A date with my son

I love being able to spend one-on-one time with my boys. Firstly, when the boys are not together, I don't have to deal with sibling squabbles. Somehow, they have their way of cranking each other up, irritating each other, and then, I have to play referee. I suppose that is part and parcel of growing up with a brother. But not fun for the mommy who has to play referee. More importantly, I think they also enjoy having my undivided attention. We talk, we laugh, we enjoy each other's company.

Today, I got to spend sometime with Noah while Dean went roller blading with Nathan. Noah's request was simple - eat at the Japanese restaurant that has a conveyor belt and serves food on aeroplane plates, go to a toy shop, then eat ice-cream.

It was a simple and enjoyable outing. I remember how I feel guilty for not spending enough time with Noah when he was a baby, unlike Nathan. They are born just 18 months apart, and I put Noah in a childcare centre in the initial years. Now that Nathan is older and spends more time in school, I get to spend more time with Noah. I suppose there are seasons... And now, although I am so tied up with the older boys and tend to neglect Nico, he has the love of his dear brothers, and there will come a time when he gets more of my undivided attention.

Preparing for Primary 1: Name Labels

I have been looking for name labels to label Nathan's belongings and was glad to chance upon Stickerkid. The stickers are known for their quality and durability, and they come in so many different shapes and sizes to suit different uses.

Ordering the labels on Stickerkid's website was so easy... and what you see on the screen looks exactly like what you'll receive in the mail!

These small stickers are good for stationery. Pencils, colour pencils, rulers... I labelled everything in Nathan's pencil case. You can even include Chinese characters.

These iron-on labels for labelling uniforms are good to have. Given that the children are expected to change from their school shirt to their PE tank top, then back to their school shirts after each PE lesson, it'll be good to label their uniforms so they don't end up bringing home the wrong clothes.

We also got these shoe stickers for Nathan. Check out the superhero logo! These stickers are also good for musical instrument cases, lunch boxes and wallets.

To get a 10% discount for your Stickerkid order, enter 10discountSGSTICKERKID at check out. 

Happy labelling!

 Disclaimer: Stickerkid provided us with a pack of stickers for this review. All opinions are our own.

Starting Solids

Being a mom to three boys (all 6 years old and below), I have found the following quote to be so true... 

Source

Most days, I am dead tired by the end of the day, and just want to crawl into bed for a good night's rest before the SAME OLD routine repeats again. Some days, I wish that my boys will grow up quicker so they'll be more independent and demand less of me... and yet, when we hit a new milestone, I wish I could just hit 'pause' on the remote control cos I can't bear to have them grow up so quickly.

It doesn't seem too long ago when Nico was born. In the blink of an eye, he just turned 9 months old. He has started to crawl commando style and his big brothers are scrambling to keep their precious belongings off his reach because he tends to put EVERYTHING that he can get his hands on into his mouth.

He has also started taking semi solids though he doesn't seem quite as excited about it as yet. Here, we share some essentials that have come in handy as he embarks on a new gastronomical journey...

We use the Philips Avent Combined Steamer and Blender to prepare Nico's baby food. We've been using this since Nathan's time and it is still serving us well.

We usually make his food in bulk (about a week's worth) and freeze them in Baby Cubes. These cubes fit in the bottle warmer so we can heat them up easily before each meal.

Soft tip spoons are good at this stage because they tend to chomp down hard on anything that goes into their mouth. The one pictured below is from Philips Avent. There are several other brands that are available. Check out Mothercare and other leading retailers. 

Bibs are a must at this stage and my favourite is the Make My Day bib. The bib is made of soft food grade BPA free silicone, and can be easily wiped / washed clean after each use. It comes with a crumb catcher and has adjustable straps so it can be used till the day a bib isn't required. It comes in many different designs - functional and stylish. :)

Meal times are rather messy affairs... But I am reminding myself that this too shall pass!

Excuse me... is dinner ready?

Shopping on TaoBao

I recently discovered a shopping haven in the form of TaoBao. I've heard of it sometime back but the first time I tried navigating the website (which is entirely in Chinese), I was so lost, I gave up. But this time, I was determined to score some good buys, so I tried harder. Pleased to say that it wasn't all that difficult after all.

You can either try shopping thru an agent like daigou or shop direct with TaoBao. With an agent, all you need to do is to browse on TaoBao, copy and paste the URLs of the items you'd like to daigou, and let daigou do the ordering and shipping for you. Payment is handled by daigou (you pay them, they pay taobao), correspondences with the sellers are handled by daigou, and shipping to Singapore is also handled by them. What this means is, the exchange between you and daigou can be done in English. In exchange, you are charged an agent fee.

