Child care leave

Today marks the first time I made use of my child care leave to just spend time with the family. As a civil servant, we are entitiled to 5 days of childcare leave- of which 3 days must be certified with MC while the other 2 days, can be any reason. This is for 1 kid. So if you have 3 kids, you are given 15 days of childcare leave so as to encourage us to give birth to more.

Well, this is probably nothing compared to the French where they are given up to 3 years of paid leave! And even the fathers get few months of parental leave to spend time with their family. I think 2 days of paternity leave for fathers in Singapore is really pathetic. They will probably use up all of the 2 days in the hospital to spend with their wives.

It is very sad because most wives would love some form of support in the early days when they are at home after they give birth, especially when most mothers suffer from post-natal blues because of hormonal changes.

But nevertheless, I am just thankful that we have childcare leave and I had a great day with the family as CT also took leave.

Early in the morning, we went to Hougang for breakfast and then strolled in Punggol Park as the weather was nice and cooling.



Ok, this was one of the rare opportunity where we can have a family photo. Thanks to Vicky who took this picture for us.

Punggol Park has a big, still lake..



There was also a playground. Caleb went on the slide...


And the swing..



The funny thing was that Caleb found it more fun to stand up on the swing and jump!



This is another view of the lake..


Midway, the sun came out and we stopped to feed Caleb.



There were aunties, who were there for morning strolls, came by to talk to us as they found Caleb very cute.

After feeding, CT carried Caleb the whole way back to the car. Caleb was in his small little red cap.







A short while later, Caleb fell right asleep on CT's shoulders....



Even when placed him in the car seat, he was still sleeping...



We went home after a nice morning stroll.

In the afternoon, we went to Hougang Mall for lunch. Went there to return library books as well. The library there had much better selection of baby books and there are a lot of new books as well. So, I prefer going to Hougang library than Sengkang.

We did our grocery shopping there as well...Here is Caleb first time in the trolley!



What an enjoyable day spent with the family...

Phoebe & Caleb

During the Deepavali Public Holiday, we had plans..

We had friends who came to our house for lunch. They are Filipinos who have been working in Singapore. (Doc John, Tess, Ain and Wilma) CT knew Doc John as he was the pastor of CT's ex-church. Ain is their 4 year old daughter whom I think is very bright. She can sing very beautifully and read the words in a book real fast with much clarity. Wilma is their friend from Phillipines who came down to Singapore to help look after Ain as Tess goes to work. She used to be a pre-school teacher in Phillipines.

Anyway, we had a great lunch as we had so much to catch up. They stay in Punggol too. Only about 7 mins walk apart. They bought for Caleb a set of clothes which comes with a cap. When they left, I immediately tried it on Caleb as the clothes look really nice.



In the afternoon, I started trying lots of stuff on Caleb to see whether he can fit in them.

Here is Caleb the milkmaid...



Caleb perspires so easily...So, he cant really wear a cap for long. Must air his head.



I also tried a pair of shoes on him which look really nice.



At this age now, I have somehow observed Caleb's character and I must say, it is quite similar to mine. He is very active and playful. He enjoys doing playful things..An example is sitting on daddy's shoulders. (and drooling on his hair at the same time)



Here is Caleb at the door all ready to go out.Most of the time, he would always be the first to be dressed and ready before anyone of us.



In the evening, went to Marianne's place to see baby Asher. Here is CT with Asher.



Phoebe and Caleb were interacting with each other. Quite interesting.Caleb kept staring at Phoebe as she stuffed the pacifier into Caleb's mouth. She was a gret big sister to Caleb-taking good care of him.



I must say Phoebe has really grown up. I could converse with her like an adult even though she is only 3 years old. She was also so good in playing her Nintendo Games. Its amazing how fast kids pick up new things!

After visiting Marianne, went my mum's place for a sumptuous dinner- wanton mee soup (with homemade char siew and huge dumplings), roast duck and one of my favourite dish- braised mushroom with chicken feet. Thanks mum for cooking!

