Took the little one out today to MacDonalds to have our breakfast. I am feeling under the weather and thought the fresh air will do him some good. I tried the $2.50 meal with the "premium coffee" and he had his usual fruit + cereal. While I ate/tweet, he played with another set of parent who kept saying he's so cute and their kid had the attention halved. :p Alex loves being in MacD which makes me wonder why all kids fall prey to MacDonalds. Heh.

After my breakfast, I brought him to the MacD playground where he had a whale of time exploring the playground. He doesn't know how to play yet but he already loves this sort of play area. Are all kids the same?

Then we went to the library and I borrowed some books for us. I always made it a point to borrow books in two languages for him and one especially about God or love. :) I also borrowed yet another potty training book coz now he can understand that the potty is for poo-ing and ha twice done the deed twice in it with the diaper on. This mommy is quite proud and also bemoaning she has no life. Lolz.

Alex at MacD

From left to right
1st row:
Alex in his car seat.
MacD needs to make its burger bigger! Bigger than my son's face please.
Prison break Alex.

2nd row:
Behind bars.
Standing.
He likes being in "caves" and tunnel for some reasons.

3rd row:
Gleeful.
Tired.
Who's this strange fella behind me?

Originally posted on longestflight.vox.com

Forgot to add a mandatory cute photo of my boy for the day.

Must watch him carefully coz he can wriggle himself out of the seat belt and stand up in his high chair!

Samseng boy

Originally posted on longestflight.vox.com

I tried to give Alex organic whenever possible and within my budget. Sometimes organic produce is only slightly costlier than the commercial produce, then why not? I find that esp. the fruits, it's sweeter and taste much better. However I definitely stop short at expensive items. Like a kilo of organic potatoes costs $21, 10X more expensive which is ridiculous. Of course it's not neccessary to buy organic all the time too. For e.g. hard shell fruit like avocado, don't have to be organic. I also don't buy organic meat for him, coz it's expensive/in bulk and fresh meat will just do.

Usually I will cook his stuff in a batch and freeze them. When I cook his meals, I just pop the food into the porridge and presto! A meal is whipped up in no time. It's only during weekend when we are always out for the whole day, I give him baby food jar.

Out of all the baby food jar brands that I can find here, Only Organic is the best and Alex always finishes the food. Once I opened up one jar in church nursery and a mom commented that the food smells very good which I agreed with her. If you are wondering which flavour was that, it's Mediterranean Vegetables and Lamb. Sounds exotic, no?

Some may say that it's not necessary to give baby organic food (like my mil, LOLz). I say why not give your child a good start in life? Furthermore Alex has not been sick since he's 3mths, so I think his wholesome diet plays a part too.

Originally posted on longestflight.vox.com

I had a total of 2 interviews last month. I thought the interviews went well and I was feeling quite confident, but I haven't hear from either companies since. :| See how things go lah.

Recently there's 2 things about the wee one that exasperates me. He refused to eat and before this food strike episode, my mil kept saying that he's shrinking. The two things are not related. I reckon he is teething or bored of his diet, so I changed his diet. He might be bored with the multigrains porridge. I changed the grains to jasmine rice and now sushi rice and he's eating again and even more. He can finish 8oz of porridge in a meal. Then I make sure he sleeps more. Bingo, can feel him getting heavier every other day.

Regarding my mil... 2 Fridays ago, we had to attend hubb's aunt's art exhibition, so I took him to my mil to help out while I can go home and prepare for the event. Since she was harping on his size, she gave him a huge chunk of fish on top of what I have cooked for him. When I picked up Alex, he threw up on me and I went to the event reeking of fish. Eversince I started my food/sleep strategy, she has stopped mentioning about his size coz I am sure she can feel the difference in weight too. Good lah. I like my son to be chubby, but I reckon there is nothing to worry about him so I am not worried at all. Comments about his size, I will take it as input, but I just don't like to be nagged at and even be undermined whether I am doing a good job as a mother.

Milestones

• Says "dada" and "mama" to the right parent (is specific)- Yes
• Plays patty-cake- No, hope he knows how to clap hands soon
• Stands alone for a couple of seconds- Yes, but only twice so far
• Imitates others' activities- Yes
• Puts objects into a container- Yes
  
• Understands simple instructions- Yes he does, except the word "No"... he purposely defy me!
• Drinks from a cup- Yes and he can hold the cup himself
• Says one word besides "mama" and "dada"- Yes, recently he said "Fiss..." for fish :)
  
• Stoops from standing position- No

• funny sound we made or using a whistle or party horn(?) stuff
• his toy drum set. we were amazed that he could play with it almost immediately
  
• briyani with dhal! I fed him some the other day and he ate all of it!
• bread. When he sees that I am eating bread, he will rush to my side to have his share
• looking at animals. The dogs, pigeons and he especially likes cat
  

• more than 9kg. That's almost a sack of rice yo!
  
