Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Have you seen this commercial on youtube called ‘Disconnect to Connect’?

If you haven’t, just click HERE to watch it.

If you have seen it, well … you can always watch it again if you want, since I really feel every one of us has such strong tendencies to disconnect with those around us, simply because we have this thing called TECHNOLOGY in our hands.

Well. I personally LOVE this commercial.

Because it strongly reminds me of what I should NOT be doing often too (ie. neglecting my loved ones who’re NEXT TO ME, because I simply have the urge to check or surf the internet again and again!)

Anyway.

I’d like to share with you one possible way of using technology to BOND with our loved ones.

I quickly took this shot of Daddy and the two kids, when the three of them had fun with his iphone.

You see, Daddy usually does his story-telling when the bedroom lights are out, and the kids are all in their pyjamas.

But this time round, he showed them a comic strip on his iphone, and both kids all cuddled up and listened to Daddy lively re-telling the story. He flipped the ‘pages’ on his iphone as he went on, as both kids looked at Daddy AND the pictures on the iphone at the same time!

A great way to make a POSITIVE use of our technology, I reckon.

[Right after school, taken today]

A few quick updates on our little guy:

– Vai is Kindergarten 1 this year. And as his sister is already off to school by the time he himself gets ready for the school bus to pick him up at 10.35am, I have more ‘alone’ time with him. Which is something that I treasure because being the second child, he has his sister around most of the time.

– He hasn’t had much afternoon naps over the past year. And now that his big sister needs to wake up at 6am on school days, they both go to bed at around 8.30pm (and he wakes up at about 8.30 the next morning)

–  Still automatically walks over to our bedroom and sleeps next to me in the middle of the night.

[Waiting for school bus to come]

– An affectionate little guy. He likes to cuddle up. He can say, ‘Love you, Mommy’, and gives me a kiss on the cheek. He likes to hold my arm or put his arms around me when he sleeps.

– One with a soft heart. He could sob and cry when he’s feeling sad about something.

There’s a time in Hong Kong when he went out with Daddy and Anya. They had some french fries for snacks and he said he wanted to save a piece for me. He said, ‘I’d like to bring one back for Mommy to try’. And so he carried that one piece in his little fingers. When he was close to reaching home, he accidentally dropped it on the ground. He stood there, feeling sad, but Daddy said, ‘It’s okay. Just pick it up and bring it back with you anyway.’ (To us, what matters is the intention and the heart). And when I opened the door, with that piece of french fries still in his hand, he quickly hugged my legs and sobbed, saying, ‘Vai wanted to give you this, but it fell on the ground’, and he sobbed again. I was very touched by that. God bless your loving heart, Vai.

[At Hong Kong International Airport, 1 Jan 2011]

– Still a cheeky and playful little guy.

– Likes to protect and help when his big sister says she can’t do something.

eg. When Anya was about to slip and fall (due to the wet floor after some heavy rain), he’d go and hold his sister’s hand, and say to her, ‘It’s OK. I hold your hand now so you don’t fall, okay?’

Or, when Anya was feeling afraid to go to the bathroom all by herself at night, he’d automatically go and accompany her.

– Still is very into cars and Lightning McQueen. But he’s willing to accompany his sister and watch the movies that she likes.

– Usually automatically kisses my tummy as well after giving me a kiss (eg. when we say good bye to each other)

[Feeling all nice and warm during winter in Hong Kong last December]

– Brushes his own teeth and cleans up all by himself upon reaching home from school (ie. Takes off uniform, washes up his hands, feet, towels himself dry, and puts on his home clothes)

– Likes to eat cereals (daily!)

– Loves pasta

– Likes sweets and candies (but is only given a quota of two / day by mommy, for his teeth’s sake)

– Likes to ask for food (again) although it’s already time for bed.

– Weighs about 19kg.

…

We love you, Vai!

And we just know that you’ll be a great big brother, just like how you’ve been a great little brother to Anya.

It’s Chinese New Year (CNY) next week!

Let’s take out the hong baos we’ve been keeping in our drawers, and MAKE something with our little ones! =)

[For our case, we’re recycling our old ‘goat’ ones!]

