Maen's Entry: More goodies

No food or treats as we hoped, but this time, mummy bought us (more for gor gor, in my opinion), 3 more knitted tops, ear & tear stain cleansers and fish oil.

The knitted tops came in medium sizes this time, but are so long only gor gor could wear them. They look oversized on me..So what am I? I'm a large S and small M babe...Mummy was glad she had not returned those tops that appeared too small. She tried it on me again, and this time, said I look pretty in them. Please help see if I look ok in one of them?

I'd probably not fit into that sweater if I was still my size back in Singapore. Mummy likes the fact that By Nature helped me shed the unhealthy love handles and gor gor put those love handles on to balance the cave in his tum-tum. She's still considering Wellness tho, for the grain-free aspect of it. We'll come back to that later.

Some other goodies we received:

Lipiderm. Mummy used to give us that in non-capsule form but with the baby now, mummy has little-r time to measure and wash the teaspoon every time. We find it wierd that there were 2 different packaging tho. Mummy has no explanation for that too but says they should be the same product with the same exact amount of nutrients and manufacturer.

Oh, we've not mentioned that mummy's not been cleaning our ears on her own since we came? She relied on only the groomers and we don't go for grooming every week. We finally have our own ear cleanser.

Oh, and all the flyaway fur. Each time mummy combs us, our fur starts to fly upwards. It wasn't easy finding a spray that specifically says anti-static. This one does, so mummy thought of giving it a try. Well, not too bad, but beats having a body full of fur that look like they can't wait to leave us, right?

Finally, after some proper grooming by mummy while the mini human is asleep, we sleep too. It's tiring having to stand and let mummy tug at our fur and ears you know?

Back to Wellness Core, papa and mummy went to check out PetCo for our new food but they did not have it there -_____-". According to a staff, Wellness is new there so he wasn't too sure about Wellness Core. There were only the usual Wellness kibbles & canned food there. So...poor us.

Mummy promised to continue searching other PetCo outlets.

Papa joked that mummy has been buying present for herself all these while. Mummy says part of her online shopping was to get stuff for us too. It's cheaper, so why not. What more since we need all those stuff (hmmm..we don't supposed mummy's buying things that she NEEDS more than she WANTS them tho).

So papa, if you are reading this, thanks for providing for us. The credit goes to you for paying off what mummy's spending on us. And thanks for making the efforts to bring us to the park every week.

Snake in my garden!

We were getting ready to leave the house to get groceries on Saturday. Mr Liow took AN out to the car 1st while I gave BM their chew toys. As soon as I stepped out of the door which Mr Liow left open for me, I saw a SNAKE by the bush right outside!!!

It was black with bright yellow stripes! Thank God it didn't creep in while the door was open. Really thank God for that (BM could have become snake food while we were out! *shudder*)

Mr Liow freaked out when I told him about the snake and he saw it for himself too when he went to check it out. He saw the snake slide into our garden and decided to make a report at the general office instead of going out there and then. I wasn't sure if there was another snake that slipped in unnoticed when I saw that one outside..

What he got from the management was that we could call 911 to have them come catch the snake. We'd have to keep an eye on the snake's whereabouts if we do call but the snake was too fast for us.

Seconds after Mr Liow saw it make its way into our garden, I headed straight to the glass door overlooking the garden to see where it could be. It was nowhere to be found, unless it was hiding among a bush in the garden that was overpowered by weeds (sad to say, our plan to do up our garden failed terribly...).

In the end, we decided not to call 911. We've lost sight of the snake, and like what one of them at management office told Mr Liow, it was good to have a snake around. They help rid us of pests like cockroaches and rats. Mr Liow thought it was a joke but the maintenance guy who said that insisted that he was serious, that having a snake around might not be that bad afterall. hmm...I think he meant that as long as a snake is NOT inside the house.

We checked the house for any traces of snakes (with the help of Baileys and Maen who continued doing their own things, smelling around the house). Nothing, so we went out again.

Thank God BM were still alive (and still are, as I'm doing this entry) by the time we came home on Saturday. I think the snake's gone..*phew*

Another haul

This is quite a bo-liao post about a game set. About Wii.

