A new pouch

Have been bringing the baby out and I realised I needed a nice little pouch that I can slot all the baby stuff into. Bringing the baby out is not troublesome, packing the bag is! I've already have two big LV bags (love them!) that I carry around with the baby but the things inside can be quite a mess... I need something that can hold the pieces of baby diapers, milk powder, bottle, etc. I'm now using the orange BHG plastic bag to contain them but it's ugly loh... I want something more usable and pretty to replace the BHG bag.

I bought this small reversible pouch (i love reversible things!) from a online shop and love it so much that I feel like buying another one - in a different colour! :)

What I like about it is that it fits nicely inside my LV bag and the items inside can be easily transferred to another bag without the hassle of repacking! There are also little pockets inside and outside (11 in total) and makes organisation very easy! It's so neat and handy! Love it! $50 for this, I think it's totally worth it! :P



Material: 100% Nylon
Dimensions: 10 1/4" x 8" x 5" (26cm x 20cm x 13cm)


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Fever

Still active and happy even with a 37.9ºC high fever!



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Lightroom, Premiere, Photoshop

3 wonderful tools for photo and video editing. Scratched the surface of Photoshop CS4. In the middle of Lightroom 2.5. Not started on Premiere yet.




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29 Sep 2009 11:52 PM, DC: I've almost given up on Adobe LR 2.5. Either it's a piece of crap or it's incompatible with Nvidia graphics card. Back to Adobe CS4 ......
21 Sep 2009 10:59 PM, DC: Adobe LR2 fare poorly with Nvidia cards on XP, turned off the anti-aliasing settings. Shaved 3s off the previews. Works ok on Mac ...
21 Sep 2009 9:10 PM, DC: Adobe Lightroom Develop module is quite taxing on my PC. To think a Core2Duo 2.13Ghz, 4GB RAM setup can't run it fast enough ... Buy new PC?
24 Aug 2009, 4:36 PM, DC: People kept asking me why I use two LCD screens. They should use Adobe Lightroom. It makes photo organisation so much slicker.
24 Aug 2009 2:39, DC: Adobe Lightroom seems good to use.


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1st Month Vaccination

Pain is quickly forgotten. However, Baby Aaron did develop a fever the next 2 days.




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Outing to IKEA

I am planning a photo shoot for baby Aaron. Needed some towels and maybe rugs. It's a good excuse to visit IKEA then for some deep fried chicken wings and the very delicious Daim Cake.



While feeding Aaron as I sipped my fragrant coffee, we saw CP's friend, Sharon, coming into the restaurant with her hubby and two daughters as well! We always run into her while we are outside.










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Thank You, Abba! Father!

Thank you Father, for being here with us. It warms us that you are with us these few months, that Baby Aaron is growing up so well, so adorable. It shames us that we have not been relying on you as much as you want us to. Just as your songs of worship brought tears to my eyes, we are reminded of your faithful love and grace. Your love surpasses greatly our love for Aaron, it is everlasting and ever tender.

We enjoy this special moment that you have prepared for us. I have never seen Aaron slept so peacefully before ... for your Presence is with him, Father. Thank you, Abba! Father! Thank you, Lord Jesus!




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Doodling

We gave ah boy some papers to doodle when he came to visit baby last week.

Here's what he drew:


At eight now, the world he imagined is always full of machines, monsters and heroes. Hmm... I wonder what my boy would draw eight years later, would Transformers, Ben 10 and Dinosaurs still be popular among boys then?


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Wrong way up!

We just realized that we were feeding our baby the wrong way these 2 months! This is because we placed the bottle teat the wrong way! This caused us two whole months of worries and heartpain seeing our baby always crying, struggling after each feed fighting against the wind inside and spitting milk though we burped him time over time!

We were just too careless this time!

Lesson learnt: Never NEVER trust anyone even though he/she is the expert! Verify and double check always...

Now that we've turned the bottle the right way up, baby has to get used to chewing the new side! But, he's definitely easier to burp now and there are no bubbles in the bottle! Best, he's can sleep better and for longer hours! :)




Why the NUK shape is not round:

The NUK shape is based on studies undertaken by Dr.med.dent. A.Müller and Prof.Dr.Dr. W.Balters. The NUK shape simulates the nipple during breastfeeding, following nature’s example, and this demands hard work on baby’s part. If, on the other hand, the feed is ingested without requiring any effort, baby may, as a consequence, develop malformations of the jaw and teeth.

