Air plane food

Finally downloaded photos from my mobile phone. Here is the kid's meal on Singapore Airline when we were heading to Singapore from Paris. There were tomates, bread, carrot and potato purée with minced chicken. A pack of juice and yoghurt. It even came with a goodie box. A complete meal for toddler A1.

For my 3 trips to Helsinki in May and June, I travelled on business class. It was no big deal as the plane was a small one for the short journey. So all seats were of the same size. The only difference was the meal. Instead of a sandwich, we had a complete meal with wine or champagne included.

After the E. Coli cucumber scare in Germany, I ate more cucumber than ever. The client's canteen served cucumber and so did the meals on flight. They must be so cheap now that food industry bought them in tons.


One evening, on the way back to France, I captured this scene of the sun rays peeking through the clouds. It was magnifient. Too bad, the photo did not do the scene justice.

No more work trips at the moment. Hooray. The next travel plan will be in Nov when baby A2 and I are heading to Singapore (again).

Great birthday party

Lukas used to live next door but had moved recently. His mother invited us to his birthday party at the grand-uncle's place. We enjoyed ourselves. The weather was great that day and the venue was calm in the countryside.

The theme of the party was around Mickey Mouse. Boy, the decorations put up by Nadia just blew me off. It was a small party with Lukas' family and us and she put in such efforts.

Toddler A1 had so much fun with his friend. As you could see from the pictures below, any kid is bound to enjoy himself. We got Lukas a fire engine truck and he loved it.

The boys having lunch on their own picnic table with Lukas' grand-father watching over. Toddler A1 had too many hotdogs that day.

Mickey everywhere!

We miss Lukas and Nadia a lot. We do promise to keep in touch and try to do activities with our boys togather.

Rice dumpling

In the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, the chinese celebrates the dragon boat(Duanwu) festival. On this day and even during the month, one can find rice dumplings everywhere in Singapore.

I remembered that when I was young, my mum used to make those Nonya rice dumplings. For a long time, those were the only ones I ate. In my late teens, I came across the common meat rice dumpling made by a friend's mother but I still preferred mum's.

Having lived in France for so many years, I never celebrate Duanwu festival. OK, celebrate is a big word cos even in Singapore, for me, it was eating a few rice dumplings that mum made for the occasion. I think I only bought rice dumpling once in my entire 8 years here.

Last week, Ai Yi (aunty in chinese), the kids' nanny asked if I would like to eat rice dumplings. She offered to give me several but after knowing that her rice dumplings are dessert rice dumplings, I told her to just give me 3. I never like sweet rice dumplings though my mum had been converted since many years. I think that is one of the reason why she no longer does Nonya rice dumplings.

When I came back from my Helsinki trip on wed, I saw 3 rice dumplings sitting on the kitchen table. I ate one in office the next day and I enjoyed the slightly salty glutinous rice with a sweet big red date. I called home to thank Ai Yi cos' I won't see her until tues. It was really nice of her.
I took a pic before sharing the 2 left with Seb that evening.

Now that I have kids, I should maybe learn from my mum or Ai Yi the making of rice dumplings. I do hope that tradition continues and my kids will be eating rice dumpling made by their mother.

Dalloyau

We bought this cake for my mother-in-law's birthday celebration at Galleries Lafayette gourmet. I had to take a pic of it as it looked good and tasted good, even for a non-cake person like me. If you do happen to be in Paris and come across a Dalloyau tea salon, try it. It is just as famous as Ladurée.

There are also Lenôtre and Fauchon which creates lovely to the eyes and tasty food.

I have been eating and eating these days. Now, I understand why most middle age mums put on weight so easily. I do crave for sweet things at times and this was so unlike me before having the 2 boys. Will write more about my other food indulgences soon.

First Aid training

2 weeks ago, I took up a 2 days first aid course with my 3 colleagues. This course was oriented towards working environment as we would be certified (workplace) first aider. The company sponsored the course. But this did not mean that we could not help others in the public.

We were 10 in total and the instructor was a fireman. He had lots of experiences and shared with us many of his life experiences. Accidents could happen anyway, anytime and often in normal circumstances where we least expected it.

The first half day was spent on reading on the slides shows about PREVENTION. It was interesting though most were not applicable for office environment. Examples like wearing protective gears for factory works, not obstructing the corridors and stairways with cartons, reading the notice carefully and following the rules on how to use dangerous machine just to name a few.
After that, we had practical lessons. We were taught how to assess a situation when someone was in trouble. Was there any danger around him? Would it endanger your own life if you go to his help? Was it possible to get him out of the danger? If the surrounding was safe, check if he was bleeding, if not, check if he was choked, if not, check if he was concious and breathing, if not, check if he was unconcious and breathing, if not, .... As we eliminated the options and came to a conclusion, we had to administer the appropriate first aid before the medical team arrived to take over.

On the last day, each of us had a chance to try out giving cardio pulmonary resuscitation CPR to dummies (adult, child and baby). For hygiene purpose, we were given a face for each of the dummies. For the last hour, we did role play. One victim and one rescuer volunteered each time and the instructor came up with a scenario unknown to the rescuer. The instructor used professional make up and he could simulate injuries like amputation of finger, burns, bad cuts, blues. They looked real and it was gore at times. This really helped to enforce our experience in this training.

I am happy with the training as I got to know a new friend whose parents live near my in-laws. But the most important thing I gained is knowing that I could be helpful if my family or strangers need first aid. I felt equiped and confident.

For those who are interested in this area, there is a site at BBC on first aid skills tests. I just tested myself on CPR and it was exactly as I was taught. Try it, you never know, with this little knowledge, you could save lives.

