Baby Boyd Blog

babble babble beep beep!

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:46:00 +0000

we didn't go to class on tuesday, because i had a hard time waking drayden up, and he was a big grumpy-bums when he did, so we decided to give class a miss in the end. i was mighty disappointed, though. i LOVE being in playclub, to the point that yesterday i thought, well, if drayden doesn't want to go, then i'll go! it's just so enjoyable to be around all the adorable children, especially with Gerry leading the class. i can't wait for tomorrow's class now.

it's the last for the term, and we're gonna have a big class party. Gerry called to tell me both parents can be in class tomorrow, so yey! it's gonna be fun! at least one of us can take pictures! noel and i decided to bring some chicken nuggets to class in the end, for the potluck. i really can't wait! i'm such an excited mommy, aren't i! lol!

drayden's two favorite activities right now are kicking his football around, and drawing/coloring with his crayons. with BOTH activities we're FORCED to participate. he will bring his favorite ball (the eight-dollar one that noel got from toys 'r us) and make sure we sit across him and pay attention. otherwise, he will walk up to you, tap you repeatedly on the chest, and go: "ey, ey, ey" until you stop what you're doing and focus on him. you have to give him your full attention, as he places the ball down calculatedly, steps backwards like pro, and then runs forward and delivers a mighty kick. this goes on over and over until he's had enough 'practice', and there's no telling when that'll be.

but it's quite amusing, because each time before he does that little routine, he looks at you to make sure you're paying attention, and then says: "ready, kick!" with his cheeky little grin. it's hard not to oblige and just entertain him. =)

with his crayons and his big-boy drawing block that daddy got for him, he would spend many, many minutes lying on his tummy, legs kicking in the air, scribbling and doodling shapes and lines that only he can make out what they're supposed to be. but most times, he would ask you to sit next to him, and he'll hand you a crayon ("nah, nah, nah", so you can't refuse!) and a mouthful of babble will be spoken to you, with the last word of the whole loooong line being: "draw". mind you, it's like he's telling you a story, complete with hand gestures and facial expressions. so its: "gjagitaftruytuuagtecxxaceytagapeodnfkjh, draw."

and you're left wondering, "draw what???!"
so it becomes a game kinda like, reverse "win, lose or draw" because you don't know exactly what it is you're supposed to draw. oh but it's entertaining.

his favorite sentence for the moment, on the other hand, is: "how much?" all thanks to noel who says that everytime drayden said "money!". so now we have a toddler who points to everything in the room (or when we're out) and asks: "how much?" but he says it in his own little funny way so it sounds more like "ah march", with a lot of emphasis on the ch-sound, as how he emphasis all his other words. like, outtttt, and waittttt, and watccchh. heh!

and the cutest thing happened today. while i was taking money out from my wallet to pay the taxi driver, the little rascal confidently leaned forward and asked the driver: "ah march?" cab driver was super amused. lol!

right now he's on the phone in a conversation with noel (who's gone out to get dinner), and all i can hear is gjdgajgdakhkhakheyiypopbbc and the occasional "ah march", "why" and "oh no". very funny!

alright, i've got a few emails to see to before noel gets home with food. wait for pictures from our class party tomorrow!
have a good night, everyone!

two heads better than one?

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:34:00 +0000

last year when we did drayden's first party, i pretty much left noel out of most of the decision-making process. rude, i know. heh. partly thanks to the hazard of being a virgo therefore my maniacal need to be in control of e-ver-ree-thing and have it all my way, and hugely because i was afraid noel was gonna fret over how out of control (oh the irony, indeed) i was being with the details and expenses! i am one to pull out all the stops when it comes to parties, what more my son's FIRST birthday!

but this year i think it's only nice to let noel have a say. partly because my purse strings are a little tight at the moment. hee! so we sat down yesterday and discussed how we're gonna have the party next month...though still careful not to allow any room for him to disagree with or throw out my ideas. tee hee.

i think we did pretty well. the only bit we disagreed on being the food. but i can't remember now what we settled on! lol! one thing for sure, we are keeping this year's guest list a lot smaller than the last. i'm a little sad, but we have to be realistic.

it's also great that noel has had extensive events planning experience, so he comes with a bagful of ideas that are super duper cool. and i'm thankful i have a husband who's very game with organizing and executing parties on our own - it's very encouraging to have a partner who's equally enthusiastic and involved.

i really, really can't wait for the party date!

the english police!

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:53:00 +0000

what a week! but i think it's been a very fulfilling one, cos i'm happy with the diaper cakes that were put together for this week - some of them were of pretty challenging themes! and i think "golf" is becoming quite a highly-requested theme, though it is also quite a task because we can hardly find any golf-themed baby stuff here, but that makes it all the more gratifying to accomplish! i love challenges and when my clients give me really "odd" themes to attempt. once i had a request to create a cake with a "pole dancing" theme! needless to say, it was fun to try!

this week i had two (separate) golf-themed diaper cake orders, and it's double the challenge, because it means i have to create two entirely different but similar-themed cakes, if you know what i mean! oh but it was fun.

today we went to check out possible party venues together with william, and i'm happy say that we've decided on the one. i like places with huge outdoor areas, so there'll be lots of space for the kids to play and run around, and the party is also not confined indoors. my heart was already set on venue A, but venue B looked promising online as well, and was at a much cheaper rate, so we decided it's best to have a look-see in person before we decide. in the end, we went with what my heart was set on initially.

so that's settled then.

you know, if you follow my tweets you probably would have heard me say this, but i think parents should learn and remember to speak good English with their children. if i had a dollar for everytime i cringe when i hear singaporean parents talk to their kids, i think by now i can afford to throw drayden's second birthday party at resort world singapore. seriously.

i'm not talking about the accent, or the vocab - no need to impress with your big words and distinct enunciation - its the tenses, and good god, be rid of that awful singlish, will you??

have you heard how children speak these days? we have the parents and their love-for-singlish to thank for! is grammar that hard to observe, and proper sentence construction so difficult to put into pratice? is it thaaaat much of a chore to let remain those one or two words in our speech that make or break a proper sentence? like, will it kill us if we say "where did you go?" instead of just "where you go?"

and if i hear one more person say "how come like that?" i will SCREAM!! i really don't think good English is difficult to employ. it's just a matter of not being lazy, that's all. and not literally translating the sentences as we speak it in our mother tongue.

talking about being lazy, do you know i hate and try my best not to sms with abbreviations? i can't stand it! i hate how people spell "then" as den, "also" as oso, and all those other abominable abbreviations people come up with. i don't even abbreviate the word "you"!! ok soooometimes i do, i get lazy and just key in "u", but as best as i can, i don't! i spell out my 'you's, my 'tomorrow's and even my 'thanks's. i can't stand all these shortforms! ok, in my defense, i think "u" is still forgivable because the spelling and the pronunciation is not lost or compromised, unlike the 'den's and the 'oso's!

if you ask me, it's one step on the highway towards bad english. not to mention what a headache it can sometimes be trying to figure out what on earth the other party is trying to communicate with a highly-abbreviated text message. irritating!

and and and, pEOplE wHo tYpE liKE tHiS should be chopped to pieces and fed to dogs! ok a bit extreme. maybe just have their fingers broken so they can no longer tYpE LiKE tHIs. isn't it so difficult to type?? i just spent like 30 seconds trying to type that last phrase! why would you want to subject yourself to that?? doesn't it make you feel retarded, like you don't know how to work a keyboard? not to mention, mentally draining, trying to figure out what to capitalise and what not to. geez!

ok enough ranting! call me the english police, if you want! lol. but this was supposed to be a happy post! i'm gonna get back into my party planning mode, because this morning i woke up and realised i have only about a month left to the party date! this time last year all was nearly settled! but this time round i'm not even close to being half-settled! it's almost time to panic!!

later, ya'll!

gold week

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:05:00 +0000

i actually made a mistake thinking that this week was the last week of term. it is actually only week nine, and we still have two weeks more till term two starts on March 22 (well, 23rd for us). as mentioned, we celebrated the color gold this week, and i seriously couldn't think of anything gold to put on dray. not that he'd allow me to tie a gold ribbon on his wrist, neck or anywhere for that matter. so, i put him in the next closest color to gold - yellow. can, lah!

i did the best i could for myself: gold belt, gold earrings, and my gold wicker bag. =)

there was a lot of gold involved in this week's art! on tuesday, we pasted on gold bars and gold coins on a money truck, and then came dray's all-time favorite part: glitter! i think his piece is the only one crazy-filled with gold glitter.

see how crazy-enthusiastic he is!

