The Camel Diaries

Education Revisited

2011-07-28T12:02:00.003+08:00

Hello blogworld!

I know, I know. No sound or movement on this site for more than six months. The usual excuses don't quite cut it. Too busy, too exhausted, watching too much TV (Mad Men, Treme, Outrageous Fortune, now Downton Abbey), other (ad)ventures keeping me busy, oh and of course the fact that I work full-time and have a kid! Heh.

Well, am reviving this for a day as I'm at a social media course. Yes another one. Am becoming very wired, in the best sense of the word!

OK, gotta go back to student mode, and in tribute, here's a tribute to education. Or the need to rethink it in the age of the cloud.

Dove Onslaught vs Dove Onslaught(er)

2011-02-11T09:28:00.003+08:00

At a course right now on New Media and was shown this. LOVE THE IRONY.

The Jordy Book Club: 2010 Retrospective

2011-01-06T20:47:00.015+08:00

I last wrote about Jordy's favorite books a year ago. In the year since, he's developed an even deeper love for reading and stories, and can recite along almost word for word to many of his favorites. I love that he has a pretty established library now, filled with books that are taped together and dog-eared from daily use. That library of over 150 books is so much a part of who he is. For two fellow readers, it's a lovely thing to witness.

So without further ado, here are the top books of 2010, ranked in no particular order, and treated like members of the family by my little bibliophile.

Let's start off with the night books. By this I mean, these are the books that are either inside, or under his cot. A pool from which we read between three to six most nights before bed.

Airport, by Byron Barton
I bought this for Jordy to help him make sense of his first flight, an 11-hour long epic journey to New Zealand in December 2009. He started off fascinated by the wonderful detail in the pictures and point out all the objects he recognized, from buses to planes to a little boy with a red bag. Now he knows the whole book by heart, and can recite whole passages, a particular favourite bit being "control tower to pilot: all clear for takeoff!".

Papa, please get the moon for me, by Eric Carle
Yet another one he knows by heart. Made even more special when D reads it with Jordy. Oh and he loves the Youtube version too!

I Love You as Big as the World, by David Van Buren and Time Warnes
I got this off a Scholastic book club order form from Jordy's school and am so delighted I did. It is one of the sweetest books about a parent and child, and shows a nose-kiss on the cover - one of Jordy's favourite past-times, aside from eating cake!

The Little Red Caboose I still don't know why he loves this one so much. But it has to be in his cot when he sleeps!

Lion in the Meadow
A classic New Zealand beautifully-rendered tale about a young boy and his friendship with a lion. The appearance of a huge pink dragon is of particular delight to J. As is the wonderful pictorial detail. Jordy loves reciting the lines, some of them a mouthful which he does with stunning accuracy, like "Mother, there is a huge, whiskery, yellow lion in the meadow." And he's started describing the tiniest details in the book with his usual panache. Example. "little boy reading a book on mummy's lap" or "lion whispering story to little boy". And the pink Shrek dragon Godpa James bought for Jordy from Universal Studios is the EXACT replica of the dragon in the meadow. Just wonderful!

Run Rabbit Run
Another Kiwi favorite. For some reason, the line "Is it the farmer come to bring me some carrots?"tickles him to no end.

Chocolate mousse for greedy goose
He started out iffy about this one, but now it is a firm favorite. Favorite line to recite includes "macaroni for shetland pony". The sweetest thing, he calls the book "chocolate moose, reading goose".

Where is the Green Sheep?
LOVES this one. Has invented a whole bunch of names for the sheep depicted, including "astronaut sheep", "reflection sheep" for a sheep gazing at himself in a pond, "birthday cake sheep" for a bunch of picnicing sheep, and "aeroplane sheep" for a sheep with angel wings.

Toddle Waddle
This was the first Julia Donaldson that started him off. And the first book that featured a travelling snail, so of course he loved it!

The last bedtime book is one that I got as a cheapie from Kinokuniya called Charlie's Clothes. It must be no longer available as I can't find any image of it online!

As for day time books, there are truly too many to name for 2010. But these are the ones we come back to time and again.

The little yellow digger
Fabulous rhymes, one of the books in Jordy's collection I love reading out loud the most.

Peas!
Spur of the moment purchase turned favorite dinner time book. He now calls peas Pete and Penelope.

The very hungry caterpillar
We had this for ages but he showed no interest in it before he turned 18 months. After that though, it suddenly became a mealtime staple. And now he loves counting the different fruit and saying in a loud voice "one slice of salami!"

My big world book
His favourite of the genre. Jordy's always loved being tested on his vocabulary. Must get it from me. In the early days, he'd point at the koala and say "kaupapa!". Very sweet. These days, he shows his nature boy tendencies by pointing out things like "Huge rock under the waterfall!"

Monkey puzzle
I used to have to read this everyday! Now it's more like once a week.

On the subject of reading though, my sister just posted the single best speech I have read in a looooong time. Mario Vargas Llosa's Nobel Prize for Literature lecture on reading. I almost teared in awe at how he managed to make epic the simple acts of imagining, writing and reading. I was alternately thrilled and inspired. And also very thankful that I have married a reading man, and we are raising a little reading boy.

What does work-life harmony mean to you?

2011-01-05T20:27:00.004+08:00

To me, it means undertaking meaningful work while remaining engaged with your family. I'm moved to write about this because the last week of January will be the most intense and busy work-wise for me since I started working in the non-profit sector. It's a once-in-a-lifetime world volunteer conference event which I'll be managing the communications for. It'll also see me working from 7am to God-knows-what-time for four days.

"What's four days?" I hear some of you ask. Four days is eight Jordy pick-ups and drop-offs, four breakfasts and dinners, 32 stories, endless negotiations over length of baths and how many biccies for dessert, and about a thousand tickles. Four days is also a lot of juggling for poor D and I.

While I know we'll get through it, and I won't likely have to work those types of hours for some time, I can't help but think of those parents out there for whom this is a reality. Not to mention the single parents. Perhaps work life harmony is not about the absolute hours you work, but about reaching an arrangement where you are comfortable, or at least can live with, the roles you take on.

Which started me thinking about the most kid-friendly jobs out there for someone with my sort of skills and interests. Just storing this away for future reference, and for the possible scenario of a number two child (purely hypothetical at this stage!):

1. PR Consultant - need to get client mix right. Best would be non-consumer based accounts. Perhaps government project, international NGO, research agency or think-tank.

2. Online retail store owner - I harbour such dreams surrounding online retail. I reckon I'd be good at sales. Never tried it professionally, unless you count 'selling' ideas to clients and media, but my gut tells me I could be good at this. Have so many ideas floating in my head right now. So exciting!

3. Freelance writer - doable, but now that I am working closely with one at work, realise it's a continual challenge getting steady work. What you need is at least one anchor retainer client. Who pays on time. Also, not sure about long-term job satisfaction.

4. Tuition teacher - reckon I could earn tidy sum teaching GP or English, but again, job-satisfaction and need to work weekends.

5. Start own business that is child or parenting focused - except I don't think I subscribe to the main parenting values in Singapore. May not understand what drives potential customers. Example, I don't believe in enrichment programmes or hothousing at a young age, also have strong distaste for anything labelled Xxx-method. But believe there are a growing number like me. Always worth revisiting.

Anyway, where I am really suits me right now. I do feel I am achieving work life harmony most days, though don't even talk to me about that last week of January. Ah well, as long as I feel I am getting somewhere. Didn't Confucius say something about just keep moving, however slowly, as long as you don't stop? Will keep those words close to my heart for now.

Resolute in my resolutions

2011-01-03T20:27:00.003+08:00

Publishing my resolutions in the hopes of becoming more accountable for them...

1. Exercise twice a week: build up to 10 laps of the pool at work, and brisk walking on the treadmill for 6 to 8 songs on iPod.

2. Be more tolerant and patient, and forgiving. Especially of the people dearest to me.

3. Put pen to paper. Sit down and write at least one hour a week. Fiction, business plan, volunteer copywriting, whatever it is, just get it out. If not it's juts a bunch of incoherent thoughts in my brain.

4. Cook at least three dinners a week. Aim for two of these to be vegetarian or fish-based.

5. Eat oatmeal at least twice a week.

6. Count blessings everyday to ward off Singaporean envy-your-neighbour/friends/colleagues/random people syndrome.

A Very Camel New Year to You!

2011-01-01T13:59:00.001+08:00

This slideshow design customized with Smilebox

My first creation of 2011. This could get addictive!

Last Sunset of the Year

2010-12-31T20:31:00.004+08:00

We just came back from witnessing the last sunset of the year at Labarador Park. It was truly beautiful. Reminded me to take stock of all the good things in life and try not to get sucked into the national pastime of complaining!

It also reminded me to just sit down and write a blog for goodness sake! Though the blogging has been sporadic at best, so many blog-rich things have happened this past year which never made it to the pages of The Camel Diaries. Much like how many of life's best moments aren't captured on film as you were too busy, well, living.

So in the spirit of rememberances of things past, and of tomorrow's fortunes told, here are some life events which never made it to blogland, but should have!

1. Awesome holidays - Turnip staycation in Swissotel, Bintan family trip to celebrate gong gong and mama's 40th wedding anniversary

2. Jordy in the news - Meant to post the wonderful piece Janice wrote about Jordy in The Straits Tiimes. Aside from capturing Jordy's personality in an uncannily accurate way, what was most special to me was the obvious bond the two shared. They are both introverts (and I mean this in the best possible way) and I am blessed to have them in my extroverted life.

3. The Jordy Language Explosion - from single words to quirky phrases, and now to full on sentences and semi-conversations, and even the daily word game, this is one journey I really regret not capturing in more detail. How did the child who started off saying "car!" to everything now make all sorts of random statements like "fountain is hiding behind the bush" and "Jordy don't want to go play school. Jordy want to go gong gong and mama's house. Gong gong and mama's house this way!" (said in car seat while pointing in direction of expressway). And just today, we were revisiting some old PowerPoints he used to love, and he shocked me by being able to recognise and say all the alphabets and all the shapes in the slideshow, yes, including pentagon, hexagon and trapezium (though he pronounces it poot-pee-zium, which I suspect is a little insider joke of his.

4. The meaning of Christmas = patience - we put up our tree on 17 November and Jordy never once insisted on opening any of his presents. His first present under the tree was a red package from sheepie and dragon, and he was so thrilled that they rememebered. As the days wore on, the red box got buried under the growing pile of presents. On Christmas Eve, D and I told Jordy on the way home from his cousins that he could open one present when he got home. As we pulled into the carpark he was extremely jaunty, and did his self-satisfied waddle back home. As soon as he got in the door, re ran to the tree and fished out the red present from under the sea of brightly-packages, and said "love, sheepie and dragon" - D and I were amazed and very moved.

5. Dora the Explorer - she has become the fourth flatmate in our already cosy apartment...

6. A fine balance - still finding my feet in the working world, but feeling very buoyed by several professional firsts for me, all involving unprecedented media coverage of volunteerism and philanthropy in Singapore. Of course it's not all due to my efforts, not by far, but I did play a pretty crucial role in making it happen, and I am so pleased with this addition to my portfolio and CV. Definitely something to be proud of. Also, I feel like I am moving in the right direction work-wise, and I feel very lucky to have negotiated successfully flexible work arrangements. Not normal for a local organisation, so I'm counting my blessings.

7. The Wire - D and I finished all five seasons and dare we say it, we actually think it ranks as top of our list of TV series in a long time. So much so that when we went back to watch The West Wing, we astonished ourselves by cringing now and again at the hokey-ness of some of the scenes. BUT The West Wing is still very much up there for us, and will suffer no more criticism from me again. Just this once, ha ha.

8. The Ipad - D gave me one for Christmas. I love it (and him) very, very much.

9. Many more, including an awesome visit from Godpa James, my first visit to Universal Studios Singapore, Jordy's lovely, blossoming relationship with his cousins, Jordy being promoted to nursery 1 (!), Jordy spending his first night away from us - and now asking to go to gong gong and mama's for sleepoveers, oh and a pretty lovely Christmas party we threw for a bunch of friends and kids (that saw me cooking a kinda three-course meal to suit vegetarians and pescatarians, which I had a blast doing and so wanna do again), awesome books I'd like to recommend like Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood, and now my stomach is rumbling and it's new year's eve so I'm going to get me some sparkling grape juice and cookies.

In short, blogging declined because I was too busy with life. Help! But I have also realized that blogging is a fun part of my life at least and I resolve to do more of it in 2011. Which brings me to... Resolutions. Won't be many this year. Still mulling, but will post them in the new year.

May 2011 be filled with happiness, joy, peace and tiny miracles. xo.

O Camel Christmas Tree

2010-11-20T14:03:00.003+08:00

We put up our Christmas tree on Wednesday, and dare I say it, it's the best tree I've ever had in my 30something years! We bought a fake tree this year as 2008's real live Swedish IKEA tree was wonderful but oh-so-high maintenance.

This year's tree has ornaments from the previous years, with a few new additions: golden Christmas lights that have red flowers, green stars and blue cones interwoven amongst them, a yellow bird that Jordy chose all by himself at TANGS' splendid baubles fair at Vivo, and a sparkly blue butterfly, again chosen by Mr J himself. What's missing is the 2010 Jordy bauble, something that is quintessentially him. Will know it when I see it. (Of course, right now, looking at his preferences, it'd have to a Dora or Boots bauble. He is OBSESSED with Dora!)

Pictures to come. I promise. I realise my photo-taking has drastically declined now that I've started full-time work. I'm also not the biggest fan of taking photos of everything as it means you aren't really inhabiting the moment. But some things, like the annual decoration of the Christmas tree, well, that's different!

Oh and just a funny anecdote from my expedition with Jordy to Vivo yesterday. To understand this, you need to know that Jordy has, from about two months ago, developed a dislike for sharing lifts with strangers. If a lift comes with a stranger in it, he says loudly, "Next one!". However, sometimes, in the morning rush of getting to childcare and work, he passes on two lifts in succession, then I will look at him with a stern expression and say, "we have to share the next lift. Why do we do that? Because we live in a community."

So anyway, back to Vivo. We were in the basement and wanted to get to the level 3 skypark. It was a Friday evening. It was crowded for Singapore standards! The lift comes, a whole bunch of people exit, and another bunch of people get in. Jordy takes one look at the lift and says, "Next one!"

I enter the lift with him wordlessly.

As the lift travels level by level, somewhere between level 1 and 2, he says in a quiet voice, "Community..."

A few heads turn, some wide eyes, and the girl next to me chuckles in surprise. Jordy looks stoic and unfazed. When the door opens, he can see the sky park on level 3, some birds playing on the grass, and he runs out to meet them.

What a boy.

On that note, here at The Camel Diaries, Christmas is starting early. I'll leave you in the good hands of one of the brightest Internet stars (in my opinion)!

Blogging and the working mum

2010-11-13T20:23:00.002+08:00

Well, it seems my complete silence corresponds with my starting full time work in October! I'm starting to figure out a new routine and so far so good! Thank god for an understanding workplace that let's me leave at 4pm most days to go pick up Jordy. So really, the key differences to before embarking on full-time work, is that I now have less time to cook and do chores. Which means weekdays, Jordy gets mainly reheated frozen food, I alternate between a chicken and brocolli noodle thing, spag bog with 5 veg sauce, various veg soups n cheese and marmite sandwiches, Mac and cheese, and easy cook dishes like bee boon soup with tofu. The house is slightly messier, but other than that there hasn't been too discernible a difference!

My craziest working mum moment to date must have been on Thursday, which happened to be The Biggest Media Announcement Day of the Year. We'd just run a media conference that morning that saw everyone turn up (biggest turnout to date), the rest of the day was spent fielding many media queries. When I got home with Jordy that afternoon, I was pretty much doing a one woman Hindu goddess juggling act. At one memorable point, just before D got home, I was simultaneously on speaker phone with a reporter from The Straits Times and changing a poopy diaper while filling up the bath! *bows courteously*

The best thing? The journalist was a mom too and totally identified with the constant juggling that is working motherhood. And we shared a moment in between talking about trackable donations to religious organsations!

But that's the thing I'm so relishing at the moment. That by day, I get to do something I think is pretty meaningful, something which I truly believe will make Jordy's generation happier - I mean, promoting volunteering and philanthropy in Singapore is a pretty cool job to have. Then when I go pick up jordy at 5 and go hangout at the playground then have dinner, I'm doing the most important job of all. So despite the daily adrenalin rush of just keeping things together, I think I'm in a pretty sweet spot right now...

Oh well, it's only been six weeks in this new routine. And I've only managed to blog ONCE. Well, it's a start and the camel diaries is back again! Refreshed, revitalized, and still manic as ever!

On Fathers and Fire Stations

2010-09-04T20:35:00.003+08:00

We brought Jordy to the Central Fire Station this morning. They hold an open house every Saturday morning from 9 to 11am, and I think it is such a lovely community service they perform! Jordy had a pretty good time - he loved the sirens and lights, was intrigued by the crane (or "a very, very long ladder" as he called it, a phrase he picked up from a delightful Eric Carle book that Mama Maree got him), was happy to observe from a distance the powerful water hoses, and didn't quite like sitting in the huge fire engine ("Jordan go down!" he exclaimed).

I think the part he enjoyed the most was being toted around by his dad; it's a special bond they share, those two. Often in the weekdays, when it's just Jordy and me in the afternoons, he'll discover something cool (like for example, when he realised he could say "rugby ball" in a low voice, a high voice, a quiet voice, a loud voice, and a robot voice), and the first thing he does after cackling in delight at newfound discovery is to say, "Show Daddy!". I think it's so lovely.

After reading the very insightful Raising Boys by Steve Biddulph, I'm conscious of not getting in the way of a Jordy/Daddy relationship. I've realised my Type A, sometimes-manic personality tends to make me a tad, err... controlling by nature, so I tell myself every now and then that I need to let go. That I'm not the expert on all things Jordy, and that Daddy and Jordy need to find their own rhythm, and develop their own shorthand.

I also know that at some point down the line, Jordy is going to become physically bigger and stronger than me, and if the situation ever calls for it, it's going to be very important then for D to step in and say, "Don't speak to/treat your mother that way, son!" If Jordy is in any way like me, I can foresee that happening quite a bit!

If watching your baby develop into a thinking, feeling person is like going on a road trip to an unknown (but pretty funky) destination, then watching him form relationships with the most important people reminds me of the coffee and cake stops you do in between.

Hand, Foot, Mouth, Shudder...

2010-08-28T12:27:00.002+08:00

HFMD is still at epidemic levels in Singapore, with more than 1,000 children getting it this past week alone. Poor Jordy has had it twice (TWICE!!!) this year already - the first was an extremely spotty affair, but thankfully he wasn't afflicted by the characteristic ulcers in the mouth; the second bout was milder but he did have a few small ulcers in his mouth which went away fairly quickly, thankfully.

I read a report which quoted Singapore's Ministry of Health as saying that the kids that caught HFMD tended to have poor nutrition and hence their immunities were low. Started looking at what Jordy's diet is like, and I thought it seemed pretty ok. I mean, he's not one of those kids that will just eat brocolli and carrots as is, but he usually gets his fair share of nutrients.

A typical day in Jordy's food journal (on a playschool day) would look like this:

Breakfast
Breakfast #1 at home (7.15am):
- 1/2 banana
- 1 pottle yogurt
- 1 piece toast with vegemite/jam/peanut butter
- 1/2 cup diluted orange/dark grape juice

Breakfast #2 at school (8.45am):
- cereal/french toast/hash brown/"bao"/sandwich

Lunch
Whatever school offers: usually rice with soup/veg, pasta, porridge, noodles + apple slices

Afternoon tea
Afternoon tea #1 at school (3.00pm):
- bun/sandwich/green bean soup/sponge cake

Afternoon tea #2 when I pick him up (4.00pm)
- cereal bar/banana/Heinz baby biscotti thingies

Dinner
Very predictable:
- Main course: noodles with chicken/fish, brocolli, carrots, OR spag bog with 5 veg sauce (beef mince + tomato, zuchinni, red pepper, carrot, celery), OR macaroni cheese + brocolli and tomato/carrot soup, OR tomato/carrot soup + cheese sandwich
- 1 pottle yogurt
- 1/2 pear or mango or apple

Supper
- Cheerios + milk

Aside from that, I'm giving him a daily multivit supplement, a tablespoon of Scotts Emulsion (Orange), and as soon as my order from iherb arrives, an immunity-boosting supplement from Elderberries called Sambucus, which I've had recommended to me from so many different mom-sources that I think I should try it.

Anyhow, I'm trying my best to make sure Jordy gets his daily nutrition needs. But this whole HFMD thing is just always lurking at the back of my mind. Guess we can only do what we can, and leave the rest to a higher source!

Oh, and in light of the epidemic, the new policy at childcare = no more toys from home. So Sheepie now stays at home and miraculously... Jordy is perfectly fine without him, and has been falling asleep with no problems. Honestly, sometimes I don't give him enough credit. What an amazing, adaptable kid!

Yes, The Camel Diaries are Alive and Well, Thanks for the Concern!

2010-08-18T20:27:00.007+08:00

Yipes! Yet another crazy long hiatus from ye olde blog.

This time the reasons are pretty valid: HFMD Bout #2 (a mild case that saw us being off school for 9 days!), then Mama Maree came to visit and we were too busy having fun in Bali and then at the pool, and in the midst of it all, we had not one, but TWO, birthday cakes!

The first was at Jordy's second birthday party, held the day after we returned from Bali. We made a pretty special airplane cake (if I may say so myself):

And the birthday boy was very visibly thrilled:

The second cake was a quieter affair, a strawberry and cream concoction from Da Paolo, which we first had for D's birthday this year. Jordy went at it with his characteristic focus.

I'll do a Bali post soon - I feel compelled to chronicle just what a fantastic traveller Jordy is turning out to be. From being wonderful on the flights, to taking hour long naps in the car with his head on Mama Maree's lap, to eagerly climbing into weird, new cots, and to saying "Amazing Bali" and "Thank you so much" to the many taxis drivers we met in Seminyak and Ubud!

In the meantime, this is more a blog-recusitation post so that everyone knows I'm still alive and writing. On that note, I'm currently reading The Guardian's How to Write. I am officially inspired. Now to just get of my butt and do something about it!

