As a non-fluent Cantonese and Mandarin speaker, I’ve found it incredibly hard to source bilingual materials to teach my daughter! I recently discovered Mandarin Readers based in Australia, so I just had to share for those that are in a similar boat!
Has anyone tried making their own bubble tea at home?
Finally caved and bought myself a rose quartz face roller. If you’re like me and don’t really know how to use it properly … here are some easy instructions!
Very excited to have purchased tickets to Miss K’s first kids concert! Who else loves Play School!?
Miss K is now 15 months old and to keep things interesting for her, I’ve started rotating her toys every month. Trying to keep with the Montessori philosophy, the bottom 2 shelves of our bookcase have been cleared for her.
Each cube contains a single toy/puzzle or theme of toys either on its own or displayed in a basket. There’s a also a table and chair set off to the side that sometimes has its own toy or is used to place the toy that she’s currently playing with. While there is room for improvement, the overall result is an uncluttered and organised space just for Miss K.
Top Shelf
Bello Hammer Ball – this is a beautifully made 4-ball pound and hammer set that we purchased form Kidstuff but sadly doesn’t appear to be on their website at the moment. The base is angled so that the balls easily roll out. It’s great for hand-eye coordination, building arm strength, focus, colour matching, and understanding object permanence. At the moment Miss K isn’t strong enough to hammer hard enough for the balls to pop through but she loves to catch them and put them back when I do it for her! She’ll usually hand me the hammer when she wants me to play with her.
Mini Discovery Boxes and Balls – borrowed from our local toy library and Miss K loves these! She loves picking them up, seeing what’s inside, shaking them, and putting them back inside the basket.
Q Toys Montessori Baby Rings – when we first purchased these rings, she loved gnawing on the rings and banging them together. Now, she likes to take the rings off but hasn’t quite figured out how to put them back on yet.
Schleich Farm Animals – after reading so many positive reviews about the quality and realism of Schleich toys, I purchased some common farm animals from Mini Zoo (cat missing in action at the time of the photo). They’re extremely well made and the attention to detail is amazing. They’ve also held up being chewed and thrown around by Miss K. She doesn’t play with these often but it’s a great way to introduce animals and their sounds to her. Funnily enough Miss K and her toddler friends love the little chicken!
Bottom Shelf
Playgro Textured Sensory Balls and Bright Starts Oball with Rattle – now that Miss K is walking she doesn’t play with these often (close up above). She’ll usually pick them up for a closer look and then place them back in the basket. After this month, it’ll be time to put these away for a while.
Wooden Ambulance – borrowed from our local toy library, this ambulance is one of 4 wooden vehicles that I’ve been rotating this month. These have been great for teaching Miss K how to roll objects backwards and forwards.
Very Hungry Caterpillar Jack in a Box – received as a present from my mother-in-law, this has always been a hit whenever I’ve brought out the toy. Miss K still hasn’t figured out how to turn the handle yet but she loves seeing the caterpillar pop out and tries to push him back in! It’s great for teaching cause and effect, fine motor coordination, and delayed gratification.
Woody The Worm – this beautiful and bright worm caught my eye at a local baby gift store in town. Unfortunately the paint doesn’t hold up very well, so I’ve had to keep it in storage until Miss K started chewing things less. This isn’t one of her favourites but she can keep herself entertained for a few minutes by swinging it around.
On the Table
Large Wooden Farm Animal Puzzle – borrowed from our local toy library, this is one of 2 large wooden puzzles that I keep on her desk or our couch. The knobs are huge so their easy for her to grasp and pull the pieces out. At this point in time I’m not concerned with her being able to put the correct pieces back in their places. Instead, I’ll keep the puzzles in tact as she likes to pull the pieces out in her own time. Together, we’ll identify the animals/objects, ask for certain pieces, and show her how the pieces can be put back.
Just over a year ago Miss K was born and I wanted to share the story of her birth.
Leading up to my due date, there were concerns that the baby’s growth had slowed down and the amniotic fluid surrounding it was low. This meant that that the baby was potentially not receiving enough blood and nutrients. So as I approached full-term, the decision was made to induce me at 37.5 weeks.
