Eat, drink and be married!

Core and deskin 2 apples, simmer in water over the stove for 20 minutes till fork tender. Blend with 2 tablespoons of water till smooth.

Red cabbage food colouring recipe

Shred 1/8 head of red cabbage, fill pot with enough water to submerge red cabbage and simmer for 15 minutes over slow fire. Remove red cabbage and reduce remaining liquid to 1/3 volume. Cool for later use.

This entry was timed to go out nearing his big ONE and last week, ST ran an article on parents splashing on such celebrations. For sure there will be opposing camps and views to how much should be spent on this special milestone and in response, this is my take. :)

Where do we start on this since it's supposed to be a Onederful One and it sets the tone for all future birthdays. I remember frowning upon the idea of babies not having a first bash to commemorate their first years and think that these parents are just giam siap.

(Sorry to the friend for using his cake for this post even!)

The unnecessary invitees

I think these grate on me more than I think they do. What usually starts out to be a cosy gathering ends up more often than not, a bash of some sorts with attendees that weren't intended in the first place. Friends of, cousins of...and the list goes on. I've had my wedding attended by a friend's friend just "because he had nowhere to go." so you get the drift.

What I hated about having a full month even

I'd like to wave this off and say never again. The crazy amount of effort going to so many places getting stuff - helium tank, trays of soon kueh and ang ku kueh...and doing set  up an hour before the party and having guests arrive earlier is nervewrecking to say the least. Did he remember? Of course not. Were we knackered? You bet.

So why do it again?  

And of course watching the people around me sweat it out from the weeks before the party to the week before, the day before and actual day...I am just not ready to go through all that again. 


The trade off

So then private affair it shall be with the close ones and enough birthday cake that the bub will remember the day for. Plus he gets to taste cake! Maybe he will or will not lament about not having any of those fondant cakes bigger than him in future but I hope he knows we love him all the same and birthdays aren't just about showing the whole world he is getting a year older.

What did I trade it off for?

A family shoot, DIY cake smash shoot (which I'm hoping against all odds will turn out fine...!), an excursion and family dinner. Well most importantly, we are taking it easy and enjoying this special one year of being parents...being chill.

Admittedly, I am not much of a backpack person...until motherhood came along and changed the rules of the game. I tried babywearing and carrying his diaper bag and it was definitely one of the most calorie burning activities ever and the arm was definitely very used by the end of day.

Gaston Luga is a Swedish backpack retailer located in the heart of Stockholm, Sweden and armed with a vision for stylish lifestyle backpacks, they are designed for any occasion. Choose from their 3 different collections - the Clässic, Clässy and Pråper.




So we put it to test in our first family vacay, dropped the diaper bag and replaced it with a backpack. Spot the two loves that makes a relaxing holiday? An instagrammable float and a functional backpack!




Pråper: Black was our choice of colour though if it weren't for the fact the Hubba was the one providing muscle power, I'd have chosen the baby pink!

What sells?

It's all in the details. I particular loved the leather detailing of the tassles and that flap - smooshy squishy smooth leather (Ima leather girl at heart and cannot help carressing the leather...if only it were made in full leather!)




Buckles to adjust for different wearers.




These slots are great for inserting pens or even hooking his toys to!




Practical features: The backpack has a minimalistic design yet sports features like hidden pockets for storage of accessible items (super important for valuables). Each backpack is also equipped with an inner compartment which can hold 13-15" laptops with ease which in this case was duly replaced with his diapers, bottled feeds and even a change of clothes!






The hubba wearing it.






It's versatile enough for each of us without looking like a frump mom or dad!



Easy to sling too!


 

I just had to snap so many pictures with the new baby.

What doesn't? 

Personally I found the straps a tad thin for carrying heavier loads. Otherwise, all's fine and dandy with our choice and I'd love if they have bigger size options for these backpacks!




Discount code

Readers of Themarriedchapter get 15% off www.gastonluga.com with the code “chapter15” to get free shipping + 20% off as tax rebate (from non-EU country) + 15% off too with the unique code on the remaining price after tax rebate!!

So for the Pråper: Black retailing at $249 it's slightly under $150 after all the codes! PLUS, it gets sent right to your doorstep within 2-3 days. SOLD!

