Thursday, September 9, 2010

Ready for work!

Yes, my little one and a half year old is ready for work! He's about to venture into the IT world like his papa!

Loic: "Hahahahah.....I'm programming the new virus to conquer the world!"
Loic: "Opps! You caught me!"

Loic: "Can I get away with giving you one of my cheeky smile?"
This boy just loves the computer (which he calls "PUter") and the handphones (which he calls "pone"). And not forgetting all the chargers and plugs. He face just lights up when he can fiddle with the power point and the charger/plugs which we firmly tell him "NO, it's dangerous!".

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Yummy cherries

A long time ago, I blogged about how Laetitia enjoyed eating her first cherries and now that Loic is bigger, I decided to introduce the fruit to him as well. And guess what, he LOVES it too, just like his sister and his mummy!

Oh.... what is this fruit?





I love it when the kids try something for the first time. It's always interesting checking out their reactions.

So far, I have tried giving durians to Loic as well but it's not as well received. Currently, his favourite fruits are bananas and watermelons. It's good because these two fruits are not pricy here. Cherries are ridiculously priced at $25/kg! That is double of what we pay for in France.

And don't get me started on the price of yogurts and cheese here. We were happy when we saw Danone baby yougurt here and I bought a pack without checking the price. It came up to be 4 times more expensive than what we pay for back in Paris. I'm back to looking for cheaper alternatives.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Loic graduating from infantcare to childcare

As of last week, Loic was gradually switched from being in the infantcare facilities to the childcare facilities as he passed his 18 month old date. Yes, my little boy is not so tiny anymore. He is a big little 18 month old now.

I have to say that I am very pleased and happy with the center that Loic goes to. From the principal to the teachers, everyone has been wonderful. I finally met Loic’s new teacher on Friday and she nicely came to introduce herself and that very afternoon, she sent me some photos of what Loic did in school. And since last Friday, I received another two emails from her with photos and some updates. I am very glad to know that my child is in the care of someone who seems to really take pride in her work plus go the extra mile to inform me of how my little boy is adapting to the toddlers group. I feel more at ease seeing how happy he looks during the time he spends there especially since he seems to be crying his heart out whenever I drop him off. So yes, for mummies looking for an infantcare or childcare center around Newton or Novena area, Learning Vision @ Gentle Road definitely has my vote!

These were the photos sent by Teacher Aishah.

The last photo is taken today when they had waterplay in the center.



I burst out laughing in the office when I opened my email cos he looks so funny! It's no doubt due to the angle the photo was taken but it just made my day. :)

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Laetitia and her dinner date

A week ago, Etienne was home late as he went out for dinner with his colleagues. Laetitia was impatiently waiting for her papa and asked me why was he was not home yet. I explained that he had gone out for dinner with his friends and she promptly told me that SHE wants to have dinner with her friends too! Well, I asked whom would she like to have dinner with and she said “Vanessa”. So, being the loving mummy that I am, I picked up my phone and called Vanessa, one of my best friend’s daughters. I let Laetitia speak to Vanessa and allowed her to invite Vanessa to dinner. She set the date, Friday 27th. She was very excited after the phone call and I used this opportunity to tell her that she will need to make sure that she behaves herself during the week to be given the privilege to go out for dinner with her friend.

The week went by and finally it was Friday. I had taken the day off since I made two medical appointments for Laetitia. She had to see the dentist (her FIRST visit which went extremely well) and the doctor to complete some health form for the new school year. Laetitia was very excited about her dinner plans with Vanessa. At long last, Michelle dropped Vanessa off at my place and off we went for dinner. I had chosen to go to Lao Beijing at Novena Square for some Peking duck. Silly me however did not remember Vanessa has egg allergy and ended up almost every dish that I ordered had eggs in them!!! Thankfully, Vanessa’s allergy is rather mild and she did not have a reaction. I would be so guilty had Vanessa had a reaction especially since Laetitia also has an allergy (to cashews) which I am very careful about.

After dinner, we walked around to look for ice-cream as Laetitia wanted that for dinner. We finally settle on Haagen Dazs. Here you can see the two girls enjoying their desserts.






