Standing tall

Since Caleb hit 7 months old, he has been trying to stand up. He has been a very "jumpy" baby since he was only few weeks old. So, his legs have all along been very strong.

Lately, he has been trying to stand up, from a crawling position.

Here's Caleb on my bed.



Pictures blurred because he would jump while standing and I was taking with my handphone.



He would stand up by himself, unassisted. He would just grab my leg or shirt so tightly to pull himself up.So proud of him!



Here's Caleb standing tall at 7 months old..

I miss Caleb..

Right after the retreat ended, I couldnt wait to go to my parent's place to see Caleb. When we were parking the car right at my parent's door step, the auto gate opened and there was Vicky and Caleb rushing out of the house to greet us!

Though feeling so excited to see my boy, I was hesitant because I was still down with running nose and bad sore throat. So, it was tough having to keep a distance after not seeing him for 2 days.

CT and I really missed him that we spent time playing with him when we saw him. Caleb was rather amused by my dog, Ashley. He was trying to crawl to Ashley but he would always be too slow. Poor Caleb. Wait till he can run!



I also took him out to the nearby park to play..



Had dinner at my parent's place before going back to rest. However, just before I turned in for the night, I took my temperature and was down with fever. So, I was on MC the next day.

Thankfully the fever went down after resting and though I was feeling very weak, I was glad to be able to see Caleb while resting at home.

Here's a picture of Caleb taking his afternoon nap.



I really dunno how I am going to survive when Caleb will reach the age when he would use emotional blackmail to keep me at home. I know kids have the tendency to do that by whining and crying so that the mummy do not have to leave the house. Sigh. I hope Caleb will be a good boy and not have to do that to me.

Marriage Enrichment Retreat

This weekend, after my weekly bible study on Friday, we went to stay over at my parent's place, including Vicky and Caleb.

It was quite nice and interesting to be back at my old house staying with my parents. Anyway, considering we reached my parents place ata bout 11 plus pm, we didnt spend much time talking.

The next morning, I woke up about 630am as I couldnt sleep anymore. Then, went to see Caleb and played with him as he is an early bird as well. My mum also came into the room to play with him.

At about 7am, we walked to the nearby coffeeshop that sells famous mee pok. However, I ordered vegetarian bee hoon but stole mouthfuls from CT who ordered the meepok. Its really nice as the noodles is nice and easy to eat-not overcooked.

After that, we went to the wet market just behind my parent's place as my mum bought her groceries. She was also proudly introducing Caleb to the stall mongers. Some were even trying to amuse Caleb and play with him.

CT and I left at about 8am to Changi Village Hotel for our Marriage Enrichment Retreat, organised by our church. So we left Vicky and Caleb with my parents for this weekend.

I have been to the hotel about 4 times in total -twice for my ex-school and Hai Sing's Staff Annual Dinner, the 3rd time was that we had our staff seminar there and lastly, had staff lunch there as well. I quite enjoy the hotel as its very modern looking and the food is decent.

In the morning, we had workshop sessions talking about God's way for wives, and God's mandate for Men, followed by group discussion and prayer. It was an interesting time as there were altogether about 45 couples. We had a good discussion about men vs women and how I suddenly realised that I am not alone...other women also think the same way that I do.

After lunch, the couples were split up into gender. So, all the women congregate in one room, while the men grouped together. We had invited speakers- Peter and Wendy who are from Australia. They have been married for 29 years and though they are coming to 50 years of age, they already have 6 grandchildren! So, with their wealth of experience, they led the women and men sessions.

After all the sessions which ended about 4pm, we checked into our rooms.


We were given rest time for couples to pray, reflect on day's lesson and refresh ourselves doing stuff together. CT took a nap while I was busy marking test papers. Haha..I cant imagine I actually brought work to do, but guess I didnt have much a choice since I needed to give back to them on Monday as their Common Tests start on Tuesday.


I was already down with flu and bad running nose. No amount of water that I gulped down helped in my killer sore throat.



This is the view from the toilet..(yup, took in between breaks from my marking to take pictures just to entertain myself)


After CT's nap, we changed and went swimming together in the pool. IT was a great view from the pool as we could see the sea.

We spent some time talking in the pool about our sessions and our reflections.

There were also aeroplanes flying pass..which we enjoyed


We also sat at this platform in the pool and enjoyed the view of the beach...



After our swim, we went back to our room to shower and after a nice warm bath, we were playing with the mist on the glass.

This is CT's art work..



After that, we took a nice stroll to the beach and talked even more. I do enjoy talking to CT and share our thoughts with each other. It was however quite strange because we also saw some other couples from our church who were at the beach as well. So, quite funny and awkward.



It was a nice and relaxing time.



After that, we walked over to the hawker centre at Changi Village for rojak and coconut juice. Yum yum.

Initially, it was drizzling and when that happened, we were wondering where would we have our dinner because for dinner, we were supposed to have pool side buffet- open air. But I told CT that the rain would stop and we were still be able to enjoy our buffet dinner.