Powerpoints Aren't Just for Work

2010-07-09T20:39:00.004+08:00

Man am I glad it's Friday. Just emerged from a rather frantic few weeks at work, culminating in a major event on Wednesday. Had my longest day yet as a working mum, leaving the house on Wednesday at 7.30am (D dropped Jordy off that morning), and then rushing from work later that day (after issuing a post-event media release no less) to pick Jordy up at 5.10pm from childcare. Officially his longest day yet!

And what did he do when I dashed into his playschool, looking pretty beat up and with fading make-up? He ran towards me with a big chuckle and said, "AMAZY MUMMY!"

Did my heart do a double-lurch and almost leap out of my body in his toddler arms? You bet it did!

Anyway, I know I've been posting heaps of videos of late, but with my new phone, it makes it all so seamless I just can't resist. One of Jordy's favourite pasttimes for a while now has been looking at homemade powerpoint slides with me. I have my fabulous sister to thank for that. She did up a bunch of themed slides which her boys enjoyed, then thumb drived them to me one time. I've since added some content to the slides, especially the Food themed one (with all of Jordy's favourite things). Anyway, his undisputed favourite is the one on nature. Something about the elemental forces of nature call out to that boy of mine!

His other favourite is one on the family, oh and not forgetting the one on insects. What is it with boys and creepy crawlies? If you listen carefully, you'll be able to make out the crazy things he can say now ("centipede!").

Oh and we have yet another first happening tomorrow. Jordy's first sleepover at gong gong and mama's! Woo hoo! D and I are going to catch Toy Story 3 (hopefully... we haven't booked tickets yet) and go for dinner after. Jordy is so ready for this. He spends a lot of his day looking around the house saying "see gong gong!", "see mama!" or "no more gong gong!" "no more mama!". Ah well, the age of the grandparent is here! Haha...

And only two-odd weeks to Mama Maree's arrival! Can't wait!

The Reader and The Farm Boy

2010-07-02T19:50:00.003+08:00

They've started a great little reading programme at Jordy's playschool, using materials from the National Geographic Windows on Literacy series. Apart from the fact that the books look like they originate in the 1980s (based on the high incidence of shoulder pads and bouffant hairdos in some of the photos), I think they're a great introduction to words and reading. I particular like how light they are!

Anyway, Jordy loves them too. He's been reading along with me for some time now, but lately has started reading the books to himself! I was a little too late in catching his attempt this evening. His first try was spot on! Anyway, just for fun:

Oh and he's also starting to singalong with me too. They've been singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm at school and he's trying with all his might to get the EIEIOs right. He gets it right, some of the time. Other times, it turns out like this:

Heh heh. I'm so glad he's enjoying his time at childcare. It makes being at work so much easier (and what a manic few weeks that has been!). Oh well, am hoping things will calm down a bit after our major event next week, then it's Bali in four weeks! Bring it on!

The Numbers Boy

2010-06-24T21:02:00.003+08:00

Jordy absolutely loves his numbers these days. Finally managed to capture him in action!

The Business of Fiction

2010-06-22T21:04:00.001+08:00

I make no secret of my love of fiction. In fact, I can count on one, ok, maybe two hands the number of non-fiction books I have truly loved.

I love reading fiction so much it was not surprising that I ended up studying English Literature at university. Don't get me wrong, I loved almost every minute of my time at uni, it's just that I've always felt slightly err, lacking, in terms of my chosen field. Walking through Borders or Kino, I would always, ALWAYS walk by the rows and rows of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Go Fish, or Who Moved My Cheese, somehow feeling like something was just a little wrong with me for not being interested in what these books had to offer.

So it was with great delight, and a huge cheesy grin on my face, that I drove to work two weeks ago listening to this programme on the BBC World Service - all about the strange world of Business Books. A Business Daily correspondent delved into the reading masses of New York City to see whether the economic downturn had had an effect on the types of books people were reading, and one of my favourite strangers-whom-I-want-to-befriend, the fabulously named Bright Simons who reports from Ghana, talks about what business books look like in his part of the world. At the end of the programme, I felt so not alone. In fact, I felt completely relieved that it wasn't just me feeling a bit weirded out by the proliferation of business books out there.

I felt so good that since 31 May (when that fateful edition of Business Daily reached my ears), I've had one of my best runs of fiction-reading in ages! I've finished The Book Thief, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South.

I love reading fiction because it nourishes the soul. Because it is so profound (to me) that every word I am reading has emerged from someone's imagination. And that I know there is a story within me that is waiting to be told, and that I just need the guts and the wherewithal to sit down and write it out.

It is a truth universally acknowledged...

2010-06-14T20:54:00.002+08:00

Well, I'm certainly keeping up my renewed fervour in the blog. A recent text from Sandy about the amazing experience that is the BBC's adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South has inspired this post.

I've been meaning to write a post like this for some time, but have been faintly embarassed. Ah well, with renewed fervour comes renewed chutzpah! Presenting...

The Camel Diaries' list of the FIVE BEST period drama heroes/actors: from Austen to Eyre to Gaskell... (listed in order of preference, ahem, I'm saving the best for last!)

5. Timothy Dalton, Jane Eyre, BBC (1983)
I studied Jane Eyre when I was 14 (or was it when I was 13?). Can't remember exactly. But depending on the day, it is my favourite novel of the era. On a sunnier day, the answer is Pride and Prejudice. We watched the BBC version at school all those years ago and I was captivated from the word go. But it was when Mr Rochester first meets Jane on the misty road to Thornfield, high on his steed, that my heart did a little double-lurch. Timothy Dalton remains, and always will, the definitive Rochester in my mind. Toby Stephens (2006 BBC adaptation) was pretty good, William Hurt (1996 Zeffirreli film) appalling. But no one captured Rochester's thunderous brow, simmering anger, and urgent despair quite like Timothy Dalton.

4. Ciaran Hinds, Persuasion, BBC (1995)
Ah. This is the best adaptation of my second-most favourite Jane Austen novel. Ciaran Hinds transforms Captain Frederick Wentworth into an at once stoic, yet passionate, man who is trying to move on from his his first love. His chemistry with Anne Elliot (played by the unfortunately named Amanda Root) is palpable and believable, and I find their portrayal of autumnal love very moving. There is no dancing or singing to be had here. This is a serious love story with two very serious protagonists. The final revelatory scenes are particularly delightful to watch. Go youtube it! (ps: If you are a Persuasion fan, then Ruper Penry-Jones in the BBC 2007 version would have been by number 6 on this list!)

3. Matthew Macfadyen, Pride and Prejudice, Working Title Films (2005)

Well, this is a toughie. Matthew Macfadyen's Darcy vs Colin Firth's? I loved both interpretations, and I must admit Mr Macfadyen has a voice that could sell anything to anyone, but I think he's my second favourite Darcy only because he had less screen time, given that this version was a feature film! I loved the chemistry between him and Keira Knightley, and the way he played Darcy as shy and socially awkward rather than arrogrant and morally uptight. In any case, had a mini obsession with him when I first watched the film. Made me want to buy Spooks on DVD just for him (never did so in the end as I feared the violence portrayed)! Anyway, two wonderful Mr Darcys can't be bad right? Which leads me to #2 favourite period drama hero/actor of all time...

2. Colin Firth, Pride and Prejudice, BBC (1995)

For the longest time, Colin Firth occupied the highest pedestal of romantic period hero dashing-ness. He was the unparalleld ONE. His yin to Jennifer Ehle's yang was so inherently perfect, that every single minute of the six-hour long production was nothing short of perfect. Everyone raves about the lake scene at Pemberley (me included!), but my favourite scene is one of the more subtle Lizzie-Darcy moments - when Elizabeth receives news that Lydia has eloped with Wickham and is in tears, and Darcy offers her some wine and briefly holds her hand. Argh! The subtlest of romantic gestures! And the way he calls her "dearest, loveliest Elizabeth" during the second proposal scene is just completely heart-a-flutter inducing. So as you can see, my admiration for Colin Firth's Darcy has long run deep. I thought he held the permanent
title of best romantic hero of all time. That is, until a certain moment in 2009 changed everything...

1. Richard Armitage, North and South, BBC (2004)

For those of you woeful souls who are unaquainted with Mr John Thornton of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South, well, let me introduce him quickly to you. He is NOT what Austen would have termed a gentleman, in fact, he is in (God Forbid!) trade - he runs a cotton mill in the Northern town of Milton for crying out loud! He speaks with a strong Northern accent, and is a bit rough round the edges. He's been described as saturnine, aggressive, brusque and not carrying out his moral duty where the wellbeing of his mill workers are concerned. But of course, the tough exterior conceals an empathetic, compassionate heart, enlightened enough to embark on a philanthropic mission for his poverty-stricken workers. Such a gentle soul he has. And faultlessly portrayed by the then relatively unknown Richard Armitage, whose role-of-a-lifetime portrayal of Thornton was not just compared to Colin Firth's seminal Darcy, but also spawned the obsessive fan base called the Armitage Army. Now I haven't signed up online to be on their fansite yet, but I can understand why some would! Heh heh. In anycase, North and South is so beautifully rendered, and the last four-and-a-half minutes of the series are possibly the best four-and-a-half minutes I've ever experienced on celluloid. Go ahead and youtube it if you don't believe me! Actually, I'll save you the trouble. You can just click here. Of course this is a major spoiler if you don't know the story, but heck, it's so good I can't resist putting it up.

So there you have it. My ultimate list. Do you have one? I'd love to hear it!

PS: I should end this post by saying what a wonderful husband I have in D who has good-naturedly tolerated my Victorian romantic hero obesssions. He knows he is the 21st century equivalent to me :) xxoo

The Amazing Jordy

2010-06-12T13:14:00.003+08:00

The Amazing Jordy

Sometimes, it helps to have a little image overhaul to bring back the sizzle in a relationship. So, introducing Camel Diaries 2.0: new look courtesy of Blogger, content: same insightful stuff as always (hah! sorry, had to do some PR for myself).

Thought I'd upload a few videos taken from my new Motorola Milestone (I'm one of the tiny percentage of people out there who don't have an iPhone because wonderful D suprised me with an iPod Touch last year so I thought it would be a little wasteful to have an iTouch AND an iPhone. So Milestone it is - not bad functionality, extremely good price, and QWERTY keypad. Overall positive user experience so far).

Anyway, this is a Jordy post. He's saying all kinds of wonderful, surprising things these days. Just this week, he started saying "Amazing Jordy!". All his teachers at school have heard it, and some are calling him that, haha! He's kinda saying it in the video above, very hard to capture as it's usually quite out of the blue. Oh and just two days ago he started saying "tomorrow"!

So here's another video from a few weeks ago. When the HFMD quarantine was first lifted and we went to Vivo one morning and hung out at the open amphiteatre and playground. Jordy's getting very handy with a ball and is running very fast these days!

Throwing a ball and a tiny fall, which left him unruffled.

So, seeing as the Amazing Jordy is two months shy of his second birthday, I thought it time for another vocabulary audit. List is probably not exhaustive, but I'll try to list down everything I can remember. This is as much for the Jordy almanac, as it is for posterity's sake. Sorry if it appears a little indulgent but I think it's rather fascinating to chart language acquisition!

These are all the words he can say, from recollection (his receptive vocabulary is much larger than this):

Family and People
Mummy
Daddy
Mama Maree
Gong Gong
Mama
Uncle Nick
Auntie
Uncle
Sheepie
I love...

Everyday Items & Home
Spoon
Fork
Bowl
Cup
Plate
Chair
Bedroom
Towel
Wall
Baby (for Baby Einstein)
Bubble
Book
Bath
Bed
Cot
Ball
Goggles
Fan
Mote (for Remote)
Hat

Food
Apple
Orange
Bread
Juice
Water
Egg
Cake (!)
Nana (for Banana)
Grape
Masi (for Medicine, or Scotts Emulsion, his favourite thing in the morning, or anytime!)

Shapes
Square
Arrow
Heart
Ring
Cross

Animals
Bird
Duck
Cow
Cat
Dog
Pig
Horse
Lion
Zebra
Koala
Crocodile (in Chinese, er yu)
Fish
Ant
Bee
Baassie (for Butterfly)
Owl
Fly
Rabbit
Bear
Mouse
Panda

Nature
Sun
Moon
Stars
Raining
Lightning
Clouds
Sky
Beach
Sea
Sand
Snow
Mountain
Trees
Leaf
Rainbow
Tomorrow

Transport
Aeroplane
Bus
Car
Taxi
Boat
Train
Choo Choo
Beep Beep
Van
Truck

Numbers (he can recognise all the numbers from 1 to 11! 11 because that's the level we live on, so he's always pressing the number '11' button in the elevator)
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Eight
Nine
Ten

Colours
Red
Yellow
Blue
Green
Black
White
Purple
Orange

Self
Ears
Eyes
Hair
Teeth
Mouth
Knees
Toes
Hands
Pee pee
Poo poo
Spots (thanks, HFMD!)
Shoes
Socks
Shorts
Boy
Girl

Commands and Actions
Wait, wait!
Stop!
Down
Up
Hug
Kiss
Walk
Sit
Eat
Clap
Bye Bye
Hi...
Hello
Read
Swimming
Kick

Phrases
I love...
Amazing Jordy
All gone
All done
No more

Hmm, have run out of steam. There's actually quite a bit more, but I can't quite remember right now. Oh well, good job Jordy! Amazing how you've gone from tiny zygote to talking, running toddler with an attitude!

Ok, better go for now. Afternoon plans may include the zoo (depending on state of Jordy's drippy nose when he wakes, and my own not-so-sore throat but still rather blocked nose.) Oh joy!

A First

2010-06-10T18:01:00.002+08:00

Hi! I'm officially blogging from my new android phone. I think this may mark the start of a new era. Now just gotta figure out how to upload videos and photos!

It's Been Forever (But I Still Think About You All The Time)

2010-06-09T19:29:00.007+08:00

Yikes I feel so guilty that I haven't blogged for close to a month! Four letters could somehow explain two weeks of this hiatus: HFMD. Yep, Jordy finally succumbed to the horrible bug that was going around and erupted in over 400 blisters (I lost count in the end). He was an amazing little invalid throughout the two week long quarantine period. My work was superb and allowed me to work some days from home, mama and gong gong were mobilised to help some days, D took a few childcare leave days, and somehow, we survived relatively unscathed!

A week after the official all-clear from HFMD and Jordy is down with a mild cold again (will this germy phase ever end?!), and now I've caught the mild bug too. D has kindly offered to do solo Jordy bedtime duty, while I sit here nursing a bit of a headache and trying my best to update my once, rather lively blog.

Poor blog. In the busyness that is life with an almost-two year old, you have suffered some collateral damage!

So I found myself thinking: should I continue with this blog? Whatever for? Who reads it? What's it all for? And the universe somehow answered back in a tiny whisper: Keep at it. If anything, it's been going for more than three years, and has been such a lovely thing to revisit now and again (for me, at least!), and it does allow me the rather self-indulgent arena to pen anything. Ah well. And I think Jordy may find it a bit of a hoot sometime down the track.

Anyway, so I thought I'd regain some of ye olde blogging fervour by doing a quick recap of what I've been reading. Haven't done a bookish blog in a while. But then again, between watching The Wire (Awesome!), Mad Men (Super Awesome!), American Idol (Not So Awesome), and Glee (Awesome! Awesome!), didn't leave me much time to get lost in a book.

A colleague at work introduced me to a pretty amazing fantasy series though. Was lost in it for four whole days! As in reading at any spare moment kinda good (coincided with a viral fever I got in April). Anne Bishop's The Black Jewels Trilogy (book one pictured below).

One of the darkest, most sensuous, and subversive things I've read in a while. Subversive in all the good ways though, especially in Bishop's use of the language of emotions, love and power. Everything is turned on its head. Gender stereotypes are smashed, and just when you think you've gotten the characters and the world they inhabit figured out, Bishop turns the tables on you and you either smile, gasp or both. Very dark, very compelling and ultimately, very satisfying. Oh and also very cheap, about $13 a book at Kinokuniya!

The other standout thing I've read recently is Tracy Chevalier's new book Remarkable Creatures. Had no idea what it was about before I bought it (but I have loved every single thing she's ever written), and then, discovered to my joy of joys, that it a) is set in Lyme Regis (where a pivotal scene in Jane Austen's Persuasion occurs); b) chronicles the unlikely friendship between two women in the early 1800s (a particularly favourite theme and time period of mine); c) brings to life the stories of Britain's first women fossil hunters and paleontologists (Dinosaurs! Fossils! Skeletons! Yay!); d) is all about Mary Anning, the woman who inspired the tongue twister "She sells seashells by the seashore".

How cool is that right?! Will not give anything else away except to say that this book is SCREAMING to be made into a movie!

Isn't the cover just gorgeous? Sigh.

Oh and I'm just savouring a book another colleague at work lent me (in the happiest twist of fate, I now work directly with people who read. Fiction. Yep. Elation!): The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Again, another book I knew nothing about but fell in love as soon as I read the blurb. It is narrated by Death. Enough said. Love it already (though it is about the Holocaust)! But seriously, I'm only a tenth into the book and it's one of those gems you want to savour every last word of. So am trying to go slow...

On the topic of The Book Thief though, what is it about British vs American book covers? I mean am I the only one that thinks that British editions are almost ALWAYS far superior in terms of look, design, feel, and overall suitability to the tone of the book? I mean, judge for yourselves:

UK version

US version

Am I not wrong? The US version is just a tad fugly right? I'm just so relieved the edition I'm reading is the UK one.

Anyway, argh, my cold is taking a turn for the worse. Bring on the tissues. Will end here. But just wanted to say, thanks to anyone who has returned regularly to check this site for updates. I've been remiss I know, but me and my blog, we just went through a bit of a quiet patch, but just today, have renewed our vows. So here's to a bit more sizzle in this relationship hopefully!

Watch this space I guess :)

On TV, Toddlers, and Tiredness

2010-05-15T13:13:00.004+08:00

One of the highlights of my morning drive to work is listening to the BBC World Service. My 15-minutes of uninterrupted drive-time listening usually coincides with the world news and Business Daily, the latter being one of my favourite BBC programmes. Last week, one news bulletin in particular caught my attention, yet another study on Toddlers and TV.

When I had Jordy, I made a promise to myself to try not to rely on the TV as a passive babysitter. I didn't have a hard and fast policy on TV watching, but I did know I wouldn't have the TV blaring on in the background the whole day. Not sure why, but I just felt having my ipod playing would be a lot more relaxing for all involved. So that's what we did most of the day. Some of my fondest memories of my stay at home mum days with Jordy involve dancing around to music - Jack Johnson, Simon and Garfunkel, Yo-Yo Ma, Mark Knopfler, Turin Brakes, U2, Crowded House, the occasional Guns n Roses and Radiohead.

But very deliberately, I also remember looking online for second hand Baby Einstein DVDs, and meeting a mum at an MRT one afternoon and buying the ENTIRE Baby Entire discography in one fell swoop (for $35 might I add, and no, she didn't throw in Ginzu knives).

I can't remember the thinking that led me to the Baby Einstein purchase, I just remember it coincided with Jordy enjoying being in his bouncy chair and me thinking that he should have something else to look at during bouncy chair time besides the incy wincy spiders hanging down from the mobile attached to his chair. But the thing was, it felt RIGHT. It felt like I was giving Jordy a glimpse into a cool world filled with puppets and classical music and great toys. And I remember thinking it was a welcome respite from all that playing - whether it be with me or on his own, as well as his all-time favourite activity, Reading with Mummy - we were easily going through 10 to 20 books per day from very early on!

So from that moment when he was around three months old, Jordy watched 20 - 25 mins of Baby Einstein every day. This increased to twice a day when he was about 8 months old, and this takes us right to the present.

So when I hear news articles like this, with a very severe sounding researcher saying in an urgent voice that children under two SHOULD NEVER WATCH TV. Not. at. all. Or it might impact their later years in very bad ways, I feel a mixture of emotions that range from guilt, fear, chagrin, anger, denial and a sense of "mind your own @#%* business!"

I know Baby Einstein is currently embroiled in a class action suit. But hey, I didn't buy Jordy those DVDs thinking for one moment that they would make him smarter. Sheesh, surely any parent would know that? Wouldn't they?! Doesn't your gut instinct tell you that the things that make your child grow up into confident, bright individuals are the simple things like love, security and attention? And not plonking them in front of a screen?

Anyway, I know I'm ranting a bit here, but I just feel that parenting in the 21st century is characterised by Too Much Information. If one were to spend just 10 minutes everyday Googling the latest child rearing trends, that would make for a pretty confusing life indeed. I mean, the debates are endless: breasfeeding vs formula, organic vs regular, cow's milk vs non-dairy, traditional baby-wearing cultures vs Western baby-on-playmat approach, co-sleeping vs cry-it-out, home-care vs child-care, smacking vs anti-smacking, medicating vs homeopathic treatment, flashcards vs books, and let's not even start about the whole "working mom" debate!

So back to the TV is BAAAD issue. Well, seeing as Jordy is 21 months old, and that he's been watching 20 to 40 minutes of Baby Einstein everyday (more when he's sick!), I'm going to state here that it felt right at the time, and still feels right today. I'm not making excuses or getting defensive, but he gets loads of one-on-one interaction, shared reading and imaginative play, and is one active toddler to boot (he was able to jump as of three months ago!). TV makes up a small but not crucial component of his day. So I'm hoping that if we carry on with our balanced, common-sensical approach, it won't do him any long term harm! If you are a parent and have a view on this, I'd love to hear it!

In the meantime, here's a little recap of Jordy at 21 months...

He still loves bubbles! In face, one of his favourite things is a Central Park bubble song I downloaded on my ipod.

Bubble time at gong gong and mama's

He has deep-belly laughs. He enjoys a good laugh as much as a good cry (yep, we're firmly in the terrible twos).

Sharing a laugh with Mama

He LOVES cake. The capital letters do not give enough emphasis to the far-reachingness of that love. That love, it is immense. This was the first time he'd ever tasted real chocolate cake. It was Mothers' Day and we thought it was a special occasion so why not?!

Ola, my name is Jordy aka The Moustachioed One.

And he's talking heaps now. Favourite new words include "swimming" and "goggles"! And we've been showing him pictures everyday (on Powerpoint) of the entire family, Singaporean and Kiwi, and he lights up when he sees family now :)

Rare family photo at Mothers' Day dinner!

