Addicted to technology

1:23 AM
1.23 a.m. and the baby is feeding.
A loud sudden THWAP.
Cue immediate, non-stop wailing.

:(

The Worst Mother Award goes to me for dropping my phone on baby's head. AGAIN.

It hurts when I get smacked in the face when my phone falls on my face. I can only imagine how bad it'd be for a baby.

If she didn't cry, it'd be a larger problem. 

From now on, my phone shall be off limits during nursing time. Gah.

*UPDATE* I've bought an iRing to prevent such mishaps from occurring again. It's a ring with an adhesive pad which you stick to your phone to prevent it from slipping. 
musings

Same same, but different

5:45 AM
It is 4:30 A.M.

 You hear a faint whining coming from somewhere near you. 
You look around, and see that a person is lying down and has just soiled herself.

You are unsure if you should wake her up, or leave her lying down. You decide to clean her up a bit.

She appears to be thirsty, so you give her a bit to drink.

 After being drinking, she proceeds to throw up over your tee shirt. 

 Then she begins to laugh and smile at you. 
"What's so funny", you think to yourself.
She doesn't respond, but continues to smile. 


She's still smiling.
Drunk woman on the streets?
No. My daughter.

 I woke up to her whining, and found that she had a wet diaper. I was about to wear a new diaper for her when she decided it was a good time to pee. I put on the new diaper for her nonetheless, hosed down the changing mat and fed her a bit. 

 She continued whining after her milk, so I was cuddling her when she threw up over herself and my tee...and gave me a bright smile. She kept smiling even after I washed her up. I put her tummy to tummy, and she vomited again. -_- 

 Thankfully my father took over and soothed her back to sleep. 

 Just another day.  

"EHEHEHEHEHE"

momtrepreneur

Review: Keepsake by Ryo

10:17 PM
I've been a mother for two months and counting. Elise nurses about 8 times each day and I cherish the quiet moments that we have. I'm direct latching her fully now, ever since she went on a sudden bottle strike a few weeks ago. I'm really thankful that I have adequate supply, because formula is so expensive and I want to boost up her immune system before she goes into infant care. 

Her double chin, chubby cheeks and chunky thighs are just a bonus. Strangers look at her and ask me if she is three or four months old. No, she just turned two months old a few days ago.

My favourite position when nursing her is the side latch because I can use the phone watch her drink milk. She has this quirk where she grasps and plays with her hair. After drinking her fill, she just dozes off. :) 

A few weeks ago, I customised some breast milk jewellery from Keepsake with Ryo to wear because I'd like to remember this part of motherhood in a practical way. 

The jewellery arrived in cute little boxes just in time for Christmas:

Teardrop Locket with Blue Shimmer, Pink Pandora-ish cord bracelet, Cloudy heart necklace with gold flakes
I took part in Project Keepsake, where I paid a token sum to receive one surprise memento. I wasn't able to customise the jewellery, but I told her my preferences (simple and pink) and she really gave me what I wanted.

 She places really high standards on herself and trashes the jewellery if she doesn't like it. 
Can't stop staring at this one. It's smooth to the touch and a bit rubbery but I was told that it would harden over time. 

Anyway she has a 6 month warranty, so I'm not worried!
I inititally ordered one with silver flakes, but guess what happened: 

An ant crawled inside whilst the pendant was setting and died inside. Just as well. Gold seems to have a better contrast against the colour of my milk. 

The beginning of a slippery slope - charm bracelets 
I love all three pieces because they're all so wearable and not garish. I don't like flashy accessories. Normally when I go out, the only accessory I wear is my wedding ring. I might start wearing accessories again now that I have these! I might make another charm when Elise has her first haircut. I don't know when that'll be though, since her hair is growing out so well. 

** No monetary compensation was received. I paid for the jewellery. All opinions are of my own. 



Elise's Full Month Celebration/Budget Party Planning

9:46 PM
We held Elise's baby shower early this month when she was 6 weeks old. According to tradition, girls are supposed to have their Full Month celebration before they turn 1 month old. 

Being particularly rebellious and also not wanting to be all stressed out, I really took my time to plan and research for ideas and caterers, keeping my budget in mind now that neither of us are working at the moment. 

