyboard and introduce myself at 3.5 years old.


Yes, at 3.5 years old, I still sleep with a hankie and pillow. Mummy cannot grumble much since I've managed to wean off the pacifier at 2 years old and am diaper-free too. Hey, as a kid, I do have human rights too.


I enjoy taking photos now and know how to smile at the camera though most of the time, I smile so hard, I can't see my eyes.

I have been sleeping on my own bed since 3 years old but some nights I still do creep into Mummy & Daddy's bed because it doesn't really feel good to sleep alone right. I don't understand why Mummy wants me to do it? *scratch head* But anyway, I still love my fire truck bed and would play imaginary fireman when I can't go to sleep.

I finally understood the meaning of Christmas and even helped Mummy to decorate the tree. Because she says that Santa will only give presents to good boy. I'm not sure how true is that because somtimes when I do misbehave, I still get presents under the tree. *cheeky shrug*

My favourite toy has got to be The Chuggingtons. It all started with 2 DVDs that Grandpa got me during X'mas and one innocent trip to Toys R Us. I got my first interactive Chugger - Frostini. I never liked the main characters - Wilson, Koko & Brewster and only collects the rest of the chuggers. Mummy thought there are only 3 characters but look at my collection!



I have all 10 of them now and I'm still trying to get Mummy & Daddy to get the Chugwash for my birthday. Mummy says it's an expensive hobby for one chugger cost $29.90. So 10 means nearly $300! I hope she used her own money to buy my toys. :p


At 3.5 yrs old, I'm still very much a water baby. I love swimming and have recently opened up to the concept of water play. I used to cringe at water showers and sprinklers but now as you can see, I'm enjoying them!


Of course, there are times when you just want to vege out and be a couch potato on the iPad. I even know how to use Youtube to search for my favourite cartoons.

So at 3.5, I'm doing what an average kid would do - eat, play, sleep and sometimes abit of study. I don't have any favourite sport or activity at the moment. I can read 1-10 and only half of the alphabets. I can only write 1 or 0. So that worries Mummy alot. But fret not Mummy! All kids learn naturally so let me play first for now ok? I love you Mummy! xoxo


Signing off,
Jayden
(Mummy's imaginary impression of me)

Grainy no more

I contemplated for the longest time to get a DSLR for many obvious reasons - too expensive, too high maintenance and the sure killer was too bulky.

"You must get a DSLR for your Europe trip", came a voice ringing in my head. I thought my trusty Panasonic LX-3 semi-pro camera would do the trick until I saw C's photos. The scenaries were breath-taking.

It didn't help much that there was an IT fair that had to come just a couple of weeks before my trip. "Is it a sign?" I asked myself. I applaud myself when I tried to push that idea out of my head and convinced myself that I didn't need this baby. That was until I test-run on Dewi's new toy - the EOS 600D. That is it.

Like they say, let the pictures do the talking. Of course, with my star model.

Now even with a bad photographer, with a bad angle, the quality looks good!

Jayden with his score chart.

The context behind is that the boy has to do something independantly, like brushing his own teeth, wearing his own clothes, keeping his toys and he'll be rewarded by 1 sticker. Collect 10 and he gets his favourite toy.

Jayden is pretty proud of his score chart and beams at the fact that he's just 2 sticker short of getting his prize. Keep it up son!

Reflecting 2010

I know 2010 is very much long and gone but I thought I should pen down some moments to remind myself that I'm blessed to have lived another year smoothly.

On the son, one would be when he started his pre-school at TRBK. I think he really enjoyed learning playing in this school albeit a short 1 year.

On some milestones (if you call it that way) achievements, We managed to 1) wean Jayden from the pacifier when he was only 2, 2) wean off the diaper at night and lastly getting him to poo in the potty. Of course, that translates to alot of savings $$$ :D

Come April, Dylan switched to a new job after serving for 5 years in his ex company. It was a pretty neat pay jump which complimented to a better lifestyle for us. :)

Then in May, I managed to go on a holiday trip with my parents. Something I've been wanting to do, also serves up as a memory for Jayden with his maternal grandparents.

Surely, how can one forget how I bade farewell to being 20s. :(

Our first NDP experience as a family with the nation. Jayden has started to learn to say the pledge in both languages and also singing the national anthem in school. It would have been more apt if we go this year. :)

This also happens to be the year our boy turned 3 while his mother turned 30. I wished I had one less zero though. We also attended his 1st pre-school graduation. I almost cried when I saw my shy boy performed in front of 200 people.

I must say 2010 had been an awesome 365 days although we did have a few hiccups - one with me having a flat tyre on an expressway and also our unfortunate encounter to hunt for another school for Jayden. The latter turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I now no longer have to worry about having no one to take care of my son or pull last minute surprises.

