Looking Back at 2014

It feels like forever since I updated my blog and its almost the end of 2014. I must apologize for the lack of updates as I have been mad busy. So, here's looking back at what I managed to achieve the past one year.

1. Got a place to call my own and rented one room out. With the rental yield, I managed to get a personal accident, life insurance and an endowment policy for Larissa and myself!

Exactly how I felt when I got my own home

2. Backpacked alone in Hoi Chi Minh for the first time in my life survived a horrible bout of fever during the trip that came out of nowhere and subsided as mysteriously as it came. #didnotdie

 3. Completed the foundation course which is a Certificate in Business Management so I can start on a private diploma in 2015. Not to mention that I didn't do too badly for it. 2 As, 1 B and 1 C. Yeah, I know...only a certificate but still...

4. Completed my first half marathon, the Penang Bridge International Marathon! My timing was crappy though. I haven't ran for more than 7 months and to think that the first run I go for is a half marathon. I wore ill fitted running shoes and two weeks after coming back to SG, there was pus leaking from underneath my toenail and I have to cut the damn thing off.

5. Found partners to start an online business, assisting another in her online business, managing a Facebook group and also starting a forum!!!!

6. I am now in the midst of organizing a major donation drive for a childrens' home as well!

7. Starting picking up make up tricks to make myself look more presentable so this is what I look like now.

It really doesn't feel like much now that I've typed it all out but it has really been a mad busy year for me and I'm looking forward to 2015! I bet you must be wondering about Larissa. We just celebrated her birthday in Penang during my run. Its funny to think that I was just carrying a baby and she has now turned five. Time really flies. Anyway, this is what she looks like now. 

I think that's all for now. Till next time!

1st Month In

How does one describe moving into one's own place? If you asked me, I'd say it was extremely exhausting and financially draining.

I never realised how much money has to be pumped into a home as I have always lived with my mother. Imagine my astonishment when I only realised that there was not a single clothes peg in the house only after doing a round of laundry and had to go out and get some.

I am, admittedly not the neatest person when I lived with my mother and definitely not at work. My colleagues will tell you that my office desk often resemble a battlefield. Somehow, this is not the same at home. I come home to vacuum the floor almost everyday, or at least when I get home at a reasonable time and the sound coming from the vacuum machine won't make my neighbour come around screaming murder. Its almost like I never have enough time to do everything. Ok now, time for the pictures I promised. Sorry for the poor resolution of some of them cause I had to print screen from my Instagram account as I had just reformat my phone and many photos were gone.

Repainting the common room

As I have bought a repossessed (meaning the last owner couldn't pay up and HDB took back the flat) flat, The first things to do was to get some minor renovation done which included replacing the window hinges (they were all falling off!), installing window grills, overlaying the bathroom tiles and replacing the toilet bowl. Thankfully, I had two really very nice friends who came to help me with the cleaning and repainting. If not for them, I'd probably never finish the work!

IKEA!!! Now my favourite place to buy furniture from!

I brought Larissa to IKEA the weak after we have had the house cleaned to do some major damage to the wallet. Thank god my bonus had just came through so I can buy some furniture for the house. It was the very first time I bought any sort of furniture or bigger item from IKEA so I haven't had a single clue of what to expect. I thought it was as simple as selecting the items I want, pay for it, pay for delivery, assembly and just wait for the person to arrive within 3 working days.

On my first visit to IKEA, I bought a expedit shelf, a Trysil wardrobe, a queen size latex mattress, a Latt Children's table and a aneboda wardrobe. Only after they delivered and assembled the entire thing did I realise what an idiot I was to have paid for assembly so the second time I went to IKEA to get more stuff, I got ambitious and only paid for delivery. I bought the IKEA fixa electric screwdriver and was all ready to start assembling myself.

It took me almost 2 days to finish assembling all by myself.

The Micke desk

The Lavia Bookcase

And the biggest item is the Stornas buffet. 

The desk and bookcase were rather easy to put together but I almost killed myself while assembling the buffet. Its made of solid wood and is quite heavy. Lucky for me that I'm big strong and had only a bit of problem when I had to place the top piece of wood. I really don't encourage any ladies to do this themselves unless they are fat big like me. 

Thankfully I had a friend who was moving out of her place so she passed me her bedframe so I saved a bit on that.

