Merry Christmas!!

May all of us have a great year ahead!! :)

Counting down to new year!

An exciting year ahead with a big party for a start in Jan.... Cayden's first birthday party! Followed by our first family trip to Malaysia Legoland. Luckily the hotel is opened, so we could stay for 2 nights and explore the theme park and Little Big Club. :) Can't wait for Jan to arrive...

Alden's 4!

Hard to imagine time flew past so quickly.... Alden's turned 4 on 29 Nov. :)
As he unluckily caught hfmd (not sure where) 1 week before his birthday celebration in school, we had to cancel that. Only managed to distribute the goodie bags to his clsssmates in school.
Luckily, we managed to hold a mini party at my in laws' and eventually a birthday celebration in school on the actual day! (How last minute!) Everything went out and our birthday boy was very happy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY PRECIOUS! ♥

Work in progress :)

Very exciting to see progression photos posted by my future neighbours...
Really looking forward to 2014!!

再见三舅

Last week has been a sad one for most of us in the family as my 3rd uncle passed away. At 63... its a pretty young age. He was diagnosed with lung cancer 4 yrs ago and have since been suffering... 4 long years of breathlessness due to lungs failure, countless times of hospitalisation, chemo, medication etc.
Truth to be told, after grandma passed away 2 years ago, I was still angry with this uncle of mine. Becos he made grandma upset while she was still around. And so I didn't keep in touch with him for the last 2 years. Until 2 weeks back, I was informed by my aunt that his condition worsened as he rejected all treatments. I went to the hospital to visit him.
The moment I saw him, I know I am no longer angry with him. He held my hand and say, "Thank you for coming to see me, I am leaving soon." These words brought tears to my eyes. Because gran said the exact words to me before. I told him don't think too much, just rest.
Those were indeed his last words to me, because few days after, he slipped into semi unconscious mode and passed away last Fri.
The funeral was tearful because all of us think of the good old times when we stayed over at grandma's.. uncle will cook instant noodles for us to eat and grandma would tell us stories.
Uncle's last wish was to have a sea burial (海葬)。because he said he doesn't want his wife and son to be so busy (remembering the dates to pray him) even after he is gone.
再见舅舅,现在你代表我们去倍外婆。。
Hope you will watch over sa king and Kaiwen.
A word of advice to my friends who smoke.... think of your loved ones who care about your health. Think about consequences.
(My uncle told his wife," if only I had listened to each and everyone of your advices not to smoke... but it's all too late.")

My motivation

Steep learning curve in the new role... long working hours. At times I wish I am not ambitious, but its a good opportunity. If not now, it will be never.
My children are my motivation to work hard... for them, their future is in my hands to pave the foundation (education).

My "staycation"

This was a long overdue post of my 2D1N staycation at Mt Alvernia hospital..
First time ever I've checked into a hospital for injuries. I had thought I sprained my waist 3 saturdays back at Ikea while carrying Cayden. The pain was so unbearable that I had to ask hus to drop me at the famous tui na at Bedok Reservoir right after breakfast.
After the session, it did felt better but still sharp pains at certain postures like sitting down, standing up and walking. I felt handicapped that weekend as I needed my helper and husband to lift me up whenever I need to stand up.
On Mon, I decided to visit an Orthopaedic for a thorough check up to see what exactly was the issue as its the same area of pain I had encountered 2 years ago. Dr Yang suspect it should be inflammed tendons, but suggest I do an mri scan to see if there are any slip disc etc. So on Tues, I checked into the hospital for the scan and injections that could help relief my pains quickly.
My first mri scan.... and the experience was scary. I had to lie within this machine for 30 mins and the it was making loud banging sounds that drowned my ears.
After the scan, I was told to wait for Dr Yang to come and perform the injections on my tendons. He didn't come until around 5pm. And there was another Dr Chua (pain specialist) who came to assess me too.
The next 30 mins was a horrible ordeal as they detect the tendon on my right spine area. They used a radio frequency machine to detect the fine tendon that was torn. They turned on the radio wave into my tendon so that I could feel the pain, before they could inject the medicine into the tendon. Next was the tendon on my left wrist which was also torn due to the cradle position that I carry Cayden for long periods. My left wrist was so painful for the whole night.
The hospital bill was 6k... luckily was able to claim fully from insurance.

