Chocolate's influence

What happened to Gracelle? [SHOCKED! when I saw her]

Fear not! Blame it on the Oreo biscuit. Mummy passed her a piece of Oreo biscuit and after half an hour, I was greeted by this dirty face girl. I am not worried about the mess on her face, it fact, I burst into laugther!

What's next?
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..
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She seems to goes hyper after eating chocolate??? She did not nap during the day, jumping around with joy. Then, I suddenly remember there was once she had brownie at a housewarming event, and she seems to have the same "condition"... and, I wonder? and I wonder how, wonder why, wonder what happened?

Since then, I have been trying to notice if chocolate or sugar promote the hyperactivity in her. If you Google, you can find numerous article relating to this topic: "Does sugar make kids hyper?", "Sugar does not make kids hyper." Ohhh... I am confused! God has made her special, she does not like ice-cream (sweet and cold), cakes (sweet?), honey star (sweet?). Maybe is for a purpose?!

Anyone had the same experience?

She knows how to blow her nose

Thank God, Gracelle is on the road to full recovery from her stomach flu.

Guess what? My darling knows how to blow her nose! [Applause!] Give her a tissue paper, and she will blow and wipe her nose :)  I think she is amazing, simply because, when we were young, instead of blowing the mucus out (sorry, if it sounds gross), we suck it back in! YUCKS! She learnt and is familiar with this action as young as 18months old.

Thanks to my babysitter, cause she has contributed greatly to this success! Gracelle is seldom down with flu, but whenever she does, auntie will ask her to "huh.. huh" (meaning blow). How do we teach Gracelle to blow her nose? I suppose she learn by imitating us. I am sure she imitate us, because she also imitate our coughing :(

Now, give her a tissue, she will go "huh.. huh", and throw! (in the dustbin, of course)

Don't give up if your child has not learn this skill. Show her how to do it, and she will imitate for sure!

Viral Gastroenteritis (stomach flu)

Gracelle is down with stomach flu :(

Viral gastroenteritis is inflamation of the stomach and intenstines from a virus. What is the cause of it? The doctor said: 1) could be contaminated food, or 2) virus/bacteria infection. The latter requires antibiotics for treatment. Because of the inflamation, she also have lots of wind/gas in her stomach, and the infection caused her to vomit and have diarrhea.

How to treat stomach flu?
1) Gut rest - (I have never heard of such thing?) meaning strict diet, NO oil! NO vegetable! NO fruits! She is only allow plain porridge, and diluted milk (in fact milk (even dairy product) is not encouraged, but she is still a toddler... so milk powder portion is to be cut by half!)
2) Rehydration - to replace lost fluids, minerals and salts. Doctor has prescribed her with oral electrolyte solution, NO fruit juice. Basically, just make sure she drinks water and stay hydrated.  How to know she is hydrated? Monitor her urine volume and the colour of her urine; concentrated urine appears dark yellow.

IMPORTANT: Prevent dehydration!

During her previous episode of Croup, she was really weak and was unable to engage or interact much. Her activity level will determine how sick she is. Thank God, despite the stomach flu discomfort, she is still quite active.

Get well soon...

Korean Strawberries

Do you know that Singapore is world's largest importer of Korean strawberries? Aside from kimchi and K-pop, next time, when you frequent the supermarket, do pay attention to Korean strawberries.

Recently, I bought a box of Korean strawberries, and to my surprise, is not just juicy and sweet, but you can feel the freshness! I was delighted and bought another 2 more boxes the very next day (hey, don't call me 'kiasu'!)

Gracelle loves strawberries! Okay, her expression may shows otherwise, but her personal "Guinness World Records" was a whopping 6 pieces of strawberries! And she kept asking for it the very next day when she saw me with another 2 boxes.

Tampines 1: Wildlife-Themed Rooftop Playground

Thanks to Fleishman-Hillard, we were invited to Tampiness 1, Singapore's first wet and dry wildlife-themed rooftop playground, and had the privilege to experience it before it is officially opened to the public.

The children were greeted by the very talented balloon artist who goes around creating a variety of beautiful balloon sculptures for the guest. Gracelle got a dog :)

There are educational signboards around to educate the children about animals and where they are from. Other than the polar bear and seal slides, there is also ice bergs. Gracelle enjoys playing at the ice bergs area (swimming away~). See how happy she was!

Other than the slides, here's another wet area for the children.

The water flow is not too strong, but consistent, so is safe for young children as young as 2 years old. Gracelle is just 23 months old, she was initially a bit reserve, but once she stepped out, she really enjoyed herself to the max!

If you are looking for playground, head down to the wildlife-themed rooftop playground located at Tampiness 1. It will be open on 10 March 2012! This is another fun playground for the kids to explore during this March holidays. And best of all, is FREE! After the play, the children can get change at the comfort of the changing room.

Take note, the rooftop access is via escalator on level 5 (beside Amore Living).

Are you ready for another baby?

When you are married, everyone keep asking:"when are you going to start having babies?" After you had your first kid, the next question:"when are you going to have a second one?" Mummies out there, please raise your hand if you had exeprienced the same.

How or what to consider when deciding to have a second child? The decision to have a second (or third, or fourth) isn't always easy. The Chinese belief having a dragon baby (meaning a baby born in the year of dragon) will bring good luck. No offence, I do not believe such myth.

Raising a child is an expensive affair especially with the rising cost of living in Singapore. We need to consider: 1) financial stability, 2) age - a major factor, especially for the mother. If you are below 30, you definitely can have a few years to spare (good for you); if you are over 35, then is a different story. This is a chicken and egg dilemma considering when is the best time to have another one. 3) consensus - both husband and wife needs to consent to the decision as this may be a new wave of changes to the current lifestyle. Tough decision, isn't it?

Let me share a good news to you, which may not be widely publicised. If you are considering having a baby, go to Maybe Baby and take the plunge into parenthood and pledge. Be the 1st 100 couples to successfully conceive after you pledge and you will be rewarded with by Abbott Nutrition products. Good luck!

This is my Tiger baby - roar!

Carbohydrates food

I am back, after neglecting my blog for a while... If you are a FTWM with no helper, be it domestic helper or parents, you will understand my situation.

I wrote about loving bread sometime ago. Recently, I realise my darling really have an affection, I mean a BIG FAN  for carbohydrates food, the bread, biscuit, rice and noodle. By that, I mean plain sliced bread, plain cracker, plain rice and/or noodle. Yes, PLAIN is the key word! Strange? But she just like something simple. She loves to munch on biscuit; it is her favorite snack and healthier option, considering she does not fancy tibits.

Children learn through experience. Their small little brain (is it as small as a bird's brain?) growth is constantly growing and developing, and increase in complexity and maturity. At this stage, she does not understand what the adults understand, so she does not understand why should I have cheese spread on my plain sliced bread or other biscuit variety. I suppose she needs time to explore the variety of food - which translate into more mess, maybe? and cleaning it up.

See how happy and enjoyable she was, self-feeding, chewing, munching her favorites.

Does your kid have a liking for just biscuit and bread only?