Specialization is for insects.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

---Robert A Heinlein

The 2 Envelopes

I arrive clutching 2 sealed envelopes labeled:

"Rewards"

"Penalties"

One contains all benefits I will enjoy from taking possession of my own mind and using it to get what I want.

The other carries a list of consequences if I neglect controlling my mind and have no worthwhile goals.

If I take possession of my mind and direct it toward desirable goals, I will enjoy:

1) Success consciousness which attracts only the circumstances which make for success

2) Sound health, both physical and mental

3) Finanical independence

4) A labor of love in which to express yourself

5) Peace of mind

6) Applied faith which makes fear impossible

7) Enduring friendships

8) Longevity and a well balanced life

9) Immunity from self-limitation

10) The wisdom to understand yourself and others

If I don't, I'll be doomed to:

1) Poverty and misery the entire life

2) Mental and physical ailments of all kinds

3) Self-limitations which trap you in mediocrity

4) Fear and all its destructive consequences

5) Hatred of the means by which you support yourself

6) Many enemies and few friends

7) Every brand of worry known to humanity

8) Being a victim of every negative influence you encounter

9) Subjection to the will of others

10) A wasted life which does nothing to better the human condition

If I do not make the first one and embrace it wholeheartedly, the second will be forced on me.

There is no halfway point, no compromise.

Which choice will I make?

My drum beat

Never wait for some outside force to trigger your actions.
Of course, you will have to respond to surprises and your competition.
But you must be moving forward accoriding to your own plan on a daily basis.
Feed your burning desire with images of your successful self.
Stoke its flames so high that they burn your seat.
So that you won't be able to sit back in your chair and take it easy when you ought to be following up on your work of the day before.


When a task is complete, examine it.
Is it the best job you could have done?
What might have made it better?
Why don't you take that step right now?
Personal initiative depends on your being alert to every opportunity and action on that opportunnity as soon as you discover it.

Ask Abi: Travelling in Airplanes

Travelling in airplanes can be a challenge due to the discomfort of air pressue and confined spaces. Here's how to plan and pack effectively when travelling with baby.

Time of travel
Choose flight timings that coincide with baby's usual sleeping time.
Before flying, engage baby in lots of physical activities at the airport (walking, carrying luggage...)
This will tire them and help them sleep after boarding the plane.
Remember to change baby's diaper just before boarding the plane.

Note: Try not to choose flights that reaches the destination in the morning.
It will be too early to check into most hotels.
Parents / babies that did not get a good rest on the flight will become really cranky.

What to pack in carry-on baggage
Some airline provide meals and amenity bags containing 2 diapers, bib, baby wipes, toy for babies travelling with them.
Check ahead so you don't need to overpack such items.

During take off and landing, air travel regulations require all bags to be stowed in overhead compartment.
So pack a smaller bag for essential items during such times when baby's bag is 'taken away'.

Smaller bag (put on seat and used during take off/landing)
* Baby bottle containing warm water (ready for making milk)
* 1 portion of baby milk formula
* 1 small bottle of juice
* Baby's favaourite boaster/toy/blanket
* Long sleave shirt in case baby gets cold during takeoff
* Dry/wet tissues
* Toy/book to amuse baby during boring takeoff
* Biscuit/ sweets for baby to chew on to lessen pressure in ear

Medium Carry on bag (put below seat)
* Enough diapers to sustain through flight + journey to hotel
* 1 extra baby bottle
* Milk formula seperated into portions
* Themos for making milk
* 2 extra sets of clothing in case baby makes a mess.
* 1 bottle baby food for baby in case baby hates airlines meals
* Detergent for cleaning baby bottle
* Tooth brush/face cloth/comb/ moisturiser
* Reading material for daddy/mommy
* Baby sling (for keeping baby close and warm when she sleeps)

Larger (cabin size) carry on bag (store in overhead)
* For storing bulky jackets worn at destination.
* Store in over head as soon as you board.
* Bag should preferbly have a zip so things won't roll out in overhead storage.
* Bag should also be foldable so it can be stored in medium bag when jackets are worn at destination.