Now that the furnishing is settled, I went to courts and got us a Philips 32" tv, a stand fan and a washing machine. I considered getting these items second hand but Courts was having a discount and it was almost the same price as a second hand item. The TV usually cost $599 but was going for $269, got the fan at $69 and washing machine...due to space constraints, I can only get a small one and the one I got is very small but can do 7.5kg wash so its rather worth the $300 plus I paid for it.

This is what my home currently looks like.

Almost like I haven't much isn't it? That was taken when I just moved in. I have since gotten a second hand sofa bed for the living room. I've also gotten a full bedroom set and furnished it for my tenant!

I've only just realised how tiring it can be to live without a maid. I grew up with a maid cause my mother always hired help. I have to do everything feel like a grown up now! Freedom and independence all comes at a price. Heehee

Its tough sometimes, having to juggle a kid, work and part time studies (I've started on my part time diploma) but its all for the future! I now know what its like to be always tired!

First NIght in Our New Home!

I am posting this from our new home! Finally, a place to call my own!

Its a block away from my mom's place, I have my own kitchen, I can put as much veggies in the fridge without my mom scream murder at me, the water pressure is fantastic, Larissa and I have a queen sized bed to sleep on with no need to squeeze on a single sized mattress and I have a unlimited 1gpbs fibre broadband connection!

I am so elated I cannot even start saying how excited I am!

The home is really very humble, everything is kept simple and I love it!

I am so proud that I assembled my IKEA kitchen cabinet, computer desk and bookshelf all on my own! I promise I will take picture and post them up soon!

I'm also in the midst of placing orders for mosquito screens for the windows. Living on the 2nd storey makes us prone to mozzie bites and I need to protect my darling. More money too be spent!

Oh, and I'm taking in any donation of old furniture that anyone has to give so let me know if you have any. I still need a 2 seater couch and a shoe cabinet. I'm not fussy, as long as they're in good working condition.

I'm also looking for a tenant so if you're interested to shack up with Larissa and myself, let me know. heehee!

Update again soon! Love ya all!

A Mother's Nightmare: Hair Lice

On Saturday, I was preparing Larissa for dance class as usual when I noticed something odd. She had white specks on her hair near the roots of her hair.

I felt a little puzzled and decided to do a thorough check when it clicked. Larissa had hair lice. It then dawned on me that her complains of itch on her head is because of these little bastards!

I decided to let her skip her dance lesson and brought her to let my mom check. I recall having had hair lice once when I was a kid and we managed to get rid of it.

After letting my mom check, we confirmed that its hair lice. I went over to the Chinese medical hall and bought a bottle of hair lice lotion. Yeah, they sell it there! Its Malathion Lotion and you can buy it over the counter at any major pharmacy. The medical hall I bought it from was selling a bottle at $7 and Unity Pharmacy sells it at $8 per bottle.

Unfortunately, for the lotion to be applied properly/evenly, it meant that Larissa had to lose her curly long hair. We popped by the hairdresser and had her hair snipped to a short bob. Do note that even with her short bob, we had to use a full bottle of lotion on her hair.

The lotion has to be left on her hair for 12 hours so I applied it at about 6pm in the evening to be left overnight. As malathion is highly flammable, leave it to dry on its own and do not attempt to dry it faster by using a hair dryer. Place a towel under the child's head to prevent staining the sheets.

The day after, I washed her hair with normal shampoo, changed the sheets and brought the used bed sheets to the laundromat near my place.

I used the hot sterilization wash to kill the lice and its eggs. By the way, I also got the lice as we share a bed and had to use the same lotion on myself.

To ensure that the lice are all killed, repeat the lotion 7 days later to kill any other lice that have hatched.

We are now lice free and I have informed her childcare. They did a check on the rest of the kids and none of them had hair lice. Perhaps we are just unlucky and one lice crawled onto our heads. Anyway, having hair lice is not the end of the world. Lice does not spread diseases and are just pretty uncomfortable.

Always make it a point to check the kid's head for lice if they are scratching excessively. :)

Learning to Share

Not too long ago, Larissa started playing with 3 kids, 2 boys and a girl lives a few doors away from us. They are close to Larissa's age but they are always playing at the corridor.

I think it was over the Teacher's Day holiday when Larissa was bored at home and had nothing to do so my mother let her out to play with them. According to my mom, she invited them to our house to play and the rest is history. Every now and then, Larissa will ask to be let outside to play with them.

The kids seem to be cared for and yet, there's something about them. The way that no one looks for them when they pop over to our place for long period of time and the fact that they are at Larissa's age but they still can't articulate well. Almost like there is no one there to guide or teach them.

