30 Sep 2009 - Family portrait

As part of the Peter Pan Studio photo package that we have signed up during Javier's birth, there is a free 5R photograph with professional sitting at Foto Magic worth $24.00 which we can take within 6 months. We have wasted the chance when we signed up the same package for Jerlene two years back. Reason being we have forgotten about this free photograph after a while and when we remembered, the six months validity was over. The same thing almost happened this time round as well and today is the last day of the 6 months period. Javier was borned on 31 Mar 09 and today is 30 Sep 09 (exactly 6 months). :-)

We reached the place (near Chinatown) at about 3pm. The photographer had some hard time trying to make Javier smile and when he finally did, Jerlene became quite impatient and kept moving around. It's not easy to capture everybody's smile. We have taken about 7 shots, out of which we have to choose one for the free 5R photo. Of course as expected, the photographer kept "promoting" us to enlarge the photo or buy additional ones but we insisted to just have the free one. :)

28 Sep 2009 - Javier's passport photo

We have plans to travel this coming November. As we intend to bring both Jerlene and Javier along, the places to go hopefully can meet the following criteria:
a) The flight time must be less than 8 hours, one way
b) The place must be child friendly
c) The weather must not be too hot/cold
d) The place must be easily accessible with good public transport network

With the above in mind, we have narrowed down to a few places namely
- Melbourne or Sydney
- Hong Kong or Taipei
- Osaka or Tokyo
- Shanghai or Beijing

No matter which place we choose eventually, one thing that we must do now is to apply for an international passport for Javier. Before we can apply for it online, we need to take a digital photo of Javier for submission. The photo to be submitted need to meet a certain set of criteria (details can be found on ICA website).

I've taken quite a number of photos and finally, we choose the below for submission. :-)

27 Sep 2009 - Trip to the T3 (changi airport)

We brought Jerlene and Javier to the airport today. It was Javier's first time to the airport. We had lunch at Imperial Treasure restaurant, located in Crowne Plaza Hotel, which is next to Terminal 3. The food is pretty good and there is 15% discount for SQ staff. I ordered too much and gotta 打包 the porridge and 叉烧包.

After lunch, we went to the viewing mall where Jerlene had lots of fun running around and watching the aeroplane. She seemed to have infinite energy that does not deplete. Of course, I will not miss the opportunity to have my camera at work.


The above photos all look great but my favourite one is below.
We were at the viewing mall for more than half an hour and it's time to leave. As we were walking back to the carpark, we came to an alley where there were many sales items! Book sale, clothes sale and also Crocs (shoe) sale as well. We spent quite a while at the Crocs sale and bought two pairs of shoes for $10 each. Really cheap........

On our journey home, everyone was very tired and fell asleep in the car, except the driver, that's me. However, thinking back at the enjoyable moments that we all had earlier gave me the extra strength to stay awake and drive everyone home safely. :-)

26 Sep 2009 - The last of 6-in-1 for Javier

Javier went for his third and last 6-in-1 vaccination today. Not sure whether he actually knew about it because he kept crying in the morning before going to the clinic. The journey there was quite smooth and soon we arrived at the clinic. Initially, I thought Javier may not be able to take the jab because his cough is still not completely recover yet. However, after the professor checked on him, he said that there should not be an issue. Before going into the jab room, the prof checked on Javier's development. Everything looks good and Javier was able to sit and stand with support, grab thing tight, go for toys, follow the sound etc. Btw, his weight was 7.9kg and growing on the 25-50 percentile curve.

Next, I carried Javier into the jab room while the nurse prepared the vaccination. I held Javier's hand tightly as the nurse "poked" into his right thigh. Of course he cried but only lasted for about 10secs. Jerlene was there too but for another purpose. She took so many stickers from the nurse using her charm........ :P
Javier was ok and smiley for the rest of the day.

23 Sep 2009 - Cover lid does matter

Jerlene has been drinking Friso 3 milk for quite sometimes now.
Recently there is a slight change in its packaging. The cover lid has changed to so called "Hygiene Pack".
I'm not sure whether the taste of the milk is also changed because when Jerlene saw me using the milk powder from the new milk tin, she will say the milk 臭臭 (smelly). I tried to test it out by pouring the milk powder from the new tin to an old one without Jerlene noticing it. And when Jerlene saw that I'm taking milk powder from the old tin, she did not complain about the milk.........BUT it's the same milk powder!

Then I decided to try out a new brand Mamil Gold. Again, when Jerlene saw me using the milk powder from Mamil Gold tin, she will say 臭臭. But when she did not see me preparing the milk, she seems to like it very much and ask for more.