Then, went home really happy as I'm on child care leave the next day!

Teething?

For the past few days, Caleb has been biting his fingers profusely and when anyone of us touch his fingers and remove them from his mouth, he starts wailing like a girl. Gets really cranky.



Check out his expressions...



He seems to be in his own world when he is sucking or biting. I am not sure whether he is teething or not. I tried introducing to him the teether to bite, but he doesnt seem to want it. Maybe he is not used to it? Or maybe he just cant hold, so he decides not to have it? I really dunno. He still prefers his fingers.



Here is a video to show you how Caleb bites or sucks his fingers..



Of course like I said from my previous blog, he has his moments of laughter as well.



There was a time when he was jumping and trying to walk during the afternoon till I decided that he should wear shoes to protect his feet. Check out what happened after wearing his little bunny shoes as he tries to jump.



It was quite funny seeing him slide. I love this pair of shoes as it looks really cute on him. Used to be big and loose but now, it was tight. So sad. Must make him wear more often.

Squeals of delight!

Today, Caleb has had a series of squeals in the afternoon. He was easily excited over funny noises. Here is one video showing Vicky making poo-poo noises and look how he reacted.



However, he sometimes gets confused between laughs and cries. Here is one video to show the confusion..



That is Caleb for you- one second he laughs with squeals of delight and another second, he starts crying..sigh.

Baby Asher has arrived

On 5th Nov, Asher Kong arrived into this world at 3:10am. My good friend, Marianne has finally given birth and Phoebe, my god-daughter was pretty excited to finally have a little brother to play with, after waiting for a long 9 months.

Marianne was on the way to hospital at 12 plus am and just 3 hours (or less) later, she had given birth! And the amazing thing is that she only stayed one night at the hospital. Everything so chop-chop!

So yesterday, I went to visit her at her house.But before that,Caleb was pretty excited as well just before we left the house. He probably knew we were going to bring him out.



Caleb has been very busy sucking and biting his fist lately till his whole hand is soaked in saliva.



When I remove his hand and stuff the pacifier into his mouth, he would spit it out and continue sucking and biting his hand. Sigh..Look how determined he can be in putting his whole hand in.



Anyway, when we went to Marianne's place, Caleb behaved himself real well. And what do you know? Asher is zzzz.What else can a newborn do but sleep??




We placed Caleb in the cot with Asher to see how Caleb would react with Asher beside him..

Look at the 2 of them. I have to say that Asher is huge for a newborn, or rather, Caleb is small for his age.



CT thinks their size is almost the same.



Instead of interacting with Asher, Caleb was more interested in the mobile toy hung above the cot.



Guess the only interaction they had was when Caleb kept moving his hands all over Asher's face. So I had to seperate Caleb so that Asher will not be disturbed or bullied.



Then after a while, Caleb grew bored with the mobile toys and went back to something he was familiar and happy with- sucking his fist!



I hope this is just a phase and not a habit..

Interesting sight

Caleb is really growing. There are a few of his clothes that are too tight already. He has also been wearing 'new' ones which used to be too big on him. Check this holey shirt passed down by my friend. This shirt is very suitable for Caleb as he perspires very easily. (got that genes from CT)



When we went to visit my mother-in-law, Keelia was there as usual and boy, she has grown. Caleb seems to be smaller...hmm.



About a week ago, when I was driving back home after school. I spotted an interesting motorcycle don with sunflowers all over. Even the motorcyclist wore a jacket full of sunflowers. I thought only such interesting sights would only be spotted in the States.


Here is a picture of a truck which I took when I visited Biloxi, Mississippi.


It is actually a truck full of cartoon/comic figurines on it. How cool is that?

Car blues

These few days, I have been hit with car blues. On Monday, I went to Shell Station because my car engine has been getting overheated- ranging from 100-110 degrees celcius and the engine oil meter has also been fluctuating. So, I sent the car to Shell Station for a checkup.