Laetitia thoroughly enjoyed herself that evening. We'll try to do this again. :)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Family trip to France sans maman!

So, the kids went to France two weeks ago with their papa. Yes, Etienne took the two kids on a solo trip back to visit my in-laws. It was a 13 hour flight, plus 4 hours tranfer/transit (from airport to train station) and finally another 4 1/2 hrs of TGV (fast train) from Paris to the south! Bravo for my husband. I would hesitate to attempt to take both on any trips alone for such a long journey.

Thankfully, the kids were relatively well behaved. Laetitia slept for a total of 7 1/2 hrs on the flight and Loic slept 9 hrs! And they both rested for another 2 1/2 hrs each on the train. I am sure Etienne was exhausted but as he said, he would be well taken care of at his parents.

Of course the kids had a good two weeks at their grandparents. Here are some photos sent during the course of the two week in Carquieranne. Etienne took a video of Loic chasing after the cat, Caline which is just adorable but he had not been able to download the videos from the camcorder.



Now the kids are back in Singapore! They got in at 6.30am. I was at the airport before the plane landed and was waiting impatiently for them to come out. It's lovely having them back home though I'm sure it will be a tiring few days with them being jetlag.


PS: I had absolutely no idea how busy it can be being a full time working mum who wants to be as hands on as possible with the kids. I send Laetitia to school in the mornings, try to pick Loic up from childcare in the evening, eat with the kids and even put them to bed! By the end of the day, I barely have any energy left. This blog is left quite empty not by choice but rather a lack of time. :( I will, however, try to update it as it would be a waste of all these years of effort if I were to just let it go now. :)

Friday, July 2, 2010

What they do not tell you in books or parenting sites.

This was an article I wrote way back when Loic was still a little baby but never got published. :p

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When I was pregnant with my second child, friends with baby boys would joke with me about being sprayed with pee when during a diaper change. Now that my little boy, Loïc, is more then three months old, I have to say yes, I agree. Baby boys do have a tendency to spray compared to baby girls. And I say that from the experience of having had both a baby girl and a baby boy. My little boy has sprayed me with pee once too many times. Even when I thought that I'll be clever and cover his penis with a tissue the moment I open his diaper, somehow or other, I still got squirted on occasionally. Now I am none too surprised when that happens. It still makes me laugh though, when he doused himself or when he does that amazing trick of spraying over his head without getting any on himself. That is quite the acrobatic act. I am not sure if any of our husbands would be able to attempt that feat. Not that I will encourage mine to try!

Now, being sprayed with pee is no fun but it is not that bad after all, if you consider the other alternative. Being sprayed with poo. Right. THAT is bad. The choice is simple, pee or poo, which is worse? Poo is gross if I may say so myself. And you know what? Unlike pee spray, poo spray is not sexist. No, not at all, it is not discriminatory. Baby girls do it as much as baby boys. I had the misfortune of being granted the honour of experiencing it with both my kids! What was the chance? Most parents I have spoken to never got be exposed to this particular aspect of parenting that both my babies presented to me.

The first time it happened, I was taken totally off guard. No one has ever told me that this could happen. They talk about pee spray in books, mothering website, baby forums but no one tells you to be wary of spraying poo. The only nasty poo warning is usually about explosive poo that leaks through the diaper. Well, let me tell you that dealing with the aftermath of a diaper poo explosion is nothing compared to what I am going to recount.

