Eat, drink and be married!

Thanks to The Chill Mom, we scored tickets to Singapore's 1st Indoor Butterfly Aviary. Shoppers can redeem a pair of tickets to the butterfly aviary with a minimum spend of $158 at HarbourFront Centre. American Express card members only need to charge $128 to their card. Limited to the first 30 redemptions per day


Or if all else fails, pay $10 per head for entry!







The area was small, infact juts the event space right next to the info counter.









With a cap on the number of visitors, we had to wait for our turn. Upon entering, we spied these winged beauties feasting on watermelon slices.





We were handed a butterfly and I was just too squeamish to handle it - Hubba said it's really light!





First encounter upclose and personal with the fluttering insect. I'm not sure if he really liked or disliked it.





He was amused at some point.







And just bewildered when the other kids gamely placed them on their shoulders for photos.









I just had to...place it there too!





Unbeknownst to him, there was a little friend on his jumper.







We did the unthinkable by having it pinned on his head.





And he barely moved! HAHA. #assholeparents









All in it was a fun 15 minute excursion, we learnt heaps about the life cycle of a butterfly and got really close to these creatures and also ended it with a bookmark!


Worth a trip only if you have a minimum purchase, else the $10 is really painful to part for a toddler unaccompanied.


Exhibition is on till 25 February 2018, make haste!

One day late and...happy belated wedding anniversary to the Hubba. With a child in tow, the focus of this blog has shifted to all on the bub and sometimes I forget why this blog was even started. Four years and I absentmindedly thought it was 8. HAHA.

It has not been an easy 4 years, we struggled, fought, had our fair share of disappointments, teary episodes and then...we all emerge a little stronger.

Nobody ever said marriage was easy work, and it wasn't mean to be. It's strange almost how I have forgotten most of my own vow yet I remember part of his - to make me laugh, cry and laugh more than I cry. And well...he did live out that promise and to many more of these annoying years..!

Looking back on our wedding day highlights...I cannot help but muse...we were all skinnier, younger looking and...thought marriage was just the next chapter. :)

Nineteen months, holy cow. Have we really gotten so far? This month has gone by so so so fast and school made you sucha character with a mind of your own. Did we bring this upon ourselves for starting school this early?

• New words this month include "switch", "xie xie", he gets incredibly excited when he can point out "same same" objects
• Food is still one of his greatest loves - try as I might to keep his food choices with varied as possible with little or no seasoning at all. I've gotten the hang of hiding food in his food (meatballs with carrots!)
• SKIN has been the bane of all our foodie escapades, must've been school and the non-skin chompers. Before school he was the kid who ate nearly everything and now, we have an issue with fruit with skin, pau with skin and...the list goes on for almost eternity. Terrific twos?
• Cooking for him has gotten wayyyy more fun with more cooking techniques - pasta sauces, homemade bread, sweet potato pau, tortilla, pita bread and....icecream! Dadda got us an icecream machine and I've dabbled with flavours like banana and sweet potato for the bub and honey avocado and brown sugar cookies for adults!
• I randomly discovered he can count to 10 and recite A to Z after me..SO CUTE! And the gusto he has always amuses all of us.
• He loves helping us do little chores, from putting his bottles and teats in the dryer to throwing rubbish and putting his dirty clothes into his designated laundry basket.

Stay little for that wee bit more?

Sensory play is the buzzword for children of this millenium, I don't remember growing up with this term much less knowing what sensory play is about. For sure, it would have been a similar concept. I love how there are SO many like minded moms around and the internet is a haven for all these recipes, I've tried as much as possible to use baby friendly ingredients.









Sensory bins



I tried to find a theme with the bins I put together but...they always end up being a mix of things I find around the house.





My first seaside bin with a bunch of plastic sandplay tools and colourful blocks.


Then it became anything that I think he'd like. Turns out I was half right about his preferences, the things that he was denied previously (the torch light, pink crepe paper that he was shredding to bits...and a button).













All you need is a random metal tin and fur balls! I was definitely more excited about it than him.








Aluminum foil too, was oddly not such a great toy as I'd expected.





Homemade play dough

3-4 cups flour
1/2 cup warm water
1-2 drops food colouring









After pinching and throwing, I was left with a mess to clean up. Looks like he is not too ready for playdough just yet! My cutters can wait!













Homemade playdough version 2









The second try was definitely a better success than the first, I kept them in the fridge and played with it again a good month later and it was still soft and pliable!







We had a total of two separate sessions with this, the first time round was less interactive because I let him explore the textures and I fragranced it with pandan.














The second was a blast! It became a family activity where we sat a total of 90 mins (gasp) reliving our childhood and introducing it into C's childhood. Voted best family time activity by the family.









Homemade rainbow rice
1 cup rice
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
Food colouring






Great for that fine pincer grip!





It all started out very tame and things got messy (as expected) and when rice throwing started, I knew it signaled the end of our sensory play session.







Jello and agar agar were both fun affairs! A pity my Jell-O was too runny, it ended up a watery mess but he had fun scooping and creating a mess (as always).









The BEST sensory play ever, waterbeads! I got mine from Daiso!





I had a good 30 minutes of silence and it did not seem to bore him watching the beads bounce off. But I would caution about paying 200% attention to your toddler to ensure none of it gets consumed.













Edible Waterbeads








Big sago pearls are the answer to these and I coloured them twice! The first time ended up too starchy. How awesome is this lasting throughout the whole day and after two plays, we binned it.