The car mechanic replaced the fan in my engine, change the radiator tank, tank sensor, thermostat cover and 'o' ring...which cost me $400! After the repairs, I felt happy driving the car as there wasnt any problem anymore. I didnt have to worry about the car overheating.

On Wednesday after work, I walked to the car and was shocked to see the left indicator light dangling out of position. I was upset because someone might have reversed the car and hit the light, thus causing it to fall off. That really spoilt my day. I went over to the car and placed the light back into position and tested out. Thank God it worked. However, I thought after placing it back to position, everything will be ok-no need to repair since I could place it back into position. But the stupid thing was that as I was driving along the expressway, the light came off and my car went over it. Sobsob!!

I kept thinking how silly I was-should have taped it or something. Sigh. So my car was without an 'eye' for a couple of days. Finally, after a recommendation from my colleague to go to a scrapyard to get the parts, I went down with my family on Saturday to the place to get the light and install it.

Went to Propel Auto Parts in Kranji to get the indicator light. Of course, I enquired first before going down since Kranji is so far.


It was an eye-opening experience.





Scary I must say because I do not like to go to places with huge vehicles and very dusty and complicated. Somemore, Caleb was with us. Reason why I brought Caleb because I thought of dropping by at Kranji Reservoir Park after the repair. Oh well-regretted bringing him cos we didnt go to the park after all since the weather was so hot.


Got the indicator light for only $20 plus installation and had lunch after that. Caleb was very well-behaved despite how hot the weather was,and how dusty the place is.He waited patiently for us to get the car repaired as he was under the tree getting some shade.



After getting the indicator light repaired, I was glad again that finally the car is well again. Then, Vicky was just joking that each time we get something repaired, something will crop up again.

And what do you know...something really did crop up again! On Sunday, I didnt go church as I was still down with flu and felt very weak. So CT went alone. Caleb and Vicky stayed with me at home. CT first went to SPC station for car wash before heading to church. When he came home, he told me that our car wiper blade is missing! Sigh... So, if it rains and we're driving, it would be very dangerous for us since we have no wiper blade at all. So that very evening, we drove to Giant to buy but there were so many brands and lengths that we didnt know what to do. So, we didnt buy instead just in case we bought the wrong one. So in the evening when we went to my mother-in-law place, I was really praying that it wont rain.

Thank God it didnt rain. We were thinking what could have happened to the blade and CT and I think that it could be the car wash. Sigh...So depressing. One thing happening after another.

Laze on a weekend

After a tiring week of work, it was nice to laze about during the weekends. Caleb was lazing about as well. Here is him falling asleep on daddy's arms in awkward positions...



Caleb must be really tired.


I usually place Caleb on the chair to train him to sit up.


He can only sit up straight for at most 3 mins then he would either start leaning forward or sideways.



I also let Caleb sit on this for the very first time which is located down at my block. But of course, I didnt put any money in it to let it move.



Did our usual weekend supermarketing at AMK Hub and when we came home, I saw the long receipt from the groceries we bought and just when I saw Caleb 'standing' on the table, I placed the receipt against his height and guess what? The receipe was as tall as Caleb! As you can see, Caleb is smiling away as he dances on the table. He loves to do that!



For the past few days, I have been down with flu- runny nose, bad sore throat and felt feverish. So, I was glad to be resting at home and not having to wake up early.

Stories I read recently...

In the November issue of Motherhood magazine, there was an article,"He wont stop blaming me for our Baby's Death!". As I was reading it, my heart felt so saddened by how the mother feels.

This article talks about how the couple has been married for almost 7 years and it was a fairy-tale like marriage-very joyous and had a baby girl, named Natasha. However, things took a turn for the worst one day when after putting the daughter to sleep in the crib, the next morning, she woke up to find that Natasha had ceased breathing. She was blue and non-responsive. She tried CPR on the daughter, called ambulance and rushed to the hospital. But to no success. Natasha was pronounced dead. And she was only 13 weeks old.

