Singkids & Smaland

Sometimes you just do not know what else to occupy your active kids or where else to bring them, right? I do have this headache

Especially when one is a baby of 6 months and the other is 4.5 years old…the older one seek different kind of attention and play than the younger one.

We discover Singkids @ Changi Airport Terminal 3…and of ‘cos it comes with a price. $18 for an hour is quite expensive, it’s not even enough time for me to enjoy a cuppa (‘cos when I finally found a seat, the young one needs milk etc etc)..but oh well, as long as Dawn enjoys it.

There are many activities inside and 1 parent has to join the kid to ensure he/she is safe (Smart move hor?). Compare to those places where you can safely leave the kids there for an hour of shopping and assured that someone is taking care of your kid, this Singkids is really expensive! Parents need to wear socks too, so do remember to bring down the socks to avoid paying for $2 for a pair of white socks.

Can you spot Dawn and Daddy?

The Go-Kart! And from this station, you can really see how some parents behave…the kids can leave the kart in the middle of the race course and the parent “agree” on that action (without thinking of the safety of other children). The parents can continue to leave the empty kart there and went away with their child to other stations. Gosh! Wait till one day their children were the ones being injured by someone else deserted-kart and they will start blaming the others without realizing that they had done this before too!

Happy Dawn!

I love Smaland @ Ikea…it’s also an hour of play and it’s FREE. Though the activities are not as much as SingKids, but it’s enough to occupy the kids for that hour + giving the parents some free time to shop / eat / read / cuppa etc!

And that’s why SmaLand were always so crowded over the weekends! We will always try to be early so that Dawn has a chance to go into a not-so-crowded SmaLand!

Baby Einstein – Around the World Discovery Center

This should be the most expensive toy that we bought for babies.. I can’t imagine if all the toys cost the same..we will definitely go bankrupted!

We were looking for something for Eva to sit on (unassisted) as she simply hates lying down after she knows there is something call sitting up..my father-in-law typically had to carry her around most of the time as she fusses once she was placed at the rocker.

So we went to Kiddy Palace @ TPY and we saw alot of Exersaucers and Activity stations. There were a few sample sets and we let Eva try 2 of them. She seems to be quite happy on it and didn’t cry.

After looking at the price factor, the number of activities available for each station, the safety aspects etc, we decided on : Baby Einstein Around the World Discovery Center!

The parts before assembling…needs quite a bit of strength to fix this up and somehow it made me wonder why such toys cannot be more friendly to single-mothers…

The bag of Eva’s wonders….

Ta-da! Fixed up by my very capable hubby! Ok, I contributed by wiping the all the parts!

A close-up of the toys around…introducing the lion puppet and the orange giraffe!

The penguin…which we took it down later as Dawn scared Eva with this…when pressed down, it will give a swirl but it came with a loud thud due to Dawn’s force..Eva was crying her hell out each time Dawn did that behind her and we gave up and took it out..

The music & mirror activity..

The bird which Eva loves putting the bird’s head into her mouth

And this is Eva inside the station and watching the TV. And now she can stand quite long in the station, with her hands supporting herself.

Eva’s Complimentary Milk Powder

Yes, complimentary…means free…all from various milk powder companies.

Abbott was the first to send, and I must say they are very prompt in this. I received a call from them when both girls were 5 months and they will introduce their products, as well as answer my questions patiently (like colour of the poops after switching milk powder etc).

They send a 400g Stage 2 Similac with a small bear.

Next came Friso, I didn’t take any photos because it was just a tin of their Stage 2 powder. However, they gave a 900g tin! The biggest tin of all!

Nestle sent a weaning bag (didn’t have this during Dawn’s time) and I must say that I was the happiest with this bag. Look at the goodies and you will know why!

The goodies came in an insulated bag filled with Nestle products!

Love the oats with prunes because it helps Eva to shit with more ease… And yes, I love the star puffs too, can’t wait for Eva to have her tooth out and we can let her pinch the puff from the snack bowl!

Mamil sent the 400g Mamil Gold, a magnet and a discount voucher.

Thank you all for sending the milk powder and the goodies! Very much appreciated!

School Holiday Fun!

It’s the June School Holidays and there are alot of happenings around the town. Although school holidays do not apply to Dawn yet as she’s in a childcare, it still bring alot of joy to her because of the many fun (and free) activities!

We met Elmo, Cookie Monster and Grover at City Square Mall. It was a “happen-to-be” in the mall kind of thing and thus mummy wasn’t prepared with a camera

Very cute stage scene :

Seated and waiting for the show :

An opening dance :

But the organizer should do better in terms of being more transparent with their photo taking session. Can’t help but compare it with the experienced organizer such as Barney shows. There were no clear guidelines on how to get a pass for the photo taking session, the pass was given only at the end of the show and hence it’s not fair to those who were there early but stood too far away from the queue lines. The characters only came out for awhile and most of the time it was the MC talking and playing games. Dawn was bored and hence we did not stay till the end.

