Miss Non-Negotiable

That is R's nickname for her now.
Ai Ai wants to open the door with my key, press the lift button, choose her own clothes, insists on Hello Kitty towels to dry her hands... the list is endless!
It must be the terrible twos.

And most recently, she insists on wearing her dresses before she takes her evening bath and change into her pyjamas.
Here's a picture of her running about the apartment in her dress.

I made this dress for her first birthday, but it seems a better fit now.

Christmas!

Here's Ai Ai with her Christmas present from us.
Everyone in the family is sick this Christmas, so we didn't go to any parties... just a simple gathering with my family.
She's really crazy over Thomas and Friends now... will she grow up to be a tomboy?!

First Trip to the Zoo

We've finally decided to get our own zoo pass rather than ballot for it with R's organization.

We figured that chances of getting the pass is so slim that Ai Ai would probably be 6 yrs old before we visit the zoo ;)

It was really quite an eye-opener for her as she's never seen so many animals in real life and in such close range before.

Guess the $360 is better money spent than going on road trips to Malaysia where she spends most of the time in her car seat!

My Babi Assam

Here's a Babi Assam that I made from The New Mrs Lee's Cookbook.
Looks fatty... yeah, cos R mentioned that the last Babi Pongteh I made was too lean, and asked for some belly pork this time, so I used a mix of belly pork and "twee bak".
Colour and presentation looks so-so, but hmm.... it tastes really good and very appetizing with the sourish assam flavour!

My Supermodel

Mum helped us babysit Ai Ai this afternoon while R and I attended his colleague's wedding.
It was really nice to get away by ourselves for just a few hours.
This was the dress I wore - a bustier knee-length dress.

When Ai Ai saw me all dressed up, she kept saying "Mommy, dress" and had to be cajoled to eat lunch by letting her wear her tutu.

In the evening when she was about to take her bath, she got hold of my dress and walked around with it.

So I pinned it on for her using some clothes pegs on the back of the dress, and she was happily modelling it for a few minutes :)

Roadtrip to Melaka

We decided to take a roadtrip to Melaka to satisfy our craving for Nonya food.
But our Ai Ai, who is not a foodie, didn't really enjoy it that much I guess :P

This is the "I want to go to the playground" tantrum

Ai Ai not wanting to sleep at night (too excited?)
She spent 1 hour walking around the room in everyone's shoes
And 1 hour climbing all over R and I on the bed in a darkened room.
Finally we had to put her on the separate single bed we requested for so she could go to sleep.


This is Ai Ai at St. Paul's Hill,
more engrossed with honing her "crossing the drain" skills than in the ruins itself.

Ai Ai sleeping in the car on the way back

Ai Ai's new love - chocolates!

I am so inspired by The Little Nonya drama on Channel 8 that I dug out my New Mrs. Lee Cookbook from the shelf and attemped a Babi Pongteh last week.
But I wasn't sure if the dish tasted right, so we went around the island sampling Babi Pongteh from different restaurants.

Ivins: Tough meat that is very salty with no hint of any flavours except taucheo... they should rename it Babi Taucheo
Guan Hoe Soon: Pork is tender with a slight hint of some spices in the gravy. Taucheo is not overpowering. Savoury compared to my cookbook version.
My cookbook version: Sweeter than Guan Hoe Soon's, and taucheo taste is not too strong. R likes both my version and Guan Hoe Soon's :)

Next to try would be Dulukala's babi pongteh and then I may attempt a babi assam.

Here's a picture of Ai Ai enjoying her dessert - Cadbury chocolate from Auntie Jenny of Guan Hoe Soon.
She was promised her chocolate if she finished her dinner.
When she finished eating, she pointed to Auntie Jenny and said "chocolate", but Auntie Jenny was busy on the phone.
She started crying, thinking we had broken our promise.
When Auntie Jenny got off the phone, she immediately came to Ai Ai and gave her the chocolate :)

Ai Ai the Builder?

We're fixing a taller shelf in Ai Ai's room to accomodate her every-growing collection of books and toys.
This is Ai Ai "helping" R.

Ai Ai's war medals

I brought Ai Ai to Dr. Lee for her MMR jab yesterday.
She's dropping out of the chart for her weight... in the 10th percentile now at 9.5kg.
But her height and head circumference are OK near the 50th percentile.
Dr. Lee is worried that Ai Ai is not getting enough calcium and fats for her growth as she does not drink milk at all, so I got her some liquid calcium supplement.

In the evening, as I was showering her, she wouldn't allow me to tear out the little round plaster on her thigh - her war medal :)

Happy "Birtday" Daddy

Yep, that's how Ai Ai pronounces it as she hasn't learnt how to pronounce "th".