Neighbour's day

Today is neighbour's day and as usual, a gathering was organised for our residence at the gardien's office. Neighbour's day is something recent and this is the third year our residence organised it.
In the evening, people brought along drinks and tibits and cakes and we just mingled around and chatted. I brought toddler A1 along while Seb stayed at home to take care of baby A2 who was sleeping.
I just came back from Helsinki yesterday night and brought a pack of sweets fabricated in Finland. I got to know a few new neighbours and even a neighbour who had been there for a few years but we just never met. We had an interesting conversation. This residence consists of 4 small buildings totalling 99 apartments. With people moving in and out, there are always new faces.
Toddler A1 was shy at first but overcame his shyness fast when he was offered chips and orange juice. He played with some big kids at soccer and when the younger kids arrived later, he run around with them. It was also a good chance to talk to other young parents and exchange tips on where to go and education etc...
One good thing out of this neighbour party is that I now have 2 contacts for baby sittings on weekends. When the kids are older, it would be nice for Seb and I to hang out a bit without them for a evening.

Solo parenting

Our challange for the next few weeks: solo parenting.

As I had written before, I go on work trips at times. Since having baby A2, I had not been on any overnight trips. Well, it is starting again. A new project starts in Helsinki with one of my fav client. It requires a few trips in a span of 2 months. I know that I would enjoy working on this project yet I felt unfair to Seb for having to take care of the boys alone.

So coming monday, Seb would be going to Lille for a day trip meaning he leaves the house really early and comes back late. I would have to wait for the nanny to come at 9am and be home by 6pm. As I have less flexible hours than Seb, I would have to take half a day's leave. I can't reach office at 10am and leave by 5pm. (Peak hour traffic takes me an hour between home and office). Good thing that Seb does not need to travel much now. Or he tries to travel on Wed, the day I don't work.

From Tues to Thurs, I would be heading to Helsinki. I will leave home early and be late home on thurs. As I am working 80% now, I would have my friday off from work.

Then comes the month of June. We will be spending 5 days in Brittany as a family starting from 01 June as we have a long weekend due to the public holiday on 02 June.

In the second and fourth week of June, I will be heading to Helsinki again for 3 and 4 days respectively. On the third week of June, Seb would be away in London for 3 days. I will be taking half day leaves on Tues and Thurs; always the issue of nanny.

Seb and I would take turns to do single parenting in June; him more than me. He is confident that he can manage it. As for me, I am stress over putting the boys to sleep as they both require attention during sleep time.

A friend is asking how we can cope with the coming few weeks. With good organisation, we should do fine. It won't be easy though. We had been lucky in the past year that my mum was here to help out so if one of us was away, the other could cope easily. Now, we are on our own.

The playpen

Baby A2 is starting to crawl and like his brother, he does it backwards for a start. He is such an active boy that it is time to set up the playpen. Toddler A1 was so excited when he saw it that he wanted to get in too.
The 2 boys even played togather in the playpen. We can work in the kitchen at peace now knowing that the 2 are confined in the playpen. Had we known that toddler A1 would like it so much, we would never had kept it when he started to walk. (We wanted to make space for him in the living room.)
Baby A2 is teething and the 2 front lower teeth had cut out. He is eating well on fruits and vegetables. He has not tried meat yet. The only complain I have is that he sleeps so little. He hardly naps.
Toddler A1 is growing fine too. Brought him for his 2 year old checkup and pediatre asked him to name the animals in the book. He could not since he was not speaking much yet. He could make sounds of animals though. Upon the pediatre's instruction, I asked toddler A1 to fetch a toy from the table and he did as told. The pediatre understood that he was learning 3 languages which might explain the slowness in speech. However, she still prescribed an audio examination for toddler A1. Huh? She is just a procedure base person. I realised that many medicial staff gave extra examinations over here. Either they are over precaution, or they are just protecting themselves from mis-diagnosis. Anyway, most examinations are paid partially by social security and the rest top up by mutuelle. Still, sometimes, it takes up a lot of our engergy and time. We shall wait and see for toddler A1.

Summery spring time

Spring is here and usually we do get a week or two of freaking sunny days. However, it has been hot like summer since we come back from Singapore. People we know told us that the weather was good even while we were in Singapore. That makes it a total of 4 weeks of summery spring time.

The tourism industry is happy while the agriculture industry is worried. No rain means crops are not growing well. No fresh pasture for the cows and hay meant for winter is already being used.

The cherry and strawberry season is already here. Usually, it is in two weeks' time. I am not complaining cos we are enjoying this good dry, warm weather. It is easier to support the heat when there is no humidity unlike in Singapore.

2 sundays ago, we had a picnic with Anca and family at the park nearby our place. Last weekend, we were out again. Seb suggested a walk in the park of the Chateau de Chantilly. The drive up north took us about 30minutes. We took the double seater stroller as we predicted that toddler A1 would want to be carried and not walk. Our prediction came true. It took some coaxing and an afternoon snack for him to walk and not "koala bear" hug his dad.

The visit to the park is not free but I guess the money was put to good use as the lawns are well maintained. It is a lovely big park and we only cover less than a quarter of it. There are ducks in mating games and swans with their nests at the riverbank. This swan was protecting its 3 cygnets.

We enjoyed our little outing and everyone slept in the car on the way back except the driver, of course. Thanks Seb for the getaway.

On Sunday, we went to church and since it was another beautiful day, we decided to have lunch outside. We wanted to try something new other than those regular resturants we go to. After all, most of them are small eateries with limited space for stroller.

We headed for the 6th district of Paris as there are many brasseries (french traditional restaurants). We ended up at Le Petit Zinc as there was a table at the terrace with space for a stroller and in the menu, there was something vegeterian for Seb. It is never easy spotting vegeterian dishes in brasserie. The food was good and the wine Seb ordered was very good too. He had noted it down and we would definitely get some for home consumption. Even the service was good which was pretty rare in Paris.

