Melbourne Escape

I think I left my blogging mojo in Melbourne.

We arrived back in Singapore about a week and a bit ago and since then, I've been struggling to get back into our regular routines. Perhaps it is because our holiday was too good. Because it was.

It was the first holiday in a long time where it was just us four, 24/7. It was also the first time we've travelled without a stroller, and the first time that we didn't need to consciously factor in naps. It felt almost like the holidays that the husband and I used to take in our more carefree days, pre-kids. Almost, I say, since we are still a long way from not having to hunt down a toilet every hour or so (or when ever it is MOST inconvenient like, say, after trekking down a very long steep flight of stairs to the bottom of a waterfall), but it was close enough.

Together we explored new places and did things together that we don't always have the opportunity to do, with the hustle and bustle of daily life. Before we departed Singapore, I made the conscious effort to turn off most notifications on my phone because I wanted to give the here and now my full attention, and it turned out to be one of my better decisions. With less distractions, I was better able to concentrate on taking a break and being with my family. Of course, one of the first things I did do was to head out to get a local SIM card -- I wasn't planning on surviving without internet altogether! Plus I had a couple of friends to meet and we needed GPS. But I stopped checking my phone all the time, and it was freeing in a way I didn't expect. I think I need to do that a bit more on a regular basis. 

More time together inevitably means that it wasn't smiles all the time. Unfortunately being out of the country doesn't mean that tantrums get left behind! It was challenging at times to deal with the kids (and sometimes the husband, heh) but I think having the husband present with me the whole time meant that we were better able to address all issues which arose together and quickly. I think we've grown as a family as a result.

After having such a great time, maybe it's no wonder that I took ages to adjust back to normal life. Which was a whole lot more hectic with homework to catch up on, and Noey's birthday party to pull together at short notice.

I hope to be updating on my Melbourne holiday both here and on petite travellers. But here is an outline of my itinerary for those of you who have been asking:

Melbourne Itinerary

Days 1 - 3: Melbourne -- City, Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne Museum, Collingwood Children's Farm, St Kilda's including Luna Park

Days 4 - 5: Great Ocean Road -- Erksine Falls + Teddy's Lookout at Lorne, Apollo Bay, Cape Otway Lightstation, Twelve Apostles

Days 6 - 8: Yarra Valley -- Weeribee Plaza/Weeribee Safari Park, Healesville Sanctuary, Wineries, Puffing Billy

Days 9 - 10: Phillip Island -- Caldermeade Farm Cafe, Penguin Parade, Churchill Heritage Farm

Days 11 - 13: Melbourne -- Eureka Skydeck, Shopping, Lygon Street

More pictures and stories on my Instagram account (@mummybean). Check out #mummybeaninmelbourne!

Anyone else feel like they need a holiday right now?

Back To Regular Programming

It has been a very long week for all of us, with Nomi, the husband and myself battling fevers and the sickies all week.

It started with Nomi coming down with a bad throat infection the day of her birthday. Poor girl didn't have such a great start to being three. She was practically silent the whole day as her throat hurt and she didn't like the way her voice sounded. But the good thing was that her appetite was mostly unaffected. In fact she continued to snack and unhappily for me, also fed me food from her bowl. In a moment of folly, I ate, and have been down with a cough, a cold and one of the highest fevers I've had in a long while since the early part of the week.

I spent most of the week lying in bed, and in between, dragging myself around to do things like pick and send Noey to school and do marketing because the household still need to keep on running. No rest for the weary - or the sick - when you're a Mummy. 

Needless to say, most of the week has passed by in a fog.

In the midst of that, I did find some unexpected clarity:

1. I realised how much of a difference having some paracetamol made to how I felt as I was carrying a fever the whole week. I usually am of the belief that a fever has to run its course and is part of the natural defence mechanism of the body. As such, I don't usually give my kids paracetamol when they have fevers, unless they seem to be in discomfort, much to my husband's chagrin. I still believe this, but having suffered through a very long bout fever this week and feeling alive only when the paracetamol kicked in, I think I can be a bit more generous with the pain-relief to ease the kids' discomfort in future.