Some airlines restrict the numbers of bags to bring on board.
Thus it is wise to choose and pack bags that can fit into the larger one.
It is easier to pack the medium bag in the larger one and remove it before storing the larger one)

Before landing
* Make sure baby has enough supplies to last through trip to hotel.
* Ask the stewardess to replenish hot water themos
* Ask for some bottled water
* Ask stewardess to wash all used bottles
* Prepare smaller bag and post-landing bag

Disembarking
* Help baby put on jacket
* Make sure you've packed everything
* Enjoy the trip

Ask Abi: Travelling with Baby: How to Pack

Tis the season for overseas holiday.

No daddy enjoy lugging around diapers and milk powder and other luggage half way across the globe. Daddy will be mad when he finds that he has to lug the same load back when mommy packed too much diapers/clothes for baby.


But it will be a nightmare should baby run out of Milk formula or diaper in the middle of the trip with no stores in sight!

Depending on where you are travelling to, heres a guide on how to pack for a diaper wearing, milk sucking baby like me.

Milk Powder
* Different country carry different 'versions' of milk powder even if they are of the same brand. If your baby is above 18mths, they can quickly tell the difference in taste and quickly reject the new country version. Check the country of manufacture on your current formula. Call the milk company to enquire about the availability/price of the same 'version' in your travel destination.
* Always pack extra. Because of the excitement of travel, baby might develope better appitite.
* Also check ahead if the country you are travelling to has restrictions on food items to be carried into the country.


* 3 bottles
* Detergent for washing bottle
* Small thermos for hot water.

Diapers:
* Observe how many diaper baby uses a day.
* Pack that number of diaper in individual packs for easy 'picking' when going out for sightseeing each day.
* Pack some extra bags in case you need to change baby in the car or anywhere without any dustbin nearby.
* Include small size wipes in the daily diaper packs.
* Carry one extra day of diaper (just in case)

Clothes
* You don't want to overpack these.
If you don't want to use the expensive laundry services in hotels, you can pack some baby washing powder.
Below is a guide on the number of clothings to pack.

One for each day of trip
* Things that are worn in close contact to the skin.
1) socks (lots of walking, baby might get blisters)
2) innershirts/underwear

3 for whole trip
* Things worn over clothings to keep warm.
If need to, 1 set can be washed while 2 are still available
1) Bibs
2) Shirt with sleaves (long/short)
3) Pants (short/long)
4) Pajamas

1 for whole trip
1) Light sweater
2) Heavier jacket for autumn or winter seasons
3) Jeans
4) Shoes
5) Hat
6) Sunglasses

Other Items
1) Medicine (fever, cold, stomach upset)
2) Wet/dry tissues
3) Camera & charger & adapter for electrical socket
4) Hide a new toy baby has not seen before. This will keep baby amused at cranky times.
5) Biskets and treats for munching on the way.

Naughty Jedi in Action

Ask Abi: Sound wise even when you are age 2.

Ever watch Starwars and wish were are like Yoda?
Sprouting words so profound that everybody thinks you are smart.

My mom thinks I look like Yoda.
So now I have to memorise the 30 phrases below.
When adults talk to me, I will quote them at random.

You can try it too.

