Random boy

Caleb is a very random boy. He would do something out of the blue, without warning. He is unpredictable.

Today, he discovered his hat which he used to wear when he was about 1 year old. He takes it out and starts wearing it the whole day. He refused to take it down..even when he turns in for the night.



That's my quirky little boy for you!

"Fan Tong"

"Fan tong" simply literally means "rice bucket" and that's exactly what Caleb is. Ever since he has turned 2, he doesnt really eat porridge anymore. Instead, he eats more rice! He is like a typical Chinese man, who doesnt eat Western food as I have tried giving him french fries, spaghetti etc but he would only eat a few just to please me and stops eating. But as for rice, he could continue eating spoon after spoon.

Here's his typical dinner now. Rice with veggies and fish.


And fruits as well.


A well balanced diet indeed!

Public Service Swimming Meet 2009

I have been waiting so long to take part in this meet as I have been out of action for 2 years, since I kept giving birth one after another! So finally, I could be back again, representing MOE to swim!

Yes, I was pretty excited and kept wishing I wouldnt get pregnant again as I really didnt want to miss it.

I love competitions!

I thrive on challenges!

It was also a great opportunity to catch up with old friends.

This meet has definitely been more and more competitive since the time I took part which was few years back. We were up against ministries like Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), Singapore Sports Council(SSC), Housing Development Board (HDB), Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) (which Singapore Sports School is under), People's Association (PA), Polytechinics, Universities.

I took part in 4 events- 2 individual (backstroke and freestyle) as well as 2 relays (freestyle and medley relays) altogether in a day and after swimming my first event, I was quite disappointed with myself.



I regretted not training for it. I regretted not keeping in a better shape as I felt so heavy. I felt like I was in another body, a body which I do not recognise and remember having, a body which didnt seem like mine. Sigh..I wasnt too happy after my swim. Guess thats what happens after giving birth consecutively! haha..

Nevertheless, I am thankful, with the help of everyone, I got 2 golds for the relays. Was the first swimmer for one and the last swimmer for the other.



For the past couple of years, it has always been MOE or MINDEF to take the overall championship and this year, we were actually tied for the championship! So disappointing as MOE broke a number of records, while MINDEF didnt event break a single one!



Anyway, at the end of the day, I am just thankful I survived swimming 4 events one after another.

Time spent at home

Caleb does have an influence on Danielle and watching Hi-5 is one of them. Danielle likes watching that too, especially the dancing part! Here's both of them glued to the TV.



Danielle spent most of her time at home-sleeping, eating, watching TV, crawling a lot, standing up, exploring things by biting them etc...

The camera likes her too since she smiles and poses a lot!





There have been a number of times when she held on to the table, pulls herself up and stand up. But suddenly, she would fall back and hit herself on the head. Sigh. We have kind of gotten used to that.


But nevertheless, she is still a happy and forgetful baby as she would still try to stand up and attempt dangerous and daring feats!

Sleeping beauty

As Caleb grows up, it becomes easier to put him to sleep. He doesnt fuss much when he's tired. So for those young mummies with infants, hang in there!

One night when me and CT were watching TV together after dinner, I happened to notice how quiet Caleb was beside me. Then when I turned, he was actually dozing away!

I was very tickled as I stared how he kept 'nodding' his head in agreement!

Here's a video of it!(all thanks to hubby who jumped off the sofa to get my camera for me to take this!)



Sweet dreams Caleb!

Mr Crabby

Today, I decided to cook crabs as I bought it from Giant since it was having offer. So while washing it, I thought it would be fun to introduce Mr Crabby to Caleb since he only sees crabs in pictures and maybe in Giant sometimes, but he has not held it before.

So here's Caleb and Mr Crabby!


Caleb seemed to have fun with 'him' since Caleb kept twisting his legs and checking him out.

Then Caleb also went on to introduce Mr Crabby to Danielle.

Danielle's reaction was quite amusing as she kept lifting up her hands and making noise, as if she is scared of the crab.


After much fun, we cooked Mr Crabby in simple ginger, garlic and spring onions. I wanted a simple style of cooking it so that I am able to taste its sweetness.

It was quite enjoyable for a change!

Another celebration

Today, my side of the family celebrated Caleb's birthday! So, we had lunch at my parent's place. Mum prepared fried chicken wings, po piah and kueh pai tee, but since the kids cant eat that, my mum specially cooked porridge for them instead.




My god-daughter, Phoebe has really grown up quite a bit! She's definitely being a good big sister as she takes care of Caleb and Danielle.



There's everyone tucking into their food!



Here's the cake which I bought for Caleb since he likes Thomas. By the way, I managed to take a few balloons at White Sands Shopping Centre as there were people giving away, to promote Livia, the condominium. So in a way, its timely since we are celebrating Caleb's birthday and the kids could also take home the balloons!



After singing the birthday song to Caleb and after he blew the candles (with help from the kids), he cut his own cake and started distributing the cake to all his guests.




He finished distributing them all before having his own slice of cake!

There's my god-son, Asher enjoying it!


At night,we went to Hougang Mall for dinner and also to go to the library to return books and borrow more. Here's Meimei enjoying herself on the shelves!



After that, we went to our house downstairs for the end of the Racial Harmony Celebration. It was supposed to end at 830pm but when I went down at 830pm, there were still quite a lot of people playing the free games like bouncy castle and the bubble game where you can go inside the bubble and run on water!





There were also a lot of people queuing up for the free food!

There were food like mee siam,fried carrot cake, mee goreng but the most popular stall was the PEKING DUCK!! They actually gave that out for free!







