drake’s blog

my Soir De Lune

nobody@vox.com(drake) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:02:19 +0800

I'm going gaga over my Soir De Lune ballet flats I bought myself yesterday! Yes! A Christmas treat... God knows I needed to give myself something this season of giving!

Tang & Co was having it at 30% off and with Amex an extra 10%!!! Whooooo hooooo!!! Still ended up paying about $225 for it; it's not cheap, and I'll probably pay alot less if I buy it in Europe, but I needed it NOW (and shopping with shopaholic Tina doesn't help! kek kek!) as my old pair is giving way. Definitely my most expensive pumps to date, but the leather is soooo soft and the bows are so pretty and I love how it's feminine and yet will not go wrong with my good old jeans! :)

aren't these the prettiest ballerina flats... ever?!?!??!

ok... so I'm a size 37half! yes... i've got big feet! sooooo?

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Milestone: Luca @9months

nobody@vox.com(drake) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:19:13 +0800

Luca had his 9th month assessment yesterday. All's well and fit for travel!

Weight: 8.7kg (50 percentile)

Length: 72.5cm (50-75 percentile)

Head Circumference: 45.7cm (75 percentile) - brainy baby!! hah hah!

Milestones for the month:

- 3rd and 4th teeth at the top are emerging and the 3rd bottom was out for awhile now....what's happened to the 4th bottom tooth?

- can crawl really fast

- constantly pulling himself up to standing and starts jumping

- no longer enjoys lying down; making diaper changing a real big challenge

- have started on 'real' food like homemade brown rice porridge and tiny pieces of wholemeal bread

- grabbing and muching anything he can get his hands on

- loves the attention he's getting from his grandparents

- making sounds like 'oooooohhhhh', 'bah-bah', 'mmmm-mah', 'ahhhhhhh', 'kkkhooor'

- starting to enjoy the pool

- have learnt to yell if I take away something he wants (I've been told the trick is to hand him another toy before taking something away from him)

- able to 'clap' his hands

ooohhhhhh

aaaaaaahhhhh

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moving on

nobody@vox.com(drake) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:12:43 +0800

We're officially without a home. Sold our matrimonial home recently and moved into my parents' place for a month before relocating to Sweden.

An apartment that we've been warned against because of its (lack of) proximity to my folks' home. An apartment with the kitchen facing the chute, and the living room facing an Indian temple. An apartment not on the lift level, and a neighbour who seemed to have some occasional brushes with the authorities.

Still we made our choice. It was an apartment we bought when we just started work. We had put in minimum cash and maximum effort to turn it into a home that had been our sanctuary for as long as we've been married. As much as I have my complaints, we had mostly good times. So you can understand how sad I was to see our home all stripped and bare.

It was time to say goodbye... and thank you for being so good to us for the last 9 years.

living & dining space

Luca's room

kitchen

boxes and more boxes (total 184)

post-it instructions

can work anywhere, anytime

the view of the beautiful gurdwara from our living room

we had put in the most effort to do up the nursery. So long now...

the last of the lilac coloured room

biding our farewell

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1st trip to the pool

nobody@vox.com(drake) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:31:32 +0800

We took the little chap for his first dip last Saturday!

check out his swim diaper! :)

trying to get him alittle wet before going down...

still suspicious... still clingy

the papa finally got his feet in

for a start... just the feet!

Early mornings at Keppel's pool are great; hardly anyone.... perfect for Luca's first pool experience. Although Luca did not cry, he was quite whiny and suspicious. We stayed in the pool for not more than 15 minutes. Hopefully his next trip will be better. Maybe we should just head on to the adult pool....

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farewell lunch

nobody@vox.com(drake) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:19:15 +0800

Before Aya moves back to Japan next week, we managed to catch up over lunch at Nadaman this afternoon. Needless to say... it was the usual good stuff they serve.

altogether

did i not say Luca has a thing for accessories? ;)

I'm relieved to say although we can't really have an undisturbed seat-down lunch with the babies around, but we all managed alright. Bringing Luca out is a different ball game altogether and I have grown to accept that. Having said that, Luca's been a real darling for the most part of the lunch!!! I even managed to take a series of shots of the kids; they're simply too adorable!

L: don't disturb me; I'd rather play with that thing around Aunty Saya's neck

L: ...unless of course if you want to share your sweet potato cake with me

M: errr... alright. there you go. L: thanks. (turning back to Aunty Saya)

M: hey! you said you'd play with me!

M: since you don't want to play with me, return my sweet potato cake! NOW!

L: (glaring) don't you dare! I WILL BITE! ask my mommy! (bite down!)

M: I'm gonna get you for it!

M: kee kee kee (evil laughter)

L: mama! help me!

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i believe i can fly....

nobody@vox.com(drake) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:06:16 +0800

my cheerleaders!

YEA RIGHT.

I've never been more ill-prepared for any running event before. But with Dave's frequent travels over the last few months and the preparation for the big move, my 10K run on Sunday's Standard Chartered marathon was tough; the heart could take it, but the legs were heavy. Took about 1hour 8min to complete the race, but Singapore in December is actually bearable and I had a good time running this huge local event.

someone's really bored!