Similar to when breastfeeding the flattened baglet of the teat supports the width of the lower jaw, as the tongue is pushed to both sides. The highly arched upper side likewise moulds itself almost perfectly as the palate develops. The lip support is virtually flush, so that - as with suckling at the breast - it is possible to close the lips firmly. This first of all helps train the movement of the lower jaw while sucking, at the same time minimising the swallowing of air, which can so often cause the little ones discomfort from tummy ache.

The teat hole has been intentionally placed towards the back of the teat rather than at the point. This means that the nourishment remains in the mouth of the infant longer, enabling it to be softened more easily with saliva - an important consideration for healthy digestion.

THE NUK Anti-Colic AIR VENT SYSTEM:
A vacuum builds up in the bottle when baby is sucking. Babies then have to suck against this vacuum – resulting in the swallowing of air. This makes your baby feel unwell.

All NUK teats have the NUK Air System, which compensates for the vacuum in the bottle. It reduces infant colic and the harmful swallowing of air.


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Shingles At A Glance

* Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox and can be spread to people who have not had chickenpox.
* Shingles, also known as Herpes zoster, is not related to the sexually transmitted herpes virus disease called herpes genitalis.
* Shingles may cause pain that can continue after the rash disappears.
* Steroids and antiviral drugs can help prevent long-term pain after shingles if they are started within the first two days of the appearance of the rash.
* A vaccine is available for people over 60 years of age to reduce the incidence and severity of shingles.

My poor dad is exercising self-quarantine now, it must been very painful for him to contract the disease after his eye op and not able to go outdoors... and not able to see his little grandson! That has to wait till he's well again.


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Baby is 2 months old!

We have started bringing baby out... Today, we brought him to United Square and as usual, we took lots of pictures of him and with him even while he was sleeping! :)



Baby is developing very well. His weight and "length" has been increasing steadily (although still fall behind his peers). The umbilical granuloma was no longer there and his skin has gained back the moisture (did I mention previously that he was a very dry baby at birth and was peeling all over?).

He's now on BM in the day and FM in the night and accepts direct latching very well! He even knows where to find his milk! :) After feeding, he can burp by himself easily however, this still doesn't help to keep the milk down...

He starts to utter some "eh" (when he is angry or trying to attract attention), "heh" (when he is contented) and "ha" (when he is in the mood to play) other than crying. When we heard the throaty grunting noises for the first time, we were so very excited! :D

Baby is still smiling a lot. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I found another dimple (in addition to his two known dimples) on his right cheek more obvious when he is crying out loud!

His neck is stronger now and is able to support his head for quite a while before the head starts bobbing. He still doesn't like to be laid on his tummy and would cry helplessly and gave that "sad" look whenever I did that to him! Ha!

He is most active and alert during the late afternoons and nights. He likes to stare at the window and is very interested in the light that pass through the window. Refused to sleep till past midnight, he often makes his daddy very tired in the night and exhausted from the lack of sleep the next morning. Such a night owl, very much like both his parents! :P The good thing is, I don't have to wake up in the middle of the night for he is able to sleep through it.

Haha, I can still go on and on but I think I'll stop here for now... am still loving and having fun taking care of him! :)


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Blue - The Simplified version

Now everything is about the baby. :)


简单就是美！

Also added: Google Ads to earn some milk powder money, haha... help us click on the ads (of course, if they are applicable to you). :P


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Dim Sum Satisfaction with Baby

Again, I wanted to have some dim sum. It seems like after baby Aaron arrived, we have much lesser time going outdoors. A good thing by the way because it help me to lose weight.

Brunch at Peach Garden (Thomson Plaza):



Specialty - Roast Pork, nicely done with cripsy skin and minimal fats!







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Coffee Together

I got my coffee fix finally. After much debating, we decided to bring baby out for dinner. We just have to feed him there and then if he wants.

Down we went to Coffee Club at Paragon. Things had changed at Paragon in the last few months. Spageddies is no more, Coffee Club had moved and expanded; Sushi Teh took the top floor next to Fitness First.

Crepe Champignon - I quite like the stuffed mushrooms and cream cheese.


Sheperd's Pie


Chocolate Delice


Sadly, the latte was rather bland.


