Daytime

For the record, Caleb has fallen down three times off the bed to the floor already. The first time, he fell face flat on the floor as he dropped from the bed.

The second time, he also fell face flat on the floor but thank God, he dropped together with his pillow so he was cushioned. Therefore, he didnt cry.

However for the third time, he actually fell face up as he dropped from the bed to the floor with the barriers still intact, which means he actually managed to go over those barriers(namely the bolster and pillow) and fell off the bed. Sigh.

I guess that is part of growing up.

Anyway, because of how active Caleb is, we have decided to let him sleep on the floor in the day time.

So this is what I mean...



However when he is awake and we place him on the bed, this is what it will turn out..


He would end up on the floor as he rolls or crawls there..


Sigh, dont think I can keep up with him..he is too active.

Making of pineapple roll

Today after school, I stayed back to learn how to make pineapple rolls from my colleague as she brought some of us and when I tasted the pineapple rolls, I loved it and suggested asking her to teach me to make. What better place to teach than in school as they have all the utensils and equipment, as well as the space and convenience!

So we went to the Home Econs kitchen and we started making pineapple rolls. There were altogether only 3 teachers making it. First, we weighed the plain flour to 650g.


Then we added butter (think it was 750g) to 5 egg yolks and 1 egg white.

It was kind of interesting as none of us were Home Econs teacher...and so, we seemed rather lost in the huge kitchen.


I have never felt so lost looking for utensils...




Then use the mixer to mix the eggs and butter.

After that, sieve the flour into the eggs and butter and continue mixing it.



After that, just use your hands to knead it to a dough and break it up into small round pieces, flatten it and place the pre-made pineapple filling inside before rolling it up.

This is how it looks before baking.



Then lastly, beat 2 egg yolks and brush on top of the tarts. Preheat over to 130 degrees.

Bake for about 30 mins.

Ta da!


It taste really nice and flaky. Quite proud of it as I am not much of a baker. :)

What he can do

Caleb has learnt to use his hands more now and has realised to make use of them to assist him in his crawling.

Here's a video to show that... Sometimes when he crawls, he would try to stand up as well by straightening his legs and pushing his legs from the bed.



Here is my destructive baby who just tears and crumples all the paper before stuffing them into his mouth.



This is a picture taken today when we went to my parent's place for dinner.

It's the first time Caleb is sitting on 'gong gong' while his wheelchair is being pushed.

A Day without Vicky

Today is Vicky's day off and I feel lost without her. I know I shouldnt have that kind of feeling and I shouldnt be too dependent on her but I have to admit, I am.

She left the house at 8am this morning and I felt a tinge of sadness as I know it would not be easy taking care of Caleb alone without her as Caleb is a very fussy baby. He chooses very wisely as to who can put him to sleep, who can feed him, who can carry him etc etc. Do you know when we feed him, we can't make any noise? When we feed him, he has to be placed lying down on the bed? He has a lot of idiosyncrasies-a very peculiar temperament that up to now, I cannot fathom.

Though he smiles more now, but he would still cry when he is very tired or very hungry...and only Vicky can put him to sleep. So, I was rather worried that he would not be able to sleep today because she is not around.

Somemore tonight, Vicky would not be joining us for dinner with my family. So, CT and I have to take care of Caleb all by ourselves.. I know most of you would think,"What's the big deal? Isnt it a parent's responsibility to do that?" Well, it is and I am definitely not running away from it. Its just how fussy my boy can be.

In church this morning, he did cry so I had to carry him out to pacify him to sleep as he was tired.

After church, went to my mother-in-law's place for lunch and he was crying so badly that no one could stop him. And we finally tried our last resort, that is to let daddy carry. So CT carried him and he stopped. Haha..its strange because CT is usually the first one to make him cry.

At night, went to Changi Airport Terminal 3- the new one, for dinner with my family to celebrate CT's birthday as well as Janine's birthday.



Went to Crystal Jade Shanghai Restaurant for dinner. It is just situated at this UFO looking disc.





Here's Caleb in his pram..

I was very tired already as I have been taking care of him the whole day and even for dinner, I couldnt eat properly as I was carrying him and eating my dinner. Tough tough.

Thank God I have CT to help me as well. So we took turns to hold him while eating our dinner. I gave him a cracker to keep him quiet. ha!



