Museum of Ice Cream: Toddler Tips

I did it! I survived a trip with my little one to the Museum of Ice Cream. Feeling really proud cos it was just the 2 of us. Have been considering to make a trip there for quite a while but the husband wasn't exactly into such things so I thought actually the little one was a better companion. He was definitely more fun, was a better photo subject and we had a good time bonding together. 

Funny moment: We had to give ourselves a cute ice-cream name and when I told my son to paste it on himself. He pasted it in the orientation which he could read when he was peering down. Haha. For those who must know, he is cutely dressed in apparels from Littlebubssteps!

Here's some things you mightwant to know to make your trip fun!

1. There are lots of ice cream to try (and they are tasty too) and it is free-flow. So please make sure you are okay with your kid enjoying some ice cream otherwise there will be too much temptation which they definitely can't resist. Initially, my little one was binging and refusing to share. After realising there was more than he can handle, he actually said "No" to more and is now not as obessed with ice cream as before. 


2. There is a kid-friendly changing toilet, however there is no private nursing room. If you are still nursing like me, please make sure you pump before you go there. You can effectively finish exploring all the installations within 1.5 hours so it is quite a good timing for an in-between pump trip.





3. Some of the installations might be quite scary for the toddlers. My kid didn't enjoy those installations that played with the lights. But he was very intrigued with the jukebox and swing. He was also quite petrified with the sprinkle-sand pit. Maybe because I thought it was funny to "sink" in it and that might have scarred him, Oops. 


4. Although it is stated that it is a one-direction only exhibition, the staff is quite flexible when my kid choose to return to the old exhibition to loiter longer. The staff are also very helpful so don't be shy to approach them if you need help for a family photo. I approached them a bit too late (cos I paiseh) so I don't have much non-wefie photos :'(
   
   
   


5. Bring a power bank! There will be a lot of instagrammable spots (mostly pink), so don't be caught in a situation where your phone goes dead on you.


6. There is a lot of great food nearby. The Museum of Ice Cream is located in a great location, so what we did was to schedule a dinner date after :)

Note that there are 2 new flavours for a limited time only - the Mandarin Orange Sorbet (collaborative effort with Ice Cream Cookie & Co.) at the first ice cream booth and the exotic Sambal Chilli Ice Cream (can be purchased at Open Farm Community too!) Tickets are priced from S$40 onwards which includes free flow of ice-cream!

CNY with a newborn and toddler

This year CNY was more hectic than before because of our newborn. Unfortunately, this round I wasn't saved by any Covid lockdowns which means we had to do some travelling for the visitations. Generally, I still love my CNY (I know many don't) Maybe I just adore traditions or the ambience of big gatherings, but one thing for sure, I truly value the togetherness of a family. 

I think most people probably don't feel the same as I do about CNY mainly because most family no longer set aside time to bake cookies/ food prep. Although it is massive work (to clean up after), it is very fun and is a great bonding activity. 

During every festival we celebrate, we would try to incorporate some simple baking to engage our little one. Last year, we did some pineapple tarts. This year the boy with the help of his grandfather baked some kueh bangkit. It is actually pretty tasty. I ended up eating one whole bottle of it and had a sore throat. Supportive mother they say. 

Another fun thing to do for the kids is the loh-hei. It was my favourite as a kid and still one of the highlights for me at CNY. Some of us would call it the Chinese Salad. I am such a huge fan, I would usually end up eating 2 plates of it. My son only likes the "gold" / crackers in the Loh-Hei.

To be honest, Loh-hei-ing with an infant in one hand is tough. Tip: Sit the baby on the table so that you can stand and loh or just sit on a chair and loh. I prefer the former because I am superstitious. I am a firm believer that the higher you toss, the more auspicious you will be in the coming year. Haha! Another tough thing this CNY was dressing the children up and having a photos of them together. 

As you can see, I barely have any photos of them together. By now, you can tell, I really love dressing up my children. CNY just gives me an excuse to shop more and dress them cutely. Damage was pretty huge this time round but boy am I enjoying it! Hehe! As an adult, I barely buy new clothes for the occasion (into sustainable living lately), but I don't seem to have any issues splurging and breaking my rule of life on them. 

