It was a very eventful day today and for the privacy of those involved, I shall say no more. Nonetheless, all is well now and things have worked out for the best.

Anyhow, we celebrated with dinner at Spizza Harbourfront and the lovely waiters made our visit a delightful one. Dear hubby babysat while we girls talked over scrumptious thin pizzas and I could not resist, a tiramisu (highly recommended at Spizza).

Jack, curious about the tiramisu tipped it over and we all watched in dismay as it smashed to pieces. The wait staff were very kind and helped clean it up without any blame in their faces. I reminded Jack that glass is fragile and if he pushes it and it falls, it will break. I reassured him that everything is okay. No one was hurt. No one was upset. But since the glass belonged to the nice waiter cleaning it up right now and he broke it accidentally, he should say he was sorry.

Jack stared at the broken glass for a long time, looking rather remorseful. He knows when things are broken. He points them out to me all the time. A missing headlight on his car, a crack on his car, sticky tape pasted on his car as repair. So he knows when a glass in pieces means it is broken. I said very gently, say sorry to the waiter.

He looked at the waiter and the manager who both wore a kind look on their faces as they cleaned the mess. And softly came out the word, "sorry", but both of them were not looking at him at the moment, nor heard him. The girls heard and we heard. I repeated gently, look at uncle and say "sorry".

He bravely looked up at the manager, who now took over the final wipes of the table, and the manager looked at him, and he said a peep louder but still soft with remorse, "sorry". The manager smiled at him and said, "it's okay". I added an apology and then gave Jack a big hug and kiss and told him, "I am so proud of you." He beamed like the sun.

After we got up to leave, I asked him to kiss every one of his aunties and he did! Everyone enjoyed their very own kiss with sound effect (muak) and his dad and I hugged him and kissed him and we went home after a lovely day.

Technorati: baby says sorry, baby kiss, Spizza, Spizza tiramisu

It was a very thrilling day today for us. We went to my sister's for lunch and Jack got to play with his fave cousins who absolutely adore him. Then we went to Forum for Amber's class. I took Jack for a walk hoping he'd fall asleep but we ended up in Toys R Us where he spotted a "tiny car" exactly like his own and asked if we could buy it.

I agreed, saying this would be his auxiliary car in case his current one, which is his fave, goes missing accidentally. He said okay and kept repeating the word auxiliary while I explained the meaning further. He was almost asleep, clutching the car still in his box when we reached the counter. As I gently tried to prise it out of his hands he woke up, gave it to the nice lady at the counter to scan then asked me to open it.

So he happily clutched his identical cars in his hand when we went to meet sis and Amber. En route home would have been a good time to sleep too, but after nursing for a while and seeing his other cousin Ethan in the car, he decided he "bu4 yao4 shui4" and sat up, enjoying the conversation and showing Amber his "aux-lary tiny car".

After eating 2 slices of cheese, his own gobs of watermelon and some of Ethan's too (while the latter played computer games), we headed off to the kids' swim class and the kiddy pool. I suspected Jack would be a little fussy since he hadn't napped and so he was, reluctant to enter the pool but instead playing at the edges.

However, after everyone joined in the fun (Dad included!), he warmed up and happily let Dad take him to play with the water fountains in the middle of the pool and later joined us in the big pool, splashing and jumping, trying to emulate an older boy who was doing backflips.

He had a great dinner (egg, veg, wholegrain toast, rice, some fries) and off we left in the car for home. He dozed in the car but somehow when we reached home, he was up! So I asked him if he wanted to eat the blueberries I bought him in the fridge and he said "yao4" and I promptly washed one batch for him.

He began eating them by himself while playing with his cars, finished them and asked me for more. I washed the rest and he ate them all - the whole punnel! I was very impressed. At this point I was very dozy and asked if he wanted to shower and sleep. He said yes but I couldn't get up. The next thing I knew was his dad's voice outside the house and I woke to find him fast asleep in my arms (my last memory was nursing him).

And he wouldn't budge! I let him sleep for half an hour while chatting with his dad (and eating pineapple tarts) and finally passed him to his dad. He woke up, looking puzzled and rather perplexed at his dad. It reminded me last night when he woke up crying for mama and then suddenly opened his eyes to see his dad smiling at him. His eyes widened in shock and he stopped crying for a moment. It was so cute and hilarious! :D

He let his dad take him to the kitchen for some fruit (I believe they ate pear) and then a shower. Off to bed and a big cuddle and kiss from us. He started nursing with his tiny car in hand, shifting from one boob to another, seemingly unusually restless. Finally still rather awake, he turned to his dad who was now fast asleep, fiddled with his car and with my arm under his neck, slowly fell asleep!