Family Photos - As you can see, it's no more about us two anymore but with Baby Aaron as well.






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2's company but 3's not a crowd

Indeed, how can one complain when it comes to more desktop screen space. I tried not to DIY my PC anymore but old habits are hard to break. Not wanting the old Voodoo 3 graphics card to go to waste, I decided to install it onto my Windows PC.

Firstly, it's a PCI graphics card, which tells you how old it is. Upon bootup, Windows can detect the card correctly. However, when I tried to join it to the other 2 monitors, it complained big time. Search around on the web for some drivers. Fortunately, I could still find some. Tried 2 different drivers before the third one worked.

I guess if I want to continue a 3 monitor setup with Windows 7, I probably need to upgrade the motherboard as well. The motherboard needs to be able to support 2 PCI-e graphics card. I doubt the old PCI Voodoo card will work in Windows 7.

Looking at the 3 LCD monitors, simply fantastic! The only pity is the 3rd monitor isn't black in colour but at least it's the same model as the rest.




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The lost and Found: Othello

The black-eyed pea dropped off, leaving the belly button area nicely sealed :) I was wondering where the dried bit had gone to... and I found it on the floor when I was picking up the white bits that fell off from the washed nappies while I was lining the laundry! One of the white bits led me to the black pea. :)



The two fallen bits were of the same size but different colours - white and black.
When placed together, they reminded me of the game - Othello! Makes me feel like playing the game! Maybe I should search for the online game? Hmm...


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Black-eyed Pea

The blue eye turned black-eyed pea today! It's finally drying up! :)




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What's for breakfast today?

Now, my breakfast is mostly settled by DC.

When I woke up today, I saw this:


On the menu today was Baguette with butter and cheese. A 3-piece meal so nicely displayed with variation! :) It was quite a pleasant surprise and that made my heart warm and day great. I love it when there's breakfast thoughtfully prepared esp after a bad night.

At night, he looked puzzled when I praised him about his works.

"What r u talking about?"
"The 3-piece breakfast!"
"What 3-piece?"
I described to him in details...
"Oh, that one!"
Then he started laughing out loud...
It was my turn now to be puzzled...
"What r u laughing about?"
"Ha, ha... that was a 2-piece turned 3-piece!"

Oh! So one of the side had fell out and I thought that was intentional! I'm wordless...


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Stylo Dad

Dad had an eye op last Thu 10 Sep 09 and couldn't go anywhere without his pair of shades now. Stylo but stubborn dad refused to heed Mum's advice (she had the same op done some years back) to rest at home and went out the very next day (to my house, with the sunglasses on of course)! I was so shocked to find him at my door to deliver my lunch!

Sis told me a joke about him:
He was about to leave the house when he suddenly remembered he forgot to put his sunglasses on. Everyone burst out laughing 'cos he had it on - it was on his head! :D

Haha... though this is a very common thing that has happened to a lot of people before but when I imagined my mighty dad making the same mistake, I couldn't help but laugh at it! :) Must be very funny, too bad I'm not with them then...


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Umbilical Granuloma

Baby's umbilical cord dropped off long time ago leaving a lump of flesh sticking out. Our GP discovered this during the first month assessment and gave us a solution and antibiotic powder to apply on him. However, after almost one month today, the stump still remain and got a little reddish and oozed mucous! Fearing that it may be infected, I (with Sis) bought him to the pediatrician to check.

It was a condition called umbilical granuloma and umbilical granulomas develop in about 1 out of 500 births. My baby is so 'lucky' to be one of them!

Dr Ng treated it with copper sulphate (blue chemical - ahh, I remembered playing with this in the old school days during chemistry lesson!) and told me to see him after half hour. While waiting, we (me and my sis) took lots of photos with the baby. (I know, this is just so me! :P)

After the wait (fr the first in queue to the last!), he cleaned up the site and we're done - no follow up was required unless it did not dry up completely. Felt so relieved after this visit! :)

The stump is now bluish, not the earlier flesh or reddish in colour. It remains us of the Russian evil eye, we nicknamed it the blue eye.



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Knowing Your Batteries

I've always been charging my NiMH batteries using a simple charger. Lately, it seems some of the batteries are having problems as the charger kept flashing the error signal.

After some thought, I decided to splurge on a more sophisticated battery charger, the PowerEx MH-C9000 WizardOne Battery Analyser.