i don't have a picture of the finished product because gerry took it to include in the children's end-term portfolio. each child's random artwork is taken so the teachers can attach them to their portfolio, which will be handed out on the last day of term.

so anyway, the next art activity was a test of extreme fine motor skills. we had to string pasta through a golden string to make a necklace. only four pieces, thankfully. lol!

so diligent and full of concentration
after which, the "necklace" was dipped into gold paint:

and ta-da!!

nice??? =)
today for the first artwork we painted on a gold car using a stencil, on which we dabbed on gold paint using a sponge. without warning (though i should have known better!), dray went bonkers slamming the sponge-brush on the paper and went bang-bang-bang, gold paint was flying everywhere! i had to calm him down, and we were able to complete the task a little less crazily.

and then it was glitter time again, so Dray went bonkers once again, (sigh..), and here we have it, our gold car:

the next activity was longer than usual, but very very fun! after painting a paper plate with gold paint, we pasted on many many gold bits, like gold leaves, gold ribbons, gold pipe cleaners, and more!

would you believe dray was actually singing when he was doing the artwork? lol! and let's see if you can guess what we were suppose to make for this activity:

no?? why, its Mr Golden Sun, of course! well, the gold cellophane paper is supposed to be the "rays", but since i do not re-arrange dray's artwork, our poor Mr Sun only has three rays and they shine inwards, ok? hee.

but the boy must be given credit for not losing interest midway during the activity! =)

next week on thursday we're having an end-of-term party, and its potluck, so we each have to bring a food item - either finger food, drinks or dessert. i haven't decided yet what to bring. we gotta let Gerry know by tuesday anyway.

ok, i'm feeling a little hungry talking about food now, and i think so is dray, he's eating his crayons, okay gotta go, bye!

exciting things to share!

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:59:00 +0000

yesterday was a day of many firsts for noel and i. thanks to the kind folks at nuffnang, we received two complimentary movie tickets to the gala premier of Alice in Wonderland at Shaw Lido. the movie only opens on March 4. it was very unexpected and truly a sweet surprise, considering just days prior i was FB-ing how much i adore tim burton, and (do i really need to say this?) johnny depp.

and like a wish come true, we get to be among the many other firsts to watch the movie!

it was an especially special "event" for us, because this will be our FIRST movie since we had drayden, and also our FIRST movie WITH drayden. mad excited, but at the same time also a tad apprehensive how he'll behave in a theater.

but still, super duper uber excited! =)

daddy and dray in matching cookie monster tees!
we arrived at lido just in time to catch the dancers and stiltwalker performing an act at the lobby of the building. and we got cute little cupcakes, too, with an A (for Alice) on it!

after collecting the complimentary tickets, dinner was chowed down in a matter of minutes, cos waiting for a seat took foooor-evvvv-er.

i think some people were seriously overdressed for the movie premier. i mean, it wasn't like there was a red carpet or camera crews or anything. well, not that i saw, anyway. but some folks were seriously decked to the nines like they were attending a high-profile event, in their cocktail dresses and all. on the contrary, last night's premier was like going for an ordinary movie date!

and the queue, i tell you, was not funny at all. because it was free seating, the queue was actually snaking from Lido 1, to the restrooms, and then back down to the snack bar, and along again to the big glass doors at the escalators. seriously not glam for you to bother dressing up for. it's not like the hollywood ones, lah. some people really take these things waaaay to seriously, lol.

anyway, it was a very strict no-cameras-and-no-phones-allowed premier, so sadly, i can't take more pictures of us in the theater, as much as i had wanted to document such a monumental event for us, heh. just some shots of the movie posters. booooo.

i don't have to say i loved the movie. it goes without saying! tim burton and johnny depp are like one of the most "power" collabos ever! did you know that they have worked in seven movies so far? starting with Edward Scissorhands in 1990 to Ed Wood (which also starts SJP), Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Sweeny Todd, and now Alice in Wonderland. their eighth project, Dark Shadows, is still a work in progress.

i shan't spoil it by telling you about the movie. go watch it, even if you haven't read the book, you'll enjoy the different unique characters and appreciate the bits of humor here and there. and oh, catch it in 3D if you can!

drayden was surprisingly well-behaved throughout the movie! he was actually engrossed, eyes not wandering away from the screen, hands busy in the popcorn tub, stuffing his tiny mouth with popcorn. he didn't fuss nor did he get restless, which was such a relief, and made the movie date such an easy and pleasant one for us. in fact, in one serious part of the movie, he actually went "oh nooooooo!!" very loudly and very dramatically, as if he understood what was going on, lol!

and everytime he sees the cheshire cat, he would point excitedly at the movie screen and go "meow, meow, meow". i tried to shush him for a while, but gave up in the end, cos i didn't think he was being disruptive anyway. one time, after meowing and meowing, i tell you, he tapped the guy sitting next to him (yes, he had his own seat!) and asked: "nice???" and the guy was kind enough to humor drayden. *slapsforehead*

but all in all, he was a very good boy, so i think we can bring him to more movies in future, and maybe we'll start with the animated ones. i think toy story is coming soon! but nearing the end of the movie, he asked to nurse, and we walked out of the theater with a positively passed out toddler.

so our FIRST movie date went really well!

another exciting piece to share: my FIRST tattoo since having drayden! i have forgotten what it's like to go under the tattoo gun, and my back piece is still a work in progress (we had stopped working on it when i learnt i was pregnant, and have not resumed till now, much to noel's chagrin) so i really have no idea how i'll handle the pain.

to make matters more pressurising, the whole session was to be filmed on camera, for one of the episodes of this tattoo-themed internet tv programme that the husband is hosting. to give you a brief introduction, the husband is part of an internet tv show "Skin Art", produced by clicknetwork.tv, the same folks that bring you the "Shan and Rozz Show" and "Xiaxue's Guide to Life", to name a few.

"Skin Art" is a programme centered on all things pertaining to skin and body art, like your piercings, tattoos, and never-seen-before-or-talked-about body modification art like branding and scapeling. if you're going "huh, what's branding?", well go on over to clicknetwork.tv's website, and watch the debut episode of "Skin Art", which opens with this precise artform covered.

and need i repeat, it's hosted by the husband?! =)

disclaimer and warning: the show and the rest of its upcoming episodes may be too much to stomach for some, so don't say i didn't warn you! =) and while it may not be appropriate content to promote considering this is a baby blog, i hope this can be an exception, considering it stars my other half, heh! must be proud of my husband, what!

so as i was saying, i was to be filmed on screen, getting an ink. i was almost regretting volunteering myself for one of the episodes! i don't take pain very well, and was afraid i'd be too drama on tv! lol!

how did i get myself into this? well, one of the episodes touches on "wacky and unique tattoos", and without thinking, i had offered my skin! well, i was already considering getting a tattoo significant to drayden, and i didn't want to have his name inked, since noel already has that. i had wanted a rosary-like necklace "wrapped" around my left arm, with a letter "D" pendant just above the star on my left wrist, but noel thinks i shouldn't get anything on my arm, should i ever want to return to work, plus it may be tough to hide sometimes.

so while searching online for ideas, i stumbled on this girl's photos who had a join-the-dot tattoo of a giraffe on her calf, and i thought: what a unique idea! it could be an activity for drayden for when he's older, lol! and it wasn't difficult to decide on a design. my son loves elmo to bits!

i think when i tell people i'm gonna get a join-the-dot tattoo (of elmo, at that), the reactions i received were quite "reserved", hahaa. not very excited, maybe cos most can't imagine how it'd look like. well, if you are trying to imagine how it'll look, then don't overwork yourself, here's a little help, heh:

my join-the-dot elmo tattoo DONE!

it should heal in a week's time, and i can't wait to let dray attempt to join the thirty-over dots! =)

i had it done just above my left (inner) ankle, and i'll have you know, it hurt like a *teet*! if you wanna see how (badly) i did getting tattooed, hold on up, and let me post the link to the episode here when it airs. i think i could liken it to when i was in labour!

anyway, here's me getting inked (by dray's godpa, Vik), and also the stencil of the tattoo design before we started:

so watch "Skin Art" if you're not too disturbed and affected by painful stuff, and lend the husband some support! =)

and tell me what you think of my tattoo, will you! lol!

drayden's artwork

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:37:00 +0000

last week, class' artwork was centered on trains. tuesday's artwork looked like a lot of fun! it was noel's day to bring dray to class, and here's what daddy and dray did in class:

train tracks!
after painting the vanguard strip with black glue paint - to resemble tar, i presume - the kids get to stick on colored ice-cream sticks to make the train tracks come together. noel and i have a strict dont-mess-with-dray's-creativity policy (heh), so we refrain as best as possible to correct or move around anything he does during craft.