Dawn was a little disappointed for not able to take photo with the characters but mummy insisted to have her photo taken with the characters, so this is the best that we can do :

On our Wedding Anniversary, we decided to spend the day with Dawn and we brought her to the Barney show @ Marina Square. This time, mummy is equipped with her camera and also determined to get a pass for Dawn to take photo with Barney. We made sure that we were early to have our lunch and in time to be the first 50 in the queue, and that means we had to queue for 1.5 hours. Poor Daddy, used to do silly things with mummy during Pah-toh days (now he still does!), and he has to do silly things for the children too..Daddy you are super!

A very pretty stage; Dawn & I had a good time playing “Can you spot?” game when queuing.

This is how “near” we were from the start of the queue. Very confident to get hold of the pass this time! There were parents who wanted to cut into queues too and we were angry because what are these parents teaching their kids with?? Instead of explaining to their children on the right thing to do, they were accommodating to their children whines by cutting into the queues of those who had queued for more than an hour!

Tada! Meet & Greet pass in my procession!

See how excited Dawn is?!

Poor Daddy had to stand outside because only one parent can accompany the child inside to the stage area. Still remember the pregnant me standing outside during the Christmas Show last year?

This shot is priceless to me, just look at Dawn’s eyes you will know what I mean :

Children’s eyes are the most non-pretentious. They show you their moods, whether tired, disappointed, sad, happy or excited. The sparkle in those eyes are the most rewarding presents for the parents!

And here comes Barney and friends! Enough to make the children go crazy…

The show was short as compared to the Christmas show. It was less than 15 minutes with about 4-5 songs.

And here’s our photo with Barney & Friends. Little Dawn, remember this, daddy & mummy queued 1.5 hours for you!

Dawn saw the huge “Bouncing Castle” news on TV and wanted us to bring her there. So off we went on a Sunday afternoon.

In order to get on to this, we need to produce a receipt of any amount to enjoy one free play. Each play is 8 mins.

The Kor-Kor will have a short briefing on the safety precautions with the children first before each play. Love the sunflowers and the very cute control tower!

And Dawn chose to bounce beside the cactus most of the time until I shoo her to play with the slide. She might have thought that she can be on this forever instead of just 8 mins…

Weeeeee…nice slide!

Look Mummy! I am riding a plane!

If you are interested with this, the Changi Airport’s giant inflatable playground will be there till 26th June 2011. It’s at Changi Airport Terminal 3, Level 2, Check-in Row 11 (In front of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf). For more details, check it out here.

Important Notes for new or once-again Mothers

Having a gap of 4 years since taking care of a baby proofs that memory can really fail when we are not doing the “job” everyday. Ever since Eva was here, I realised that I had forgot alot of stuff during Dawn’s baby days. Now that it’s still fresh in my mind, jotting down some notes incase need to refer again.

♥ Cheap maternity clothes can be found in Carrano. Why spend so much for casual maternity wear? I went to the Carrano at Bencoolen mall. I did buy from Spring Maternity too, for working pants and dinner dresses. For weekend wear, Carrano is sufficient. If you are lucky, you might find some suitable for working too!

♥ Most Newborns cry for milk every 1-1.5 hrs after discharged from hospital. Reasons? Either we didn’t hear their cries in hospital because they are in the nursery or they have finished their 3 days reserve in the body and are really hungry. As what most internet reference will state, it’s not that the mother does not have enough breast milk, it’s because the stomach of a baby is so small that they can’t drink enough to last them longer than 1-1.5 hours. So breastfeeding mums, be patient and just keep feeding.

♥ It’s tiring for the first 2 weeks when baby and mother are discharged from the hospital. So mothers should get as much rests in the hospital for that 2-3 nights stay. Hopefully the friends and relatives understands that the mother needs alot of rests! Baby poo when breast-fed? Ring that bell and ask ms nurse to help!

♥ Besides crying for milk, newborns cry when they first reach the house because it’s a different environment and surroundings. Having sleeping in the womb for 9 months, and staying in the nursery for 2-3 nights, it’s “too much” for them to understand why need to change bed/surroundings/people again.

♥ Remember to ask the baby’s PD to provide the cord powder @ discharge so that you can start using it when back at home.

♥ It’s very common for babies to have air (colic) in their stomach and cry non-stop or become very fussy. Instead of bringing the baby to the PD and pay a fee for the consultation, buy the Dentinox Infant Colic Drops from Guardian-like pharmacy. If you go to PD, it will be the same that they will provide. Tried it for my Dawn (and get chopped a near $100 including consultation fees) so I am a smarter mum now with Eva.

♥ Same, if babies have cradle cap, buy the Dentinox Cradle Cap Treatment Shampoo from pharmacy.