Alternatively, you can cut out the agent, and shop direct on TaoBao. Now that I am more familiar with taobao, this is what I do to save money. If there are no issues with the order, well and good. No correspondences needed. But if there are issues, you'd have to contact the seller yourself, and most of them only understand Chinese. The easiest way to get in touch with them is through Aliwang chat. If you are using a Mac, you can just download the app from the AppStore. It is a live chat platform and many of the sellers are usually available so you can hit them with questions or even ask for a discount! I usually type my questions in han yu pin yin and have google translate open. When their replies get too complicated for me to understand, I use google translate. :P

I shall not go into detail about setting up a Taobao account since there are many people who've already wrote detailed instructions on this. You can check out A Singaporean's Guide to Shopping on Taobao. It can seem intimidating at first, but setting up the account and payment arrangements is just once off. Subsequently, you'll be able to skip these troublesome steps.

And now, the question that everyone likes to ask... What does a mom with 3 young kids buy from Taobao. Sharing my favourite finds...

Oxford Reading Tree Books

If you are familiar with Biff, Chip, Kipper and Floppy, you'd be familiar with ORT. I bought the entire set of readers (levels 1 to 9 - over a hundred books) from TaoBao. Shop here!

Stephen Joseph Wallets

I was looking for a kid-sized wallet for my son who'll be going to Primary 1 next year, and was so happy to find this. It has compartments for dollar notes, coins and a few cards. Just what I was looking for! Shop here! 

Stephen Joseph Pencil Cases

I was putting together goody bags for 5 to 8 year olds. Managed to find these cute pencil cases. Pretty and functional. I messaged the seller to tell her that I was planning to buy 40 pieces, and asked if she was able to give me a discount. She readily agreed to a pretty generous discount. Shop here!

Name Stamps

We received name stamps as Christmas presents last year and my boys were so delighted. I decided to give these as birthday party goody bag gifts... I am guilty of throwing away sweets, lollipops and such from the birthday goody bags that my boys bring home from school and make it a point never to give these sweet stuff. I hope his friends found these useful. While at it, I made a set with just my boy's name in english and chinese characters (without the cartoon characters )for labelling Primary 1 textbooks and exercise books. Shop here and here!

Luggage Tags

I like hanging these tags on my boys bags so they can differentiate theirs from their friends... especially when the whole class is using the same school bag. Comes in all sorts of cute designs. We also gave these away as birthday goody bag goodies. Shop here!

Clothes for Mommy

After giving birth to Nico, I could no longer fit into my old clothes. Boo hoo! I was so glad to find miancun.taobao.com. They sold Zara like clothes at TaoBao prices. Best! Their clothes change with the seasons though. So if you are looking for clothing items for our tropical climate, you'd have to shop in the first half of the year. This simple denim dress I bought actually came with a Zara tag. Shop here!

What are your favourite TaoBao finds? Share with me... share the joy... and the savings!

Hegen Revolutionary Feeding Products

When I first heard about Hegen's unique one-hand close milk bottles, I was really keen to try. There are days when Nico just wants to be carried when I am making a bottle of milk for him. Hegen's bottles makes this task (that usually requires two hands) possible with its press-to-close bottles.

Here is Nico enjoying his morning cuppa...

Hegen's square shaped bottles are stackable, which makes storing breast milk so much easier. They nestle together when empty, making it easy to store them away when not in use.

Source: Hegen

The other thing I like about Hegen is its wide neck. I can wash the bottles without a bottle cleaning brush!

Source: Hegen

Now that Nico is older, I use Hegen bottles to store baby biscuits when we are out and about. The lid shuts tightly and I do not have to worry about spillage. Happy baby = Happy mommy.

Hegen is available at Mothersworks and Takashimaya. Check out Hegen's Official Website for more information.

Nathan is 6!

We just celebrated Nathan's 6th birthday. A mini celebration in school a week before the actual day, followed by a special day out on the actual day, and then a birthday party with some of his friends from school.

Looking at the photos below, I am reminded of how God has blessed us so richly. Nathan has brought us so much joy. I do miss the toddler him, with chubby cheeks and all, and can't believe that he will be going to Primary 1 next year.

I told Nathan that he gets to choose anything he wants to do on his special day out. He wanted to go swimming and cycling and we were all looking forward to it. Unfortunately, we had to shelf outdoor activities due to the haze, and think up alternatives. We ended up watching Inside Out at the theaters (it was Nico's first movie), having a nice Japanese lunch, playing laser tag and then having fun at the Slides & playgrounds in T3. So thankful that our boys are easy to please. We had so much fun even though we didn't manage to do what we originally planned.

Nathan's birthday is during the Sep school holidays. Last year, we asked him whether he wanted to celebrate with a short holiday abroad or have a birthday party with his friends. It is a difficult choice but Nathan's pretty decisive. Last year, he opted for a holiday and we went to Legoland Malaysia. This year, he decided that he wanted to have a party... Since it was his last year in kindy, I thought it was good to get together with some of his school friends... After much deliberation, we decided to hold the party at The Rock School. We had a blast!

