The boy has been using my iPhone has figured out how to use the intuitive "swiping" navigation technique for some time now. He also knows how to recognise familiar faces in photographs. So last week after enjoying a nice lunch at NYNY with a huge root beer float *sluurrpps!* :P, I decided to test if he is able to combine these 2 skills ...
It's been ages since I set foot on a beach. So last Monday we took the opportunity to take leave and bring the boy to let him experience sand under his feet. We chose Monday morning because there would be less people at the beach, even though it is currently the school holidays.
Reached there bright and early (10 a.m.) and immediately found a nice secluded spot (with a shelter) at the breakwater on Palawan Beach. Had our KFC breakfast at the private beach with the birds (and a squirrel!). The weather that day was really nice and cool. If only I had brought a hammock ... :-)
Anyway, after breakfast, the boy experienced sand for the first time. He initially stood on one leg (the one with the shoe still on) ... and after removing both shoes, he didn't dare to move after walking a few steps! I guess either he is not used to the prickly sand, or maybe his feet are still too sensitive.
Anyhow, it was a nice relaxing morning and we left before it got too hot at noon. Maybe next time can come back to explore Siloso Beach (more happening) or Tanjong Beach (more private).
Click HERE for the slideshow
The boy is growing fast. It is amazing to see him develop his skills, especially his emotions. Luckily for us, being happy is something which he tends to show quite often. Soon, he will learn a host of other emotions, some desirable and others not, and these will be displayed freely.
Once upon a time, we were all like this, free with our emotions. I don't know when one starts to learn to put a "filter" on them. Different people learn different "filters" and I guess that partly contributes to the development of our personality.
I don't get called names often but the ones that I always hear are things like "Mr. Cool" or "Cool Man" etc. Why? I guess I may have too many "filters" in place. How did they get there? Maybe it's being the eldest in the family, or having to take on more responsibility and provide a good example to siblings. Well, no idea really.
How does one change then? I got a clue from last week's course on leadership. The trainer mentioned that the human mind consists of 10% consciousness and 90% unconsciousness. To get to the 90%, we have to go through that 10%. My guess is that all these filters are in that unconscious part of the brain and I will need to exercise a lot of practice through the conscious brain in order to effect a change.
So technically it seems one can change his or her personality, and it's really a matter of conscious re-learning.
In case you are wondering of there was a spelling error on the title of this entry, there isn't. The title appropriately describes our experience this morning at the HortPark off Alexandra Road.
We decided to bring the boy down to HortPark today for a short morning walk before lunch. I guess we were a bit late and the weather ended up very hot. There were plenty of things to see for the greenfinger but other than that, it was just heat and sweat. Anyway, we managed to explore most part of the park even though we had to rush from shade to shade.
If you are ever thinking of going there, best time is EARLY morning or LATE evening.
It's been ages since I've visited the zoo. The last time I was there, Kidz World wasn't even developed yet. So it was no wonder that I didn't know it existed till a colleague told me about it and I went to check the website.
Anyway, wifey got a weekday pass for the Zoo from her office, and it happens to cover the boy's actual birthday. So to give him an extra treat, and for us to take a break from the office, we decided to go make day trip to the Zoo.
Other than the usual pram, baby bag etc. I also brought along the K20D with 2 lenses. It was lots of stuff to carry around and I guess it was also great exercise.
Of the whole trip, the boy enjoyed himself thoroughly at the Kidz World wet play area. Spent at least 2 out of the 5 hours we were there!
Next time if you are planning to drop by the Zoo and Kidz World, I would recommend weekdays, even if it means taking leave. It is totally worth it!
Click on the photo below to see the slideshow.
We have never organised any kind of party in our lives. The only thing that came close was the first month celebration for the boy, and that was a simple affair with just food and nothing else.
So when it came to his first birthday, we took some time to decide whether to "outsource" it, or to plan our own. In the end, we opted to do something ourselves and held it at the function room at our place.
We kept it simple, with mainly relatives and some close friends, catered food, simple decorations but splurged a bit more on the cake.
It was a tiring day but I think we managed to pull it off. The boy enjoyed his party and left with plenty of loot ... :-D
Click on the photo below to see the slideshow!
The boy has been practicing walking for the past month or so and I think he's got the hang of it. The walks started about 2-3 weeks ago from an independent step or two, to several metres now, including changing direction. Lately, he's also started to carry stuff around, like his favourite toy balls as well as a washbasin!
