Lost

Nick and I made an impromptu drive with the munchkin after dinner last night, thinking that we could show her the cable cars and city lights from the top of Mount Faber. When we got there, it was really dark as some lamp posts were not working.

A trio of Indian students approached us, asking for directions to Harbourfront. We told them it was a long walk down but they showed us a flight of stairs that had a sign 'Harbourfront' above it. So we told them they could take it but they were hesitant because it was so dark. While they were still deliberating, Nick and I decided it was too dodgy with so little lights on and decided to leave ourselves.

I suggested to Nick to give the 3 a lift to Harbourfront, he agreed and we offered them the ride. I felt sorry for them to be honest and wanted them to have a good impression of Singapore.

They were shy to accept but we assured them we meant no harm and it was on the way. There were 2 girls and 1 guy. The guy sat in front with Nick and us ladies squeezed with Nat in the baby seat behind. We chit chatted and found out they are here from Mumbai on an MBA course by SP Jain, they had walked over from Hort Park where their hostel is located.

They were all very polite and friendly and in no time we had reached Harbourfront. They thought Nat was cute and were surprised to learn her name was Sitara - that's what I tell Indians when they ask for her name...to everyone else she's Nat!

DFS - Here comes Nat!

I finally collected Nat's passport today after her MMR jab in the morning and just before the 3 month collection deadline was up, having applied for it way back in Feb. Why did I wait so long? Because I misplaced her birth certificate that's why!

For the past few weekends, I have been hunting high and low for that precious document, combing through all my bills, and other papers...I knew it was somewhere in my purple room but I just couldn't find it. With one week to go before the passport application was cancelled, I gave up and applied for a birth extract, thinking I was a horrible mum to have lost Nat's birth cert after only 1 year.

Just when the birth extract was being processed, last Wednesday I found the original birth cert when rummaging through an envelope in search of Arlyn's passport (another misplaced document!). You have no idea how relieved I was!

And so now Nat has 2 birth documents...I think I will leave the birth cert at home and carry the birth extract for medical appointments etc. And now that she has a passport, I hope we can have a family holiday somewhere nearby soon. Mildred wants to go Penang but I'm thinking we start with Bintan. Not leaving home without Arlyn though!

Mother's Day...no biggie

Today was Mother's Day but I didn't feel deserving of celebrating it, especially since Arlyn does all the work with Nat! I tried to feed Nat lunch and do her bath but it was exasperating, she's really getting to be a handful these days...need to get the Supernanny book before she turns into one of those screaming terrors you see on TV!

Went for mass in the morning, followed by a walkabout at Vivo. The afternoon was spent preparing dinner for the in-laws. Ben, Wendy and Mildred came over for spaghetti bolognaise and jello. Wendy bought Nat a pair of butterfly wings since she loves butterflies so much!


Yesterday morning we ventured to Big Splash for breakfast at KFC - Swana, Gigi and Ma decided to grace us with their presence as well. Have I mentioned I soooo prefer the KFC breakfasts to McDonalds?

We walked along the beach after brekkie, Nat was too chicken to walk on the grass or sand, need to expose her to the outdoors more! I was 'bugged' (pun intended!) by a type of fly that had yellow bits, I wonder if they were attracted to my black raspberry vanilla moisturizer or floral top...I was the only one they kept buzzing about.






Saw some blue birds, and what looked like a 70plus year old woman jogging in a skimpy (and I mean skimpy!) polkadot bikini. My jaw dropped. On one hand, I give her props for keeping fit, but on the other, it was a lot more flesh than I would have liked to see on a senior citizen!

In the afternoon, we went to Bin Tong Park for Uncle Radha's prayers, it was a super hot day. En route I spotted our law minister about to shop the car showrooms at Leng Kee in his shorts. Speaking of minister, just last Wednesday, there was another minister of state at Uncle Radha's funeral but I didn't even realise he was there till Swana spotted the combover in the crowd, he blended right in among all the balding Indian men!