21 Sep 2009 - Jerlene learns to wear socks herself

Today was a public holiday and we decided to bring Jerlene to the library. It has been quite a while since we last went to one. Before we left home, Jerlene insisted that she wants to wear socks by herself. So far she has never succeeded in achieving it but glad that she never give up. Finally, she manages to do it today though a bit "off alignment". That's alright, it's already an improvement. :)

20 Sep 2009 - All the great-grandchildren

This afternoon, we brought Jerlene and Javier to Tracy's grandma's house for a short while before heading to the barrage for kite flying. However when we reached the entrance of the car park, the entire place was packed with people. No way that we were able to get a lot in the car park. We saw quite a number of couples taking their wedding photos there. We did not realize the reason for the crowd until Tracy's colleague reminded her later of today's date. Yes, it's 20 Sep 2009 and if written in all digits, it's 20092009. No wonder so many couples there were in their wedding gown. Since kite flying is not possible today, we decided to go straight to my sis place for my nephew's (below) one year old birthday celebration.
My grandma was there too, together with all her 10 great-grandchildren (including Jerlene and Javier). Jerlene is #5 and Javier is #9. Since this is quite a rare opportunity when all gathered, we decided to have a photo shoot for my grandma and her great-grandchildren.

19 Sep 2009 - Javier getting better

We brought Javier to Dr Tan for another review today and his condition seems to be improving. According to Dr Tan, whether there is any improvement is not by the sound of the cough or frequency of the cough. We should see if there is improvement in terms of his appetite, his sleep, his activeness etc. If all these areas got improvement even though the cough is still there, it shows that his condition is getting better. Sometimes, the medicine will actually make one cough even more. So he suggested that we should continue to neubilize Javier with Ventolin, Atrovent and Pulmicor for another 5 days. Should not need to go back for another review. Hopefully, what Dr Tan said is true and Javier can get completely well soon.

15 Sep 2009 - Funny kid's talk

It's really fun talking to small kids who are about the same age as Jerlene now. What they say can sometimes surprise you while other times will make you roll on the floor laughing (ROFL). I was having a conversation with Jerlene today and she makes us all laugh so hard.......

Daddy: Jerlene, daddy very tired today. Can you drive the car?
Jerlene: No.....I dunno drive car.....
Daddy: Why cannot? Daddy very tired.
Jerlene: No......I dunno drive car. I stupid.
(All of us laugh..........)
Jerlene: I smaller. I dunno drive car. Daddy clever, daddy drive car.
(All of us continue to laugh......)

And in another occasion, Jerlene surprised us.

Daddy: Jerlene, how much money you have?
Jerlene: 3 dollars (she always say she has three dollars, no more no less)
Daddy: Can you give me 3 dollars?
Jerlene: No, I got 3 dollars at home. Papa I want money.
Daddy: Papa got no money now.
Jerlene: Papa got cards...........
(Daddy *fainted*)

13 Sep 2009 - Javier can "tripod" sit

Javier has learned a new trick today, and that's the so called "tripod" sit. Jerlene managed to do it about this age as well (See the post here). He seems to like sitting up just like Jerlene as he's been smiling everytime he's in that position. Now that he can sit up, I think very soon we can let him sit on baby chair already. Good work, Javier!

12 Sep 2009 - Javier needs steroid

Javier has not recovered from his cough after few days of neubilizing. Though he did not cough very much, but when we carried him, we can feel that his lung seems to have a bit of phlegm. So this morning, we decided to bring him back to Dr Tan for a review. After checking on Javier, Dr Tan suggested that we should start on a course of antibiotic (Augmentin) and continue with the use of neubilizer. At the same time, he felt that the reason why the neubilizer previously was not quite effective was because there may be some blockage in Javier's airway. As such, he reluctantly prescribe a small dosage of steroid to unblock the airway. Hopefully Dr Tan was right and Javier's condition can improve. I'm worried that he may end up asthmatic. So the priority is to clear his lung. Poor Javier, so young already take so much medicine......sigh........ Will be going back for another review in a week's time. Be strong, my little prince.

9 Sep 2009 - 姐姐 pat 弟弟

Jerlene every now and then will pat Javier's backside. However, she will never forget one of her best friend, Dora, as well. So she will one hand pat Javier, the other pat Dora. She has no control over her strength so I have to keep reminding her not to hit too hard on Javier's backside.
I would not miss the chance to capture my loving angels.......

8 Sep 2009 - Mastering jigsaw puzzle

According to the teachers from Jerlene's childcare centre, Jerlene has been doing well in terms of arts, creativity and imaginative activities. Basically it's what the right brain do. In general, most school tends to favor left brain modes of thinking, which focus on logical thinking, analysis and accuracy. However, I felt that right brained subjects such as creativity, aesthetics and feeling are equally important.