Wow this was a pretty long post. Ok, Jordy's due to wake up from his nap anytime now so am gonna end here. Oh and the tiredness I alluded to in the title of the post? Just a lingering malaise that I'm trying to ease out of, remnants of a viral fever that I came down with two weeks ago I suspect. But I have been feeling bone-tired the last few days. Doesn't help that work is crazy. Not just normal, many-projects-with-multiple-deadlines crazy, but CRAZY. But the people make it worth it at the moment (apart from unhinged director I had to deal with from another department). So things are chugging along at the moment but am hoping to get back into exercise routine this coming week!

The Toddler Approach to Managing Conflict

2010-04-27T20:17:00.006+08:00

Last week at work was crappy for me. Prior to that I'd had a honeymoon run of two and a half months where I was literally humming to myself while driving to work, smiling at the thought of the work day that lay ahead. Feeling really happy that I was adding value and able to contribute and was working with an amazing team of people. The rain clouds had to gather at some stage.

In a nutshell, a colleague holding a more senior position at work ranted at me for almost an hour, over what seemed to be an invented issue, working herself up into an emotional state in the process, and not allowing me a word in edge-wise (quite hard to do, but it was done!). Scary thing? I'd barely had three conversations with this person!

Anyway, this post isn't about the actual unpleasant rant - I've got boundaries in this blog, one of which is not to discuss work in too much detail. Wouldn't want to be dooced.

Instead, it's inspired by something D said when I related the surreal incident to him. He said the colleague in question sounded like she was throwing a toddler tantrum. Which led me to conceptualise the following management theory:

The Toddler Approach to Managing Conflict

Hypothetical scenario: You are sitting peacably at your desk, concentrating hard on drafting a media release. Suddenly, a colleague appears from behind you and asks you whether it was true that you had commented about project XYZ at a meeting where the bosses were present. If it is true, then she is very unhappy that you had even given an opinion about project XYZ, as project XYZ was hers and no one, repeat, no one, was allowed to talk about it, except for her. Your colleague stops to breathe at this point, and you are about to say, "I'm sorry if you are upset about what I said. I was giving an opinion as the bosses had asked me what I thought was needed for project XYZ to get good publicity from the media. I gave them a few suggestions to consider, and that was that." But you are unable to as she quickly resumes her monologue, but this time talking increasingly faster, louder, and you notice, worryingly, that her eyes have welled up in tears and she is turning a slight purply-red. She is also stabbing her index finger awfully close to your nose. People are gathered discreetly outside your office to be entertained. What do you do?

Possible solution: If you are a parent, picture your toddler where your colleague is. Bring yourself back to a particularly intense tantrum, say, the one where your son refused to stop screaming and crying because you took the plastic knife with the serrated edge away from him, and gave him a wooden spoon instead. Place yourself squarely in that moment, where your son's cries grow louder and louder, accompanied by foot stamping, and ends in him throwing not just the spoon, but his whole body on the floor in a shuddering heap. Now, react.

Not all reactions will be the same of course, but a possibly common one would take this shape:

1. You physically distance yourself from your colleague.

2. Your voice and demeanour grow more dispassionate as hers grows more hysterical.

3. You slow down the rhythm of your speech, and speak in as calm a tone as you possibly can muster.

4. You say in a quiet, steady voice that you will only engage with said colleague/toddler when said colleague/toddler has calmed down and stopped crying.

5. In the meantime, you tell said colleague/toddler that you will be in the next room, and that you are there for her/him.

6. You walk away, and wait. If you are lucky, you get to read a few pages of People Magazine.

7. Colleague/toddler calms down. Life continues on.

-----------------------------------------------------

I'm so going to adopt this approach next time something like this happens to me (hopefully not too often. It's so draining!). Thanks so much to D for sparking this idea, and to Jordy for the regular role-plays!

On that note, I'm off to watch Episode 4 of The Wire Season 1. So amazingly good!

More Than Words (Or, a 20th Month Birthday Stock Take)

2010-04-10T12:59:00.002+08:00

Firstly, a big Happy 20 Month Birthday to Jordy!

Thought I'd use this occasion to do a quick vocabulary stock take. So here goes, here's what Jordy is saying (or trying to say!) as of today:

Apple
Air-pane (Airplane)
Ah-go (All gone)

Bubble
Boh (Ball)
Bee
Baba (Bye bye)
Ba-woo (Bedroom)
Baby
Bus
Boo (Bird)
Bed (Bread)

Car-car (Car)
Coe (Cold)

Daddy
Dog

Ele-oo (Elephant)
Egg

Gape (Grape)

Hoe (Home)

Jordy (but it sounds slightly different each time, think he's trying to work out how to make the "j" sound)

Kiss kiss
Kau-papa (Koala)
Kaga (Kangaroo)

Moon
More
Mum/Mama (Mummy)

O-poo (Open)
Or-ay (Orange)
Ow-oo (Owl)

Pease (Please)
Pee pee
Poo poo
Per-ler (Propeller)

Shoe shoe (Shoe)
Poon (Spoon)
Tar (Star)

Two
Tuh (Truck)
Tow-oo (Towel)

Uh-oh
----
It took a while for him to start speaking but now that he's started, he's surprising us with something new everyday!

Jordy Discovers Granddad's Hat!

2010-04-01T20:31:00.003+08:00

Looking very dapper in singlet and hat

Today was the equivalent of a grey, wintry day - except it neither rained nor snowed. What I mean is Jordy and D were both feeling very under the weather (Jordy with an upper respiratory tract infection and cough that has lasted for almost a month now, and D with a suspected microplasma infection and who was on to his second round of antibiotics in less than a week respectively), and so we were instructed by our respective doctors to stay home and rest for the long weekend.

I stayed away from the office (though worked from home, like D) and had to think of things to entertain Jordy for a whole day indoors! It wasn't as bad as I expected in the end. We read lots of books in bed, played tickle monster a lot, spooned dry pasta into various bottles and containers, AND... Jordy (while D and I were typing away on our laptops) discovered his Granddad Adrian's hat from their last visit to Singapore. Deep in the recesses of our study closet!

Yeah baby!

It was the first time he'd truly played dress-up and we were so tickled and delighted to be there to capture him in action!

I'm talkin 'bout the man in the mirror...

You've been hit by, a smooooth criminal...

Why do I have the certain feeling that Jordy and I could dress up very convincingly as Diego and Dora next Halloween? Ola!

Life Imitates Art (Or, Jordy's First Art Exhibition)

2010-03-26T19:18:00.008+08:00

Painting on the left, artist at work on the right.

Jackson Pollock said every good painter paints what he is.

If that holds true, then Jordy is a warm home, framed in a wonderful swirl of greens and blues. He is also a gardener, one hand in the earth, watching the fruits of his labour bloom in pinks and blues.

Jordy's is the green hand on red. His name is written in traditional Chinese in the upper left hand corner.

As D and I were feeling better after a day of (semi) rest at home (D worked mostly in the study, I cooked a batch of Jordy food to freeze), we were both able to pick Jordy up from childcare and head to the Children's Exhibition at Carpe Diem Kidz' new Russels Rd premises. Extremely impressive, and you could see the heart shining through the teachers' and children's work.

I didn't realise the toddler class would be included in the exhibition so was so surprised to see Jordy's efforts on display. He was pretty unfazed by the enthusiasm emanating from us, and just gave us small Jordy smiles as we clapped and whooped in appreciation.

Family shot at the Exhibition!

Halfway through the Exhibition, I was suddenly struck with wonder that the very Jordy who had produced a handprint artwork was once a cell. I know I'm not the first parent to be struck by wonder at that, but if that doesn't constitute a miracle then I don't know what does.

And Family Shot #2, this time with a clearer depiction of the artist's face!

I'm just so pleased we found a good childcare provider for Jordy, and that he seems to genuinely be having a good time there. I can see myself getting right into the whole parent-teacher thing, and the after-school volunteer programmes etc. Right up my alley man!

We didn't stay too long at the exhibition, and left before it officially started (as we were still not 100% and didn't want to risk being there when all the other children's families arrived), so then headed to IKEA for dinner (where Jordy fed himself half the kid's portion of pasta - some landed on the floor and some remained in the bowl!). At dinner, we unveiled his new favourite book - a present from his Mama Maree that had just been received in the post that day! A digger book with monster wheels!

Jordy and his book go shopping at IKEA.

Back home now, D's putting Jordy to bed while I type this, then it's Glee! And tomorrow, I turn 34. Oh. My. God. I will restate that for posterity. 34. Years. Old. I figure it's gauche to be all precious about revealng one's age. Call a spade a spade I say.

So yes, on my last evening of my 33rd year, I'm sitting here on my couch up in the air in my apartment facing the jungle in a tropical island just north of the Equator, my wonderful husband and much-blogged-about son just a few feet away, my health looking good (temporary ailments aside, touch wood), my sense of self, like my teeth, intact, and I'm thinking, Jackson Pollock said, Every good painter paints what (s)he is.

Well if I were a good painter, I'd paint a pretty big sun with a smiley face in it. 'Cos that kinda sums up how I'm feeling at this moment.

Out, Out Damned Spot (of Bad Fat)!

2010-03-26T11:04:00.004+08:00

At home today down with a throad infection. D came down with it in Abu Dhabi then I started feeling pretty awful on Wednesday night, and the fever and body aches came yesterday. We suspect we got it from little Jordy, as D's now developed the awful hacking cough that's plagued Jordy for more than two weeks now!

Sigh. But thank God for the wonders of anti-biotics. Can't remember the last time I had to take them, but whatever it is, it's working!

The really, really cool news is that I got my latest cholesterol results back, and... everything is looking rather good! So the new diet and exercise regime is working. And the best thing of all? My Cholesterol/HDL ratio of 3.8 is now in the better-than-average range! Whee!

DATE	29-Aug-09	2-Nov-09	23-Mar-10
Total Cholesterol	319	214	202
HDL Cholesterol	61	44	53
LDL Cholesterol	234	143	135
Cholesterol/HDL Ratio	5.2	4.9	3.8

Don't you know, we're talkin' 'bout a revolution

2010-03-21T21:25:00.001+08:00

Wow, the gaps in my posts are getting huger and huger. The funny thing is, it's not really the working mother juggling act that is keeping me from posting regularly, but more the potent combination of Amazing Race-American Idol-Glee-So You Think You Can Dance + Our new StarHub recordable set-top box.

Which means a) I'll never have to miss anything that coincides with Jordy's bedtime again; b) I can record ANYTHING on the channels we pay for, like say, random episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway; and c) TV Is just so... distracting! Anyway, bad excuses I know...

So. A ton of things have been going on but probably the coolest has been Jordy's sudden decision to TALK! Yes, as in clear words, not just "geh" or "kah". It's been a l-o-o-o-n-g time coming but it's so fascinating to watch!

So here's a look at the words Jordy is saying at 19months:

1. Daddy
2. Mama
3. Uh-oh (usually after he deliberately sets his water bottle on its side, or overturns something)
4. Baby
5. Bubble
6. Ah-poo (for apple)
7. Air-pane (for airplane)
8. Car-car (for cars)
9. Kou-kou (we think he's referring to gong gong, his granddad, but we're not 100% sure yet)
10. Per-per/Per-ler (for the propellers on his airplane!)
11. Tar (for star)

And just today he said,
12. Two (for the number two!)

Speaking of numbers, he's really into them at the moment. He loves pressing the number "11" button in our elevator to go home, and singing "One, two buckle my shoe" will get him out of most grumpy moods/crying jags.

Ok, going to catch some zzzzz soon. David is on whis way to Abu Dhabi and I don't know whether Jordy's persistent cough will mean it's Sleepless in Singapore tonight so I better make hay while the sun shines (weird metaphor for sleep I know, but you get my drift!). If not it's zombie city at work tomorrow! Till next time!

Notes from an (Incredibly Overdue) Exhibition (Or, A Very Long Hiatus)

2010-03-06T12:19:00.005+08:00

Collage #1: Dated from the morning of 6 March 2010, this nuanced piece of work shows a boy and his car as they go off on adventures in the park. Notice the subtle hints of colour linking boy and car, the green a tribute both to the naturalistic setting, as well as to the snot flowing freely from the boy who has caught yet another bug while at daycare. The splashes of red allude not just to the fiery personality of the male subject, but also to the broader context of transport - note how the boy's shoes and his car's wheels are an almost identical shade of red.

Sorry to all for the long silence on this poor neglected blog!

The weeks have passed in a whirr of work, play, and rest. Jordy is now very settled in childcare after four weeks of tears in the morning (that gradually went from distraught "what happened to mum and what on earth am I doing in this noisy, crowded place?!" cries, to half-hearted "waah i don't want mum to go, hey isn't that a cool bird in the cage, hmm I wonder what I'm going to have for breakfast" cries.)

It was amazing to watch him gradually get more comfortable and secure at childcare. And on the Monday of the fifth week, he happily marched in, let me take of his shoes, grabbed his water bottle, and WALKED STRAIGHT IN. Without looking back. On the Tuesday, he turned back and waved goodbye and SMILED! I almost fainted from shock but stood as if like a smiling pillar of salt, one hand raised in a big wave. And on Wednesday, he laughed as the teacher checked his temperature and sanitised his hands, waved and again walked in. It's been like that since and we are now into the seventh week at childcare!

I wish I could capture this precise moment in our lives, because it honestly feels like we've achieved a lovely balance. Jordy seems to be happy at his playschool, he eats and rests well there (he's known as as "third helping" boy, and settles for his two hour nap very easily, doesn't even need patting to sleep!), he's learning new things everyday (e.g. he now knows how to pump a soap bottle, take some soap in his hands and wash them!, he dances to "If you're happy and you know it stamp your feet" and "Ring a ring a roses") and settles back into homelife pretty well after school.

As for me, I'm loving being back at work. I thought I would feel some kind of disconnect, or at least experience some jarring moments here and there. But truthfully? It probably took me a day to transition back to work, I don't really feel like a fish out of water, and it's amazing how wearing nice clothes, some lip gloss and slipping on a pair of heels can transform how you feel inside. And the other thing? I'm loving getting back on the exercise bandwagon. It's gym day and swim day for now, but I may look to add a "walk up Fort Canning Hill" day to the week. But I'm easing into it.

Weekends are more precious, and I probably enjoy my time with Jordy more now, as I have time to miss him. One of the girls asked me at dinner last night if I thought about Jordy a lot at work, and again, honestly? I don't really. I think it's because I work only four hours a day and in those four hours, I feel like I'm making every minute count work-wise. It's like I'm a living PR Agency time sheet where I can account for my time for each project I'm working on! Anyway I'm only into my fifth week back at work so ask me again in a few months and you might get a different answer.

Which brings me back to how I wish I could freeze this moment 'cos it's feeling pretty sweet.

As a tribute to a recent book I read, the excellent Notes from an Exhibition by (the ridiculously good looking) Patrick Gale, I present to you, more notes from an (incredbly overdue) exhibition. All artwork created and curated only this morning!

Still Life #1: Boy and DVD player. This muted scene barely conceals the rich undertones simmering beneath the surface. The boy's eyes are raised to the artist, as if inviting admonishment. This picture paints a visual puzzle in the form of the missing DVD. Where has it gone? Who has taken it? And for what purpose? We are left wondering, even as the boy's right hand curls protectively round his water cannister. But wait, what is hidden in the boy's other hand? Could it be...

A Study in Animism: Here, the boy is shown in a rare state of spiritual reverie. Eyes downcast, he is at peace with the natural world, his energies and intent focused on the green car wrapped in his hands. He is also bowing in the direction of McCafe, which is the traditional scene of post-play replenishment and redjuvenation.

Mother and Child: Through the ages, the mother and child prove to be an enduring subject for artists. In this case, the mother points out the myriad kites gliding through the sky to her firstborn. Excited, he raises his hands and says triumphantly, the word "Geh!"

Still Life #2: Boy scanning the horizon. In this closer study of the Everyboy, he is once again clad in green, set against the backdrop of the urban/natural dichotomy - in this case, the maritime/oceanic split. Notice his resolute half-smile as he ponders what is to come, determined to tackle head on whatever comes his way.

Confessions of a Working Mother

2010-02-19T20:50:00.003+08:00

The Dragon and the Rat on the first day of the Tiger year. Rrrroar!

1. I am currently loving both my jobs: my paid job in an office in the city with a view of the Singapore River, and my unpaid job as mum to toddler extraordinaire Jordy.

2. I lay out my outfit, complete with accessories and shoes, the night before work. I feel like I am in primary school again!

3. The mornings still feel pretty relaxed - we wake a little before Jordy does, shower and have breakfast, then Jordy gets up, and I feed him, then I get dressed and prepare his day care stuff while he watches a bit of Baby Einstein. We leave the house at 8.15am, he's settled in school by 8.30 and I'm at work by 9!

4. I love the walk along the river to work. I park my car in a nearby mall (where season parking is relatively cheap for the city: $90+ a month!).

5. Once I hit work it's pretty much non-stop go until I log off again at 1pm. Today marks the end of my sixth day at work and I've already handled one media query on my own, on an initiative new to me, but that I didn't have much problem coming to grips with. I don't think I'm overstating it, but I already feel like I'm contributing and do feel valued. It's an awesome feeling.

6. I love the walk back to the car after work, along the river again. I have an hour or so to run errands, grocery shop, start dinner, listen to my iPod - generally ME time - before I pick Jordy up at 3.30pm. As of next week, I am going to incorporate exercise into my new routine. I am aiming for one gym session on a Monday, and a 10-lap swim on a Wednesday or Thursday. The gym and pool are but one escalator ride away from the office (in pretty stunning surroundings) so there is NO excuse. I am taking a leaf out of Michelle Obama's guide to motherhood - place your children first, and yourself a very, very close second.

7. In order to fit in gym and swim into new working mom routine, I will have to pack lunch in. I am thinking a penne/pesto/broccoli/cherry tomato cold salad one day, and leftovers (bleagh) another. If not, there is always Subway downstairs or the foodcourt.

8. I love, love, love the anticipation I feel when I drive into the school gates to pick Jordy up. And I love how everytime I've gone to pick him up, he's engrossed in an activity - be it finger painting, dancing in a circle (here we go round the mulberry bush), and just today, I walked in and saw him playing with water balloons! He still cries every morning, but it is no longer distraught, and dare I say it, "normal" separation anxiety emotions that he will work through in time. It is also less painful for me to drive away. Sometimes, in the morning, when the teacher takes him, he cries a bit, then forgets himself, and smiles when she points out the chirpy parakeet out to him. That's when I know that things will work out OK.

9. At the end of the day, though I know I'm not earning big bucks or have a career on fast track, the sense of accomplishment I get from wearing these different hats, and juggling these heavy (metaphorical) porcelain vases like a Chinese acrobat, is proving pretty priceless.

10. I know it's early days yet, but I think things bode well so far. And if things don't turn out that great, then in the words of a wise mum before me, everything is reversible.

Last Day of Stay-At-Home-Momhood

2010-02-09T19:15:00.002+08:00

This is what I made for dinner on my last night of stay-at-home-momhood - a chicken pie with an olive oil mixed herb crust. The outcome certainly paled in comparison to the amount of work put in. Don't think I'll be using this recipe again, or if I do, I'll spice it up with some chili and more spices.

Anyway, I am hanging up and dusting off my apron as I type! *bows and walks off stage*

Heh heh.

What better way to sum up my last 18 months than with a little Dickens eh? To stretch the metaphor, the stay-home-mom/working-mom dichotomy is very much a tale of two cities...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Next time I post, I'll be officially contributing to the economy!

What'll It Be?

2010-02-08T20:16:00.004+08:00

A quick update from my trusty iPod... I'm meant to be returning to work on Wednesday. Five half days, 9 to 1 pm. I've had a beyond fantastic last three weeks to myself while Jordy spent the morning and early afternoon in childcare. The freezer is stocked with stews, soups, pizza bases, homemade burgers, Thai fish cakes, stock, heck, I even spent part of a morning browning lean beef mince in bulk so I can just pop it in the slow cooker for chili. I bought myself a new work bag, some new clothes, sorted out season parking at a nearby mall to work, even met up with colleagues to get a sense of what I'm returning to.

Anyway, all this is leading somewhere, please bear with me.

So then this morning Jordy woke up with a slight fever. Which then spiked and ebbed as the day went on. Highest recorded temp was 38.9. He's still eating well but is clearly not himself. Example, he was happy lying on my lap on the couch for half an hour while watching Baby Einstein! Anyway so now I'm not sure what's going to happen come Wednesday! Really hope he gets better soon... If not my first day of work might be a dependant care leave day!

Something tells me I'm being orientated pretty quickly to the world of working-parent-juggling. Argh!

Mullet Begone!

2010-01-30T19:24:00.006+08:00

Jordy and his mullet enjoying Baby Einstein.

Jordy's mullet was beginning to have a life of its own (or at least deserving of its own nickname), so before things got too out of hand, D and I decided that today would be the day we embarked on Jordy's first milestone in hair removal.

I had no idea how he'd react - I've heard all kinds of horror stories, so was prepared to take things as they came. Armed with a little pair of scissors, and a vague idea of what sort of style I'd aim for, we began!

Not much of a reaction from the first snip!

I worked as swiftly and decisively as I could, taking out rather huge chunks of hair as I went along, as you can see below!

The tools of the trade!

And as quickly as it began, it ended. Barely two minutes! And now presenting, Master Jordy Version 2.0, sharper, sleeker and stylier. As D put it rather nicely, he's gone from lout to lad! Heh heh.

Jordy attests to the hypnotic effect of Baby Einstein.

Not a bad job if I can say so myself, ahem.

Obligatory back view

They Should Build a Roller Coaster Ride Called "Motherhood" (Or, Day Eight of Childcare!)

2010-01-27T20:31:00.002+08:00

Today marks the eighth day that Jordy has been in childcare. And also the eighth day that I've experienced four seasons of emotions in one day.

The mornings start out like Spring; you wonder what the day will bring. Everything hints of possibility and new-ness. Jordy smiles and feasts on breakfast like the nestling that he is. We read some stories and play his favourite music.

An hour later and Jordy is dressed for childcare and suddenly Autumn is here. He seems slightly older in his yellow and blue outfit, and the spring in my step is suddenly gone, replaced with a little heaviness that mirrors the weight in my heart. The colours of the morning seem a little muted now.