This is a historical moment because he usually falls asleep, boob in mouth then it slackens and I ease away. While trying to gently extract my arm, he woke, turned for boob, nursed a little, and then turned away to sleep again. I almost wept.

I went out to the kitchen, petted Boy and still smile in amazement at how he brings me so much delight every day.

Technorati: baby sleep on his own

16 years have passed since I brought my sweet Boy home from the drain I found him crying for his mom in. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and I had to take him home. He charmed everyone and has become an integral part of our family since.


He has given me so much love and companionship over our 16 years together that I cannot imagine a day without looking at his sweet face, of him blinking back at me with a serene look in his face.


He has been gentle and patient with Jack and in turn, Jack has learnt to be gentle and patient with him. It is a beautiful friendship.


Today he turns 16. Jack and I sat on the kitchen floor with him, stroked his fur, and sang Happy Birthday to him. Happy birthday, my sweetheart! May we have many more happy years to come.

Technorati: Boy, 16 year old cat

My memory has been remotely better. For the sake of posterity, I will try to recall the events of the past week.

Sunday: Hubby and I had a date night. First we had a rushed dinner at Macs and reminisced how as poor students we used to eat there (actually we didn't!). Then we watched Cloverfield - a cool monster movie (coolest monster I've seen so far on land) if not for the shaky cam, which I do realise is part of its premise. But still, excluding nauseous movie-goers will mean a slice off the takings.

Then we went to a post-movie ice cream date thing at Serene Centre and it turned out to be sweet and fun, and it wasn't just about the yummy alcoholic chocolate ice cream. We actually laughed a lot about the movie and how nauseous it made us.

We rushed back to my Mom's to pick up Jack who didn't miss us at all. He was happily playing with his grandparents! But I missed him heaps and smothered him with kisses.

Monday: Hmm... can't remember.

Tuesday: Spent day with my godparents who adore Jack. We had pizza at Modestos and then brought Jack to their place to hang with my grandma. We had some German wholesomething crackers and watched the news. Jack was most intrigued and a little scared of their little pet.

Dinner time we painted Vivocity red. After a yum sushi dinner he pointed to Toys R Us and I used up my $10 voucher on a tiny black Porsche and a car park set. I asked him to choose one and he kept choosing the car. I still needed to use up the other $5.05 so I bought the car park too. At home, we broke it out and he loves it.

Wednesday: Hmm... can't remember.

Thursday: Went to my friend Andrew's clinic to get my wisdom tooth pulled out. He yanked at it for a good 10 minutes and pop it was out. Relatively painless unless you get heroic and neglect to take your painkillers on time.

I rested at my parents' after the tooth removal and only got home after dinner. The painkillers were home but I thought I was doing okay with it till suddenly the jabs wore off and I found myself howling in pain for an hour while waiting for the painkillers to kick in.

All in all it was a humourous time. We took some funny videos and Jack played with his cars. Finally it kicked in and it was like the epidural. Blessed relief. Although I benchmark my pain on the 28 hour labour I went through, pain is still pain. And with an active, curious, and highly parroty gonnabe-2 year old, it is best to be in comfort and smiling when caring for.

Forgot to put tooth under pillow. Damn. Fairy's gone now.

Friday: Hmm... can't remember.

Hahaha. Naw, this one I remember. It was my girl's night out and a very special celebration for Van's hen's (okay, so I missed the naked guy show later on at some club) and Kit's 37th (even though that girl looks not a day older than 25) at Sun Moon in Central.

Frankly, Sun Moon's strength is in its miscellaneous lunch sets. Dinner was boring and ordinary. I wouldn't go back for dinner but still will go for their tea where they serve that scrumptious green tea dessert with everything in it.

Saturday: Day home with Jack. We played for an hour in each room and while he was napping I quickly finished my novel The Ferryman by Christopher Golden which was engaging but reverting to type at the end. Not for keeps for sure.

