Ramblings in Stilettos

My First Haircut!

2010-01-15T22:00:00.000-08:00

Do you know why I love Fridays? Not only is it my day off but I also get to spend it with my most favorite little person in the whole wide world :) We are still recovering from our colds but that didn't stop us from indulging in some girly past-times. First up, some pampering at the salon for Sarah's first-ever hair-cut!

I had been meaning to get her hair trimmed but never got around to it so we jumped at the opportunity when she gave a resounding "yes!" after we asked her if she wanted to get it done. I don't believe she knows what a hair-cut really is but the allure of her choice of seats (Thomas the Train) certainly made it an easy decision for her.

Considering it was her first hair appointment, she did extremely well. She sat still for most of the full five minutes and while she normally freaks out at the sight and sound of the blow-dryer, she didn't flinch. All in all, it was a good experience.

And of course, what does a girl do after getting her hair done? Why, go shopping of course! This girl is fast becoming a mall-rat and I pity her future boyfriend - she is going to cost you a pretty penny! :)

Finally, on a serious note - please consider making a donation to Red Cross to help with the relief effort in Haiti. The Government of Canada will match personal contributions dollar for dollar to eligible Canadian charitable organizations up to a total of $50 million - another good reason to act!

Getting Pampered While Still In Pampers

2010-01-12T21:08:00.000-08:00

Boo, I don't do Mondays well. Not only was it a horrendously busy day at the office but I was so bagged by the time I got home that I didn't get to write in my journal. So much for my mission to write daily!

It is a better day today even though I am starting to come down with Sarah's cold. Such is life with a kid I suppose - while she is building up her immunity, our own systems are being put to the test at the same time. In any case, I have found a few things to amuse ourselves when we are under the weather. Like this...

After watching Mom get a pedicure, Sarah of course had to have her own toes done too. She certainly looks like she is a seasoned pro after only her second go-around, for she sat very still and didn't even touch her freshly painted toes. The end result?

Not bad considering her toes are so tiny, and this time I used a more appropriate shade - vampy red doesn't quite work on a young child :) I will admit it is somewhat of a guilty pleasure for me to play make/dress-up with my little girl but is this wrong? Some people think that I'm not a good mom for exposing her to such frivolous past-times but what constitutes a "good" vs. "bad" mom anyway? In any case, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and as long as I don't go to the extremes of Toddlers & Tiaras, I don't think I have gone overboard.

Raising A Shopaholic (We Are In So Much Trouble)

2010-01-10T21:20:00.000-08:00

It's weekend day #2 and we were pleasantly surprised that Sarah was feeling a lot better from her cold already and that the accompanying cough was a non-issue even during her nap. Daddy took the afternoon off from parent duty and went to his pal's kid's 2nd birthday bash while Sarah and I stayed behind. We probably could have tagged along but we are sensitive to passing our own kid's sick germs to others and also didn't want to risk Sarah regressing so we decided to bail. We did however get out in the morning and went to our local Dollar Store to pick up some extras for the kid's birthday present.

Did I mention that life with a kid has gotten so much more exciting and amusing now that Sarah is a toddler? The days of breaking our backs carrying her (she never liked the stroller) to show her the world at our level are long gone. Nowadays, shopping with Sarah feels more like marathon shopping, that is if you can even consider it 'shopping'. No more going through scores of clothing racks and store aisles to pick out things at leisure. You will now watch us (and likely snicker) chase our kid around the store without so much as even picking something off the shelf as she breaks free from our hold. Sounds brutal but it is really buckets of fun watching the kid become a shopaholic right before our very eyes.

Case in point - the mall had not opened its doors yet by the time we got there so we decided to take a quick drive to see if another store that I was waiting for had its grand opening yet. All the while we were driving, Sarah would not stop saying "mall, mall!" and "there no" (not there) until we returned to the mall when it opened. I positively can not wait to see what sort of damage we can do together on our future shopping trips! Daddy should be very afraid, for this kid already knows the drill, saying "Daddy pay!" before we leave any store. And how could anyone honestly say "no" to this innocent face? :)

The Good & Bad of Having a Tiny Sickie

2010-01-09T20:55:00.000-08:00

Another drizzly weekend so what better way to spend it than by taking care of a toddler who is steadily building her immunity with yet another cold. Now that I have ~~suffered through~~ survived what seems to be her millionth cold (including one hospital-visit-required case of pneumonia), taking care of it has become like second-nature for me. I have all the necessities for nursing a kid's cold at the ready each time she gets sick:

- Baby Tylenol
- nasal drops and the dreaded bulb syringe
- honey and lemon
- macaroni to go with chicken soup
- Baby Vicks rub (it works wonders on the soles of the feet to calm coughs!)

and of course lots of attention and extra leniency for a child who is more clingy whenever she's feeling under the weather.