He gets into the car happily enough, even smiles at his little robot backpack. We pull up the driveway of his little school and he senses the first frost in the air. He is tentative, but still puts on a brave face as we walk into the din that is morning drop-off time. He understands what is to happen when I remove his shoes and rub some insect repellent on him. He is in denial though, and only really cries out when he sees his teacher coming to get him. When she carries him into the Centre - and to his new routine in the day - Winter blasts its icy entrance into my heart and I always freeze for a moment. Don't move, lest he cries more. But then I regain my senses, and walk briskly to the car. Pause, deep breath, and drive off.

The next six hours pass in a bit of a blur - of activity, of emotion, of movement. I run errands, I catch up with friends, I watch a movie alone, I read in a cafe, have a pedicure, take my time while choosing produce at the market, I listen to a lot of music. Winter gradually gives way, warmth creeps back, Spring again.

Three o'clock. I pack a couple of his snacks, some sand toys, perhaps a ball, and drive to the centre, my heart beating a little faster than usual. I reverse park in the driveway, stop the car. Pause, deep breath. Wonder what he will be doing when I next lay eyes on him. What expression will be on his face.

Every single time I see him, he is always happy, always busy, and pretty content. His eyes widen with recognition, and he runs up to me. Never clinging, but always to show me something he's learnt, or a new favourite toy. This afternoon, it was a pasta music shaker he made himself. I leave him in Winter, and return in Summer.

And if there's one thing to remember, it's that kids have fun in Winter too.

Apron Strings and Other Things

2010-01-19T20:29:00.004+08:00

First morning, dressed in his childcare kit, not knowing what lay ahead.

This is a bit of a bittersweet post. Hmm, maybe bitter is a little too harsh sounding. More of a semi-sweet post. Heck if this post was a chocolate bar, it'd be a Whittaker's 70% Ghanaian cocoa bar.

Apologies for the clumsy metaphor. What I mean is this: the last two days have seen me vacillating between emotional extremes. On one end, it's fear, anxiety, guilt, doubt, and these gut-wrenching regular twitches where my heart used to be; on the other, it's pride, liberation, love, and the great, overwhelming desire to WRAP MY ARMS AROUND something, preferably my child.

Yes, Jordy started childcare this week.

I thought I had psychologically prepared myself by reading a plethora of online articles from various mum and bub sites and working mum forums. I read the fantastic chapter on working mums in Kate Figes' Life After Birth. I was mentally prepared for the swirls of emotions they all said you'd feel. But alas I have learnt that the cerebral is no match for the visceral.

In plainer English, my brain thought I was ready and would be okay with my firstborn going to daycare for seven hours a day, but my insides rebelled and I suddenly found myself on day two after dropping him off, sitting in a car wash and crying. All this before 9.30am! The stuff they don't tell you about motherhood! (By the way, the car is clean and sparkly, so that's one good thing eh?)

Jordy's first day at Carpe Diem Kidz (yes, unfortunate spelling I know, but they have a petting zoo and tree house so there!) started at 8.3o and ended at noon. His second day started at 8.30 and ended at 2.45pm! My intention is to pick him up around 3pm everyday, once I go back to work.

In his more formal uniform for day two!

He did pretty well on both days, considering it was his first time being cared for by strangers after hanging out with me as his main caregiver these past 17 months! He started each morning cheerfully enough, clambering to get to the dining area to see what was being served for (second) breakfast - omelette yesterday, cereal this morning - then walking around the garden and looking at things. Both days he didn't cry when I said goodbye and walked away. But both days, I saw him look for me after I'd gone (I spied at him from afar of course) and then, when he was unable to find me, would start crying.

The teachers had to carry him for much of the first two days. Strange considering he normally hates to be carried.

D said a very insightful thing, that Jordy had been so secure previously, and that's why he was so independent and would walk and run all over the place and not ever asked to be carried. So he is probably craving the cuddling now that he is in an unfamiliar situation, and is not feeling all that secure. Do you hear my heart breaking yet?

Ah. But everything I've read has also led me to believe that it will be worse before it gets better. I'm expecting disrupted sleep at night, increase in tantrums, and perhaps, even weight loss if he doesn't eat as well in the next few weeks. I'm preparing myself but the realities are just so tough to face!

Anyway, don't get me wrong. It's not all doom and gloom. It's just that the challenges are so out there, so obvious, that I've had to address them first.

What I'm getting to is what I think will be the longer term benefits. The amazing toys and resources they have at the centre. The well-trained teachers who seem genuinely caring and compassionate. The presence of a dedicated Mandarin teacher (yay!), and of course, the fact that as Jordy is broadening his horizons and his world just a little, I'll be able to get back to the workforce! So I'm taking a long term view on things.

Having a little play at home before heading off this morning.

I'm going to keep this short as Outrageous Fortune beckons on DVD. But it's only the end of day two, and I'm already getting a little inkling of what lies ahead. I see in Jordy's future... a pile of school reports, much like the one below...

Isn't it fantastic? The teacher will prepare one every week to explain what the week's activities have been centred on, as well as what is to come.

And the very best thing? You turn over the report, and you get this!

Almost as good as being there? Perhaps not, but it certainly allows an overly-imaginative parent like me to keep a few images in my head.

These early childhood teachers do an amazing job. I salute them, as I do the wonderful kids who inspire them (I hope!).

Plagiarism Alert (Or, Somebody Stole My Blog Post!)

2010-01-14T14:02:00.005+08:00

I just discovered another mummy blogger stole a couple of lines from a post I did about my day with Jordy.

She stole my opener.

I wrote this:

I was inspired by what Aunty Adora blogged about one time about her daily routine with your friend Poppy. It made me see the little wonders in our daily routine, simple and quiet as it may be. So I thought I'd just pen a little something about how our day normally goes right this moment. Just for posterity's sake.

And she wrote this:

"It made me see the little wonders in our daily routine, simple and quiet as it may be. So I thought I 'd just pen down a little something about how our day used to be. Just for posterity's sake."

And she stole my closing. I wrote this:

It's a simple life Jordy. But rather charmed. Magically real, or really magic.

And she wrote this:

"So that's it. Our life before work. It's a simple life, M****. But rather charmed. Magically real with simple happiness and bliss."

I don't know whether to be flattered or flabbergasted.

Now. I am OK with borrowed references. I after all, have used a few ideas from other bloggers but have always credited the source. In fact, my post on a day in the life of Jordy was inspired by Adora's post. That's OK. That's all part of the creative process. But to just STEAL someone's words and cunningly dump them in your blogpost? NOT OK. NO, SCHMO.

My only consolation is that it is obvious the blogger in question has plagiarised as the rest of the blogpost is riddled with grammar mistakes and structural lapses.

And the worst thing? The mum stole my words to describe a day in the life with her daughter. I think that's the saddest, most unoriginal thing I've seen in a while.

BAH.

Off to the Chocolate Cafe with Sandy and Olive soon. Will need a good chocolate tart to get rid of the bitter taste in my mouth!

Jordy Eats With a Fork!

2010-01-12T12:45:00.003+08:00

For some reason, this wouldn't load in Firefox, but was no problems in IE. Hmm... Anyway, it's meant to accompany the previous post. Enjoy!

Happy 17th Month Birthday, Jordy!

2010-01-10T20:15:00.004+08:00

One plus point about sweating heaps? Easiest way to get a mohawk to stay up!

Dear Jordy,

17 months! Wowee! Who would've thought eh?

We celebrated today by going to the Laurent Bernard Chocolate Cafe at Portsdown. Your dad and I were both aghast that we'd never stepped foot in there despite living so close to it! Thank goodness Aunty Sandy told us about this divine little spot - if not who knows how long would've gone by before we discovered it for ourselves.

Sorry Jordy, we are bad parents... we know... but we just couldn't resist giving you the mohawk do in public. Thank goodness you couldn't see the styled mullet at the back.

You were very pleased with the cafe and its surroundings, especially when you discovered a little slope which you just delighted in running up and down on. You didn't mind that mum didn't offer you her chocolate tart (HEAVEN!) and that dad gobbled up his chocolate truffle cake. You were somehow sated with your brown rice rings and tomato and corn crackers! We'll see how long this lasts, heh heh.

When things just got a little too sweaty for you, you were cool just chilling on the big, deep rattan chairs, reading your book and looking up at the birds flying overhead. It was a lovely hour and a half.

That's not my pony! (Thanks Aunty Jackie for the Christmas pressies! Loved em all!)

We then went for a lovely walk all around Wessex Village, then ended up at Hort Park where you ran around and did a big round trip walk! Very proud of you.

Which leads me to the greatest surprise on your 17 month birthday. At dinner time, you decided to show us all how eating with a fork is done! You were amazingly dexterous. Well done Jordy!

(I was supposed to post the video here but for some reason blogger is not complying. Will try again later!)

I'm still amazed you managed to stuff three wholemeal Vegemite and cream cheese pinwheel sandwiches in your mouth. Goodness gracious. Anyway, congratulations on mastering the fork. Dining etiquette and manners will come later. You just enjoy your mealtimes with gusto now, my boy!

OK mum is rather tired after today's adventures so will sign off. Dad and I have been enjoying the Politically Incorrect Parenting Show and are off to watch Episode 3 now.

Love to my little man (who is starting childcare in a week!!!). Ceteris paribus, mum heads back to work on your 18th month birthday! I know, probably not the birthday treat you were hoping for, but I think in time, you'll be quite proud of mum and her work. I know I certainly was proud of what my mum did (and does).

Big changes ahead little one, but I think in the big scheme of things, for the best!

Love you heaps and heaps,

Your mum

100% Pure New Zealand

2010-01-07T12:30:00.008+08:00

Jordy revelling in the hay at the Waikouaiti races on New Year's Day

Sorry everyone for the long absence from the blog! Bloggie silence usually is an indicator of one of two things: either we are having an amazing time so no time for online chatter, or nothing exciting is happening and I can't think of anything to write. In this case, thankfully, the former holds true!

Since I don't have the time to do a blow-by-blow account of why our trip to NZ rocked (and rock it really did), thought I'd post a few pictures to show the emergence of Jordy, the 100% Kiwi Boy. It was as if a secret part of him suddenly was unlocked and like a little phoenix rising from the flames, he grew into this more aware, more evolved little person who became even more comfortable in his own skin. It was very special to witness.

He loved that being in New Zealand was like leaping into his Baby MacDonald video and his farm books. He had a great time looking at and chasing all the animals - lambs were a favourite, as were cats and dogs and seagulls!

Little lamb leading Jordy up the garden path at Lindale in Paraparaumu

But more than the animate things, he especially treasured the spectacular natural environment that is New Zealand. He must have touched every flower - from tiny white weeds to roses in full bloom - in his Mama Maree's garden.

Nature baby in the garden

He had his longest walk (round trip too mind you!) at the Dunedin Botanic Gardens - a full 45 minutes - where his eyes (and mind probably) boggled at the splendid colours in front of him. He studied tiny plants in the rock garden, tried to hold on to a ladybird, and marvelled at the sheer scale of the trees.

Figuring out his place in the world

But I think what he loved best of all was the beach. And I think that's where his two very different cultural identities merge - he is the child of two Island people. His dad was born in a town by the sea, where seagulls try to peck at your fish and chips, and his mum was born in a city island state, where you cannot swim anywhere without seeing boats or oil tankers on the horizon!

He was Himself at the beach. He loved the feel of sand through his fingers, and he would often stop to look up at the sky and wrinkle his nose at the clouds floating by. He smiled at the seagulls who fixed on him with beady eyes. He cruised along on a boogie board pulled by his Uncle Nick.

Trying to bury himself at St Kilda beach
Wheee!

He invented games at the beach - there was the jump-on-the-crackly-dried-up-seaweed-and-laugh game, the toss-the-peach-backwards game, the fill-up-my-plastic-turtle-with-sand-and-then-try-to-fill-up-the-picnic-basket-with-sand routine, and of course, bury the ball!

Jordy demonstrating a stellar peach toss at Waikouaiti beach

When he finished playing his games, he walked around looking a bit more, often stopping to look at the little sand pools the other beach goers had dug out with their shovels, and of course the surfers.

I am King of the Foreshore!

We're now back in Singapore, all sporting tans of various shades of golden-brown. But Jordy gained a bit of an inner tan I reckon. Having his feet planted firmly in New Zealand soil has added more soul to his already spirited self. And of course it should, that's what going home does to you!

I'm very proud of my little island (x2) boy.

Have Yourselves a Very Happy Christmas!

2009-12-24T17:02:00.002+08:00

Heads, shoulders, knees and toes in Mama Maree's garden

Here's wishing everyone reading this a very Merry Christmas!

We've been in New Zealand a week and already it feels as though we've always lived here! Jordy is loving the weather, the ant-less grass, the many seagulls to chase, and of course, his Kiwi whanau. Pity that his molars decided to choose the last two days to slowly emerge. We've had amazing days, but extremely unsettled nights. Let's hope he doesn't scare Santa away tonight with his screaming!

Jordy and his favourite pram observe the clouds

Anyway, will update soon about our fun times so far! In the meantime, Ho Ho Ho! May 2010 be filled with love and laughter :)

Around the World in 80 Blogs: Singapore

2009-12-14T12:44:00.007+08:00

Right. So I just remembered this minute that I signed up for a great globalisation-bloggy idea mooted by one of my favourite bloggers Everyday Stranger. I stumbled onto her blog about half a year ago and have since spent many a Jordy nap time going through her archives. Time extremely well-spent, in my opinion!

As part of Around the World in 80 Blogs, I'm meant to write a short something about Singapore. A little glimpse into life here I guess.

So the good news is I'm going to write a short blog about Singapore, and why it's a cool place to live. The bad news is I haven't had time to take many photos so am unfortunately going to rehash a few images.

So here is The Camel Diaries' List of Miscellany About Why Singapore is an OK Place to Live (despite the sweltering heat, more than occasional dodgy hygiene practiced by many of its residents, crazy pace of life, and oh yes, the death penalty.)

1. It's cool because though most people live in public housing apartments that look like this...

2. You can walk out of your door, get into the lift, turn round the corner, and walk into a nature reserve that will bring you closer to something like this...

3. Singapore doesn't suffer too much from urban housing woes that may plague other dense urban areas. Yes, you do get some graffiti in the lifts, the occasional puddle of dog pee (or worse!), some petty crime (but we don't have guns, so chances of getting maimed rather low), but all in all, most people wouldn't think twice about walking home alone from the bus stop or car park at 2am.

4. I think the reason for this is that a) the majority of people live in public housing so there's a bit of a village feel happening (no secrets and many eyes in a block of flats); b) there are lots of gardens, parks, and trees in the housing estates (just look at the picture below of a garden right next to a boring multi-storey carpark! And yes, that's the Singapore flag flapping away in the foreground); c) most places in Singapore are incredibly well-lit; d) the government has a stringent housing policy based on racial quotas (x% Chinese, y% Malay, z% Indian and Others) to ensure no ethnic ghettos develop; e) we're relatively prosperous as a nation (although the rich-poor divide is widening).

5. We're an island, so though the whole country is one big city (think more than 4 million people living in a land mass smaller than New Zealand's Lake Taupo), you're never really far away from the beach...

6. Which means lots of fun if you are a toddler...

7. And when living in a tiny dot of a nation gives you cabin fever (or island fever may be more appropriate), you can catch a one hour ferry to Indonesia and hang out on relatively pristine beaches! Like so...

It's weird typing this knowing that we are leaving for our Christmas holiday to New Zealand in two days (11 hours on an airplane with an active toddler, Lord help us!). I really wonder what Jordy will make of his identity in the end - he being half Singaporean, and half Kiwi. The two countries couldn't be more different geographically, and culturally. He's spent the first 16 months of his life in a 100sq metre apartment in the sky - the sound of traffic wafting in from one window, the jungle cicadas and crickets droning in from the other - and his other hometown consists of acres and acres of green pasture dotted with sheep, with nights so quiet you could hear an owl call, and where the sky is just one big panorama of stars that defy belief.

Well, it'll be interesting to witness his sense of self developing, that's for sure. If one thing bodes well, it's that Jordy chose, from out of at least ten furry options, his Sheepie to be his best friend. Surely that must be his innate Self speaking? Wonder what he'll make of the real thing when he sees them in a few days! Will post pics for sure!

Righty-ho, will stop here as I can hear Jordy rousing from his nap. Thanks again to Everyday Stranger for this brilliant idea. Look forward to reading the other 79 blogs, and feeling just a bit more connected to the rest of the world!

Happy 16th Month Birthday, Jordy!

2009-12-10T21:29:00.002+08:00

Dear Jordy,

Happy 16th month birthday to the best boy in our lives! Mum's been a bit remiss with the phototaking so will just let the words do the talking. Today has been a bit of a milestone, not just in terms of the amazing journey that is your life, but also in terms of Mum's own future. I won't go too much into detail since this is a public blog, and (it's best to learn this lesson now, Jordy) public blogs need boundaries. So I will update everyone of any developments in a little while - but suffice to say, it concerns the very real, very commonplace-yet-heartbreaking issue of mums and work.

Ah. So.

No matter what happens in the coming months, I am so happy that I got to spend the last 16 months hanging out with you. The first couple of months were tougher, but now, it's getting to be pretty good fun!

I was inspired by what Aunty Adora blogged about one time about her daily routine with your friend Poppy. It made me see the little wonders in our daily routine, simple and quiet as it may be. So I thought I'd just pen a little something about how our day normally goes right this moment. Just for posterity's sake.

-----------------------------------

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JORDY, THE TODDLER

You wake every morning on the dot at 7.00am, or a few minutes earlier. Dad always hears you first, and he makes your milk and cereal every morning. Dad gives you your milk while I have my shower, and it usually takes two of us to change your diaper in the morning! Yes, it's that err, bulky, and you are usually too eager to start running around the place to lie down on the changing table!

Then you have your cereal in the kitchen while Mum and Dad putter about. Your favourite high chair toy right now is an orange. You pick it up and say "Ay-yay!" Everytime. Then you brush your own teeth, while I wipe your face. Dad normally leaves while you are having breakfast or just after.

When I let you out of the high chair, you immediately zoom off! Sheepie in one hand, and the other hand reaching for your favourite toys. Right now, it's your hammer and peg set, the shape sorter, stacking rings, and the IKEA farm animal set! Oh and your plane and tractor. Then you flip through your books while I have my breakfast and read my book or catch up on blogs on my beloved iPod Touch. Heh heh.

By this time, it's around 8ish in the morning and we usually set off for a walk at this time. Sometimes we go to the playground, then NTUC for groceries, and other times we walk to HortPark, where you love to point out all the flowers to me.

By the time we get back home it's usually almost 10am and we read some books, then it's Baby Einstein time while I prepare your lunch!

You eat an early lunch around 11 - and in characteristic Jordy-speed, you are done within 10 minutes! Thank goodness I'm a fast eater too so I'm always done when you are! Then you like to zoom around with your toys while I wash up and prepare your bath. You LOVE bathtime, especially trying to splash me with water. And pointing out the flowers and fish and frogs in your bathbook.

I love the time after your bath, 'cos I get to cuddle and tickle you in your room, and we read a few books, Roadwork, That's Not My Truck and of course, Goodnight Moon, before you go to your cot and do your acrobatics. You're always asleep by 12.20.

While you dream the heat of the day away, I'm either baking, on the internet, reading, or listening to BBC podcasts on the iPod. This quiet time is one of my favourite times of day too! :)

And then it's 2ish and you're up! And you have your milk, and then some raisin and peanut butter toast and then we're off on our afternoon outing! On lazy days we go for walks around the neighbourhood, to the playground, or the park. On more exciting days, I take you for a car ride and we go to West Coast Park, or to the Botanic Gardens, or to Labrador Park, or Keppel Marina, sometimes we go to indoor playgrounds (though you tend to get a bit germy after that so maybe not that often!). Some days it's just us, other days we hang out with friends.

Then by the time we get home, it's usually 5ish and I make your dinner while you hang out in the kitchen playing with anything that rolls, opens and closes, or makes a lot of noise! And then before I know it, you're done with dinner (literally, it's always 10 minutes or less!) and then you're off playing again while I clean up and then we usually have some reading time before your bath.

And more often that not, sometime during your bath, the doorbell rings, your face lights up, and it's Dad! Home at around 6.45. Then you go pull on his trouser leg, and then he carries you and swings you around for a few minutes. You love this time of day very much.

And then it's Baby Einstein time again while Mum and Dad have dinner! Sometimes, when you like what you see on the screen, you look at us and laugh, inviting us to join you in your moment. It's very cute. Then Mum has her shower while Dad prepares your milk, and water, and PJs and toothbrush.

And the funniest thing happens. As soon as Baby Einstein time is over, you scoot from your high chair immediately to your bedroom door. You love this time most of all I think. Hanging out in the cool air-conditioned room, hearing mum and dad sing songs and reading your favourite books all over again. Then we have evening gymnastics on the mattress, before you go in the cot. And you always fall asleep to the sound of mum and dad talking about our day. And most of the time, you're asleep by 8.20pm.

And then mum and dad creep out of your room, wash up your things, read the net for a bit. Then sit down and watch The West Wing (or a stressful few weeks with True Blood) or sometimes MASH, with fruit, and cookies or chocolate!

It's a simple life Jordy. But rather charmed. Magically real, or really magic.

So I'll end this spontaneous blogpost right now before I ramble on anymore.

See you in the morning!

xxoo
Your Mum

The Jordy Book Club (Or, Milestones in Reading)

2009-12-08T13:35:00.003+08:00

Alright people, we achieved a major milestone in literacy today, yo! It was so exciting. I was reading one of Jordy's favourite books, the Usborne (Look and Say) Town book, and asked Jordy the same questions I always ask him when we read together, "Where's the dog? Where's the car? Where's the fish?" And so on... and normally he just looks at me and says, "Kah!" or "Tuh!" or "Ba!" or more recently "Kiwawa!". But anyway, today, drumroll... he actually looked at me, then looked at the page, and started pointing at the pictures!