What we used:

– Coloured paper (Red colour would be more ‘CNY’ =)

– Old hong baos (ie. red packets)

– Scissors, pencil and glue stick

…

What we did:

– I drew an outline of a rabbit inside a ‘box’ (see the cutout image below)

– I reminded Vai to NOT cut the parts where the rabbit touched the frame (he accidentally cut the two ears, but it’s okay. You’ll see why)

– I created little slits so that Vai could insert his scissors and start cutting out the outline (from the inside of the frame) all by himself

– Once done, it looked this the image below

[It’s okay if the cutting is not smooth and ‘nice’. After all, it’s done by a kid. This activity btw is great for exercising a child’s concentration and fine motor skill]

– I placed the cutout red-coloured paper onto a piece of white drawing paper, and I used a pencil to roughly mark the parts where there’s NO red paper. This way, when I lifted the red paper, Vai could see visible marks on the white drawing paper (ie. the areas NOT covered by the rabbit cutout)

–  I cut out the hong baos into small pieces

– Using a glue stick, Vai stuck the hong bao pieces and COVERED those marked areas

– Finally, we stuck the rabbit outline back on the drawing paper

[Note: Since the rabbit cutout is glued to the drawing paper, it’s OK if your child, like Vai, accidentally cut out the rabbit parts off the frame]

VOILA! This is what you’ll get!! =)

[As you can see, the ‘uneven’ cutting doesn’t appear too obvious because it’s placed against the hong bao patterns!]

…

Vai then added his finishing touch and drew the rabbit’s eyes, nose and mouth!

Have fun making CNY crafts, everyone!

Gong xi … gong xi! =)

WHOOPEE!!

Here’s another giveaway for you all!

And this time round, it’s courtesy of Doolbydoo.com!

Doolbydoo.com is an online shop where you can find a really nice range of daily necessities for your little ones. From bath and skin care to baby toothpastes, feeding accessories and baby toys.

And for older kids, they also have great stuff like books, CDs, room decorations and even Thermos food jars (like the ones Anya and Vai are holding in the photos below!)

[Yay, Buzz Lightyear!]

[I find these ‘Thermos Funtainer Food Jars’ very useful! Great quality, fun design, and they keep my kids’ food nice and warm for hours. Anya eats her warm pasta from her Hello Kitty jar during recess at school, and that’s 3.5 hours after I heat it up early in the morning!]

Anyway.

This is how you can enter the giveaway contest:

1. Visit doolbydoo.com

2. Given a budget of $30, CHOOSE whichever items YOU’d like to win from the shop!

3. Leave a comment on THIS POST and state those item(s) you’d like to win!

That’s it!!

SO easy to stand a chance to win something, isn’t it! =)

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Closing date: Thursday, 27 January 2011.

We’ll then choose THREE winners randomly and announce the names on Friday, 28 Jan! These three lucky ones will each win S$30! (No minimum purchase required)

(Note: Open to those with Singapore local address)

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And oh, here’s MORE good news!

ALL giveaway contest participants will be awarded S$10 voucher each! (Voucher is valid upon a minimum purchase of S$50 at doolbydoo.com, and as long as the purchase is made latest by 28 Feb 2011!). I’ll email all participants the code (to enjoy that $10 off) separately, when contest closes.

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So there you go.

Just a little something for you all from me, considering that Chinese New Year is just round the corner! =)

All the best, everyone!

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UPDATED (28 Jan 2011)

Get ready for this!

Here are the three winners (randomly picked using random.org!)

– Pat
– Yen
– Lacy

CONGRATULATIONS! The three of you will receive a direct email from doolbydoo.com soon! =)

Btw, if you didn’t win the S$30 shopping voucher this time round, you still are awarded $10 shopping voucher for participating in the contest! When you spend a minimum of $50 at doolbydoo.com, you’ll automatically enjoy your $10 off the total bill! Just enter the code I gave in the email upon checking out!

I hope you enjoy this giveaway!

There’ll be more to come! Join me again then! Stay tuned! =)

[Happily wearing my comfortable Maternal America Jeans during our trip to Hong Kong last December!]

Have I shared with you that we never planned to have another baby in the family?

I mean, Wilson and I talked about having baby no. 3 (then planned, and went for it) only in August last year! Yes, just five months ago!

So you could only imagine how I have actually handed over to friends and families ALMOST ALL my maternity clothes and baby stuff!

Well anyway.

Since this pregnancy will be my last (yes, we’re really stopping at three, really!), I don’t wish to spend much on BUYING a stack of maternity clothes. Naturally.

The idea of RENTING sounded like a good idea when Maternity Exchange contacted me and asked if I’d like to check out their range of comfortable, yet stylish, maternity wear.