We had a birthday lunch with Mum, Dad and Ian at the club.
She was so happy that she did not display any signs of her usual crankiness (due to being overtired).
And she was overdue for her noon nap, and what's more, she had a really bad sleep last night due to nightmares and the rain.

Ai Ai's new shoes - pretty glittery silver ballerina flats given to her by her Auntie Annie from Perth.

The shoe queen couldn't wait to put them on, and once in the car, insisted on wearing them.

Here's the Ai Ai fighting to play with R's birthday present.

My Crafty Weekend

Here's what I made this weekend - a chair sling/portable babychair with the pattern taken from here
I don't think Ai Ai will fancy being strapped down to a chair like that though :)


I made a little modifications to the pattern - replaced 2 straps with a velcro. Which mommy would have so much time to tie so many straps?
Added some loops for safety reasons too.
Here's how it looks from the backview.

And a little pouch to complete the look.
Overall, it's a little more bulky than Dinky Diner's, cos I used a sturdier material in case the toddler using it happens to have Neanderthal strength.

Ai Ai's fine motor skills

Here is Ai Ai engrossed in her newly acquired skill - using a pair of scissors.

Yesterday was the first time she used a pair of scissors to cut paper successfully by herself.

It's not a perfect straight line, but just little cuts here and there.

Still, I am proud of her for having learnt to handle the scissors :)

Migraine Again!

It's that time of the month and my migraine is here again!
It all started on Monday when I had bad backache in the afternoon.
I took a noon nap with Ai Ai, and then woke up with a bad migraine.
It was so bad that I couldn't eat much dinner and then started throwing up at night... nothing came up cos I didn't eat much, but just gastric juices.
This auntie had wanted to catch the last episode of the AIDS Chinese drama on Channel 8, but the lights from the TV simply made me retch non-stop and I had to give it up 15mins into the show :(
Tried to sleep it off, but ended up popping a Cataflam at 3am.
R couldn't help much as he was away for his reservist, and he had to stay in camp that night.

I must say Ai Ai was pretty good throughout the whole day.
She basically roamed about the apartment by herself while I laid in bed, but she did throw a few tantrums when I couldn't play with her or take her downstairs for her walk, which I did in the end.

Yesterday was much better. R came back in the afternoon so I got the car and went to see my favourite TCM doc.
The old man took a longer time this round taking my pulse, and finally, without me telling him a single thing, he asked if I had been vomitting and had some stomach problem.
Isn't he amazing? All this just by taking my pulse and no stethoscope to hear my growling stomach.
He gave me 2 days worth of bitter herbs for my tummy, after which I should go back to him again... hmmm, no prizes for guessing the reason, my friends! ;)

P/S. dated 3 Dec: OK, let me clarify here... I am not preggers (I thought I was quite clear that I was having my period :)) but yes, we are finally ready to try for #2... to embark upon the journey of sleepless nights again!
And seeing the TCM doc? Well, it's really to "tiao" my body as I believe in TCM's theory of the body being in harmony.

My hot babe in her ao dai

My good friend L bought Ai Ai a pretty pink ao dai from Vietnam and this little vainpot couldn't wait to put it on.

After L and her little Bees left our place after the playsession last week, Ai Ai kept saying "wear", psuhing me the ao dai.

So I put it on for her but did not button it up fully in case she tears the delicate buttons.

This picture at this angle does not do any justice to her slim legs, but haha, how I wish her legs are really this plump and juicy! :)

She'll be wearing the ao dai during Chinese New Year 2009!

Ai Ai's craft

We invited Wendy and her younger daughter Nana to our place last week for a playsession.

The kids each made a Xmas card (with their mommy's help of course).

Normally Ai Ai holds the pencil with her left hand, and so I am trying to learn how to write with my left hand so I can guide her little hand.

This time Ai Ai picked up the pencil with her right hand cos she had her bottle of glue in her left which she refused to put down.

So I guided her little right hand and wrote a really neat message... the recipients of this card should be receiving it in these 2 days :)

My Shopping Queen

Here is my little shopping queen rushing for the Food Safari at Suntec City.
We were so looking forward to the African chapati (yes, Ai Ai loves chapati), but it turned out to be a disappointment.
It's really just a wrap, like burritos, except that it contains only meat and some raw vege.

And this are pictures of Ai Ai hurrying us along.
She'd say "Hurry, Daddy!", or "Hurry, Mommy!"

The trip wasn't a total waste though.

We got a DVD player cum recorder so I can finally record my Japan Hour :)

My new helpers

This is my little helper.
When I am not looking, she likes to take out her wet wipes and start wiping everything in our flat.
When she takes the lift, she wants to help by pressing all the buttons.
When she does a pee in her potty, she wants to help by pouring it away by herself.