so yes, his train tracks look nothing like one, hahaa, but at least his creativity is allowed to run free! lol! i've seen children from other classes bringing home these perfect pieces, there is no way they did that, and you know their caregivers or helpers must have lent a hand. adults are reminded often by the teachers to let the children do their craftwork as they wish, but i guess sometimes some of us just can't resist perfection. lol!

anyway, after putting together the train tracks, what they had to do was create a train, by putting a few carriages together! it's a very simple activity, where different colored carriages were glued on folded paper plates, that have been strung together:

so when you put the train and tracks together....

choo choo!! =)
cute right???

thursday's artwork was done at home...kinda like homework, heh, cos we were terribly late for class and missed craft time. so i asked Gerry if i could bring the artwork home and do it together with dray.

the first activity was a pretty simple one, where they had to paste on different parts of the train on a printout:

it's adorable how he knows where each part goes, after a little guidance. here's a video of him doing the activity!

the next artwork, the kids in school get to paint on colors on another train printout using toothbrushes, but back home, we could only make do with crayons. luckily, i had some crayons that i had bought from cotton on kids during one of our visits:

coloring it in

ta-da!

i hope we won't be late for school again tomorrow and miss out on the artwork anymore. that said, i'd better head to bed now! =) i still haven't decided what to wear to class - we're celebrating the color gold, and parent and child have to wear / bring something gold to class this week - so hopefully i can put something together tomorrow morning!

i'll write again tomorrow!
with pictures of us in our golden glory! =)

the difference between us

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:58:00 +0000

here's something i want to chat about, spiraled by the few incidences i've observed / experienced over the weekend: i feel that some singaporeans and singaporean parents are sometimes an uptight bunch. i know this statement may offend some, but it is an inescapable conclusion i come to, after seeing the differences in parenting style between local parents and expat parents myself. and i hope i may be entitled to an opinion, because this is what it is, an opinion - not a generalisation.

yesterday morning while standing in line in the long and slow-moving queue at popular bookstore, i was in between a pair of caucasian parents with two girls in front, and a singaporean mom behind me with her son and daughter. one of the caucasian girls was sitting on the floor next to her dad, reading a book they were gonna buy, and i noted neither parent made a fuss. most singaporean parents would be fussing for the kid to stand up, and not sit on the floor cos its dirty, etc etc etc. right? =)

but i find that most expat parents are more relaxed, and less freaked out about these things. they don't sweat the small stuff. a totally different story was going on behind me, and the boy wasn't even sitting down on the floor or anything worth freaking out about! he was standing next to his mom, holding up school supplies they were getting. but i think in the one minute that i was peeling my ears to listen to what's going on behind me, the mother must have dished out over five orders.
"boy, don't move, you'll drop the things", "girl, stand here", "boy, stand still", "girl, don't touch that", "boy, hold the things properly can!" and so on and so on.

i wonder: is there a need to be in total control all the time and order our kids to do as we say? and can't we just let our kids be kids? they're not robots!

you know, on friday, dray and i had stepped out just as the rain simmered down, but i had still put him in his wellies and his raincoat, because i know he loves jumping in puddles after the rain! so as usual, while waiting for the bus, i let him have his fun splashing and jumping into puddles. you will not believe the frowns and disapproving looks i was fed by the people at the bus stop - typically the aunties. it was as if i was committing a deadly sin, letting my son get wet playing with the puddles.

why are some people so uptight? yes, my son is getting his jeans all wet, but daaaang, how often does he get to have fun like this? and water dries up anyway! if we can't let our kids enjoy the simple and free pleasures in life, like walking barefooted in the rain, or jumping in puddles, or catching tadpoles in drains, what kind of sad, sorrowful childhood are we forcing them to grow in?

i had an ex-expat-boss, and we use to go for dinners at her place, she lives in a house in taman warna with a huge garden in front. and her nine-month old daughter back then is usually in her diapers only, playing on the lawn, with the water hose, making mud and rolling in the mud! the little bubba was always giggling and chuckling from pure fun! i used to admire her for being such a care-free mom, and i had vowed to adopt a similar attitude when i have kids of my own.

so i don't flip out when dray picks things up while he toddles along (except for maybe cigarette butts and tissue paper, but he doesn't pick these up anyway, heh) or when he trips and tumbles and decides to continue laying on the floor. i think these are just small stuff not worth losing our head over. i see some parents go all weird and shrill when any of the afore-mentioned happens, and i think they really need to loosen up a bit, lol!

i think children should be allowed to have fun, and sometimes fun can be dirty. yes, we need to be careful sometimes, for the sake of their health, but i suppose if we can find a balance between what is still okay and what is extreme, then perhaps our children will have a less stressful childhood, and one that is not filled with so many "do-this-and-dont-do-that!" commands.

siloso on saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:03:00 +0000

pictures from siloso, where we were on saturday. =)
i brought drayden's new fav toy - the mini football that noel bought from toys 'r us for EIGHT DOLLARS - and it was a good idea, cos drayden had a ball of a time kicking it around on the beach!

party in progress

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:10:00 +0000

guess what! i've already finished designing the invites! now all that's left is to print them out. i was doing up the invite list just before that, and realised that this year's list may possibly be a little bigger than last year, as we have made many new friends...such as from Timbre and Dray's school, just to name a few. scary, man!

i've also done the cupcake toppers and thank you tag. super excited with the progress! and and and, i've also already decided on the party favors for the kids! i've already sourced for and found the individual items, and placed the necessary orders. i can't wait to begin putting them together!

talking about birthdays, we had TWO in class last thursday. it's so cute lah, the kids celebrating birthdays in school. i'm counting the days to dray's turn!

having his cake(s) and eating it too!
we were terribly late for thursday's class, because noel and i only slept at nearly 7am that morning. can you believe it! i was helping noel with preparing his airbrush stencils for his event that same day. we finally reached class at quarter past twelve, just in time for snack. we missed craftwork, but i asked gerri for the materials so we could do them at home.

it's crazy how this week has been. it's like i don't have time to do anything. and when i do, it's just enough time to do everything all at once! and i forget things, or end up having to put some things off, it just becomes a mad hectic rush in the end. so many commitments for the weekend!

one of the things i was busy with were the party invites i was helping to design and print, as well as this wedding cum housewarming towel cake gee had me make for one of our dear friends, jules:

i feel like this week i've been out shopping more that i usually do, too. but i enjoy it, i do. i haven't had time to take pictures of the craftwork we did in school, but i'll do it soon. we also went to the beach (siloso) yesterday - which was saturday - to join noel after he finished an event at tanjong beach. i'll post pictures of that soon, too.

i'm just relieved this week has come to an end, and i can look forward to (hopefully) a slower week. it's gonna be the last week of Term 1, and then we'll have a week's break, before Term 2 starts on 15 March. i hope most of dray's classmates will remain, we have really adorable kids in our class! and oh yes! we're celebrating the color 'gold' during this last week of term! GOLD! i need to find something gold to wear for both dray and i! *panics*

random rant: a certain someone said, "nobody talks to or joins us (blah blah blah)". well, maybe it's cos nobody wants to?? *rollseyes* geez.

okay i'm gonna head out to deliver both the invites and the cake above....so, toodles, everyone!
have a great week ahead!

the next one in april

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:33:00 +0000

creating the sample party invites last weekend for sale has spurred me into planning-mode for Drayden's second birthday. you know, when i look at the photos from his first birthday party, i still find it hard to believe we managed to put it all together. did we really go through all that trouble?

and now, barely two months away, i find it quite challenging to re-create another party of that same scale. i feel like i'm all out of ideas on what to do for the second one! so while the husband was up preparing work materials for all his events for the rest of the days this week, i was up scouring for new ideas for his second birthday party.

we already have the theme in mind, and venue decided. and oh, i'm doubly excited about this year's cos for the first time, we get to celebrate a birthday in school, since his birthday falls on a tuesday - which is class day! yey!

you may find this ridiculous, but i've already bought his birthday candles! last year in fact, lol! yep, we already knew the theme we'll have the party in that early! i say candles because as usual, i have a feeling dray's gonna have more than one birthday cake. haha. well, but of course, since we're gonna have another cake in school. one for the party, one for school, and one for his smash cake.

i've already got the balloons and pinata too! YES! call me kiasu, but i prefer to get the items sporadically, rather than in one mad rush near the party date. it helps make it seem less 'heavy' financially, so i get what is needed now and then when i can or see something suitable. i decided to have a pinata this year cos i think dray's big enough to understand the concept already. heh!

i'm so relieved i finally found an idea for the party invite. i really wanted to do something different than the "ticket" kind we had last year, and this year's one is gonna be a fun project!

so what's left to think about are the party favors. this is the real headache. i need fresh new ideas, different than the cookie monster ones we had last year. i need to bring it down a notch too i think and go a little less crazy in the favor department, haha!

food! well, food-wise isn't gonna be difficult to decide nearer to the party date, so i'll leave that aside for now. as with last year, we're gonna bake the birthday cake ourselves (more special and meaningful, lah!) and order cupcakes that we can then decorate on our own. talking about cupcakes, i've already gotten the cupcake stand, too, and in the party color! very pretty! i can't wait to use it!

what else? oh yes, toy rentals. definitely, we'll have to rent some toys, especially with dray a lot older and aware now. but maybe not as much as we did last year, but then again, that will depend on the number of kids we'll have this year. decor is settled too, i think i've got what is sufficient to decorate the space we're renting.

lol! excuse me, but i'm like, just rambling here, mentally checking the things i've taken care of and those that are yet to be seen to!

now i'm super excited! i'm gonna do up the invite list and maybe start working on the invites! oh boy, i can't wait to get started!

an invitation for a party!

