Munchkin's Baby Story

Almost every blogging mom I know will, up to a certain degree, blog about their baby's milestones or kids' accomplishment. And to most, that was why they started blogging in the first place. As much as I try to avoid it, blog like I did in 2001 of all things useless and random, I can't cos the best part is, crazy mothers have the tendency to look back and check on what their children did at which age (ok not crazy but we're sentimental like that, can?).

So there aren't any here on Munchkin when she was a baby cos I was inconsistently toggling between multiply and LJ at that time but today there's a need to mention a bit cos it's a sort of reference to my next entry.

Munch was pretty much late in everything. Everything except for speech. And flipping over. She flipped at 3mths 3weeks cos she was an angry baby majoring in kicking. She was wailing and kicking 22hours a day and that day she exerted a little too much force in her kick that she accidentally flipped herself over (it also helped that she was featherweight). The wailing stopped cos she was in awe of seeing the whole world in a different perspective, not just the ceiling.

As for speech, her 1st two words she really meant (babbling mamamama or papapa don't count cos we didn't think she meant them) was burb (bird) and tet (cat) at 8mths but she had pretty good vocab by the time she turned 1. And my theory in this was, because of her short-tempered nature, she couldn't cope very well with people around her not being able to understand what she wanted.

Anyway, the rest came in late. Crawling at 8mths, walking on her own at 15mths, but there's this one that no one can beat - Teething! Her 1st tooth came out at *......drumroll.......* 22 MTHS!. I can't imagine how dreadful it'll be for her if her milk teeth will only drop when she's 13 or so (as mister said, was what happened to his brother).

So if you hear anyone complaining their babies not teething yet, well now you can tell her/him that you know of one who started teething close to turning two.

Little-Me

During the outing to PLAYtime with Feza and Elly last Sunday, we got round to window-shopping a little, first stop being the famous evil accessory shop at Raffles City. Upon entering, I found all four of us completely immersed in the frenzy of colors and glitters of the knick-knacks. In the midst of checking them out, Munchkin found interest in a purple hairband with a large flower while Elly showed her mom a colorful beaded bracelet. At this moment I laughed out loud when Feza replied "yes, yes I know you like that". The scene got recorded in my head before everything else around us turned slow-mo while orchestral music faded-in with me realising that: These 3-year-olds have turned into Little-Us! It's part endearing part frightening. Frightening cos I'm not sure if I'm mentally prepared for more grown-up-like actions from my 1st-born.

PLAYtime @ Esplanade

Munchkin seemed to have enjoyed PLAYtime (thanks, Chloe for the recommendation) at Esplanade yesterday with my friend Feza and her 3yo, Elly. Recommended for 2-4yr olds so if you've run out of ideas on where to bring your kids, consider this. There's another one happening in August: Into the Deep, Deep Forest – Adventures of the Mouse Deer.

Discussion From ONTD

sorry its not MJ-related.

ONTD had a post on Brad walking in on Angie's phone sex with Billy Bob and in the poll if whether it was cheating or not, I liked someone's views.

>>I just wanted to illustrate the point. People are so flippant with sex now a days. It's a VERY BIG DEAL! Not the act, but the emotions that come with it. I'm not saying one has to wait until their married or should be repressed in anyway. I just think that people, mainly girls, are kidding themselves when they listen to the general media, including ONTD, about casual sex being a positive.

I don't have casual sex, personally, but I know a lot of girls who do and they are so screwed up emotionally. They have no self esteem, and each guy they sleep with thinking they are going to find some strength in it, ends up making them feel exponentially worse. Then, when it comes time for a woman to marry, and yes, most women, at some point want to marry, either no guy wants a used up emotional wreck or they settle for so much less than they had dreamed of before their 'sexual revolution' started because they don't think they can get any better.

I'm just sayin'...let's think before we act and let's stop kidding ourselves. Let's start thinking more of ourselves. Let's start getting the things we want out of life.
- number1sj

extracts:

and


So yes, Meredith-Derek's thing does NOT happen IRL, bb.

Motherhood Unites

Cheesy title but it's a fact.

Sue and I have known each other since our days in art school but we couldn't term ourselves friends then cos in that 3 years, we barely spoke. Later we found each other working in the same building but there weren't anything more than hello-goodbye exchanges. Even our occasional running into each other at Tower Records were nothing more than 3 sentences. We were stiff like that.

Until (was it?) last year when were reunited via FB and blogsphere, we learnt that our 1st-born are both girls, only 3mths apart. We got pregnant again and we both gave birth to another girl, a month apart. All of a sudden, I think we felt like we've been BFFs forever.

Never mind the fact that we both came from the same school, same workplace, currently temporarily living in the north, share the same taste in music, had the same man attending to our southern region (we shared the same obygyn. what were you thinking?), it only took motherhood to break the ice.

I spent a lovely afternoon with her and our girls and our helpers. She has the cutest pair, they make heads turn.

Natalie Curtis

I'm always fascinated by how much a child can look like his/her folks. Ian Curtis (1956 – 1980) singer of Joy Division, certainly passed his face down to his daughter.

What's Latest.

The Spouse and I speak Singlish. If I need to tell him to wait for me, I would most likely say "wait ar.. very fast one." Imagine how silly it made us feel when the other day, the 3yo Munches told her dad "Papa, I'll be right back" when I interrupted her playtime with him.

That is what too much telly did to her.

Meanwhile, the 11 mth old Pumps has started walking 2weeks ago but not practising enough. She only walks in favour of food.