2. I realised I really missed hugging and kissing my kids as I self-quarantined myself from doing so this week. I consider myself to be really un-touchy-feely, but even I missed the cuddles. That's something I'm looking forward to catching up on in the week ahead.

3. It is so important to have friends who pray for you during trying times. It certainly gave me the strength to get through some of the more challenging times.

I hope to be back to regular programming in these parts in the coming week. While I'm still some distance away from being fully well, I'm just so glad we're on our way there.

 

Nature at Our Doorstep

A few weeks ago, someone new moved in our on floor. But this new family is a little different from the rest.

We spotted the little guys repeated appearing in our lift lobby carrying bits of twig, dried grass and hair and realised: a pair of olive-backed sunbirds have decided to make their home in our neighbour's potted plant.

The kids were fascinated by this piece of nature being brought, quite literally, to our doorstep. Every day we watched as the nest slowly took shape.

In the beginning, it looked really like a haphazard laying of material - not like a nest at all! I certainly had my doubts. The branch that the birds had selected to build on was hardly substantial, and the materials kept dropping or being blown away. The mess it made around the plant also annoyed my neighbour, who at one time, asked her helper to remove the nest. Noey was so disappointed when he heard that when I suggested to him that we take it upon ourselves to keep the area clean, he readily agreed and help sweep a couple of times.

By and by, and against the odds, the nest was completed. And the little family moved in.

We took peeks in the nest occasionally when the birds were not around and were thrilled at one point to discover two tiny little eggs, waiting to be hatched. We watched as the birds patiently sat on top of the eggs as they incubated. Some days we could even see the birds peeking out from the nest, looking upon as watchfully. As long as we didn't go too close, they were happy to stay and go about their own business. We encouraged the kids to cut down on the random rowdiness in the corridor, and were pleased to note a drastic improvement in this area. When they didn't forget, at least.

A week or so later, my helper came excitedly to tell me that one of the eggs had hatched. We took a peek again when the adults were away and indeed, we spotted the tinest little bored, about half the size of my finger. The kids were so excited!

Throughout this time, we took opportunity to learn a little about the life cycle of birds, as well as a bit more about sunbirds online. I also checked out a couple of books from the library about birds and found an interesting one called Even an Ostrich needs a Nest: Where Birds Begin which discusses many different species of birds with drawings and descriptions of their different nests. It is truly a wonder to me how birds with can create such strong, load-bearing nests from such seemingly insubstantial materials. This is, to me, surely a sign of God's hand at work.

We are away for a bit and chances are that by the time we return, the little baby birds would have flown the coop. I'm sorry that we will miss the opportunity to see them emerge. I certainly hope another little family will come and make their home just outside our door. It has not been without incident -- a couple of times, we've found the sunbird in our house and have had to guide it out. It even once dipped into the frying pan on the stove, much to the kids' amusement. Thankfully the pan wasn't in use at that time! 

But I've been really grateful for the opportunity afforded to us to get this close to nature. It has certainly showed me that little creatures are much more resilient than we give them credit for. There's a lot of construction going on in my neighbourhood and my guess its that these birds have been ousted from their usual habitat as a result. While it makes me sad to think about, it also gives me hope that with some ingenuity and some accommodation, we can still live together, albeit in a different way. 

蛇年：初二 Maccers Morning

I think nothing says lazy morning like having Macs for breakfast. 

I got many happy memories wrapped up in the golden arches. Definitely my Dad's doing there.

We've had different favourite outlets over the years, but one of my favourite long-standing ones is the Farrer Road branch. Admittedly, it feels a lot less green than I remember it to be during my childhood. But I still like it for the outdoor space and that little pond that they have up front. My kids like the stuffy play structure at the back, but I'm definitely not a fan of that and always try to avoid having to get in as much as I can! 