我的开心果

很喜欢看到炎轩的笑容 :)
宝宝,要一直这样开朗哦!!

Day out on weekends

What the Goh family usually do on weekends:
- cycling or picnic at East Coast Park
- visit a local attraction
- indoor playground
- shopping mall (95% of the weekends)
Weather most times is too humid to be outdoor for too long...bearing in mind we have a 6 mth old baby.
Usually papa will accompany Alden to roam around while mummy, helper and Cayden will be sitting at cafes, as usually it's time to feed for didi.
We love going Vivo city these days as the mall is quite big to walk around with a stroller, without having to rub shoulders with strangers, decently clean diaper changing rooms (v important to me as I am particular abt hygiene), many shops to window shop (we love Franc Franc, Daiso, ToyRus)!, parking is subsidised with minimum $30 spending, quite a number of places for afternoon tea (bakerzinn, st. Marc, costa coffee, gelare)...how spoilt for choice.

回顾2013的上半年

The past 1/2 year of 2013 sped past so quickly and I feel as though I had just given birth only.
I'm glad I took 6 months to have some ME time, bonding time with the children & husband, train helper, rest, went for therapy to nurse my injured wrist, visit gran at the temple.
In terms of baby care, I didn't feel as stress this time round with Cayden as I had been through 3.5 years with Alden. And fortunately, Cayden was an easier baby to care for...
Now that the helper has been trained to look after Cayden, I feel more at peace and prepared for work next Mon.

What I wanna do for the rest of the year..
- Exercise regularly so that my waist can recover fully. (Sprained it 2 years ago carrying Alden, and it didn't quite recover since).
- Work life balance (constantly reminding myself that).
- Save more $... no more shopping or luxury indulgence, as our new house will TOP early next year. Can't wait to move!

3 big tasks...not easy to accomplish.  Wish me luck!

Our bubbly cherub

Our little one loves to laugh heartily when we play pee-a-boo with him... and his laughters are contagious! :) and we will all laugh along with him. Smile always, our dearest didi!

Comfort food...

I seldom blog about food as I'm easily contented with just filling the tummy.
I am contented as long as there is food on the table.
Recently I was introduced to the nasi lemak of Papa Rich by my sis.. and I simply love the veg chilli that comes with the rice. Was at Parkway Parade alone today and I went for lunch again to satisfy my craving before returning to work next Mon.
The veg nasi lemak: rice, egg, long beans, chilli, mutton curry (additional $3) and 2 pappadum. I had to order an iced lemon tea for a goody meal. Bill was $17! :)
Chanting in my head "I'd be working soon, I'd be working soon..."

Oh Macarons!

Didn't realised this post was sitting in my draft for some time now.. :P

Its so typical Singaporean to find out what's the latest food hype and start queuing and want to have a first taste of it. So, like most Singaporeans.. I've decided to try out Laduree that was opened few months ago.
Truth to be told: I'm not a fan of macarons. But after tasting these macarons from Laduree, I and my 3 yr old son were actually hooked to eating them. My boy would usually eat 2 ~ He cannot stop at 1!
So, I have to buy 5 every time -- 1 for myself, 1 for husband, 2 for Alden and 1 for my helper.
I'm glad I don't work in town... else, will be broke if I always buy whenever I'm at Taka.
Here are some pictures which I wanna share as I love the shop deco -- lightings/ window display etc.
And also the keychains which I wanted to buy initially!! They finally arrived, but was disappointed to see the craft work was not good.

The keychain

Lovely to see!

A whole chest of macarons! :)

Pretty window display

The shop exterior

 

Alden's drawings

Alden only started drawing recently and we were quite surprised that he can draw quite well... To explain what "quite well" means, at least we can decipher what he drew! lol~

He impressed me with a cute drawing of me on a hand drawn Mother's Day card. Only my sis in law guessed that he drew a dog!!?!!? After we praised him for the nicely done card, he draws very often now... Sit quietly at his table and draw on the drawing board with magic pens or crayons.