I always imagined that my waters would break in the middle of the night and I would be rushed to hospital Hollywood style but I suppose it wasn’t meant to be!
The day before I was due to be induced, I was admitted into hospital. After settling in, I went into the delivery room where a Foley balloon was inserted to soften my cervix and encourage dilation. When the balloon was inflated inside me, the pressure felt much like bad period cramps but it went away after a while. I had to leave the balloon inside me overnight, which wasn’t painful but quite uncomfortable.
My husband stayed with me as long as visiting hours permitted. After he left, I tried to get an early night’s rest but it was difficult with the balloon inside me and knowing what was happening tomorrow! In the end I asked for a sleeping pill and was able to get some shut eye before the big day ahead.
The next morning was a flurry of activity as I showered and got ready to be induced. We were told that I would be induced early morning around 8am, so when my husband hadn’t arrived yet I was feeling a bit stressed! By 8.30am he still hadn’t arrived yet, so I texted him and went into the delivery room first.
Inside the delivery room, I had the balloon removed and got hooked up to 2 different machines. The first machine was a cardiotocography (CGT) machine used to monitor the baby’s heart rate and the second machine to administer the drug Pitocin to stimulate contractions.
By the time I was hooked up to both machines, I was relieved to see that my husband had arrived – turned out that he was busy getting all the camera gear and last few bits and pieces organised!
Around 9am the obgyn came in to check up on me and manually break my waters. It was an unpleasant feeling but I figured it was nothing compared to what was coming up! After my waters broke, I could feel the liquid seep out of me. It was an odd feeling lying there waiting for my contractions to begin.
Active labour started around 11am and that’s when I experienced my first contractions. They were relatively mild at first and similar to the pain level of bad period cramps. I was able to breathe through them lying down but soon enough I needed some pain relief.
I wasn’t opposed to having an epidural but I didn’t want to have it unless I really needed it, so I opted to have some gas. The gas was a welcome distraction but it did little to take the pain away. I decided to walk around and found that leaning over the bed during contractions helped.
During this time the obgyn was popping in and out to check on my progress but stated that I still had a while to go. One of the last things that I remember clearly is him asking me whether I needed any more pain relief and me saying no. Shortly after he left the contractions hit me hard and things became hazy.
I like to think that I have a relatively high pain tolerance but the intensity and seemingly never ending rolling waves of pain were nothing I’d ever felt before. After I experienced another excruciating contraction I asked the nurse for an epidural, which had to be approved by my obgyn. It was approved over the phone but unfortunately the anesthesiologist was running behind on schedule.
I’m not sure how long I waited because I can’t really remember anything beyond the pain. All I remember is suddenly being in a sitting position on the bed with my head in the arms of a nurse and gripping my husband’s hand. I could hear the anesthesiologist telling me what he was going to do and me just thinking hurry up and just do it!
The anesthesiologist and nurse were having a good old chat about his cows and I almost screamed at them to shut up as I had another contraction. Finally, the epidural was in place and not long after the pain subsided. I was finally able to relax!
As the epidural made the lower half of my body numb, I was able to lay back down with my legs propped up. My obgyn came in to check on me and told me that I’d be able to deliver soon! Even after all that I’d gone through, that still took me by surprise!
After a short while, I started to feel the pressure to push and was encouraged to start pushing. Similar to the contractions, the urge to push came in waves but it didn’t hurt. I could vaguely feel the baby at the entrance and was using all my strength to push. Finally, the obgyn asked my husband if he wanted to grab the baby and I could feel our baby coming out!
Around 4pm our beautiful daughter Miss K was born. As the nurse laid her tiny, naked body on my chest I felt such a rush of love, joy and protectiveness. Everything I’d gone through hours before was forgotten except for the beautiful little girl I had in my arms.
This year I wanted to keep things as simple as possible. I was looking for a pocket sized diary that I could pop in my handbag and keep with me at all times. On a trip to Melbourne last year, I found the perfect diary at one of my favourite stationery stores!
