exactly two weeks ago, i finally admitted naia to daycare. after a second survey, we finally decided that we'd take naia to cherie hearts at bedok reservoir center. the reason why we chose it because during the survey, we find that they are very friendly and informative. the location is right near the reservoir so kids would have outdoor activity in the park or the reservoir, near our apartment and the daycare center seems very nice, clean with friendly staffs.
so at 22 months exactly, on 1st of feb, naia started school. the first 3 days i was allowed to company her. first day, i took half day off in the morning to take her to school. my parents who were in town at the time, came with us. since naia doesn't warm up to strangers instantly, she was holding my hands the whole time. she saw the kids in the class but she insists to sit next to me. after the class went for an outdoor activity to the playground and walk in the reservoir, i decided to stay outside of the classrom and let my mom inside with naia. it seems that when i'm around, naia just wanted to be near me. so as figured, naia was a bit better and can play with others when my mom was inside.
the second day, i didn't go in with naia, but mom did. she was still afraid, but at least she was willing to detach herself from her grandma. according to the teacher, it is common for a kid her age playing by herself instead of with others. they also don't have the concept of sharing.
third day, i told my mom to go outside the room. naia needs to start bonding with her teacher so she can form that trust and attachment with her. she's still afraid, though she starts getting familiar with her teacher. this day, she cried when saw me and grandma left the room, kept saying "takuuuttt... " when we stepped in front of the school door. she cried and stopped, cried and stopped the whole time. when she saw the sight of my mom or myself, she cried. but at the end of it, she was fine. it also affects how she behave at home. she clinged to me like there's no tomorrow and all she wanted was to be breastfed, eventhough she was already full with food or milk. again, it's normal for her, the teacher said. because she's afraid of the change. in her mind, when i left her at school, i won't be coming back. so the only way for her to ensure that i won't leave her is by doing the only thing that bonds her with me, through breastfeeding!
fourth day, i dropped her at school, gave her to her teacher and she just cried and refused to let me go. she screamed as i left, really broke my heart. but i know it's the best thing for her, so i have to do it. she was picked up by my parents after school and she seemed to settle down a bit.
by the second week, my parents went back to jakarta already, so i had to ensure naia settled in. i was surprised that even though she cried or made a sad face, she already familiarize herself with the teacher. she leaned toward her as we came in and waved bye bye to me as i left to work. she still made sad face and said "takuuutt.. " as we stepped in, but she didn't scream and cry no more.
i'm so proud of her. she managed to understand the concept that she's going to school to play and she'll see mommy when the session ends.
many asks why i put her to school already at such a young age. i figured, i need her to start socializing and not only playing at home with my maid or kids at the playground. at least she should start learning through fun activities. since i'm not a stay-at-home-mom, i need her to be in a place where i can trust and i can feel at peace leaving her there. she also started to pick up singing and dancing at home, so it's only good that she learns that with other kids too.
another reason is that my maid will not be with us forever, so naia needs to settle in at a daycare so when a new maid comes, i don't have to worry that she will spend a whole day with new 'stranger' (god knows what they would do, only the two of them at home, no guardian).
and as for the school.. i couldn't be happier! the teachers are very supportive and they know i need to juggle between work and taking care of naia. i made sure that i drop her off every morning before i get to work. and if i need to be at work early, i made sure i pick her up from school. and the school was soo informative to send me updates almost on daily basis. i would get a picture of naia doing activity in the classroom via mms. it's soo cool! and so far i can see that naia started to learn new things.. singing, dancing, feed and cleaned herself and even picked up some new words. things that she has learned at home before, but she gets to see more of it now, on daily basis as her routine. soon, she'll be speaking english and maybe mandarin too... :) on the last day of her second week of school, the daycare was having a chinese new year celebration, and naia was excited to be in school in her traditional chinese outfit. it was so cute!
i'm glad she's happy and settled in. and we're both proud too! my baby girl is getting bigger (oh no!).
a little over a month ago, my family finally moved into our own apartment. it was excited cuz we finally have our own apartment and we can really decorate it. on a rented apartment, we always stopped ourselves from decorating too much of it since we know we'll move to another place sooner or later. this time it's different, we know we won't be moving too soon.
the apartment was actually ours since may 2009, but the previous owner didn't move out until august. we started looking for interior designer by september and finally engaged in a contract with the interior design firm by mid september. after agreeing with the work, materials, etc. the renovation work started by end of september. it took about 5 weeks until the renovation work is finished. we didn't really have that many things to be renovated but we were very particular about the work. we changed the whole kitchen to our likings, repainted the whole house, changed the wardrobe in the master bedroom, and put up a cozy corner in the living room area.