Hit town with hubby to stock up on books. Carried Jack in new homemade stylish 100% cotton black cloth carrier (cloth from market $6 - if it creases it is 100% cotton sez seller and my Mom later verified this) made a la Shen. Never mind the sewing. Just cut and tear the cloth half (1/2m) width-wise and 6m length-wise. Practice using these instructions and voila, you got your own nice sling.

Of course baby will look like Leeloo from The Fifth Element but a mini-Leeloo. At least Jack did, being carried by me from the back. Looked pretty shiny when I wore it to town today but when he was removed, I looked like a weird fashion school reject with the cloth hanging around me which I was too lazy to remove. Ah heck, it was just the usual Borders crowd.

Speaking of which, we tried the new Japanese eatery at Far East Plaza. Dunno the name but it is next to Subway and KFC. Not bad at all but the floors are rather dirty. Will go back if under duress or having to choose between its brethren.

Almost used up the Gift Card dear sweet Jeff bought me for Christmas. It was 7 books in total: 2 astronomy/astrobiology books, 1 Earth-is-gonna-die book, 1 Robin Cook book, 2 sea monster eats people novels, and Sylvia Plath's Ariel - the one with the poems laid out the way she wanted them.

And tomorrow is another day. :)

Technorati: baby carrier, make your own baby carrier, The Ferryman, Christopher Golden, Sylvia Plath, Ariel, Borders, Leeloo, Cloverfield

I have given up milk. My evening 2 cups of cow's milk are now replaced with rice or oat milk. I still eat cheese and yogurt very sparingly, usually when dining outside.

I have also greatly reduced my consumption of meat. I don't have a meat meal but have meat as a small part of that meal, e.g. in a sandwich or a pizza, rather than a whole grilled chicken leg. No meat has been cooked at home save for an occasional grilled slice of fish and a whole bunch of vegetables shared by the whole family. I am thrilled to see Jack pick up tomatoes, broccoli, and green peppers to munch on as much as that piece of salmon.

It has been easy to give up the "usual staples" of milk, beef, as well as pork and even chicken. I feel ill thinking of the poor mother cow crying for her calf. Every mother, I am sure, can empathise with that. That extends to eating the poor animal too. What I am having trouble with is cured meats like bacon. Okay, actually, only bacon. And prosciutto ham. So I eat those and avoid the rest.

Beans and other plant protein have found their way into our diets. So have wholegrains and a lot more fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

Vegetarian (because of the cheese and yogurt, for probiotics) burritos are a favourite at home, especially with half the meal organic. We do a lot of soups and broths (okay, from cans but hey, they taste good). But the fried rice turned risotto was a disaster. :p I conned my mom into eating some and she didn't flinch but the hubby and child were quite disturbed. Even the cats steered clear.

We have turned into a family of grazers (cf. Sears). We snack on dried fruit and fresh fruit (organic if possible), organic brown rice cakes, organic wholegrain bread with fruit, nuts, seeds, and organic wholegrain cereals. There is no junk food in the house, no sugary or salty snacks. No meat in the freezer.

We stock olives, beans, peppers, broccoli (I buy organic, cut and freeze them), tomatoes, cheese, pasta, soups, wholegrain bread, cereals, kampong eggs (still need to check on the validity of them), and lots of seasonal fruit. I avoid soy, in particular the unfermented ones.

There's a whole world of food out there aside from the usual meat and rice or potatoes combo and it's been thrilling discovering it. I am no fabulous chef but my family is largely, 99% (no risotto please) pleased with my cooking. Jack loves it and gobbles down anything I cook, as long as it is not risotto.

I feel lighter and fresher, surviving well on my 6-7 hours of sleep every night (interrupted). Now Jack and I take a nap in the afternoon together. It has been wonderful for bonding.

It is important for my health that I eat well; but it is important for my heart, my son, and this world we live in that I eat humanely.

Technorati: eat humanely, vegan, vegetarian, grazers

Insulin, Leptin, Diabetes, and Aging: Not So Strange Bedfellows

A must-read article for everyone who wants to live long and prosperous. :) You should lower your blood sugar, eat a low-carb diet, control your caloric intake, and go check out your genes.

The longest living animals share the following traits:

* Low fasting insulin levels
* Reduction in fasting glucose
* Lower body temperature
* Low percentage of body (visceral) fat
* Reduced thyroid levels
* Low triglycerides
* Low fasting leptin levels

Virtually the same genes appear to regulate the factors that determine longevity in nearly all forms of life, including humans. Caloric-restricted animals may not have been born with the profile of longevity, but their diet enabled them to express the genes that recreate it. In other words, eating less has reprogrammed their genes to extend their lives.

