Hold and lift

When my daughter was learning to pee in the toilet, sometimes it would shoot straight out, covering the front of the seat and the floor. I think this happened when she tried to look and see what was going on. Teaching her to lean forward with her legs together solved the problem. 

 Donna

 And I thought only little boys have a problem with their equipment ;)  Alexander's problem was the pee coming straight down into his pants, legs and shoes.. and on occasion, my hands. yuck. But our catchphrase now is, "hold and lift", which seems to solve the problem. Most times anyway.

Alexander is 2.5 years old while the tiny tyke, Lucas, is 7.5 months old

Two is enough

Memory is a strange thing.  The further we try to go back into the deep recesses of our memory, the patchier it seems.  It's almost as if someone has cut the reels and all we remember are snippets of events.  For instance, I don't remember much of my first trip to Hong Kong when I was five except that I liked airplane food a lot (and especially the cup of cold milk that was the Best Milk I ever tasted..hmph, in large part due to the fact that it's a) cold, b) not made from a powdered milk called 'Klim' and c) it was airplane milk), I managed to block the toilet of my aunt who was living in HK when I pooped on the first day, I missed my dad a lot who stayed back  in Singapore with my sister and me throwing a royal tantrum at the defunct Ocean Park when I didn't get my way with something.  Those are what I remembered of my first trip abroad.

There was also another image that seemed burned into my memory.  It was that of 2 adorable little girls biting into an apple sharing an umbrella. It was a poster and the message was simple: Two is enough.  Don't ask me how I remembered that.  I am not even sure I could read then!  But it was probably one of the first of many public education slogans (the cynical would refer to them as propaganda ;) that would be part of my growing up in Singapore.  Anyhow, it was part of the Government's effort to stem the increase in population that was breeding like rabbits.  I just have to add that the irony of it is that 20 years later, the poster apparently worked too well and the new slogan became, "Have 2 or more if you can afford it".

Yes, "Two is enough".  It is enough for me and I'm sure my dear DH will wholeheartedly agree with me.  We've passed the 6 month mark where things are supposed to be getting easier.  And it probably IS except that we don't exactly feel it right now.  Right now, Lucas is no longer the helpless maggot but a little big man.  Today, I laid him on the ground behind me while I read to Alexander and when I turned around, Lucas was sitting up.  Whoa. Did I leave him sitting up, no, that can't be as he's still like one of those bobbing head dogs that you see on a car's dashboard.  He has lost his balance a couple of times, fell sideways/backwards and hit his head.  That poor maggot.  So yes, he pulled himself sitting up for the first time today - a milestone!!  I'm reminding myself that I'd better enjoy this phase, tired as I am, because he would be the last kid we'd be having.  I can't imagine going through all that hoopla with pregnancy and a wailing sleepless newborn at 40.

This is unbelievable!  I found it!

And is that a SCGS uniform?

Alexander is 2.5 years old while the tiny tyke, Lucas, is 7 months +1 day old

Woodcarving & lighting

I've been indulging myself with home decorating fancies lately which translates to weekend jaunts at furniture & ceramics markets with girlfriends while DH stays at home with the boys.  What a wonderful way to have a little mental respite from feeds and diapers!


Here's a prized find today.  It's massive at 1x1m.  No, I haven't bought it yet. This shop had an asking price of 1600 yuan which was way over what it ought to be.  She didn't seem amenable to bargaining so we took a picture and walked on.  At another shop that appeared to have good quality workmanship in woodcarving, I whipped out the camera and with some bargaining got it down to 750 yuan if we buy 4 pieces. (yep, my friend will take THREE.  She has a cathedral like home with an equally huge expanse of empty wall).

And I'm such a fan of Dutch design house Moooi.  Here's its Paper Chandelier.  There's a little something gothic with this lamp.

Then, there's Metalarte's Josephine Queen lighting.  I used to think chandeliers dowdy and passe but with these bold exciting designs, they really add a contemporary accent to living spaces.  Me like!

 


Alexander is 2.5 years old while the tiny tyke, Lukie is very nearly 7 months