Despite the sometimes added stress that comes along with it, having a mildly ill child is not without its hidden benefits. Yes, it's horrible for me to say that but I am telling it like it is. For instance, Sarah will nap even longer than her already long afternoon naps (close to three hours) and we don't feel as guilty for letting her veg with Barney and Wiggles on the telly. Taking advantage of this, I bailed out on mommy duty and went out for some personal retail therapy. My intention was only to window-shop but I had a good feeling that the chance of me returning home empty-handed would be very remote. And I was right.

With the Games just around the corner in our fair city and the hype over their merchandise, I decided to show my support by getting hoodies for my little family. Quite honestly, I am neutral on whether I like/dislike the Games but I am really impressed by the designs developed for their logo merchandise. Too bad I could not find Dad one in the same colour as ours (he got a grey one instead) but I am pretty sure he does not mind not looking like carbon-copies of the ladies in his life :)

Finally, of course not only did Sarah score a 2010 outfit but I also found a few trinkets and a Cinderella t-shirt from the Disney Store (I had to because they were having a big sale). In case you were curious, the only Vancouver location (and BC I guess) is closing its doors by January 23rd and there are no plans to open another one anytime soon. Oh well - another one bites the recession dust.

A Social Obligation Perhaps?

2010-01-08T21:30:00.000-08:00

TGIF! First week back to reality and I think I survived most of the events that came up. Mostly everyone at the office is still trying to get back into work-mode so for the most part, it was manageable. More importantly, Sarah is slowly getting back to her monotonous daily grind following what was a whirlwind couple of weeks with opening presents galore. I am happy to report that she is now finally done opening presents and we can begin purging some of her old toys.

As for myself, the daily grind includes the usual commute in to work with my train buddy, counting down the last minutes before I can clock out for the day (in between adding interesting and sometimes useless apps on my new phone :)) and seeing the same people trudge through their daily grind as I do. One such person is this gal with a guide dog. Since I see her practically everyday, we have spoken on occasion and I find her to be an amazingly strong and independent woman for someone with a "disability". Not only is she a rehab specialist for the vision-impaired but she is also involved in Toastmasters.Which brings me to a daily dilemma that I am secretly battling inside constantly...

See (no pun intended), since we live in the same townhouse complex up in the nose-bleeds of the mountain, we have walked home together with Howie (the dog) dragging her all the way home from the bus-stop as if his life were in jeopardy. Whenever I see her, I have made an effort to chat with her on the way home and on rainy days like today, I have even shared my umbrella with her since she doesn't use one. I don't pretend to know the reason but suspect she needs to keep her hands free? Anyway, the internal battle I constantly fight within myself is whether I should feel obligated to talk/walk with her when I see her on my commute home. I mean, she can't see me (and my guess is that she wants to feel independent) so I don't know why I feel so guilty whenever I do see her. It has gotten to the point where I am even getting off at a later bus-stop to avoid this internal conflict. Am I losing my mind, and should I feel that I have a social obligation to help her out even though she hasn't asked for it?

I Wish I Was A Little Bit Taller, I Wish I Was A Baller

2010-01-06T14:31:00.000-08:00

A mid-week break to start off the new year back at work feels great. While I did not have the best sleep last night (Sarah was up wailing for "mommmm" at 2 in the morning), I enjoyed a great day off with the centre of my universe. Given that the fun and activity from the holidays abruptedly ended, it was no wonder that she was dying to get out of the house for some school-time. She absolutely adores her teacher, Linda, and we are also impressed at her ability to make all the kids and parents/caregivers feel special. Even though Sarah doesn't go to school on a regular basis, Linda always remembers the last time she went to class and is always liberal with the compliments on Sarah's development.