After our pre-dinner at the hawker centre, we went to take a look at the other pool in the hotel at the ground floor. We didnt swim in this pool because it doesnt have a view of the beach since its on the ground floor and moreover, the public can see you since it is just next to the restaurant. So too embarrassing. Ha.


Thank God it was only a light drizzle and the rain did stop. So, we had dinner at 7pm at the poolside which overlooks the beach.

During the dinner, we sat with our church members and we had an interesting discussion. We didnt know one another before this retreat since there are 1000 over people in our church. So, it was a good time to get to know one another and one of the couple was sharing their struggles in marriage and how they came to know the Lord. It was a very encouraging time and fruitful discussion.



The food was very nice. I ate a lot of mussels! Haha..

As I was having our talk around the table, I noticed someone rather familiar. I actually saw my colleague, Huei Juin! She was having dinner with her husband at the Italian Restaurant on the same level. And so happen, her husband's colleague is from my church. So they were talking to each other when I noticed her.

During our dinner, we were made to renew our vows again by facing each other and re-committing our vows. It was rather touching and I noticed some who were tearing.

We ended dinner close to 11pm and I was exhausted from the day's affairs. CT stayed up to watch a bit of TV while I went straight into la-la land.

The next morning, we had buffet breakfast at 8am and our workshops started at 9am. The sessions talked about how to be better parents. And after that session, we watched a movie called "Though None Go with Me." I've got to give 10 stars for this movie! Its a movie that no married couple should miss! Everyone in the room was crying! (including the guys) and we didnt only cry once but numerous times. It is such a touching movie that even the one with the hardest of heart could be touched.

I cant wait to buy the DVD and watch it with my friends and family again! (By the way, I do not usually watch movies twice unless it is THAT good)

After the movie, we had lunch and over lunch, we were discussing about the movie. I was sitting in the same table as Wendy and Peter. So, it was nice to be able to get to know them and learn a thing or two from them.

After Lunch, we had two more sessions on parenting and how to make a great marriage better before we ended our retreat.

We ended the retreat by kneeling together as a couple and praying to God together. It was another touching time as tears just rolled down from my eyes.

What a wonderful session we had over these two days- learning so much more about this relationship and how to improve it even further.

Now, I cant wait to see Caleb as I miss him very much...

What have we become?

There was one afternoon when I took bus after my work and in the bus, there was this primary school girl sitting in front of me. She was this tiny, timid-looking, sweet-looking typical primary school girl that anybody would think she is a real angel.

However, suddenly, her file caught my attention as it looked pretty eye-catching. So I stared at it harder to see what were the words on her file and gosh, I was dumb founded!



I was shocked at how a tiny, sweet looking primary school girl can bear to write such deadly words in her file and just look at how many times she repeats those words..not once, not twice, but she fill the whole paper with those words that says, " You shall die".. I guess she is just warning anyone who steals her file..But still? I was really shocked.

This reminds me of a song which I love...by DC Talk. Its called, "What have we become". Here's the lyrics. It talks about how the world is degenerating and the values we have now in this world. It's really sad because this generation have not yet realised that whatever values they learn now, will in turn affect their future generation- their children and grandchildren. They are only concerned about what they want or like to do presently, and not think about the future or even, to eternity..

The very things that make us human- love, compassion, mercy, selflessness are all diminishing..

"What have we become"

A preacher shuns his brother
Cause his brides a different color
And this is not acceptable
His papa taught him so
It was love that hed been preaching
But this was overreaching
The boundaries stretchin further
Than his heart would choose to go

Like an angel with no wings
Like a kingdom with no king

(chorus 1)
What have we become?
A self indulgent people
What have we become?
Tell me where are the righteous ones?
What have we become?
In a world degenerating
What have we become?

(chorus 2)
Speak your mind, look out for yourself
The answer to it all is a life of wealth
Grab all you can cause you live just once
You got the right to do whatever you want
Dont worry about others or where you came from
It aint what you were, its what you have become

Mom and dad are fightin
As rosie lies there crying
For once again shes overheard
Regrets of their mistake
With christmas bells a-ringing
Little rosied leave them grieving the gift shed give her family
Would be the pills shed take

An inconvenient child
She wasnt worth their while

(repeat choruses 1 and 2)

What about love?
What about god?
What about holiness?
What about mercy, compassion and selflessness?

You know its true
He is there for me and you
Doesnt matter what you do

(repeat chorus 1)

What have we become?
Have we come undone?
What have we become?
Have we come undone?
What have we become?

(repeat chorus 2)

Selfish... ? ? ?
With selfish... ? ? ?
Selfish people
When you gonna learn?
Everyone of us
Gathered round in trust
What have we become?

2 bald babies

When we went to visit my mother-in-law yesterday, everyone was so fascinated by Caleb's bald look. My sister-in-law even went quickly to grab her camera to take pictures of Caleb.

Anyway, here's mine of Caleb and Keelia. Caleb looks really tiny beside her..



