Before Attending Preschool

Prepping for Blake's first day of school started as early as a few months ago.

First order of business, to find the preschool that's comfortable with Blake and us. We actually had a list of schools we wanted to enroll Blake in, but most of them were pretty far from our house. On top of that, some did not accept children younger than 30 months old, while others were already full.

Then I remembered there was a preschool near our place (about 5-6 bus stops away). Only problem was, I have no idea what the school was called! I only know the location, and that it was really near a bus stop, and main road.

So, I went onto Google Maps, searched for the road name, and went into street view. Zoomed in to the location where the preschool stood, and ta-dah! I got the school name! Haha.

With the preschool's name, I went to google for the school's website. (I LOVE GOOGLE!) Called to enquire, and subsequently, went down twice with Sean and Blake - first to check out the environment, teachers, program etc, and second time to confirm Blake's place in the school.

Once we have confirmed his place at Honey Tree (that's his school!), and bought his school uniforms, the first thing I went to look for was a school bag. I had so many choices (and all at different prices!), but alas, it was when I was at Takashimaya that I came home with Blake's first school bag. It was really by chance. I was in the area, and went there to pack lunch home, only to find that there was a bags and luggage fair! :D

After getting his school bag, the next thing on my list were name labels. From shoes to bag, uniforms to bottles, I needed labels for everything he was going to bring to school!

Searched the internet high and low, and found this company called Stuck on You. They do labels for many items, focusing mainly on children items. I'll have to put a little warning here though, it does not come cheap. But, their products look really awesome and cute! The best part is, you can personalize it with the many icons, colours, and fonts available. Chinese character printing can also be done (only on selected labels).

I bought the Orientation Value Pack (bag tag not featured above), and added a slap band for when he has school excursions. I didn't dare to order too much as I was just trying out their products. I have to say, after receiving the labels and using them, I found the quality really good too! Definitely worth the amount paid.

For this first batch of labels, I specifically designed the labels to follow the robot/alien/outerspace theme. I have just ordered another bag tag and slap band to match his school's excursion bag, and this time round, I went with the animal theme! :)

So awesome to be able to get some retail therapy done along the way, even if it's not for me :P

My next post will be on Blake's First Day of School, a month after all the preparation has been done! :D

First Trip Out (on my own)

I almost forgot about this particular milestone!

In the first 3-4 months of Blake's life, I never dared to bring him out on my own. Not until a friend who finally returned to Singapore asked me out for lunch.

Alex (that's what I call her) hardly ever returns to Singapore since she went over to USA to study, not even during her school holidays! So, when she finally came back (due to some dental issues, if I remember correctly), I couldn't say no to meeting up! The idea of bringing Blake out on my own at that time was pretty terrifying, but I told myself it was a sooner or later thing, so I might as well do it now, even though I wasn't very confident about it.

We went to a mall near my place, and I carried him in our beloved Babybjorn Synergy carrier all the way. I still hadn't figured out how to bring Blake out with the stroller on my own then. It was a short 2½ hours trip out, but it was a real huge deal to me back then!

After this trip out with Blake on my own, I gained more confidence in myself as a mother, and brought him out more frequently since! Now, it's like a routine to bring him out at least once a week! I'm so glad for that kick-start. Thanks, Alex! :D

Tree & Bee

Advertorial

Motherhood is one of the most beautiful experiences a lady can experience, along with falling in love, and getting married to her man.

However, motherhood for some ladies means putting themselves at the lowest priority, with their children and husband right at the top of the list. This is especially the case for stay-at-home-mothers like me.

Fortunately for me, I have a really supportive husband who told me I should indulge in some retail therapy, like I used to pre-motherhood, to relieve some stress. Yet, the first thought of retail therapy was the money I might end up spending! Nowadays, I find myself saving up for my son’s education rather than spending money on myself (other than the obvious necessities).

Instead of going for retail therapy, I indulge myself with looking at pretty things online; swooning over them and telling my husband how beautiful they are, wondering how they would look on me.

That is, until I came across Tree & Bee – beautiful and unique accessories, bags and scarves at really affordable prices!

Each and every item you see on Tree & Bee has been specially selected by its two founders, and they come in very limited quantities!

Tree & Bee Earrings – Prices range from $4 to $12.90

Tree & Bee Necklaces – Prices range from $9 to $23.90

Tree & Bee Rings – Prices range from $4 to $11

Tree & Bee Bags and Scarves – Prices range from $16 - $29

From elegant to funky, from blings to colours, with so many different styles available on Tree & Bee, every mommy will be able to find something to bring out her own style and personality! Remember, becoming a mother does not mean you have to lose your personality and style while caring for your children J

Here’s a photo of me on Mother’s Day, wearing one of my favourite pairs of earrings from Tree & Bee, Mi Amor Heart Earrings!

And another of my favourites, Dainty Heart Earrings, when we went on a family outing to Underwater world!

I am thinking of doing a giveaway with some of my favourite Tree & Bee items, but I’m not sure of what the response will be like (I hope to have a giveaway every quarter of the year or more frequently, if possible!).

If you would love to see giveaways on my blog, do leave a comment on any of my posts, or email me, and I’ll definitely work something out!

Tree & Bee

Visit their website www.treenbee.com to shop online,

Or head over to Toy Outpost at Jcube #04-04 to see their items upclose!

psst… some of the items put on display at Toy Outpost are not found online!

Blake Flips

7 February 2011: This video contains a milestone of Blake's first year :) That very evening, our little boy learned how to flip himself, from his back to his chest! We were so excited when we saw him achieve such an awesome feat the first time, we were eager to video the process. He was pretty tired by the time we finally caught him doing the complete flip (previous recorded videos he only managed to turn to his side).