It could perfectly complement the other hand-me-downs I received from friends and families, I thought.

And so I went and checked out their shop at Marina Square.

[It has stacks of nice maternity and nursing wear available to those who wish to buy or rent!]

That was back in December last year, and I must say I am super happy with their jeans and capri (by Maternal America). I wear these VERY often (yes, I STILL wear them a lot these days) because they’re just SO comfortable! They’re pull-up jeans and they fit so perfectly under my growing belly. I love them!

I got my Bella Band there too btw, which I’ve also been wearing often. It really helps a lot in keeping my pre-pregnancy shorts and pants (which I still wear often, unbuttoned and half-zipped) comfortably tight and ‘in place’.

Anyway. Just last week, I went over to their shop again to see if I could find anything nice and comfy to wear for Chinese New Year.

Something nice, comfortable, stylish and in ‘happy colour’.

And I found this!

Drape Cowl Neck Top by Maternal America.

I like =)

Btw, this Chinese New Year, they’re offering a special 4-piece rental package for just S$129! (Yep, you can have those 4-pieces for one whole month, AND if you want, you’re free to spread out the rentals accordingly too. It’s really up to you!)

And there are three ways you can find out more about it :

1. Call them up at 6100-EXCH (6100-3924)

2. Email them at info@maternityexchange.sg

3. Visit their store at Marina Square (#03-108)

Click HERE to see their opening hours and other shop details, and HERE to read some of the Frequently Asked Questions, like ‘What’s the difference between buying and renting?’

[If you’d like to shop online, and from the convenience of your home, just hop over to their online shop!]

AND.

Here’s another bonus!

You can enjoy 10% OFF when purchasing their maternity and nursing wear! Just quote ‘Our Everyday Things’ when making the purchase. Offer is valid till 29 February 2011.

Happy browsing, shopping and renting!

I’ve been wanting to write about our recent trip to Hong Kong’s flight and airport experience.

So here goes.

We flew to Hong Kong on Tiger Airways last December. They offered this promotional price sometime in August, and we went to grab it. Not too long after that however, we kind of found out that Tiger Airways’ reputation kept on going down the hill, with its many flight cancellations, bad service and all.

Frankly, the thought of NOT going to Hong Kong at all (and losing all our money altogether) did cross our minds.

Thank goodness the flight was NOT cancelled, and the Singapore-Hong Kong flight was delayed for just 30 minutes! Not bad, we thought.

[The queue at the waiting area of Singapore’s Budget Terminal – to board the plane – was SUPER DUPER long though! It was just very crowded!]

…

Now. Here’s how it was like for us when it was time to return to Singapore.

We reached Hong Kong International Airport 2.5 hours before its scheduled departure time. The check-in counter was still closed, so we went to check out the shops.

[The airport is btw HUGE, nice and spacious]

Now the thing is, when we got back to see if the counter was opened (ie. just a little less than 2 hours before departure time), the queue at Tiger Airways’ check-in counter was already snake-like!

It was REALLY long! And so we quickly joined in and waited.

[Tiger Airways’ queue at Hong Kong International Airport!]

The whole checking-in process was unexpectedly SUPER SLOW though. We queued up for more than an hour and by the time we were checked in and went passed the immigration (which again was another long queue), we’re only left with 45 mins before take off.

We really wanted to see the rest of the airport before we left, but obviously we couldn’t (especially when we’re told how we MUST be on the plane at least 15 mins before departure time)

And here’s one thing that I wanted to highlight to you, just in case you plan to travel from Hong Kong to Singapore on Tiger Airways: it took us THIRTY MINUTES to get to the boarding gate.

You see, … after you’ve passed the immigration officers, you still have to get on TWO trains to reach your boarding gate.

The trains do come every 2-3 minutes, which is great, but the boarding gate was FAR from the immigration point. And the fact that Tiger Airways’ boarding gate was the one located at the VERY END didn’t help.

[Nice afternoon sun. Taken while Wilson queued and waited to check in]

So you could only imagine how the four of us literally RAN across the airport towards the gate (okay, I was half-running while holding my tummy at the same time. It was hard).

There weren’t that many people around somehow, which was weird, and it made us think that we were probably the very last few people who’d be boarding the plane.

In the end, we reached the plane 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time. And we were like, phew!

But you know what?

Apparently many more people came even later than us (they probably didn’t expect that it’d take them 30 minutes to reach the plane?).