Of course, the parents were devastated and the mother went into depression. She had dreamt of Natasha for 3 years, carried her in the womb for 9 months and now she was dead. Natasha had even recently passed her 3-month check with the GP with flying colours. "If only I had known that they were to be her last smiles and hugs, I would have given extra kisses." (quote from the mother in the article)

What made the situation worse was that the couple did not support each other but the husband turned abusive and became an alcoholic. Before Natasha died, the couple were best friends, really loved each other, shared intimate secrets etc etc but after Natasha died, everything changed. He now takes every opportunity to batter the wife with his words, blaming her for causing the death of their daughter.

As I read this article, my heart pounded as I realised how real it can be. Natasha was just 3 weeks younger than Caleb when she died. I was just thinking-how would I cope with this if it happened to Caleb. Will I be able to take it? The more I think of it, the more I feel I have to appreciate every second with him and not take things for granted.



SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is commonly known as crib death as babies die in their sleep. Babies in the first year of life (usu between 2-4 months of life) may die suddenly without any known cause.

Another article I read recently is an article in today's Straits Times.It talks about how an eight month old baby was choked to death as the maid was feeding him. The maid has not worked since as the incident had been 'tramatic' for her. She also mentioned in the article that she does not want to take care of young children anymore.

As I reflect upon this article, I relate to how I trust Vicky to take care of Caleb in the day when I go to work...and how I know many friends and relatives have some kind of doubt in their mind when I tell them I leave Caleb and Vicky at home in the day time when I work. They will always ask," Huh? Safe or not? You can trust ah? Why dont you leave it at your parent's place?" blah blah blah..and they will go on and on, telling me how I should worry and not leave the maid and child alone in the house.

My thoughts?

Well, I just want to tell them that to a certain degree, yes, I trust the maid to take care of Caleb as I have observed her already. And she takes more safety precautions than CT and I have. She is more meticulous and safe. But to a larger degree, I place my trust more on God. The One who brought Caleb into this world, the One who created Caleb from my womb, the One who allows everything to happen for a divine purpose and reason. I have learnt to face that if it really comes to a point that Caleb one day leaves CT and I, of course, I will be sadden. But ultimately, I know that God has a purpose. With His infinite wisdom and knowledge, who am I, a mere sinful being with finite wisdom, to question Him?

Here is one of my favourite song sung by Michael English which talks about where we should place our trust as people fails us but not God. I very much love to share with all of you!

In Christ alone will I glory
Though I could pride myself
In battles won
For I've been blessed beyond measure
And by His strength alone, I overcome
Oh, I could stop and count successes
Like diamonds in my hands
But these trophies could not equal
To the grace, by which I stand

In Christ alone
I place my trust
And find my glory
In the power of the cross
In every victory
Let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope
Is Christ alone

In Christ alone will I glory
For only by His grace
I am redeemed
And only His tender mercy
Could reach beyond my weakness
To my need
Now I seek no greater honor
Than just to know Him more
And to count my gains but losses
And to the glory of my Lord

In Christ alone
I place my trust
And find my glory
In the power of the cross
In every victory
Let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope
Is Christ alone

Bonding with mummy

Since now is the school holidays, I only need to clock in 4 hours of school. So, I would usually go school at 640am (the earliest 'bird' there aside from the cleaners) to beat the peak hour traffic and to have some peace and quiet in the office before the students and teachers come in.

What I would do is- I would first make myself a hot drink to eat with my sandwich which Vicky prepares early in the morning. Then, I would check my emails-personal and office mails, rush deadlines e.g CCA Stock Checking, Semester Review etc etc and also prepare for my lesson at 915am-1030am. The Sec 3 students who did not do well for their final year exams were made to come back for extra Mathematics lesson. So before lesson, I would do all the necessary preparations.