She seems to agree that a handheld vacuum cleaner will take a load off our housework, so we got ourselves a new helper, the Electrolux Ergorapido.
Yes, another of Mommy's new gadgets :)
Daddy, being an engineer, obviously thinks the Dyson is THE machine.
But without the wireless handheld function which we can hoover while standing, it's a definite no-no.
Not to mention its price!

The one Ai Ai is holding is a Philips. The Electrolux one we got is this one.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Saturday was Mum's birthday.
We had lunch at Raffles Town Club and Ai Ai kept asking to go pee pee/poop poop, but she actually really wanted to play hide and seek with grandma in the toilet!


She's been saying Happy Birthday Grandma or Happy Birthday Mama ever since Saturday.
She called grandma "Mama" before she could pronounce "grandma".
I've got a video of her singing Happy Birthday Grandma, but will need Roy to convert the file before I can post it up.

Here's the bike-crazy Ai Ai - she wants to wear her helmet and sit in her bicycle-seat even at home!

Ai Ai's Potty Training

Ai Ai has been dry throughout the last 3 nights, but she'll wake up at 6am, bang her door and shout "Poo Poo Potty".
She really means pee, but still can't really differentiate it yet.
I'm really proud of her - that she could stay dry for those nights.
But then she ends up waking so early and starts getting cranky by 11am, before her scheduled lunch at 11:30am and nap at 12noon.

Updates.....

I had a really bag migraine last Thursday, which lasted till Sunday.
Luckily Mum was here to help out with Ai Ai when the electricians came on Saturday to fix the wiring for our new TV storage area.

Yes, I call it a TV storage area cos it's supposed to store our entire study of many books/magazines plus miscellaneous stuff like our tennis rackets, roller blades and the Deuter backpack carrier for Ai Ai.
Not sure if it will be able to hold these things... well, we'll know this Fri when the carpenters have installed it.

Meanwhile, here are some updates of Ai Ai:

Picture of her reading her borrowed copy of "Potty Book" after our trip to the library.
She was reading it in the stroller throughout our trip back home, and caused quite a few amused stares.
I also met my usual GP who was on his way home, and Dr. Goh was quite amazed that she was actually reading the book.
Hee, she's obviously just looking at the pictures... probably eyeing the handsome kor kor sitting on his potty! :)

This is Ai Ai on one of her walks downstairs.

She insisted on carrying her little furry pink handbag!

This is Ai Ai looking out of the window forlornly with her swimsuit in hand.

Hmm... it was too early and too cold to go swimming.

Homemade Training Pants

Ai Ai has been asking to use the potty to "poop" (she uses "poop" to indicate both peeing and pooping).

Since we currently use Bumwear and have lots of the soaker inserts, I decided to make Ai Ai a pair of training pants to see if it can be done.
Plus she hates being laid flat down on her back to have her diapers/Bumwear worn for her now.
This kind of pull-up pants will also train her to pull up and down her own pants by herself.
Unlike Bumwear training pants which have a fleece inner lining that doesn't absorb any wetness (i.e. only the soaker inserts are really wet), training pants made of normal jersey material lets the toddler feel the wetness so that he will feel the discomfort and hopefully ask to pee in the potty each time.

This prototype fits ok for now, but she'll probably outgrow it soon.
I should be making a few more largerpairs once I get hold of more knit jersey fabric from Spotlight!

Acting Queen?

Yesterday Ai Ai's bed foot got caught in the child safety gate which wasn't so safe when it's not locked.
She yelped and wailed (no tears though) a bit, and I quickly ran to her.
Seeing no bruise and that it seems to be a very light "clamp", I just told her it's ok and that we'll put some lotion on it in the night.

When she heard the word "lotion", she kept asking for it.
I repeated that we'll put it in the night and she started to cry.
I decided to give her the lotion.
Asked her to walk into the bedroom for it and she walked with a limp and looked like she was in much pain.
So I carried her, put her on the bed and got the bottle of moisturiser "lotion".
Guess what? The little actress put up her right foot instead of the supposedly hurt left one, and then swiped the lotion to put on her face.

She must have seen me putting my day moisturiser (also opaque white in colour) on my face and wanted to do the same!
Such vanity at this young age!

DIY Weekend!

We got Ai Ai a toddler bed last Saturday after we saw her attempting to climb out of her cot.
She seems quite determined and just needs a little more arm strength and momentum to achieve that feat.

Actually we only got her an Ikea toddler mattress on Saturday morning, but she was simply uncontrollable!
She kept running about in her room and refused to even take her afternoon nap.
Guess she's never had that much freedom with her cot :P

In the end, we had to buy this Ikea bed frame that same Saturday night and Roy fixed it on Sunday morning.
The corner of the guard rail seems quite sharp, so I decided to make her a "bed bumper".

This is the bed bumper I made from scratch. Didn't know it's such hard work to quilt the cloth and cotton stuffing together!