Mr Liow has been eyeing that since we reached but wasn't really on a lookout till another of his colleague indicated his own interest to get one for himself. So both guys (and the colleague's wife) went on a Wii hunt soon after.

Wii has been out of stock citywide (there's islandwide, there's statewide...there shld be citywide, ya?) and those selling over ebay or Amazon are selling them at a higher price. The guys decided to wait instead for the next Wii launch, which finally happened last weekend.

Mr Liow's colleague went to queue up for his set and asked if we wanted to get a set for ourselves. There was a long queue for a regular Wii set, not one of limited edition or something. Wierd right? Back in Singapore, there are more sets in stores than there are buyers.

So now, Mr Liow has yet another toy. hehe.

To start off, we got Super Paper Mario as our 1st game (besides Wii Sports which came with the set).

Was fun! Mr Liow played till near 1am last night. Me as a spectator enjoyed watching him play too. It was as if I was watching a cartoon coz there was a plot to everything, unlike the Super Mario we used to play.

Will update if or when necessary, about Wii. hehe.

Feeding AN's a chore

IT IS!

Sigh....

The little girl want this and that to keep herself happy while she's having her meals. So I have to keep getting up to bring her whatever she points to. When I don't get it right, she sweeps her arms around in defiance and has on many occasions, swept food or water off the spoon in my hands onto the carpet (!!)

I smack her on her palms and tell her it's wrong to throw tantrums like that. She used to think I was playing with her whenever I smacked her on her palms.

She did it again yesterday and I smacked her palms again. This time I think I used more strength than I ever used on her and she started to cry.

I wonder if she knew what I was telling her coz each time she got over the punishment, she would sweep my hands away again. She was punished 3 times yesterday.

I gave up trying to feed her after the 3rd time.

She was probably a little cranky coz she was tired. When I went off to wash her utensils, she again, got upset, and started to throw her toys around.

I smacked her palms again and explained (I was angry...she's been stretching my patience!) that what she did was very naughty.

She cried, and in a short while, came over to hug me hoping I'd carry her.

For that split second, I was contemplating whether or not to carry her. I decided not to, and pushed her aside. I told her that "mummy's angry" (whether she understands that or not is a totally different thing..)

This time my heart started aching for rejecting her. She cried, of course. Instead of throwing tantrums again this time, she tried to get my attention while sobbing away.

I gave in and hugged her while re-emphasizing that I don't like it when she gets naughty like that.

Wonder if I did right to give in? Was I wrong to reject her in the 1st place?

Sigh...

She's such a slooooooowwwww eater. I recall seeing Elijah eating Duck Rice by 14th month. AN's already 15 months and she's still eating soupy stuff. Even then she's taking soooooo long to swallow whatever's in her mouth (except biscuits).

I know not all babies are the same, but her food turns cold even before she finishes half of what's in the bowl all the time.

Sigh....

How leh like that? Take her eternity to finish just one meal and it's a fight each time I feed her. *scratch head*...

Sigh...

Baileys' Entry: Nature's Variety Instinct or Wellness Core?

Mummy's still thinking of putting us on BARF but because we have a really inquisitive (by that I mean KPO!) baby prowling around our bowls and eating area constantly, mummy dares not put anything raw within her reach. She's afraid of Salmonella. We don't know who Salmonella is but she does sound pretty.

A closer match to why people feed raw food to their beloved K9s, that's in kibbles form, would be:

1. Nature's Variety:
http://www.naturesvariety.com/instinct_dog_kibble

2. Wellness Core:
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/dog_wellness_grain_index.html

There are more grain-free food out in the market but the more mummy reads on, the more confused she gets. She no longer has time to cut and paste all nutritional information onto spreadsheet to make proper comparisons. The little monster comes and distracts her, so the next time she goes back to where she left off, she realises she's lost.

We would love to help put our paws where mummy last read while she attends to the attention seeking mini-human but both of us won't fit onto a chair. It's not like the laptop was on the floor like it was in the past.

So, with the help of this: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/index.php, she has shortlisted the abovementioned brands. She saw them rated "6 stars" and thought she need not go any further.