YAY! Now this may not seem like much, but to a stay-at-home-mum (but not for much longer!) who does this several times a day, EVERYDAY, it is a wonderful change! Whee! Yeah so from recollection, he pointed out:

car, bus, bicycle, plane, flower, bear, dog, cat, fish, nose, eyes, ears, hair, mouth, toes, baby, egg, balloon, orange, pen, apple, ball, rattle, drum, tricyle, boat, dump truck, concrete mixer, err... there are a few more but I say, isn't it just wonderful?!

Anyway, this prompted me to think about what Jordy's Book Club List would look like if he hosted his own daytime chat show. You know, the books with the Jordy seal of approval. They do change from time to time, but here are a few perennial favourites. Which are (in no particular order, save for the last book):

Moo, Baa, La La La
Definitely up there with the best of social satire. Note how all the animals say what is required of them, save the pigs, who sing and dance.

My Car
D and I like this book. The sentences are short. They are grammatical. They make sense. And the pictures are colourful. Jordy just likes the red car.

Things That Go
I have learnt much from this tome, as has Jordy. Whoever knew there was such a thing as a recumbent tricycle? My growing knowledge of all things vehicular continues to astound me.

Roadwork
A Jordy daily must-read. At least several times. Excellent use of onomatopoeia. One of the best books to read out loud. As much fun for reader as it is for listener! Entire book is now held together by scotchtape.

That's not my truck
Whoever knew a radiator could be holey? An early Jordy favourite, which he still brings out at least once a day.

Diggers and Dumpers
This is the best money I have spent on Jordy hands down. Cost me $4.99 at discount book store. LOVES it. Literally squeals with excitement when you take it out of shelf and place in front of him. His favourite page is "Tractor", as he will scamper off and bring you his real tractor looking all pleased with himself.

Ten Frogs
Recent addition to the favourites list. Cool Quentin Blake artwork (he of Roald Dahl fame), and who can beat a hundred wasps all buzzing at the end?

Teaching Bears to Count
A quintessentially Kiwi book, this one has five chocolate fish and six pikelets! Another one that is more sticky tape than book. He's thumbed through it so many times I've lost count!

Town
He loves spotting the different things about the town. Of great delight are the little mini Schnauzer dog and the black cat hiding in the busy street scene. Oh and not forgetting the bricklayers and concrete mixer. Another $5 cheapie I got that turned out to be a gem!

And of course, the favourite of all favourites. The Quieter or Tantrums, The Silencer of Screams, The Queller of Cries... Goodnight Moon. All you have to do is start reciting the first few lines and Jordy will calm down. It's a literary dose of valium! Highly recommended to all first time parents! Do not be turned off by the psychadelic colours used or the slightly freakish figure of the "quiet old lady whispering hush"! This book is a tiny miracle!

Water, Water Everywhere

2009-12-04T20:55:00.000+08:00

Jordy does his best impersonation of Moses parting the Red Sea. Granted Moses would never have held a GNC Calcium Tablet Bottle in his right hand, but this is a post-modern take.

Waterparks are the new black. In the Turnip household at least.

Jordy's gone from being a little tentative and sceptical about the delights of fountains and jet sprays, to being a full on convert. His favourite water park is the one at Marina Barrage.

Jordy tries yet again to control nature, while an amused young woman looks on. She took lots of photos of him (after asking our permission of course), but probably found it tough as she kept stopping to laugh!

Wherever he wanders, he usually has my old GNC vitamin bottle in one hand. The other hand, palm splayed open, trying to hold onto the streams of water. It's a peculiar, yet wonderful, sight.

Jordy and I caught out by the geyser erupting from under us!

And this last photo here kinda sums up my thoughts about how quickly Jordy is growing. This was him at good mate Ned's first birthday party a week ago. Most of the children were between 11 and 18 months of age. Look at all of them sitting down to have afternoon tea together! It was so civilised and well-mannered (aside from when Jordy tried to grab three Vegemite sandwiches at one go, prompting a slightly embarassed D to gingerly put them back on the plate).

"Hey, look Mum! It's like the welcome dinner at Hogwarts!"

Thai Fish Cakes Recipe

2009-12-03T15:16:00.002+08:00

Ok, this post is for Adora!

Here's my version of Thai Fish Cakes (an amalgamation of several recipes I found online). These taste GREAT and are very low in saturated fat.

THAI FISH CAKES A LA CAMEL DIARIES
(serves four)

Ingredients
2 fillets of firm fish (300g)
2 large (or 3 small) potatoes
1/2 cup canola oil for frying
1 cup flour or 1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
Thai sweet chilli sauce for dipping

Paste
2 tbsps fish sauce
2 or 3 red or green chilis
3 kaffir lime leaves, snipped into small pieces, discard stem
1/3 cup coriander leaves, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced

1. Place potatoes in pot of water over high heat. Boil.
2. Mince and stir paste ingredients together.
3. Steam fish and debone. Flake.
4. Once potatoes are cooked, mash with skins on.
5. Add mashed potatoes to paste and mix in flaked fish.
6. Using hands, shape into cakes.
7. Dip cakes into egg, then turn over in flour or breadcrumbs to coat.
8. Heat 1 inch oil in pan. Fry until golden brown, approx 2 to 3 minutes.
9. Serve with dipping sauce.

(I find that plain steamed broccoli is a lovely accompaniment to these very flavourful cakes.)

Our First Fashion Shoot: Neighbourhood Style!

2009-11-27T11:46:00.005+08:00

Jordy and I had a fun photo shoot at our neighbourhood playground yesterday morning for Aunty Melissa's style blog! Aunty Melissa lives a few floors above us, and has two very cute pooches.

We were featured in a section about stylish mums. I think Melissa is extremely generous to include me in her style blog, heh heh, as most of the time, my regular go-to-the-supermarket outfits consist of tank tops and shorts! But since my recent cholesterol scare I have been much more conscious about my own health and wellbeing, and I think a happy outcome of that is I look and feel pretty decent most days!

On a related note, I watched the most inspiring Michelle Obama interview yesterday during Jordy's ultra-long nap. I loved how she said she takes her cue from her male role-models in putting herself first (or rather, a very very close second after her two daughters) in terms of wellbeing and seizing opportunities. I fully agree. A happy, confident mum = happy, confident kids I reckon.

My Current Youtube Obsession

2009-11-26T13:32:00.003+08:00

I just can't get over how talented Sam Tsui and his music partner Kurt Schneider are. I just can't stop watching these two clips!

The Joy Luck Club Goes to Bangkok!

2009-11-18T19:07:00.007+08:00

This picture pretty much captures the essence of the holiday! Four mums sans bubs, three massages, 2.5 days. Bliss

OK this is rather overdue but I have to record my first trip away from Jordy for posterity's sake!

A few months ago, the lovely Adora mooted the idea of the four mums going away for a long weekend to Bangkok sans bubs. Yes, you heard right! But first, we had to get our wonderful husbands on board with the idea. Amazingly, all four Joy Luck Club men were pretty open to the idea, everyone pencilled the dates down in their calendars, and off we went to book our tickets.

Being the Type A mom that I am, I started planning for the trip a few weeks ahead. And was rather excited to type up an Excel spreadsheet (lame I know, but there you go!) for D as a resource for his solo-parent weekend with Jordy. I present to you an excerpt from the three-page long document. I put in as much detail as I could think of, and am thankful I did, as the handover was rather seamless!

7.00am	Breakfast	Milk: 180ml (3 scoops) before breakfast. Weetbix x 1, milk, prune juice, mashed banana	Give 5ml of Multivitamins (in fridge) after breakfast. Spoon is in container next to fridge. Brush teeth. Take out fish nuggets from freezer to defrost on counter.
9.00am	Morning tea	Assortment of crackers, Gerber star puffs, Cheerios, raisins, rice crackers (depending on where you take him)	Spare crackers and Gerber puffs can be found in food cupboard above dish drying rack.
11.15-11.30am	Lunch - Homemade Fish Nuggets	1. Fish nuggets: Heat up on gentle heat in frying pan. 2. Wholemeal bread (1 slice): Spread very lightly with Vegemite and cut into squares. 3. Grapes (10+), cut into quarters.	Wash or wipe his hands before lunch.

So, with admin matters wrapped up, it remained for me to pack my very few belongings and head to the airport! Of course these few belongings now include, courtesy of my wonderful husband, the latest model of the iPod Touch. It is beautiful, sexy, sleek and I am a little too obsessed with it for my own good. I actually got a little thrill when I whipped it out in Chathuchak market to refer back to my Christmas shopping list.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

I won't go into a blow-by-blow account of where we went and what we ate, but suffice to say that we stayed in the truly marvellous Legacy Suites in Sukhumvit, grazed continually throughout the day on the gastronomic delights that only Bangkok can offer, squeezed in three massages in two and a half days, and talked and talked and talked.

I'm not sure which I cherished more, the "me" time that was so mentally and spiritually liberating, or the shared confidences with other women -who-happen-to -be-mums who share so many similar values to me. If one thing the last 15 months have taught me, it's the irony of motherhood being both the great leveller, but also the great divider.

Meet any stranger on the street, and if they are a parent, there is usually enough fodder to sustain a good 10-minute conversation. But sometimes, very quickly into the 10 minutes, you discover a thing or two that either unites you, or causes you to take a few steps back and walk in the opposite direction!

Example: a mum at my local playground asked me rather aggressively how I could even think about sending my child to a non-airconditioned childcare centre. "It will be too hot for them!" she exclaimed. I then told her that it was precisely because it was non-airconditioned that I wanted to send Jordy there. She looked at me with great dismay and didn't say anything to me after that. Hmm.

I don't mean that there is one correct style of parenting, of course not - I say amen to different strokes for different folks - but there are just some issues, sometimes even really superficial ones, that just make me want to run away screaming from the person I am talking to! Maybe this comes from one too many strange conversations with all types of caregivers at my local NTUC.

Alas, I digress yet again. It was just so lovely to be away from the routine of life with a toddler, and to not have to think about cooking the next meal or hauling a bag crammed full of Jordy-stuff for an outing. It also made me really treasure what I have, and miss my two boys in a Norman Rockwell painting kinda way.

Now, how to broach the subject of an annual Joy Luck Club holiday with D? Heh heh...

Happy 15th Month Birthday, Jordy!

2009-11-10T13:02:00.007+08:00

Classic Jordy shot at 15 months. Gleefully chasing bubbles with wild abandon.

Dear Jordy,

Happy 15th Month Birthday! Mum is going to keep this short because she's got a ton of things to do today, in preparation for... her trip to Bangkok this weekend with her girlfriends!

Now Jordy, this will be the biggest milestone for the both of us yet. Right up to this moment, the longest I've ever spent away from you is around half a day! So I'm not sure how I'm going to handle my first weekend away from you. The good thing is that I'll be with other mums, so if anything, I'm sure we'll all be going through a rainbow of emotions together.

I'm sure you're going to have a blast with your Dad though, doing all sorts of boy things together! As usual, your very anal-retentive mother has typed up an Excel spreadsheet with as many details as she can think of to help your Dad along. Not that he'll need it much I'm sure, but better just to be safe :)

Another classic Jordy shot: Running along drain grates at the park!

One thing I've noticed Jordy, is that the days seem to fly by now. Now that you take only one nap a day, it's given us more time in the mornings and afternoons to do fun stuff, like go to the park or playground - which we very often do twice a day!

Then next month we'll be off to New Zealand for Christmas and New Year's, and then January you start at Carpe Diem Kidz! I still can't quite believe how quickly you are growing.

You are one animated fellow now, especially at bed time, when you engage in long conversations with your Dad, both of usually ending up in big bellyfuls of laughter. You love your books, especially the Roadworks book from Mama Maree, and the Things That Go book that Dad bought. That pretty much sums you up actually, you love anything to do with the road (especially dashing towards it when you think we aren't looking), and anything vehicular that moves! Mum has had a few heart stopping moments so far, and I'm sure there are many more to come.

Well, to my little heart-stopper, Happy Birthday! Be good for your Dad this weekend ok?

Love lots,

Your mum

Helmet Heads Part Two

2009-11-09T13:31:00.003+08:00

Portrait of the Blogger as a Helmet Head

We went cycling again on Sunday, this time with Jordy's pal, Olive. The three of us donned our helmets, mine with its sad history of being the helmet on the highest shelf. Jordy had a lovely time I think, judging from the fact that he a) stayed awake, b) smiled for a bit, and c) had afternoon tea half way. The skies looked vaguely threatening when we had our water break, but the gusty winds blew the grey clouds away and it was back to blue skies again.

The Island Hippies looking sharp.

Is it me though, or are there many more cyclists at ECP these days? Or maybe it is just a Sunday afternoon thing. But man, cycling back to the kiosk felt a bit like weaving through traffic in Hanoi!

After cycling, we headed to dinner at gong gong and mama's - where Jordy got quite cranky as he was just really tired. We still managed to stay long enough to help blow out the candles on his cousin Young's birthday cake! Went back home, and D and I both fell into deep sleeps in the middle of putting Jordy to bed. We got up around 930pm, groggily wondering where we were!

What can I say, our hectic two-parks-a-day weekend schedule may be taking their toll! Heh heh.

Jordy at West Coast park the same morning. Notice the carpet burn on his nose, from where he fell over while riding on his car.

Five Steps to Better Heart Health (Or, How I Lowered My Cholesterol Levels By More Than a 100 Points in Two Months!)

2009-11-05T13:46:00.005+08:00

I've been meaning to post about my recent health scare for some time. But didn't want to commit pen to paper (or rather finger to keyboard) until some kind of milestone in my battle to lower my cholesterol levels had been reached.

It all started at the end of August this year. I went for a routine medical check-up, given free, as part of my women's health insurance package. I didn't expect anything unusual as medical tests have always been routine for me. At least, up until a couple of months ago. Did the usual battery of tests, or so I thought.

It wasn't until I received the medical report several days later that I discovered a) I'd never had my cholesterol levels tested before, and b) they were hideously high. Like fat-Texan-smoker-businessman-John Goodman-type levels of high. (I apologise from the outset if you are a corpulent person born in Southern USA. I mean you no insult. It's just the immediate image that comes to my mind.)

Before my check-up, I never even understood nor cared about cholesterol numbers. But when I saw that the Pathologist had written on my medical report in bright red ink "your LDL cholesterol is very high and needs management from your regular doctor. Please see you doctor for advice", I experienced a huge jolt.

My numbers read thus:

Total cholesterol = 319 (very high)
HDL Cholesterol = 61 (optimal)
LDL Cholesterol = 234 (very high)
Cholesterol ratio = 5.2 (very high)
Triglycerides = 122 (desirable)

An immediate Google search confirmed my fears that my numbers weren't just post-rich meal kind of high, but really way out into the stratosphere type high. More research (while Jordy thankfully napped) flooded my brain with a kaleidescope of information. Still reeling, I headed straight to my GP that evening, and was advised to change my diet to a low-fat one and exercise regularly. I was to return in three months for another blood test and if my numbers were still high, the GP suggested cholesterol-lowering medications.

Shaken, I resolved to develop a plan of action and stick to it, and return in three months as advised. I was also determined not to take any cholesterol-lowering meds if possible. That night, I wrote down my five step plan:

1. Limit intake of bad fats, i.e. saturated and trans-fats.

2. Increase intake of good fats, i.e. fat found in fish, olive oil, nuts, canola oil etc.

3. Increase intake of fibre, especially rolled oats, a "super food" for the heart.

4. Exercise five times a week.

5. Keep a meticulous food diary.

-------
I knew that 2, 3, and 5 would be no problem. Number 1 would be particularly difficult for me, as I really did love my deep fried chicken, chocolate cake, cream biscuits and "bah kwa" (for those unfamiliar, that's the yummiest roast pork delicacy we eat during Chinese New Year). And Number 4, try asking most stay-at-home-mums (with no helper or grandparents living at home) if they even have time to wash their face in the day, and most will give you a derisive snort! So I wasn't that confident I'd be able to make the five times a week target for exercise.

I decided to go easy on myself regarding the exercise, and try to fit in short bursts of any kind of activity with Jordy. I would count walks to the parks and supermarket, and even short sprints when I chase after him anywhere.

I also decided that in order to maintain the plan, a whole overhaul regarding what I bought in the store, and chose to put in my mouth would have to take place! So I started reading labels. And researching low-fat recipes that hopefully wouldn't compromise on taste (so very important!). And I came up with about five or six staple recipes for dinners and lunches, which would be easy to modify and adapt based on what ingredients I had.

A sample day's menu would look like this:

Breakfast
Rolled oats (cooked in water)
cranberries
honey

Snack
Fruit salad

Lunch
Thai fish cakes
Steamed broccoli

Dinner
Wholemeal cajun chicken pizza, with mushrooms and peppers (sardines or anchovies and peppers also go nicely on this pizza base)
Fruit

Snack
Olive oil chocolate chip cookies

I also took the GNC Cholesterol fish oil and plant sterol supplement, as well as garlic supplements daily.

----
I pretty much cooked my own food for 90% of meals, eating out only during the weekends.

I'll post more about my recipes in a while, but just wanted to share with everyone that I just got my latest blood test back and in two and a half months, my cholesterol readings have now reduced to:

Total cholesterol = 214 (borderline high)
HDL Cholesterol = 44 (desirable)
LDL Cholesterol = 143 (borderline high)
Cholesterol ratio = 4.9 (high)
Triglycerides = 137 (desirable)

I am beyond happy and am very inspired by my own body! Am going to persevere with my new low-fat diet and try to maintain as active a lifestyle as I can. My next blood test will be in another three months. I hope to get my cholesterol levels to the desirable range of 100+. Woo hoo!

Back in Blogland! And This Time, With Helmets!

2009-11-02T13:10:00.004+08:00

"The Helmet Heads"

Sorry for the long hiatus from the blog. The weeks have flown by in a blur of trips to the park, dealing with toddler tantrums, applauding Jordy's latest antics, hanging out with friends and me working on my CV. Yes thought it was time to update the old resume and my goodness, it was rather surreal trying to find the words again. Have sent it in to my work so they can hopefully see where I can fit in again when I return in February!

Anyway, will upload the bulk of photos to Facebook. But exclusive to the blog are details of Jordy's first ever bicycle ride! We bought him a helmet a week ago and have been hankering to finally put it in action. So yesterday morning, we all left bright and early for East Coast Park, rented our bikes and off we went.

D and I were expecting Jordy to at least kick up a fuss over the helmet and try to remove it, but no, we had none of that. In all honesty, it all went rather seamlessly. We strapped him in the bike seat, put the helmet on, and off we went. Jordy was his usual serious, unflappable self and appeared to enjoy the wind in his face, and seeing all sorts of amazing things that go - from other bicycles, to inline skaters, to scooters, airplanes, ships, and his favourite, the wakeboarders and waterskiiers at the lagoon.

Unflappable, as always.

We cycled for quite a while, then stopped by a bench for a spot of morning tea. Jordy had a wee run around, then back in the seat he went. We cycled back to the rental kiosk, and as I turned around to give father and son a wave, what a sight greeted me. Jordy, eyes closed, head bobbing, just about falling asleep! Haha. No wonder he had such a serious, spacey expression.

Mother and son at morning tea

Thank goodness, we got him out of the bike before he had well and truly started napping, got him in the car, drove home to loud nursery rhyme music, fed and bathed him before he had his long nap.

(Oh and an aside on nursery rhymes, so far D and I have exposed Jordy to all kinds of music. The ipod is usually on when he's awake at home, playing anything from Chet Baker to U2, Crowded House to the Police, Neil Young to Jack Johnson. In the car, it's either BBC, classical music or Flight of the Conchords. But one thing we haven't done is play music targeted at young children, sung by young children. It's the latter that usually gets to me, the precocious voices never fail to cause me goosebumps, not in a good way mind you, more in a fingernails on blackboard kinda way. However, we have made one concession. We bought the CD of nursery rhymes produced by the childcare he is enrolling in in January. All orignal tunes sung in English and Mandarin by the Carpe Diem kids themselves. Apart from some hideous diction, there are one or two tolerable tracks. The Mandarin songs are much better than the English ones. And Jordy seems to enjoy them. Ah well!)

So anyway back to our helmety day. After inaugural family cycling trip, D and Jordy hung out while I met up with J (although we didn't end up meeting till after the event) to go listen to Neil Gaiman talk about Graphic Novels and Fantasy and Lots of Other Amusing Anecdotes. Aside from the crazy queues, I am so happy this event was free (thank you Singapore Writers' Festival) and I have new found respect and admiration (is that possible?) for Mr Gaiman after seeing him interact with fans so graciously and good naturedly. He stayed for well over three hours after the event just to sign autographs! I know this because J and I met up with Jordy and father for afternoon tea at One Fullerton (where Jordy fell on his face while chasing a bird. Another story for another time, but the bruise is still there...) after Neil Gaiman talk, and when we went back to car park after hanging out for ages, he was STILL SITTING IN EXACTLY THE SAME POSITION! Poor, wonderful man.

Then we dropped J off, said our farewells (she's flying back to Kyoto this week. Sob.) and headed to gong gong and mamas house. Where Jordy played in the backyard in nothing but a diaper and his Hussain Bolt-esque Nike running shoes, and had a very retro bath!

All right, off to mum's group in a minute. More updates to come!

Happy 14th Month Birthday, Jordy!

2009-10-11T19:22:00.005+08:00

Jordy at 14 months, in his ubiquitous aircon singlet

Dear Jordy

It's time once again for my monthly missive to your royal jordiness.

It's been a month of real highs (much walking and general adventuring, new signs, increased understanding, lots of laughter) and lows (falling sick with your first bad cold which turned into a cough and neccesitated a visit to the doctor, then I caught the cold from you, blagh), and boy am I feeling the slings and arrows of time flying by.

We started off the day with a morning trip to the park, and the cafe (ahem, a McCafe no less) ensconced within. Dad and I decided that, what the heck, you are now all of 14 months old and positive grown up and soon will be buying yourself aftershave and leather briefcases and other grown up things, so a McDonald's happy meal wouldn't kill you. Yes, you heard right. This mother, who had thus far, been rather responsible in her stewardship of what-goes-into-you, decided to let you, for one blissful morning tea, CROSS OVER TO THE DARK SIDE.

And you just loved it. Alas, how could you not?!

You had hotcakes (but we stopped short at giving you any syrup or suspicious looking "whipped margarine"), practically finishing up one on your own. And sipping about half of the fresh milk that came with it. You even played with the Happy Meal toy! God forbid! An odd-looking Green Lantern plastic toy containing trading cards. You liked the cards better than the plastic toy though. Phew.