Last night, I got home late after swimming and was told by my brother's girlfriend that Larissa gave one of her three lanterns to them after she learnt that they had none. It was really heart warming to know that my little girl, my baby is learning to share what she has with the less well off.

We are certainly not rich but we are blessed. Friends and family bought lanterns for Larissa for the Mid-Autumn festival celebrations and she shared her blessings with the other children. The other children tried to come back and return the lantern but we told them that its for them.

I am certainly very impressed with Larissa. Its like a big milestone. A big big achievement. I have always wanted Larissa to be compassionate and to have a big heart and it looks like its working.

My baby is growing up. :)

My Little Dancer

Larissa started ballet classes some time in April this year. I know...late post again. Hahaha...

Anyway, it is thought that kids below the age of 6 are not suitable for the real Pointe Ballet so what they do now is dance and rhythm, to let them have a feel of that it will be like. These classes teach kids to enjoy dancing and to learn to catch rhythm. They can start at about 3 years old. 

Larissa's dance school is called Little Dance Academy and is located at Pandan Valley. I live in Toa Payoh so every Saturday morning, we get up early to have breakfast together as our bonding time before we embark on a 45 minutes travel to the dance school. 

We need to take one feeder bus from our home to Caldecott Station transfer to a train to Holland Village before we take another bus and drop near her dance school. Her dance class is 45 minutes and I'll just wait for her to finish before we start the journey home again. 

You must be thinking that I'm crazy to go through so much to go to a dance school so far away when there are so many others that are near to my place. HAHAH!

There are many dance schools out there but I know Larissa's dance teacher MAJORED in ballet when she was in school and she graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts Singapore. Call me racist but she is a true blue Singaporean and can communicate with my child better than the PRC teachers who have difficulty communicating with the kids, especially the Caucasian kids. Its literally chicken and duck talk (鸡同鸭讲). She also teaches better than the rest of the half bucket water (半桶水) people out that there who took a 3 month class or did a project on ballet in school and come out to teach. 

The past few months that I've sat around eavesdropping listening to parents chit chat and all I hear are praises for this teacher. 

Enough of my rambling on, here's some photos and videos. :)

My precious insisted on carrying my bag for me when I told her I was tired on our way to her dance class.

Her usual breakfast. She made me remove the yolks coz she doesn't like them.

This is her ballet teacher!

Getting down on her knees to interact with the kids

They also do stretching. Look at Larissa's big tum tum. LOL!

Divorce Proceedings...

After close to 3 years of separation, its finally getting somewhere.

 

My divorce proceedings has finally started!

 

Its a whole lot faster than I think!

 

I goggled for a bit and found Raymond Lim &Co.

 

Mr. Lim quoted me a very reasonable price and I decided to go ahead.

 

I paid him a deposit of $1000 on our first consulation, if you decide not to use him then I think the first consultation is $150.

 

Two weeks after I went for the first consultation, I received the draft documents from Mr. Lim. After having read through them and having the ex approve them as well, he fixed an appointment with the ex to sign the documents.

 

Two weeks after the ex signed the documents, I went down to sign another documents.

 

I recall having signed up with him in Feb and I will be getting my interim judgement (temporary divorce papers) sometime near the end of May! The final divorce papers are expected to be ready in August!

 

Gosh, the feeling of being free is so exciting!

 

Oh, its been a while since I posted anything so here's a photo of my cute Larissa. LOL

Changes

This is so back dated. It was in my draft folder at least for a month.

Currently taking a break and just slack at home while waiting for my new job to start on 30th Oct.

Been taking time to just sleep, eat and just slack. hahaah

Larissa's night potty training has been going really well and she is now completely free of diapers both in the day and in the night. It wasn't easy initially for the night potty training. I'd make her pee before she goes to bed at about 9pm and I'd carry a sleepy baby to the potty at about midnight to make hter pee before heading to bed myself. Lucky for me, Larissa really hated sleeping on a wet bed. There has been many accidents where she'd wet the bed, sometimes twice in the night. I didn't get a bed protector intitially but it got so bad that I eventually gave in and bought a nice bed protector for her. She now has minor leaks whereby she leaks on her panties, she will wake up and tell me she leaked so that she can go use the potty. I have to say that her progress is really fast considering that we started night training only recently.