If you really want your kids to enjoy CNY, lax the "food rule". My son and I are huge pineapple tarts fans and at every house, we would try every tart. He also ate lots of chocolates. I knew what I enjoyed bingeing on as a kid too, and I just couldn't bring myself to stop him. Yes, I know it is unhealthy but if you can't eat what you like during celebratory moments, what's the point of life? 

And my ultimate favourite would be still the red packets. This year, my son progressed from an ang pao tosser to someone who finally knows the value of money. He ended up ripping all his ang paos to get the money in it so that he can get ice-cream. Oh gawd! The husband even bought cute holographic ang pao packets for the kids. I...would never do that because hey sustainability. In fact, I even recycle the red packets. 

Ending this post with a gentle urge to the Chinese readers to embrace our roots and culture. It is screaming red, it is noisy, it is loud. But it is also that one day people (however reluctant) gather and new bonds are formed. Joy comes from how you perceive things/events. Open your heart a little and you will realise why this is one of the most important festivals for us Chinese. 

Food Tour 27: Yums in the west

Too much food photos, so here's another post! These are all my current favourites, so don't be too shock if you see me there/ in the queue. But if you see me, please don't say hi or stare. Cos even though I may be loud, I am not the most open responding to readers. Oddly strangers are ok, but readers I am quite paiseh. 

1. Myung Ga

This is at Bukit Timah Plaza (no website sorry) and there is always a queue. I have friends living in that area and not knowing about it. To be fair, the Husband and I chanced upon it and I have been in love with it ever. I have not tried all their food because I am always there with my husband and there is just that much the both of us could eat. So it is always the Cold Noodles and Korean Pancakes. I am particularly in love with the seaweed sides too. Shh, I refill at least 3 times on that. Gosh. 

2. Cut Butchery

If you are already at Bukit Timah Plaza, you can check out this place. Apart from selling nice slabs of meat, it also sells discounted coffee if you sign up as a member (which I did). Apart from that, it has a nice grocer that holds brands that is less common in our supermarket for you to "see-see-look-look". To be quite honest, the price is on the higher end. My toddler here is enjoying a nice "discounted" yoghurt, which I would say is still expensive. But if you are a person who likes to try new stuff like me, this is quite a nice place to chill and look around. 

3. Feng Sheng Hao

This is not exclusively west. It just has an outlet in the west. Basically, it sells really good  and affordable Taiwanese food. Because it is so friendly for the toddlers - the omelette and sandwich, we just find ourselves going back for more. Personally, I would consider it to be more breakfast food, but I have ate it during other timing of the days. I love their iced milk tea too although it would be great if we could control the sugar level (so darn sweet)!

Public School vs Private School

Based on my kid's school uniform, I guess it is pretty obvious the type of school we eventually sent our kid to. At the end of the day, we decided on that particular school because the parents raved about the school teachers - on how caring they were. (I happened to be there during the parents-meeting day when I dropped by to enquire more.) And that was pretty much the over-arching factor for us. 

We did visit a private preschool and honestly, the facilities were pretty dope and did blow me over. However, the husband noted that the principal was absolutely uninterested in my kid (more interested in my money maybe). There was a lot of emphasis of the teaching curriculum, which the husband felt was overrated since the toddler is too young to appreciate. 

Generally, I also noticed that private schools tend to be located in more inaccessible places (maybe because they want to have a bigger compound). There is also no school bus available. Since the child will be sent on a daily basis to school by his caretaker (the grandparents), the location was quite challenging. We may have to commit ourselves to private car rides daily if we wanted him to reach school on time. 

The school fees was also a lot higher and you can either choose half day/ full day schedules. The husband and I discussed and we thought that since we found a decent public preschool, we should give it a try first. Should it be absolutely unsuitable, then we will find other options. 

I have been quite a hands-on parent. So honestly, the so-called curriculum in my eyes are quite rigid and more boring than my home-schooling activities I have prepared for him. (You can read more about them here.) I don't find it value-adding in any sense. 