You too can create a favorable genetic environment that is likely to not only extend your life, but help to keep you "disease"-free for as long as possible. You can actually make your body decades younger and turn back the clock to a time when you weren't weighed down with all that extra fat, or when you didn't have diabetes or heart disease... and you don't have to live in a cage on a caloric-restricted diet to do so.

Normally leptin is secreted acutely in response to a meal or chronically in response to increasing fat stores. In a leptin-sensitive individual, leptin will reduce hunger, increase fat burning, and reduce fat storage. However, when one is leptin-resistant, as indicated by an elevation in fasting serum leptin, the part of leptin's message that would normally reduce hunger and fat stores, and increase fat burning does not get through to the brain (mimicking low leptin), so one stays hungry and stores more fat rather than burning it. However the message to increase sympathetic nervous system activity gets through all too loudly and clearly, so one stays hungry, continues to get fat, and gets elevated sugar, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, heart disease, and accelerated aging.

A strategic diet that emphasizes good fats and avoids blood sugar spikes coupled with targeted supplements (as recommended in my Rosedale Diet), will enhance insulin and leptin sensitivity so that you can once again hear their music, allowing your life to be the symphony it was meant to be.

Technorati: antiaging, longevity, immortality, vegan

I am colder these days. Not quite back to my cardigan days but certainly not holding my own against the weather as well as I did 2 years ago when I got pregnant. Maybe my metabolism has slowed, but bringing out a cardigan has been a necessity of late.

Jack has started saying "thank you" with a bright smile and kissing us on our cheeks upon request, and sometimes spontaneously. Everyone is just crazy about him. He speaks in English half the time and Mandarin the other half. At home, we're sounding very much like the shiny crew of Serenity.

While dreaming sometimes, he calls out for his "Mini" or "Ferrari" but mostly "Mama" or "Mama's Nan". I cannot help but nuzzle my nose against his sweet cheek for a deep sniff. He smells so sweet that I wonder if it is his baby smell or simply his breath mixed with my breast milk. Nevertheless I wish I could bottle it because I could smell that scent forever.

Tonight my folks kindly offered to babysit so we could have a date night. It has been 3 months since our last one and I was itching to watch the movie Cloverfield which I spied on a poster some weeks ago.

Word of warning: If you couldn't bear The Blair Witch Project's shaky cam, don't be a hero and watch this one. The hub-unit and I were nauseous (albeit laughing about it) till some 4 hours later!

Still, the story was very cool and the monster awesome. The acting was good, although Beth really annoyed me. I seriously could have done without the shaky cam but it was rather critical to the point of the whole story, that it was from Hud's point of view.

Fab monster sequences (tunnel scene, getting to Beth's apartment, and closeup of monster), plus a blink and you'll miss it thang right at the end. I didn't realise it till I read the wiki. A great ending tying everything together. Bittersweet, if you must. Worth a watch only if you don't feel dizzy or ill from the camera shaking half the time.

Technorati: baby dreams of cars, Cloverfield, Cloverfield review

Maybe I have a predilection for oats already but I bought Oat Milk today by Oatley and love it. It has replaced my nightly 2 glasses of milk - now that is a lot of cow trauma reduced. It is organic too no less.

I accidentally ate veal over NYE's Angie Olivier dinner. The sausage looked and tasted like a regular chicken or pork sausage so while feeding a starving Jack, ate some and damn it tasted good, ate some more. When Ange told me it was veal I looked at the half bitten piece I had and gave it to the hubby. That picture of the poor newborn calf taken from its mother while its poor mother was howling for it stayed with me. No veal. Veal bad.

I had to tell that story. Everyone had eaten and Ange wondered why I suddenly lost my taste for the sausage. Her hubby agreed it was cruel and decided then to not eat veal too. Among us close friends, few things are taboo. Even cruel culinary habits amid a scrumptious dinner where veal sausage and pork sausage were the only meat items.

Ange then confessed she was trying to go vegetarian, hence the multitude of remarkably delish dishes. She promised to cook another batch next week and so a new tradition was born. Jeff and Wendy were invited to join and immediately, we drew up the wine and dessert list. I fell in love with Muscato at V's Xmas dinner and now I simply must have it!