So 2010 was SMASHING. I am certainly embracing for a bountiful 2011 too! What's up? My treat to Dylan's birthday trip to Ho Chi Minh in Feb and our (or rather mine) long awaited trip to Europe in March!!!

I need more space

I think everyone would agree that heels are like the 2nd most important accessory other than holding the latest IT bag over your wrist. A nice looking pair of heels accentuates the contours of your legs, a decent 4 incher provides an instant boost to your ego and of course, different colours denote for different occasions. Something the hub can never understand.

When I was younger and just started in the career world, I used to only own ONE pair of heels. Yes you got that right. The classic dodgy thin strappy with your toe sticking out black heels. I was a complete case of Ugly Betty.

Anyway, fast forward 10 years later, I bought my own house. Designed my own shoe rack the way it has to be to fit the design of the house.

Wrong move.

I shall make sure that my next house, the shoe rack has to be designed to fit my shoe collections, not the other way round! I now have shoes stuffed in my clothes wardrobe as the rack had ran out of space! *gulp* And the clothes wardrobe is another space issue! *double gulp*

As if it's not bad enough that I'm a poor space planner, I have also successfully instilled my love for shoes onto my son. I dug out Jayden's shoes for house-keeping one day and almost had a shock of my life!


15 pairs.

How did it even get to there?

Taken at 26 months so collection has since increased

Buying shoes for the son suddenly become a collector's hobby. Whenever I go on business trips or holidays, I would try to scout for shoes that are different from the ones we get locally.

Perhaps I should really tell myself to stop buying stuff like these for the boy. I don't even know if he would wear them eventually. And yes, we don't even want to go into clothes now..... ....

Flat

Other than the size of my boobs, I encountered a flat tyre early last week during my SAHM stint.

It could have been a small issue where I can simply change the tyre myself. BUT BUT BUT,

1. Tyre exploded in the middle of CTE and the car was in lane 1


2. Son was sitting beside me giving the "What's that sound?" look


3. I literally stopped the car at lane 1 and came out to check out the flat tyre, never mind the tons of cars whizzing pass!


4. Called tow company and was told they can only arrive 1 hour later! Muster courage to drive to road shoulder


5. EMAS LTA emerged from nowwhere and offered to help change tyre - I'm SAVED


6. Found out Dylan left the spare tyre AT HOME *kua kua kua* and the fella was still in reservist!!!


7. EMAS then suggest to tow the car to nearest carpark


8. Called Liv to help bring Jayden home, he was getting restless under the hot sun


9. EMAS then realized our car is 4WD so need a special tow truck - waiting game continues!


10. Finally towed to AMK ave 5 carpark

A very busted tyre

Check out the 4 punctured holes!!

I had the shock of my life when Dylan changed the tyre. The inner wheel had 4 punctured holes, it was like someone deliberately stabbed 4 times on the tyre! It still remains a mystery as what could have caused it.

The entire ordeal left me speechless. Firstly, I acted like a frantic lunatic when it happened - could have been escalated due to having son in the car. His safety is my priority! Secondly, we were stranded in the middle of the expressway and didn't know what to do. I didn't know EMAS had such service, and it's FREE! I stored their number almost immediately.

Mental note: Must learn to act calm in emergencies.

The things that happened in August

Before I rattled about the fact that my boy is turning 3 soon in less than 2 months time, there were quite a handful of things that happened in August.

Having witness that Jayden could nicely sit through any shows/plays/movies, we brought him to a children's recital play in early August.

** UPSTAIRS IN THE SKY **

It was a low budget recital which compromises of only 2 ppl who created a story base based on whatever objects they could find on stage. It was mildly entertaining for the adults but the focused boy sat listened hard to understand what was going on.

Next up, Barney show in Sep. The boy has been harping to me non-stop on when Barney is coming and where he is coming from. I have instructed the inquisitive son to question the purple dinosaur himself. Let's see if that happenes.

** CHANGING THE PINK CARD **

I acknowledge that my birthday has passed nearly a month. I only got down to sending my new IC application before ICA sends me the penalty letter and ask me to stop living in denial - NO MORE PRIMARY SCHOOL PHOTO ok.

I used to laugh at how dorky I looked when I was 12, now I wished I was still that young. :(

** BUSINESS TRIP @ PERTH **

The last time I visited Perth - the land of boring town, I was the least impressed. Shops were closed even before I knock off from work. By 7pm, you had nowhere to go but hibernate in the hotel watching soapy Aussie dramas.

So this time, I decided to schedule my flight timings that allow my to check out the rest of Perth City.

