Feel like having a strawberry?

Fong says seeing this photo makes her feel like eating Jilliane, reminds her of a strawberry :p

Birthdays in June

My dad & I had the honour of having baby girl's presence at our birthday celebrations this year.

For my dad's birthday, we went to Rose Veranda for the Flash your Age promotion, thus we had a whopping 69% discount! Pity The Line was fully booked. Nevertheless, he still did have a feast especially when we adjourned to revolving Prima for his favourite peking duck. On this note, I've to say my daddy's a queer one. He's allergic to duck, ie, duck rice, duck noodle, braised duck etc. His skin will itch badly. BUT, this does not apply to Peking duck, strangely enough. His skin sure has high class taste :P

I believe this was a memorable day for him since he spent it with his lovely granddaughter who was surprisingly very well behaved at Shang. Maybe she knew that if she was naughty she would have been chased out so she decided to spend her time admiring chandeliers, smiling at the ang mo tais tais at the next table and.. gnawing on her seat.

Jilliane's work of art

The chair's lip-smacking delicious

Horrid Customer Service

I called this particular down under budget airline call centre which unfortunately was manned by the people down under. I had never come across such horrid, rude and condescending service. Makes me wonder if racial discrimination was the cause or are the staff there equally sadistic to their own people. Sadly, there's no redress that I can seek. I'm just resigned to forfeiting my flight but I'll never fly them ever again. Even their free flights offer will never be good enough. It's just not worth it.

Want to know which one? Beep me and I can even share the details with you.

Hair Cut

Baby girl had her 1st hair cut! I was aghast at the price quoted, but since I was already in the shop, I decided to proceed with it. Probably this will be her 1st & last time. Next round, mommy will have the honours of snipping off those few strands.

The hairstylist was trying to console me that the money was well spent as she had layered baby girl's hair. Hmm. I'm not so sure about that. Haha, but at least now her head's less sweaty & less stinky in this sweltering heat.

Brownie

Since I was on leave this week and Jilliane is now better behaved, I decided to start baking again. Tried out this new recipe for brownie, was supposed to be the best recipe ever, crispy on the outside and moist in the inside. Well, I think overall the taste was ok, but the inside could be a little bit more wet & softer. So I'll cut the baking time to 20 mins instead of 26 mins.

Jilliane at 9 months

She has just turned 9 months. She babbles non-stop, she enjoys dropping things from her highchair and she fiercely objects when someone takes "her" handphone away from her. The best part is, after all the noise making sessions that somethings leave tingling sensations in our eardrums and after all the physical exercise she puts us through, she will show us her toothy, cheeky grins which will inevitably melt our hearts.

At the same time, she has suddenly developed stranger anxiety over the weekend and will cry when people carry her. She's relatively friendly in church, she will stand on the pew and stare and babble with the congregation behind. But the moment anyone tries to carry her other than mommy and ah ma, her infamous 扁嘴 will appear, following by the usual deafening crying.

Coincidentally, I received an email from Babycentre yesterday regarding this:

if your baby seems more clingy than usual, she's probably feeling separation anxiety - perfectly normal for a nine month old. It's really a good sign, showing that she's now able to distinguish between the familiar and the unfamiliar. She may refuse to open her arms to other adults, even ones she knows, and she may find bedtime distressing because it separates her from mum and dad. Separation anxiety usually peaks between 10 and 18 months and then gradually fades. With extra cuddling and reassurance from you, she'll get through this stage and back to her social self.

A good excuse to pamper my baby girl with more hugs & kisses! :)

Dear Godma

Her sudden demise shocked me. I was supposed to pop by on Saturday morning but I couldn't make it & decided to go on Sunday morning instead. Then my Godsis, Evan, messaged me at 7.30am on Sunday to go over in the afternoon instead as she would be around too. I had a prior arrangement to meet friends for tea. Something in me told me to cancel that appointment but I didn't. At 11.30am, she messaged me that Godma had passed away at 9.20am. Since I received that message, I was like a walking zombie for the rest of the afternoon.

Why hadn't I realised that if I wanted to visit someone, I should not postpone it. Especially when there was a nagging thought in my head that just wouldn't go away. People always say don't put things off till tomorrow when they can be done today. But more often that not, we learn our lesson too late.

I will bring Jilliane to Godma's funeral mass at church this Thursday. I'm glad that my mom and Dw support this decision. Afterall this is her God Grandma who had painstakingly knitted her 1st cardigan and her 1st booties. This is her God Grandma who loved and cared for her mommy since birth. This is her God Grandma who was so proud that Jilliane promoted her to a God Grandma.

Birthday Card

My colleagues gave me this birthday card. The messages are lovely, thank you. But the main reason why I have it on my desk is because I'm so addicted to scratching the Koala sticker. Something about the way it feels that just gives me the kicks!

A Genie came by in May

and dropped 3 gifts at my doorstep..

1. The bag for celebrating my 1st ever Mother's Day.
2. The necklace for celebrating my 1st birthday as a Mom.
3. The chocolates, just because he loves me...

Aww! so sweeeet........