I hope the good days continue to stay and it would rain at night while we are sleeping. I understand our farmers' plights and hope their harvests would not be too badly affected.

Ironies

Back to work and back to listening to news on the way to work.
Yesterday highlight was on a mother and her four teenage children found dead in their home. The father had disappeared and he was the main suspect. Another news was on a suicide case of an employee for France Telecom. He left behind a wife and four children. What an irony. 2 families broken up by deaths.
Suicide cases in France Telecom is not new. People who worked all their lives with France Telecom could not handle the pressure of change management. Some employees with Renault put an end to their lives too due to work stress.
If job is bad, just quit. Simple as that, isn't it?

SIA and Changi airport

When we arrived in Singapore, we were surprised to see at Changi Airport Terminal 3 this stroller service. We gladly put toddler A1 in it and chunked our hand luggage underneath the seat. It was such a great idea that I wish France CDG airport would implement it.
And I really appreciate Terminal 3 for being kids friendly. After checking in, we just wait around the playground while toddler A1 had his last fun in Singapore and me giving baby A2 his last milk feed.

Pleasant things did not just end there. The custom officer gave us a $5 beverage voucher when she saw that it was toddler A1's birthday. However, we just had dinner so I gave the voucher to the cleaning lady.

And Singapore Airlines presented us a birthday cake which we used as a belated celebration at home. Of course, you would have to inform SIA that you wish for a cake. ;) Thanks Diana for the tip but we did not have champagne offered.

Back from Singapore

2.5 weeks passed by in a wink of an eye. When we arrived in Singapore, Baby A2 took more than a week to sleep properly. He would sleep during the day time and not at night. Seb and I hardly had the energy to do much during the day. Only for the last week did I start to feel it was my holiday. We did however go on short outings like market for breakfast, going to the playground and to the swimming pool.

Toddler A1 enjoyed himself at the pool and playground. It was always difficult for him to leave the pool or the slides. At the food center, he discovered milo and drank it almost every morning.

We visited the zoo and toddler A1 just wanted his dad to carry him. Poor Seb. The weather was too hot for him and he had to carry his son.

But I think that toddler A1 had more interest in the animals this time round than many months ago at the Thoiry Zoo.

I tried to meet friends who contacted me. But most times, it was for a short period. I organised a BBQ and ended up having Tim and Carmen BBQing for us in the heavy rain. Poor them. Really appreciated their help. Despite the downpour, most people turned up and it was just great seeing old friends coming with their kids. I just wished I had more time for each.

Before leaving, we celebrated toddler A1's birthday. He turned 2. He is no longer a baby.

The flight back was uneventful. Someone got sick when we were nearing Paris and the plane had to do an emergency stop at Frankfurt. Toddler A1 did not want to sit for the landing and cried so much that he vomitted his morning milk. The medical team came onboard and sent the sick passenger to the hospital. We landed in Paris 4 hours late. The captain did update us regularly on the passenger's condition. She was out of danger as of last info.

This trip felt so short. With kids, we were just occupied with them. We are leaving for Chartres tomorrow to spend a night. Monday is Easter and there is the yearly chocolate egg hunt in the garden. After that, vacation is truly over. It is back to work!

The worse is finally over

Baby A2 had fever for 4 days and finally, the temperature was starting to get lower. Since my last post, we had sleepless nights over the weekend. Baby A2 had spots all over him. They were big and nasty and there was more spots than what toddler A1 had. Normally, fever was expected for 48 hours. But on monday, my poor baby was still running a fever and I took child sick leave to stay with him. We went to the doctor and she confirmed that it was a rare case. I think she meant serious too. When we consulted her on last wed, there was only a spot. Now, it was full blown.

She prescribed antibiotics among other medication for baby A2. He had to take them for 8 days. We were not even sure if we could still stick to our flight plans. We could fly only if his fever had subsided and no new spots appear. To be on the safe side, we would consult the doctor again on friday before taking the final decision if we fly the next day. It would be very obvious that my baby had chicken poxs though the spots were starting to dry up since yesterday.

My poor baby. He was in great agony over the weekend and it broke my heart. He won't want to stay in his bed or his bouncer. We had to take turns to carry him 24hours. It did not help to lower his temperature since we were passing our body heat to him. This little bundle of 6 months had suffered too much. I pray that he would be spare of pain for a long time to come. Teething not included.

Grounded

We are suppose to be on the plane heading to Singapore at this moment. However, baby A2 is having chicken poxs. All thanks to his brother who passed it to him. This is about the 5th day so it is still contagious. We postpone our trip by a week.
Seb and I are so looking forward to our vacation. But life with kids is full of surprises. So we just have to be patient for another week.
Toddler A1 is healing well. He have lots of spots all over his body but they are drying up slowly.
Baby A2 is starting to have lots of small spots on his head and body. We put mittens on him so that he would not scratch himself but he is not too happy about it.
We will have another few sleepless nights before heading to Singapore and hopefully get some rest since granny is more than happy to take care of the babies.
Counting down the week. . . . .

Ox tail soup

I first tried ox tail soup in Australia. My neighbour made this soup the malaysian style and it was delicious. He gave me the recipe and I did it a few times in Singapore. Only my dad and I appreciated it.

Since married and living in France, I had never do ox tail soup. Seb does not eat meat and it takes hours to stew the soup. But recently, I started to notice those ox tail in market and super market. As winter was coming to an end, I decided to make a small portion of ox tail soup. It would not be appropriate for summer.