Venue:

 Condo Function Room: $100 refundable deposit + $20 cleaning fee

 Most people hold it at home or at chalets. My aunt recommended a SAFRA function room, but I was quoted $1,000++ for 4 hours use. I tried to book a multi-purpose hall at the CC but the onePA website was down. 

 Another friend offered to link me up with his friend who opened a nice cafe at a yacht club and could give me a friendship rate but it was too inconvenient for my guests to get to. 

 So it was back to square one. 

 Eventually, a friend who lived in a condominium offered to book the function room for my party and it turned out to be a good decision because the room was bright and spacious. 
Decoration

 Pre-loved Scene setters & twirl decoration: $16 off Carousell 
Baby Shower Banner: Hand-me-down
Puffy Name Cushion: $36 from Little Happy Puffs, reusable as room decoration 
Misc: Cardboard and plastic clothes pegs from Daiso, printed 4R photos, marker pens and tape

I had friends who volunteered to come early to help set up. :D That's my dad carrying Elise in the reflection. 
Wish I took a family photo against this backdrop. Tip to new mothers: Please get the first guest to take a family photo if you don't have a hired photographer. 


Closeup 
DIY guest boards with her name cut out from the cardboard packaging of a Cetaphil baby sample. HAHAHA.
Catering

 Neo Garden: ~$800 for 45 pax after 20% SG50 babies promotion

 I chose Neo Garden because it was the safest choice. Neo Garden is a large caterer and I can be assured of its taste and portions, plus set-up and collection was fuss-free. 

 Actually it's because I love their Signature Curry Chicken and wanted my guests to enjoy it together with the bee hoon. I topped up $1 per person to change the dessert to Orh Nee for my relatives, added a side order of Honey Drumlets and redeemed free mini Swiss Rolls. /useallthevouchersandpromotions!
Menu: Fried Mee Hoon, Pineapple Fried Rice, Mushroom Broccoli, Curry Chicken, Honey Drumlets, Cereal Prawns, Spring rolls & Sotong balls, Mini chocolate eclairs, Swiss Rolls, Orh Nee & Iced Lemon Tea 
Yes, the food tasted just as nice. Totally yum yum in my tum tum. HAHAHA. Kidding. I didn't even have time to finish one serving on my plate because I was walking around and talking to people :( 

 I did have it for dinner that day though. 

After most guests left, my friends helped to pack the food into plastic containers so we cleared out the metal trays completely. I LIKE! I hate seeing perfectly edible food go to waste. 

 Full Month Gift Boxes

The Event

 It was a small and cosy event with close relatives and friends, but even then, I didn't have enough time for each group and it made me feel quite bad for some friends who didn't know anyone else there.

 I'm glad I organised this celebration for her, so she'll have photos to look back on when she's older. 



Elise received many presents that day from everyone who loved her, but Grandaunt Amy outdid everyone else with this:

She spent evenings and late nights cutting and gluing the pieces together to create this wonderful and interactive quiet book. I'd known of the idea when I was pregnant but never started it. It's such a thoughtful, sincere and priceless gift.

It'll definitely come in handy when she grows older as I don't like the idea of young children being glued onto iPads. Instead of iPads, I want Elise to get hooked on books, LEGOs and sports. Her dad can't wait for her to be big enough to swim. I think she loves being in the water because she keeps smiling and kicking her chubby legs around the tub during bath time. I can't wait. 

Anyway, that's how Elise had her first party. :) 

review

Review: Lulu's Celebratory Box

7:08 PM
When I confirmed on the venue of Elise's full month celebration, I started searching for full month gift box caterers. The most common choice is Sweetest Moments, but I've heard things about them, and my cousin with a deep passion for baking says the pastries utterly disappointed them.

 Other caterers include Choz Confectionery (by Neo Garden), Papamama, Partridge Pear etc. I came across CooChiCoo which does score on packaging, but there is no way in hell I'd pay $10 for marshmallows, jellybeans and cookies in a mini metal suitcase.

Lulu's won me over because of their affordable pricing, attractive boxes as well as the ease of use of their website and shopping cart. 



About:

Lulu's was started in early 2014 by a Singaporean couple based in Germany. Lulu's is one of their many businesses. The couple started Lulu's because they'd received full month cake boxes which did not deliver on taste and wanted to provide "tasty treats in pretty boxes". 