In case you are wondering, "school" is actually a free program offered by our BC government (one of the very few things that they actually did right!) and is held at one of the neighbourhood elementary schools. If you live in BC, look for a school in your area that offers the program - it is really an awesome class and we need to keep it going strong so that the government powers don't take this free program away. The best part for me is that it is very much like looking into the future to when Sarah starts kindergarten and these classes will no doubt prepare her for when that inevitable time comes. I will be the one crying at the door not wanting to leave her - LOL!

Anyway, after free-play time, clean up and snack-time with her fellow classmates, it was time for Sarah's most favourite part of the class - gym time! This little girl of ours is no bench-warmer that's for sure. Here she is getting ready to shoot some hoops.

And of course, being the girl that she is, she must stop for a chat with a fellow classmate during time-out. Ummm, excuse me Sarah, the clock is ticking - no time for chit-chats!

Anyway, as the pictures tell, Sarah obviously loves going to school and I can only hope that she keeps this level of interest through high-school and beyond. There is no denying that we certainly want to encourage this passion for we know that she is destined for some great things ahead! Happy 20 months to you kiddo!

New Year's Unresolutions

2010-01-04T23:37:00.000-08:00

Now I have never been one to develop and commit to New Year's resolutions but since it is the start of a new decade, I thought I would at least go public with my Top 3 "unresolutions" instead.

3. Develop (and stick to) a regular exercise regimen. Fitness World knows that this one never sticks because I have had multiple life-time memberships only to find myself misplacing the pass and not going altogether. Not to mention, the meat-market atmosphere in every location does not exactly provide incentive to really be serious about getting into better shape. Running around after a toddler and not taking time to eat a proper meal is enough to keep me at least looking like I am in shape.

2. Buy at sale-price more often. This one is a doozy of a resolution. Friends are always calling me crazy for buying things at full price but my oft illogical (but highly persuasive) mind tells me that I have to buy now since my shoe/clothing size is hard to come by. Past experience has also proven the same since hubby can attest that he has had to (on more than one occasion) to trek across town just to pick up an article of clothing in my size. (He's great :)) As for my kid's clothes, I will admit that I have a bit of an obsession and have an urge to buy her things as soon as I see them in the store windows.

1. Love my home the way it is. Ever since Sarah came along, our home lost whatever little design aesthetic it ever had. As all you other parents out there know, I have come to the sad realization that there is absolutely no way to keep the "made in China" treasures corralled into one area, no matter the size of the home. In fact, Sarah has decided that she prefers to take her bath in my spa bathtub now, so our previously unchartered toy territory is no longer. Either way, I positively can not wait until the toys disappear so that I can return to my secret passion for interior decorating.

Happy Year of the Tiger!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

2010-01-03T21:38:00.000-08:00

As promised to myself, I begrudgingly opened my work email this afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to see only 101 unread emails waiting for me. The best part was that most of the messages were either destined for the trash-bin or already taken care of in my absence. Now here's hoping that by the time I get in to the office tomorrow that there isn't a whole pile of other stuff waiting for me on my desk!

Ever the pushover when it comes to his baby princess, Daddy opened yet another Christmas present at Sarah's request, conveniently while I was preoccupied with something else. This girl is cheeky - she totally knows whose buttons to press when she wants something. It is really cute and adorable and extremely difficult to stand your ground when she bats her innocent face and gives you the sweetest "hi Dad/Mom/etc" with her signature 'I got you wrapped around my finger' wave. Not surprising then that Dad caved in (I like to think that I would not have but I probably would have also).

Surprisingly, she loves this gift from our long-time family friends and even ~~commanded~~ ~~told~~ asked us to "seign" (sing). I was planning to get something similar for her and had it on my list for new toys to get for when she's older, so it is neat to see that she is somewhat ready for watching American Idol with Mom and Dad :)

Say, do these stuffies look any different to you?

I didn't think so. Apparently, Sarah can tell the difference and knows which one is the one she sleeps with (the one on the right). She can even tell them apart from a distance without touching them - it is amazing. You can sort of tell that one is more ~~tattered~~ well-loved than the other but the differences are negligible (especially after we've put both in the wash). She doesn't necessarily cart 'beh beh' (bear) around like Linus with his blanket but we have never put her to bed without him and certainly don't even want to attempt that for obvious reasons. Scariest thought is the carnage that would happen if we were to ever lose her little precious for good. I shudder at the very thought!