Anyway, the second day of the Lunar New Year felt like as good a time as any to pop by Macs for brekkie, especially since we were sure it would be open, unlike a few breakfast joints which we were eyeing. Of course, EVERYONE had the same idea, so it ended up being a lot less of a peaceful morning than I anticipated! 

Fortunately, it being Macs, the table turnover is fairly quick. There was some waiting, but we were able to get a table and get food fairly quickly.

First the straw, then the whole cup for our Nomi.

The kids wolfed everything down, then were enticed out to check out the many many (many) terrapins they have in the pond out front. And pose for pics for Papa.

How's that for an unwilling photograph?

What they wanted to do instead was to play in the play structure, which we allowed them to for a bit before dragging them off to have a look see around Far East Flora nearby.

The place was a real ghost town with only a couple of lonely staff pottering around, moving the remnant Chinese New Year plants around. I'm not even sure the place was really open for business!

  

I love how this pic captures the personalities of my two kids: Mummy's boy Noey holding on to Mummy's hand and "I-want-to-do-everything-myself" Naomi purposefully striding ahead on her own.

We saw lots of interesting plants, including this plant with giant oranges on it which DD promptly christened "pomeloranges".

Say pomelorange!

While we were walking around, the kids had no trouble finding ways to entertain themselves.

I can't remember who started this activity, but if it was Naomi, I wouldn't be surprised.

We rounded it all off by going crazy with the touch-me-not plants in the grass beds around.

It was a slow morning of simple pleasures. Just my favourite kind. It certainly was a welcome break from the madness of the first day!

 

Welcoming 2013

I wanted to end the year with a round-up-sum-up of the year gone by, but in truth, my head wasn't in the right place.

I've been grumpy and frustrated for days. And restless and unhappy.

I couldn't pinpoint the reason why. But after talking it through with the husband, we realised that I've been tired, lonely and I need a break.

2012 has been a tiring year. It's been busy yet filled with boring lulls, fulfilling yet full of the mundane. There is much I wish to say and recap on, but it'll have to wait. Instead, in the lead up to midnight,  I put away my computer and spent some time just talking to my husband for a long while. I think we both needed that.

It's time for me to hit the sack. Recaps and new resolutions will have to wait till tomorrow. (Or, knowing me, next week!)

In the meantime, here's wishing one and all the best in the year ahead.

HAPPY 2013!

Primary School Musings

I popped down to my old primary school this morning and was puzzled by the many cars I encountered in the driveway. Until I approached front lobby and realised that today was D-Day for 2013 Primary 1 registration -- balloting day for Phase 2C. A quick look at the board and I realised that there were 50 applicants vying for 29 places. Balloting was to be carried out for all Singaporean children living within 1km of the school.

As I went into the school office clutching my precious old Report Book, my heart went out to the parents who were anxiously awaiting the results of the ballot. I myself was at the school this morning to get some of my documents verified for alumni membership. With that sorted, I hope to have a relatively fuss-free experience registering my daughter in my old school when the time comes for her to enter Primary 1. Which is in about, err, 6 years time. (Yes, I am rather early about it but I figured I'd get it out of the way before they raise the alumni fees again.)

There is a sense here amongst parents that getting into the right primary school is the be-all and end-all. I personally don't think it's your primary school that matters -- it's which secondary school you go to that leaves a more indelible imprint on you. That said, your primary school does play a part in determining the secondary school you end up in, doesn't it? And with regards to primary schools, no matter how the ministry tries to sell it, everyone knows that not all schools are created equal. Some have more sprawling grounds, or offer a wider or more interesting range of extra curricular activities. Older schools which have been around for a long time have a richer tradition and history, and a more distinct identity. They often have more active alumni too which translate into deeper ties with the school and a stronger school spirit. Each school is also driven by its leadership, and as with any organisation, the quality of its leadership would vary from school to school. And of course, some schools seem to have a tradition of producing top students, though I don't think this is a very reliable gauge of how well your child will do.