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:57:00 +0000

i've been getting a lot of email enquiries of late on how i put together drayden's first birthday party. i've also received a number of requests to re-create the party favors that i did. i'm just so humbled that people think so highly of them to want to buy them! but as noel advises, i prolly won't be able to manage taking in party favor orders, cos they did take a lot of time and work, and orders will usually come in huge quantities. so i've had to sadly turn them down unfortunately. but i'm more than happy to offer pointers wherever i can! i know the party hats were a hit! =)

but i am, however, able to accommodate orders / requests to create the cookie monster party invites as i did for dray's party. in fact, i've just finished creating a few designs for a recent enquiry! this mommy had sought my help via facebook, and after designing a few proposed samples for her child's upcoming party, i've decided to offer this service from now on!

soooo...if you're keen on having SS themed invites for your child parties, do give my designs a consider! =) i am showcasing the four that i spent sunday designing. they're all in a generic SS theme, but i can certainly have them in the individual characters if you wish!

if you would like these invites for your next party, leave a comment with your email add, or email me at ann.aludra.boyd@gmail.com with your queries! can't wait to hear from you, and i am excited with this new 'extension' of stubbornsnails!

thank you!

the 5 Tiers of Happiness!

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:55:00 +0000

long-awaited pics! =)

before i begin, question: what do you get a birthday girl who could possibly afford anything and everything on her own? heh. (don't refute dina, you most definitely prolly can!)

if you think this question is tough, then you'd understand the dilemma i was going through days prior to my girlfriend Dina's 30th birthday! i know she loves her tiffany (i think she has enough to open a tiffany store), but i don't know what she has and doesn't. plus i know sa and company were already getting her the tiffany keys necklace. (very gorgeous too, if i may add!)

so i thought long and hard, and it came to me one day when i chanced upon these gorgeous robin blue boxes - very tiffany-esque. so i got them in all sizes available, and decided i'd fill them each with goodies, but what precisely, i don't know yet.

it somehow all came together while i was shopping with my sister at robinsons, and here's what i ended up putting together for the birthday girl..."the 5 Tiers of Happiness", as the husband puts it. lol!

trying to re-create that "tiffany" feel. =)
ok here are the goodies!

the moment i saw this keyring, i thought it was "sooooo dina". she's always whipping out her lippie after meals and before photos! heh. and i had noticed her car keys no longer had that diamond keyring as before. so box number one, top of the tier, was this lipstick keyring accented with diamentes. pretty!

box number two is this diamente brooch from chomel. i love brooches! they jazz up your outfit brilliantly! and this goes perfectly with the present in box number four. =)

lol! ok this lent a slight wacky touch to the whole gift! well, it was a small slim box, and it was either this, or a CD. and CDs are boring! plus it won't go with the whole "theme" of the gift! sexy undies do! =)

box number four! a pretty very Jackie O inspired navy blue boat neck dress. i'm loving navy blue at the moment, and i know she'll look gorgeous in this. see what i mean about the brooch being perfect for it? and i got this dress after i got what i got for box number five! wait for it!

a gorgeous pair of navy blue pumps from urs inc! love the flower detail on the front! and it's so easy to shop for her, lah, she's my size!

all the gifts put together

birthday girl all dressed up! doesn't she look like a president's wife? heh!
and dina's right, what's missing is the birkin! lol!
*beams* i love shopping for special people. the planning, the purchase and the putting together is so fun! and if the presents are loved, all the better!

okay, i shall now leave you all with this photo taken the night we ambushed dina on her birthday:

goodnight everyone!

the rest of our week

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:54:00 +0000

ok i decided not to go out afterall. it started pouring just as i ended the last post, plus there's an awesome program showing on the bio channel, heh, so that was enough to persuade me to stay home. oh well, tomorrow then. so here i am blogging about the rest of our week, while my ears remain peeled listening to the show.

it was great to be back in school on thursday! noel brought dray to class, while i as usual zipped around the area, quickly getting supplies i needed for this week's order. i had a huge order of washcloth cupcakes for saturday, and had to gather 150 pieces of face towels in three different colors. its not easy, running between the various aussino outlets in search of the right quantity for each color! i had to visit paragon, plaza sing and great world city before i finally found all 150 pieces. and that's a lot to lug around!

anyway, here are the "cupcakes", in 'vanilla', 'blueberry' and 'raspberry':

i love the heart-shaped charms that i used to top the cupcakes. so sweet lah, and i was so thrilled when i found them!

in school on thursday, they did 'circles', and here are the artwork that dray brought home:

they painted this circle with golf balls dipped in paint!

i like the pizza! it has mushrooms, tomato slices, pepperoni and shredded yellow crepe paper as cheese that the kids get to paste on after painting the glue! cute right!

after a manic friday finishing up the cupcakes (i was up till 6am saturday morning, can you believe it!), saturday was a well-deserved weekend for us me. i brought dray out for more order-shopping, stopping by paragon (where i experienced that upsetting event narrated below), ngee ann city, john little and lastly robinsons centerpoint.

and oh yes, i managed to sneak in a quick DIY pedi too! my toenails have been screaming for attention for so long! and thank goodness i had the mind to see to them too, cos later in the evening we made plans to head to timbre with dina and i can finally wear my open-toe Guess heels without squirming in disgust should i look down, heh!

timbre was awesome last night! the crowd was fantastic! the goodfellas were rocking so hard they even got me to my feet and dancing! not that they don't on other occasions, but last night's atmosphere was just bizarre!

by their last song, the crowd was chanting for "one more!", thanks to noel who got the crowd riled up the way we do it back in living room days (lol!), and they did an 'encore' (like concert ah, haha!) to a standing, dancing crowd!

oh yes, talking about concerts, guess who's going to the backstreet boys concert next sunday? me. okay it's a very small 'me', cos i'm very embarrass to admit it lah! lol! i'm not a BSB fan, really. i'm more of a Take That fanatic. but, i'll tell you who is! the husband!

you wouldn't believe it, would you! haha! but he is! he even knows all their names by heart! so anyway, yeah...thanks to D who scored some tickets for us as an anniversary present, noel and i will be heading to suntec city on sunday, while D babysits the little man. i know noel's excited!

i suppose i'm looking forward to our first night out without baby dray, altho with slightly mixed emotions. i'm pretty sure i'm gonna be missing dray terribly, and will be on my phone texting dina half the time! but it's our first concert together, a thoughtful anniversary present and perhaps also a good break from parenting for the hour and a half or so. thanks again, D!

tomorrow we're heading to jasmin's crib in the east for a CNY steamboat, along with the rest of the timbre clique. we have trained dray well to clasp his two hands in perfect cue to gong xi, gong xi so he better bring home some red packets! haha!

alright, i'm gonna get off the laptop and join my son - he's on the playstation playing football, can you believe it? like a big boy! later i have a small diaper cake to put together, afterwhich i'm gonna look thru and organise orders for the coming week.

random rant: please remember to be kind to and respectful to animals / your pets. if you can't be gentle (both in speech and manner), respectful and kind to them, then you certainly do not deserve any human respect and need to be treated like the animals as well.

that said, have an awesome week ahead, everyone, and kisses from baby dray!

manners no enough!