Problem is, mummy's more keen on getting us Nature's Variety but for the past couple of days researching online, she's not been able to find a store that seems to carry that brand, at least not the Instinct line of Nature's Variety. Even most online stores that carry them are out of stock.

Anyway, to have our food come from online, mummy doesn't feel too secured too.

She sees that Petco, a pet store that's not too far away from us, does carry Wellness Core. Hmm, we smell new food coming!

Oh ya, about Lambert Park, Papa's been trying to bring us for a trip down to the park weekly.

We've gone 2 weeks back on Saturday and should have gone on Sunday too. Papa had a soccer game with his friends 2 Sundays back. All of us did not remember if there was a place for mummy and mini-human to sit near the soccer pitch and it looked like it was going to rain, so mummy decided to stay home with us while papa goes enjoy himself.

It's sad to report that, there was a rest area for spectors, and it did not rain that day. -____-"

For the whole of last week, we've been waiting and waiting for weekends to come so that we could go to the park. And of all days, IT HAD TO RAIN, ON BOTH DAYS OF THE WEEKENDS! Not the whole day ok? It rained in the evening, when it's the best time for a good evening stroll at a lovely park!

What do we all do then? We all go into hibernation...

Sigh...what to do? We can only look forward to this coming weekend and pray it doesn't rain. Not in the evening please...Meanwhile, we can continue to get excited at the thought of new food. hehe.

Mummy's little babies thought hard at ......

Mr Liow's New Guitar, And Adrielle Nicole Liow.

Mr Liow forgot to ship his guitar over and misses it real badly, so he decided to get another one to keep himself company for the next 2 years.

He's got a classical guitar back home, so he chose a folk guitar this time. We do have a folk guitar back in Singapore BUT it's mine, and it's mini. And it's sounds like a toy according to Mr Liow -____-"

Here's the father, serenading the baby like he used to senerade me...


More than Words..A bit rusty but I'm sure it'll all come back soon ;p


The Finale (not a grand exit)

Hooked to Miss Saigon

Nope, it's not a play, neither is it a movie or a show.

It's a food outlet in Tucson (I don't know if it has outlets everywhere else in USA tho).

They serve Vietnamese food. For as long as I have lived till nearly 3 months ago, I've thought of Vietnamese food as tasting overwhelming and them having a pungent smell that puts me off ever trying them out back in Singapore.

Boy, was I terribly wrong!

We 1st went to Miss Saigon few days after we reached Tucson. Since Mr Liow got his own car, we've been visiting them almost every weekend without fail. They are, by far, the only ones who serve soup noodles that taste like our fishball noodle back in Singapore.

Hmm...Maybe not so much coz the soup noodles taste like fishball noodle but it has a Singaporean touch to it. And I seriously suspect they put illegal addictives in their food so that we get hooked and can not resist going back for meals.

That is not all, ok?

They serve......BUBBLE TEA!!!!! With pearl!

We've yet to try anything else on their menu (I have but I still prefer the soup versions of their noodles). Will try and give a new verdict on Vietnamese food. As of now, that's the best food we've tasted, ever.

Yes, they even win what we have back in Singapore ;p!

Here comes the pictures!

Baby feeding herself biscuits. I used to have to break the biscuits into bite-sized pieces coz she would put the whole piece into her mouth, irregardless of how big that piece is. Without us realising it, she has learnt to chew off a big piece of biscuit.


Bubble Tea *slurpz!!*


Me and my Wonton Mee!!

Once upon a time, Mr Liow and I had to take turns to eat. And then when AN was abt 3mths old, we could eat together coz she was contented with playing with her own toy once she learnt to use her hands. But since she started taking solid food, we could no longer eat at the same time, again.

While Mr Liow ate, I fed her. Once he was done and after AN's finished her food, it was my turn to eat, and them to take pictures.

Random Videos Again

No time to post them in order. Pardon the random-ness of the videos.

An started walking with a finger pointing into the air to balance herself.


This is a video of her one night during Mr Liow's night shift weeks back. She was dancing while listening to the music at the end of the show and suddenly decided to run away with my bag.

Rompers are for skinny babies

hehe. Is AN skinny?