The one thing I would agree with the ministry about is that popular or branded primary schools do not necessarily have better teachers. I still remember how my Primary 2 Maths teacher in my "good school" used to set us our exercises and then take a nap, right there in class. She even snored. My mother was appalled. Haha.

I don't think this happens any more. At least, I hope not! There are good teachers and bad teachers everywhere, though I do believe that with standards of teaching and training having been raised over the years, present day teachers should be of some standard. 

We've pretty much decided that, barring any unforeseen circumstances like a change in the system to remove priority registration for alumni (which would be quite a catastrophe), we'll be sending Naomi to an old primary school of mine. Partly because it is literally the closest school to home, and partly because I'm lazy and don't want to do any parent-volunteering. But also, I am keen for her to enter the school because I felt - and still feel - an affinity for it. I attended two primary schools and somehow this school, where I spent my lower primary years is still the school I think of more fondly. It is the school I think of as "my school", as opposed to my other primary school.

I have never spent any time at its current campus, but Naomi's Yiyi spent 3.5 years out of her 10 years in the school at this very campus. My elder cousins also attended the same school and I know one of my cousin's daughters will be entering the school next year for Primary 1. It is what you may call our family school, and I would like my daughter to share in a part of that tradition.

Our a whim, while I was on campus today, I decided to drop by the canteen and order a bowl of noodles for myself for breakfast. The noodle stall at my old school was legendary, by the way. And for the three years that I studied there, I ate noodles from the stall everyday. I'm not even kidding. I was such a regular that when I returned for a visit after my school transfer, the uncle who tended the stall asked me, "小妹妹， 你为什没有来了？" I tell you, it really broke my heart.

I ordered my usual order from ever so long ago - mee soup with everything in it. (It cost me $1.50 today when it used to cost me 40 cents.) I'm not sure what I was expecting. The mee pok uncle had passed on quite a few years ago and I knew it would not be the same. But to my surprise, the soup that I had this morning was very similar. Similar enough to evoke memories of running to the tuckshop everyday to get my noodles, and all the happy times I spent my recess running around the field playing 老鹰捉小鸡，playing hopscotch on the tiles, scaling metal posts, and jumping to zero-point and circle-circle.

These are my schoolday memories, amongst others. And I hope someday my little girl will make her own in the same place - if not physically, then at least in character - where I did.

Hmmm, Mummy, your grades ain't too impressive...

Squiggles on the Fridge

I was very amused when I walked into the kitchen to find this on the fridge:

One of Noey's random scribblings that he put up on the fridge himself for all to admire. I was quite impressed that he was careful to make sure that the paper was straight and had carefully secured the corners of the paper with the magnets.

Lest you think it's because I often tack up his work, I have to say it really is quite the opposite. For while I tend to be sentimental, I just have too much crap lying around that I don't know what to do with. So when it comes to Noey's artwork, unless there's something special about it, most of the time it goes into the trash bin.

I am thankful in this regard that his school doesn't send him home with his art and craft work. I suspect they find it more useful to decorate the classroom with it.

Maybe once he starts drawing more intelligible stuff I might feel more of an urge to keep his drawings! Right now it appears to be limited to circles, swirls, "curly-whirly" lines (as Noey likes to call them), small circles with a dot in the middle of them, and happy and sad faces (2 dots and a "u" or an "n"). The poor boy has probably inherited my artistic skill.

But I'm curious: Do you keep your child's artwork or throw it away? And if you do keep it, how do you do it? Do you have a good system to share?

Photography Skills

I pulled out some old photo albums recently to show Noey the Statue of Liberty. He saw some images of it randomly in different magazines and books, and I wanted to impress him with the fact that Mummy had been to see the real thing.