I decided to make it reversible in solid pink in case we need to match it with her bedsheets in future.

This is how she looks when she sees her new bed. She'll keep saying "Daddy built bed".

By the way, I also sewed her fitted sheets.

Ikea cotton toddler sheets can get quite warm, so I made her this fitted sheet from an old cotton sateen bedsheet we had.

The cotton sateen should keep her cool during her noon naps without the aircon.

Mommy's got Withdrawal Syndrome

I tried to give Ai Ai "nan nan" today, but she didn't even suckle... just spat it out, and then gave me her koala bear and asked me to nurse the bear!

I cannot believe she didn't want me to nurse her anymore *sob sob*

Now I sort of wished I haven't weaned her off!

My little girl has grown up!

P/S. Ai Ai did a judo fall yesterday

Forgot to mention that we went to Chinatown Complex to eat raw fish + porridge yesterday morning.
Ai Ai was happily eating her chwee kueh with her plastic fork when she realised that it was quite fun to swing the fork around... and she was swinging from her waist.
Roy told her not to swing it as the fork can be dangerous, but the Ai Ai refused to listen.

Then she probably did a very vigorous golfer's swing, lost her balance, and fell from the hawker centre chair (actually it's those backless round fixed stool).
I watched in horror as she fell in slow motion, and quickly put down my spoon to grab her, but only caught hold of her T-shirt.
Roy seemed to be more engrossed in his food, and almost continued eating his porridge!
She ended up flat on her back on the floor, but didn't cry for long... probably about 3 minutes.

As I comforted her, I could hear the old folks' comments, especially the old aunties and uncles from the Cantonese porridge stall.
I really didn't dare to turn and look at them, as I am sure I will get lots of "Bad Mommy, you didn't watch over your baby carefully" comments.

Roy was more amused by the whole incident, saying that the old folks were probably louder than Ai Ai's cries.
And he wasn't too worried since the fall was a slow motion judo fall which seemed really safe.

Ai Ai's love for clothes, shoes and accessories

Her "celebrity" look

She found this pyjamas and insisted on wearing it.

Pyjamas that she wore when she was 15 mths old


Wearing my new running shoes

We went to Queensway to get me a pair of new running shoes, and she was dying to try on shoes that were her size.

When Roy didn't want her to try them as the soles were pretty stiff, she got all lethargic... hmm... not fair that Mommy is the only one trying the shoes!

Well, at least she got to walk around in Mommy's new shoes when she got home.

Ai Ai's speech development

My current favourite:
fei zhi pad = fever patch

My previous favourite:
ha bu = hot babe

And her own all-time favourite now is "bra" and "potty".

The other day when the interior designer came for a onsite check, I discreetly grabbed my bra which happened to be hanging on the sofa.
And guess what? My little Ai Ai exclaimed "BRA!"
Hmm... so much for my discretion :O

Ai Ai's love for bananas!

Ai Ai has just recovered from a slight viral fever 2 days ago, which explains why I was too busy to post anything recently.

Ai Ai is getting sick of her steamed (albeit healthy) food, so I engaged her in some cooking today.

She stood on a chair on one end of the stovehob while I did a chicken stirfry for her.

It's tough to make sure the food doesn't get burnt while having to watch her to make sure she doesn't get too near.

Towards the end, I simply carried her on my hip so she could get a better view of her food being fried.

She seemed to enjoy her food more now that she is more involved in the cooking process.

In fact, when we finished dinner and she stood next to me at the sink (on a chair of course) watching me wash up, I asked her to smell the pan and she went "Arhmmmm" :)

Cooking for her nowadays is a real trial... attemped onigiri (Jap rice balls) which was a disaster for her as she didn't like chewing plain white rice, even though it was wrapped in her favourite seaweed!

Gotta crack my brains for more ideas... since she is so into bananas and kiwifruit now, I may attempt a banana/kiwi smoothie made with her goat milk just to see if I can increase her daily intake of milk, which is a pathetic 50ml maximum.

Bouldering Ai Ai

A video of how Ai Ai boulders her cot every evening before she goes to bed.

Long Overdue pictures of Darwin

Here are some pictures of Darwin... there're quite a few pictures on birds, so if you're like Roy, not a big fan of live birds but prefers them roasted, you'll have to skip this post :)

A Termite Mound

Sunset

A male Jabiru

(females have yellow eyes while males have black eyes)

Sea Eagle

Sea Eagle in flight

The snout of a crocodile after it has caught some bird.

A saltie (saltwater crocodile) - males can grow up to 6m long

Close-up of a menacing saltie

Wallaby

Bungalow that we booked in Kakadu -

perforated metal walls with a mesh to prevent insects from flying in.

When we sleep, we can feel the night breeze, but it gets really hot in the day!

Close-up of the bungalow at Kakadu National Park