They have an in-house design team which updates the website and theme boxes regularly. Their recipes are also regularly improved. 

Ordering:

Ordering online was a  breeze. Other caterers show a picture which links to an email, or an order form. Lulu's lets you choose the theme followed by the pastry selections and they also have Halal sets for Muslim friends. 

Service:

There are a few email addresses to liaise with - one for ordering and one for the customisation of the photo card. It would have been much more convenient if the message and photo could have been customised on the website at the point of order. Anyway, they allow a one-time complimentary change of message and photo. 

The time slot for free delivery was fixed between 9am to 1pm. I topped up $10 for delivery at a fixed timing because my event was scheduled for 11:30am. I figured it was worth paying $10 than having to store and carry the boxes to the venue ourselves. 

Product:

I was rather surprised to see a pretty gift wrapped box delivered along with the order. They included a pretty long-sleeved tee for Elise as a Christmas gift! Little things like these make a difference to the whole experience. 
I chose the Owl and Whale design. The colours were very cheery and suitable for the occasion and their customised baby card is printed as a 4R sized photo. Other caterers have wallet sized cards with only enough space for the baby's birthdate and other details.

They also use tortoise shell shaped ang ku kuehs for baby girls and pointed ones for baby boys in accordance with tradition (which I had no idea about before). 
The dividers prevent the pastries from getting knocked around and they also had a cardboard base to prop up the chocolate tarts. Very thoughtful. I once bought a cupcake from Twelve Cupcakes and it got smashed up on the way home because the packaging couldn't grip the cupcake properly. When you have a smashed cake, nobody cares whether you paid $3 or $30 for it.

My relatives commented that the ang ku kuehs were especially tasty, which was a relief. The ang ku kuehs and swiss rolls also tasted good after reheating. The swiss rolls weren't too sweet and it had coconut shavings and filling instead of buttercream. The ang ku kuehs were chewy, fragrant and not too sticky. 

 I was left with 6 boxes because I forgot to personally hand it out to everyone and only remembered after half of the guests left. -_- So smart. It became my breakfast for 3 consecutive days. 

Value for money:

There are a variety of boxes to match your budget. My budget was budget, so I chose the most affordable selections at $6.50 per box. Luckily, they didn't look shabby PLUS they tasted good. Overall, I was satisfied with Lulu's and would gladly recommend them.

*No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are of my own.

While you were sleeping...

4:13 PM
I would like to announce my most recent achievement. After six full weeks, I've finally managed to trim her fingernails. Babies need mittens to prevent them from scratching their faces with their super sharp and tiny nails (which are tooooooo tiny to cut). They're supposed to be off mittens at six weeks so they can explore their surroundings with their little fingers. 

Baby nails are SO TINY and fragile, and I've heard stories of parents who accidentally nicked their baby's nails whilst cutting them so I tried to put it off for as long as possible. 

Aforementioned Fancy Tools - Little Bees Nail Trimmer, Pigeon Baby Nail Clippers, Pigeon Nail Scissors for Infants
She had her nails cut by my friend's sister who is a manicurist by profession. I am not and I chickened out so many times even with my fancy tools.
The subject is getting ready.

It is time.
The nail trimmer is supposed to trim her nails safely. It's actually this round nail file pad which vibrates. The moment it touched her nail, she woke up from the shock. -_- Not working as I expected. I decided to stick to what I know best - the nail clippers. 
FOCUS!
I grabbed her tiny hand and held her fingers tightly. I squinted and tried to make sure the clipper wouldn't cut too deep. Tremble tremble. A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do. 

Once the first nail was done, the rest were a lot easier by comparison. The nail trimmer does help A LITTLE in smoothing the edges, but I definitely wouldn't use it to shorten her nails because it would take forever and the vibration seems to be quite strong. 

Anyway, I DID IT! :D  

 *UPDATE* It is 100 times easier using the Pigeon nail scissors to cut her nails as it can be done in a snip, so I use that before using the Little Bees trimmer to file down her nails, especially the edges. 

And she smiles (on camera)!

11:35 PM
She's beginning to smile more. She used to flash us a quick smile after having her milk, or a smirk which we could never have captured unless we recorded her every movement. 