Anyway, what that means now is it's even more difficult to keep an eye on him as he could run off pretty quickly!
The boy has just officially endorsed his first product, the ThudGuard.
Go to the official ThudGuard Singapore website and click on his little wobbly head to see the "endorsement video" ... Haha!
Flickr provides an alternative platform to YouTube for uploading videos. So far, the experience has been very good. The uploads are fast, processing for each video is fast and you can upload multiple videos at one time. Also, the video quality seems to be better than YouTube!
Here are 3 examples!
This year's Christmas was eventful. There were plenty of gatherings with family and friends. However, somehow the mood seems to be less festive than previous years. I think maybe it's the current state of the economy, or maybe its because I am in the middle of working on a tender...
24 Dec (Christmas Eve)
There were some plans for "snaking" but most of us in the office (CPO) were invited to a corporate Christmas Lunch which was held at a restaurant in VivoCity. The food was good but the quantity not really enough. Not everyone had a chance to go for seconds. Anyway, as with any "standard" corporate lunch, there were games and prizes and also a gift exchange. Exchanged my Ferrero Rochers for box of biscuits ...
25 Dec (Christmas Day)
We postponed our Christmas BBQ to Sat, so today was a simple dinner at another cousin's place where we exchanged and opened presents for the kids.
26 Dec (Boxing Day)
Today is family day. Yes, a day for just the three of us. We mostly relaxed at home and went out for some shopping, dinner and also attempted to walk a bit of Orchard Road to look at the lights and decor. Unfortunately, it was hot, crowded and very super noisy with all the street performances and DJ music, so we only made it to the stretch in front of Takashimaya before we gave up...
27 Dec (Sat)
Two gatherings today, one for lunch and one for dinner. Lunch is at wifey's friend's place and dinner is a BBQ at my cousin's place. It was pretty much a huge logistics operation bringing the boy out for almost the whole day. The car was fully loaded with presents, baby essentials such as food, milk, diapers etc, and even his bathtub/basin and baby monitor were not left idle at home. What a tiring day!
28 Dec (Sun)
It's back to work tomorrow, but today, it is still the long weekend. Lunch was out with some of wifey's friends at a family friendly restaurant in United Square (GlobeTrotters). Got to get myself back into gear to clear up most of the work required for the current tender that I am working on. Only then can I enjoy the New Year and be less stressed.
KooshLog: Cayden's Diary: 7 months
Some photos to add on to the boy's 7 month diary entry...
The little boy is growing fast. He is coming to 7 months and has finally achieved his first mobility milestone ...
Last week, I was in San Diego when I received news from wifey that the boy has "discovered" crawling! I was excited. When I can back, he was really doing it. Today, he crawled towards the walker and started climbing, and he managed to get himself up into a standing position! I guess his legs are well conditioned to support his weight from the endless hours of jumping up and down.
From his bath time and the fun he had in Bintan, we can see that the boy loves being in the water. So the first thing we got for him after the family trip was his own swim diapers, swim suit, kiddie sun block and "deluxe" starfish kiddie float!
We took him downstairs for a short while in the late afternoon today and boy did he have fun!
It's been a long time since I had so much activities on the weekend ...
Sat (AM):
Was supposed to have lunch with Wifey's friends at Vivocity Marche. So we happily went there and when we reached, we realised that we were 24 hours too early, thanks to some mis-communication (not on my part ... :-P ) In any case, we attempted and succeeded in having lunch with the boy at Shin Kushiya. Most part of it was taking turns looking after Cayden as he woke up before our set lunches arrived. Not very glamorous but we managed to finish our Mixed Kushiyaki Set and Cha Soba Set before he made any fuss. In fact, we were so busy with him that we forgot to take photos ... shucks!
After that it was shopping at Giant before heading down to in-laws place for part 2 for the day.
Sat (PM):
It was Wifey's aunt's birthday. So she treated us to dinner at Joe's Kitchen Thai Restaurant. Its a small restaurant at Alexandra Village with cheap but reasonably good Thai food. HERE are some pictures of what we ordered.