=======================
The Creative Insights of Heraclitus

1) The cosmos speaks in patterns
2) Expect the unexpected, or you won’t find it.
3) Everything flows.
4) You can’t step into the same river twice.
5) That which opposes produces a benefit.
6) A wonderful harmony is created when we join together the seemingly unconnected.
7) If all things turned into smoke, the nose would become the discerning organ.
8) The Sun will not exceed its limits, because the avenging Furies, ,ministers of Justice, would find out.
9) Lovers of wisdom must open their minds to very many things.
10) I searched into myself.
11) Knowing many things doesn’t teach insight.
12) Many fail to grasp what’s right in the palm of their hand.
13) When there is no sun, we can see the evening stars.
14) The most beautiful order is a heap of sweepings piled up at random.
15) Things love to conceal their true nature.
16) Those who approach life like a child playing a game, moving and pushing pieces, posses the power of kings.
17) Sea water is both pure and polluted: for fish it is drinkable and life-giving: for humans undrinkable and destructive.
18) On a circle, an end point can also be a beginning point.
19) It is disease that makes health pleasant, hunger that makes fullness good, and weariness that makes rest sweet.
20) The doctor inflicts pain to cure suffering.
21) The way up and the way down are one and the same.
22) A thing rest by changing.
23) The barley-wine drink falls apart unless it is stirred.
24) Dogs bark at what they don’t understand.
25) While we’re awake, we share one universe, but in sleep we each turn away to a world of our own.
26) Donkeys prefer garbage to gold.
27) Every walking animal is driven to its purpose with a whack.
28) There is a greater need to extinguish arrogance than a blazing fire.
29) Your character is your destiny.
30) The sun is new each day.

Ronald MacDonald

I love Ronald MacD.

We meet for Breakfast every Sunday.

I will get a balloon and have pan cakes.

I want to dress like Ronald.

My favourite colour for clothes is yellow and red.

And my favorite shoes are red.

My trip to Vivo City

This week, we have 2 days of public holiday in Singapore. Daddy brought me to a brand new shopping centre called "Vivo city".

It has many shops and mommy had a great time looking at the various fashion outlets. There are many great outdoor fountains. There is one with a shallow pool where children can splash around and have great fun in. There is a great view of the sea and we can see Sentosa and many boats leaving the harbour from here.

But the most fun I had was at TOYS R US!!!!

That is where I met Butterscotch. The most beautiful horse in the world.

She has the most beautiful fur. When I pat her, she will turn her head towards me and smile.

She is the most wonderful thing I have ever met.

I look forward to seeing her again when we visit Vivo city again.

Tips to teach your kid to form sentences - courtesy by GL

Read to your child every day.

Talk to the about things all day.

By modelling to your child they will learn it.

When they say one word for something e.g cat, put it into a short sentence e,g The cat.

Gradually build the sentences up to be longer e.g The black cat, The black cat is walking. and so on.

Don't force them to copy you, but encourage it. Eventually their sentences will become longer.

Just remember some children are slower at language development than others.

Thanks to Aunty GL !

Saying Please and Thank You

Yesterday, I said 'Please' the first time to Grandpa.

I learned it from watching my Barney videos.

They have a catchy song that teaches babys how to say please and thank you. According to my friend Barney, saying please will help me make more friends and I get what I need.

Grandpa said that its hard to not do what I ask if I say please.

Cos I sound so cute with my version of pleeeease....

Hee Hee.

I intend to use 'please' more often.

This will help me grow my toy collection.

But Mommy might be immuned to my 'please'.

She's determined to make me earn my dollar a day for my college fund...

How to be Mommy's Best Helper

I'm doing little task around the house to earn my dollar a day.

I love to mop mop the floor.

Wipe wipe the table.

Water the plants.

Collect letters from the letter box.

I love to run little errands for Mommy and Grandma.

It makes me feel empowered.

Here's a picture of me moping the floor!

Ask Abi: Investment for Baby

If I save a dollar a day.

I will save $365 a year.

If I ask Mommy to invest this money at a return of 10% a year, I will earn $36.40 interest in the first year.

If I save $365 every year and reinvest all interest at 10% a year. I will have $16,643.70 when I reach 18 years old.

I wonder if that is enough for my university?

I Have A Dream

I Have A Dream....

I dream that Daddy can wear shorts in the afternoon..

...and play with me all day... Everyday...

I dream that Mommy can be happy...

...and cook great food for me...Everyday...

I dream that I Barney can play with me...

...and let me drive them to fun places...Everyday...

I dream that I can eat all the sweets I want...

...and still grow tall and healthy....Everyday...

I dream that my future will be bright...

...and I grow up happy...Everyday...

I have my whole future ahead of me....

So I dream....

