The joy

Seeing the two kiddos together does put a smile on my face. Mountain boy wakes up and climbs onto my bed where Lilybuff and I are and says "jood morning mei mei jood morning! Love mei mei" and then plants a big giant kiss on her. She always just stares at him in awe.

Why we cannot have a third child in Singapore...

Nevermind that Singapore weather is so damn blardy hot that when i take two kiddos out i'm covered in layers of grime and sweat by the end of each day. I don't mind the "hardship". But logistically I cannot have 3 kids (or more) because of the new car seat laws. How can i possibly fit 3 car seats into the back seat of a normal 5 seater? I need to wait till Mountain Boy turns 7-8 yrs old (which is roughly when a kid reaches 135 cm) before I can have a third child. By that time i don't even know if i want to have a third child, or if my ovaries are still working. I'm convinced that this stupid new law aims to break the child bearing momentum.

Even if i have a third child by the time Mountain Boy turns 7-8, this bugger still cannot legally sit in the front seat because of the car safety regulations. So which means the 3 kids have to sit in the back seat. Think of the possible scenarios... 2 toddlers and a baby doing stuff the parents can't control. Hmm...

So the last possible scenario is to get an MPV, but think about the road tax and coe, and petrol consumption!

Dun buy car lah, just take the public transport. Or better still, just don't have a 3rd kid! If you already have child no.3, whooops... too bad!

We're featured!

Pop Tots was featured on My Paper, January 20, 2012, Page A13. A journalist from My Paper contacted us three days ago regarding the Bruce Lee Romper. We exchanged a few emails and next thing voila we're on! It's a proud moment for my business partner and I. It's going to be a good year i can feel it.

Happy Lunar New Year everyone!

Sentosa Day 1

The last sentosa holiday was so delightful that we came back for more. We've covered so much today! We went to Vivocity for lunch, the shopping mall has this wonderful kids area to play and lots of kids-related shopping to do. After checking into Hard Rock Hotel the first thing Mountain Boy wanted to do was take the monorail. After that we went to the beach station and chanced upon the Siloso tram and took that as well, who needs to pay 60 bucks at Universal Studios when cheap public transport can do the job!

The one with the strangers

Yesterday us 4 were at Lucky Plaza, minding our own business waiting for the lift. And then suddenly this hand came from behind me and gave Lilybuff a pinch on her cheeks. I don't know what came over me but my hand went *piak* and i gave her the you're-dead-to-me glare before exclaiming "please don't touch my child". Turns out that she's this pleasant 50ish lady who seems quite well-groomed and nice, but of course she scurried away probably feeling quite embarrassed. At that instant i feel a teeensy weeensy guilty for over-reacting.

Look, I know i don't have a universally cute baby girl. She's not eurasian or mixed-blood, just this ordinary looking chinese baby whom I think is cute because she's mine. My point is, you don't just touch a baby's cheeks without asking for permission. What if you have SARS? Or you've just unconsciously dug your nose or picked your teeth, God forbid that you may have gone to the toilet for number 2 and didn't wash your hands, with soap.

I'm all for my kids being interactive to strangers in my presence. Mountain Boy for example is somehow very popular amongst the Indians. Once we went to Jurong Bird Park and a bunch of Indian tourists wanted to take pictures with him (instead of the birds, hello?). And on our plane ride yesterday another indian man played with him, to whom Mountain Boy said "nice shu-shu" (nice uncle). Today he almost jumped into the Harbour Front River and another Indian man helped me hold him back because i was busy with Lilybuff.

So anyway, I don't think there is any harm in being friendly to kids IF the kids reciprocate. But please, don't assault babies in strollers. If you wanna pet someone's dog, ask the owner. If you want to pinch my baby's cheeks, ask me.

Singapore

I'm soooo tired!! Traveling with two kids is just insane. For the past 2 days I've done nothing except pack and unpack and pack again- 3 luggages, diaper bags, extra stuff in case we stay out the whole day, and god knows why we planned a sentosa stay which requires more packing and unpacking.

I'm complaining but I'm actually grateful that Mountain Man at least bothers to create some kind of holiday for us.

Thank goodness lilybuff is a good traveler, and mountain boy is big enough to be comprehensible and somewhat reasonable.

Anyway in case I don't write again before cny, gxfc everyone!

Happy 2 months Lilybuff!

This little lady is growing up too quickly, she has outgrown some 0-3 months ralph lauren pieces I got during the last sale. So far she has been a total angel to care for. Very low maintenance, just eats, sleeps, poos and coos.

On some nights she finds it hard to sleep so she tends to keep me awake too. But because I've been taking care of her every night since the confinement lady left, I feel even more bonded to her.

We will be heading back to singapore this monday and I can't wait to dress her in summer clothes! I hope she can still fit most of them I didn't expect her to grow so fast!

Mother of 2

Sometimes I feel like an old soul i really do. My friends are mostly unmarried or just married, but here i am unable to join hen parties, attend weddings, go on holidays because i have 2 kids. I know that when my kids grow up and are able to care for themselves, i'd still be young and i'd have plenty of time to pursue unfinished business, but that day is so far away right now that i can only imagine that it exists.

Day to day i feel so pent up. I spend so many hours each day facing a toddler whom i'm constantly fighting with, a baby who just wants to suckle, and a nanny whom i can barely communicate with. My life revolves around domestic issues and i can't help feeling upset over small things like Mountain Boy refusing to brush his teeth. Sometimes i want to just get a life...

But at the risk of sounding like a cliche, i love my kids sooo much. They are so precious to me that i want to hold and squeeze and kiss them all day. How can your bane be also your boon.

Here's some recent pictures of us. Seeing these pictures do make me thankful of my beautiful family.

Trust me, it's hard to get both kids to look at the camera.

Mountain Boy is caught up with a Dora episode. Lilybuff just wants to suck on his hand.

I have a picture of me like this with my older brother.

The 2 boys wearing matchy-matchy adidas sweater. Mountain Boy just loves dressing like his idol.

Hey peeps...

Hello... Is anyone still out there?

I have perfectly good excuses for the radio silence.

A. I have 2 kids now. And Mountain Boy is on school holiday.

B. Confinement lady has left so i'm doing night shifts, which makes me sooo damn tired that i'd rather sleep than blog.

C. I'm still running my pre-orders on http://poptotsshop.blogspot.com. Business is good pre-cny so it's just crazy.

I can't even begin to blog now cos so much has happened so trying to recap everything would be like trying to swallow an entire elephant all in one gulp. But all is well at home. Lilybuff is growing quickly, she has almost doubled her birth weight!! Granted she was born light. Mountain Boy is also maturing, he is talking and singing and creating all sorts of mischiefs at at home (i think i'm gonna get a cane soon even though i don't believe in beating).

So anyways, some quick pictures.

Mountain Boy spending quality time with Lilybuff.

Our first family picture (minus that lady at the background).

Us at a school concert for Dylan. I want to upload his performance video soon. He was supposed to be a pig but then he got stage fright so he ended up roaring instead. We suspect it's because he had been watching Lion King. It was just adorable.