One food stall with no queue was the vegetarian stall as they actually prepared so much food. So here's what we had! The bee hoon, fried wanton and mock beef rendang was quite nice!


I also queued up for free balloon sculpture for Caleb and Danielle. You can tell them what to make from a list, and they would make for you. I got 2 different flower balloons and 1 mini poodle dog.

What an eventful day the children had! I am so glad I am living in this part of the country where its just so happening! Cant wait for next year's racial harmony day celebration as each year just gets bigger and better!

Same Birthday

My colleague and my sis-in-law's birthday all falls on the same day as Caleb's. How coincidental.

Today, we planned to have lunch at Pu Tien Restaurant in Tampines Mall. I booked the place long ago. However, my aunt-in-law just passed away this morning due to leukemia which she had about 2 years ago already. So, my mum-in-law spent the whole day at the wake. However, the rest of us carried on the lunch with a slight solemn atmosphere.

Here's Danielle and Caleb all dressed up and ready to go out!





Danielle seemed pretty excited and happy!


We went early to Tampines Mall as I dropped by at Sistic Outlet to get tickets for 2 concerts- Hi-5 concert which I will be bringing Caleb to (as he is addicted to hi 5) and also Il Divo concert which I will be going with my mum for her pre-birthday celebration since I know she loves Il Divo as much as I do too! hehe. Both tickets amounted to almost $500!

Anyway, at the mall, Caleb and Danielle had fun playing together in the car



At Putien Restaurant, I was in charge of ordering since I was the one who recommended the place and I have eaten there once. There were 7 of us and I ordered...

sweet and sour pork with lychees which was really nice. Its probably one of the best sweet and sour pork I have tasted.


Then ordered spinach with 3 kinds of eggs. Another common dish but yet, the gravy is so thick and tasty that you feel you are eating this for the very first time.


There was also homemade beancurd which I ordered especially for the kids.


Then, I ordered a steam sea bass, also mainly for the kids but also for my bro-in-law whom I know loves to eat fish.

When you go Putien, you have to try their pan fried bun! Its a taste I dunno how to describe...but its yummy and simple!

And lastly, dont leave the place without trying their lor mee (if you like noodles with gravy). If you like your noodles dry, then order their putien fried bee hoon!

Halfway during lunch, Caleb became cranky and fell asleep. So the cake which my sis-in-law bought, had to be cut later since the birthday boy is not up to cut his cake.

So after lunch, we went to my sis-in-law, Ally's new place to visit as well as to cut the cake.

Their place is very spacious and windy!

So the kids had a nice time running about.

Here's the cake Ally and her hubby, Klein got for Caleb and Linda. (or should I say, the cake was probably for Caleb!)



Here are the birthday babies!







And lastly, a picture with all the kids!


There's Ally's son, Keane on the right who is about 3 months old, but has the same weight as Danielle, who is 7 months old! And then, there's Keelia, who is same age as Caleb but younger than him by about 2 months.

I really enjoyed myself today since the food was great and the company was fun, since there were kids around to liven the atmosphere!

Busy on Caleb's birthday

Since Caleb's birthday falls on a Friday, both CT and I could not spend the whole day or night with him as Fridays are the days we attend cell group. So what I did was to rush home after school, buy 2 slices of cake for him to celebrate at night after our dinner. Didnt buy the whole cake because it would be too much for us to finish and moreover, we needed to pace ourselves since Caleb would also have 2 more celebrations on Sat and Sun!

2 slices of cake to represent his age, as well as for CT and I to share one, while Vicky and Caleb to share the other.



Here's the birthday boy looking serious..


but also his playful side!


Happy Birthday Caleb! Wishing you happiness, good health and God's wisdom to be upon you!

Influence on what I cook

I go to Giant Hypermart for supermarketing every Saturday and I do find comfort in the familarity and the space. There was once when I went to Sheng Siong hypermart in Bedok with my mum-in-law and ended up buying very little because I was just not used to the layout and how cramped it was. So it wasnt a pleasant trip at all.

Anyway, as usual, I would always take a look at the newspapers on Thursday as I look out for the sale items in Giant. Then I would start making a list. If there's like a whole big fish promotion, I would make sure I reach the hypermart exactly at 8am to see the automatic gates being lifted up as it takes a while for the fish guy to clean up the fish and cut it to your liking.

I hate queues and crowd.

This week, they had a promotion on this huge ocean trout fish! (which is similar to salmon). I bought a 3 plus kg fish for about $38! Its very worth it as I could eat the fish for about 4-5 different meals as I use the meat for pan fry and the bones for soup. So in a way, Giant decides what I cook for the week as its dependant on the promotional items.



So tonight, I prepared pan fried ocean trout with baked potatoes and stir fry veggies.



Tonight is also the night where Caleb opened his birthday present which I bought for him. I allowed him to open tonight because tomorrow is his birthday and I would only come back in the afternoon, after my work. So I felt if he opened it tonight, he could play with it in the morning.

There's both of my kids gathering together for the 'opening ceremony' of the toy!

Hair Accessories

When I was coming home one day from school, I passed by a small shop in the LRT station that sells hair accessories. And when I was glancing at them, there were a number of pretty ones. So I bought a few packets for a paltry sum of $1-2 for about 8 clips!

So here's Danielle wearing a couple of them.

Before


After


I know its very unlike me to buy hair accessories and doll up, but I am pretty excited to do that now since Danielle entered into my life and brought colours into my insipid personality.

Oh just a point to add, I do prefer her messy hair look more as it looks cute. However, she has no choice but to put clips as her fringe is touching her eyes already.