Popped by to visit Nick's Amah after the prayers, his Aunty Susan and Uncle Henry were there too. I started talking about material shopping with Aunty Susan who wants to make a dress before her son's wedding in October. We decided to make an impromptu visit to Plaza Singapura and see what Spotlight had to offer. She managed to buy a couple of fabrics and I ended up with 4 new ones. There was a bargain corner with $3 p/m cloth and I just couldn't resist!

Walkie-talkie

Nat turned 15 months yesterday and at this age can walk and talk! Not talk proper, but babytalk and a few words here and there. For example, when asked what her name was, she replies 'Neh-net' which is of course Nat-nat. She also knows Natalie, Nat Nat, Sitara and Munchkin are all her because she points to herself when asked 'Who is XXX?'.

Words that she can say clearly are pear, star, A, I, ball, car and duck. She points to my handbags and says 'bag', and she can also say 'mole' after I thought her how (she keeps touching the mole on my collarbone). She loves stars and calls out the word whenever she sees one, her 'rhino' sounds like 'nano', she calls water 'ter-ter' and 'ba' for buses and she'll do the "Wheels on the bus" action. She knows the twinkly lights in the sky are real stars and can point to the moon.

She can identify lots of animals in her picture books aside from the usual dog, cat and cow - like giraffe, lion, tiger, frog, rhino, elephant, frog and she'll try to imitate their sounds too. She can also identify strawberries, aeroplanes, apples, bananas, motorcycles and umbrellas amongst others.




She's a little more confident of walking on her own, but still prefers to hold somebody's hand unless it's a short distance. The good thing is that she can get up on her own from a sit down position without holding on to anything, just squatting and standing up.

She's really cheeky, when we ask for some of her cereal or biscuits she will pretend to offer and feed us before taking her hand away at the last minute. She also likes to pretend she's pooping by making constipated sounds. She still puts EVERYTHING in her mouth, she's like a goat chewing off the corners of books or nibbling on my hair when very sleepy.

Lately she's been throwing tantrums when I try to make her sleep for naps, she just wants to play even though I can tell she's really sleepy. She'll protest by screaming, kicking, whining and arching her back. I don't give her chance - I continue to rock or hum a tune and within a couple of minutes she nods off and goes limp, like an Energizer bunny whose batteries have gone flat.



She acts pathetic when trying to come out of the playpen, raising her arms and calling out "Mama" and making a really sad face but as soon as I put a book or toy in there, she's fine. I think her other teeth are going to make an appearance soon, she keeps stuffing her fingers towards the back of her mouth, causing her to cough and gag. We try and stop her and offer her a rubber toothbrush instead to bite and chew on.

Gigi at 8 months is still screaming her head off at everything but she is such a cutie pie. She's constantly smiling and goes to practically anyone who reaches out for her. She needs to sleep with someone beside her otherwise she'll feel insecure. That damn pacifier is always in her mouth, but it has given her some pouty lips. She's quick to roll from side to side and makes more attempts to crawl now, lifting her bum and flopping over, but not really getting anywhere.

She can sort of wave 'bye-bye' but not all the time and she likes to scrunch up her face. She's moved on to blended porridges and vegetables for meals, I think she's heavier than Nat now!





By the way, Nat's surgery to remove her pilomatrixioma has been fixed for July. Last Wednesday, I went to KK to consult with the paediatric surgeon...the cost quoted was half what another private surgeon was charging. However, in the days after the consultation, her bump grew again.

From a tiny round flat greyish mark, it looks like a red inflammed zit now. I have concluded these infections/inflammations are caused by the doctors' examinations and not anything else. The last time it got inflammed was after pinching and squeezing by doctors while making their diagnosis and she had to take a course of anti-biotics.

I didn't want to do the round of anti-biotics again this time, so today consulted a dermatologist that's worked with kids in the hopes that he might have something else to reduce the inflammation. After explaining all the history, he diagnosed her bump as a cyst because it had a punctum. Cyst or pilomatrixioma, the only way to remove was surgery but in the meantime, he prescribed a topical antibiotic cream, and the oral antibiotic as a backup. I hope the cream does the trick and pray that from now till July, there are no more surprises.