The food was quite disappointing. The food was too salty. The best dish was the pork rib as we each had an individual serving. Though its fried, it is moist and tender.



We also had this dish for dessert that was quite interesting. It is actually red bean and banana inside this cream puff looking ball.Warm and nice.



Ok, I know this doesnt look exactly very nice since I took a bite off from it..but it is purely to show you what's inside..


This is the view from the restaurant..


After dessert, we brought out ice cream to celebrate with the birthday babies. Here's Janine all excited to blow the candles..



Here's the ice cream cake



Here is a family photo..


By the time we reached home, it was 9pm plus already and I was glad the day is over because it is really not easy taking care of Caleb. I have to admit...Kudos to Vicky for being able to take care of him alone...on top of keeping the house clean as well as cooking!

Smiling more!

Gone were the days when Caleb used to cry so much. He is a much happier baby now and I thank God for that!

This is what I mean..



He has put on weight. Next visit to the clinic is in Feb. Cant wait to know his weight now. Its pretty exciting to watch him grow and develop into a fine lad! :)

Busy weekend

Today is CT's birthday and in the morning at 715am, we left the house together with Vicky and Caleb and we went to Simei to pick my mother-in-law up for marketing. We first went to Bedok to have breakfast before doing our marketing.

I had lor mee for breakfast and one char siew pau. It was delicious. Havent ate lor mee for quite some time alr. After the marketing, went home and rested.


At about 4pm, we went to Ubi to view more cars. Now, CT is thinking of buying a Honda Airwave car with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) installed instead of using petrol. Oh well, its good because anyway the station to top up the gas is in Jurong Island, where CT works. So its very convenient for him. And they will also be building one at Mandai which is not that far from our place. Its also good because there is a flexibility- when the CNG runs out, it will automatically use petrol.

Here's Caleb at the back of the car. Doesnt he look tiny?


And this is Caleb in a sports car when we visited one of the car showrooms.



Then Caleb started ripping out the plastic cover of the car seat. Goodness.



When we went to one particular shop, I was quite impressed with it. There was a kids play area where there was a table and chairs for kids to play lego and draw, a living room with a LCD TV and another area where kids can play Nintendo Wii and not to mention an area where there is drinks dispenser.



At night, we went to CT's grandma's place for dinner. It is actually to celebrate CT's grandma's birthday. SO there was a big gathering with all his relatives...some of whom I have never seen before!

Here's Caleb with his great grandma


Then there is this picture which I took with grandma and this other little boy in the picture reminds me of one of my students, Josha. For those who know Josha, what do you think? :)



Really looks like baby Josha, doesnt he?


Anyway, had a great time meeting up with CT's relatives though I felt really cramped and deaf after that as everyone was talking so loudly. Think its a Hokkien thing to speak loud. Oh well...I was lost in translation. With Caleb accompanying me, its good enough to keep me entertained.

Brocolli chicken porridge

I decided to cook something tastier today for Caleb. It was so delicious that when I tried it to taste, I cant stop taking more spoonfuls.

It looks much nicer when it was in the slow cooker.



Here's after blending it..



Caleb didnt finish all but he did enjoy it as he didnt give out a big reaction or strange, disgusted look.

Carrot Porridge

Caleb has started on his first ever porridge meal and we started him off with carrot porridge. How boring, right? Well, what to do? Wanted to go slow...and see how he takes it.

Here's the cooked brown rice with carrots.



And how does it look like after it has been blended?

Doesnt that look like mango juice?


So how did he take his first porridge? Well, he gave that funny, wierd look and took a few mouths. He didn manage to finish all. Oh well...guess maybe he finds it too plain as well. Will cook for him tastier ones in future. Humpph! Fussy boy!

New toy

Today after school, had CIP with my form class. We walked quite a distance to the blocks of flats we were assigned to distribute flyers, which states the date we will be coming back again to collect old clothes and newspapers.

After about an hour, I walked to take a bus to Simei and from there, dropped by at Marianne's place to see baby Asher and Phoebe. Poor Asher was crying as he is not feeling well. Anyway, my intention of going Simei was to buy PSP for CT as his birthday is this Saturday. I thought it would be a good gift especially for travelling purposes.

So, here's CT's new toy, or rather, my new toy since I have been the one hogging it so far. Oops!