Thank God for mothers and in this case, I was grateful that my mum was willing to fly almost 11,000km to Paris to be around when my first born, Laetitia, came into this world. My mum was taking care of my baby girl diaper change after a feed. There was a very small amount of poo on the diaper and as mum lifted Laetitia's legs to remove the soiled diaper, all of a sudden, yellow mustardy seedy poo gushed out forcefully and squirted towards mum and I! I was quick witted and managed to dodge but my mum was not so fortunate. She was in the direct path of attack. She had poo all over her hands and pants! EEK! There was also poo on the quilt cover, as we were changing the baby on the bed, and all over the floor. The whole scene was so disgusting and unimaginable that both my mum and I just stared at each other in disbelief before quickly getting our senses together and taking charge to clean up. I used some tissues and kitchen rolls to clean the floor while my mum cleaned herself and the baby. We decided to stop the change in case there was more coming and just keep a clean sheet of kitchen roll on my baby's butt. After a couple of minutes, we thought it was finally safe to complete the change and just as mum lifted my baby girl's legs again to remove the soiled items, there was another huge spray! AHHHHHH... This time, it went so far as to reach my mum's luggage which was more than a meter away from the bed! What a mess! Well, that's it, there was poo all over the place now. We finally managed to change Laetitia and clean up the entire place after waiting for another 10 minutes. This time, we took extra caution and finally were safe from the attack of the spraying poo! In fact in the end, I had the easier task as my mum cleaned the entire mess and I only had to change the diaper.

More recently during the birth of my baby boy, my mum who had been suffering from a very bad case of slipped disc was unable to come and provide me with some help. I was running solo this time. It was harder. I was suffering from a lack of sleep since Loïc was waking up every couple of hours for a feed and sometimes a change. That particular night was a normal night like the rest, tiring. I was going to change my baby with minimum effort required, on a towel laid over the bed so that I do not have to move to much. Drowsy and tired at 3am, I slowly proceeded to remove the diaper. As I was doing that, the boy let out a loud fart and I thought to myself that I should act fast in case he needed to poo. Well, just as I was lifting his legs to remove the diaper, he let out another loud fart that was followed with a jet of poo! I went S.H.I.T! Literally. There was s.h.i.t all over me and the bed. The towel I laid on the bed was insufficient to cover the damage area. I had poo on my hands, my legs, my feet, my pyjamas, the towel, my bed, EVERYWHERE. On top of that, I had a baby covered in poo too. The big question was, who or what should get cleaned up first? Well, I decided to make sure I am clean before dealing with the baby and then the rest. So, at three in the morning, I cleaned and changed myself, cleaned and changed the baby and cleaned and change the bed. Phew, I sure was wide awake by the end of it. By the time I was all done, it was close to four in the morning.

So, if you have only been sprayed by your baby boy's pee and you think that is bad, think again. Or at least, think of me and my babies' spew of poo. That said, I think any exposed butt, baby boy or girl, should be considered armed and dangerous. So consider yourself warned.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Loic at the swimming pool

Loic loves the swimming pool. He enjoys it a lot when we take him to the pool and one of his favourite thing to do is drink from the pool!!! Of course we try as much as possible to stop him but we're not always successful. :p Most of the time though, he has lots of fun with his papa while I'm just watching them and at time, taking videos or photos. Check these out.

Looking cute just before going into the pool.


Having fun with his papa.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Laetitia's first school concert

So, Laetitia has completed her first year of school. Even though this year has been a year full of changes for my little girl, entering school for the first year, changing country/school and skipping a grade in the middle of the school year. She has emerge a champion! Not only has she adapted well in all the different situations, she has also complete the year successfully and made the transition an easy one.
This was her report card. A=acquired and ECA=en cour d'acquisition (in the process of acquiring.

And this was the school concert.

Her level, moyen section (K1), perform the three little pigs. I'm sorry that towards the end it the video was all over.... I thought I had stopped shooting but infact I didn't.


And this is her singing on of my favourite song from the concert after when we had a meet the teachers tea session in the class.


All in all, Laetitia had a wonderful first year in school. Next week, she will have 2 days break before starting "summer school" for 6 weeks in a local establishment. It's the same childcare/preschool that Loic goes to. I think it'll be a wonderful opportunity for Laetitia to get some local education and also pick up some Chinese. The plus point is that it's near home and she already have some friends attending that school.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Botanic Gardens

Last weekend we were invited to go to the Botanic Gardens by our friend Mei and her little girl Nathaly. To be honest, I have not been to the park for possibly 10 years. Anyway, since Etienne was not around, I decided it might be a good idea to take the kids there and boy did they have fun. Check out the photos!

Loic walking around with Erlinda, our helper.
Loic playing ball with the son of our friend's friend.