That's why, other than teaching Jerlene A,B,C and 1,2,3, we have bought quite a number of building blocks and puzzles for Jerlene. The first puzzle that we bought was a 4x4 Dora puzzle. She spent a few weeks before she managed to complete it all by herself. That was about 2 months ago. Tracy then bought another two (6x5 and 8x5) puzzles which Jerlene has just mastered one below (6x5).
Now she was trying the 8x5 one (below), which is actually quite tough, even for us. Anyway, I'm quite sure she can do it in no time. :-)

5 Sep 2009 - Great outing: Kite flying at the barrage

This morning we brought Javier back to the clinic for a review. Dr Tan felt that he is improving though not fully recover yet. Will continue with the medicine for another week.

In the late afternoon, we went to Marina Barrage for a Kite Flying session. We bought a small kite from Toys-R-Us one week ago for today's session. The moment we reached there, I was surprised to see so many people flying kite. I remember when we were there last year, there was not even a single kite.
Jerlene totally enjoyed herself. She was busy picking up the kite and throwing it up for daddy and mommy. Too bad we are really lousy kite "flyer" and our kite kept nose diving onto the ground. Of course we blamed it on the kite......... Jerlene was one of the youngest kids on the field. Her cuteness and cheerfulness have attracted many photographer's attention. I, being Jerlene's personal photographer, also will not miss the chance to take some great shot. Below are a series of those happy moments.

Because Jerlene is so small sized, she was always at a risk in crowded area. True enough, she got knocked down by a girl accidentally. She cried for a while but after I hugged and consoled her, she started enjoying minutes later. Javier was there too though he's too young to enjoy. Had a few shots of my two little angels together.

Actually the background of the above photos is the upcoming Sands Integrated Resort. We had a great view of the Sands Resort and Singapore Flyer at the Marina Barrage.
I guess it was a tiring day for both Jerlene and Javier. They both slept very early that night and all the way through to the next morning.

4 Sep 2009 - Jerlene's August Artwork

The theme of Jerlene's playgroup for the month of August is Occupation. Below are some of the artworks that Jerlene did in her childcare.
Jerlene finally hit 11kg this month. Maybe her small build makes her appears much more adorable. She now sings more than she talks. She sings everywhere she goes......to the supermarket, to the shopping mall, in a restaurant and even in a clinic. And she not only sings, she sings very LOUDLY which attracted all the attention. There were a few occasions whereby the passerby sang along with her. I've lost count of the number of songs that she now knows. It's definitely more than 50, and not including those that she "composed" herself. Yes, she sometimes will modify the song lyrics with words that came into her mind. Damn funny..... :-)

2 Sep 2009 - Javier started coughing badly

Jerlene has been coughing for almost one month. Although it did not get worse, neither did it get better. And since 2 days back, Javier started coughing as well and it was quite bad this morning. As such, we took half day afternoon leave and brought both of them to see Dr Tan at KinderClinic. Fortunately it wasn't crowded so we did not wait for too long before our turn.

Dr Tan examined Jerlene first and confirmed that her lungs are clear. However because she has been coughing for about a month, he felt that perhaps Jerlene should start on a course of antibiotics. He prescribed Klacid and Zyrtec for Jerlene. Next is Javier's turn. The moment he felt Javier, he immediately said that he was having slight fever. True enough, the thermometer showed 37.8'C. After some examination, Dr Tan felt that Javier's respiratory "blockage" was quite close to his lung. As such, he advised us to use neubilizer (see below pic) for him, which is much more effective than oral intake. I decided to borrow the neubilizer from my sister. Otherwise, the rental is $10 per day.
I heard from my sister that my nephew hated the neubilizer very much. However, when I tried on Javier, he was ok. He only disliked the medicine "Rhinathiol" which helps to dissolve his phlegm. Not sure whether it's because of the taste or because it's cold as it requires to be stored in fridge. Anyway, will bring him back to Dr Tan this coming Saturday for a review.

Btw, Tracy also started coughing quite badly. Sigh.......for those parents with kids, does this sound familiar? When one family member not feeling well, it's very likely that the whole family will get it sooner or later. I'm the first to start coughing, followed by Jerlene, then Javier and finally Tracy...... Just hope it does not go on a round robin algorithm.

1 Sep 2009 - Teacher's Day

Today is Teacher's Day and Jerlene would like to wish all the teachers in her childcare centre

"A VERY HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY!"



:-)