"mama! u took too long!"

Knees are (still) aching. But it's tradition to have a big meal after any running event! Here's my Big Jones The Grocer Breakfast!

my big breakfast

And Luca got only the spoon!

my little baby!

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an ebay purchase gone bad

nobody@vox.com(drake) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:25:26 +0800

I had a terrible ebay experience recently.

Been ravaging the net for a preloved cot for Luca for almost a month now. Just a couple of weeks back, I found a Boori Classic Cot with a starting bid of $199 (yes!!! a Boori! who wouldn't grab a Boori at this price!?!!?). The ad went like this:

Boori Country Collection

Excellent condition. Purchased 3 years ago for one child in Australia.

Mattress also in excellent condition. No stains as it always had a protective cover.

2 in 1 configuration which changes into a safe childs bed. Cot can be placed at 2 levels, depending on baby's growth (climbing ability).

Internal Cot Dimension - 1330mm long x 780mm wide

External Cot Dimension - 1410mm x 870mm wide x 1080mm high

Colour: Heritage Teak

Clean, smoke and pet free home

Any further questions don't hesitate to ask! (zee: 91847090)

PICKUP ORCHARD AREA - Prefer cash on delivery

I was the first to place the bid, and after afew days, still the only one... funnily enough. Anyhow, I contacted the seller to see if I could view the cot since I was in the town area. I did not get to 'see' the cot as it was dismantled and packed by their movers when they relocated to Singapore. She agreed to close the deal with me even before her ebay auction ended.

I assembled the cot immediately when I got home and found that a screw was missing and the runner on the drop-side was terribly worn. Worse of all, there was a crack on one of the wooden panel.

over used or misused?!?!?!?

this will definitely not pass any cot safety standards!

I contacted Mother Works hoping that they could 'revive' this cot (see?!?!?! I'm that hard up for a Boori!!!), but it will cost me an additional $600 to buy a new headboard for the cot! So of course I told the seller I'll need to return the cot and demanded a refund. But she said that the cot was sold on a no-return policy. Can you believe that? I mean... after explaining how it just wasn't acceptable to sell something not usable, she was still so adamant about her 'No-Return Policy'! I told her I'll give her the feedback she deserved and she ignored my sms! I now know why she had the audacity to ignore me... cus she removed her cot item from ebay. How lucky can she be? It was probably my fault for not completing the transaction on ebay, so I am not eligible for ebay's protective services:( She must be the most unethical ebayer around, because I've had such good experience on ebay before. So guys... be warned! DON'T EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS SELLER 'SHERU2005'.

Anyways, I refuse to dwell on this too much.... the search for Luca's cot continued. And I was successful the second time round! This time on Craig's List;) Bought the ultimate Boori Sleigh at half price!!

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Milestone: Luca @8months

nobody@vox.com(drake) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:02:52 +0800

Wow! I still can't believe it's been 8 months since I've had Luca. They say a baby grows up really fast, especially his first year... but this is toooooo fast! 4 more months and he's gonna be a toddler!

Today, this not so small fellow gave me a 'present'!

so that's what he's been busy with in the cot...

Thanks dude... the value of your cot has just dropped by half.

caught in the act!

Weight: 8.6kg

These are his current milestones:

- blabbering alot

- sits unsupported

- crawling and rolling so much, and so fast, that on occasions he falls on his face and on the back of his head - the hard knocks of life!

- enjoys pulling himself up to standing in his cot, while being carried, against the wall,... basically whenever he can.

- readily accepts new foods and tastes (for the last 2.5months since he started on semi-solids, these are the foods he's had: white rice cereal, brown rice cereal, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, avocado, apples, pears, plums, bananas and baby yogurt!)

- seems to be aware of his surroundings (noticed his cot sheets was different when I changed to fresh ones for him, and he was so used to taking his bath in a white tub that he wailed when we used a red one. hmmm - no good, no good)

- his front 2 teeth has emerged, and I believe he's got the lucky gap as well! just like his papa! hilarious!

what a show-off

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lunch on him

nobody@vox.com(drake) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:05:59 +0800

Just another messy meal time with this little rascal!

Luca in one of his attempts to self-feed.... I need to BREATHE....

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with the tai-tais

nobody@vox.com(drake) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:21:20 +0800

Seems quite unlikely, but some of my good friends now I actually got to know while teaching yoga.

Met up for lunch with two of them at The White Rabbit yesterday. The restaurant recides in an old chapel in the Dempsey area and with the high ceilings and long tables, it felt like we were dining in the great hall of Hogwarts! Whimsical!

Oh! We noticed Luca has pretty expensive tastes! hah hah!

playing with pearls

tugging at the bling bling watch

Luca's 1st christmas present (way in advance!) from Aunty Charina! I gave it to him the very next day, since he's got no concept of when Christmas Day is anyway! kek kek!

anything is good enough to eat!

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