Hotcake heaven

After said journey to the dark side, we emerged into the light of the park, and you walked up and down and all around, crossing over mini hills and vales, in search of your favourite swings at the Ang Mo Kio park only to find them UTTERLY GONE. What was once a regular sandpit with swings, was now just a lousy old sandpit! No signs explaining sudden dissapearance. I asked a lady who was there with her children if she knew what happened, and in typical Singaporean fashion, she wouldn't look me in the eye and mumbled some half-response like "No more" or something similar. Honestly, is the art of conversation dead to my countrymen? Why are people completely unaware of how to trade pleasantries in a social context? I'm digressing, but it's like my neighbours across the way from me, everytime I wish them good morning, they look down and DO NOT RESPOND! Their children too! I don't understand...

Anyway, missing swings aside, we had a nice time and you walked around in your onesie. Which brings me to this - I suspect today will be the last time you will go out in public in a onesie. I mean, just look at that thigh exposure! Your modesty is at stake here!

Stepping out in style

After our morning jaunt, we headed to mama and gong gong's, who were eager to babysit you while Dad and I went to IKEA to shop for a new couch. You ate some of the lunch that mama so lovingly prepared for you (she went so far as to make you a back-up dish in case you didn't like choice number one, you lucky thing! And sure enough, you made faces when we tried to give you the bee chai mak with fishball soup, so had to go for option two, which was brown rice with soup, which you thankfully ate, hmph!) then we settled you down for a nap before scooting off.

When Dad and I returned a few hours later, having had a successful couch-procuring mission, plus prata at Jalan Kayu, we found you still asleep, but in mama's arms!!! You lucky thing (again!)... Apparently you woke up after an hour or so, then mama gave you milk, then carried on holding you and you just slept and slept. When you woke up, you were extremely cheerful and got into many shenanigans, like so:

Jordy attempting the downward dog asana

You listened rapt, while gong gong played the ukelele, but wriggled like a caterpillar when I tried to take a photo of you and him. Still, we managed to get a few cute shots, like this one:

We are the linesmen for the counteeee

At 14 months, you are adjusting to a new routine, moving from two naps a day, to only one (Aside from me: HELP! How to occupy active child for the whole day?!). This is day five of your new one-nap-a-day routine and you're still prone to feeling tired and cranky some of the time. Like yesterday, when we met up with Mano and Carrie and cutey Baz at Bukit Batok Nature Reserve. Poor you just felt a little out of sorts, but you tried to make the best of thing in any case! Boy has Baz grown though! And I was reminded of you when you were his age, three months, and how you used to love the jumperoo too, and all the folds of flesh that suddenly appeared as if overnight.

Babes in the park

Well, it's almost 8.30pm now and you are still not settling to sleep. I can you hear you in your room with your poor Dad! I wonder whether it's the adjustment to this one nap a day business that is mucking up your body clock. Or it could just be the sweltering night. Oh well, I better go check in on your Dad and see if you're both ok. If you have a sleep now, you'll have a much better day tomorrow, trust me. Guess you can look forward to more sagely words of wisdom in the years to come. Apologies in advance, heh!

Love you lots,

Your Mum

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

2009-10-03T14:59:00.004+08:00

Let me preface this review by saying that I usually hate it when critics label a book as "important". Important? To whom? Can you let me be the judge of what is important in my world please? Things get compounded when when another VIP says the book is the "most important environmental book" you'll ever read.

So it was with a little scepticism that I turned to the first page of The Road.

And was proven wrong almost immediately.

The Road is important. It is essential. It is the most original, hit-you-in-vital-organs-you-never-knew-you-had powerful piece of anything I have read this year. Or any year for that matter.

Defying categorisation, The Road tells of a journey taken by a father and a son. They are nameless, and the landscape they travel through is cauterised, bleak and dead. There are no lengthy explanations of what happened to cause such complete and final destruction to Earth, just tantalising hints. The man and boy are travelling south, to what they hope is warmer weather, and life.

Cormac McCarthy paints the despair and hopelessness of their situation in language at once spare, and heartbreaking. Here is a storyteller with a true gift of poetry; he creates a lexicon for this post-apocalyptic world that, as one reviewer so rightly put it, is Biblical in scope. In an ironic juxtaposition, McCarthy unleashes his potent vocabulary in his descriptions of a world slowly bleeding away its nouns, adjectives, verbs, and interestingly, punctuation, as it becomes more grey and moribund by the season.

The reader is assailed by wave after wave of unavoidable imagery: the greyness "like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world"; where "(t)he ashes of the late world carried on the bleak and temporal winds to and fro in the void." The countless dead they pass along their journey are conjured up in their full horror: "The flesh cloven along the bones, the ligaments dried to tug and taut as wires. Shriveled and drawn like latterday bogfolk."

The whole situation may seem hopeless to the reader, but really, what can the father and son do? They are "each the other's world entire", and McCarthy reveals the man's thoughts: "He knew only that the child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke." So with those words, their journey becomes a quest, the Fisher King roaming the waste land to make it fecund again. (Aside: Sorry, this is the literature student who studied one too many T.S. Eliot poems talking. But I did feel a strong connection between this book and Eliot's The Waste Land.)

To me, reading The Road was like being in a dream, where I'm attending a wake (yes, bring on The Sandman allusions here too). But this is no ordinary wake, I'm sitting there listening to a disembodied voice read out the eulogy for the Earth.

Academic Richard Katula says "that a classic eulogy contains two parts: praise for the dead and advice for the living". In that case, The Road is a post-modern, post-recycling, post-sustainability eulogy then. The dead are not praised. They are forgotten; mummified in their moment of terror and regret. But it is in the living - and I shan't give away any spoilers here - that McCarthy eventually concentrates his message on. I finished the book in a half-daze. knowing that I would tell as many people as I could to read it.

For me, I came away so thankful for what I have, and ashamed at what could be: "Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it."

Godpa James Pays a Visit!

2009-09-25T10:22:00.009+08:00

Taken just before Godpa tried to give Diet Coke to godson. Harumph.

Godpa James came to visit over the long weekend just passed. We had a lovely time (and hope James did too! heh heh) in spite of Jordy being crankier than usual due to the emergence of his eighth tooth!

Jordy's mama very kindly Jordysat on Saturday evening so the three of us went for a rather spectacular dinner at the new NUS Guildhouse at the Cluny Road campus. We each had a four-course meal, and I think I did rather well choosing a cholesterol-friendly option. From recollection I had

- Salmon carpaccio with mesculun salad
- Lobster and lemongrass broth
- Steamed sea bass on this yummy cabbage thingy with some kind of mashed sweet potato (the menu made it sound much nicer than my attempt here)
- Chocolate cake with morello cherries and vanilla gelato (my one major LDL splurge for the evening)

Healthy (but yummy) main course

The men both had ultra fatty-looking lamb shanks, yeeesh! I'm thankful I went with the sea bass! It was also an exceptionally cool night, so much so that we turned off the outdoor air-conditioner pointed right at us. Was also very nostalgic dining in a campus. I think we all wanted to go off somewhere to do another degree. The short walk back to the car made me realise how much I miss academic life! Though I could do without the rich kids (law students most likely) parading around in their strange clothes and sports cars. God, I sound so old just typing that! Ah well.

Like old times

We returned home to find mama finishing up the Keira Knightley-version of Pride and Prejudice, so sat down and watched the last 10 minutes (the best part in my opinion) with her. Despite the teething crankiness, Jordy slept through but woke up bright and early on Sunday.

Before heading out to town.

We braved town on a weekend and went to ION, had a pretty great lunch at Marmalade Pantry (except the coffee sucked according to the men). Then Jordy threw his first humungous mall tantrum (after I repeatedly refused to let him go near the escalator, which we wanted to touch and walk on) - he arched his back, then curled himself up when I tried to pick him up. In the end, I scooped him up somehow and walked as quickly as I could into nearest store with distractions, which serendipitously turned out to be a cuckoo clock shop of all things! Of course he loved it, and started smiling again. This episode made me freak out a little at this new phase of Jordiness, especially since he is NOT A SMALL CHILD and is a challenge to contain. Will take each day as it comes and say OM repeatedly.

(Aside: After talking to Sandy yesterday, we agree that our kids at least, are not mall kids. They'd much rather hang out in the park, walking around and looking at leaves, than sitting in a stroller looking at purchasable items and people milling around. I don't blame them, shopping doesn't become much fun until you have the means to buy whatever you want!)

The next morning we left bright and early for Sentosa, where D took Jordy for a swim in the sea, I got completely soaked trying to take a picture of them (idiotic splashy tourist next to me) and James had a kaya waffle. Haha! We then went for a l-o-n-g walk (Palawan to Tanjong Beach and back, about an hour) in the hopes of settling Jordy for his morning nap. He went to sleep only 55minutes in the walk, but that left us with some time to get drinks from Coffee Bean after.

Couple of Baywatch extras

We zoomed home after Sentosa to change and meet Dean for lunch at Samy's curry. Delicious, I threw cholesterol caution to the wind and tucked into briyani rice, chicken tikka, bagadil, fried fish, pappadoms, dhal, and veges. I figure the occasional anomaly in my new low-bad-fat/high-good-fat diet is only human, and humane.

Jordy had his lunch too, then wanted to walk repeatedly up and down the garden path. No metaphorical puns intended. That's literally all he wanted to do. Oh, and to squat down and scrutinise the occasional leaf or cigarette butt. One thing this new phase is teaching me is patience. Patience, and to put myself into Jordy's (small) shoes and realise that every day is a new discovery. Even the metal grates that cover drains are of interest to him, along with tiny caterpillars on leaves, and to my squeamishness today, a not-that-well-concealed grasshopper!

After such a lunch, it was a unanimous decision to head somewhere for a chilled dessert. Sped round the corner to Island Creamery, where I had a scoop of their excellent Blackforest and Jordy tried to take over Dean's nutella ice cream. This was only his second ice cream experience, the first being on the day of his birthday. He experienced a full-body shiver, and was the dictionary definition of happy. He even delighted in biting on the disposable ice cream spatula. Then it was back home to see Godpa James off!

Not great lighting, but hey, at least we're all facing the same way!

Well, hope Godpa James comes back to visit soon! In anycase, will be seeing him in November when I take off on my first Jordy-less weekend ever, with the three other yummy mummies, for a weekend of everything and anything in Bangkok. Thanks to our amazing husbands for affording us this opportunity, and of course to our wonderful bubs who teach us each day what is important in life (e.g. an all-mum weekend away to recharge, heh heh!).

Walk This Way (Talk This Way)

2009-09-15T20:03:00.002+08:00

I think it's quite official. Jordy's walking!

And by walking, I mean he's gone from shuffling one or two steps unassisted, to today's whopper of an effort walking from the ipod to the piano. For those of you who have never been to our apartment, that's about 15 Jordy steps!

Most times, he still prefers to hold on to one of our hands, and, like so, can walk around rather confidently for a good 10 minutes.

To honour his new found feet, I brought him to Clarks for his first proper shoe fitting. He is a 5G. I got him a sturdy pair of cruising shoes, which looked breathable enough for Singapore weather as well as our year-end trip to New Zealand.

It really is lots of fun walking around with him. Think this ushers in a WHOLE new era Jordy-wise, not to mention metabolism-wise!

Happy 13th Month Birthday, Jordy!

2009-09-10T20:02:00.005+08:00

Extremely tickled by bubbles

Dear Jordy,

Happy, Happy 13th Month Birthday! We had a lovely day today despite the crazy heat. Had a relatively quiet morning playing with your toys at home, then going for a walk around the neighbourhood before lunch. After your second nap, we met up with BFF Olive, who just got back from the UK! We were so happy to see that she is back to her perky self and you two had a low-key afternoon hanging out at West Coast Park.

Mum holds the dinkiest automatic "xiao ding dang" bubble blowing machine while you chuckle in glee

The past month has really zoomed by, and I suspect this will be the way of things moving forward. Here's a tiny snapshot of you at 13 months:

* You love waving at everyone, and clapping your hands when you are happy.

* Your favourite body part at the moment is your bellybutton, which you can point to when we ask you "Where's Jordy's bellybutton?". You come over to me and pull my top up and poke at my navel when I ask "Where's mummy's bellybutton?" You can also point out mummy's hair, nose and ears when asked, as well as your own toes!

* You love putting on shoes, as well as matching shoes together on the shoe rack.

* You can now semi-read along to one of your favourite books "Moo, Baa, La La La". At certain pages, you will make the matching sound, like "Bow wow wow" for dog and you're especially cute when you try to say the title.

* You walked holding on only to my right hand, for almost 10 minutes in the park today. You have taken six independent steps so far!

* Just today, you started doing the Red Indian (sorry I know this is a horrible term, but Native American just seemed too patronising) war cry motion like on the cartoons of old, covering your mouth with your hand going "wa wa wa". Quite cute really.

* I can't think of anything else at the moment, but I will just end off this sundry list by saying that you are very surprising company right now. We never know what new "skill" you will acquire when, and it's all so exciting, watching your individuality unfold.

With BFF Olive at McCafe. Don't worry, Jordy had organic crunchy snacky things, Olive ate half a corn cob, and only the mums had evil things. And even then, I only had a lemon tea because of recent high cholesterol scare. Sigh.

Can't wait for you to toddle alongside Daddy in the weekend. I must admit that's s the image I had in my mind when I first learnt you were going to be a Jordan and not an, err, Jane. My two men walking on the water's edge.

Well, Dad's just emerged from your bedroom, and given me the thumbs-up sign, which must mean you are in dreamland. Have wonderful Birthday dreams Jordy. We love you very much.

xxoo
Your Mum

The Return of the Turnips (Or, Weekend at Rasa Sentosa)

2009-09-08T21:01:00.004+08:00

Jordy slept through the self-guided tour of the beautiful grounds where his parents got married

Just came back from an amazing long weekend at Rasa Sentosa.

The last time we were there was for our Singapore-leg of the wedding, almost exactly four years ago! We lived it up in the honeymoon suite (that had a huge balcony which could comfortably fit more than 20 people) and received the most wonderful service. Now, four years later, baby in tow, we returned and quietly marvelled at how our lives have changed since. No more nightlife, for one!

We had three rooms in total, The Turnips in one, gong gong and mama in one, and the Three Musketeer cousins (and parents of course!) in the other. The rooms overlooked the sea, and it was magical watching the merry lights from the ships and boats sparkle on the horizon at night.

Jordy was a major champ, sleeping soundly in the hotel playpen (first time in a bed with mesh walls. He was a bit perplexed at first but adapted quickly), feasting like a hobbit on a mix of home-brought fruit, jarred baby food and to my happiness, some fishball noodles from the foodcourt the first dinner, and most of the chicken and vegetable broth we ordered from room service for lunch the next day. It was quite a milestone (for mummy at least) watching him eat "outside" food for the first time.

The only down side was the early morning waking we had - he woke at 5ish (!) on both mornings much to our dismay. Needless to say, we were one of the first guests at the breakfast buffet each day, haha. Oh yes, and Jordy very much liked the pancakes, waffles, blueberry sauce and fruits from the breakfast line.

In-room dining Turnip style

We made full use of Rasa's great facilities, swimming every day, playing basketball in the games arcade, and Jordy just loved the toddler's playroom. He climbed up the slide and swooshed down, hung out in a police car, and practiced his walking by pushing said police car all over the place. In between that, he loved playing with his toys in our room, and pushing his walker all through the corridors! He amazed us by pushing his walker into a lift filled with guests, standing patiently while the lift descended, then casually pushing his walker out when the lift reached his floor. What can I say, this kid is made for resort living.

"Is there a problem?" Constable Jordy asked.

The other major thing from the weekend was how he's coping better and better when eating out. He hangs out in his high chair for much longer stretches of time now (plied with entertainment of course. Things that work include: favourite books of a vehicular nature, containers and lids, toys that move and make noise like toy phones, plastic animals etc, utensils, teething rings, Cheerios and Gerber Puffs, his Tolo man, and little cars).

He's also sleeping a little later these days, around 7.45 to 8pm as opposed to the 7pm lights out of the previous year! So it was such a novel thing to have dinner with the whole family, and not be thinking something was amiss because we'd missed Jordy's bedtime. Definitely taken a year for me to vaguely relax a bit about the whole sleeping thing, and even then, I still get antsy when he takes a long time to settle (like tonight, about 40 minutes), but the good nights definitely outnumber the not-so-good nights.

Dinner with the whanau

Anyway, had a really restful time at Rasa, and finished reading Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book there as well. Full review to come, but in a nutshell, my favourite Neil Gaiman novel to date! Enjoyed it even more than American Gods! Now I'm back to reading my first "local" fiction in a long time, Suchen Christine Lim's The Lies that Build a Marriage. Fairly excellent so far, thanks heaps to Phil and Sandy for giving it to me. Ok it's 9.36pm and I'm sleepy. Off to bed!

Last Weekend

2009-09-02T14:44:00.005+08:00

Jordy contemplates the flicker of a flame in his gorgeous kimono onesie from Aunty Janice all the way from Kyoto - what you cannot see though, are the unbuttoned buttons near his thigh due to err, severe poppage from his Incredible-Hulk-Thighs

I can't believe it's September already! I've never been more conscious of the passing of time. I think it's because I've spent the last couple of nights going through photos from the past year, and trying to fill in postdated entries into Jordy's baby book - I know, I know, I have been remiss in my duties as chief chronicler of milestones reached - but you know, there are trikes to be ridden, and many grapes to peel!

So last weekend. Started bright and early when I went for a comprehensive health check-up (free with my insurance plan, yay!) and had an ECG done for the first time. Strange and full of gel. Then had a most lazy breakfast while doing annual rereading of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, specifically, The Amber Spyglass - both the breakfast and the book were first rate. I scanned the papers looking for a morning movie to catch - this I must add, was the inspired suggestion of most wonderful D, who was spending father-son guy time with Jordy. Timings were such that the only ones that I was vaguely interested in were a) District 9, b) The Proposal. Gritty, ground-breaking Sci-Fi vs harmles, rom-com fluff. I went with the fluff, and was very pleased with my decision. The Proposal was extremely easy on the eye and brain, as were Ryan Reynold's abs and Sandra Bullocks lovely clothes. I even teared at a few points in the movie! Oh, and I got to check out the brand new cinemas at Iluma, which were lovely. There was only one other person at the 1045am screening. HEAVEN.

Then, went home feeling completely refreshed, and opened the front door to be greeted by the HUGEST smile from the hugest baby. Jordy scuttled over and gave me a hug. What a moment. D looked a little tired but he said he enjoyed his morning. Let's hope so, 'cos I'm hoping to make this a monthly affair! The Time Traveller's Wife next I think! On a random note, I probably didn't choose the best analogy when I exclaimed to David how my perfect morning felt like a scene in David Lean's Brief Encounter, one of my favourite movies.

Aunty Janice came and spent the afternoon with us, which was lovely. And gave Jordy the loveliest kimono-onesie outfit from Kyoto, pictured above. We hung out at home, then all trooped out to Labrador Park (after aborted attempt at going to West Coast Park which was FULL TO THE BRIM with kite fliers and their hangers-on) for a walk. Or rather Jordy rode on his trike and looked at wind sculptures and giant radars while the adults walked.

On Sunday, we went for the loveliest family lunch at Halia Restaurant in the Botanic Gardens. It was Ah Ee Amy's 74th birthday, though she honestly does not look a year older than 65! Jordy wore his little Japanese suit, and was delightfully behaved. The food and service were impeccable. I especially loved my dessert, which was a banana custard crepe and toasted nuts with chocolate clotted cream poured over, as below. And the cake. THE CAKE! That deserves its own post. Suffice to say, we know what we are going to order for my mum's 60th now. No more namby pamby cupcakes. The cake will be gotten from Choc-a-bloc. Yessiree.

I had to quell the urge to drink the chocolate clotted cream straight from the little cup.

While the adults enjoyed our four course meal, Jordy indulged in his own degustation menu. Here you see him on course number 4.5, golden Zespri with a garnish of Midnight Beauty seedless black grapes. After he ate, he smiled at everyone and played with his toys and read his books. He's turning out rather delightfully!

"Garcon! Garcon! Zere ees a fly ein my froot. Ah never mind, I'll just eat it."

After lunch and cake, Mama Daisie managed to score a whole bag of old bread from a nearby kiosk (go Mama!) and the whole family proceeded to feed the turtles, scary catfish and koi in the pond. It was great fun, except the point where Jordy tried to eat the stale bread. Hmm!

Jordy thinks: "I don't get it, why are are we throwing away perfectly good food at those creatures who move so slowly? Shouldn't it be the fastest man/fish/turtle wins?"

After the feeding frenzy, we adjourned to Aunty Dawn's house where Jordy, though exhausted, proceeded to skip his afternoon nap, more interested instead in grabbing his poor cousin Tyan's head. Tyan was sleeping on the next mattress, perfectly minding his own business but would Jordy leave him alone? Nooo. So in the end we brought him downstairs and Dad tried to ergo him to Da Paulo to get coffee but that didn't work so he just stayed awake and played musical instruments with us.

What can I say? It's September, Jordy is almost 13 months old (and still not walking unassisted! Though a speed demon with his push toys), he's on the cusp of toddlerhood and he's definitely getting a mind of his own.

Mum says, bring it on!

Jordy says, "Car!"

"Hmm?"

Jordy Loves the Cold!

2009-08-21T14:03:00.003+08:00

This bodes well for our upcoming trip to New Zealand. I'm trying to get Jordy used to the idea of cold, you see, and he is apparently rather tickled by my lovely cold cup of bubble tea.

We're bringing him to the doctor on Monday for his pneumoccocal booster jab, and I can't wait to see what he will weigh in at. My guess is he is over 11kg. Height is another issue altogether. It is frustratingly difficult to get a proper measurement, but my efforts have always yielded a figure around the 76cm mark. Ah well, we shall see!

In other Jordy-related news,

* NO, he is still not walking, though he is very, very fast when he is behind his push-toy walker thingy. We brought him to the airport on Sunday and he pushed himself around for about half an hour!