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 09:13:00 +0000

i just wanna blog real quick about an unpleasant and infuriating incident i experienced yesterday at L5 Paragon while i was out shopping for orders with the little man. i still get so angry when i recount it!

first, noel and i always leave home with a fair amount of one-dollar coins, because there's no escaping those darn kiddy rides at shopping malls these days. what happened to the 20cent ones back in our days, huh? these things are everywhere now, it's like a trap! it's worse in plaza singapura, they're on every friggin level at the escalators! which is why i always take the lift, heh.

so anyway, yesterday after a stop at the mothercare at paragon, there's just no escaping them. it's amazing how kids just know what they are from a mile away. so i put dray in this car ride, the usual one that we always put him in, next to the ferris wheel ride, and this car ride could seat two kids at once.

halfway into the ride, this little boy came along and started climbing into the car, or at least, tried to climb in. now, we're used to this scenario, and always, noel and i would be more than happy to let another child share a ride with dray. especially if the parent or caregiver have enough manners to ask us. or if a child stands around the ride, and watches longingly, we'd always offer for them to jump in and join the ride. dray is usually cheerful to have another child next to him.

but the grandparent of this child didn't even have the decency to ask, instead he just plopped his grandson next to drayden like he owned it. rude, but nevermind, i thought. small matter.

then the boy's big sister came along (she must be about 3 or 4) and started to climb onto the ride as well. this old prick (excuse my language) actually lifted his granddaughter and plopped her in as well! so the little brother ends up feeling squashed in the middle, and he ends up shoving dray to the side, and out of the ride! my poor son was practically sitting with only half his body on the seat and nearly falling out!

my head hit the ceiling, and just as i was about to bite that old man's head off, the mother came along, with her stupid digicam in hand, videotaping the whole incident, both dumb f***s totally oblivious to the fact that their kids are pushing dray off the ride. MY SON! my son that has been enjoying the ride first and kind enough to share! and both were so filled with pride looking at the two children like they are the most adorable children in the world! WTH!

oh my god, of course i had to open my trap and let rip! my exact words, as i took dray out of the ride:
"WHAT THE HELL! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE BRAINS TO ASK AND MY SON HAS TO BE SQUEEZED OUT BECAUSE OF YOUR KIDS??? WHERE ARE YOU F***ING MANNERS?!?!""

at this exact moment the ride ended, and like the drama mama that i am (haha) i turned on my heels and stormed off, passing by the dad that was nearby standing by the stroller, who was glaring at me like i was in the wrong, and to whom i muttered rather audibly: "f***ing ill-mannered retards!"

okay, i'm quite vulgar when i'm really, really angry. heh. and i think i was rather loud and other parents around were watching the incident like the kepo lot humans usually are. i hope i had shamed them.

so angry!
i'm just amazed the parents don't have half the brains to see what's going on, or even feel remorseful or embarrassed. how can you let such a thing happen?? as a parent you're normally aware of your child's actions and if they have an effect on another child, right? i mean, even if i didn't have the manners to ask another parent if dray could share a ride with their kid, i wouldn't be so dumb to have not noticed if dray was pushing the other child out of the ride, or worse, be too thick-skinned so as not to say anything when i do notice!

grrrr!!!!!
it's hard to believe such behavior exists.

ok enough about this. i gotta head out in a bit to get something i had forgotten yesterday. see lah, i was so affected i couldn't think straight afterwards. oh dang, its pouring!

well, i'm gonna head out to Plaza Singapura in a bit. better bring them one-dollar coins, lol! or maybe i'll leave dray at home, heh. it's a sunday, and since it's gonna be a quick trip, i normally zip out in my singlet and shorts. but aiyah, i better dress up a little bit, cos i'm so sick of being mistaken for a maid! lol!

happy rainy sunday everyone!
maybe later tonight i'll blog a bit more about how this week has been so far, apart from the upsetting incident above!

why??

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:19:00 +0000

i wrote a post sometime in january about the many words dray can already speak and since then i have been religiously keying into my phone's notes the many more new words he is mastering. his two favorite new words at the moment? "watch" and "catch".

he'll take a dvd of his choice (he knew how to peel open the covers and pluck the discs off before he even turned one) brings it to us, and demands: "WATCH!" which, duhhh, means he wants to watch that particular dvd. but then, while the dvd is playing, he goes and ejects it from the player, brings it to us, and screams: "WATCH!"

like, errrr....wasn't that what we were doing?? *slapsforehead*

with "catch", he'll be hugging his bouncy ball excitedly and instructing you to sit across from him, repeatedly saying "catch", "catch" and once he's happy about where you're seated and the distance apart, he'll be gleefully kicking or throwing his ball at you for you to catch. this activity never fails to reduce him to chuckles!

talking about the ball, he's getting quite the master at kicking the ball now. he even does the back kick! yey! now daddy and him can go to park and kick the ball around. i remember how he used to watch the neighborhood boys playing football at the park with such eagerness in his eyes, the last time we brought him there to play with bubbles. now he can show them!

here are some other words he's mastered and speak well:
1. coke - it's his favorite drink!
2. juice
3. walk
4. stop
5. money - and he says this in a comical high pitch too!
6. shoes
7. kick
8. ice
9. rice
10. out - ask him "where are you going, dray?" and he'll tell you: "outttt!"
11. dirty - he'll say: "eeeee...dirty!"
12. oh man! - gerry taught him this!
13. wasssssup! - and mommy taught him this! lol!
14. clock
15. sit
16. watch
17. catch
18. why

yes. he's started with the "why"s!! *groan*
the other day he had given me the "finding nemo" disc and demanded "watch", so while turning the dvd player on i had said "ok i'll put it on for you, but you mustn't eject the disc when it's playing, alright?", just casually and not expecting a reaction at all. but then he said, and very audibly and almost questioning my authority: "WHY?"

oh my goodness! it has started! i think he finds it funny the reaction he gets whenever he says "why" so he does it in a cheeky manner now.

yesterday:

me: (while breastfeeding him) drayden, no napping ok? you can drink, but no napping, ok?
him: (chuckling, nipple in mouth) why! (its funny how he uses the word in totally the right context!)
me: why??? because if you nap now, we all know you're gonna wake up later tonight and then that's it! you won't sleep till waaaaay past midnight!
him: (still chuckling, still with nipple in mouth) why!
me: because then you won't be able to wake up tomorrow for school!
him: (totally amused by now) why!
me: because you napped and woke up late and go to bed even later! that's why! (changing the subject) drayden want to go school tomorrow?
him: nooooooooo!!!!

yes, ladies and gentlemen. it has begun.

more photos!

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:27:00 +0000

yey! i finally managed to steal photos from the night we were at timbre (last saturday 13 Feb) to celebrate one of The Goodfellas' member's birthday. thief! lol!

sigh...i wish i had taken more photos of me all-dressed-up that saturday! and dina said i looked like michelle obama okaaay, with my pearls and all! lol! i was actually musing to the husband i felt like a stepford wife, when we stepped out, haha!

ok gotta head to bed, we're going to school tomorrow!
night night!

the long weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:57:00 +0000

eh i'm very surprised why nobody (apart from starry) commented on the previous post announcing the winners for the elmo and cookie monster giveaway! why ah! it's a mystery indeed! hmmm...maybe cos it's the cny holidays so not many users are online? *scratcheshead*

well i hope the long weekend has been a fun-filled one for you! sunday was an uneventful one for us, but monday was the total opposite! we met dina and nal, as well as nal's elder brother and his two boys, somewhere in town just a little before 9pm, and the plan was to head to the pasir ris farmway for some night prawning! but not before dina, noel and i making a quick stop at ikea tampines for their yummy hotdogs and to-die-for currypuffs. haha!

i'm not big on prawning, mainly because i do not have the patience to sit around and wait for some stupid prawn to bite on my bait. i've tried it before, many times in fact, so i know. it's not fun, lor! for the $12 an hour that i pay, i'd rather go to the market and get a kilo of them prawns. save me the waiting!

but the husband loves it, and so does nal, so its nice to let the boys do their thing once in a while. heh. photos on facebook when you click on the montage below!

drayden got a little bored after a while, so i had to get creative and "make" his very own rod for him out of...wait for it...straws! lol! well, it kept him busy and occupied! and i was spared the whinging. dina kept herself busy being the official photographer for the night, while me, well, i had my iPhone to keep me entertained. but nal's two nephews were on a roll, i tell ya! they were catching the bulk of the prawns! they're pros!

it was a huge catch at the end of the night, which made for a yummy and well-deserved barbeque. sweeeet!

we went over to dina and nal's after the night was over to watch some scary movies. its a 5-part series of thai short horror stories and i must say its damn impressive! the storylines are unique and interesting, and the camera shots and editing are superb. i say this cos having come from a mass communications background where we did tv production in poly, i appreciate well-thought camera angles and clean smooth editing. and the thais have it!