Definitely a lot more child friendly than the waterbeads, the only grouse is the colouring does stick so one ends up with coloured fingers (but nothing that a sprinkle of baking soda cannot fix!)





I'm in love with those colours!!!!










My waterbaby probably ranks this tops. He ended up so drenched but his wide smiles are more than worth it.











Painting with....Popsicles!




His hand muscles probably will not be developed for a while and I do not have thick grip brushes at home so I thought of using our existing ice popsicles as colouring tools.





The hot weather was just too much for us and the popsicles too. They melted so fast and was a great painting tool!





Doodling in progress.





My little Picasso in the making eh? Best part of it? Tear and throw!





These are so easy to clean up, I'm definitely repeating this.






Ice Chalk Play!


Corn Flour
Colouring
Water







I LOVE THIS. Personally.







It's painting and anti gravitational. The paint is melty and solid at once, does not create such a mess as expected and....the colours! My range of food colouring goes pastel...major love!





I had so much fun, I repeated it for a less impressed bub.




Coloured Pasta


Less messy than rice and it was easier to teach colours.


1 cup pasta
1 tsp of vinegar
Food Colouring
















Corn kernels and beans









I even replaced the pasta with googly eyes and buttons for variety.






I hope you enjoyed this as much as I had testing and trying the recipes available. Those minutes of peace I get are so precious, I wish he'd be so enthralled with these homemade play fun activities for long.

With the Parents Curriculum Tea Session happening at the end of the week, I started the week hoping very hard the crying bouts would be weaned by this week. Talk about expectations huh.






Day 11: Moving onto extended day?

He sensed we were going with the routine of dropping off bag in the cubbyhole, place his waterbottle in the basket and then head out for play. He started raising his hands to be carried and whining before wailing. His Chinese teacher came over to take him to breakfast table and despite the whole dramatic "MAAAMAAAA" with arms outreached and tears spewing out, he settled rather quickly.


Thank GOD for a tamchiak child.


On a separate note, we are considering shifting him to extended and full day soon - onward to more normalcy in life!








Day 12: Finally another teacher that he is familiar with


I had my reservations when I was told he loved one particular teacher and she had to devote her attention on him, no other child could be near her and the crying would ensue if she was not within eye shot.


Today I saw for myself how he took to yet another teacher from his class, phew! At least he won't hate school if the other quits or for some reason joins another class.








Day 13: Disrupted sleep and a grouchy pickle


He napped and slept poorly the day before hence we had a super duper very grouchy pickle on our hands. The slightest irritation got him tantrum-y and really, this reminded me why we put him in school in the first place. (Shift of responsibilities dealing with the cranky haha!).


He cried in the car seat, refused to be placed down in school, adamantly did not want to place his water bottle in the basket and then was clingy at breakfast table (almost dropped his French toast) and...starting wailing before the toast made it into his mouth.


I heard him yelling but nooooo turning back. In less than a minute later, the waterworks stopped and erm, he was actually having his second breakfast happily. I sense some emotional blackmail going on in the little mind of his.






Day 14: The first no-tears drop off


I was somewhat expecting that he as graduating out of his teary goodbyes especially when his water works lasted all but a minute. He was hesitant to go over to laoshi but food is always sucha a huge temptation and in no time, he was carried off and I swear I almost did a fist pump - AT LAST.




Day 15: Byebye mama!


For formality's sake, at 81 weeks all in, we did not have a fluke when he was dropped off without a tear and he managed to wave goodbye. I am glad we are making progress and at his own pace I am glad he is enjoying school.


With a tear in my eye, I heaved a sigh of relief we crossed our first milestone in school - dropping off without tears. My baby is...no longer a crybaby. These entire 15 days taught me one thing: I am definitely not ready nor prepared to revisit this entire crying business again if we ever need to change schools. Ah, intertia.


And it was how aptly the same day that I received a call from his teacher with plans to extend his half day to extended and finally full day. We discussed in length all the possibilities and how we'd go about executing it and that, I am really thankful there are such good teachers around. While I do not have any for comparison, this is what makes choosing the preschool/kindergarten/childcare so important because these important people make their first years so fundamental.


We received his first two week report and we're thrilled he is enjoying school. No rejection of the uniform or the initial resistance towards teachers changing his diaper...baby steps!

I am finally updated with my indoor playgrounds reviews though there are a few still lurking...I've gotta be more hardworking with my updates!


Tickle Tickle is a series of indoor playgrounds in heartlands and this was right smack in a sports hall within Henderson estate. I was cautious about the crowds but I thought no harm just dropping by to have a look anyway.


This was what greeted me on a Sunday afternoon, manageable number of kids and adults but the place was a mess - like hurricane kissed and in a complete mess.





Apart from a cordoned birthday area, and both sides of the walls lined with these role play areas, it was pretty much free play elsewhere with plenty of automobiles.




What I loved about it


The price point at $15 and 2 hours of play, it was a good deal. Considering C is way and above the first year mark, everywhere else is charging higher prices.





The number of automobiles around! While he didn't look like he enjoyed it, he went on every single one of these quality toys (Little tykes!) And to my delight, he went on the scooter after so many months of us encouraging him to go on one!





We all had fun on the slide though this really made my bones creek a little. They are built for little people afterall!







These little grocery pushcarts are going for $99 each, if anyone wants to cart one home. Literally!


What I didn't


The size and how messy the place is. Granted the toys did look worn out but that is a result of prolonged wear and tear.







This sums our experience up, fun and we would return...or perhaps check out other outlets!


Tickle Tickle
Delta Sports Hall
900 Tiong Bahru Road