I added in ginger, carrots, potatoes and califlowers. Just cook until the meat was tender. It was just as good as in my memories. Toddler A1 tried it and finished his lunch. Next winter, I will try to make this soup more often. By then, I won't be eating this dish alone and I hope my 2 boys will like it.

PS: This soup was made 2 weeks ago before toddler A1 got chicken pox. I won't dare to feed him this "heaty" soup while he had chicken pox.

Chicken pox

Sigh. Just 2 weeks before we head for Singapore and toddler A1 is down with chicken pox. I noticed a red dot on his tummy on friday and on saturday, during his music class, I noticed more dots on his neck. After his music class, we went to the doctor and confirmed that he had chicken pox. He would recover in 2 weeks time. But then, most likely baby A2 would have get it from his brother.
If baby A2 does get chicken pox before our departure, he would not be able to fly. We would have to wait until the spots dry up. So in either case, I have to go to the doctor the day before our departure. I need a certificat saying that toddler A1 is fit to travel. If baby A2 is sick, I would need a certificat saying that he cannot fly. This will allow us to change our flight dates free of charge.

That aside, toddler A1 is sleeping really badly these few days.His chicken pox is strong and there are marks all over him. He wakes up crying and scratching. My poor boy. Seb and I are like zombie now. Amazing that toddler A1 is still so active during the day.

So we won't know if we can fly next week until the last min as the incubation period of chicken pox is between 10 to 15 days. Still, we look on the bright side. It is better for him to suffer now than when he will be older.

Fresh peas

I'm always buying the same kind of vegetables. During winter, it started to be boring. So before leaving for the fresh market on Sunday, I asked Seb for some ideas. He mentioned green peas, french beans and mushrooms. What new ideas. Usually I just opened a can of green peas. I had never bought fresh ones.

I was glad to find all the above vegetables he mentioned at the market.


After his lunch, Toddler A1 was happily helping me to remove the peas from the pods. It occupied him for a good half hour while I finished my lunch.
For dinner, we had fresh peas and mushroom for dinner. The peas tasted much better than frozen or canned ones.

Tulips at home

I received a bunch of tulips from my upstairs neighbour as I invited her over for brunch on sat. We often crossed each other and she would ask about the kids. She had never seen baby A2. Due to her busy schedule, we finally managed to settle on a date. I also invited Nadia, my next door neighbour and M. Jules from the last floor. It was a good gathering.

I was not a fan of tulips as I thought they won't last long in a vase. But surprisingly, they looked good and were still standing straight after 2 days. I'm happy to have them at home and might buy a bunch the next time I chanced upon such fresh ones.

Life's routine

Can't believe that it is already March. For the past two months, we had settled into a nice routine. Each morning, toddler A1 wakes up at 5am. It is his bio clock and we can do nothing about it. Either he manages to doze off or Seb would give him his milk bottle. With luck, toddler A1 would fall asleep until around 6.30am. By then, baby A2 would wake up for his milk feed. I would start to prepare for work and leave the house by 7.15am. I start work at 8am.

Seb would take care of the 2 boys until Ai Yi comes at 9am. She is usually early which means Seb zooms off on his scooter and reaches office by 9.15am. Ai Yi takes good care of the 2 boys and we can tell as toddler A1 would rush to the corridor to greet her when she presses on the inter-phone. Baby A2 breaks into a smile when he sees her.

At 6pm, I would be home and Ai Yi updates me about the happening of the day. She notes down everything too but in chinese so it is really just meant for me. I would update Seb when he comes home. During the day, Ai Yi prepares the meals for toddler A1, plays with them, change them, bath them, do their laundry, educate them. She cleans up after toddler A1's mess. If she has extra time, she could vacum or even mop the floor. We always return to a neat home. But after she leaves, within 15 mins, toddler A1 would be messing up the living room or his playroom again.

Seb comes home after 7pm. I would cook diner for us with toddler A1 standing on a stool "helping" out. I invited him once and am now stuck with this routine. Now, he would rush to the hall and push the stool to the kitchen when I start cooking. Baby A2 would be in his bouncer watching us patiently. He loves to watch his brother. Once diner is prepared, we would stay in the living room and entertain ourselves silly with music, books or the laptop until Seb returns.

On the days when I am not working, I would bring the kids to the park if it is sunny. With Ai Yi, toddler A1 has a routine. But with me, it just does not work. He does not want to nap with me around. Once he dozed off on his high chair while having his afternoon snack. He was too tired to resist. We were talking to my mum on skype and she witnessed it direct. Just way too funny.

By 8.30pm, toddler A1 has his evening milk feed (he loves milk and milk products) and Seb would put him to bed. We would relax a little until the last milk feed for baby A2 between 9.30pm to 10.30pm. Then lights out!

There are evenings when Lukas would be at our place or toddler A1 at his place for some play time togather. We would miss our neighbour very much when he moves in 3 months time.

Many people wonder how we cope without family help around and with 2 young kids. We survive. I admit that having a good nanny is a luxury as we can have peace of mind at work.

Je t'aime, moi aussi.

During the day, I sent an e-card to Seb. I sent it to an email address that he hardly consulted as I did not want him to get spam mails (advertising) in his personal email. When we spoke over the phone in the afternoon, I told him to go check out his mail box. That's how unsurprising and unromantic I am.

In the evening, once out of the office parking, I saw 2 men carrying roses. I quickly called up Seb. The conversation went like this:
"Hey, don't buy me flowers."
"Trop tard."
"Oh." I felt disappointed but rapidly, very happy.
"Why?"
"Because they are very expensive."
"Is it?"
"It's ok. I love you" and I started laughing in delight.

Girls are girls! I don't want to spend my hubby's money as price of roses are rocket high today yet I feel so good to get a dozen of roses on Valentine's day. The marketing trick is really getting into us!