• teething again. He left teeth marks not only on me but on others. :\
• quite attentive.
  

• poo in the potty. He did it for the first time today (with the diaper on) and that made my day. Also sad for me lah, be excited over potty habits. heh
• recognise body parts like eyes and nose.
  

Alex at the underwater world

Originally posted on longestflight.vox.com

Some authentic Threadless Tees for sale. Going for S$10 each unless otherwise stated.

1. Heavy Metal Listening Party
   GIRLY, L
   
2. Tools Of The Trade
   GUYS, L
   
3. The Seeker
   GIRLY, S
   
4. They're, Their, There
   GIRLY, S
   
5. Calling Home
   GIRLY, S
   
6. Best Mime Ever
   GIRLY, S
   
7. Burn
   GIRLY, M, Long sleeve
   
8. Mechanical Mayhem
   GIRLY, M, Long sleeve
   
9. FrequenCity , $5 coz there's a small hole at the back
   GIRLY, M, Long sleeve

Originally posted on longestflight.vox.com

Alex has been attending our church's playgroup for the past 2mths, and he has enjoyed it tremendously. His teachers love him and feedback to us that he's very attentive for his age.

We learnt many children songs along the way and we have been singing "The raindrop song" to Alex without realising it's a Barney song! I never thought I will ever like something related to the purple thingy. Oh, parenthood.

Listen to the song and sing along with me... :p

THE RAINDROP SONG

If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops, oh what a life I would lead.
Standing outside with my mouth open wide.
Eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh
If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops, oh what a life I would lead.

If all the snowflakes were candy bars and milk shakes, oh what a life I would lead.
Standing outside with my mouth open wide.
Eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh
If all the snowflakes were candy bars and milkshakes, oh what I life I would lead.

If all the sun beams were bubble gum and ice cream, oh what a life I would lead.
Standing outside with my mouth open wide.
Eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh
If all the sun beams were bubble gum and ice cream, oh what a life I would lead.

Alex in playgroup

Originally posted on longestflight.vox.com

I'm finally on twitter. Follow me~ Is it twittering or twitting? It's pretty addictive, I must say. Made 11 updates just today and that's discounting the time I was busy and out and about.

Are you still following me? I have an interview tomorrow! Whoppee! It's a good piece of news after feeling like giving away Alex. Yes, my cute little boy who's not cute at all when he refuses to eat or sleep.

Fuzzy pic so I 'bnw' it

We went to Turf City today. Hubb wanted to race his model cars and took half day leave but it always have to rain on the days he wanna race, so he was helping me looking after Alex. :) Together with a neighbour and my CG friend, we trawled to Turd City, I mean Turf city (can't blame me, that place is so run down) and the kiddoes had a grand time in the Fidgets play gym. It's free for babies under 6 months, coz they won't be able to do anything there. I reckon the place is suitable for mobile babies. Had to pay $8 for Alex's entrance. Kids above 2 years old gotta pay $15... CG friend and I agreed that it's pricey for older kids, and especially we have similar kids' play facility at church.

Hubb pushing two cars at one go

Originally posted on longestflight.vox.com

Had to do two personality tests for a head hunter.

I did the MBTI test first and was surprised that I am now a ESTJ. Motherhood has changed me!
ESTJs are responsible, logical, norm-following hard workers. Their efforts are carried out in a practical, structured manner. ESTJs trust facts and experiences more than theories. They are decisive, loyal, tradition observing individuals. They enjoy being the person in charge and often make good supervisors.

Then I did a PAEI test for management style and I am an Intergrator.
The Integrator is people-oriented. True Integrators value social harmony, and thrive on peacemaking and teamwork. The Integrator's pleasantness is unmistakable. Amiable and empathetic, the Integrator is the first to cooperate in helping with tasks or problems. They prefer to work by consensus, instead of taking a strong position against others. Integrators are attracted to people-oriented occupations like Human Resources.

Sound like me? ;)

Alex Hyde (he doesn't look like his usual self, right?)

Originally posted on longestflight.vox.com