Anyway, off to enjoy a Drumstick (yum!) before my dreaded return to reality tomorrow. Back to early morning risings and the mad rush to get things done at work so that I can rush home - joy!

On the Road Again, Just Can't Wait to Get on the Road Again (Not)

2010-01-02T22:51:00.000-08:00

It's Day 2 of the new year and I'm living up the second-last day of my Christmas holiday break (sigh) by sending our Christmas tree back to hibernation again. I have had so much fun hanging with my kid and not having to wake up early that it will be difficult to get myself back into the swing of day-to-day life again. Oh well - until we miraculously win the lottery, I will have to subject myself to the daily routine of working hard at the office just so that I can work even harder for my kid to ensure that she has a full life. It is messed-up crazy logic for sure but sadly true. As they say, "that's life".

Anyhow, to take advantage of these last precious hours, we went out for Kirin dim-sum after running some errands at the mall. Sarah loves going to the mall and received an extra-special treat this time around. Not only did she go for a ride on the merry-go-round, but she also got a Dora colouring page and temporary tattoo from Please Mum. Such a girly-girl these days - she absolutely loves going shopping and trying on clothes and shoes, so the tattoo (which to her is like jewellery) was a perfect way to end her little field trip.

Seems that others were also trying to get as much shopping done as possible before the end of their holidays, because the mall was packed by the time I returned in the afternoon to pick up some stuff that I had dropped off at the tailor. It didn't help matters that whatever little driving sense people have go out the window as soon as the rain hits. Why is that? Anyway, luckily I only had to dash in and out so I did not have to fight the masses. Being the supermom-wannabe that I am, I also made a stop at Michael's and picked up some rainy-day activities for Sarah instead of plunking her in front of Barney all day. I don't have very much to offer in the creativity department so I haven't quite figured out what we should make with the foam cut-outs but I can't wait to try out the finger paints with her :)

We'll Take a Cup of Kindness Yet for Auld Lang Syne

2010-01-01T21:38:00.001-08:00

Happy 2010! Hope you partied safe and were sober enough to watch the ball drop with Ryan Seacrest on the tube (in person if you were so lucky!) or count down the last seconds of 2009 with a gaggle of fellow partiers. My best wishes to you and yours for an awesome year ahead.

Being the uneventful folks that we are nowadays, our NYE was decidedly low-key. We had an impromptu dinner out at our local Japanese restaurant and were in bed snoozing away shortly following the Eastern time-zone countdown. It was an early night for us since we needed to save our energy to indulge in our favorite pre-baby past-time today: cross-border shopping! Not that we don't enjoy shopping with a toddler in tow (who wouldn't? :)) but it was really nice to leave her under the care of others at home while we got some serious shopping done. Our day-trip highlights: (1) no line-ups at the border both ways; (2) our car was not checked inside and out as we so unluckily get to experience often; (3) Ivar's clam chowder!; and (4) not having to pay a dime in taxes or duty even though we declared everything we bought. Speaking of which...

Yes, this is the load of laundry we did for the new clothes that we bought. As usual, the centre of our universe scored big, with enough clothes to last her through to spring-time at least. Despite my earlier wishes for a baby boy, I absolutely love having a girl to shop for and play dress-up with :) Daddy even picked out the cutest Paul Frank tankini for her and I can't wait to get that on her when summer rolls around! Thanks to Target and Chelsea Premium Outlets (Carter's!) for allowing us poor saps to use our hard-earned money on Sarah yet again.

I actually did some pretty good damage myself also, picking up a pair of Banana Republic pants for work, Gap sweater-vest, screen protector for my new toy, a Le Sportsac make-up bag and a Puma fleece track pants & hoodie. The same sadly could not be said for Daddy however, unless you count Pepperidge Farm cookies, pretzel sticks, cooking utensils, and other miscellaneous accessories as "his" purchases. I guess it comes with the reality of living with two women!

I felt ~~ever so slightly~~ guilty for being away from Sarah for pretty much the whole day, so I made it up to the kid by letting her 'water' a new plant that I bought for her. The feeling of holding a watering can must be incredible for a toddler , for she had the widest eyes and biggest smile ever and would not give up her new infatuation without a fight.