Potty Training 101

This weekend, I surprised Mommy by successfully using the potty.
It happened on Sunday morning, just after I woke up.

Mommy was brushing her teeth and she told me to go 'shee-shee'.
So I toke my pretty pink potty and sat down.


Below are the steps:



Steps to sucessful potty training:
1) Find potty
2) Move potty to a place where I can sit and still see Mommy
3) Call Mommy to remove my pants and diapers.
4) Find reading material
5) Sit down on potty
6) Begin to read
7) Relax

After 10 seconds...
Stand up and see results shown below.

Success!!

Haze Part II

Saturday 7 Oct 2006 was a extreemly hazy day.
The PSI reading was at 149!!
I've never seen so much haze in my life!

Daddy told me it was caused by the forest burning in Indonesia.
The haze made the sky looks smokey and I couldn't go swimming.

However, I did get to go out.
Mommy, daddy and I went shopping.
There is air-conditioning in the malls and we can escape the haze.

At the mall, I got to meet my friends...
Barney, BJ and babybob and I took them for a spin in my car.

Doll = Dumb Toy?

Mommy bought this doll for me last night.
The baby will play the guitar when I clap.
When there is no one around, it will stop playing music.
It is sound activated and will play "London Bridge is falling down" when I clap my hands.

Daddy says it is a dumb toy.
Do you agree?

I love eating fishballs

I love playing with balls.And I love eating them too. I mean fishballs.

Here's a picture of me eating some.
Grandma says its dangerous for small kid like me to eat huge fishballs.
Small kids might choke on dangerous fish balls.

I'm not a small kid.
I'm A-BIG-girl!!!

Put Baby to sleep in hotel bathroom?

Mommy found this posting in a baby forum.

======================================================
Put Baby to sleep in hotel bathroom?
HiJust wondering if anyone does the same as me? When we stay in a hotel we tend to put our wee man's cot in the bathroom. It's dark in there and he wont get interrupted by us watching TV and eating room service (or the babysitter!).At the weekend, we had a little trouble as the cot that the hotel had provided wouldn't fit into the bathroom...I went into immediate panic and got housekeeping to find me a smaller one. The poor guy that brough it must have thought I was totally bonkers when I asked him to put it in the bathroom!!!Just wondering If I'm alone in this oddity, and what others do when sleeping in hotels?
--Source Geobaby
======================================================

My mommy has never put me in the toilet to sleep.
Don't think I'll enjoy it very much.

Dumb Toys

My daddy seldom buy me toys.
His excuse was that the toys I chose are dumb toys.
But I'm only 20 months old!
I can't tell the difference between dumb or smart toys?

So I usually just ask Grandma and Grandpa to buy me toys.
Whenever we go shopping, I'll stick with Grandma.
Grandma and I have the same taste in cute things to buy.
Usually what she finds cute, I will find interesting as well.
That's why Grandma is my favourite person in the world.
Followed by Grandpa. Followed by Daddy.

Mommy ranks last.
Cos she is always so strict with me.
Always making me finish my food.
Always making me go to sleep at 9pm.
Always making me finish my milk.

Back to toys.
I have lots of toys both at home and at my Grandma's house.
Let me see if I can find any pictures of my toys to show you...

Haze

Recently the haze has came back.
Daddy keeps sneezing because he is sensitive to the smell and dust.
He has been in a bad mood as well due to the haze.

The haze is irritating my eye.
That's why I keep rubbing them and my stye still remains.
Mommy and Grandma has constantly put a warm towel on my eye.
It feels very comfortable. But still the haze is too strong.

I like to go out.
But because of the haze, I have to stay indoors more.
Its so boring....

Hope the haze will pass soon.

Stye in left eye (PartII)

I'm still having my stye in my eye. Mommy is really getting worried.
Its been too long!!!

After 3 doctors! 2 bottles of oral Antibiotics! 2 tubes of ointment!
Stye is still there!
Mommy has tried pressing my eye with a warm cloth.
She is supposed to do it for 10 minutes but I never let her do it for more than 2 mins!