(Odd quirk of Noey's: He loves statues of all sorts. He thoroughly impressed his Nainai by asking her, when he saw the statue of liberty, "What is the name of that statue?" instead of "What is that?" as she expeocted him to.)

While rummaging through the albums, I came across some photos that made me laugh. If you think my husband is a good photographer (and I admit he is now), you should see the photographs he used to take early on in our relationship.

In Venice, April 2000

I've never let him forget this one, of me and the Santa Maria della Salute in Venice. When I asked him to get me in the photo with the church, I did NOT mean squeeze my head in disproportionately. Unfortunately this was before the age of the digital camera, so I didn't know that the shot looked like that till I developed the film after the trip was over.

Manarola in Cinque Terre, also April 2000

This one's slightly better, but still, the composition is leaves much to be desired. (Okay, I also had crappy dress sense as a student!)

I'm so glad his photography is so much better now!

More Noey-isms

When Noey woke up from his nap one afternoon about a week ago, I realised to my dismay, that there was a smell of poop emanating from him. I don't know if he fell asleep with poop in his diaper (he still wears one during naps which I think might last longer than 1.5hrs) or whether he'd just done it when he woke up. Whatever the case, I realised that my hopes of getting him back to sleep for longer were shot.

"Noey," I said reproachfully, "you're smelly!"

He grinned. "Noey smells like a baby!" he said.

"Babies smell like poo-poo?" I asked.

"Yes!" he replied. "And Noey is an enormous baby."

**********

Noey was playing with his train set one morning on his play table when he casually swiped at his toy cars on the same table and knocked them over the edge onto the floor.

"Noey," I said, "you dropped your cars on the floor! Don't do that."

He looked at me as if I didn't understand and said, "This is called playing."

**********

One hand on some reading material, and the other, my Mummy's elbow. Noey's idea of the perfect evening.

For the record, I didn't even realise he'd automatically held on to my elbow, till DD (who had laughed on seeing us and ran off to get his camera) pointed it out to me. Yes, I've tragically just accepted my fate as the elbow provider!

Grow Grow Grow

Remember that mini garden Noey put together at Hort Park a couple of weeks back? I'd forgotten how easily green bean plants germinate and how quickly they grow!

Monday morning: Little roots germinating.

Tuesday morning: Some of the shoots have already come up and leaves are starting to unfurl. If you look carefully, you'll see that a couple of the corn seeds have also put out roots.

My little gardener. Obviously more interested in digging things up than leaving them to grow.

Wednesday morning.

Thursday morning: !!!!

Noey admiring his mini-jungle.

Of course with the plants having grown so impressively, I was reluctant to simply let them die out. So I went to buy some soil and pots to re-pot them and see how much they could grow. Then I chanced on a basil plant at the super market and thought, hey, why don't I just grow one so that I could stop buying packets of basil for that little that I use in some of my dishes. And since it's Christmas soon enough, I grabbed a couple of poinsettia for for good measure. So now, I -- suddenly -- have a small, very random collection of plants sitting on my balcony needing care and attention. Well, I'm not really known to have green fingers so I'll see how long they last!

Yoohoo...

It's been a while again, hasn't it?

There has been a lot on my plate recently, what with our move into our as-yet-to-be-completely finished home and work and tiredness and let's not forget the errands that have to be run... I also seem to have developed a touch of insomnia over the past few weeks. Before our move, I was falling asleep with Noey at close to 10pm but would spring awake at around 2.30am and stay awake till almost 6am. Unfortunately, Noey has a habit of waking around 7am so that seem that I'm pretty much a walking zombie for the rest of the day ahead.

In truth I guess, I could have squeezed out some time to write, but I really didn't feel like it. When I stared at the screen, there were no words. In the same vein, e-mails have gone unwritten and unreplied, smses ignored.

The affliction of being unable to sleep at night but feeling like the walking dead all day has settled down somewhat over the past week, and with that, has re-emerged some of my inclination to write.