Today, we celebrated Total Defence Day in school. I provided the staff green bean soup in the staff room for them, courtesy of Mrs Choo who helped to cook.

The canteen sold porridge, sweet potato, green bean soup and water. It's nice for a change. So a few of us went to the canteen for lunch, and we played cheat. We brought our own condiments to go with the plain porridge.

Here's my bowl of porridge...and the stuff we brought are peanuts, pickled vegetables as well as korean vegetables. Very nice!



I love to eat porridge once in a while as its very light and refreshing.



I do wish for students to appreciate what they have and quit complaining of small little things. Hopefully, they got the message.

Porridge

Caleb has been eating porridge since he was 6 months old. I bought for him Organic Brown Rice.

Here's one of the meals he takes - spinach, chicken, carrots porridge with dried scallops!

This is how it looks before blending.. It looks much nicer now because after blending, it just looks like watery poo. Haha.

day off again...

It's Vicky's day off again! Oh no...

This day off was quite last minute because we recently signed up for a Marriage Enrichment Retreat organised by our church and so next week, Vicky cant have her day off. So instead, she decided to take her day off today which was only decided yesterday!

Anyway, I have to say, with our prayers to God the night before, He really answered them as Caleb was very well-behaved. In fact, he slept quite long in the afternoon after CT put him to sleep! It is amazing!



Taking advantage of Vicky's day off, I cooked steak for lunch after we came back from church as Vicky doesnt like to eat beef because of the strong smell. When I came back from church, I was in my busy mode straight away as I had to get Caleb ready for his bath, cook porridge for him and cook lunch for CT. Thank God CT bathed him, if not, I do wish I was an octopus- being able to do lots of things at a time.

Here's the rib eye steak which I had for lunch(bought from Carrefour)


Then made a fruit salad- honeydew with romaine lettuce.

Here's Caleb on our bed right after we came home. He was playing on our bed and rolling around.


He's wearing another new shirt which I bought for him.


And here's him doing his push up!



Even at night when we went to my Mother-in-law's place, he was well-behaved. I am really proud of Caleb for being so obedient today as well as CT, who was able to put him to sleep many times throughout the whole day. He was so patient with Caleb. Well done CT!

Oh by the way, happy 7 Months old,Caleb!!

Trip to Suntec

Today, we went to Suntec City as a family for our supermarketing and lunch.

Caleb was donned with his new clothes which I bought for him as his shirts are all getting too short for him.



Here's Caleb in the car on our way there..Yep, he is still in the habit of biting or sucking everything..including his legs



We let Caleb stand on the travelator in Carrefour.



After supermarketing, we went for lunch at "Just Noodles". It quite a nice eatery with Japanese, Korean food. There is even a kids corner with a table and toys. But of course, Caleb is still too young to play. So, we just sat him down on the high chair.



Here's what I ordered- beef bulgogi with chicken wings set meal that came with pickled vegetables, free flow of drinks ( apple tea/peach tea/mango juice/ fruit punch), miso soup and bean curd dessert. For just about $14.



When we were back home, we placed Caleb in the cot and guess what? His head was sticking out already. That shows how much he has grown...


Another amazing thing is that he was able to grab the sides of the cot and stand by himself for some time..



That is quite a feat for him!

1st Valentine with Caleb

Today is Valentine's Day. My students gave me some things which I am really thankful for..









As for CT, he made for me a card and placed it in my bag the night before so that today when I opened my bag in the office, I saw the card. Of course, that made my day.

Came home earlier today to spend time with Caleb as well as to prepare a good dinner for my family.



Here's what I cooked!

The mussels were given to me by my mum as I loved to eat it and she had really big ones!


So I thought what a good time to cook this! It is 900 over grams of mussels (almost 1 kg!).



Here's how I marinated it...

I added white wine (compliments again by my mum as she has a wine cooler at her place with so many bottles of wine), garlic herb butter, chopped fresh garlic, as well as mozzarella cheese.



Another item for dinner was the Ramly Burger. I went to NTUC after school to buy minced chicken to make my own patties, bought hamburger bun as well..



Here's the patty wrapped in egg



And this is the outcome, topped with mayonaise and steak sauce


But how about the mussels? How did it turn out? Oooo..I was so happy it turned out so so so nice! Much better than restaurant's standard I must say! Haha..

I could taste the wine and the hot melted cheese when I bite into thick juicy mussel.


This was the amount of mussels I had..



I also made a salad to go with the dinner. Very sumptuous and yummy! Loved every part of it! We sat down together with Vicky and Caleb as we digged in..

Vicky and I drank up the rest of the white wine in the bottle



Here's our dinner


This is my portion..


Really had an enjoyable Valentine's Day. It def beats having to go out to restaurants that make use of this oppotunity to increase their prices and everything around you in the restaurant will look like some acting set where all the couples will be by themselves, with a rose and wine on the table. How cheesy.

Glad I could celebrate at home with CT and Caleb.