"phobia 2" is the name of the 5-part series and go get your hands on it if you can. it's totally worth it!

it's nearly six in the am (YES!) by the time we finished watching the dvd, so noel and i decided to spend the night. and don't believe what the husband may say, but i was not spooked nor was i afraid to sleep after stuffing ourselves with all those horror clips. i was not! really!

ok change subject!

well after only falling asleep when the sun was rising, the lot of us could only drag ourselves out of bed at nearly four in the afternoon. and were still so exhausted and sleep-filled! i don't know how the boys could stay alert for some ps2. dina and i were just so hungry!

we found ourselves in ang mo kio central, and had us some deee-leeee-cious popeye's chicken! oh man, i love popeyes! and their buttermilk biscuit! i could have ten or more in one sitting, i'll bet! and its great that they've opened one in amk. before we've had to travel all the way to terminal 3! (don't fancy the flyer one) and there's one opening in toa payoh too!

oh, if you haven't been to the new sembawang shopping center, it'll be worth your while to check it out! if daiso and the many, many awesome food outlets there (like new york, new york) isn't good enough to draw you, well there's a massive book fair going on at the foyer, and mommies! you'd want to check this one out! LOTS of awesome baby board books and children books you won't be able to resist grabbing!

from amk to sembawang, to woodlands for supper. and we're just happy to be home cos i miss my bed! and darn, the long weekend has ended in a blink of an eye. tomorrow its back to work for me. back to shopping, back to baking, back to editing photos. thursday its back to school! i miss dray's class, can you believe it! i love and miss being around all the adorable kids again, just like the old days. sigh...maybe when dray's bigger, i should consider going back, huh? that's a thought! =)

alrighty. it's been a long day, and though it's gonna be a short week, it's still gonna be busy! there's a huuuuge washcloth cupcakes order to see to for the weekend. i'm gonna call it a night and hopefully dina will have blogged about her birthday presents soon, so i can post photos of it next!

happy going-back-to-work, everyone!

and the winners are....

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:23:00 +0000

i'm so happy with the response received for the elmo and cookie monster tee giveaway! this is the second time i'm conducting such a giveaway (the first being the ToyBox CD), and i think TWENTY is an awesome number! thank you very, VERY much to all of you that participated. your support is much appreciated!

seeing as how amazing the responses have been for both previous giveaways, i will strive to conduct more! =) so be sure to keep yourself updated with this blog, either via my tweets or facebook status updates for when i next do another giveaway! =)

NOW! for the moment you have all been waiting for!

the twenty names i received are coincidentally equally divided between cookie monster and elmo! so i had all twenty names printed on individual cards, as the husband and i figured this will be easier, and not to mention offers equal opportunity, for drayden to pick out a name from each deck of ten.

rest assured, each video is only recorded once, and no re-taking is done. also no trial run, this is the draw in its rawest state! =)
so here goes!

ELMO TEE GIVEAWAY

COOKIE MONSTER TEE GIVEAWAY

winners! congratulations, and you'll be hearing from me soon via email, requesting for your mailing address!

thank you once again to ALL of you, and till the next giveaway!
happy monday (what's left of it!) and have a great week ahead!

giveaway ends tonight!

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:45:00 +0000

if you haven't already emailed me for the elmo/cookie monster tee giveaway, you still have 2hours 15mins before the giveaway ends! so what are you waiting for?! =)

i'll be collating the names and sorting them out accordingly (to an "elmo lot" and a "cookie lot") and the names of the two lucky winners will be drawn tomorrow! when drayden wakes up, lol! so cross your fingers, toes and eyes (haha!) and good luck!

meanwhile, we had an awesome saturday yesterday, starting with a wedding aaaaaall the way in boon lay, peppered with a fanta-bulous night at timbre substation (but of course!), followed by a supper feast thereafter, and ending with the usual get-together at dina and nal's.

i finally managed to put dina's gift together and gave her her presents yesterday, in all of its 5 tiers of glory. lol! i looooove shopping for presents for special friends, and nothing renders the whole process (the thought, the search, the purchase and the construction) satisfying and gratifying as the look of pure, blissful surprise on the recipients' faces.

unfortunately, i have been very neglectful of the camera of late, and sigh...though i had the camera with me (well, FOUR if you include the three camera phones noel and i have between us!), i didn't snap any pictures of yesterday! such a shame too, cos i loved what i wore yesterday! tsk!

nevermind, maybe aznie and/or affandy may have some shots from when we were at timbre, and i'll steal them later. heh! and dina has the pictures of her presents, so i'll grab them from her, too!

meanwhile, don't forget to email if you still want to be in the running for the elmo and cookie monster tee giveaway, and check back tomorrow for the results, as well as photos from our saturday!

and oh yes, since it's still not too late,

HAPPY VALENTINES' DAY
and a
PROSPEROUS LUNAR NEW YEAR!

FOR SALE: Valentines' Day themed diaper cake!

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:30:00 +0000

amidst my "baking" for the orders that are due this weekend, and battling the sudden onset of a muther-painful toothache that started this morning, i discovered that i actually had perfect-fitting baby items to put together a simple Valentines' Day themed diaper cake. so i "baked" one in a jiffy, and am putting it up for sale! who knows, you may suddenly learn of a friend/relative/colleague expecting a baby girl this Valentines' Day, and need an urgent gift desperately!

stubbornsnails to the rescue! lol!

well, here are pictures of the diaper cake:

top view: the baby outfit is white with blue hearts all over it =)

close up of the shoes from Mothercare. its denim blue with a cute red bow on it =)

the baby bib

the cake contains:
- 18pcs Huggies Ultra Size S diapers (suitable for babies up to 7kg)
- one baby receiving blanket
- one Mothercare baby outfit (size 3-6mos)
- one Carters baby bib
- one pair Mothercare Pre-Walker baby shoes (up to 6mos)
- one Carters baby headband

this cake is yours for a super sweet deal of SGD$88 ONLY, and comes with FREE delivery islandwide!

so leave me a note if you're keen, and thank you for viewing! =)

...but a well-spent wednesday!

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:53:00 +0000

so yesterday night while i was working on the laptop editing diaper cake pictures from the past week, i received a call from Nal, who had just finished seeing to the funeral arrangements for his relative that had passed the day before. he sounded terribly exhausted, but most of all, i could hear the sadness in his voice at not being able to make Dina's 30th as special as he had planned it to be.

it was all i could do not to jump in and offer to run out and get a birthday cake for her, when he asked if i knew of any cake shops that were still open at the hour of half past nine when he called. there's a 24hr Hans just up the road from our house, so it would be convenient for us to help him get a cake in time before the night and her birthday ends. in hindsight, i technically invited ourselves over to his place, lol! for all i know he may have wanted a suggestion for a cake shop, get the cake himself and then have an intimate couple celebration at home! *slapsforehead*

anyway, an hour later, Noel, myself, Drayden as well as Kenneth and Jasmine (who we rounded up cos they were staying nearby) were waiting outside their apartment door, ready to spring the surprise. Kenneth and Jasmine had brought food - sate and cockles (Dina's favorite) - and we, as mentioned, got the every birthday requirement: the cake!

in the hour or so that the four (and a half!) of us made our way to 458 (Dina & Nal's), Nal had been unsuccessful trying to persuade Dina to get out off bed. the poor dear, exhausted from the day's affairs and possibly also depressed not being able to spend her special day how she had so looked forward to. in the end, after hiding in the kitchen for nearly five minutes and not succeeding any longer at hushing Drayden, who was becoming increasingly excited with the sight of Coco the house cat, we finally barged into the bedroom breaking into song.

there she was, the birthday girl, hiding under the covers, i think shocked and perhaps freaking out in embarrassment as well, being seen unmade up! but finally, we managed to coax her out of bed, and spend the last few moments of her special day together before it expires.

it was a small, simple and sudden get-together, but i hope we managed to cheer her up. =)

the birthday cake from Hans - Chocolate Truffle - and it was delish!

birthday girl cutting the cake

the simple spread

dina's favorite, cockles!