This is us from my cousin's wedding this afternoon.

Cheaters

A recent lunch topic was about models and celebs on how some of them only look stunning on the pages of magazines. I'm quite surprised at how often we tend to forget Photoshop being the main culprit in these publishing houses.

Being the artist for my own band's CD sleeve, of course I have to admit my fair share in the guilt.



This was the original version of the picture of me on the sleeve.


This was the edited version.


Oklah.. tak macam supermodel pon, at least tak nampak berpeluh ape
(Not like supermodel lah but at least not looking sweaty).

My Six Kitties

My love-hate relationship with a certain $2-shop that starts with "D". You end up buying nothing that you actually need. Like these kitty cat headbands. Which made 3yo Munches not stop pretending she's a cat.

Girl Thing

I succumbed to tutus. a girl cant help it, bb.

Hello Daddy!

This morning, a lady standing in front of me was reading Today paper and I spotted a photo of my father-in-law and his band on a page.

page scans>



Last week, we saw him on this poster when we were having dinner at Banquet.

image borrowed from http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/

The Spouse and I can't help feeling tickled by these images. Now I foresee my kids laughing their heads off seeing their folks' hey-day photos.

www.awan-awan.com

new entertainment. go->

because nina rocks.

Gig + Zoo Weekend

Sometimes I wish The Spouse works regular office hours so that we can do normal family weekends instead of him having to take leave to do so. Since a friend was coming down from Indonesia, he took both last saturday and sunday off work. We made use of sunday for the zoo which I've been wanting to do for loooooong while. Quite a shame we took this long since we don't live that far away.

Munchkin loved feeding the goats. I think we found ourselves another regular spot.

On the Waterfront - Rockin' The Region: Indonesia

15 May 09, Fri
7.30 - 8.15pm The Fake
8.45 - 9.30pm Cascade
10 - 10.45pm Homogenic

16 May 09, Sat
7.30 - 8.15pm The Fake
8.45 - 9.30pm Bangkutaman
10 - 10.45pm Homogenic

17 May 09, Sun
7.30 - 8.15pm Cascade
8.45 - 9.30pm Bangkutaman

youtube link of Bangkutaman's live set
youtube link of Homogenic's music video

In 2003, we had not found myspace. I was socialising on an Indonesian forum called Malesbanget. A couple of guys were organising a gig and offered me and my friends to play. It was December when we went.

We stayed in a serviced apartment called Hotel Kristal where, before we left for the gig, someone who fronts a band called Bangkutaman came by to ask us a few questions for an article of a zine called Outmagz.


This weekend, that band Bangkutaman, will be in Singapore to play at Esplanade along with other Indonesian bands. One of them is Homogenic from FFwd Records which is the same label as Mocca. FFwd Records has also done a lot for my band.

We've made many Indonesian friends since then and they showed great hospitality. I feel a need to do the same when they come here.


This was my favourite photo of the trip. An all-vocalists photo.

from left: Santa Monica, Serenaide, Bangkutaman, Blossom Diary.

selit page scans of the article Acum did:

PlayDoh-Coated Nails

We got tired of shaping food and animals out of Play-Doh. This one made The Munchkin all giggly. Mentel kan?

The Pumpkin Today

This is The Pumpkin.
She is exactly 10mths old today.
She is big and chubby.
She weighs over 8kg.
She eats anything (edible and inedible).
She loves kisses and cuddles.
She hates seeing any family member leaving the house without her.
She hates unfamiliar faces.
She bops and claps when she hears music.
She stands up on her own but is too afraid to take a step forward.

The Munchkin Today

This is The Munchkin.
She is 3 years 3 months and 15 days old.
She is tiny and skinny.
She barely weighs 10kg.
She doesn't fall ill very often.
She loves Lego and Play-Doh and drawing faces.
She's happy when it rains so that she can use an umbrella.
She hates re-arrangements and changes in routine.
She hates it when I'm on the computer.
She still speaks in 3rd person sometimes.

Elly & Sarah part II

Took almost a year to finally meet up again! We can do better than that, elly mommy.
I wrote an entry last year of Elly, the Munchkin's friend since in utero.

I think I can just do nothing but watch them play all day.

Sarah & Elly (2008)

Kitchen (You’ve Never Had It So Good)

synopsis taken from esplanade website:
It's 1965 and everything is just about to happen. Pop, subculture, superstars, feminism, drugs, bright lights, and sex are about to rock the world like never before. Inspired by Andy Warhol's 1965 film Kitchen, Gob Squad's "live film", Kitchen (You've Never Had it So Good) takes you on a trip back to the underground cinemas of New York City, back to where it all began.
Gob Squad reconstructs Kitchen and other Warhol films Eat, Sleep and Screen Test. How can they get it just right? How do they know if they're going wrong? How did people dance in 1965? What did they talk about? Had feminism happened? Or was it yet to begin? The performers talk about sex, drugs and wild parties, attempt to snort lines of coffee, eat layer cake and dance. Halfway through the performance, the lines between audience and performers slowly disappear as selected audience members replace the actors one by one.

Gob Squad official website

For The Mommies of Boys

Friends who have baby boys sometimes tell me how lucky I am to be able to play dress-up on my girls (although I don't deliberately do that for the sake of playing dress-up cos realistically, it'd be expensive). But I sometimes have a mental picture of what my sons would wear if I were to have boys.

These would be he images that'll inspire me. They'll wear their hair floppy with chuck taylors and tops that are a tad size smaller too snug.



Mommies, you're so lucky to have boys.