The plane (which was there on time!) was delayed for almost an hour because of them. And in the end, the pilot decided to go without those last, very late, six passengers (I was impressed that the plane was actually ready to take off on time!)

…

[Running is fun, when you’re a kiddo, but not quite for parents with kids and bags in tow]

Anyway. Here’re three quick tips from me, if you’re taking Tiger from Hong Kong:

1. If you’d like to look around the airport, be there 3-4 hours earlier! Trust me, it’s safer that way. There are heaps of things to see there. It’s a nice airport.

2. Even if the counter is not yet opened, it’s best to hang around the Tiger Airways’ check-in counter (at Terminal 2) at least 2 hours before its scheduled departure time.

3. Do factor in at least 30 minutes for you to get to the boarding gate. Running towards the gate is not something you’d really want, especially when you have a pregnant lady and two little kids in tow.

…

Travel safe, everyone!

PS: If you have any traveling tips or other airport / Tiger Airways experiences, please do share! I’d love to hear from you!

Yes, I’m in my 20th week now and I’m HALF WAY THERE!

Well, actually if labour comes early (ie. Anya was born in week 38, and Vai was in week 37.5), then I’m LESS than half way there!

Anyway.

Things have been SO much better these days. My energy is more or less pretty good. Minimal gagging. No sleeping issues. I’m able to cook, etc.

But, these past few days, I notice I’m somehow … more emotional.

No, I know it’s NOT because I’m facing problems adjusting to the new daily routine (read: Waking up at 6am to get Anya ready for school, etc)

And, I know it’s also NOT because I’m worried about the baby’s development, or how my relationship with hubby will be like with three kids in the family, etc.

Hmm. I guess there were just times when I felt … overwhelmed with emotions.

…

Last Saturday for example, I raised my voice and scolded Anya. I was irritated and frustrated with her reaction towards something. I felt helpless as a parent.

That very same night, I broke down and cried as I listened to both kids giggling in the other room when my husband told them their bedtime story.

I felt guilty for being impatient towards Anya earlier that day.

I felt like I wasn’t a good mother.

I felt like I should’ve spent my day with my two kids better throughout that day.

(I was feeling blue since morning, and was easily irritated by little happenings around me. So rather than uttering unnecessarily unhappy words, I chose to stay quieter throughout the day)

That night, as I lay in bed, I just felt like crying. And I cried for a good 10 mins or so.

Silly and irrational, some may think. But if you ask me, I think it’s good (and somewhat necessary) to just let it out in a good cry than suppressing the feeling inside.

[I know it’s basically linked to my pregnancy. These hormonal changes and all. Well, I’m just glad that it doesn’t happen to me too often so far]

…

Anyway.

I felt ‘normal’ again the next morning. And I really thanked God for that because I know how annoying things can be when you have a grumpy and moody pregnant mommy and wife around you.

And, I thank God too for the strength (and health, and joy and everything) given to me over these past 20 weeks! To know that our baby’s growing well inside is truly amazing too!

Ah. Can’t wait to see how the second half of my pregnancy journey turns out!

[Click HERE to follow baby no. 3’s weekly pregnancy journal]

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Check out these links to read more on pregnancy hormones:

>> Guide to Pregnancy Hormones (www.whattoexpect.com)

>> Mood swings during Pregnancy (www.babycenter.com)

Last year, both Anya and Vai went to the same school, at the same time. So most arts and crafts activities at home were usually done by BOTH kids after they’re back from school.

This year, our 4yo little guy leaves for school at about 10.30am, while his big sister leaves for school at 7am (He’s still asleep when Anya is off to school).

So now, Vai and I usually have some time to spend together at home before he goes to school.

Which is nice. Because he gets my full attention now. I get to chat with him about school, his teachers, … about anything, without any ‘interruptions’.

[I feel this is a good thing, especially since he’s the second child who always has the big sister around me and him]

Anyway.

I thought of sharing this activity idea with you today.

It’s something simple that Vai and I did together before he’s off to school.

And it took us only about 10 – 15 minutes to do.

What we did:

– Using a crayon, I drew the outline of a butterfly

– Using a crayon, Vai drew the patterns on the butterfly

– Using watercolour (I let him choose which two colours he’d like to have on the butterfly), Vai coloured the butterfly

– Once done, we left it for about 5 mins to dry.

– We cut out the butterfly (Vai did the cutting at first, but he soon handed it over to me when the corners were too difficult for him to cut)

And that was it!

It was a quick activity, and the little guy was happy with what he made!