So I'm back and there is much to catch up on.

Hello again, everyone!

The Bow in the Cloud

Did you see the huge rainbow in the sky this evening?

We only noticed it in the rear view mirror of the car as we drove home in the evening. Sadly for me, I was driving and so was unable to get more than a glimpse of it through the mirror. But DD tells me that it was virtually a whole arc and possibly the biggest rainbow he had ever seen.

Noey was allowed special dispensation to get out of his car seat to have a look at the rainbow -- the first he has ever laid eyes on. And after exclaiming "Rainbow!", the first thing he immediately said was "God put the rainbow in the sky."

(The result of many many readings of Noah's Ark, no doubt. Can you blame us?? He followed this up with the not-so-grammatically-correct "God made the rainbow put inside the sky." Haha. "God made the..." is one of his favourite startings to a sentence, you see.)

Indeed, as we admire the beauty of the rainbow in the sky, may it bring to mind even more the One who has put it in the sky, and the covenant which God made with Noah all living things that he would never again flood the earth to destroy it.

That must surely lift your spirits more than the mere beauty of the rainbow ever could!

Itchy Scratchy Me

My good intentions to blog have been somewhat thwarted by a hideous and itchy rash that has suddenly overtaken me.

(Ok, I hope the pic didn't scare anyone.)

I don't know what happened except that something seemed to have triggered off a major allergic reaction for me. I did notice a couple of random spots on my legs for a couple of days but on Thursday all hell, it seems, broke loose. There were spots like those all over my arms, legs, torso and back. And they just kept spreading. Of course it itched and I scratched, making it all worse. When it finally stared spreading up to my face, DD chased me to go to see a doctor.

The doctor couldn't tell me much. Then again, I guess I didn't really expect him to. But he packed me home with antihistamine and steroid pills which I took dutifully. It's been helping to keep the situation under control but fresh crops of rashes have come up even as the old ones fade after the meds take effect.

I panicked a little on Saturday morning when I woke up to find my legs, one arm and my back covered with rashes. Fortunately I managed to speak to a good friend who, more importantly, is a doctor at the National Skin Centre who put my mind at ease. The sad part is that she told me that it might last up to 2 weeks. I sure hope not! Thank God for doctor friends, by the way!

It's eased off somewhat and I only have some slight redness on my arms and legs today. I hope I've seen the end of it. The meds have been making me drowsy but I've got to shake it off to face the new week.

Hopefully it'll be back to regular programming around here soon.

Urban Warfare

Reading the article in the Sunday Times yesterday about Street Wars, a water gun assassin game that will be hitting Singapore in May totally made me smile. With nostalgia.

Would you believe that DD and I did something similar, years ago?

The game was Weng's brainchild. Its name was Urban Warfare and the venue? Suntec City on a Saturday afternoon. Each of us carried a water gun of our choosing, filled with coloured water. Our task was simple -- to kill as many of the other players as possible. The one with the most kills won. Everytime you got shot you had to wait out 30 seconds before you could move again, to prevent you from shooting your assassin right back. And to make sure that no one just hid in one spot for the entire game, we were given tasks to complete at different locations. All that also led to a big shootout in the end!

I was dubbed the babyfaced killer because harmless looking ol' me was really not bad at the game. I was pretty good at sneaking up on people and shooting them "dead", with a smile of course. Helped that I was light on my feet and fast, back then! I never got into any trouble though I did receive plenty of disapproving looks. Some others were not so lucky. I think one of our friends Joe managed to hit a passerby and had to buy him a new T-shirt.

It was crazy fun. While I am happy where I am these days, this is one of those times when I miss the carefree days of youth.

But no, I'm not going to be pay $50 to join this new game! It's just fun to reminicse.

It's Been Quite a Week

It has been an incredibly busy week for us.