8 years of marriage has made him more romantic and me more practical.

O'Kari hammam

For our wedding anniversary last year, Seb offered me a hammam treatment with a massage included. Hammam is turkish bath.

I finally found the time to go relax on Sat while Seb took care of the boys. The 4 hours treatment was great. This was the first time I tried hammam. I was expecting some privacy but it turned out to be an open space. Good thing it was small and cozy with only 4 "workstations". A friend told me that the hammam she went to in Morocco was too crowded for her. There were like 60 women at the open space all chatting away at the same time.

I enjoyed the steam bath and found it more pleasant than sauna. I had 2 exfoliations; one with black soap based on olive oil. It felt weird at first to have someone scrubbing away but I got used to it quickly. There was also a wrap with some nourishing natural herbs. Rose water was used on my hair and it smelt so good. To end it off, there was a relaxing massage. So relaxing that I fell asleep and did not want to leave.

When I finally left O'Kari, I checked my watch. 3hours and 45minutes had passed so quickly. I wished I had stayed 15mins extra. After all, it was supposed to be a 4hours hammam treatment. Personally, I never thought of trying hammam as I would prefer a good traditional massage to tense out those stiff shoulder muscles. For the price, I could go on a short weekend trip or gotten a new leather bag. Still, I enjoyed myself and I thanked my kind husband for giving me such a sweet surprise. And what did I get him for our anniversary? Gee... A jazz CD. I will try to do better for this year.

The birth rates

The latest statistics are out.

The birth rate of Singapore stands at 1.16, lowest in Singapore history.

The birth rate of France increases from the year before and stands at 2.02.


Read here
http://www.littlespeck.com/content/people/CTrendsPeople-110122.htm
and here
http://journalde.blogs.nouvelobs.com/archive/2009/02/09/france-leads-europe-in-birth-rates.html

I contributed to France in 2009 and 2010. If we were in Singapore, would I have 2 kids by now? This is a tough question. Singapore is indeed more competitive (leading to more work stress and less family time?) but my mum who is in Singapore is so readily to help take care of the kids. For sure, we would have 1 kid.

Some reasons cited by Singaporeans for not wanting kids or just having a kid are valid reasons for us too. Seb and I work, we have no family living near us, we can't afford a live-in maid (there's min wages in France and it's about 8€ per hour; go do your maths). To give our best to our kids, it is hard but possible for us; just like many other french parents out there. We have a nanny to take care of the 2 boys at home while we are at work. We organise our outings and time mangement according to the needs of our children. We are both very tired since a few months but we are satisfied as we are involved 100% in our kids' lives. We see them everyday. We feed them and put them to sleep ourselves. Baby A2 is sleeping thru' most nights. It will only get better.

For the mentality of Singaporeans to change, they should not look at child rearing as a chore. I said that because a few of my Singaporeans friends and relatives and even my mum commented that it must be really hard for me to take care of my young children alone without help. With so much consolation from them, I started to doubt my capability and felt stress up the first 2 weeks with my children alone. But soon, I realised that it was not that difficult at all. It was a joy doing nothing and just taking care of their needs, watching them play and pass the day happily. Housework can be done later when they sleep, nap. Having a dryer (I hate to hang clothes and over here, it is not allowed), dish washer ease my task. Having a hands-on father is an extra!

I am looking forward to spring so that I can bring the kids to the park more often. Toddler A1 has unlimited energy and baby A2 is starting to be curious to his surroundings.

The iPad

Came across this article and it was really true in our case.
Children learning computer skills before life skills
Toddler A1 knows how to use his dad's iPad better than me. He could go to YouTube and select "Sesame Street" videos to watch. Or he could go to iTunes and select the Barbapapa videos to watch. He could adjust the volume, pause the video, and when I told him we had to switch it off, he knew which button to press. Gosh. I did not even know where was the "On/Off" button. I thought it was that round button at the bottom of the screen.
And when Toddler A1 watched videos on my laptop, he would touch the screen hoping to pause or change video. I had to tell him that my laptop was not a touch screen.
An iPad is really a child's play compared to computers. However, great supervision is necessary when kids are online. I feel that computers are more dangerous than television. Harmful materials are just a click away.
Seb and I do hope that we would be mindful and not take it for granted that toddler A1 could learn life skills by himself.

The horror of French public services

I had been restraining myself from writing the horror stories of the French public services regarding the foreigners department. Whenever I need to get my papers updated, I would normally spent a whole day(or sometimes more) at the office and I would have to take days off as the public services are not open on saturdays.

For my mom's stay, Seb had to queue up as early as 5am in the cold just to get an appointment, sumbit papers and documents, resumbit some documents (note: they always asked for more papers than what was written on the internet or communicated over the phone), collect my mom's 'long-stay' card etc. We would join Seb when the office opened at 9am. It could take hours before one reached the reception desk since each person had to provide the motive and necessary documents before given a ticket. There was only a staff. Each interview could take 5 mins. There would be around 50 people before us. Yeah, there were people who camped overnight. They took the last Metro as they had no cars. Remember, this was the foreign department we were talking about and usually, the foreigners were low-skill workers. Low-skill = low pay = no car. Low-skill work also meant that if they did not work, they were not paid.

Once, we arrived at the reception desk and it was already noon. As we had an appointment, we were given a ticket. The people behind us were told to come back the next day as all tickets were given out. They could only process a certain number of requests a day. The lady behind us told me that it was the second day she was there and this time, she queued since 6am. She already had a loss of income of 2 days and a whole day of queueing wasted. Poor lady. There were many other people like her.