Sun (AM)
Went back to Vivocity AGAIN and this time we finally had our lunch at Marche. Spent about 2 hours catching up and taking some photos before we left
Sun (PM)
This is finally when we got time to relax for the weekend, although about an hour was spent trying to get the boy to sleep, and another hour trying to get him to stop crying and go back to sleep after he woke up (probably from a bad dream or loud noise).
I think the picture below aptly sums up our weekend ... :-D
When we wanted a place to go for lunch during the Hari Raya holiday, we decided to go to Shokudo as all (except me and wifey) have not been there before.
This is the third time I'm here and this time its with family. It is also Cayden's longest outing yet. Although we (those with kids) were late for 45 minutes, we had a blast ... heh heh!
Click on the Photo above to see Flickr Set
Tuesday I took child care leave and brought Cayden to NUH for his second round of vaccination. The pediatrician seemed to be pleased with "little botak's" physical development. His comments were that he was about 2 months ahead. (i.e. He can now turn over, interact through voice, grab stuff and even stand supported for a few seconds). Obviously mummy and daddy were very happy to hear this.
Anyway, the vaccinations this time round included 1 oral (Rotavirus) and 2 injections (Pneumococcal and the 5-in-1). There was screaming but it was short.
After that, we brought him to Takashimaya to accompany us while we went to convert our broadband, home phone and wifeys' mobile phone to MIO plan. The process was so complicated that it took almost 2 hours! What came out of it was that I got a Nokia N78 (with the S$100 discount) for S$38 only.
The N78 is quite an amazing phone packed full of features and it was on offer for just S$138 with a price plan. Its got the works ... 3 megapixel Carl Zeiss with AF and LED flash, 3G, Quad Band, WiFi, A-GPS, Bluetooth, stereo speakers, FM radio, Internet Radio etc. etc.
Tested out all these features and they worked like a charm. Only thing is the GPS took quite some time to lock on to the Satellites (even with the A-GPS).
Sample shot taken with the 3MP Carl Zeiss below:
Unfortunately, my office "officially" does not allow the use of camera phones, so this N78 will either be a weekend phone or it will be used "discreetly" since I have an "offical" non-camera E51.
Oh yes, we also managed to finish a nice dinner at the Japanese restaurant at Takashimaya B2 today without any problems with the boy too!
The boy's head was shaven on Monday ... looked like he didn't mind a bit!
In fact, his hair is back with a vengeance. It's Friday today and the stubbly regrowth is now quite obvious.
The last time I set foot on a plane was almost a year ago, when Cayden was smaller than a peanut and Gold was around US$600/oz. (Argh!)
Anyway, I am now working on a tender for Dubai (among several other things, as usual). About two months ago, I was asked to go but I managed to excuse myself from the trip as Cayden was only 1+ month old. This time round there is a second trip, and being the officially appointed technical lead, I think it's better that I go.
Which means ...
I will miss baby Cayden for 1 week
I will feel the heat in Dubai (close to 40 degrees Centigrade) for 1 week
I will experience Ramadan in Dubai for 1 week (no food/drink in public during the day)
I will be working full-time with overseas partners for 1 week
The only plus points that I see is that this will be a new experience as I have not been to Dubai before. Hopefully as well, I can learn much from working with these overseas partners.
Stay tuned for updates and maybe some photos if I have time.
The last hope of a great family / work life balance faded away during the weekend as the last TOTO ticket was carefully scrutinised, and then dumped into the trash bin. Is it really that hard to achieve?
Wifey has only started going back to work for less than a week after maternity leave and we were "forced" to leave the boy at the in-law's place overnight because of work related reasons:
1. Meeting at 8:30am in the morning, too early to fetch the boy from home to in-law's.
(A whole bunch of people turned up ... and mostly wasted their time)
2. Meeting until 9:00pm at night, too late to bring the boy home.
(Probably so people can claim for their taxi fare home)
Recently, there has been talk about raising the declining birth rate. I just heard on the news that Singapore's current figure stands at 1.29. A quick search on the Internet revealed articles in 2004 at which the birth rate was 1.25. I'm not sure how accurate these figures are but a 0.04 increase over 4 years is hardly encouraging.
Personally, I think $$$ may not be the factor for most couples when it comes to having children. Time is more important. Working environments and working habits and expectations of bosses need to be changed.
Anyway, both of us work in government-related industries. Wifey has a better deal from her HR which offers an encouraging pro-family/baby package, but unfortunately, mine doesn't even offer a single day of paternity leave ...