When CT received it, I assured him that the money was well spent as it would also be my birthday present. Then he went on to say,"dont you want one as well for your birthday?" Hmmm...*Eyes opened wide* and I thought to myself, "Does that mean he is thinking of buying me one?" Haha..well, dont think that is practical already. One is enough. Just one PSP costs $400! (comes with ear phones with remote control, data transfer cable with charger, adapter, clear case, screen protector, 4 Gig memory card and modification) Initially, he wanted to sell me for $408 but because Marianne lent me her discount card for that particular shop,I managed to get him to sell me at $400.

Initially I thought I wouldnt buy one as I prefer to play on big screens with great sound effects. But I thought, portability is a great factor for me to get it since I can carry it with me anywhere I go. Not regretting it at all!

Little Brother

Went to visit Caleb's god-brother last Sunday and though he is only at 2 months old plus, he already weighs in at a hefty 7.5 kg which is definitely heavier than Caleb.

Here are the 2 filipino helpers carrying the babies!



Asher is really one huge baby. Caleb looks so small compared to him. But nevertheless, all babies are cute and adorable...especially since he is so chubby!
*pinch pinch*



Cant wait for them to grow up and play together!

Looking at cars

CT and I have been thinking of getting a new car after having so many problems with the old one. I guess when its a 15 year old car, lots of problems tend to crop up.

Here's Caleb getting ready to go out of the house with his new clothes.


The shirt fits nicely and he looked really cute wearing it.



This is the cutest part of it all..



Anyway, today, I arranged with my colleague Sarah to meet me at her friend's parallel importer car shop at Ubi. Met her at 4, just before dinner at my mum-in-law's place.

We saw 2008 Honda Fit that is bigger and more powerful from the older model and it is only about $56 K.Quite a nice decent car. Also very fuel efficient since its only 1.3L.However, my reservation is that if I buy, I might regret since its only 1.3L...since my present car is 2L.


Here's Caleb at the driver seat of the Honda Fit.


The other model which we were considering was Toyota Axio. Its like a Corolla.



If you want to buy the basic version of the Axio, it looks really plastic and the dashboard just look so plain and simple. But if you want the keyless version (start engine without a key) with a really nice dashboard and appearance, you will have to fork out about 7K-8K more.



So if CT wants to get Axio, I'd rather choose the keyless one than to get the cheaper one which just doesnt feel good driving since it feels plastic and plain looking.

After looking at the cars, we drove and stopped by at Borneo Motors to see Toyota Cars. Reason is because since last year, we have been waiting for the new 2008 Toyota Altis to come out and so, we dropped by to find out the actual time it would come out and then decide whether we are willing to wait or not.

I do like the new Altis because it looks really nice and its more spacious. The looks is like the new Toyota Camry.



When we went to the showroom, we enquired and the salesgirl told us that it will arrive in March. She also went on to say that if you want to place a booking,you need to pay $1000 and will get an early bird discount. So when the car comes, we can take a look. If we decide not to buy then, they can refund us back the money. So, its a win-win situation for both parties.



So after a while, we decided to place a booking. However, CT pre-warned me that he has not yet decided to buy. So I shouldnt get too excited...though no matter what, I am still pretty excited as I do love this car for its looks and space.



For me, what's important in a car is not only that it is reliable, but it has to look good (so that I can feel good driving it or sitting in it) as well as all the other practical reasons. So, there has to be some sort of balance. I do not want a car that is only fuel efficient but when I drive it, I feel lousy because the interior doesnt look nice. So I feel Altis has the balance I am looking for. Oh well, whatever it is, CT makes the overall decision since he's the head of the household.

In the showroom, all of us went from car to car to sit in it. Here is Caleb in one of the SUV!

Its really huge and high up!



And here is Caleb in the Camry..


CT asked me how come all Camry smells the same? I told him I do not know how to answer him as its a really strange question. We used to drive a Camry but have sold it even though it was only about 2 years old as we had to move to US and we both know, we miss driving a Camry as its a really nice car- for its space, its technology and how smooth it is.

CT has mentioned to me that if I want it, we can afford any car but is it really worth buying it? How practical it is? I do not think we would want to pay more for the road tax and its maintenance cost by driving a higher cc car. Its just not practical.

Oh well..I do hope CT can decide soon so that I can start dreaming about the new car arriving. Or else, I feel unsettled. But for me, I know what I want and if I am single and have my own money to get one, I would have decided already. Haha..that's me-- Just do it!