The diary that I’m using this year is a 12-month pocket agenda by Rifle Paper Co. The cover is made from thick, flexible paper and it has a gorgeous floral print. It includes a 2020-2021 yearly overview, 2020 holidays, monthly and weekly overviews, and sections for important dates and notes.
I love how small and light it is. I can definitely see myself using this all year and taking it away with me on trips. So that’s my diary situation for 2020!
Do you like to use a diary? If so, what’s your diary situation this year?
Did you know that Lego makes Chinese New Year Lego sets?
When I first came across these last year I was dying to get one but unfortunately they were all sold out in retail stores and massively overpriced on other platforms, so I decided to give it a miss.
This year, Lego have released additional sets and I was excited to see that the Chinese New Year’s Eve Dinner Lego set from 2019 was available! Out of all the sets that I’ve seen this one resonated with me the most. I thought it would make a beautiful showcase in our living room, so I just had to get it!
Two days later, it arrived by post and I built it on Chinese New Year’s Eve while binge watching Netflix. The set portrays an extended family enjoying their Chinese New Year’s Eve meal in a gorgeous red and gold themed house.
The set comes with 6 minifigures dressed in their traditional Chinese New Year clothes and includes 2 parents, 2 kids and 2 grandparents. The detail on the minifigures is amazing and I especially love the mother’s floral cheongsam. Both kids should also have a red packet each but unfortunately I only received 1 in my set.
The house itself is beautifully detailed. Inside, there are 2 bookcases filled with books and family portraits. There’s also a tv, adjustable lounge chair, lamp and 2 floor vases with red blossoms. The key focus of the room though, is the large round table filled with delicious Chinese New Year delicacies!
Outside the house, the front entrance is framed by lanterns and the front door has a sticker with the Chinese character “Fu” meaning Good Fortune. On either side of the paved footpath there’s a mini garden with pink and red blooms, which adds a lovely touch.
This is the first lego set that I’ve ever built so I was a bit nervous about putting it together but I had nothing to worry about! The pieces were separated into 4 main bags and there’s an easy to follow instruction booklet. All up it took me just over 4 hours to build.
Overall, this was a beautiful set to celebrate Chinese New Year and is currently being showcased on top of our living room bookcase. If you’re looking to add some Chinese culture in your home, this is a fun and unique way to do it!
A few years ago, I embarked on a no new makeup challenge and since then I’ve largely stuck to using up what I have. To keep things interesting I generally switch my products up by season or whenever I get bored of using a certain product. However, I’ve never tried panning a certain number of products over a year. I love seeing people do yearly project pans and their updates, so I thought I’d give it a go this year!
These are the 20 skincare and makeup projects I’ve chosen to pan this year:
Skincare
FACE MASKS: Fresh Vitamin Nectar Vibrancy-Boosting Face Mask, Etude House Collagen Mask, Multi Effect Collagen Honey Mask and Sephora Pearl Mask.
BROWS: Benefit Foolproof Brow Powder and Benefit Gimme Brow.
BLUSH: The Balm Cindy-Lou Manizer.
HIGHLIGHTER: The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer.
EYESHADOWS: Colour Pop Truth Super Shock Shadow, Makeup Geek Eyeshadow in Peach Smoothie and Makeup Geek Eyeshadow in Bling.
LIPPIES: Tarte Amazonian Butter Lipstick in Plummy Rose and Etude House Apricot Stick.
As a stay-at-home mum that rarely gets the opportunity to “go out, out” I’ve put in a few quick wins in there such as my foundation and concealer – 2 items that I will definitely use up this year. That’s why you’ll also see a few more skincare products than other project pans out there. The added bonus though, is that it’ll give me some “me time” and make sure that I give my skin some much needed TLC!
Below is a closer look at how much some of the products have already been used.
Most of these products are well loved. Some like the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask are new and I want to enjoy them while their fresh. Whereas some like the lippies I love but need to use up as they’re getting old.
Eventually I would love to have only 1 or 2 items from each category that I love using on a day to day basis. No more hoarding or collecting! Just a small bag of skincare and makeup products that bring me joy.
Stay tuned for quarterly updates!
Are you doing a project pan or following along another project pan? If so, please let me know in the comments below!