♥ Use good nappy cream if you can. I tried those cheap nappy cream on Dawn before (those that sells like less than $10 for 2-3 tubes) and resulted in nappy rash. I swear by Desitin Rapid Relief Cream now. Expensive, but a tube can last for long time. And it’s good!

♥ Mentioned in my previous post also, get the glass bottles from hospitals, they are great for small feeds as required by the baby. For breast-fed mums, if you have decided to breast feed but also to pump and feed by bottles (so that you have some rest while the family members help to feed and bond with the baby), buy the teats and bottles when there’s sales. I was in much dilemma because I want to breastfeed but read from forums that buying teats will “give excuses” and not successfully breastfeed in the end. I think that’s not the point anymore, if you decide to breastfeed, nothing else can stop you, not even a teat or a bottle. As my hubby always said to me, it’s a lifestyle that you chose, so if you want to breastfeed and at the same time want others to help out feed so that you can rest, just buy a good pump + the teats to standby before baby is here.

♥ No need to buy expensive branded milk bags! Milk bags can be as cheap as less than $10 in a box of 30 pcs. They are as good as those branded ones and BPA free too.

♥ Buy lots of wet wipes if you are a working mum. Even if you are a stay-at-home mum, I think this kind of money cannot save. I will write another post on wet wipes reviews again.

♥ There’s a shop at Bugis selling cheap baby clothes. They sell like 6 pcs in a pack and it average out to be about $2 per shirt. Same for mittens and booties. If you are not able to get any hand-me-down clothes, then you can visit this shop. It’s opposite the famous temple, the corner shop below the HDB block. In front of the shop is a public toilet. Why spend on branded baby/newborn clothes when they outgrow them very fast and hardly step out of the house except for doctor’s visits and 1 month old celebration?

♥ It is common for newborn to keep dropping the pacifier out from the mouth even though they want it. They are still learning how to suck and hold on to the pacifier.

♥ Get samples for diapers, milk powder etc. Even from your gynae’s clinic! Being thick-skin will not kill but save a hole from your pockets!

♥ Newborns do not need pillows, instead buy the nappy cloth (that comes in 10 in a pack) and use it as a “pillow” for baby to sleep on. Fold it a few times to form a rectangle shape. As newborn will sometimes spit out milk (yes, even after burping), having the nappy cloth will protect the mattress. I would rather wash a nappy cloth then changing the mattress every time when baby spit milk on it! Nappy cloth can also be the burp cloth and the cloth to swaddle the baby in Singapore’s climate.

♥ Check this video out on how to burp babies!

♥ By 2nd month, babies will need toys to play with. Toys such as musical mobiles, or anything that are hang above their head when lying down so that they can look at it. Eva loves her musical mobile which has a hippo, ostrich and frog on it. And she will sound as if she is talking to them if they stopped or moved. Cute!

Car Seat

We just bought an Off Peak car for easy transportation during the nights and weekends. With 2 children under the age of 8, we have to buy 2 car seats each for them.

As Dawn is 4 years old, she can use a booster or a car seat. However, hubby brought up a point about the head side cushions may reduce any collision impact. And I suddenly thought of having the side cushions can also allow Dawn to rest her head if she falls asleep in the car. Thus, we decided on getting a proper car seat for her.

Hubby researched and read up reviews and finally decided to get Britax Parkway SG.

Bought this from Kiddy Palace. Too bad they don’t have the pink one!

And Dawn loves her car seat.

Sights

On my way home from work today, in that span of 1 hour, I saw :

In a crowded train, a father carrying a pink barbie doll bag on his back, with his girl sitting somewhere in the cabin.

At the traffic junction, a father on a bicycle, with his son at the back in the child seat. It was raining heavily, and the son was sitting quietly in his seat, and seemed not bothered by the rain drops hitting on his face.

On the pavement, a father carrying his girl in his arms with 1 hand and the other hand holding an umbrella over their heads.

Very common sights, issn’t? But it meant alot to me.

To the father who carried that pink bag, you are awesome. You carried that pinky stuff on your back boldly because it looks heavy on your daughter’s shoulder.

To the father on the bicycle, you are the man. You taught your son how to be a man and is a total opposite from worrying mothers who over-protect the kids and deprive them from the simple joy of playing in the rain.

To the father with the umbrella, you are wonderful. Balancing an active child, a small schoolbag and an umbrella sounds like the job of a clown but you did it pretty well, and you didn’t look like a clown at all.

Apart from these, I saw another sight. A woman, whom could be the mother or the grandmother (or nanny?!!), exclaimed this to her son / grandson :

“每次带你出来吃饭都下大雨！很麻烦！你不要吃啦!”

[it means : It always rain when I bring you out for dinner. It's so troublesome! You don't eat dinner (next time it rains)!]