it took about 4 days to move everything. first, we started to occupy the new apartment, while our stuffs & boxes were still left in the old one. second, moving with a toddler and only 3 adults are around, means that only two people can really work at the same time. so we made sure that naia settled down in the new apartment before we really started the move. that way, on the day the mover came to help us bring the boxes from the old apartment, we were able to unpack everything on the same day. surprisingly it was done only that one day. i guess we didn't have that many stuffs :)
after everything was all settled in its place, we also started decorating the walls with the pictures. naia had the best room. full of toys! we also started her to sleep in her own bed and discipline her to only use her room to play. the guest bedroom is still empty since we haven't had guests to visit yet. but definitely, we are thankful for this apartment. and greatly appreciate our interior designer, jing ting poh from rezt & relax interior design firm who helped us to transform our dream home to reality. not only she designed, but she gave us inputs, suggestions, even ways to save our money on something we don't need. we have lived in our apartment for over a month now and we're really happy with the results. home sweet home!
on the weekend of the first week of august, we took naia to see her favorite animals. birds! this will be her second time to the bird park and i'm all excited to see how excited she will be. since she was still a baby, she was always amazed to see birds. she would stop crying if she sees one and she could be rocked to sleep while watching the birds in the park. when she gets a little older and able to walk, chasing birds becomes her favorite afternoon activities. she would chase them with her happy face, sometimes with a big laugh and a huge smile on her face, then she would mesmerized when she sees the birds fly off to avoid her. then she's off chasing another one again.
my dad would even get her so many bird toys, from the one that flies off on a thread hanged on the curtain rail, or those bird toys that can chirp & sing loudly every time we clap our hands. we have them all. so it's only natural that the next step is to take naia to see the real ones. her first trip to the bird park was when she is about 7 months old. at that time, she was not as excited as we thought she would. she was glad to see all the birds but i don't think she understands it yet. especially to see that there were different types of birds and sizes, and a bit different from what she sees in the book. plus they're in the cage or bigger in size, so she was mildly scared, i guess. also being outdoor in the humid weather was another thing that she couldn't stand, so she stayed quiet most of the times.
so 9 months later, at 16 months old, we took her again. this time, she was already happy (though sleepy) when she stepped inside the park and saw big birds chirping on the tree branch. she just ran and tried to have a closer look. she even tried to climb one of the rocks around the compound to get a better view.
first, we took her to see the penguins. she, literally, stopped right in front of the door and wouldn't go for another step. we weren't sure why. but it could be because the room was dark and there were some noises in the background that kinda scared her. so we did a detour and went another way. we stopped by the birds area in the cage. at first, she wasn't making any expression. i guess she wasn't sure what to do with them cuz they're all behind the cage. then, after a while, she saw that the birds were moving and flapping its wings, and she started to point and made some noise. at one point, she poke her fingers inside the cage and tried to touch the red bird who was standing near her on the other side of the fence. then she would give a big smile and tried to tell us 'stories' in her gibberish baby talk.
next stop, we went to the lory loft. this is my favorite place and i'm excited to see her reaction to see the birds nearby. lory loft is basically a huge birdcage that we can walk in and play with the lorries inside. but before we went in, we stopped by at the cafe next to the lory loft, eating ice cream next to the huge glass wall that connects to the birdcage. naia was eating her ice cream (by herself, of course!) when a little bird came to the window and just sat in front of her behind the glass wall. she was excited and started to "feed" the bird her ice cream, which of course only left an ice cream mark on the glass. she kept doing that over and over while pointing to the bird. she couldn't wait to touch the bird. so by the time her ice cream is finished, we took her in.
i think she was mesmerized to see all the birds inside. she watched how people are feeding the birds and how the birds were very friendly. so she started to chase the one that sits next to her. as she gets closer to the bird, she tried to touch it .. only to find that the bird pinched her with its beak. hurtless pinch, but i guess, it was enough to surprise her. so when her dad got a feeding cup on his hand and had birds standing on his arms and shoulders, naia refused to get nearby, let alone to touch the birds. she was watching the birds when i hold her, but that was all she wanted to do... with a very alert face. uh-oh..
so not to let her gets traumatized too long, we decided to leave the lory loft and took the tram back to the exit area. the tram was on its last ride so the attendant let us rode for free. there are plenty birds to see from inside the tram. ostrich, pelicans, flamingos, hawks, mandarin ducks, swans, etc. and we let naia see them from afar this time. by the time we get to the exit area, we took her again to the flamingo's pool where she was excitedly trying to see them for a closer look. i guess she really loves flamingos cuz just like on her trip to the zoo, she stayed quite long watching them.