Oh, I have also weaned her off her pacifier 3 days ago. Being the mean mommy that I am, I took a pair of scissors, sat down swith Larissa and together we cut her pacifier up and I made her throw it away herself. She seem to have difficulty understanding that she had cut her pacifier up and was on the verge of crying at the sight of her cut up pacifier. She kept trying to reattach it and refused to throw it away. She was angry with the scissors and kept saying she wants to throw the scissors away. I had to explain to her that her birthday is only a month away and she is a big girl. She accepted it after a while and if you ask her where is her pacifier, she will tell you that she threw it away! I also changed her milk powder to Dumex, which is a cheaper brand than NAN that she took previously. I intend to change it to the normal Nespray. I don't think all the DHA stuff really matters at her age.

I don't know how to end this. Just wait for my next post. lol

Larissa at 33 months

Larissa turned 33 month about 8 days ago. It certainly feels like it was only yesterday that I held that tiny little being in my hands and now she is jumping and running about. 

She is now speaking in sentences and saying things that made me wanna slap myself in the head. When she sees my brother's girlfriend wearing her heels, she's say, "you can walk meh?"

She'd also start questioning me, asking me where did I go or what did I do. She has also started imitating her teacher, giving me instructions on where to sit or what to do. Such a control freak. Sighs...its so satisfying being a mother and watching her grow up.

Diapers....Be Gone!

Ever since Larissa started childcare, they have been toilet training her. Due to long working hours and a very lazy maid, it was never successful at home. 

Recently, I decided to reinforce the no diaper training at home and I let her go without diapers. It was tough initially and she kept peeing on the floor but I am seeing a lot more results now. 

I keep telling her that she is a big girl now and should inform us when she wants to pee. 

Only problem is that she drinks a hell lot of water and can go pee 6 times in an hour. T.T

I also tried to let her go diaper free at night and there has been accidents but last night, she woke up screaming that she needs to pee. Funny thing is that I've actually put on diapers for her as I know that she's had a long day and probably will not be able to wake up and go pee. 

I will keep trying till we succeed!

My Baby the Gold Digger

Was called up by Larissa's childcare centre on Tuesday. She had nose bleed twice and vomited some blood clots that freaked the teachers out and they asked that we take her home and observe her. 

After contemplating for a while, I decided to bring her to the hospital as she had complained of tummy aches for the past 2 weeks or so. 

At the hospital, it was a long 3 hour wait before we got to see the doctor. 

 

Getting her parameters taken during registration.

Thanks to the vending machines that sold fruits, she had fun gobbling up cup after cup of fruits.

We spent 3 long hours only to be told that its due to her digging of nose that caused the nose bleed. T.T

Nothing can be done until she stops digging....

Anyway, she woke up on Sunday morning with a nose bleed again. Sighs...I wonder when will she stop digging....

Larissa's Playtime

I try to make sure that playtime involves games that helps Larissa develop her fine motor skills or make her think. Here's a video of her playing with blocks that require her to problem solve. I also play Jenga with her, which I think is good for her fine motor skills, not to mention the laughter and shrieks from her when the blocks fall. I am rather uncomfortable with letting her play with video games, iPad and the likes. Only time when I let her play or watch Barney on my iPhone is when I'm done feeding her food and need a bit of time to quickly gobble up my food.

Larissa's Portfolio

The other day, my helper passed me some stuff to sign for Larissa's childcare and I was pleasantly surprised to find this portfolio that was something like a report book. Here's sharing Larissa's progress in childcare.

By the way, Larissa is going to Young Talents Childcare situated at Toa Payoh. I really like the childcare centre and I am really impressed that they have yet to report a single case of HFMD. Only problem is that its air-conditioned so Larissa tends to fall sick quite often. The childcare's management will be taken over by Montessori soon and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the fees will not increase too dramatically.

Larissa Turns Two!

This is a very back dated post that was kept in my draft for for the longest time. Larissa turned 2 in November last year and I managed to book an ice cream place near my home to celebrate her birthday. The initial plan was to just cater a buffet at my mom's place for her birthday but just 3 weeks before her birthday, Creamier, opened its doors and I was so impressed by their handmade ice cream that I decided to book the place for Larissa's birthday. It cost me a bomb but it was Larissa's first birthday without her daddy and this is perhaps my way of making up to her. It was a ice cream and waffles party and everyone got free flow ice cream! Did I mention that Creamier also served delicious Belgian waffles? Anyway, here's some photos of the birthday party. The photos are courtesy of Charles, a great friend and freelance photographer. Do email me if you'd like to engage him.