Flying High

All pumped up for the trip but nope, still not all packed -- seriously, there's way too much. I've done Kayla's share (5 tees, 5 pairs of socks, 5 tights, 5 dresses, two pairs of shoes, two sun hats and did I miss anything?), plus pressies and all that good stuff. We've also packed the massive diaper bag (10 diapers, 80 wipes, lots n lots of Gerber stars, Earth's Best cereal bars, cookies, and spare clothes in case she barfs). Oops, almost forgot the diaper changing mat.

So there's still plenty to do. We're only lugging two bags, which means there isn't much space left for my stuff, which means I can prob only bring one purse, possibly two pairs of shoes and not too many clothes. Packing's going to be fun.

I'm trying to prepare Kayla for the trip, telling her everyday that we're going on a plane to Singapore and we're going to see Gong Gong, Po Po, Baby Darrell, Aunty Evelyn, Uncle Derrick and Benji the dog. She gets all giddy with excitement but I'm pretty sure she doesn't know what she's in for.

We've been praying hard everyday as well that the flight will be a smooth one, and though it's full, an empty seat will open up miraculously (we made the bad mistake of not getting a seat for her initially). We'll try to get one for her on the way back.

Then there's the jetlag... She's going to be wide awake in the wee hours of the night..and cranky sleepy in the day. By the time she readjusts, it'll prob be time to head home...which means even more cranky mornings and wide awake nights. This, I think, will be a trip of a lifetime...

One More Week

... and we'll be home, provided we survive the plane ride. :) I've been working really hard to finish up all the work I have for the next issue so I can have a worry-free and gmail-free vacation. But something tells me that's not going to happen.

Anyway, I've picked out all of Kayla's clothes, mostly t-shirt and shorts ensembles, a couple of dresses in anticipation of super sweaty weather. This weekend will be spent shopping for whatever we need to keep her happy on the plane -- her Gerber stars, freeze-dried fruit, cookies, chocolates, donuts..name it... :)

Home sweet home...

Precious Potty

Disclaimer: Do not read if you have a weak stomach

I can't believe we missed out on a shot of Kayla and her first potty poop. It came surprisingly easy and she's picked up the concept fairly fast -- though we haven't been able to make it fast enough to the potty the past couple of days.

She knows exactly what to do when you sit her down on the potty (sound effects and face contortions included) and she tries really hard. She just needs to figure to tell us in advance when she needs to go.

Current potty stats: 2 poops, 5 pees. Not bad for a beginner, I say but then again, what do I know?

Well..our goal was really just to get her used to the concept of a potty..so when the time comes and her bladder's ready, we'll have a way easier time. I hope.

A is for Apple, B is for Boy and C is for...

Cold and D is for Diaper Rash... both of which Kayla is having a bad case of. She's been struggling with diaper rash for about a month and no matter how clean and try we try to keep her, it keeps coming back. But this is fire-engine-red bad. Ouch. She screams Owwie each time we try to clean her. We've resorted to washing her in the tub and even that hurts.

We let her run around butt-naked for an hour this evening and I'm hoping it'll help. Then there's the cold. A runny nose and many "ah choos" later, my little one has a congested nose and I can tell she's having a hard time getting to sleep.

Pray she gets well soon.

Five Stones

Before Fisher Price and Mattel came on the scene, there were five stones. Recently, one of Mikey's best mates who's living it up in Japan came home for Christmas and spent the night at our place. He won Kayla over by first offering first his cellphone and sealed the deal when he handed her his watch. He even bought a little gift - the most prettily packaged set of five stones I've ever seen. Of course Mikey didn't know what they were for or what to do with them. Neither did Mikayla. But now, they both - okay, maybe just Kayla - love it. :)

Those were the days when play was as simple as jumping over ropes and a game of five stones. If not for those five stones, I might have just forgotten they ever existed. But I'm glad (thanks Daniel!) they surfaced and Kayla will get to find out what kept her mama busy during recess breaks.

Oh...and we just watching Anthony Bourdain's season opener on Singapore - chicken rice, chili crab, tulang, curry catfish, steamed shark's head and a very strange restaurant that has wheelchairs for seats (ughh - maybe they should call the place "Last Supper"). It's only made me hungry for home!

Stormy Start to the Year

We've been hit (some say finally) by some persistent rain and i-saw-my-neighbor's-garbage-can-fly-across-the-street-strong gusts of wind the entire day. And it's expected to continue right through the weekend and perhaps into the next week as well. Which means I'll have to figure out ways to keep baby and me happy indoors...

She loves shaking her little booty to music so perhaps I could work in some "baby disco" time. She's fallen in love with this book "My Merry Christmas" which tells the tale of Jesus' birth and holds on to it even when she's fast asleep so we could read that over and over and over again. And she likes playing with this big musical toy Grandma and Grandpa bought her for Christmas so that should keep her occupied for a bit.

Can't wait for the sun to shine again - though the Bay Area needs water badly. I also found lots of fun classes we could sign up for at the Morgan Hill community center and I'm rather excited about that. But I'm even more excited about the trip back home. Can't wait to show Kayla what the other side of the world looks and feels like. After all, it's also her home - her citizenship certificate finally arrived which means she's part-singaporean-part-american until she's 21 at least. :)

Potty Pink

Now that she understands the word "potty", "poop" and "pee" and can tell us when she's gone "poop" or "pee", we thought it might be timely to buy her her very own pink potty. It's on its way from Amazon.com and I can't wait to see how she's going to react to it.

I'm not looking forward to the mess and I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed she'll pick it up fast. I have no idea how we're going to do this but I'm sure I'll be spending the next couple of nights reading up about it until her princess potty arrives. Can't wait! Along with the potty, we also ordered a tiny, idiot-proof camcorder that records only 30-min worth of footage so I can upload little funny clips of the little funny one.

Kayla's having a blast at the new place and she's starting to walk a lot more these days (though she still staggers around like a drunk most of the time).