Roots of my soul

Banyan tree roots, originally uploaded by L'Aubergine Grillée.

I always fascinated by the roots of the big tree. They hug firmly into the ground and travel as long as they can to survive. The small and big roots grow everywhere on the earth surface as if dancing in hope for the rain. I'm awed by the growth where it began from a small seed into strong tree. The deeper the roots below the soil, the stronger they are against the storm. It reminds me of our soul. We all need to hold something firm in order to feel secure so we won't be uprooted during the strong storm.

Feeling crafty these days ...

My evening craft project, originally uploaded by L'Aubergine Grillée.

Christmas is around the corner. Ludo's family is celebrating it together in France. Although I am not christian, this time I'd like to exchange the gifts with them. They've been giving me lotsa presents the previous years. But I try not to spend on new stuffs. I am thinking to give to family something personal which I can make it my own.

Here it goes! I am practising to recycle the container for toiletries which have been sat in the bathroom for a year. I turned the white ceramic products into mosaic pattern.

This is probably the first time I tap into my creativity side since Noelia was born. I found it is a relieve! I began noticing that when I am able to fit a bit of creating into my day, I become more calm, at peace and fulfilled. This also makes me more patient and mindful to respond on Noelia's needs.

Furthermore, I also have sewing classes every Wednesday morning. And yeah, I would also like to do knitting soon. My friend has agreed to teach me to knit a baby hat! It's gonna be useful activities during my slow year in winter wonderland! I'm ready to be in South of France during the winter....

Belly Dancing scarf

Belly Dancing scarf, originally uploaded by L'Aubergine Grillée.

This is the first shop we entered in our recent trip to Arab street. Noelia loves the noisy belly dancing scarf. Maybe I should enroll her to belly dancing class for babies!!! Just kidding ...

Is it necessary to go to Baby Gym?

I live in the city where the government provides the best quality life to its population. This is the city where public transportation is convenient to take anytime. It also one of the best place in Asia for parent to raise their children in healthy envionment due to lower crime-rate. When I was in mid 20s, I came back from friends' party around 2 am without being fear of being harrassed.

It is also a society who puts great emphasis on education. It is heartening to see many options of early childhood schools for expats and Singaporeans. There are choices from enrichment programs to speech and drama classes by local or international institutions. I found it is very overwhelming for young parents like me to choose pre-schools for Noelia.

One day Ludo, my husband came back home with a couple of flyers about the nearest gym which Noelia could participate. I was giving him many reasons that I do not like the idea of getting her in the gym to play. We live in the estate where the playground and neighbourhood kids are all around for us to connect. I found it sad if we think Noelia can do better crawl, walk, jumps, and friends in the gym. Oh, we have to pay extra money for gym's programme too!

Suprisingly, a bunch of parents send their 4 and 6 months old baby to the gym classes! These institutions are well marketed among young parents, especially expatriates in Singapore. Their objectives are building confidence that leads to lifetime success and improving motor skills etc. I can hear their pitch, "we want to make movement fun for you", "they will learn how to socialize with others", "your baby needs to learn to move properly", "we can teach your baby to have more confidence" etc. That is marketing garbages which many naive parents buy! I think this is disturbing trend.

Are we parents afraid that they are becoming obese? Do baby needs "a personal trainer" to help them to crawl and do front rolls? Babies supposed to get enough exercise with doing what they normally do, crawling, walk and play. It looks like we lost our faith with them that they can develop as any normal human being. According to AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), the baby doesn't actually need a special fitness programme for her body to develop motor skills. Moreover, the AAP feels the possibility exists that adults may inadvertently exceed their infant's physical limitations by using structured exercise programme.

Because babies receive all the physical and mental exercise they require naturally, parents do not need specialized skills or equipment to provide an environment for the optimum development of their infant. It probably better that these programme aimed at bonding the parent and baby.

Of course, I am also happy to participate in mom-baby programme to beat my baby blues (I still have it a bit till she's 8 months old) and postpartum flab. Yes, I enrolled Noelia in Positive Babies programme once in a week since she was 7.5 months. It is a 45 min programme where she has a chance to sing, moves, listen together and meet new friends around her age. Interestingly, I also found it is beneficial for me to know how to enjoy and have fun with her. We learn sign language, a little bit of yoga, music and the most important thing is having a positive mindset in parenthood. Oh yeah, the movements in the class together with Noelia could make me sweat too!

Wwwoosss ... Wind blows my hair!

Wwwoosss ... Wind blows my hair!, originally uploaded by L'Aubergine Grillée.

with my new camera!! Yoohoo!

A few pounds off more ...

Botanic Garden in the hot day!, originally uploaded by L'Aubergine Grillée.

No, I haven't gone back to my pre-pregnancy weight yet. I need a couple pounds off more. I've been trying to set up the schedule to work out. But it's a little tough to do it as we raise our daughter on our own. So, both of us take turn to be with Noelia each day.

I found that being a mother I need to learn managing my time accordingly, so I still can do the things that I like to do without neglecting Noelia. I probably lucky that Ludo is supporting me alot. On some days, he comes back home early to bath Noelia and put her to bed while I am out for yoga or meeting friends. Yes, he does diapers, brushing her teeth, bottle feeding and bedtime story. Sometimes he thinks he can squeeze massage session to her after the bath. We agreed that one day out of a week, I will do whatever I like sans baby. It puts my sanity back, good gracious!

I have been busy planning a schedule to burn off the fat or water inside the body. I heard it is actually water retention from pregnancy. Ok, a friend of mine suggested that I need to detox the body by drinking juice for 3 days and have rice in the size of our palm once in a day. Darn, I really need to be determine for this one.

Why do I have to be bother with this? I need to fit in to my clothes again!! I am suffered to walk around in the shopping centres to look for clothes for me with baby tagging along. And above all, I do not want to keep spending on new clothes anymore. I am into the slow year that my friend in South of France has started a few montrhs back. It is by reducing the expenses, means no shopping and get creative with whatever we have. Consumerism is not the answer to save the environment, because the more we spend the more we throw. It creates waste which contributes to the pollution.

I have been tempted to spend more in slimming programme that advertise in print media. I thought I could save a bit of money and do the programme for a couple of weeks. My husband opposed the idea, he couldn't understand why it is neccesary to do it in the spa. He encourages me to so workout and yoga a few times a week. He said that "It is not about losing weight, but what you feel inside, getting healthy is more important". Alright, I agreed with him this time. I have to stop behaving like "tai-tai" (housewives hang around in the shopping centres) who thinks can spend money from husband's earning and look pretty just to show off.

Now, I really need to work on etting up the schedules and boy, determination!