So much for those days when the kid did/could not express her thoughts vocally. Welcome terrible twos!

Post-Christmas Recycling

2009-12-30T14:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas at our home has quickly come and gone for us but it seems that the younger you are, the longer this holiday drags out. In Sarah's case, it probably feels like Day #834 of Christmas since we are still opening presents that were stuffed into the trunk and front-seat of our mini-SUV only 6 short days ago. (Yes, she was spoiled again this year.) Which brings to mind, this Sarah is one really lucky girl because she will get 'Christmas' twice yearly since her birthday is in the spring.

With all these presents, our home has been transformed to a primary-coloured, plasticky, squeaky wonderland. So much for thinking that her toys would remain confined to the playroom in the basement. My fingers have been getting cuts left and right from opening box after box of ~~junk~~ wonderful presents that we have so graciously received from family and friends. In case you haven't been exposed to it, these said boxes are horrendously difficult to pull apart, especially when you have a toddler screaming at you to get the said gift out of the box now (and asking for Daddy to "haap" because Mom is apparently incompetent).

Take evidence #1,786 for instance.

It doesn't look like it would be particularly onerous to open, right? WRONG. It took me a good 20 minutes to free the bus and school from 11 heavy-duty plastic twist ties that were doubly secured with the stickiest packing tape ever, while Sarah looked on and offered to "haap Mum" because I, again, was too slow.

You would think that this was some precious, valuable piece with all the wrapping that came with it, instead of some plastic "Made in China" toy! Next year, I should request that either my kid gets no gifts or that the gift-giverer must remove all packaging before wrapping it up or face the wrath from a child in her terrible twos :)

Sadly, Sarah (being too smart for her own good and having lame-o parents) knows where we have secretly stashed her gifts so she has been helping herself to presents when she is bored of her new ones. Wonderful - more box-cuts coming our way. Thank goodness for our large recycling bin!

Apples & Blackberrys

2009-12-29T14:51:00.000-08:00

Oh, the ever-present allure of the forbidden apple. Much like the very first temptation way back when, we are always faced with new luscious, tasty fruits. Today, they come in many forms - be it fashion fads, cars, status and other material and immaterial items.

In my case, our apple is not forbidden and is quite literal - as in the Apple with a capital "A". This Christmas, our home was invaded by not one but two iPhones in a matter of a couple weeks. Hubby got himself an iPhone for Christmas, which is as close to pigs flying as you can possibly get. Why so unbelievably shocking you say? Well for starters, he was/is virtually the founding member of Team Blackberry (if there was ever such one!) and had vowed to be forever loyal to that little technology piece de resistance. Not to mention, he had just got himself a new Bold a number of months back. However, after witnessing the novelty of the gazillion apps available (convenienced with me asking "can your BB do this/that?"), he caved in - gasp! - only one short week after putting one under the Christmas tree for me. He is not solely to blame though, for while I was never anti-iPhone, I never appreciated the neat things that it offered for a casual cellphone user as myself and did not understand the hype surrounding it. It even took me some many months before succumbing to the iPod revolution in the Apple Store at Ala Moana Mall. But now I totally get why the iPhone is so popular - it has all the neat gadgets that an average user like myself would use and while I miss BB Messenger and the other productive tools on my old phone, this one is definitely a keeper for now!

Having Another Go At It

2009-12-28T14:18:00.000-08:00

After much thought and consideration (and endless nagging from peeps about the lack of updates to my first foray into blogging), I finally decided to take another stab at it. There is no better time like the present, given that it is close to the annual New Year's resolutions (which I admittedly always break).

This time around, I am expanding my blog to not only include all things related to life as a mom - now to a toddler - but also my miscellaneous musings and thoughts that come about with this ride called 'life', which I stumble through, very much like how I walk in stilettos (no cat-walk struts for this gal). I hope to motivate and encourage you with my ramblings but most of all, hope to use these writings as self-therapy for the daggers that get thrown my way - thankfully there's not too many to dodge. Anyway, I hope I don't disappoint but if I do, then so be it!

Disclaimer: The author does not promise to update Ramblings on a regular basis but will do her best to do so in the few hours between paid work and chasing after the 'mommy-attention-seeking' centre of her universe.