It's a worthwhile buy at S$99 (comes with 4 x 2100 MAH NiMH batteries). It is able to tell you the rechargeable battery's capacity and condition it as well. Each battery slot has its independent circuit to charge each battery separately.

Using this charger, I finally am able to find out the faulty battery. Cool :).




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Spageddies no more?

We wanted to go Spageddies at Paragon to satisfy DC's cravings for chocolate cake with ice-cream (he has this craving for weeks already!) only to find out that the restaurant was there no more!

Just very recently, the branch at Tanglin Mall was closed and now Paragon? What has happened to Spageddies? I wonder if the one at Bedok is still operational? But, all the way to Bedok for cakes, hmm...

Love their cakes but now, I need to cut down on such rich food. Fortunately I have my fill during my pregnant days... no regrets! :P


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So, what's for entertainment now?

With a baby, we have no time for movies... so now we target the TV series.
Smaller screen but we enjoyed it just as well.

We've just completed Korean drama 爱也好恨也好 on TV and both seasons 1 & 2 of the Canadian series Flashpoint. Now we are on the Hong Kong drama 巾幗梟雄 "Rosy Business" and the Korean drama 媳妇的全盛时代 on channel U.

Nice!







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COMEX 2009

I think it's now or never. My HP deskjet printer has been serving me for 11 years without any problem. However, it's time to free up my desk space and opt for a multi-function printer that can scan as well.

So the latest addition to my "office-at-home" from COMEX 2009:

Brother DCP-7040 Mono-Laser Printer-Scanner (S$268)


The software doesn't really work well on the Mac OS, so I decided to connect it back to the XP PC ... Maybe next time when I go for a colour laser, I'll choose Canon. It may have better support for Mac ... hopefully.


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Bubble Milk (for) Thee?

Baby created that much of bubbles in the milk bottle. A new skill, I wonder if it's a good one?


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Spilt Milk

Spilled some milk when I helped DC off his hp alarm by the bedside...



No, I did not cry over the precious spilt milk. Rather, I was upset when DC fussed over the newly changed (now stained) bedsheet instead! :(


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Establishing sleep routine

Sleep deprivation is the worst thing that could happen to a sleep lover like me. Baby was not helping by having random sleep patterns and being cranky and clingy.

Fri: Baby stayed awake from 230pm to 9pm. That's a whole 7 hrs, too long a period for a newborn! Then, he woke up for milk at 1am, 4am and 830am and that's Sat already.
Sun: He slept at 4am and woke up at 530am for milk and he finally slept through till 930am.
Mon: He refused to sleep at night and I stayed up from 2am trying to get him to sleep! Finally managed to get him to sleep at 5am but he slept very lightly and woke up at 7am the next morning!
Tue: He slept from 11pm to 5pm (surprisingly) but stayed awake for 2 whole hours before he slept again at 730am. We kept him awake for the photo re-shoot so that he can be tired and asleep during the shooting. He should be very tired but he didn't sleep much at night. He slept at 12 plus and was awake from 4am till 6am.

Maybe because we have disrupted his sleep yesterday, he was not sleeping today!

On good days, he will sleep 4 hours at night and on bad, he will stay awake the whole night. I'm totally exhausted, everyday sleeping 2-3 hours at night and napping 0.5-1 hour only!

We suspected that baby is not sleeping well because of the 'wind' in the stomach and applied oil on him to rid the wind. Hopefully, he (me too) would have a better rest tonight!

I think we need to establish a bedtime routine fast before the current become a habit. We've heard quite a bit on training the baby to sleep at night and the "cry-it-out' method. Maybe we'll give this a try also?


[14 Sep 2009: We've tried the cry-it-out method, but I chickened out, just couldn't bear hearing the baby cry. :P

Despite all the trying, baby worked out a routine for himself! He now sleeps mostly in the day, stays awake in the afternoon and evening and sleeps through the night waking up at 7am! Although not ideal, at least now I don't even have to wake up at 4 or 5am to feed him. 没天没夜的日子过去了！:)

The trick? Just a larger feed before bed, that's all!
]


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Gone for 60

With a baby in tow, I doubt I'll ever be able to carry much camera gear around. So off goes another of my camera bag for $60.

Lowepro Stealth Reporter D400AW


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