Starting with a family wedding last Saturday, our week also included Sophie's birthday party on Sunday, a wedding dinner on Tuesday, the October Babies birthday celebration on Thursday, Noey's actual birthday (and a trip to Sentosa) on Friday, his birthday party on Saturday and a luncheon by my Aunt's church this afternoon. And in between during the week, we were busied ourselves preparing for the celebrations for Noey's birthday. Whew!

The highlight of it all of course was Noey turning 1. This year past has been a incredible journey and I really can't believe my baby is no longer a baby. There's much I want to say about it and which I will once I find the time to write it all down! In the meantime, I just want to say a big THANK YOU to all of you who have shared in our journey, offered help and advice, shared in our joys and our regrets, celebrated with us, and generously bestowed us with gifts. You have really made a difference to all 3 of us.

Tired Mummy signing out for now. More updates once I'm able to catch my breath!

I'm 1! (Read the sign)

A Sign of Things to Come

Noey's drinking cup had been missing the whole day. My helper was convinced that I had left it behind at Sophie's party yesterday while I was equally sure that I brought it home and left it on my bedside table. Unfortunately, neither my helper nor I managed to uncover the cup and were terribly puzzled after a period of futile searching.

A quick check with DD when he came home revealed that I was correct in my recollection but still, no cup.

DD joined in the search and a short moment later, he beckoned me into our bedroom chuckling. And there it was, Noey's cup, casually laid by the little culprit in a lower (rather unused) drawer of the dressing table.

The Lost Cup, Found.

DD had, thankfully, remembered that Noey had been loitering near the dressing table in the morning and thought that (in his own words) "if I were Noey Ong, that would be a good place to put my cup".

Let's hope he has that ability to think like Noey for a long time to come!

Being Ready

I chanced upon this amongst Noey's reading materials at my parents' place:

Yes, Grandma is starting him young

"Might as well get him ready what," said my Mum when I asked her about it. When I continued looking at her knowingly, she protested weakly about her not meaning anything by it and ended off with an "Aiyah, you're not supposed to see that."

Hur hur. No, I'm not taking the hint quite just yet.

Cruisin'

My little Ah Beng making himself comfortable.

Noey hasn't discovered the magic of the coin rides yet and I plan to keep it that way as long as I can! Still, these do come in mighty handy when I need a break from carrying him and need him to be entertained for more than a couple of minutes. Can't believe the rides cost $1 now! Didn't it use to be 20 cents way back when we were tots?

Baby you can drive my car
Yes I’m gonna be a star
Baby you can drive my car
And baby I love you

Beep beep’m beep beep yeah

The Long Weekend That Wasn't

It was the first long weekend in quite a while, but alas, with Noey falling sick on Thursday night, all plans had to be shelved and we instead spent a quiet few days at home.

Noey's continued to have a fever through most of Friday, but by Friday night it broke. When I woke up on Saturday morning to find him rummaging through the drawers next to our bed, I knew he was on the mend. He was more wobbly than usual on Saturday, but by Sunday, except for a runny nose, he was virtually right as rain and raring to go.

I'm not one of those who thinks breastmilk is some miracle drug but it did seem to me like he recovered awfully quickly and I wonder if breastmilk had anything to do with it. I was joking with DD that maybe he should add some EBM to his morning milo, since he falls ill really easily but he wasn't buying it!

Anyway, with Noey down, it was a good thing I hadn't made other plans to catch the National Day Parade and fireworks. Instead we caught the spectacle on TV and we got Noey to participate in the pledge moment at 8.22pm, albeit grudgingly.



Let's hope we fare better with the next long weekend coming up in Sept.

June desktop

Something to brighten my desktop:

Those frozen teething toys? The best things ever. It keeps Noey busy especially when he's fussing about sitting in his highchair or over a meal. Though yes, it does get messy, especially when he decides to drop the food covered teether on the floor!

I'm crap at scrapping, but with the free template from here, this was a snap. Pity June's nearly over! (I did this a week ago, but still.)

It has been a busy month.