I saw AN running yesterday, looking as if she was going to trip over something. Taking a closer look, I realised she was trying to run out of the pampers which fell off her butt.

She's been wearing pull up pants (Pampers Easy Up) since her regular velcro ones ran out since 2 days ago. She's either too skinny or the pull up pants were too loose for her.

It just happened again. She was looking at her feet and trying to keep her balance as she ran. I saw her fallen pampers at her feet. It was cute seeing her in panic, wondering why that something that's always been on her butt, is now trying to trip her over.

I figured out now, that rompers are for skinny babies who are wearing pull up pampers. Button the bottom up and the pampers will not fall off. Never had problems with pull ups before this, not even with this particular brand (or any of those she's worn back in Singapore).

I've always thought it's not necessary to button the bottom up. Now..hmm...

Has she lost weight?

And while I'm typing this, she managed to 'steal' the pampers which fell off her butt, sling it over her arm and bring it around like a clutch. *faint*

*edited: Found my CERT!!*

HELP!

Do you girls remember if we were given our diplomas? Or just a Certificate of Attendance for completing our Dip?

I think I lost mine....

All I have are the Cert of Attendance, the Hairstyling cert and the accessories-making one....

Where's my Dip???????? argh!!!!!

*Edited*
I remember!! They left my Dip out when the rest of you got yours (3 certs in the envelope but I had only 2)...I think I forgot to go back again to collect from them *sob sob* So long alry, wonder if they threw my Dip away....

**Edited Again**
I found it! I did go back to collect my cert afterall. I've just sent an email back to school asking for my cert. Angel will be cursing me when he sees that mail. *guilty*

hehehe..For 15 minutes, I almost scared myself to death.

Lier Lier, Pants on fire!

AN knows she gets to sit on my laps whenever she asks for "nen nen", even if I refuse to sit her onto my lap prior to her pleas coz I'm doing stuff on my laptop.

Now, whenever she wants to see what I'm doing, she'll plead sweetly "nen nen". Not that I do not know she's more interested in the laptop than to suckle, just that I have not refused to give in to her "nen nen" requests. Sometimes she really wants to suckle and fall asleep in my arms. At other times, she will suckle, but then straighten up and focus back onto what "mummy's doing online".

Sigh...such a young age and she knows it works to her benefit by not being completely truthful.

Someday

Someday

- words will no longer be heard
- actions will be deemed stupid by the other party
- no effort to explain anything shall be made


Someday, silence is the best word to be said.

Mini-me, the Copy Cat

The little copycat learns by observing.

She sees me clean the floor several times each day in the kitchen and has since started to 'help' by pulling tissue papers from the box and randomly running the papers across the floor.

1st, I use paper towels and disinfecting wipes but well, the only practical solution within her reach was tissue, so she grabbed tissues to do wiping with.

Next, I don't shred my cleaning tool like she does.

Here goes, the little copy cat. In her opinion, even Baileys needs a little wiping-down.

Wednesday thought + Random Vid & Photos update

Humidity today is at 43% as compared to a low of 10%-15% most of the days. No wonder my face feels stickier as compare to other days.

I pile on LOTs of moisturiser on my face here. If I did that in Singapore, I'd have break outs. Here, coz it's so dry, my face seems to literally drink moisturiser. The face doesn't feel sticky no matter how much moisturiser I put on, and I need to feed it more by mid-day sometimes. Not today tho. It's almost 4pm and my face is still ok. hehe.

I've put in photos for the Desert Museum:
http://littleflower-in-a-land-far-away.blogspot.com/2008/07/desert-museum-and-lambert-park.html

The photos are not that helpful introducing the Desert Museum. The weather was too hot for us to be concerned about taking pictures. I had to keep reminding Mr Liow to drink water and was busy giving AN water. And then when I stopped to take pictures, Mr Liow would hurry me to move on coz we didn't want to burn the delicate baby skin. Not a good time to visit the museum the day we did.

AN watching Veggie Tales: Gated Community. I've never realised Veggie Tales cartoons are this interesting. Even Mr Liow & I enjoy watching them!


Another one that gets AN moving. I know she's too near the TV. Seriously when we're not watching, she will stand right in front of the TV. She's going to be myopic too soon if this carries on..sigh..