* YES, he is just about there when it comes to self-feeding. Hands, and not spoon of course. He usually does best at lunch, preferring still to be fed at dinner time (probably because that's when he has less energy and patience I suppose). Today, he fed himself one wedge of a tomato-zucchini frittata, one slice of wholemeal bread, 3/4 of a golden kiwi and 12 grapes (cut in halves). Everything has to be chopped up into Jordy-palm-sized pieces, and amazingly, he will feed himself the whole lot, thus freeing me up to have my own lunch alongside him. Very nice and civilised turn of events I must say.

* NO, he is still not saying many words. He now uses "CAR" to encapsulate everything good in his life. "Car" can mean anything from car, truck, bus, cold, cow, food. But he reserves "Bye" for motorcycles and bicycles. "Mum" means me or "Feed me mum, I'm in desperate need of nourishment."

* YES, he loves his new trike, and can hang out in it (when he's not too tired) for a good 45 minutes while I wheel him around the neighbourhood. He particularly loves it when I go up to a few of his neighbourhood doggie friends for an up-close-and-personal canine experience. Of special interest are the noses and ears of dogs.

Oops, huge thunderstorm happening right now, and Jordy isn't settling for his afternoon nap! Gotta go hang out with the boy and his favourite little sheepie. Later!

Happy 1st Birthday Jordy! We Made It!

2009-08-10T07:52:00.000+08:00

Dear Jordy,

Happy Birthday to you, our wonderful not-so-little man. I'm on one hand amazed and excited, and on the other ever-so-slightly wistful, that we're all of us here, at this milestone in your life.

Looking at the modest little movie* Daddy and I made to honour this day, the photos and videos do capture some of the tiny, miraculous moments that have come to pass this first year of your being. But what they don't capture is how so subtly, our lives have acquired that much more resonance. As if you've come along and made what was once a perfectly adequate flower bed into a Van Gogh sunflower field. Yes, all the mad swirls of paint included!

Before you came along, I wondered how we would fare as parents, or more precisely, how I would fare as a mum. Your dad I knew, was MEANT to be a dad. If anyone was more suited to dadhood, well, I just hadn't met or heard of them I guess. But your ol' mum here? Well, that's a different matter, heh.

Where your dad has the patience and forebearance of a saint (nay, an aunty out to redeem her coupons: think here of an aunty who will wait serenely for hours to redeem a $2 item with 20 coupons and you get where I am coming from), your mum is err, let's just say a little more hot-headed and temperamental. I am quick to anger but quick to forgive!

Well, I was more than slightly worried about how I'd deal with things when you fussed or cried, and true enough, the first couple of weeks of your life did test me (though now in hindsight, as far as babies go, we pretty much struck jackpot! You never had colic, fussed occassionally in the evenings the first few weeks of your life, and first slept through at three months... but I didn't know then what I know now!). And your dad and I, well we worked as a team, and that team then grew to include you.

Well, if one thing I have learnt from your first year, is that, you, Jordy the Lordy of the House, have taught me how to be a mum; and I think you were a pretty good teacher at that. You taught me that one bad night does not a bad week make, that a child's laugh can heal most anything, that there is magic in sitting at a bus stop and looking at traffic go by, that success is family life writ large, and most importantly, that spaghetti sauce is just spaghetti sauce AND WILL WASH OUT OF MY HAIR SO GET OVER IT.

You, my friend, have taught me to let go of certain things and value what is important. And for that, I am ever grateful.

Well, there is still cake to be had and toys to be played with on this day, so I will end off this special birthday missive with a little blessing that your gong gong sent to the family to commemmorate your birth a year ago.

May each word hold true in your life.

Love,
Your Mum xxoo

Irish Blessing

I wish you not a path devoid of clouds,
Nor a life on a bed of roses,
Not that you might never need regret,
Nor that you should never feel pain.

No, that is not my wish for you.

My wish for you is:
That you might be brave in times of trial,
When others lay crosses upon your shoulders,
When mountains must be climbed,
And chasms are to be crossed;
When hope scarce can shine through.

That every gift God gave you might grow along with you,
And let you give the gift of joy to all that care for you.

That you may always have a friend who is worthy of the name,
Whom you can trust, and who helps in times of sadness.
Who will defy the storms of daily life at your side.

One more wish I have for you.
That in every hour of joy and pain you feel God close to you.
This is my hope for you now and forever.
This is my wish for you and all who care for you.

* This is our first attempt at a video using Windows Movie Maker. Very simple to use, and we're kinda proud of the product. Enjoy!

Turnip Fourth Wedding Anniversary

2009-08-06T14:11:00.010+08:00

Happy fourth wedding anniversary to me and D! According to tradition (British that is), the fourth anniversary is the fruit and flower anniversary. That's rather lovely isn't it? Better than paper and cotton I reckon! Four years ago this day, we had a blast on a balmy evening in Sentosa. It wasn't our first wedding though. That honour went to a small ceremony several months before which took place in Glenfalloch Gardens in Dunedin.

It was wonderful having two weddings. Two dresses, two sets of music playlists, two cakes, two bouquets (though the second time I just held a gerberra), two parties in two hemispheres!

Sadly, we're missing out on our good friend Lichelle's wedding in the Philippines this weekend. We missed her first wedding in Barcelona. We just thought it would be too much travel too soon for the little Turnip. Ah well, from us to you Lichelle and Rafa, have a beautiful day. And a beautiful life ahead! Two weddings is so the way to go!

So we'll stay back this long National Day weekend in hazy Singapore, and hang out with Jordy as he officially turns one on Monday. What an achievement Jordy!

And on the subject of achievements, Jordy had his first taste of Vegemite this morning! I spread it on a brown rice cracker and his Kiwi side certainly came out. He was shaking his legs as he wolfed it down! This clip was taken right after the Vegemite moment. He had, by then, progressed on to a few Cheerios. Notice the contentment.

Anyway, presenting: How much is that doggy in the window? (Note: I am not known for the accuracy of song lyrics when I sing.)

Jordy's First Birthday Party, A Prologue on Cake

2009-08-01T21:15:00.006+08:00

Wow! I'm writing this after Jordy's first birthday party (his real birthday isn't till the 10th but we thought we'd celebrate a week early as it is a long weekend next week) and we all had a truly lovely time. Birthday boy included!

I'll post more on the birthday party itself in a later post, but I just wanted to capture how much fun we had making his cake. This, despite D's and my differing cake visions (which resulted in a bit of a marital row). Now bear in mind that previous cake decoration attempts were rather harmonious. I mean, just check out our A380 cake from 2005!

I'll elaborate. I basically spent most of yesterday baking - I made three tiers of a 9" round cake, and one loaf tin. With only one round silicone baking tin, that meant baking three times. Used a recipe I gleaned from the superb Betty Crocker cookbook (the retro one that comes in a large ring binder?) - it was the first time I've used Cake Flour instead of plain or self-raising and I think it made all the difference. And the recipe used a surprisingly small amount of butter and sugar so all the more I was for it.

Anyway, baking while looking after a very active baby does have its challenges. Jordy cooperated, sleeping exactly when he was supposed to, and playing nicely while I did the mixing of ingredients. So, what did I do while spending much of the day in the kitchen by a hot oven?

I had cake visions. See, I planned a three-tier round cake, with two little boxy cars made out of rectangles cut from the loaf. Two Volvos on a road if you will, with giant piped letters "Brrm Brrm" below.

So cue this morning, when I am beside myself with excitement at the prospect of making frosting and finally decorating the cake (all bakers know this is the fun part in the whole process). And along comes D with his alternative cake vision.

What the ?#@!, you may so rightly ask. Give the poor mum/baker/coolie her time in the decorating chair! Let her do it her way! But noooo, D came along with his own vision, of shaving the chocolate cake-loaf to resemble one ginormous car that would take up the whole cake, and that just messed with my head y'know?

But guess what? Yes, like an Aesop fable, this story does have a little moral, which is this: Keep an open mind, and the (cake) universe may just fall into place.

So. After whining for a bit, I told myself to let go and voila, two cake visions culminated into one huge, wonderful cake for Jordy's first birthday party!

Presenting you, a little photo-essay entitled: Cake, The Making of.

Firm foundations: Three 9" Round Tiers and a Chocolate Loaf

D sculpting a car out of the chocolate loaf

I requested a little urban hatchback and my wish was granted!

Next, ice the car in a sunny yellow, and notice the innovative use of the better half of an oreo for wheels!

We make a road out of chocolate pebbles and wafer crumbs, and pipe in windscreens, windows and door handles.

We decide at the last minute to make eyes and a face, and I'm told by my nephews that the car turned out looking a lot like Lightning McQueen (and I never saw the movie!)

Last step: Place the ubiquitous "1" candle on cake, place birthday boy in front of cake, cue birthday song on ukelele, and a festive occasion you shall have!

Weekend at the Fairmont

2009-07-26T19:46:00.007+08:00

Enjoying the paper on the God-only-knows-how-many threadcount sheets.

Jordy recovered from his fever just in time to enjoy a weekend at the Fairmont. Poor D was down with a scratchy throat but had a good time anyway. What we missed out in terms of swimming in the lovely hotel pool we more than made up for in terms of eating! Argh. Have to go back to a more disciplined me come Monday.

The cot provided by the hotel was a big hit with Jordy, think it's something to do with the higher thread count cot sheets. And the cute Mickey Mouse toy and complimentary Kodomo baby bath and shower set was a hit with me!

King of the cot!

We spent most of our time hanging out in the room - we even brought Jordy's favourite toy of the moment, his walker. Which he proceeded to explore every crevice of the room with, and then, not content to merely walk within the four walls of our room, he proceeded to the great wide yonder.

It was like scenes from a dream unfolding - never-ending corridors, all plush and cool, perfect for our fledging walker to speed on. I asked D if it might be a bit like a bad dream, but he said, nah, it's more like a really good one for Jordy!

He started at the lift lobby, admiring himself in the mirror:

Ooooh. Shiny...

Then realised that the corridors just went on and on:

Woo hoo!

And on:

Whee!

It was like witnessing Odysseus returning home after the Trojan War. Or should that be Jordysseus?

After what seemed like a long time walking, Jordy decided to stop for a nice view with his dad.

Jordysseus pauses to take in the view of his kingdom (I'm tempted to make a bad pun on Ithaca, like, Itaka - Takashimaya, get it? Haw, haw, Sorry I know I have sealed my geekhood with this comment).

In all, a lovely, dare I say, restful weekend! Our Mr J loved the cot and slept right though, even through the booming National Day fireworks (he woke briefly at 10pm but I shan't complain)! Amazing.

And in the morning, we all got up around 6ish (rather Jordy got up and played then threw his sheep out of the cot and yelled for us), watched the sun come up over the city, had breakfast at McDonald's (EVIL. eeeeevil) and then went for a lovely walk by the waterfront. Returned just in time for Jordy's morning nap. Dad had a read of The Children's Book and a little snooze, and Mum carried on her rediscovery of the sublime splendour that is The Sandman (I'm doing my annual re-reading of all 75 issues you see).

All the previous times we've done our Fairmont weekends (thanks mum for your annual Christmas and Birthday presents!), it's just been as a quiet twosome, always going out for lovely meals, strolls, some shopping, endless trips to Cedele, a massage or two thrown in, lazing by the pool. I kinda wondered how it would all be with our new permanent flatmate thrown in, and I must say, he adapted rather well (maybe a bit too well!) to resort living. Can see us having a bit of a blast in years to come!

Halyey Westenra does Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin at World Games 2009

2009-07-24T18:07:00.004+08:00

I just love this performance. NZ's own Hayley Westenra truly has an ethereal voice.

Oh, and thanks for everyone's concern! Jordy is now almost back to normal. After his fever abated yesterday morning, he developed a light rash. We went to the doctor for the third night in a row, and he advised us that it was quite common, and the rash was nothing to be concerned about. True enough, by this morning, the rash has all bt cleared up. Jordy is also back to 80% of his normal appetite (still rejecting golden kiwifruit but pretty much finished lunch and dinner) and we're spending the weekend at a luxurious room at the Fairmont Singapore! Fluffy hotel bedlinen here we come!

Fever in the Morning, Fever When You Hold Me Tight

2009-07-22T20:25:00.002+08:00

Poor Jordy has been down with a fever since yesterday afternoon. It all started in the weekend, when he seemed rather listless while his mama and gong gong were babysitting him while D and I went to watch Harry Potter (excellent by the way!). He then refused most of his dinner (MOST unlike him) but still slept through till morning.

On Monday, we went to Polliwogs in the afternoon with Sandy and Olive, and Jordy was definitely not himself. Something was bothering him, he was drooling a fair bit, and just unable to settle down and play happily. Poor thing. He slept well that night though.

Tuesday, we had our usual playground date with Pearly and Dylan, Jordy was a little cranky, though he had fun zooming his cars around the jungle gym. He settled well in his afternoon nap, and when he awoke, greeted me with a monkey grin. When I picked him up from the cot, he felt like a little hot lump of coal. Took his temperature and it was 38.6! Freaked out a bit, as he's never had such a high temperature before. Decided to monitor his temperature and it climbed steadily.

When D came home, we decided to bring him to our neighbourhood GP, and when Jordy was seen by the doc at around 7.30pm, had a temperature of 39.4 degrees! Migoodness, he also showed his err, Samson-ite tendencies by struggling to break free of daddy's arms and not wanting to show the nice doc his tongue. Ah well, we were prescribed Brufen and Paracetamol, told to dress him in cooling clothes, give him regular tepid sponge baths and monitor his temperature.

Today, D worked from home, and Jordy woke up at 6am and took two short naps. In between, he played, but not with his usual verve. And he didn't get the hang of, just sit back and relax and read a book, so into his comfy chair he went and we let him watch THREE (!) Baby Einsteins today. If anything, it enabled him to just sit and rest, and not try beating his timelaps by walking around the house!

In the afternoon, I brought him for a drive and a short walk to return our library books, but by the time I returned home after an hour, his fever had spiked again to 39.4. So off we went to the lovely doc again (who didn't charge us, bless his soul) and were again told to just monitor him, as he still looked "feisty" (doc's word not mine! haha) and was well-hydrated (even though he only ate half his lunch and NONE of his dinner. merely has a few spoonfuls of yogurt and strawberry, and only about a cup of water all day... how?! oh and about 75% of his normal milk intake). If the fever goes past 40 degrees, doc's advice was to send him to KK where they can rule out, amongst other things, bacterial infection.

But doc's guess is that Jordy has a viral fever. More than one friend has warned me to watch out for Roseola, so I'm going to keep checking for any tell-tale rashes. And of course, with H1N1, Hand Foot Mouth, and all kinds of other scary things out there, I'm alternating between chilled out and trying-to-be-calm mum of feverish child, and oh-my-god-I-need-to-google-those-symptoms-first-timer-mum.

ACK! Anyway, tomorrow D needs to be at work so I'll be going solo with a poorly (but strong) baby so wish me luck!

The Ball Pit at Polliwogs and a Declaration

2009-07-18T10:48:00.003+08:00

Jordy had his first ever play in the ball pit yesterday. The guy just dove right in and had a blast. Then about five minutes later decided it was a bit too much and wanted to crawl around the huge padded playground at Polliwogs instead!

He also managed to hold his own amongst the older kids who were running around maniacally (aside: oh god, is that what is in store for us?!). He politely side-swiped a much bigger boy who was trying to push him off the slide and only crawled away when he was good and ready. Good on you, Jordy!

Just realised I didn't manage to get pictures of him with the other babies. We met Constance and Isaac there, and a few of her mum and bub friends. Quite lovely to see so many other babies so close in age to Jordy. One thing for sure, on the nature vs nurture debate, I'm veering towards nature. There are some traits in Jordy which I just think are just HIM. He didn't learn this fierce streak of independence from me, he's got a very strong sense of self and is confident when playing. He's not a lap baby (i.e. baby who likes to sit on mum's lap) and prefers to wander off by himself. Actually, he sounds like his dad. Hmm, ok so maybe I don't have the nature vs nurture thing all wrapped up.

Anyway, it's just amazing watching his personality and preferences unfold. We were feeding him lunch at Coffee Bean yesterday and he was jumping up and down in his high chair when we laid out his bread on the high chair table, and proclaiming very excitedly when he saw the yogurt container. I mean, who taught him to do that?! He was so entertaining that an American guy in the table next to us (they were separated by a glass screen) came over after his meal and thanked Jordy for entertaining him all through lunch with his cuteness. He tried to interest Jordy in the glasses on top of his head but Jordy just stared at him and carried on chewing his teething ring.

Ah well, all these experiences this past year have provided much inspiration and fodder for a possible short story or book I think. I've always dreamt but never really had the courage to put pen to paper (or rather, finger to keyboard), but several conversations in the past weeks have given me quite a lot of encouragement and hope. Ah well, I may not be a J. K. Rowling writing Harry Potter from a cafe (and she was a single mom some more!), but I really need to knuckle down and DO SOMETHING.

Anyway, the first step is actually committing this in writing in a public space, i.e. this blog, which is probably only read by like five people (you know who you are!) but it's a start. So be ye the first to know, that I, Camel Mummy to Jordy, intend to finally start work on a draft of something-or-other. May take a few years but hey, to borrow an adage, the longest manuscript begins with a single word.

The Children's Book, by A S Byatt

2009-07-15T11:30:00.002+08:00

I'm not sure I'll find a book to top this one for quite some time.

This is, put simply, my favourite book in recent memory - and not just because the cover is sumptuously beautiful!

Byatt's Possession is one of my favourite books of all time, but my attempts at reading her other works have been dismal. So with trepidation, I started on her latest offering The Children's Book. Needn't have feared as, though it was complex and difficult at times, the book was so well-thought out, so meticulously researched and perfectly plotted, that I felt the twin urges of speeding through it to find out what happens to the characters, and poring over every word and detail as the writing was so stunning.

Set in Edwardian England, the book is a masterful tapestry of the domestic and the epic - somehow managing to convey both the tiniest details of fin de siecle life and the meta forces that swirl around our flock of characters. And what sets The Children's Book apart from most other books I've read in recent years, what puts it in a different stratosphere, is Byatt's ability to galvanise all her analysis, her historical research, her wonderful use of well-known figures of the time into something altogether new. The power of her descriptive writing made me feel like I was right there at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, or in the dark shadows of a German puppet theatre. Of particular delight was her exploration of different fairy tales, how Grimm's Cinderella was the misshapen-twin-in-the-attic to Disney's technicolour offering to the world.

This book has something for everyone. It is also quite possibly, the BEST value-for-money read out there. And I cringe to think we spent the equivalent buying Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Angel's Game, which as David put it, is Dan Brown in Barcelona.

So. Read it, read it, read it. Certainly some of the best few afternoons and evenings spent in my life :)

Happy 11th Month Birthday, Jordy!

2009-07-10T19:49:00.005+08:00

Birthday jaunt in the park. You had fun rolling your car all over the grass!

Dear Jordy,

Happy 11th month birthday! Life is getting more and more exciting in the Turnip household. It's almost like you are going into hyperdrive - and I don't mean just your crawling speed.

I'm talking about all the things you are learning to do! Every day, you'll do something to surprise me and make me clap and cheer you on. Like today, you managed to match the circle piece into your shape sorter more than twenty times! And each time, I'd cheer and clap you'd lean over and plant a kiss on my lips!

I didn't manage to capture you putting the circle block in its proper place 'cos I was too busy clapping! So this is a photo of one of your initial attempts!

So, the latest tricks you've got under your belt this past month include:

* Putting things inside containers, from blocks, to coloured rings, to cars, to soft toys, into all manner of pails, boxes, bowls, drawers etc.

* Your first words: "Mum-mum" for food, and me! and "Car" for cars, trucks, tractors and motorbikes! The last few days, you've been saying "Ca-ow" for your toy cow and sheep! You say "Pla" for plane and helicopter!

* Waving and clapping: Once you started you now don't stop. You favourite thing to clap at is when you are in the high chair and I bring your lunch over to you. I've also seen you clapping at the Baby Einstein puppets. Especially when the Wheels on the Bus comes on!

* Rolling your cars all over the house while crawling: This is one of your signature activities these days. You roll the cars on any surface, from the floor, to the carpets, over sofas, at a 90 degree angle on the fridge, into the bathroom (!), and today all over the grass at Keppel Marina!

* Kisses for everyone: You went from kissing all your animals on your Old MacDonald poster before naptime, to kissing any soft toy, your bath toys (!!),and me and daddy! It's the most wonderful thing in the world to get a Jordy smooch. You may look fierce to those who don't know you, but we know that you really are a softie... A loving, lovable softie :)

* Walking with your walker: I didn't manage to catch you on video when you were at your most boy-racer-ish, but you were hooning around today for a long time! Clever boy!

* And you're becoming a little bit more sophisticated when you dine! For example, I gave you asparagus for the first time today and you could not get enough of it. I had to ration your portion as I read that asparagus can give you a bloated tummy. So didn't want you to be uncomfortable, but boy, you would've finished off the lot if you had your way... And you're now eating grapes as is (I cut them up into quarters)! And little cubes of bread and cheese, and of course, you LOVE Cheerios.

Now Jordy, I know you may find this catalogue of tiny miracles slightly mundane. You're probably thinking, "What's the fuss about, mum? I'm just being me! Stop fluffing about!".

Well, there. You've said it like a little pro. You are being you, and I feel like a million bucks (sometimes, a tired, wrung-out million bucks) being able to witness your coming into your own.

This time next month, you'll be ONE! Agh! ONE!!! One. Whole. Year.

Is there a word for time seeming to fly, but yet grinding down to a halt some days? I'm not sure but that's what it's been like these past months. The days can pass slowly sometimes, but then suddenly, I look at you, like, really look at you, and then I can see how you've changed just from the day before.

It's perplexing and wonderful all in the same heartbeat.

Ok Mr J, at your present trajectory, you might even be reading this blog next year (spot the biased parent!), so I'm going to keep listing these little milestones. If anything, mummy is remembering how to spell and write grammatically. The hundredth reading of your favourite book "Diggers and Dumpers" does take its toll you know!

Love you lots and lots,

Your mum xxoo

Jordy the Magician

2009-07-06T11:34:00.002+08:00

We'll let the video speak for itself. This is how he occupies himself these days! Mum and dad are much entertained.

A Round of Applause for the Gentleman in the Hot Seat Please!