I have published some of his pictures on Facebook for my friends to marvel at his art work, most times to just have a good laugh. :) Well at least I can say my boy draws better than his mummy!

Hazy Singapore

Last week we were hit with bad hazy weather due to forest fires in Sumatra. with psi soaring to 400, which means hazardous... It did send us panic parents scrambling to buy air purifiers and masks! Not for our health in mind, but for our children. Luckily I heeded my friend's advice to order the purifier from

Novita online the night before the air pollution went really bad. The next day, I rushed down to the office at Tagore Drive to collect instead of waiting for their delivery.

The air purifier became our closest friend for the whole week... closed windows, doors, on purifier, fans 24/7.

Find this purifier good as we couldn't smell the burning smell at home with this on.

It's quite disappointing to hear from MOH that there is no N95 masks suitable for kids. So means the children and babies have to breathe in the polluted air?

As we had ordered masks from totobobo, we just made do with surgical masks. Fortunately, I was able to buy children sized surgical masks. Better to put this on than nothing.

Spot the tooth? :)

Can you see the little pearly white? One sprouting and the other following soon.. :)

Cayden's teeth sprouting faster than his brother. He has just started on rice cereal , so far so good. He's starting to like it and will stick out his tongue when the spoon is near.

Bird shit joke

Grandma was fetching Alden to school, when he spotted white substance on the wind screen.

Alden ask grandma what's that?

Grandma: Oh, it's bird shit

Alden: Why got bird shit?

Grandma: Becos the birds on the trees above the car or fly pass will shit and land on the car windows or wind screen. So annoying becos it makes car dirty.

Alden: 我买马桶给它们.

Grandma couldn't stop laughing...

My helper

It's been a month since we welcomed a new "member" into our family... a helper from the Philippines. The initial thought of finding help was a struggle as Alan and I are hands on parents ever since we had Alden 4 years ago. From changing diapers, feeding, bathing etc. But with Cayden's arrival, both of us find it tiring to handle a toddler and a baby..as I was on 1/2 year leave, I started to think about the logistics after I return to work, contingency plans if my mom (who's the primary caregiver) falls sick etc. And eventually I think hiring a live in helper was the solution. As she could do all the housework for us, look after Cayden while we can have time to bond with Alden and do our own stuffs.

Everyday before the helper arrived, I was praying hard that she will be able to get along with the children, meet our expectations of personal hygiene and able to do the housework assigned.

Really thankful that she is a pleasant lady and was able to cope with the children and housework. Both of us don't feel so drained anymore, as housework is taken off our minds! Well, at least for the next 2 years...

I just hope that she can continue this positive work attitude, so that I can return to work with peace of mind.

How to handle babies blocked nose?

Thankful to the introduction of Sterimar (baby edition) by the pd at SBCC clinic. Cayden had some minor blocked nose few weeks back and was prescribed with this salt water solution which helps to liquidify his mucus when sprayed into his nostrils. And then using a mucus sucking device from Pigeon, I will suck his mucus out with the tube. Repeat this as many times in the day when I hear him snorting (indicates a blocked nose). To reduce mucus production, put one drop of Iliadin to each nostril.

Due to the haze these few days, Cayden starting to snort again... so I began the "sucking ritual" and glad this helped him. Baby Sterimar (suitable for babies 0 to 3) can only be purchased from clinic.. luckily I was able to buy 2 bottles without seeing the pd. Iliadin (for infant formula) can be bought from any pharmacy.

Alden's new hobby

Alden just picked up a new hobby ~ his scooter! He only had a little courage to ride it when we went to my colleague's place for BBQ sometime back. Happy that he liked it and the doting father brought him to ToyRus to get it the next day. So far, we brought him to East Coast and Downtown East to ride and he enjoys it....Hope he can build more confidence with this new found hobby.