Laetitia feeding the fishes, turtles and swans with Nathaly and other kids. Laetitia and Nathaly posing. Aren't they sweet?

Sunday, April 11, 2010

First week of school and infantcare

The last week was the first week of school for Laetitia and also the first week of infantcare for Loïc. I have to say I am pleasantly surprise that everything went very well.

Laetitia started the first day of school on the 1st, a Thursday. Just in the carpark before going to school.
It so happened that her class was going on a field trip to the Aquarium in Sentosa. After some hiccups between the school administration and her form teacher, Laetitia was set to go with her class. She had a wonderful time. She even had a drawing done of her trip showcasing a dolphin.

There was no school on Friday as it was Good Friday holiday here in Singapore and so she started school proper on Monday. We spoke a few times to her teacher who said she has never had a little girl who adapted so well to school. Considering that Laetitia moved countries, school and even skipped a grade, it is amazing how she has just found her place within her class without any issues. There was no crying, no whinning etc. Hahahah, I told the teacher that Laetitia usually reserves all that special behaviour for me. :p

Well, to be fair to my little girl. She is on a whole, a very fun and friendly child. Relatively well behaved too though she can be very cheeky. Here's a picture of her being oh so cute in her japanese yukata.
As for Loïc, he has adapted really well to his daycare (or infantcare as we call it here in Singapore). I signed him up for half day 1-7pm sessions, Monday to Friday. I will drop him at 1pm but he will usually be picked up by 6pm as he eats dinner at 6:30pm, has his bath at 7pm, a glass of milk before going to his room for the night at 7:30pm.

For the first week, on the first day, we both stayed together in the daycare for 2 hours. Here are some pictures of his first day.

On the second day, I stayed for 1 1/2 hours and left him for 1 1/2 hours. On that day, he refused to nap nor to eat his tea break.

Him drawing when we just arrived on the second day. :-)
On the third day, I stayed for 1 hour and he stayed for 3 hours and lo and behold, he had an hour nap and eat well! From that day onwards, it's been good. He would take at least an hour nap there and would eat his food as per normal. Of course he would cry when I leave but never for more than 5 minutes and after that, he does not cry during the time he is there. I am truly grateful for kids who are very well adaptable.

The kids are also responding very well to my new helper, Erlinda. I have very little demands of her except to be vigilant with my children and take good care of them. I do not expect her to clean the house nor do much cooking when the kids are around. She gets a good chunk of a few hours to do household chores when both children are out of the house so she have managed to keep the apartment relatively clean and tidy. So, life is all good. Once we are better settled, I will start to look for a job to go back to work. :-) Initially I had hoped to start earlier but after being here, I realised how much there is to be done! All the administrative stuff plus getting the apartment fully equiped requires lots of attention. Add to that the fact that Etienne is still flying around, it is best that our children have me to rely on. Well, in two weeks time I'll be off to France with Laetitia. I am bring her back to visit her grandparents and I will also take the opportunity to do a little trip by myself. Yes, life is good right now.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Happy 4th Birthday Laetitia!

It's been a crazy month. We finally picked up the keys to our new apartment on Friday the 26th and on the 27th, I organised Laetitia's 4th birthday party at our place! In less than 24 hours, I had to have pick up the keys, do the handover with the property agents, buy some basic stuff from Ikea, buy stuff/drinks/cleaning products etc for the house, send my helper over in the morning of the 27th to help clean the place, rush back to my parents to help the one-man show delivery guy move 4 luggages, 4 boxes, a baby cot etc, deal with the organisation of the party and then go back to my parents to pick them and my little boy.

I was exhausted but Laetitia had lots of fun! That in itself is a great satisfaction. This is her first major birthday party. It is already considered contained as I only invited a few friends (3) and their kids. The rest are family with small children. Laetitia was overwhelmed with presents and had enjoyed herself thorough.

Here are of course the obligatory photos.

The amazing cake I ordered from Bakerzin. It not only looked good, but taste great too.

Presents opening time. My family and friends totally spoiled her with so much toys.



A bicycle from her paternal grandparents.

Her little brother trying out the bike. I think he is a little too small for it. :p