Our party host, Faizal did a great job! He managed 14 feisty kids well and everyone who attended enjoyed themselves.

I got him to fill up a "birthday interview" and was quite amused with some of his responses...

So there, my first born is now 6 years old. He still enjoys taking afternoon naps though I am trying to get him used to not having one since we might not have that luxury once he goes to Primary 1. He is a really sweet older brother and tends to give in to Noah, though he can get cheeky and likes irritating his brothers too. It warms my heart when I catch my two boys huddled in one bed past bedtime, whispering secrets to one another... He enjoys LEGO, rock climbing, playing the piano and swimming. He is looking forward to Primary 1 and all that comes with it... Like getting pocket money and buying his own food.

Dear Nathan,

We thank God for you everyday and continue to pray that you'll grow in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. As you grow older, you'll sometimes find that doing your best isn't good enough to get you the results you desire. Know that mommy & daddy will always be behind you. We pray and trust that God will go before you as you enter Primary 1 next year.
Lots of love,
Mommy & Daddy

Sew Fun!

I had the opportunity to attend Sew Fun's Baby Knits class and had fun making a bib and t-shirt for Baby Nico. It was an abridged version of their Sewing Knits: Ready for Baby class. The class was just three hours long on a Saturday afternoon. I was amazed that we could finish making a t-shirt from scratch in such a short time, given that many in the class were first timers. The class is suitable for beginners. So do not fear if the last time you touched a sewing machine was during your home economics class years back.

I enjoy working with the sewing machine although I am not really good, particularly cos I never really learned to do everything the proper way. I love pretty fabrics and I love being able to turn them into the things I want. Noah is now wearing Nathan's clown costume that I made a few years back and my Hungry Caterpillar Pillow Mattress is still being used. 

It was my first time working with knits. Always stayed away because I thought the stretchy nature was hard to handle. I was glad to learn that it wasn't all that difficult, and I need not stick to woven materials all the time.

The instructor started off by introducing us to the sewing machine and teaching us how to thread the machine. Perfect way to start for beginners. Then we went about our first project - a bandana bib.

My sewing machine for the session

It is a simple project to get us acquainted with the machine. Mostly straight lines. Pretty forgiving. Not too daunting.

Bib in progress

Ta dah! A bandana bib for Nico.

Nico's new bandana bib

In the second half of the class, we worked on our t-shirts. No more pictures of the t-shirt in progress cos I was too busy sewing (and unpicking)! But here's the final product...

The class gave me an opportunity to work with knits and I learned that sewing that t-shirt wasn't as difficult as I imagined it to be.

I think it's about time I sweep off the dust on my sewing machine and start using my fabric stash.

Hello Baby Nico!

Dear Baby Nico,

You arrived to much fanfare on the 1st day of the lunar new year. At week 38, mommy was getting quite impatient but you seem to be really comfortable in the safe confines of my womb. Carrying you felt tougher than when I was carrying your two kor kors. Probably because mommy's getting older and also because of all the running around I still had to do with your dear brothers. Boy, we were so glad when you finally decided to come out and meet us. We checked into the hospital on the eve of CNY, at about 10pm after tucking your brothers in bed, and you were born shortly before 2am. Daddy didn't even get a chance to warm up the companion arm chair in the labour ward. The labour proceeded swiftly. I remember experiencing excruciating pain and wishing with all my might that it'll be over. I think God knew exactly how much pain I could tolerate, and brought you out to see the world in His time. You ended up being the first baby born by natural birth in the Year of the Goat.

While I managed to write birth stories for your kor kor, and chronicle their first year month by month,  it is a rather daunting task now that there are three of you. BUT, you have the love, hugs and kisses of two loving and protective kor kors, and I'm sure you'd grow up well with their company.

So here's your first six months in pictures...

At birth

1 week old

2 weeks old

3 weeks old

Thank you card for Aunty Fong

Sleeping thru at 10 weeks old

10 weeks old

3 months olds

Celebrating Aunty Liza's Birthday

4 months old

Reading with kor kors

5 months old

Flipped from tummy to back

First foods

Celebrating Singapore's 50th

Canon Ball?

6 months old

The first month went by in a blur for mommy... you woke up every 2 to 3 hours to feed and the sleep deprivation took a toil on me. When Aunty Fong came, she took care of the night feeds and I got more rest at night. She was such a blessing. Thankfully, you stopped needing to be fed at night shortly after she left, though you still woke up once or twice almost every night, and needed to be soothed back to sleep. It is so much fun when you started smiling and babbling. Your brothers kept asking to hold you and readily helped to care for you. You've brought us so much joy and we can't wait for you to start walking, talking and joining in your brothers' adventures.

Lots of love, hugs and kisses,

Mommy