On another note, Jack was making curious noises while asleep. I went to lie beside him in case he woke. Then he settled again. When I sat back at the computer, he started laughing. I was so enthralled I got up, lay next to him as he laughed, eyes closed at some happy dream he was having. I felt every bit of bad ooze out of me and only soft and tender filled me right that moment. I carried my silly smile back to the computer where I am sitting now.

Technorati: oat milk, milk bad, veal bad, Muscato, baby dreams, baby laughing while asleep

Happy New Year! :)

I kicked off the new year nursing my baby to bed and nursing a swollen gum which throbbed for 2 hours before painkillers finally soothed it. Touching it with my tongue just made it throb again so it is a no-interference zone again.

Recently I have had a chocolate craving. Unbeknownst to humankind, I have scoffed down 1 box of Royce chocolates (in less than 5 minutes), am almost through a box of After Eights, had 2 chocolate doughnuts every time I go to Toa Payoh, and have had a considerable amount of chocolate every day wherever I go (I did surrender my second tub of Haagen Daz Belgian Chocolate Ice Cream to Lee and Ange when they cooked up a Jamie Olivier dinner for us tonight).

Alarm bells must be dinging now. Preggers? Ah wait, there is only anecdotal evidence that chocolate cravings indicate pregnancy and even more anecdotal evidence that it is a girl. Still, it is an amusing thought to nurture for a while and something to ponder as the year turns. Until the ecstasy and horror of carrying another child becomes an unequivocal reality, I will continue to enjoy my chocolate fantasy.

*Note: this could also be a by-product of my feeble attempt to become vegan and/or strict non-stocking of milk which used to be a nightly staple.

Some fun things that happened:

Last night in the car although sleepy and grumpy, Jack put down his beloved car that he was clutching in his hand just to lay his hand over my chest to say he loves me (hand on other person's chest is our sign for saying "I love you"). I almost wept. :)

Today his Dad bathed him after he did a poo (he can tell us "poo poo" now when he does it) and let him run around naked for a while. I scarcely noticed but he suddenly ran off the rug and to the corner of the room and his Dad hollered, help!

He had cleverly anticipated the poo (round 2) and ran to the corner (like the cats do) and NOT on the rug to do his poo. He even held it in and splat it hit the ground in a second when he was well-positioned. It was like a small mountain. I was very impressed.

With spider reflexes, his Dad scooped him off for a wash. I dried him off while his Dad cleaned up the poo. I praised him for his own spider reflexes and brought him to have a look at his poo. He was quite amused. :D

Technorati: chocolate craving, chocolate fantasy, chocolate cravings indicate pregnant with girl

Our Babies, Ourselves; How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent by anthropologist Meredith F. Small is one book I have been looking to buy but I haven't been able to find it at any of the bookstores. Anyhow, on LiveScience today, there's an article on babies' attention to social interaction and reminds us how critical it is for us to be there, attentive and loving to them right from day one.

Excerpts from the article Your Baby is Watching (and Judging) You:

Experiments years ago by Jeffery Cohn and Edward Tronick of Children's Hospital in Boston also showed that babies have a natural distrust of even their most trusted caretakers when the social rules are not followed. Mothers were instructed to not respond when the baby reached to get her attention for a little one-on-one interaction. Instead, mothers looked back at the baby with a blank face and didn’t move. Aghast, the babies kept trying for a while and then gave up, went limp and turned away.

More startlingly, when the mothers were told to engage again, the babies refused, at first, to pay attention. They just didn’t trust someone who ignored the rules of engagement, even for a minute.

Psychologist J. Kiley Hamlin and colleagues of Yale University recently showed 6- to 10-month old babies various social situations using triangles, squares and circles that play acted helping or hindering each other. The babies clearly disliked the objects that didn't help out. The psychologists concluded that babies are good judges of character, even when they're not directly involved in the action.

This research is a surprise because no one thought babies were paying that much attention to the acts of others. And no one realized baby judgments were so harsh.

Apparently, we were fooled into thinking babies were social dunces by their sneaky ways. Human babies, with their wobbly heads and unfocused stares, look like they aren't paying attention to much of anything.

So remember, the baby is watching. That spaced-out look on her face might not be the start of a nap but the very moment in which she is deciding if you, in particular, are trustworthy.

Technorati: baby psychology, parenting