Some days back when BM something outside the house and locked their attention onto it. One KPO baby, armed with a camera phone, went to join in the fun of hunting, from behind sliding doors.

Hunt of the Winged Prey

Things are all over the house like I keep mentioning. I've almost given up packing and putting things in place. They will never be in place for long enough. And missing items will turn up, somewhere else.

Even BM are no longer interested in the things the baby brings around with her.

My 1st attempt at making baby spaghetti. It's actually noodles with diluted spaghetti sauce + home made tomato puree and beef. Tasted good wor!

To take a short break, I put baby on top of the sofa bed so that she can't walk around the house. She's got no idea what I was trying to do.

Her grand-folks are going to love this picture of her

Sleeping baby

"Shee" , "Jag", "What" and the latest "gog gog"

The baby (human) says: "See?" (she pronounces it as "Shee?") when:

- She wants to show me something, either by pointing to it (most times with her middle finger) or pushing it into my face

- She does not want to eat and attempts to distract me by pointing to nothing in particular (she takes after Mr Liow in this. Mr Liow attempts to distract by exclaiming "Fei Die!" (UFO) and pointing into the sky. Nice try, father.)

- She wants to tell me that Baileys and/or Maen is/are scratching themselves (I don't like them to scratch)

- She wants me to do something for her (like switch the PSP or DS on..) and brings the equipment to my attention

-She wants us to read to her (she brings whichever book she wants to be read, to us)

- She wants to show me that she's bringing dirty linen to the laundry basket (wrong one tho. Glad she notifies me, coz she's putting them into the basket full of washed clothes.)


Sometimes, she asks: "What's that?" (say, "Dag", sometimes "Jag") when:

- We have something in our possession that's of interest to her. She will cock her head and look VERY interested. Soon her itchy fingers will start reaching out

- She wants to see something I'm doing that's out of her sight

- She sees me doing makeup, or rather, if anything I'm doing interests her, she will go "Dag?" and point to whatever I'm doing.


She asks "What?" whenever she feels like it. There are times she babbles (she's been blabbling since who-knows-when) and I don't understand a single word she says. So, I'll ask her "What?". After a couple of exchanges, she will return the favor by asking me back "What?", not because she doesn't understand (she MAY not understand but it's not coz of that, that she's asking). She just thinks it's cool to talk like an adult, probably.

She's been chanting "gog gog" lately. Sounded like "gou gou" (dog, in Chinese) to me. Just this morning, I realised "gog gog" means "good girl". I was praising Maen when AN repeated her version of "gog gog" after me. I think she picked that up when Mr Liow praised her for behaving or obeying.

Have I mentioned that she's learnt to call me "mama" or "meh meh" and Mr Liow "papa" or "dad dad"? Mr Liow and I were just discussing last night that her addressing us started and progressively improved so gradually that we couldn't even recall when she addressed is for the 1st time.

Kids grow up so fast. I'm so going to miss this stage of her life as she matures...

Baileys' Entry: Maen and I

Mummy was amused by what the silly Maen did yesterday at the park.

We were walking and both of us were enticed by the games some of the hooman at the park were playing. From where Maen was walking, she should be able to see me BUT she did not. Both mummy and I heard a 'bang' and I felt something knock me out of my path. It was Maen -_____-. She actually knocked into me and knocked into me HARD.

I glared at her but thought she would ignore me anyway. She never admits her mistake. The next thing we knew, Maen came near and licked me on next to my mouth. Mummy thought that was sweet. I thought that was quite embarrassing! Glad there wasn't anyone we knew at the park.

We do not have photos of our walk to share coz mummy's handphone battery was flat by the time they came home from the Desert Museum. They told us it was out of bounds to pets. hmpf.....We don't fancy visiting a museum on such a hot afternoon anyway.

The adults went out to get groceries just now and left us in the kitchen. Maen managed to find her way out by pushing her little head against the gate. She was just trying her luck and who knew, she DID find herself lucky! The door opened as she stepped out but slammed back before I could make my way out.