2009-06-30T18:45:00.007+08:00

OK, first up, to the people who read this blog regularly, my apologies for the rather long silence on my end! I've just been having too good a time these last few weeks with mum-in-law extraordinaire Maree who was in town from wintry Dunedin.

To make up for the unforgivable hiatus, please find below a video taken today of the Jordy clapping! Yes, for the first time! Not that I'm one to get too paranoid about reaching of milestones but he was slightly overdue on this one! Well, I guess he makes up for it in terms of his rapid progress with the little ol body of his. The stuff he gets up to now truly keeps me on my toes.

I'll post more on what we've been getting up to these past weeks, the major highlight of which was our family holiday to Bintan! For Bintan virgins, D and I were rather impressed overall with the place. Water was lovely, resort was pretty decent (service slow and kampong-like but hey, we were on holiday and I only used the phrase "This is unacceptable!" twice, haha!) and our villa, magnificent and just the right thing for all eleven of us! Yup you heard me right! D + me + Jordy + MIL + Mum + Sis + Her Husband + her three kids + Aunty Aida, her helper. Only person who was missing was my poor dad who was completely immersed in preparations for the Asian Youth Games. We missed the ukelele, dad!

Highlights of our first Turnip family beach holiday include:

*Lovely villa we stayed in, with its own private pool. We never even made it to the main pools at Bintan Lagoon.

* Going for joyrides in our buggy.

* Chilling out with the whole family. Puppets and Bananagram were the orders of the day.

* And the beach that was 200 metres away from our villa!

Note: All photos except for the last are courtesy of Mama Maree. The last amazing family shot is taken by brother-in-law and photographer-with-the-uncanny-eye, Les! Thanks so much :)

Happy 10th Month Birthday, Jordy!

2009-06-10T14:21:00.008+08:00

Your newest trick is to ball up your fist when I say "close!" and to show me your palms when I say "open!". Clever boy!

Dear Jordy,

I can't believe you're 10 months old today! You're turning more and more into the little communicator everyday. And I daresay you have a career ahead in management from the way you look at me when you're hungry and shout urgently in an increasingly audible tone, "mum-mum, MUM-MUM, MUUUM-MUUUM!" Which results in a scurry of activity on my part!

For the most part, you love posing for the camera. When you do, the result is usually rather nice, like the picture above. When you don't, things turn out like so:

"Hmmmmm? Just a sec mum, this cud is sooo chewy..."

Well, your 10th month birthday started out like most other days, you got up, daddy changed you then gave you your milk, then I gave you your cereal. After which you played on all your various favourite toys (or the Stations of the Jordy as I have come to term them). You go bash a bit on your walker, then you play peek-a-boo and spot-the-wheel with the car that Aunty Pearly and Dylan gave you, then it's taking out everything in your little red pail - blocks, teethers, rattles, assorted plastic bits from other toys - and seeing what happens when they bang against each other or the floor, then you say hi to your teddy bear and Percy the pig, then you crawl over to the music table and play deejays for a bit, and then it's on to the stroller where you embody man's primordial fascination with the wheel, then you come see mummy in the kitchen and play with your kitchen magnets, then you look so sweaty so mum gives you some water, and then I read you some books and then, it's time for a nap!

Phew! Just typing that made me rather tired.

Anyway, so after you woke up, I took you to the library to get a bunch of new books, and boy did we strike gold! It's the school holiday promotion and we got double our quota each of books, that means you got to borrow 8 books on your card, and I got to borrow 16! Here's what you helped mummy to pick out for you. Oh and I got five Baby Blues comics too. What a treat!

We HEART the library.

You were starving by the time we got back but thank goodness I had everything planned out so you got to have you favourite brown rice and fish mornay (we love Annabel Karmel right?) on your new IKEA plate! You finished the lot and still said "Mum-Mum, MUM-MUM" so I gave you some apple, mango and yogurt. Then you ended off by having three red grapes! Goodness. Daddy will need to work a second job to feed you, young man.

Badly taken picture of brown rice and fish mornay.

Anyway dear Jordy, I just wanted to say how fun it is hanging out with you*. I'm really, really glad I took the year off to take care of you and watch you sprout into the strapping lad you are now! It was, and is, hard work at times (you try changing four pooey diapers a day!) but I wouldn't trade it for anything**.

And now that you're almost walking, it's just going to get so much more fun (and frenetic)! We'll explore parks, feed ducks and fish in ponds, play on swings, hang out with your friends in all sorts of cool places, go to the pool, y'know, it'll just be like the Jack Johnson song, this city'll be our jungle gym! Oh and on that note, wanted to link into your friend Poppy's blog as she posted some wonderful pics of our day out to Keppel Marina and West Coast Park!

Hanging out with Olive and Poppy at Keppel Marina.

Anyway we're still halfway through your 10 month birthday so better go get ready for your playdate with Isaac and Jasmine, your Gymboree buddies! Of course, mummy will do the getting ready while you continue with your zzzzs.

OK bubs, just wanted to say a huge happy birthday to you, and can't wait for many, many more. And yes, you will be able to have cake on your first birthday. Don't you worry your (not-so-little) self about that!

Love,
Your mum

*most of the time, but not when you start screaming loudly in the Vivocity Tangs bedlinen section.

**except, MAYBE a spa holiday in Bali or a cruise to Alaska.

Jordy's Latest Magic Trick!

2009-06-03T13:12:00.002+08:00

As you can see, we are now all rather hooked on video Chez Turnips. Especially now that I've finally figured how to use the darned camcorder (note to all: do not buy JVC Everio harddisk camcorder. Not intuitive.).

Anyway, back to the video. It's really amazing how you can spend hundreds of dollars on "developmental" and "age-appropriate toys" but what ends up being the firm favourite is an empty yogurt container. That, and any drink bottle and wet wipe pack.

A Belly-Full of Laughter

2009-05-30T20:59:00.005+08:00

This is the first time I've ever posted a video anywhere. Hope it works!

ps: This is of Jordy watching Baby Einstein's Baby Noah this afternoon after a whole morning at the beach!

A(n Almost) Mid-Year Book Revue

2009-05-28T15:16:00.007+08:00

I can't believe it's almost June, and that it's been more than two months since I last posted a book review. Now that Jordy's nights are mostly settled, and he's pretty great at playing on his own on occasion, I've had more of a chance to get stuck into some good reading, even when he's not napping in the daytime! (Picture this: Just after breakfast, Jordy spends twenty minutes moving from toy to toy, babbling to each and chilling out, while mum enjoys a cup of tea and a short but intense read. HEAVEN! I don't know long this phase will last but I am relishing it while I can...)

Anyway, in between re-reading collections of Baby Blues and Get Fuzzy I borrow from the library, as well as the baby food bible by Annabel Karmel, here's a quick camel revue of what's kept me going cerebrally these past months:

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Recommended to me by MIL extraordinaire, I couldn't put this book down. The blurb on the dust cover didn't sound too promising. Just wasn't something I would normally pick up, but I am SO GLAD I DID. The book retells the story of the Old Testament's Dinah, daughter of Jacob (brother of Esau and son of Isaac) and sister of Joseph (yes, he of the technicolour dreamcoat fame). In the bible, Dinah's story is almost a footnote; she is taken (in the Biblical sense) by an Egyptian prince, and her brothers avenge her honour. In The Red Tent, Diamant gives voice to many of the women in Genesis: Dinah, her mothers Leah and Rachel, her grandmother Rebecca, and Sarah before her. The themes of family, sisterhood, motherhood, loyalty, diaspora, autonomy and the self are all given voice by the different characters. The most compelling thing about the book was just the level of research Diamant had obviously done when describing the rituals, myths, beliefs and general day-to-day living of the characters. I've since found out this is a perennial book club favourite and I can see why. Loved it.

Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
I think this is the first autobiography I've ever read. If you don't count the Diary of Anne Frank and Boy by Roald Dahl. I started reading it when Adrian and Sally were staying with us (they had a copy) and was hooked from the first page. Excellent prose, and made me think very nostalgically of The West Wing. In fact, now that there is nothing to watch on TV anymore, I think it's time for our annual re-visit of all seven seasons. Bring it on!

Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro
Jordy's Mothers' Day gift to me. Thank you, you psychic baby! Interconnected short stories by the true master of the fallible narrator, this absolutely did not disappoint. The trademark first person narrators were a leitmotif, along with the themes of recalibrated dreams, ambition and resulting determination, all set to a beautiful sonorous prose. The whole thing felt... autumnal. More so than The Remains of the Day if that's possible!

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Slightly tougher to read than the others, but well worth it. Verbally dazzling prose - the most original writing I've come across in some time. Pretty much in the genre of American immigrant writing, the story revolves around the lives of the unfortunate protagonist Dominican-American Oscar, his sister, his mother and her father. It deals with the harrowing history of the Dominican Republic under dictator supreme Trujillo, and the resulting diaspora to the US. It transcends your typical immigrant story because of the fresh mode of telling (which, without giving away too much, makes use of a copious amount of footnotes!). I also love the fact that the narrator is a manic, LOTR-quoting yet hot-blooded male. May not be everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed it in the end.

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
Wonderful. Visceral. Unputdownable. Can't believe I never read it till now. Developed a minor crush on Mr Bourdain halfway through the book, then made the mistake of googling him, and realising that he's since divorced his highschool sweetheart Nancy, and shacked up with a woman half his age. They have a young daughter too. But back to the book. Now I know never to order mussels from most restaurants, never order fish on a Monday, and I'm never looking at Hollandaise the same way again.

Just Another Kid by Torey Hayden
Yet another book I would not normally read. From recollection, this is from my cousin J (thanks so much). Never really felt in the mood to read it, then spotted it two days ago on the bookshelf next to my love/hate Gina Ford The Contented Little Baby Book (I'd filed it under parenting you see). Well, this booked knocked me out! By knock out, I mean, I was stealing away to read a page here and there over the last days and managed to finish it this morning while Jordy was conducting an experiment involving his buzzy bee and an empty yogurt container. Written by a special ed teacher and child psychologist, it's a memoir of a year she spent teaching six special needs kids somewhere in the US. Particularly interesting as the book is highly contextual (written in 1988) and three of the kids she teaches were sent to live with relatives in America from Belfast, where they were traumatised from living right in the midst of the troubles in Northern Ireland. Can't believe the amount of non-fiction I am getting through these days. S-t-r-a-n-g-e but true!

Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham
I started this comic series at series 2 I know. But then, Page One had run out of Series 1 and D had gotten me a couple for my birthday and I so badly wanted them and you get the idea. Anyway, I LIKE! Can't wait to get stuck into it again (Thanks A for lending me the first series so I can get the proper back story).

What am I going to read next?

Think it's more Baby Blues tonight, and think I'll also read the graphic novel Waltz with Bashir. D said it was pretty powerful, then I might read a book D borrowed from his boss called The Impressionist, or maybe some Neil Gaiman: Fragile Things (Thanks Sandy!)?

Interlude: Baby Food Recipes

2009-05-24T12:53:00.002+08:00

Been meaning to post an update on Jordy's gastronomic adventures through middle earth, but haven't really found the time nor energy. Our days are mostly filled with going to the park and playing in various sandpits around the island, so by evening time, I'm usually too sun-addled to do more than sit on the couch and watch TV. And what a few weeks of TV it has been with American Idol reaching fever pitch. Now that it's over, and I'm still recovering from Adam not winning (HOW, tell me HOW was that possible?!), I'm wondering what to fill the empty desert lands of summer TV programming with.

Ah but I digress. This is meant to be an update on Jordy's culinary journey, and boy is it getting more and more exotic and fun. The last two weeks saw the introduction of more sophisticated fare like strawberries and golden kiwis, and just last week, his first muffin! Homemade corn and cheese muffins! He wasn't sure of it at first, I suspect because he wasn't that hungry when I let him try it, but now, he's a convert!

So at exactly 9.5 months of age, this is an updated list of what he's ingested thus far (sorry to bore non-mum readers out there, but this record is really for posterity and who knows, Jordy might just find it interesting one day):

Fruits
Pear
Apple
Banana
Peach
Apricot
Prune
Honeydew
Papaya
Mango
Watermelon
Kiwifruit (golden)
Strawberry
Orange
Grapes
Raisins

Vegetables
Sweet potato
Carrots
Parsnips
Peas
Broccoli
Spinach
Leeks
Potato
Cauliflower
Zucchini
Avocado
Pumpkin
Tomato
Onion
Garlic
Red lentils
Celery
Corn
Butternut squash
Red pepper

Meat
Fish (Ling, blue cod, threadfin, tuna, garoupa)
Chicken
Beef

Dairy
Cheese (Cheddar - Mild and Tasty, Edam, Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
Yogurt (plain and Greek style)
Butter (unsalted)
Milk (full-fat)

Carbs
Pasta (spaghetti, alphabet)
Rice (white and brown)
Oats
Barley
Rice cereal (white and brown)
Bread (Sunshine enriched softmeal bread, both toasted and untoasted)

Snacks
Crackers (various flavours, various brands, a mixture of cheap and cheerful and riculously expensive organic stuff that is gobbled up way too quickly)
Rusks and toothie pegs

Condiments and spices
Cinnamon
Peppercorns
Bayleaf
Thyme
Parsley
Sage
Basil
Oregano
Balsamic vinegar
Vanilla

Oh, and those muffins I was telling you about? Adapted from a recipe I found on the Baby Whisperer forum. My adapted version is reproduced below:

Corn & Cheese Muffins (Makes 12 regular or 24 mini muffins)

380g pack of corn kernels (washed and drained)
1 1/2 cups plain yoghurt (360 ml)
1/4 cup olive oil (50ml)
1 large egg
100g grated cheese (mild cheddar or edam)
2 cups self-raising flour (225g)
1/4 cup milk, if required (50 ml)

Preheat oven to 200 C or 190 C for fan ovens. Put rack just below middle of oven.

Pulse corn in blender if muffins are for younger baby (I did).

Mix yoghurt, oil & egg well together. Add in corn and cheese.

Put flour in a big bowl. Pour in the liquid mixture and begin to fold together. If you think the mixture looks too dry add the extra milk and fold JUST enough to combine. (Do not over-mix it - lumps are OK!)

Spray muffin tins with non-stick spray. Using two spoons divide the mixture evenly between the pans.

Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden-brown and centres spring back when pressed. Let the muffins cool in the pans for 2-3 minutes before tipping out.

I then use what I need and freeze the rest for picnics in the week!

I'm going to try a variation of this recipe soon, changing the corn and cheese to banana and apple juice! Will post the results of the Jordy taste test once done!

A Mothers' Day Birthday

2009-05-11T14:21:00.005+08:00

Look at the gorgeously colourful spread of fruit, courtesy of Carrie and Mano! Jordy seemed rather nonplussed until he tasted strawberries and kiwis for the first time. Ker-ching!

I love the fact that Jordy turned nine months on Mothers' Day. Mothers' Day marked the moment he has been traipsing on this earth for longer than he was swirling around in ye olde belly. So apt, eh?

Anyway we started the day with a most lovely picnic with Mano and Carrie at new favourite hangout Labrador Park. The skies were portentous and threatening, and even spat a few drops of rain as we entered the carpark. But we decided to stay on and play things by ear just in case it cleared up, and I'm so glad we did! The weather turned out perfect for a picnic and a walk in the end.

Hiiiii...

We encountered all manner of bugs, saw some big ships and waves, the dog was walked and the baby slept. It was kinda perfect.

It got even more perfect when D looked after Jordy while I went for my first facial SINCE JORDY WAS BORN. From going every few weeks to a nine-month hiatus. Let's just say my facial lady greeted me with a very diplomatic, "Wah, Dora, ni gai bian le hen duo" (i.e. Wow Dora, you've err, CHANGED!"). I decided to take it in the best possible spirit and just blob out while she did her thing. Loverly!

Then it was on to gong gong and mama's for a Mothers' Day family barbeque and Ramly-burger-esque feast in the backyard. Much meat was had and even a salad or two. Aunty Aida displayed her magical cooking abilities to full effect and we even had a family ukelele jam, while Jordy bounced up and down on dad's legs.

Sizzles and strums

Jordy was happy enough hanging out in the playpen, munching on his new teething feeder. Thanks to Carrie for getting it from Robinsons! He really likes sucking on cold grapes and just today, I tried out some chilled strawberry as well and he loved that too!

Kampong boys

Then it was time for the mums to gather round and be feted (or rather, to cut the most excellent ice cream mudpie from Island Creamery).

ps: Thank you to Jordy for getting me the best Mothers' Day present! Kazuo Ishiguro's new book, Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall. I'm about halfway through it already and it is FABULOUS.

Mothers (and one toddler) of the world unite!

The Five Stages of Jordy

2009-05-08T19:50:00.005+08:00

Every Friday, Jordy and I head into town to meet D for lunch. You'd think Jordy would get used to all this cafe-ing by now. Well, now that he's found mobility, let's just say that he craves action a lot more. And when he gets bored, he lets you know pretty unequivocably.

To see the five stages of Jordy boredom in real time... Scroll down, fast.

Hmmm, straps are pretty solid...

Nothing to look at either...

Finish your coffee...finish your coffee

Ngngngn...why don't they finish already...

Arrggghhhhhhhhh!

Boys and Sandpits

2009-05-07T19:14:00.005+08:00

Two boys, one truck = Recipe for disaster?

What is it with boys and dirt?

I decided this week to see if Jordy would enjoy a stint in the sandpit at Labrador Park and he loved it so much, I took him back the next afternoon! And coming along for the ride was Jordy's Gymboree buddy, Isaac.

Oooo, sandy...

Anyway, some finer points about sand:

* Sand is to baby as toffee is to apple: little granules stuck everywhere and in every single crevice.
* Sand is to dump truck as swimming pool is to Jordy: they just GO.
* Sand is to Jordy's mouth as KFC is to people-who-like-that-greasy-stuff (i.e. me): finger lickin' good
* Sand is to mums as err, sand is to mums: you have a love-hate relationship with it; you love that your kid loves it but you hate the mess it makes!
* Sand is to Jordy's diaper as box of chocolate is to Forrest Gump:you never know what you're gonna get!

Jordy's signature move - the side swipe.

Anyway I really hope sand is ok for babies as, err, it's a bit too late to worry now. Jordy's ingested a pretty decent amount of the grainy stuff, along with his afternoon tea. So far he hasn't seemed to mind it too much, and it's made his diaper, just that little heavier! Haha.

Poster boy for the "Eat Dirt" Campaign

And since we're on the topic of firsts, I am SO SO happy to announce that Jordy had his first drink of formula yesterday afternoon (80ml - not bad for his first attempt in a sippy cup)! That's right! You heard me, we are officially starting the weaning process people! Woo hoo! Here's to no longer being slave to the boob and to no longer feeding a sometime-feral child with teeth! Sorry Jordy, sprouting teeth is good for eating cake and lasagne, but not for mum's boobs. *Cuddle*

PS: Thanks to Isaac's mum Constance for the lovely pics :)

"What's all the fuss about?"

Swims, Swings and Smiles (Or, A Cracker of a Long Weekend!)

2009-05-03T21:09:00.007+08:00

Jordy's first time on a swing!

Praise the heavens for the long weekend!

Not just because it gives me a little respite from full-time Jordy-care - which, now that he has gained mobility, has turned into a mix of American Gladiators (at diaper changing time), Sesame Street (e.g. puppets, singing, dancing, endless repetitions of Rubber Ducky) and the Amazing Race (try getting anywhere on time with a baby who now has his own agenda) - but because three days spent as a family of three going all over the place having adventures is just how it's meant to be!

Friday
Met Mano and Carrie at Sentosa for a morning walk and a picnic, then we all went for lunch at the Guild House at Kent Ridge. After which, I got a MUCH-NEEDED hair cut while D hung out with Jordy at Gymboree. Then dinner at trusty Viet place in Harbourfront.

If he gets his excited over a plastic doughnut, can you imagine when he chomps into the real thing?

Saturday
Aunty Pamela and Aunty Ranji came over to visit Jordy (argh! realised I didn't take pics... $#(@!) and we had a great time catching up, especially since Aunty Pam was going on to the AWARE EOGM after to be part of a historic milestone in Singapore's socio-political scene (for more on that, read My dad's post on the whole saga. I fully agree with everything he says). Then we had afternoon tea at the ever reliable Cafe Pralet, and Jordy had a great time feeding himself crackers. And he did a brand new thing too: he tried to feed his dad a cracker. Not once but twice! Aww... it was too sweet. Then it was on to gong gong and mama's club for a swim and dinner.

The civilised afternoon tea shot

Crackers! Gimme! Om nom nom noms...

Sunday
Went for a morning walk along the Southern Ridges walkway, Dad and Jordy had a nap, then it was on to another cafe stop! McCafe at Ang Mo Kio, where Jordy had a good ol play on the swings at the adjacent park. His first! He loved it :)

An aside: This is the first set of child-swings I've seen that are meant for younger children. If anyone knows of any others around the island, please let me know!

Eh, how come no movement?

Then it was on to Sunday dinner at gong gong and mama's where we had the most stupendous home cooked nasi briyani by mama herself. And Jordy enjoyed his rice crackers as usual while everyone else had poppadoms!

A real cracker of a weekend (pun fully intended)!

"Anything you can eat I can eat bigger, I can eat anything bigger than you."

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-04-22T21:17:00.003+08:00

Happy Birthday to Dad!

D, my partner-in-all-things-Jordy turned 32 on Monday! Seeing as he had to spend most of it at work (poor thing), Jordy and I conspired to make his evening a fun one.

We got him a great cake (Ferrero Rocher with rum base from Swiss Bake) and 'cos it was a special night, Jordy got to stay up way past his bedtime, till 8.30pm! Then it was present-opening time, and first D opened the interim present from me, the new U2 album (interim because I'm letting him choose his real present himself - new headphones), then he opened Jordy's present. Cufflinks with little compasses in them (Jordy said it was so he would have something new to play with at Friday lunches).

All in all a lovely evening, and made better because D's cousin Gina and her son Joshua (which would make Joshua, err, Jordy's second cousin?) were due in later that night en route to London.

The next day, Jordy and Joshua played together, mostly companionably beside each other, like so:

And other times, err, Jordy kinda got a bit territorial and then it looked like this:

But still not much crying was heard in the Turnip household despite there being two babies barely two months apart in age. Migoodness, won't they treasure these pictures when their older!