Since a few days ago, she started becoming very generous with her smiles. This video was taken in the train on the way home from town. I suppose she was enthralled by her surroundings and kept smiling so much, I finally managed to capture it on camera. 

Level 100 achievement unlocked!




We brought her out today in a stroller for dinner and there was this auntie who lingered around the stroller, asking me how old she was, commenting how cute she was and THEN, she asked if she could touch her. I replied "No, you may not touch her", before she walked off. At least she was polite enough to ask. 

Babies don't need to be 100% clean, but having a random stranger come up and touch (or kiss?!) my baby is a definite no-no for me. I wouldn't know if she has washed her hands after using the toilet, or if she has just poked some fish in the guts at the mart. 

I read an analogy online which I never realised until now. 

"It's the same as me going up to your husband and asking if I can touch or kiss him because he is cute. Now replace 'husband' with 'baby'". Same goes for pinching and squeezing of cheeks. It's neither cute nor funny and it hurts. 

In other news, I made pasta today! It's tuna linguine with cheesy tomato Portobello. 
I'm always cooking the same few dishes with the same few ingredients. Time to up my game. 




baby e's growth

Baby's HEP B D2 jab

7:16 PM
Elise went for her immunisation jab today. It's not the first injection she's had, but the first one that we got to see.

I shielded her eyes away from the needle, but she felt the pain and WAILED for an entire minute, then sobbed some more after we exited the room...

sobbed pitifully for some more...


and then...


she dozed off from all that crying. 

She's currently 5kg (90% percentile) and 55cm (75% percentile). That's on the other end of the charts as compared to when she was in the womb where the hospital estimated her to be in the 19th percentile. As long as she's healthy. :)

The Princess's New Clothes

6:20 AM
                                

So how did THIS happen? Good question. It all started on a fateful day where I went to the dentist with my father and brought Elise along. I have a huge diaper bag with everything I need stuffed inside, but as my husband wasn't going along, I decided to risk it and only bring the absolute essentials.

When my father was having his dental treatment done, I was holding her until I realised that there was a golden streak on my skirt, which flowed onto the floor when I stood up. Yes, Elise had a poo explosion and it was BAD. It stained her dress, booties, and mittens so I quickly pulled those off her hands in case she tried to put them into her mouth. The poop was dripping and the diaper could no longer hold her poo in. 

Carrying her with one arm, I made my way to the bathroom which was in itself another hurdle to pass. Firstly, the door doesn't open all the way, but only until where it meets the corner wall. Excellent design. In order for a normal sized human to access the toilet, she would have to fit into that tiny space in between the wall and the wooden door before prying open the creaky wooden door. Sounds hard? Try doing that with a poopy baby. 

                                  
Anyway, I took off her diaper, placed it on the basin (because there was no visible dustbin anywhere), and did my best to wash her off with one hand. I then had to put her down on the chair, wrestle with the wooden door before I could wash off the yellow stain on my skirt. Thank goodness I was wearing black and that Elise is still on breast milk, so I managed to wash off most of it. 

After taking off her dress and putting on a fresh diaper, I realised that I didn't bring along a change of clothes. It was at this exact moment that she decided to wail uncontrollably, flailing her tiny body all around. MILK TIME. 

The dental nurse offered me a plastic bag and a box of tissues so I placed her dirty diaper inside and cleaned up the mess on the floor as much as I could. There were many other people waiting but nobody batted an eyelid, except for the old man beside me who very kindly pointed to the golden poop on the floor so that my failing eyes would notice it. I wasn't expecting anybody to offer help, but CAN'T YOU SEE I'M BUSY WITH MY NAKED, HUNGRY, CRYING, WRIGGLY BABY?! I have a bag filled with baby poo. Don't mess with me. 

Somehow, I managed to clean up the stain and whip out my nursing cover and latch her on. 
Hello little feet
She had no clothes and the muslin cloth couldn't contain her so I just wrapped my pink cape over her. I think she quite liked it. We even dropped by my old kindergarten. My teacher was so surprised to see the little bubs. 
                                    

She also had her very first nail shaping session that night, after mommy over here with all her tools (nail scissors! baby nail cutter! electric nail filer!) only managed a tiny bit of her thumbnail. My friend's sister is a manicurist and very careful, so I let her do it. Elise slept through it all. 

I wonder when I'll dare to trim her nails.