As mentioned earlier, I preferred not to write about such things as I had become a fatalist. In the beginning, I compared the public services here with that of Singapore which is easy and fast. Now, I decided to accept things as they are in France. France has its positive points and overall, I am contented with this country.

So, what makes me begin this post. I rattle on more than I like to. It's because of the French passports. Seb and baby A2 made their passports 3 weeks ago. We went on a weekday morning and waited for like 2 hours before everything was done. As we waited, we heard people being told to come back the next day as there was insufficient staff to process the passport applications. It was only noon then. Seb went to collect the passports last week and there were mistakes in both passports! Seb's family name was spelt wrongly. The address in both passports had mistakes and they were not even identical. They had to be redo and the system was down that day. So Seb had to go back another day to resumbit the applications. Another few hours to be wasted. Worse of all, this is costing the government money and these are the tax payers' money. Gosh. This is what got me started with this post. I better stop here now. Nothing, nothing goes well with the public service here. If we managed to get something done fast and correct with the public services, it was really a miracle.

No period.

Toddler A1 is at his "no" period(phase). Everything he says is "No" period(fullstop)!
This is somewhat getting me on my nerves.

Example: He was on the high chair.
Are you hungry? No.
Do you want to eat? No.
So, you are not hungry? No.
You want to come down? No.
You want to stay in your chair? No.

Then the dad asked in French: 'You want to be an astronaut?' He paused and stared at us.
I added 'You want chocolate?' 'Yes', came the reply. So he did process our questions in his mind.

There were days he refused to eat and sometimes, he said no during mealtime and yet put the food in his mouth. Even at nights, we heard him crying 'No' in his sleep. Poor boy.

We read that this is a common behavior for toddlers and it usually ends by the age of 3 years. Gosh. We will have to endure this on/off periods of "No"s for another year. Or maybe more as some friends told us.

Oyster knife

Happy new year everyone. 2011 is here. How fast.

Over the Christmas lunch, I had 6 yummy oysters. I only had oysters during Christmas as I only trust the oysters bought by my in-laws. I had once been very sick after eating fresh(?) oysters in Singapore.

Yesterday, while shopping for our new year eve's dinner at the supermarket, I decided to get half a dozen of fresh oysters. I had this oyster knife since many years but never used it yet.

So, for the first time, I had to open the oysters by myself since only I eat them in this home. Seb won't help cos' he did not know how. But me too! It was not as difficult as I thought. It was pretty easy once you find the opening. I am proud of myself. Something to add to my list of skills before the year ends. (LOL. As if this skill is important. )

Au revoir, big comfy sofa bed.

OK. The photo did not do justice to this sofa bed. The cover was all winkled as it had been folded and left under the bed for a long time. 10 months to be exact. But the mattress itself was thick and it made a really comfortable bed.

Now that mum had left, we would like to get rid of this sofa bed for good to make space. The space would provide the kids a corner of their own. Yeah, we were tired of having to pick up toddler A1's toys in the living room each evening after putting him to bed. We needed our own living (room) space.

This sofa bed had come a long way. It was Seb's bed during his balchelor's days. As I said, the mattress was still in top condition so throwing it away felt like such a waste. I decided to put up a notice at http://www.recupe.net/. I mentioned before that we could donate anything at this site.

Once the notice was up, I received more than 10 demands right away. It was amazing. Some wrote short while others shared their personal situations. There were single mum, student, man quitting his parents' place for a new job etc. I did not give it to the first demand I received but instead replied positively to the third demand who said that she had no luck in getting anything since 6 months. Well, she would come tomorrow to pick up the sofa.

So a good deed done and Seb did not even have to carry the sofa out to the streets to dump it. Now, I wonder how we would decorate the kids' space. Seb would like to turn it into a cosy reading corner with cushions while I opted for a carpet with roads printed for the boys to play cars. Something like this from Ikea. Maybe I will post a photo of the end result.

X'mas time soon

Galleries Lafayette. I think the Christmas magic is really strong here. I just love the decorations of Galleries Lafayette. And each year, the window displays attracted many kids.

This sunday morning, Seb will bring toddler A1 to view the famous window displays of animated toys. I hope it won't be too crowded as it could be dangerous for kids.

Christmas will be here soon and the weather is really cold this year. We may even experience a white christmas in Paris itself. That's so rare. As usual, we shall spend Christmas in Chartres. Stay tune to see what the babies get for Christmas.

A saturday evening

I stop by here to write a post before shopping online for an iron.

Saturday evening. . . . Seb brought toddler A1 to the circus. Tickets were offered by his company as X'mas gift to the employees' children. Toddler A1 might be too young for the 2 hours show but the lions performance would only be out after the pause. I do hope toddler A1 gets to enjoy it cos he loves lions. When we show him the lion in his books, he would go 'Grrrr...' with his head tilted backwards and mouth opened wide.

Me, I stayed at home with baby A2. I pushed the coffee table towards the TV furniture and placed the ironing board before the sofa. Baby A2 was in his bouncer and I multitasked; watching TV (the Simpsons in French :( ), talking to baby A2, leg shaking the bouncer, hands ironing Seb's shirts. I was going into my 4th shirt when the iron died. Hm.....

So here I am. Taking a break. Sitting on the sofa with laptop on my lap, watching TV (variety show 'Les annees bonheur' by Patrick Sebastien), leg still on the bouncer, drinking a cup of tea. Once I leave the room, baby A2 would cry. Once he sees me, he smiles. Finally, he is getting responsive.

OK. Back to serious business now. Mission: buy new iron. I would need it by wed as I had only ironed 3 shirts. Nowadays, I buy almost everything online. Even the washing machine. How convienent. I have 30 minutes to find a new iron before the next feed of baby A2.