Wonder how long will the stye remain?
Need help!!!

Stye in my left eye.

I have a stye in my left eye.
Saw the doctor 3 times and the stye is still in my eye.

The doctor made me drink Antibiotic syrup.
Still the stye in my eye stays.
He also gave mommy some Ophthalmic Ointment (Terramycin) to apply on my eye.

I hate the ointment, they are sticky and made my throat bitter after awhile.
Mommy finds it hard to apply the ointment because I don't let her do it.

That is why after almost 3 weeks, the stye is still there!!!
Now I'm using another brand of Ophthalmic Ointment called Chlortralim.
The stye is sometimes smaller on good days. But on others, it gets back to its normal shape.

Daddy says he wants to poke it.
He claims to be the expert in poking stye.
But Mommy just can't bare the thought of it.

I hope my stye disappears soon.
Grandma says styes are caused by peeping at other people without their shirts on.
My daddy always walk around the house without his shirt on.
Maybe that's why I have my stye.

Perhaps this weekend, I'll call daddy to put on a shirt.
Then I don't need to apply the yucky ointment anymore.

Tantrums

Yesterday, I made popo (grandma) angry.
I threw the spoon on the floor when eating my dinner and splashed food on popo making a mess in the process.

Popo told me that I cannot do it and I cried.
The more she scolded me, the more I cried.
I cried till I vomitted.

Mommy doesn't know what to do with me.
So today, she went to find some help on the internet.
And she found out that I'm crying and bitting and hitting because:

1) I want attention
2) I want to get what I want
3) I'm frustrated
4) I'm too tired
5) I'm too hungry
6) I'm too excited

Yesterday I had the tantrum while eating because I couldn't hold my spoon properly.
I spilled some soup on myself and felt frustrated.
That's why I threw my spoon away.

Some says its best to redirect my attention to other constructive behaviours.
Instead of saying don't throw, Mommy would say put the spoon down properly

We will see if this method works!

My Growth Chart

Last week, my mommie downloaded some growth charts from the US CDC website.

Yesterday, she let me measure her head circumference and I let her measure mine. Well... I'm not so 'small sized' after all. I'm in the 90th percentile in terms of head circumference. As for my weight and height... well... lets just say I'm the cute type....

Below is my measurements if anyone is interested...

Date Months Head Cir(cm) Weight(kg) Height(cm)
09 Aug 2006 17+ 47 8.8 75
13 Aug 2006 18 48 9.2 76
13 Sep 2006 19 48 9.0 76
13 Oct 2006 20
13 Nov 2006 21
13 Dec 2006 23
13 Jan 2007 24

Am I too short?

My mommy is constantly worrying that I am not growing fat enough, tall enough, fast enough. So today, we when on the internet to check if other mommies are facing the same problem.

Other mommies have previously also faced the same issues and now their toddlers have grown up fine. Some have even went to the hospitals and had their toddlers heart checked. Some doctors even implied that the mommies are not feeding their toddlers!!! Gosh!

After reading what other mommies had to say, my mommy became not so paranoid about my size because of the following reasons:-

1) Mom and dad are both short --> Thats why baby me is short too!
2) Me love to play ball and dance --> Much energy burned off... so I'm not fat kid
3) I'm able to reach the milestones for my age

Some websites says head circumference is a more important measure of my growth. So mommy has download this CDC growth chart. Tonight I will have my head measured.

I hate having my head measured. Actually I hate having my head touched by anyone. Wonder how mommy will get to measure me? Perhaps when I'm fast asleep...

Welcome to my blog

Hi, I am Abigail.

I am 18 months old and loves to play all kinds of balls.
See this is a picture of me taken during the recent world cup.
Yes... too bad England lost... I like seeing uncle Beckam on TV...

I stay with grandma and goes back home with daddy and mommy on Friday.
Today is Friday! I'll be waiting in my nice dress for daddy and mommy to pick me up. We will be going 'gai gai' and shopping... and having lots of fun!

Have to go. Have to decide what to wear tonite!