Some days, I have meeting in the afternoons from 2 plus onwards. So that will be a long day for me. But usually right after my teaching, I would have clocked in my 4 hours already. So, I would rush back home to feed Caleb and play with him. I have to say I do look forward to see him and spend time with him, but part of my system would have probably shut down by then due to sleepless nights, interrupted sleep, and pressure from work. So, it may seemed wonderful to look forward to spending time with Caleb, but on the other hand, there are times when I wish I could just take a break and snooze in my bed. I guess my effort is paid off when I see Caleb smile as I play with him, but the worse part is when he starts crying and here I am, so drained and yet, I have to stand up and carry him to pacify him to sleep or drink his milk.

Below is a picture where I took him out alone for walks to other parks nearby..



I have to first state that I have no complains...but just to make others realise that having a kid is not something that you should treat lightly. I know there are females out there who are single and thinking of getting married, but without considering the huge responsibility that comes with it. I had one student from my previous school who is already a mother at the age of 16 years old. I taught her when she was 13 years old...and when I found out she has a son, I was completely shocked and saddened as her whole life is going to be affected. There have been so many stories about newborn babies being abandoned in rubbish chutes and its really heart wrenching to read of such incidents.



So now, I feel I have the responsibility to tell people that it is not easy being a parent. Its very draining in all aspects. Eversince Caleb was borned, I have not really been doing much things for myself anymore. Things that I wish I can do or want to do cannot be carried out if Caleb needs me. But of course most parents would agree that despite how tough it is, at the end of the tunnel, there is always a light and yes, I cling onto that hope- that one day Caleb will smile more, one day Caleb will appreciate the things I have done for him, one day Caleb will turn out to be the man of God that CT and I would want him to be...

What makes me happy...

For those who know me, they would always relate me to food. I simply love food. I used to go out for late night suppers with my friends with the table full of food like BBQ chicken wings, satay, porridge, hokkien mee, bak chor mee, otah etc etc when I was still single and probably, when I still had a higher metabolic rate then. So now, I have learnt to be more selective in my choices of food so that I still enjoy eating and yet, not put on too much weight.

About a month back, I cooked wanton mee for my family. I enjoy making dumplings because its simple and yummy! I learnt that from my mum since from young, I have been helping her to put the ingredients and fold the dumplings.



If I had time, I would make my own char siew (BBQ pork) too but this time round, I just went downstairs to my supermarket to buy as they have a BBQ corner selling Char Siew, roast pork and roast duck.

I am just blessed to have Vicky as my helper as she loves to cook. So, I passed her all my recipe books for her to read. She has been reading them and lately, she has been cooking food from one particular recipe book. Check out her roast chicken with bacon strips.



I even went to the extend of asking my past students to give me their home economics book if they do not need it as there are recipes in the book. The recipes in the textbook is simple and good. Hehe.

This is a mixed vegetable dish- brocolli, fried bean curd, crab sticks, fish cakes,carrots, mushrooms. Love such dish where you just throw everything in and stir fry because its simple to cook.



Because I love food so much, I have been contemplating whether to start a food blog. But I was considering the time factor since I will probably be very busy next year and the more important factor is that I do not cook knowing measurements of how much sugar, water, salt to put. I cook by estimation. So, it may not be helpful for my readers to follow the recipes since there are no measurements.

I recently ate this yummy noodle dish which Vicky cooked for lunch. Its stir-fried ee mee with cabbage, minced meat, fish cake, tau pok and sprinkled with chilli powder (from thailand). Its so so yummy that I just had to keep complimenting Vicky for being so experimental with her food.



The last new dish that I ate recently was a pork chop dish. Sounds normal? Well, its not the usual sweet and sour pork chops that was cooked...but it was the whole piece of pork chops with a simple marinade of soya sauce, ginger and corn flour.

This was how it turned out...



Here is the picture from my recipe book.


The pork chops was juicy and so tasty that I just fell in love with this easy-to-cook dish.