Dina and Nal

totally unrelated shot, but i just love these coasters!
we didn't stay long last night, mainly because dray has school today. i haven't even got her presents ready yet, cos last night was totally unexpected!

next tuesday there won't be class since its a public holiday, i hope drayden won't miss school and his friends much! for all we know, he may not even realise there's no school, lol! but we may just make plans to meet up with Gerry this weekend.

what did we do in school today? i gotta ask noel cos it was his turn to bring dray to class! =)

craftwork was centered around the color red today, and the first artwork was a red printout of a fire truck. i love craftwork that involves pasting things on, because it always tickles me to see how dray chooses to stick the items on. he always likes to paste them one on top of the other!

see how he pasted the two fire hoses on top of each other, and there's FOUR firemen stacked together? LOL!

the next craftwork is really cute. they made a red packet for chinese new year! noel said, but not to my surprise anyway, that dray didn't spend much time painting the glue on, because he couldn't wait to sprinkle the red glitter on! he's glitter crazy, this boy! noel said the glitter was everywhere, even on tyler's hair, who was sitting next to him, and tyler was giggling hysterically just watching dray go mental with the glitter shaker. i wish i was there to witness the scene!

apart from the red glitter, they also pasted on the red packet other red knick knacks like red crepe paper shavings, red fathers and red stringy bits.

but you know what's the best part of today? all the chocolate goodies we collected! the chocolate gold coins, chocolate god bars and melt-in-your-mouth sweets in teeny tiny firecrackers! sorry, no photo cos we walloped them up in a matter of seconds! lol!

tomorrow i'm gonna do some quick shopping to prepare myself for the long cny weekend, just in case i have any unexpected orders. i know the whole island shuts down on cny so its best to be prepared!

have a great long weekend everyone!

trying tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:08:00 +0000

yesterday was a loooooong day for me, and not to mention a day with rather unfortunate and unexpected turn of events.

class, however, was beautifully perfect! as mentioned, we all had to wear the color red for class in celebration of CNY. ok wait, allow me to digress a bit, heh. don't you hate it when people say: "red color", "blue color", "yellow color"? it's so dumb! and redundant! it's yellow, or red, or blue or black, thank you very much. that's it! if you really wanna add the word "color" behind the ermm, color, then for heavens' sake, pronounce your words properly! it's "blue-colored" or "red-colored", cos this is the phrase in its correct tense form. jeez!

so anyway. what was i saying? oh yes, that we were all in red for tuesday's class. i put drayden in his elmo t-shirt and i think my boy looks cute! lol! self-gloating a bit, can??

these are some shots i took of the mini man during music time. he's getting better these days, moving around and sometimes jiving comically to the music, versus perched on my lap as he was at the start of term.

parents chat was conducted during the children's outdoor play. i didn't voice any feedback or complaints, cos as i've said, i'm very happy with how the class is, with how Gerry is, and how well Dray is doing and has grown thanks to playclub. i did however have a few questions about where we should go next after playclub and when, but decided to save it for over lunch with Gerry.

dray would be ready for nursery in chiltern house the year he turns 3, which will be next year. i asked Gerry if i should move dray to PlayNursery before Chiltern, or should we just remain in PlayClub, and then move straight to Chiltern in 2011, and she gave me the same opinion i already had - that it would be best to move him to PlayNursery first.

PlayNursery is a 2 1/2hr independent program, so it would be a good transition for him to get used to being without Noel or me in class, before he is thrown straight into Nursery. so i reckon, we'll have one more term of playclub with Gerry, and then in Term 3, which is in June, i will move him to Hasanah's PlayNursery. i've worked with Hasanah, and i know she's great with kids, plus she already knows Drayden. and what with it being an independent program, i would have peace of mind knowing Dray will be in the great and capable hands of Hasanah.

i was musing with Gerry and Hasanah, this is the great advantage of having worked in both JGC and Chiltern House - i know the teachers (having assisted them before), so i can make the wise choice which class i'd want to send dray to. lol!

and then when 2011 comes, i'll think if i want to start him on Chiltern House in Term 1, or if I should let him stay in PlayNursery for an extra term, and only move in Term 2. we'll see how he's doing then. i do know that if i move him to Chiltern House, it'll either be the one at Halifax or Forum. maybe we'll stay in Forum, cos at least we can still see Gerry and Hasanah! lol!

oh! we also took a class photo after parents chat! here it is! it's not the full class cos some students were absent:

because it was nearing Chinese New Year (which just reminds me, class next tuesday will be off), we did a lantern for one of our craftwork. usually dray will refuse to hand over the paintbrush when he's done, adding more and more paint till his artwork is still not dry at the end of class, grrrr....but this time round he didn't want to paint his lantern much. and do you know why? cos he couldn't wait to sprinkle glitter all over! i had to take the glitter container away from him, cos he went crazy and i found sprinkles of glitter in his hair even, after class!

here's the lantern drayden made:

the other craftwork was pretty cool. we didn't do this back when i was working there, so i found it really, really awesome. a clever and totally fun activity if you ask me! tho, it did make me a little nervous cos i was sure drayden was gonna attempt to put the ice in his mouth, heh!

what we had to do was drop a spoonful of red paint powder onto the prinout of the car, and then using ice cubes, or rather the water that results from the melting ice-cube, dissolve the paint powder, and "paint" the car red. isn't that cool!

here's drayden's "cool" car (literally "cool" cos the car was cool from the water from the melted ice cube, lol!)

after class, as usual it was lunch with Gerry, and then we met up with Hasanah, hung around for a little while, until i had to leave to do my shopping for my diaper cake orders. i then met up with my sister when she was done with work.

here's where the unfortunate and unexpected turn of events happened. it's my girlfriend's big 30th birthday on wednesday (well, today, actually), and the plan was for me to meet up with Nal, her husband, and get their house keys so i can go over to their place and prepare for the surprise birthday party we were gonna give her, while Nal brings her out for a romantic and special meal.

however, just as i was making my way to meet him, we received the tragic news that his relative, who had been hospitalised for the past month due to cancer, has passed. so all plans had to be cancelled, as last minute and frantic preparations had to be put into place. i was pretty bummed, but i do feel the sorrow over their tragic and unexpected loss.

i do, too, feel really sad for my dina. she's one of my bestest pals, and i do want her to be really happy on her special day. turning 30 is a BIG deal! plus, she has never had a surprise party planned for her, and its unfortunate that the one year that her husband had planned something of the like, it had to be called off.

but, my thoughts and prayers are with Nal and family, at such a trying time.

so with nothing planned after all the cancellations, my sister and i just spent the rest of the day window shopping at spotlight and then robinsons centerpoint. i did, however, give dray an ice-cream treat from mcdonalds for being such a good boy the entire day. =)

i've got nothing planned for today, but i do hope that things will be better on dina and nal's end. hopefully we can still go ahead with what we girls had planned for her tonight, and it wouldn't be too inappropriate.

i'm gonna get her presents ready, (yes presentSSSS, lol!) cos i still havent wrapped them up yet!
toodle-do, folks!

Yummy Mummy update (19:25hrs):
just got a text from Sara, that tonight's not gonna happen. bummer. =(

'app-ening!

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:33:00 +0000

since i got the 3GS iPhone for our anniversary a little over two weeks ago, i have been going mad downloading applications! my iPhone desktop is now on its fourth page! i've downloaded the usual hot applications, like facebook, twitterific, and the much-talked-about hipstamatic, whatsapp and foursquare.

i have my favorite games too! like wheel of fortune, scrabble, and sudoku. also must-haves such as ebay, paypal, toto results (heh!) and dictionary. of course, every mommy's phone needs to have entertainment for the little one as well, so i've downloaded baby flashcards and also this one called the learning pad that teaches the alphabet, numbers, colors and animal sounds. drayden loves it!

but if they're three applications i app-solutely have to recommend, it would be the:
1. Locacity SG,
2. SG Malls, and
3. TraffiCam

the first two were super handy the other day noel and i were sorta "lost" in bugis. lol! i haven't been to bugis junction in yonks, and didn't know where they had moved the posb atm to. thank god for the "Locacity SG" app!