Labour Day Weekend

The long weekend ended way too fast, but luckily for me, I get to enjoy another one the next weekend. Yesterday we took the munchkin to Botanical Gardens and had breakfast there, before taking turns to show her the fish and swans. I spotted lots of pink dragonflies and was trying tell Nat they were different from butterflies. To her they are all 'bubba'.


Did a spot of marketing and decided to 'tapau' some Nonya kueh for tea, which I spotted while driving near Tiong Bahru market. Joanne and Tarek were in town and we hosted them for tea, along with Germaine and Joanne's brother Jason. The kueh was a good find, the dadar and ondeh-ondeh had standard.


They got to meet Gigi whom we were babysitting and Tarek got to practice carrying babies, something he'll be doing very often from October onwards! Germaine couldn't get over Joanne's new-found boobs!





I made us mushroom and ham omelettes for breakfast and a chicken, mushroom & zucchini risotto for lunch today. It was my second time making risotto but the first time from scratch. Turned out not too bad, but need to perfect it some more. Gotta try with white wine and more parmesan next time.


In the afternoon, we went over to Nya-nya's to introduce Gigi to swimming and also let Nat try it for the second time. She hated it the first time back in December, but today she relished it. Maybe because the water was warmer or she was older, but she had a great time frolicking on her float. Yay, now we can go swimming more often...more incentive to lose weight!





Gigi loved hanging in the pool too, except she didn't appreciate almost drowning. Kevin let go of her when he thought she was sitting on a step, except she was too light. She floated up before going under the water, but he was on hand to rescue her immediately. She screamed as expected but was back to normal in no time, no damage done except a gulpful of chlorine...but that has taught Kevin an important lesson on water safety.


While at Nya-nya's, I learned that Uncle Radha had passed away earlier this afternoon. It took me by surprise because we just saw him at Ata'a prayers last week. He had complained of feeling ill in the morning and went to the A&E at NUH. Doctors were about to wheel him in for an emergency stent but he collapsed before they could do so, he died of an aortic aneurysm. Sigh, another one bites the dust...he would have celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary this July.

Introducing Ananya

Kavi became a mummy overnight on Wednesday, after she brought little Ananya home. To cut a long story short, she is in the process of adopting a Malaysian baby but while the paperwork is being sorted, she is getting a taste of what it feels like to be a new mum.

We went to visit earlier today, Ananya is tiny for 3 months but Kavi will fatten her up in no time! Her birthday is Feb 2, just 2 days before Nat. Ananya is the name Kavi and Siva always wanted if they had a girl. I used to tease Siva about looking like Brad Pitt and now they are also following Brangelina's footsteps in providing a home for someone less fortunate. Ananya's birth parents already have 4 kids and couldn't afford to keep her.

Kavi sure doesn't waste any time, she was talking of adopting barely a month ago and this week, she's a mum! Here's wishing Kavi and Siva all the best as they embark on a new life as parents...sleep will be a distant memory!

To have and to hold

It was Michael's birthday today and his wedding day.

I took leave to attend the church wedding at St Teresa's and it was a small, cozy affair with mainly immediate family. I contemplated not going after Jeannie backed out because of work commitments, but since I had already applied for leave and the church was down the road, I decided to drag Arlyn and Nat with me instead.

Mike looked very spiffy in his grey suit and Genevieve was gorgeous in an off-shoulder lace and duchess satin gown, the train was long and lovely. The ceremony was short and sweet, it was hard to keep Nat quiet, she kept babbling away. I didn't stay for the reception because Nat was due for her nap but I'm glad I attended anyway. I love church weddings!

The dinner was at M Hotel, the whole gang was there including Keli whom some of us hadn't seen in over a year. Dinner started kinda late but the food was alright. The stage was tiny and our view was blocked by some decorative birdcages along the aisles so we just entertained ourselves. Hong Wei left abruptly midway without saying bye, so rude!

It was great catching up with everyone...counting down to the next outing!