On hindsight, I don't know if we were being horrible parents for leaving him there, crying and very frustrated. Or, if we were doing something right; teaching him values of never giving up when one's determined to do something, no matter how tough the process might be.

Vaccinations

22 January 2011:

One of the things most babies have to go through is vaccinations.

I dread whenever Blake has to go for one. I always fear the fever that comes after and the losing of sleep that night. But, I know if my son don't develop the fever (and if the fever don't go away overnight), then he is not building immunity against that particular whatever they injected him with. Not all vaccinations means fever will develop though, only some.

The first time Blake developed fever after one of his vaccinations, he had two injections to his thighs. It was rather funny actually, seeing how it all unfolded.

Dr. Yip, injected one thigh, and naturally, Blake cried out loud but only for a split second, and then he was ok. Or so he thought... Dr. Yip then injects the other thigh (yes, we sometimes inject 2 different vaccinations at a go), and he screams even louder than the earlier injection.

I'm terrified of needles, and I didn't watch the doctor inject Blake (thank goodness for Sean!), I just concentrated on Blake's face the whole time. After the first injection, his face really did look like it was saying, "Phew! It's over!" And when the second injection went in, his face went, "What!? Again!? I feel cheated!" It took a lot longer to calm him down after the second injection.

Blake starting developing his fever when we were heading home, after we walked around town for most of the day. We already had those cooling gel patches on standby to put it onto his forehead to keep the temperature down. Problem was, it wouldn't stay on. Either Blake peels it off, or it drops off on its own when Blake's sleeping on his side. So we came up with our own solution - using plaster to  hold it down.

It lasted the whole night, but it was rather painful to remove it cos some of Blake's hair got caught in it. Not very pleasant. We have since changed to using those white surgical tape (not sure if that's what it's called), which are easier to remove when in contact with water.

  My brave little boy! I don't think I'll even be ready to play the very next day after a vaccination!  

Tummy Time

Tummy times are great for babies. It a way for them to learn how to use their body muscles to the fullest, which is essential for babies cos this will progress to sitting, crawling, standing and eventually, walking. Tummy time helps 'teach' your baby how to lift their heads up, how to flip, basically use every muscle in their body!

We didn't start Blake on tummy time as early as some parents do (some start as young as 1 month old!). No, it's not cos we were afraid or anything. We didn't know about it! I only found out about it after reading some materials that were sent to me via a website called Baby Center (Singapore). It's an awesome website, by the way, if you're a first time parent. It helps you track your pregnancy progress, and your baby's first year. It was sort of the guide that got us through this period.

So, when we found out about tummy time, we started to do a once a day 'training' for him. In the beginning, he wasn't very please about it. He cried quite a lot, but slowly, he got used to it! He even begin to enjoy being on his tummy more than on his back!

14 January 2011:

We had tons of fun during this period! I remember spending almost every waking moment that's free of feeding, cleaning etc. on our bed having tummy time with him (this was after he has gotten used to tummy time and enjoyed it). It was also the period where I can just leave him on the bed (he couldn't turn yet!), cushion all corners, and fall asleep on the end of the bed. Haha. Not recommended, by the way. But I was often tired and lying on the bed... Well, it just goes one way. Haha!

18 January 2011:

Chinese New Year 2011

Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year, 2011 was really exciting for us. I believe every 'first' celebration together as a family is really exciting. I remember buying new clothes for both father and son really early. I believe I bought the clothes 1-2 months in advance! And yes, I was worrying quite a bit - what if Blake outgrows the clothes before Chinese New Year? Fortunately, one of the outfits was still a little big and the other fitted nicely :)

2 February 2011: The eve of Chinese New Year (CNY) was a belly-full event. We had steamboat at both our parents' place for dinner! Travelling with Blake was not much of an issue for us as our parents stay really near us, we could walk most of the time :) It was also really sweet of my dad for loaning us the car, just in case the weather changed or something.

From L to R: My father-in-law, Sean carrying Blake, me, and my mother-in-law

Didn't take any with my parents that year cos we were all so busy catching up!

3 February 2011: Day one of CNY was spent with the family. The morning was pretty rush for me as I had to get everything ready before Blake woke up. I have since come up with a smarter, and not so rushed, method of doing things. Pack everything the night before! I will be able to get more sleep too :P And if I throw in the clothes to be worn as well, there will be less to think and do the next day!

Once we were all ready, we stepped out of the house and walked over to my mother's place, where we had lunch with my cousins, uncles and aunties (Blake's aunts and uncles, grand-uncles and grand-aunts).

The star of the day was none other than Blake! Everyone wanted a piece of him, but the little boy is picky when it comes to who can carry him. I think only people with similar body structures to me or Sean were able to carry him.

4 February 2011: Day two of CNY, we did a little visiting.

We went to my paternal grandma's cousin's place. We call her Bei Po, which means elder grand-uncle's wife (I think. That's what my mom taught us to address her, from the time we could speak). I remember going to her place every year for CNY growing up, and visiting her place was always fun cos there will be tons of goodies for children to eat!

That year, we went over to her new place to pay her a long awaited visit, and to also introduce Blake to her. She became a great-grandmother not too long ago!

Here's my mom with Blake on her lap, giving mandarin oranges to Bei Po. It's a way of exchanging well wishes and greetings over CNY :)

We had an awesome time there. Blake really enjoyed himself! Good company makes babies feel comfortable and relaxed :)

After spending some time there, we went back home to enjoy the rest of the public holiday as a family, where we taught Blake how to hold the oranges. Hehe.

Gong Xi Gong Xi (our way of saying "good luck")