soon after, we went to the exit door and stopped by the gift store where naia was choosing birds toys from the rack. we didn't get her any, but she was having fun choosing and hugging all of them and pretend as if she was trying to choose which one to take home. :D
as soon as we get to the car, naia was so sleepy and went to sleep in no time. i guess, we'll try to her again there within a month and hopefully she'll get a better time watching the birds. lovelies.
on a day that naia turns 16 months old, i finally decided to cut her hair! yes, me :) though this will not be her first haircut, it was for me. she was born with a chunk full of hair on her head. but on her 2nd month, we went to the kiddies salon and shaved it all off. she then became a bald baby girl. slowly, her hair began to grow .. unevenly. and i let it grow longer. and it was getting longer and longer so around 2 months ago, i cut her bangs off, to make it even. i cut it while she was sleeping cuz i knew she would never sit quietly when she is awake. then, the hair grows again. and this time is, it becomes really long and annoyingly messy. when wet, her hair is as long as her back, but because she has wavy hair, it usually curls up and it looks shorter than it actually is.
so after much thought, i decided that i would just cut her hair. i never had any experience of cutting anyone's hair before, but i thought i could do this. after all, it would be a simple one. a cut on her bangs, her sides and back to make it all even. i didn't think it will worth the trip to go to the kiddies salon yet. especially because naia still cannot grasp the idea that she needs to sit still.
this time i cut her hair when she's awake and in the bathroom while she was taking her bath. at first, she was quiet and observing what i was doing. then she started turning her head to follow wherever the scissor went. my maid had to call her and tried to grab her attention so that she would look straight ahead, leaving me enough space to work her hair. at the end, it was done! it took me another two attempts to fine-tune the hair do. then it was perfect!!
somehow she looks different with her new hairdo. i gave her a super-short bangs that frames her face nicely and took all the curls at the end of her hair. here's the before and after picture. so, what do you think?
please excuse the "jutek" look. i find it hard to take a good picture of her these days. she keeps on avoiding the camera :(
after many failed attempts to visit the singapore zoo, we finally went yesterday. it was one hot day and we were excited cuz naia has been very alert and learning a lot about animals recently. she refused to take her naps and was excitedly roaming around the house until afternoon.
we planned to go out from the house around 2PM so by the time we're there, the sun wouldn't be too strong and we can roam around in a more friendly weather. unfortunately, naia finally decided to sleep on the way to the zoo and was in a very deep sleep when we arrived.
while waiting for naia to wake up, we went to register for a membership at the zoo so we can go there, to the bird park or night safari with no extra charge all year long. plus we can take 2 more people with us, free of charge too. so we thought that was a good deal and we definitely will go there again when grandma and grandpa are here or just a nice monthly visit (perhaps, with some friends). they took a family picture to be printed on the membership card. but since naia is fast asleep in her stroller, the picture was just myself & hubby, with sleeping naia in the background. :D
after the membership card is done, we went to get a cup of ice cream at ben & jerry's .. again while waiting naia to wake up. i got a cup of choco chip cookie dough and hubby got a cherry garcia flavor. as our ice cream hit the bottom of the cup, naia is slowly waking up. so we went in to the zoo ..
first, we went to see small crawler creatures. naia was still in her stroller with no expression. i guess she was still not sure where she was and was still a bit sleepy. then we went to see the white tigers who were taking their afternoon naps. by the time we went to see pygmi hippo, naia started to make some noise, excitedly seeing all the fish swimming around the see through aquarium, along with turtles, and of course, the pygmi hippo. it's not the 'real' hippo cuz this one's is 'tiny' so it's cute but still huge compares to the fish & turtles.
after seeing hippo, we went to see the outback animals. naia was amazed to find a bird with a size that's bigger than her, the so called ostrich. and she can't stop looking at the kangaroos being fed and was standing quite close to it. at this point, she refused to stay in her stroller and started to walk on her own. then we visited the birds section, different types of monkey and the elephants. one of her reason to come to the zoo is to see the elephants in real life. and she was amazed to see them, she sat on the bench while munching on her biscuits and keeps pointing her fingers watching the elephants walking around in the field. after a nice break at the elephants bench, we continued our journey to see .. the flamingos!!
this is when naia started to really light up and couldn't stop talking and pointing and calling us to see where she saw. she was definitely very excited and happy. she even refused to move to other areas and just stood there watching the flamingos. after a bit of persuasion (and unwillingly to be carried off) we finally off to the exit areas. had some water & snacks in the dining area then off we went to the exit. on the way, naia again stopped to watch the fish in the pond and took pictures with the ben & jerry's cows.
from the zoo, we visited the new mall at the killiney road, orchard and had dinner at the "mussels guys". naia was having fun eating the baked rice and her homemade salmon porridge while mommy & daddy had our mussels.