I was in shock. Rain also the poor kid’s fault meh?!!

Dawn’s Dinner

Dawn had been learning to feed herself since April. Here’s one of the post which I had made about this : Yummy Yummy.

Looking at her own progress, we think that it’s time for her to feed herself for her main meals. Her first attempt was in Dear’s place while we had teochew porridge for lunch. She did an excellent job and even though there’s some mess on the chair and the floor, it’s considered a good attempt for a kid of her age. And of ‘cos the understanding and encouragement from Dear’s parents did a wonderful part in this partnership.

My mum gave me this unbelievable look when I told her that Dawn should start feeding herself for her main meals. I guess is the thought of having to clean after Dawn…but if we continue to be so protective over the kid, how can she learn? How can she explore?

Anyway, because today is Sunday and I was at home during Dawn’s dinner (which during weekdays I would be still at work), mom had no choice but to let Dawn feed herself because I insisted. :p

And Dawn finished her dinner by herself, with minimal mess, and even stopped my mum from feeding her when at one point my mum was concern that the porridge was getting cold. I have a girl who has character! (and sometimes too much of that…haiz).

Dawn’s new toy

It’s always my personal belief that kids need not be overly showered with those “branded” toys. Why are we teaching our own kids about BRANDED stuff from age 0? However, I cannot deny that most branded toys had more considerations on the safety aspect, but this is not my point today. We should buy moderate quantity of toys, and not all must be branded lah…

I myself did not buy alot of toys for Dawn, and even if I buy toys, I realised those “Ma Sa Ma Sa” from those neighbourhood shops are equally good. Yes, some toys had branded themselves to provide high education value…but, kids can learn words and their ABC from other settings too right? Anyway, branded toys are too expensive for me to buy them…I will go broke if everything she’s playing now are branded. The only good buy which I am satisfied with, is the Sesame Street Driving Simulator toy which I bought from Malacca at 70% off! It’s only about S$9 :p

I think most kids can turn the things which they see day to day as their fun toys. They are more curious in exploring such things rather than those toys which they get bored after awhile. At least this is very true for Dawn. So besides her toys in her big toy box, she likes the clothes pegs, the newspaper, the telephone, the remote controls, my water bottle, empty boxes, my mum’s house slippers and the list goes on…basically anything that can interest her in the house.

So, her lastest toy. Let me present, the Kung Fu Dawn Dawn.

↑↑ Look at me! This is the famous move which I learnt from the Master. Master Wu Gui is he?

↑↑ I got you, you little ANT!

↑↑ I am ME, the Kung Fu Dawn Dawn.

Teething

I think teething process is a painful thing to go through, for both the kid and the mother. I mean, can you imagine a big hard tooth trying to break the once perfect smooth pinky gum? OUCH! And a kid of 2 years have to tolerate the pain of 20 such teeth breaking out the gums. OUCH again. As for the pain of the mother, she might have to endure the sleepless nights, a kid who suddenly became very fussy over the food or dealing with a restless kid.

I myself went through sleepless nights, for a period as long as 1.5 months! Then, I was still very puzzled with Dawn’s changed sleeping patterns. When the sleepless nights ended, i then realised that Dawn was teething! And she was teething 8 teeth at the same time! Oh My, now I know why she was so difficult during that 1.5 months!

As you can see, this is the teething chart. Right now, Dawn has all the teeth, 1-4, upper and lower. The 2 upper first molars are not fully grown yet, but had already made their appearance.

When Dawn was about 5 months old and shown signs of teething, my parents and I bought a few teethers for her. I wasn’t very particular with the types of teethers in the market and just bought anything which was of the right price and shape. She had 8 very pretty pearly whites (4 upper and 4 lower) for sometime before she started teething for the next 8 teeth (which was the 1.5 months of sleepless nights which I had mentioned). At that time, we gave her the same teethers which she was using initially. That was then I realised that choosing a teether is a very important decision.

Because she already had 8 front teeth, it was a grave mistake to pass her a teether which contain rubber parts. This is the result of our mistake.

Look at the hole (below the watermark) that was bitten off by Dawn (the purple parts at the both ends are made of rubber kind of material)! Can you imagine our shock? I thought that teether is supposed to be safe to bite on. I thought teether has no age limit. And I was so so wrong!

I had threw away the packaging and thus I could not find out whether the product had actually specified that this teether is for particular age or labeled with some caution. I mean, if there was none, it could be the negligence of the manufacturer. However, I also do not deny that fact that we as parents should also be careful with what we pass to our children.

So parents out there, be wise in choosing your teethers. You can try Luv n Care Round Pur Ice Bite Teether or Soothie Teething Pacifier

Here’s some websites which you may find them useful when your kid is teething : Teething-babies , BabyCenter and Parents.

BzMommy

Those times, those thoughts, those moments

Tag Archives: Kids