Lastly and most importantly, the educators are definitely more crucial in a child's development than the school itself. Also, I intend to still play an active role in my kid's education. So far, I have noticed that the public school has as much updates as a private school and provides pretty impressive programmes. I am not sure if it is the particular school is outstanding or if all public preschools are the same. 

Fancy Facilities of Private School

The Cot Makeover

Quite honestly, when it comes to the second child, I would admit I am not too keen to spending as much. I have definitely ruled out the purchasing of "new" big ticket items unless it was absolutely necessary (spoilt, better product in market, consumables/health related). 

By now, I really ought to know better that motherhood is full of twist and turns and basically unpredictability. We had to move back to our in-laws place and with 2 kids, the previous option of having a nest on the king sized bed between us was no longer an option. It was dangerous with a slightly jealous and temperamental toddler around. 

To help other non-first time mothers, here are some of our considerations for our cot, beddings and sleeping aids. 

1. Should I get a second-hand cot? Depends. There was a mark-down sale and the price was so attractive that we got a new cot at a real steal. :P Having said that, the baby actually still prefer sleeping on me more than her new cot. :'(


2. Should I get waterproof beddings? Honestly, I don't. I just line the mattress with underpads. Personally, I prefer cotton materials for their beddings (cos it feels softer). Ours is from thebubhaus. It is pretty comfy and affordable. Lots of designs to choose from too!





3. How do I keep my cot neat? I am guilty of hanging a lot of random stuff on the cot sides. This time round, we got a cot organiser to hang at the side and it is such a life changer. I feel like the room is now more organised since all the kids related stuff and accumulated and packed into it. :)


4. Why do you put a nest on your mattress? You can read my post on the uses of a nest here. Just to add on, when you have a toddler, a nest becomes even more important because it creates the barrier, especially if all 4 of you co-sleep together. For us, the nest gives us options...to move her around and also more space to put baby related stuff around it. Oops. 





5. Does your baby use sleep aids? Yes she does. We use a white noise machine from pursay that calms her down quite a bit (and helps the adults to sleep well). We also have customized comfy mink blankies (pillow and bolsters have been put aside) for her. Super CUTE! For those who ask, we got them from Honeythreads.sg We would also swaddle her in LovetoDream. I recommend the authentic version because of its more lasting and softer fabric, which in turn provides effectiveness for the really fussy babies (like mine).  


6. Is a cot mobile necessary? Our #1 was not very interested in it. But this baby loves staring and cooing at it. So I guess it is a good buy :) On top of that we also let her play with the Star Rainstick Rattle from Itots($14.90) and a bunny rattle from Nattou (price unknown cos it is a gift). 

Special mention to our customised cot deco (though not a necessity but very pretty), we got it from plushedsg!

I froze my first packet of milk

Before the baby even arrived, I had a boob infection. And breastfeeding was seemingly impossibly tough. By the third day post-partum, I was pretty sure I am going to give up on breastfeeding. By a twist of fate (probably due to power pumping and the rights boosters - will write more on them in a separate post), I became an over-supply mother in 2nd month of post partum.

Being an over-supply mother means I need to learn how to freeze the milk. I found this summary which I thought was very useful. Previously, I also never used any milk storage bags. Youtube was very helpful in that aspect. 

What I am doing is to maximise each bag by freezing alternate day feedings. Having said that, most of the time, I still feed the excess to my #1 because he takes it and there is less work.) Apart from the labelling, I would wrap each bag with a kitchen tissue so that they are better separated (not stated in the youtube videos)

What I realise was some breastmilk packets are more premium than the rest with more functions. The best so far is Marcus & Marcus ($19.90 for 50 pieces). For the thawing of breastmilk, you can either move it down from the freezer and let it slowly thaw or use the warmer for quick thawing. Should you be comfortable with the latter, the temperature sensing function on the Marcus & Marcus Breastmilk Storage Bags would be very useful. 

One thing to note, you should also let your little one have a taste of the thawed frozen milk to make sure they are not fussy about the taste early. Otherwise you will be freezing in vain. Ending the post with a photo of the tools I used for my first packet of frozen milk T_T. Can't believe I have come so far.