The Gaston Luga Pråper Backpack was given for review. No monetary compensation has been received. All thoughts and comments are purely our own.

Playkeroo at 100AM replaces Red Bean Park and  having recc-ed it on a weekday, the weekend crowds are a far cry from their weekday situation.

What I loved about it?


Prices are very friendly and with the pass, this ranks amongst the cheapest in the market for an indoor playground.



On a good day without so many kids screaming and running all over the place, this is how their area for babies under 18 months old looks like.

Over the weekends, imagine just chaos with things strewn everywhere and kids running amok.

Play area is considerably adequate for babies with a ball pit, slide, human sized keyboard and also a burrow which freaked C out.

What I did not?

I could be pampered by the more well equipped indoor playgrounds and this was rather ordinary in my opinion though the concept was interesting - indoor playground coupled with a nail spa and animal rides too.


Will I be back?

Probably over weekdays, there was almost no control over weekends nor staff who bothered to check if the older kids were intruding into the baby area. I witnessed a Primary 3 kid throwing gym balls all over and missing our babies by the inches. TSK.
Sigh turns out this will be their last one or two weeks of operations. :( Tough running business!

In my own growing up years, the swimming pool was a friend (not quite best of friends sort) but when the need arose I can swim to save my life but probably not others (clearly, I did not get any certs nor passed any tests beyond the elementary). Then we both thought it was just about the right time for C to be acquainted with a bath tub many times bigger than his own at 9 odd months. Hearsay their fears develop and they may reject the pool altogether next time so better late than never!

I registered for a trial class online with an easy booking form and the widget indicates the number of vacancies left which works for me in situations of hemming and hawwing.

So we were actually running late for the class after misjudging the distance and faced some traffic along the way - phew we were still in time so I'd highly recommend getting the bub fully clothed in his swimming garb and dad or mom who'd be accompanying in also be in full attire so that would save time. In our case, I settled the administrative matters whilst his dad got to spend some 1-on-1 time with him in the pool. 

What I loved about the class?

Indoor heated pool! Being indoor means rain or shine, class continues. The room temperature water also ensures that he doesn't get a shock going into the waters - unless of course I clad him in a thermal suit.

The pacing was just right! No forcing nor insistence that all babies should take to swimming like a pro. The instructor was firm with parents and great with the babies.

They check that the babies are double diapered (swimming diapers and swimming pants), I cannot reiterate how important this is since poop leaks are no joke.

What I didn't?

I couldn't go near the pool, only over the fence or outside watching the super duper very laggy live transmission of the class.

Narrow changing tables which isn't quite the fault of theirs since space is limited and after class all 5 were struggling to change their bub on the already dripping wet table - so two adults to a child and all in a row? You get the chaos.

Sharing of the pool with another class so at one point there will be 10 babies and 12 adults in the pool. 


What next? 

C had a ball of fun though it started off with a mini meltdown, we were all ready to sign on if not for  the fact the preferred day and time is fully booked for the month ahead. I suppose that puts us back onto the drawing board for other swimming classes.

Right brain training is the buzz word these days for developing one's child with quantum leaps. How true or even scientifically proven, I may never know until I try. Back in my time, these were unheard of (cues: generation gap) and as the new age parent where everything new is uncharted area which deserves some exploration.

I wasn't keen on signing on a full term and having to drag both myself and C to class so trial classes are much appreciated.

The hour long class conducted in Chinese went as follows

• Flashcards for numbers, gemstones and a string of other categories which I clearly did not manage to retain
• Laminated board activities which range from spending 10 seconds to look at position of the coloured fish and the child had to place them correctly on the board furnished. 
• Associating flash card pictures to sounds (thunder, rain, seaside)
• Introduction to the sea turtle and reaching out to touch it
• Stacking cup game
• Goodbye song

Classes are conducted in English, Chinese and Japanese.

The hour passed by in a flash and really before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye.

And one for the tireless mom, now grandma who's been instrumental in C's life and mine.

"The best Moms get promoted to Grandmas" would sum it all up. The love she has for me and now for C warms my heart so much, so much. She even declared if she knew that children were sucha ball of fun and joy back then, she'd consider having more. HAHA! Second time parenthood it seems then.



Best understood in cantonese, and it's back to the daily grind and mommy duties!