"Locacity SG" is an application that allows you to find nearby points of interest, such as ATM machines, 7-Eleven stores, petrol stations, and even Singapore Pools outlets!

so all i needed to do then was to search for nearby atms, and voila! "Locacity SG" to the rescue! the other day i was at centerpoint and had 20mins left to buy toto, and once again, all i needed was to whip out the iPhone, get into "Locacity SG" and find out that the nearest Singapore Pools outlet was just behind me at Cuppage Plaza. it also lists the other outlets nearby, so you can make your choice. say you're looking for 7-Eleven:

not sure where the exact location is? fret not! the app also comes with a map that will guide you along the right way!

but back to our story!
so then the neareast ATM we went to had such a loooooong queue, so Noel wondered aloud, if we could go to Iluma and see if there's an ATM there too, cos i figured the next nearest one inside Bugis Junction will be equally crowded as well.

and this is where the next app comes in handy! SG Malls helps you navigate through our local malls by listing down all the stores and services inside! so i checked the directory listing of Iluma and soon learned there was no ATM machines at all within. bummer. we were stuck with the uber long queue.

here's an example of what you'll see if let's say, you search within Plaza Singapura. you can conduct a search thru categories, or floors:

it also comes with a map of the mall in question to further help you navigate.

later that night we found ourselves near Sim Lim Square, and i suddenly remembered that i needed to get some diapers for my orders. where's the nearest supermarket you may wonder? Locacity SG will tell you there's an NTUC inside Rochor Centre, a Sheng Siong inside Tekka Mall and a Cold Storage near Paradiz Centre! aint that cool! =)

the third application, i recently downloaded, so i know exactly which way to travel by before i set out from home. "TraffiCam SG" is an app that provides updated access to webcams in all the key hotspots in singapore, so its useful especially for drivers! all 46 webcams located around our island are listed in the app, and are updated every 5-10minutes!

it's useful for me, cos i usually travel by taxi. let's say i need to get into town, before i leave, i can check on the traffic condition and decide if i want to travel via CTE or via Thomson.

when you get into the application, you'll be presented with a list of expressways you can travel by, since these are where most of the webcams are located.

choose your route, and select the exact spot that is usually jam-prone to conduct your checks:

and you'll be presented with the latest updated image of that spot!

cool right! very handy if you ask me!
i love these apps to bits, and daresay my life is made so much easier with their existence!

now. what's YOUR favorite iPhone app?

class observations

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:47:00 +0000

drayden's playclub class seems to be getting bigger by the week. day one of term there were only 13 of us, and as of last thursday two more new students have joined us, and we now have 18 kids in class. it does seem a lil' crowded now, but the more the merrier they say!

i just get a little peeved when the adults do not pay attention to the class rules and one whole family (mother, father, helper, and more all at once!) stays in the class. last week, gerry had to repeat herself that "only one adult to stay in class please", and guess what? the father, goes and stand in the corner of the class, like as if he suddenly turns invisible and we cannot see him anymore! *shakeshead*

i also get very, very annoyed when the adults do not keep quiet during the appropriate times, like during storytime or when we're learning the letter of the day. time and time again, Gerry reminds us that when the children wander from our laps, just quickly pick them up and sit them back down again. yes, it can happen over and over again, it can get very tiring for us adults, but discipline is not a one-time maneuver. you can't tell the kid once and expect him to remember and listen. we just have to keep doing it until the kids get the picture, and understand the rules. but noooooo...the adults still will keep coaxing and calling the kids back and nothing is more annoying than you trying to get your kids focused on the activity going on and trying to pay attention yourself, and the adult next to you is going: "xxx, come here, sit down, come back. xxx, come!"

even if you whisper, it still is disruptive! goddammit, just get off your lazy butt, pick the child up and bring him/her back down to sit! no doubt, sometimes the children fuss or get distracted, but nothing encourages them more than you talking back to them, therefore starting a conversation, and trying to calm them down. it will just snowball into a whiny argument and you end up distracting the other kids who have been so well-behaved and paying attention!

adults don't seem to buy the idea that if your kids fuss or start to get distracted, all you should do is remain focused on the activity, and keep your words as minimal as possible. when they see you focused, so will they, get back to paying attention.

then there are adults that simply just don't participate. they forget that they need to be actively involved as well, and help the teachers to manage the class by managing their own children. instead, they walk in with this mindset that the responsibility is off them and its up to the teachers to handle the kids. for example, when the child starts running around the class during story time, they sit and do nothing, expecting the assistant teachers to get up and go after the kid, totally forgetting that the assistant teacher needs to assist with the activity going on, like holding up the book, for example. sigh...

actually the parents in dray's class are all super nice. they're all mommies, and they're very on the ball and in great control of their kids. they're super friendly too, and totally great in class. it's the helpers that need a lot of telling and reminding sometimes.

but. there was an incident that happened last tuesday that got me really mad and insulted. on hindsight, maybe i'm just being overly-sensitive, but it sure got me pissed that day! well, this kid has just joined the class, and during snacktime, i usually try to get dray to sit with the kids he's closer to, so that snacktime will be more enjoyable for him, but he has his own preferences and makes his own decisions (heh), so that fateful day we found ourselves sitting next to the two new kids that have just joined the class, plus another boy.

then the father of this new child (same father that was hiding in the corner of the class) wanted to showcase his child's talents, and so he says: "xxx, cheers your cup with your frens, xxx". and so mommy, who was sitting next to the kid, prompted the kid, and the kid goes on the "cheers" with the new girl in front of him (whose parents they became fast friends with considering both their kids were new in class), and the she prompted her child to "cheers" with the boy on their left.

and that was that. TOTALLY ignored drayden who have been excitedly watching the whole exchange, perhaps expecting his turn to come soon. a tad rude, don't you think?
not that i wanted my son to be part of this stupid childrens' game anyway, but the act was just plain rude in itself. its not like we were far apart, we were just BESIDE!

i told noel, maybe she thought i was a helper, and she's the snotty sort that is all high and mighty and doesnt associate with helpers. bloody hell. and yes, if you were wondering, she (and the other new mom) had that arrogant i'm-rich-thats-why-i-can-send-my-child-to-this-school kinda vibe and they both didn't make any attempt talk to anyone else that don't project that same kind of vibe.

ishhh! i still get so worked up thinking about the incident!

well, anyway, tomorrow's school again, and this week we're celebrating the color red, since its gonna be Chinese New Year! no prizes for guessing, Dray's gonna don his red Elmo tee! lol! and mommy needs to pick out something red to wear too!

it's also parent-teacher chats tomorrow, but unfortunately Noel's got that airbrush booth at NUS, so it'll just be me. i have no complaints anyway. i love Gerry's class, she's great and super funny with the kids, and i'm also mighty pleased with how dray's grown since we first started. let's just wait and see what the other parents have to say!

our saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Yummy Mummy) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:15:00 +0000

we spent last saturday at the beach with conrad, linn & family again, cos we had so much fun the last time we had our family beach outing maybe about two weeks ago. this time round my younger sister and also Gerry (drayden's playclub teacher and my ex-colleague) joined us, so it made for an even more enjoyable day!

Gerry, my sister Nana, Noel and myself met for a prata lunch first at Casuarina Curry just up the road from our house. i dont have anything good to say about this place. how on earth can someone like crispy paper thin prata?? and not to mention, too burnt for my liking. give me old-skool fluffy prata anytime, man!

it took us forever to get a cab, but we finally reached the beach nearly 4pm. conrad and linn were already there and comfy, the tent all pitched up, and bubu soaked from the sea, and darren covered with sand. lol!

pictures!

you know, drayden was so, so, so much better in the water that day. i was all shocked, relieved and proud. well, yes, he did fuss for a little bit, but it was just a short 5-sec fuss, unlike the tears and protests we are all too familiar with! i daresay he appears more comfy and happy to be in the water, in fact! or maybe daddy is just more reliable, and provides a bigger sense of security. mommy cannot be trusted! lol!

ok, he may be grimacing in nearly all the photos above, but that's cos the waves were really tough, and i think my boy swallowed a few good gulps of sea water! heh!

you will not believe this, but we stayed by the beach till way into midnight. it was just so much fun, sitting by the beach in the sea breeze, chit chatting, that none of us wanted to leave! when conrad and linn finally called it a night, Gerry, Nana, Noel and I, together with Drayden of course, made a quick stop at a fren's birthday chalet at the goldkist resorts.

when we finally found ourselves home, noel and i were too exhausted beyond words. drayden was still full of energy! it's amazing he refused to nap at all the entire day, only napping for 10mins in the tent. he also lasted the whole day without breastmilk! i'm shocked! well, he did have a lot of food the entire day, but it's still shocking he didn't ask for any breastmilk at all. i even tried asking him, but the answer is always the same firm "no". weird!

and guess what? the cheeky boy can now say "wasssuuuup!!!" to greet you and "oh man!" when something goes wrong. lol! let me catch it on video one of these days! the whole day yesterday he was saying "wasssupp!!" to everyone he sees and going "oh man!" when sand went everywhere!

sunday was rather uneventful for us, what with the long day we had the day before, and the week promising to give a busy start to both noel and i. noel has an airbrush tattoo booth at NUS on both monday and tuesday (which means i'm gonna have to bring drayden to school again on tuesday), while i have a few orders to see to for the coming weekend.

i hope your weekend was just as fun-filled, and may this week be a great one for you too! remember, the giveaway for the elmo and cookie monster tee ends this sunday 14 feb, so hurry and email me if you haven't already! and do help me spread the word to all your mommy friends with toddlers of their own!

toddle-do!