Big revamps in our lives

Over the weekend, it snowed in Paris. This is not very usual for beginning of Dec. The snow did not stay as it rained after. However, it did snow heavily and my balcony had a layer of snow. It was a beautiful sight from the living room but I think my flowers had froze to death.

Baby A2 is getting better. Despite the cold, we had to bring him for theraphy sessions to clear his lungs. I'm glad that after 2 sessions, we were told that he was in the pink of health. For the next months, we would keep ourselves warm at home and avoid outdoors unless necessary.

With baby A1 at the childcare, there are some organisations to be done. Seb brings him to childcare and in the evening, my neighbour, whose son is also at the child care would help me to bring back baby A1. I won't have to take baby A2 with me to pick up his brother. This arrangement would last for these 2 weeks. After which, Seb would be on his 11 days of father's leave. Yeah, another work benefit in France.

Then comes the new year. Major changes would occur come 2011. We were disappointed that baby A2 did not have a place at the childcare. So the best decision for us was to pull baby A1 out of childcare and enaged a nanny. We found a chinese nanny who would come to take care of the 2 boys at home. She would speak chinese to them. She would work every weekday except wed and alternate friday.

For me, I will stop working full time. By law, yeah, another work benefit in France, I can reduce my work hours to 80% and get some financial help from the governement. This means I get to spend every wed and alternate fridays at home with my boys. The loss of income is about 10% after aids from govt which ends on the third birthday of the last child.

France is really a social country. I just realised that with 2 kids,I get about 120€ from the govt each month. I did not realise this until I checked my bank account a few days ago. The amount increased with the number of kids. No wonder some people just keep having babies to get this aid.

At the moment, I'm on maternity leave until 20 Dec but I decided to start work on 2011. After all, I still have 5 weeks of leave. I hope to be fresh for year 2011. I'm just exhausted now and nursing a cold. Hopefully, I won't pass it to the babies.

He is back in hospital

Baby A2 got bronchiolitis and was hospitalised since monday. His condition is not serious. As he is so young, he is kept in the hospital for observation. Still, it is tedious for us. Seb's mom is helping to take care of baby A1 while I spend the day by baby A2's side. As the hospital is nearby Seb's workplace, he would come to visit during lunch time. For the night, we take turns to sleep over. Seb would shower at the hospital before going to work the next day. Today is my turn to sleep at home.

We are keeping our cool. We got to know the doctors and nurses there and know that baby A2 is in good hands. Still, with the extreme cold weather, I would prefer the whole family to be cozy at home. I wonder when the little guy will be back home. The prediction was a week to 10 days.

We are not alone. We see so many other babies just as young who were admitted for the same problem. Gosh, babies are so fragile during winter.

Mom's the best

Though I'm a mother now, the title of this post is not about me. I'm referring to my mother. She is really the best. We always have a good relationship togather and for the past 10 months, I appreciated her much more than before.

She readily dropped her social life and family and business to come to take care of her grandchildren. She did not speak any french; knew no one else here than us; yet, she was brave enough at this age to take this big step. She always put her family before all else.

10 months passed so fast and now she is back in Singapore. I want to thank her for all the things she had done for us; especially her love for babies A1 and A2. She had more engergy than me. It is amazing what she had accomplished and even her friends were telling her that they would not have done what she had done. I love my mum.

He is back with us

Thank you my friends for your kind concern. Baby A2 is back home since yesterday evening. His fever was down and doctor confirmed it was a virus but could not identify what virus. We are so happy to be togather as a family again.
Got to go catch some sleep now.

I hate Nov

At this time, I should be resting and sleeping but somehow I just could not. Instead of choosing to watch TV, I decided to take 5 mins to write this down. Maybe that will help me to go to bed easier.

I had spent the last 2 nights at the hospital staying by baby A2's side. He had fever and it was worrying since he was less than 2 months old. It started on tuesday when he had fever of 38.2°C. At the hospital, he had his blood drawn thrice. His urine and stools were examined. He had a lumbar puncture done. But all test results did not show up any virus or bacteria.

Poor boy was in great discomfort and Seb and I took turns to be by his side. His tempertaure had not stablised and this morning even shot up to 38.9°C.

Last year this time, baby A1 spent 5 nights at the hospital. This time round, it's his little brother. I hate Nov. I pray that baby A2 will recover soon.

5 mins up. It's time I go to bed and try to get to sleep. Let's hope that we can have our baby home with us tomorrow.

Charms

When I was pregnant the first time, I requested from Seb to offer me a token of appreciation based on the birth weight of baby A1. Baby A1 was 3kg340g and I had 334€ as the gift. With this, I bought a ring with a quartz gemstone and a few charms from Agatha. The theme was based on baby and I got a milkbottle, a boy and a rocking horse charms. These gifts should last forever and are of great sentimental values to me.

When baby A2 was borned, we continued with tradition. He weighed 3kg100g at birth. With my new gift amount, I added 2 more charms; a diamond ring and a letter A to complete my bracelet. I will most probably shop for a pair of pearl earrings to use up what's left of the cash.

If you are interested in Agatha's charms, you can create your own at its website.

Sleeping arrangement

A few months before the arrival of little brother, we bought a junior bed from Ikea for the big brother. Though he was only 16months old, we decided to make him sleep in the junior bed instead of buying another baby bed for the little brother. The little brother would instead be sleeping in the existing baby bed.

We installed the junior bed but big brother did not want to sleep in it. It took him a month before he slowly accepted sleeping in it. Now, he had no problem sleeping in it. I think he knew the advantage of sleeping in the big bed. He could get out of the bed early in the morning and came looking for us in our room. In the baby bed, he would have to wait for us to come get him. We no longer needed to set the alarm clock as we could hear big brother getting off his bed and walking along the corridor at 6.30am or sometimes earlier.