Arrived around 2-ish, checked-in and dashed off to Harbourtown factory outlet. I'm so delighted that buses are FOC in Perth! :D

Did some shopping before proceeding to dinner @ Shilla's Korean BBQ restaurant. Sadly, although it was run by an authentic Korean family, the beef were nothing like that one I had in Seoul. :( And it certainly wasn't worth the trip out in the cold, windy evening to search for this place located at some ulu street. Well, it was recommended by a colleague so must at least try mah.

DAY 2 & 3

Woke up at 3AM!!! to fly off up north of Perth to visit our work sites. Nothing glamourous to begin with but it was good to put an image to the work I've been doing all these while.

I know Aussies like to drink ALOT, but having a fridge full of beers and spirits was kind of overwhelming for me.

Shall not delve on the rest of the work days - it was just more sites and acres and acres of brown land.

Day 4 & 5

Spent the last 2 days back in Perth and did more shopping including buying snacks that cost only 1/3 of what we can get in Sg!

Towards the end of Aug, starts my 8 days SAHM stint with Jayden. More on that in next post!

Man in the house

One of the reason why I wanted a place of my own was that I would have the freedom to do the things I want, at my pace and not have people dictating on the time I should go to bed, have my dinner, etc.

However, now I have a little man in the house who decides when I should go to bed, where I should be sleeping and WHO I should sleep with.

Jayden has been sleeping independantly in his own room since he was 8 months old and able to sleep through. But nowadays, he demands that he sleeps at our room. I offered the boy a mattress beside our bed but he is determined to be by my side and even ushered his father to sleep in his room instead.

At times when I want to do my things, the son will drag me to bed and say "Mummy, you're tired. It's time to sleep." Sometimes such gesture warms my heart for I know he just wants me to be by his side. But at times when I really just want to vege catching the tube, I end up being asleep! Grrr....

Of course, the other man, aka Dylan is not very pleased with the current sleeping arrangement but we would just have to make do until the son gets bored with me.

On another note, Jayden has also started to ask a string of questions that leaves us baffled sometimes.

Where is our home?
Where is Seng Kang?
Why Mummy have to go work?
Where is work?
Where Jayden has to go school?
Where is the truck going?
Where are we going for dinner?
When is my birthday?
Why is it in October?

It's an endless list of questions that only starts from one. Even the neighbour who used to coyly answer the curious boy's questions now keeps his doors closed.

My first Meet-The-Parents Session

I still remember vividly how I reacted when I became a first time mummy. I would comb through books to help me decipher what my boy was trying to tell me amidst his cries.

I always thought that there as a fixed formula or at least an answer in those heaps of books to manage a crying and colicky baby.

I WAS SO WRONG.

There were several times when I would raise the white flag and conclude that I couldn't handle or understand my baby. I cringed at the thought that he would never get to sleep through the night or wean off the pacifier and eventually be diaper free. I was in constant worries that all these milestones are such impossible feats to achieve.

But amazingly, what seemed to be unattainable turned out to be a thing of a past. And just when I thought all my worries are over, out comes a new set of worries.

The week before school closes, we were to have a teachers-to-parents session to discuss about our son's development in school.

And this is what his English and Chinese teacher wrote in his report: -

"Jayden is a quiet boy. He respects people's properties and follows instructions. A shy boy that needs to be encouraged constantly"

My first question to the teacher was "Are you sure you got the right report?"

And the teacher looked at me weirdly as if I'm doubting my own son. Can't help it when your boy displays a split character at home and rattles non-stop beside your ears. It's hard to believe that he isn't the talkative sort.

Apart from that, the teacher also commented that he doesn't like art & craft sessions and will always look forward to play-time and story telling. I am disappointed to know that the son hasn't inherit any artistic genes from me and instead took the wholesome boring genes of his dad. Haha.

Also, the boy is adapting slower than his peers in terms of understanding numbers and alphabets, although he has no issues with shapes and colors. The teacher related to his late submission to the school which may require some time for Jayden to keep up. At that moment, I was already going through a mental list of enrichment classes while the teacher chants away on other issues that I wasn't hearing.

Am I worrying too early? Should I be preparing to send Jayden for enrichment classes when he's barely 3? Is there a book to tell me what to do?

All of a sudden, it dawned upon me that raising an infant was so much easier. He cries = he need milk or food or just need a cuddle and some nap. But now as a growing child, there is so much more I have to provide.

Will I do it right? For now, I have been trying to resume the bed-time stories instead of fictitious company like Barney & Friends.

Mother's Day

I know Mother's Day has long passed.

I have also come to realize that my blog posts about Jayden's progress have somewhat dwindled as the boy slowly approaches to his 3rd birthday.

Was looking through the photos on my iPhone when I came across the handicraft he made at school for Mother's Day. Although with the help from the teachers, it was the son's first artwork made specially for me.