it was a fun family time. naia seemed to have so much fun that she was giggling and talking and calling the animals in her sleep that night. :)
in an attempt to lose some of the baby fats, i have started to skip my dinner for the past month. i've been wanting to start my diet and get my "figure" back (at least back in shape) after i gave birth. but since i'm breastfeeding (yes, until now!), it's quite hard to do since breastfeeding has already burned so many calories that would leave me hungry after every session. but slowly, i have started to reduce my carbo intake and skip dinner altogether.
in the past, i've taken some classes after work, like yoga. even participating in the event of cycle singapore and rode 21km. it was my personal challenge this year and i'm so glad i made it! but apparently now, my workout is chasing naia around since she's walking and (almost) running now. though, i don't think it's enough as i'm badly in need of a workout session now and then. but i restrained myself from joining any gym yet. i'll just wait patiently until we move to our new apartment, so i can swim everyday and at least, go to the gym downstairs, without any extra cost incurred. (excuse excuse)
anyway, last week, my hubby realized that i'm not eating dinner and he was quite surprised.
hubby: "you're not having dinner? why?" me: "i'm on diet. i'm skipping dinner so i can lose some weight." hubby: "why?" me: "cuz i need to lose some weight" hubby: "yeah, but why?"
hahah... it may not sound as funny when you read than hear it. but it was nice to know that my hubby doesn't really care if i lose weight or not. though, what he actually concerns more is that i stay healthy since i'm still breastfeeding. and i am. that's why i finished vegetable puffs (kue pastel) my mom made. ehem.. all four of them! LOL!
hubby has left on another biz trip for the past two weeks. this is the first time he went away that long but will not be the last one. since hubby has moved to the new (but old) place of business, his work requires him to travel a lot and to different places around asia. i'm sure it's exciting at first, but it's also quite a strain for both of us. him, being away from his family especially his daughter. me, being both mom & dad to my daughter and to take care of things myself at home. the worse part is during weekend. cuz going out means have to bring my maid along so that my daughter can sit in the car seat with someone next to her so she could sit still.
as for the impact on my daughter, i don't think she feels any different yet. yes, she starts out by calling "pappaa.. " on the first few nights. but she doesn't show that she's missing anything. i guess she's not at that age yet. but i'm sure soon enough she would start asking where her dad is whenever he's away.
hubby is coming home tonite and will be in town at least for the next two weeks before took off to another cities. yay!
today, hubby and i celebrated another wedding anniversary. this time, we had to celebrate it separately as hubby is away on a business trip for the whole week.
nonetheless, i'm grateful for the little family we have. a healthy beautiful daughter, a roof over our head and fulfilling basic needs. i'm grateful.
we do have a lot of dreams and long journey in front of us. and for that, i could never do alone as he will be my partner in life and everything i do for the rest of my life.
oh my, it's been a while since i wrote. yes, i've been busy but it's no excuse. mostly the reason i haven't updated this blog because i've been wanting to give it a face lift, but apparently it takes longer than i thought. so for now, i just need to update this one before people starts forgetting that this blog ever exists :)
it's already 20 days after, but i'd like to share it nonetheless.
my baby daughter had her first birthday on april fool's day! my hubby and i took a day off to be with her on her bday. we didn't really plan any party. just invited a neighbor kid who's actually naia's playmate. we sang happy birthday song (in which naia danced to the whole time), blew the candle and ate a yummy strawberry shortcake.
we didn't really want to have a party or anything cuz we figured that naia is still too young to know anything.
we'll save it till she gets bigger and have more friends, and aware that blowing candles & eating yummy cakes with lotsa presents mean birthday celebration :)
exactly two weeks ago, i finally admitted naia to daycare. after a second survey, we finally decided that we'd take naia to 
by the second week, my parents went back to jakarta already, so i had to ensure naia settled in. i was surprised that even though she cried or made a sad face, she already familiarize herself with the teacher. she leaned toward her as we came in and waved bye bye to me as i left to work. she still made sad face and said "
in an attempt to lose some of the baby fats, i have started to skip my dinner for the past month. i've been wanting to start my diet and get my "figure" back (at least back in shape) after i gave birth. but since i'm breastfeeding (yes, until now!), it's quite hard to do since breastfeeding has already burned so many calories that would leave me hungry after every session. but slowly, i have started to reduce my carbo intake and skip dinner altogether.
hubby has left on another biz trip for the past two weeks. this is the first time he went away that long but will not be the last one. since hubby has moved to the new (but old) place of business, his work requires him to travel a lot and to different places around asia. i'm sure it's exciting at first, but it's also quite a strain for both of us. him, being away from his family especially his daughter. me, being both mom & dad to my daughter and to take care of things myself at home. the worse part is during weekend. cuz going out means have to bring my maid along so that my daughter can sit in the car seat with someone next to her so she could sit still. 