Boy was I glad they came back short while later. I know Maen can't bear to be without my presence. Mummy says I'm just upset she gets to roam the living room while I get only to roam the kitchen and breakfast area. It's probably as big as each other but the difference is, if given a choice, I'd rather roam where it's carpeted, you see? But that's not the point.

I'm just concerned that if the adults go out for too long and Maen needs the toilet, she won't be able to get back in, and may need to release where we know we'll get into trouble if we do 'it' out there. I'm worried for her too.

That's about our activities for this weekend. We're looking for the next weekend and I'm teaching Maen to pray this: "Storm storm go away. Come again when we're not out to play."

Desert Museum and Lambert Park

Saturday (5 July 2008)

Desert Museum
We had intended to visit the Desert Museum earlier in the morning of yesterday but AN and I woke up at almost 9am, the time Mr Liow planned to leave home.

We managed to get ready by 9.20am. Mr Liow was unpacking the printer then. We left home at abt mid-10am and reach about 11am at the Desert Museum.

It was interesting! There were lots of cactus-es to see, and animals like Otters, Beavers, Foxes etc. Not to forget the creepy crawlies that are known to to roam the deserts.

It's a pity the weather was too hot to stand and check out information about everything that we see. We were afraid AN would be burnt under the hot noon sun although she's got sunblock-SPF50 on her whole body. The sun was seriously too hot.

Mr Liow and I, and the baby were perspiring like mad by the time we left, 2 hours after the start of our tour. We've decided to return once the weather turns cooler in a few months' time.

Here comes the pictures!

On our way there

Baby was dozing

We are going in quietly to meet...Eeks...

Double EEks!

Evening Primrose Species

HOT day and we forgot to bring AN's cap. Papa gave his cap up to shelter the baby from the burning heat.

Tall and interesting looking tree. The roots do not look steady enough to hold it up, do they?

Growing up - Cactuses

The big ones we see are at least 70 yrs old!
Sorry, realised the pictures are not that helpful or informative enough. They seem to be all over the place. More in the phone but those were really badly taken. *tsk tsk*


Lambert Park
We took Baileys and Maen to Lambert Park (the park where Mr Liow went to meet the guys for soccer last week). It was a nice evening stroll with the sun nicely tucked behind mountains in the other direction. It still felt warm tho, at abt 35 deg C.

The park is nice and clean with pavements for BM to walk on. There are poo-bags along the walkways so dog owners can pick up after their dogs. I didn't know that beforehand and brought our own. Not everyone picked up after their dogs tho. Moral of the story is, inconsiderate people are everywhere, irregardless or nationality and race.

People were playing ball games on large patches of fields. Baileys looked really interested in the games they were playing, so much so that I believe he'd have ran to join in their fun if he wasn't leashed up.

The stroll was really nice, something I truly enjoyed away from shopping and more shopping. Had the weather been cooler, it would have been perfect.

Mr Liow said he won't mind bringing BM to the park everyday after work when the weather turns cooler. hmm...That will be good. Slow stroll to relax before turning in for the night. We'll see if time allows, and if he's tired after a long day at work.

BM were well behaved at the park. They approached doggies who were interested to meet them, and left alone, those whose owners prefer not to let them mingle. So proud of them. Each time we see on Animal Planet, how some dogs can be so manipulating or difficult to control, we can't help but feel blessed than BM are naturally well behaved without so much effort on our part.

It's been a while since they pee-d outside home and both were a little unsure if that was something wrong to do. Both pee-d a few times while walking, as if hoping that I won't notice and discipline them for peeing. I didn't, of course.

And their paws were relatively clean after the walk (it was reasonably dirty), unlike after their walk at Country Inn and outside our home where all 8 paws were black and looked as if they had been soaked in tar-water.

After walking them once, Neigi mentioned it was 'too much work' coz we both used many many many pieces of baby wipes to clean their 8 paws that were stained black. hehe! He had only seen their paws at their dirtiest after a walk. The paws are not always THAT dirty after a walk, depending on where we walk them. Wonder why their paws turn so dirty after a walk at certain places.

Looking forward to bringing them there again. Do I hear BM agreeing with me?

To Mr Liow: Thanks for bringing us there yesterday, and for the tour at Desert Museum.