The boy proudly presented his flower pot to me and planted a kiss on my cheek before saying "Mummy, I love you". That was enough to melt a mother's heart. Never mind the once late night feedings, never mind the constant tantrums, whining, crying, yelling, never mind the endless worries when he is sick, never mind the times he drove you up the wall with his tricks. For that moment, there was only love and a smile in my heart.

I never knew how one could take over control of your emotions. When he cries, your heart aches together with him, when he laughs, your mood gets uplifted instantly. When he achieves a milestone, you rejoiced in excitement like it was your own victory. And despite the many times he tried to push you away when he's angry, you would try every means to get back closer.


Love is boundless. Love is unconditional. And I know the Love will keep growing.

A wife has to wear many hats

It's time to dish away the notion that a wife's job only involves around the 4 concrete walls of a kitchen.

These days, being a wife means you'll need to be able to don many hats. Not only do we have to work as an extra source of income to the family, be the food supply of your infant, the educator and disciplinarian to your child, the soul mate and companion of your husband and sometimes dress as a teaser to make yourself still look appealing to the man (ok I'm really joking about the last part), you'll soon be also needing to know how to replace the lightings in the house or fix a clogging toilet bowl.

There you have it. And we don't even get paid for being a Jane of all trades.

Why am I whining?

The husband has gone for a 3 days 2 night sales seminar at the Ritz and have left the task of single-handedly ferrying the son home and to school for the next 3 days. No big deal considering that I've done this a few times when he was in reservist.

Now, the brilliant husband must be thinking that his wife is also capable and knowledgable to decide on the appliances to buy for his parents currently-under-renovation kitchen. He has rendered me the task to get "the best but reasonably priced (which simply means cheap and very good) kitchen sink".

Sure. I can do it. Easy peasy.

So I dropped by SSC last evening.

Not wanting to sound like a noob, I asked confidently to the SA, "I need a kitchen sink".

"Any particular brands? One hole, two holes, gloss finish, matt finish? Ceramic or stainless steel finish? Tap integrated with the sink or over the counter?", the SA enquired helpfully.

I JUST NEED A BLARDY SINK. HOW COME THERE'RE SO MANY REQUIREMENTS ONE????

The many types of sinks to choose from

To ensure that I made the right choice, I called the busy husband. "Hello. So what kind of sink does your mom prefers?" To which the assuring husband reply "You decide." -_-

Cheapest is from China. Scratch that. Second is Australia. It even comes with free integrated chopping board and drainer. Old people like freebies right? I asked the friendly SA. She must be thinking I'm using my in-laws as an excuse to buy a sink.

Ini mini miny moe.

Finally, I decided on Reginox (from Holland) sink. Matt finish, less prone to scratches, deep basins. Ang mo brand cannot go wrong right?

After rounds of mind boggling to choose the 'perfect' sink, I proceeded to the cashier to confirm my order.

"Miss, so what kind of tap do you want to go with it? Mixer or non mixer? Short one, tall one sturdy one or thin one?

!!!!!????!!!!!!!!!!!!????!!!!!!!!!!!!????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??

The many types of taps to choose from

Luckily, taps only come in ONE color. I was pretty impressed that it took less than an hour to purchase the items. C warned beforehand that delivery is not included and that I would have to cash and carry home.

Thankfully, the showroom didn't have ready stocks and so they offered to deliver the items FOC. How do you expect me to hand carry those things in my stilettos?!?

I passed the receipt to my in-laws when I reached their place and explained on how I managed to decide on what sink was supposedly the best.

They nodded doubtfully and proceeded to ask, "So when are you going to get the cooker hob?"

How much was it again?!

Cookie Flavour - The Apple of My Eye

It used to be branded bags, clothes and accessories. Nowadays, cookies can be considered a luxurious gift as well.

The husband wanted to get something 'unique' for his clients this year. From Harrods to L'occitane to C&E - I have exhausted all ideas until someone recommended The Cookie Museum.

On first look at the place, it was delectably decorated in Victorian settings and a wide array of cookies, chocolates and cakes to choose from. Flavours unheard of - Chicken rice, laksa, nasi lemak. Not something I would have fancied for a sweet tooth.

And then I teased the husband to get a tin for me. I usually only eat chocolate chip cookies but these cookies were different. They were, as the sales assistant proudly mentioned, 99% FAT FREE. And of course, with the premium of being fat free, comes the very fat price tag as well.

"Please take your time to eat them" - the husband warned. The cookies burned a $45 hole in his pocket.

When you're older... ...

We often wonder... ...

If you would still play with Daddy & Mommy???

Will your hair still stand or will they fall in place?

Will you want to sleep in your own bed and wake up to see us in the morning??

Will Barney still be your best friend???

Will you want to hold our hands as we walk???

Because I'm very sure, Daddy & Mummy wants to do all of that with you for a very very long time... ... :)