For little brother, I decided not to put him in the baby bed yet. The 2 boys would be sharing a room and since little brother cried so often as all new borns do, I did not want him to disturb his older brother’s sleep. I rented a maternity baby bed for a month. We could easily move the baby anywhere we want. Furthermore, we could see the baby through the transparent cot.

Another week and little brother would be a month old. I'm hoping that the 2 boys would sleep well when they are both in the same bedroom.

The birth story

The day before he arrived, we were at Jardin de Plantes in Paris. On the way home, the usual 30mins drive became 2hours due to massive traffic. Saturday evening traffic in Paris was horrible. That was when the contractions started. On Sunday early morning, the contractions continued and became regular at 5 minutes interval at around 3.30am. I called my mid-wife, Adela and she said to go to the clinic and she would join us there. We arrived at 4.30am and Adela examined me. She prepared the labour room and at 5am, my obstetrician arrived. By 5.10am, the baby was out. Adela knew that I would like to have a natural birth and we worked towards it throughout my pregnancy. I was really pleased that the birth turned out as I wanted. No epidural or complications. So it was really true what people said about first delivery being long and subsequent ones would be faster. But neither Seb nor I expected it to be that fast.

I thank God for answering my prayers. Adela, my mid-wife was great. She knew that my first delivery was long and difficult. She did her best to ensure that I would get what I wrote in my first birth plan. I did not even bother to do a birth plan for this second one.

If you are looking for a mid-wife in the Parisian area, let me know. You won't be disappointed with Adela.

The wait is over

My second boy had arrived on sunday. He weighed 3kg100g and was 48cm. He arrived at the same term as his older brother; 39 weeks + 2 days.

Baby boy's name starts with an A, like his older brother. So I guess I have to call my Baby A, Baby 1 and this new born, Baby 2.

As usual, we engaged the services of Adela, my mid-wife and Dr Sabban, my obstetrician. I stayed at Sainte Isabelle Clinique as I enjoyed the service there for Baby 1. This time round, I took the suite since the room was entirely paid by my mutuelle. The rate was like that of a superior room in a 5 star hotel in Paris. Very expensive. The suite was spacious. I should have done that for my first stay instead of opting for the single room.

I stayed 3 nights there and though the food was alright, I longed for kebah and sushi. Seb delighted me with the best sushi he knew in Paris. (That was when he was still eating fish.) The fish were really fresh. I guess I had more craving for food than when I was pregnant.

We are all home now and as usual, mum is doing confinement for me. I can hardly wait for the confinement period to be over so that I can be FREE. Mum is not that strict but still, confinement is confinement!

Baby 1 takes well to Baby 2 and even kissed him. Baby 2 is adorable so far. Not a fussy baby. Or maybe because this baby business is not new to us, we are less stress up.

Oh yeah, when I was at the clinic, I met a nurse who did an internship at KK Hospital in Singapore. She knew about the confinement practise and we discussed a little. She was surprised to have a patient from Singapore and asked if my mum was going to sleep with me at night. I told her that my french husband would never allow that.

Waiting game updates

It has been almost 5 weeks since I am on maternity leave and I am still waiting patiently for baby number 2. In the first 3 weeks, I was told to rest tranquille and not move too much. Since 2 weeks, I had the go ahead to move as much as possible as we would like the baby to arrive way before term. In the hope for a short labour unlike for baby A's, the medical team (my obstetrician and mid-wife) would like me to give birth earlier. This was to avoid having a big baby. Baby A was 3.340kg and considered big for my petite frame.

So since 2 weeks, I had been active. When Baby A was at the child care, mum and I went to market, supermarket just to jalan jalan. During the weekend, we took walks in Paris. And with baby A around, we brought him to parks. He could have so much fun even in a small area of greenery. He is going to be 17 months soon and weighs about 10.7kg. Most of the time, he is happy. It is always a joy to watch him discovering new things.

Here, we were at a park nearby Anca's place. He had fun at the small playground and played for a long, long time.

Baby number 2 is very active in me. Whenever we asked baby A "Where's Didi (younger brother)?", he would sayang my tummy. Very sweet. Now, I'm just waiting for contractions. The whole family is so eager to see him and each day, we receive enquires asking if he has arrived. :) Soon, I hope.

Home made rice wine

Mum made some home made rice wine. It was easy to do it. Just need to prepare them in advance as it took about a month to yield about a bottle of wine. This wine is to be used for confinement recipes purposes. So far, she had made about 3 bottles. Just waiting to use it anytime soon.

Hoping that second baby comes anytime now.

What's cooking, mother?

I have been staying at home since a few weeks and have been enjoying home cooked food for almost all meals. Mum is amazing. Though I miss Singapore local food, I am often too laid-back to dish them up. But not my mum. Just make a wish and she would dish it up in no time. Of course, I have to drive her to Chinatown to get the ingredients.

So, we already had fried mee hoon with congee for breakfast.

Mum made char siew and then a few dumplings.And ended up, we had wan ton noodles for lunch.

Yong Tau Foo, my all time favorite. Mum diced up the chicken meat and stuffed the veggies and tofu with it. Really really delicious.

All these above food and others stuff she made can be acquired easily in Singapore. But over here, these are gourmets for me!

Singapore population tops five million

Singapore population is growing really fast.
I remembered that 10 years ago, 1 in 4 people in Singapore was a foreigner.
Now, the ration stands at 1 in 3.

Read this and this.

I doubt it will ever be 1 in 2 but 1 in 3 is really a high ratio. Living in France, this does not affect me but I wonder how does it affect the Singapore-born locals there. Any insights from you?