theinternalvoices: 2014

Friday, November 28, 2014

Motivating, or not?

Maslow's Hierarchy

Level 1. Psychological
Level 2. Security
Level 3. Social
Level 4. Esteem
Level 5. Self-actualization

Source: http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm

Studied about Maslow's Hierarchy on level of needs and have it at the back of my hands back then for the sake answering it right during an examination. However, as one evolves, it seems like the sequence of needs from level 1 - 5 seems to be untrue.

Agreed with one of the criticisms for Maslow's Hierarchy where fulfillment of needs was strongly correlated with happiness, self-actualization and social needs were important even when many of the most basic needs were unfulfilled.

Can you forgo psychological and security for social and self actualization needs?

I'll say yes as most of the generations-now, have taken both psychological and security needs for granted, they do not have to fight for food and sleep, and will definitely have a place to stay with well supported facilities such as healthcare etc. So, we're only left with social, esteem and self-actualization needs. Side-track a bit, is this why people are being motivated to be self-centered?

At the end of the day, everyone is just trying to strike a balance. Not everyone have the same needs and a decision is usually made based on the level of needs that you needed most at that particular stage of life.

So, at this point of your life...

Where did your motivation come from?
What is your motivation?
What are the needs that keeps you going?

Anyway, this is totally random and I'm just saying! Need to get some writing done to put off all the negativity.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Baby Ada First Birthday (Planning for party)

The initial plan was to hold separate celebrations with our closer group of family and friends but we still decided to organize a party for Ada's birthday celebration as there are too many of you that we really love to have you around for our little girl's birthday.

Venue

The usual venue hunting game starts while we were still thinking to have private gatherings or a celebration! Not an easy task to begin with as I've already been through those list that is available in the market for so many times. Reviewing them again is going through the same thought processes almost 1 year back when I'm trying to hold Ada's baby shower.

If you are in the lookout for a venue for any celebrations, maybe the following links that I have shortlisted during my planning might help.

Personal preferences for places that can cater for kids party.

Went for a few viewing at a few places and selected NOM cafe at Macpherson CC!

Food

Decision for food and venue usually comes hand in hand since most of the venues only allow us to order food from their in-house caterer nowadays, same for NOM. Hence, no caterer this time, just some really good cafe food straight from their Kitchen!

I've spent so much time searching for a venue that can allow us to bring in outside caterer, but none allowed. This also shows that competition for F&B is really intensive, everyone's trying to make a living yah. Anyways, I've done Ada's full month celebration at my house multi-purpose hall and this is one of the best venue to use outside caterer; you may also choose to hold your party at Community Centres or Condominium's function rooms.

Theme

Party theme is next headache and I've decided not to be overly stressed over it since baby is really young to have preference for any characters etc. The only few interesting things that can catch Ada's attention are ducks, stars, balls and balloons. So I planned in that direction and was hesitating between ducks or stars! 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars Theme' was decided to compliment all other planning details and color theme!

eInvitation

Thank you gifts

We've decided to DIY some yummy star shaped cookies for everyone. It is also, by far, the only thing that I can think of to compliment the 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars' theme.

Thank you Sis for providing the baking venue and equipment! Need recipe for the cookies? Drop me a message in the comment box :)

The final product, yums~

With these, we're all ready for the party!

Planning for yours?

Remember the few key decisions and planning should be a breeze~

I chose to start on venue as it was the toughest among all.

1. Venue

Note: Keep a lookout for kids friendly environment if RSVP list has more than 10 kids.

2. Food (In-house/ Caterers)

Note: Always factor in your RSVP list if anyone else needs special dietary needs such as vegetarian, HALAL for muslims friends, no beef, allergens etc.

3. Invitation cards

Note: eInvite works best with whatsapp. Reminder to include the following details in your invite card.

- Date of event

- Time / Party duration

- Cake cutting time (if you need)

- Venue address

- RSVP contact details

4. Party theme

Note: Do not be too ambitious to DIY too many things if you do not have the time to prepare.

5. Thank you gifts

Note: It's good to have but not necessary if your budget is limited.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Updates and more!

It's like I've entered into another timezone, disappeared and by the time i resurfaced, too many months have flew past. Knowing that I'm super backlogged, I shall not be too ambitious by believing that I am able to catch up with my post with all the baby photos.

Hence, I'm going to bring forward history a little bit to all other events including Ada's 1st birthday!

This blog shall be posted with updates, really soon!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Life being a baby: 4th month (27 October - 26 November 2013)

WEEK 14

Day 93 (27 Oct 2013)

4 months old! Ada's making improvement, able to kick more in water as compared to the previous sessions.

Day 94 (28 Oct 2013)

"I'm feeling happy today!"

Day 95 (29 Oct 2013)

Outing with Besties!

Day 96 (30 Oct 2013)

It's so heartening to see that she is beginning to understand that we are talking to her.

Day 97 (31 Oct 2013)

I'm holding onto my own milk bottle! Yeah...

Day 98 (1 Nov 2013)

Big pacifier for the small baby. I know pacifier is not recommended but Ada really needs to be pacified and soothes when she gets cranky, hungry and sleepy.

WEEK 15

Day 99 (2 Nov 2013)

OOTD

Day 100 (3 Nov 2013)

OOTD

Day 101 (4 Nov 2013)

"Being a baby is so boring... yawns. Can't wait to grow up."

Day 102 (5 Nov 2013)

Too old to be 'ge ge' already make a wish to get married soon so Ada can call you Uncle.

"Happy Birthday Bing Cai 'ge ge'!"

Day 103 (6 Nov 2013)

Dinner with long time friends! Thank you Ee Mei and Yiting for buying toys and beautiful clothes for Ada.

Day 104 (7 Nov 2013)

OOTD

"Thank you Chantel Aunty for the fitting pyjamas!"

Day 105 (8 Nov 2013)

1st time sleeping while swimming. Either Ada's too tired, or she's too comfortable.

WEEK 16

Day 106 (9 Nov 2013)

"Mummy thinks my tummy time has improved, what do you think?"

Day 107 (10 Nov 2013)

It's milk time again... and soon nap time for both our precious babies!"

Day 108 (11 Nov 2013)

Kiss Kiss

Day 109 (12 Nov 2013)

OOTD

"Thank you Ah YI for the pretty set of clothes!"

Day 110 (13 Nov 2013)

So much love by 2 'ge ge'! 1st time carrying Ada so got to be seated down.

OOTD

Day 111 (14 Nov 2013)

OOTD

Got a wireless headphone so that Daddy can still watch movie 'quietly' when Ada's taking her nap.

Day 112 (15 Nov 2013)

WEEK 17

Day 113 (16 Nov 2013)

Day 114 (17 Nov 2013)

OOTD

Day 115 (18 Nov 2013)

Fever due to vaccination again!

Day 116 (19 Nov 2013)

Bonding time with Daddy.

Day 117 (20 Nov 2013)

Smiley girl

Day 118 (21 Nov 2013)

Took a break and sneaked out for shopping!

1 for Ada and 1 for Tiden!

Day 119 (22 Nov 2013)

Another day of shopping for my own, time to get a proper pair of flats!

WEEK 18

Day 120 (23 Nov 2013)

OOTD

Day 121 (24 Nov 2013)

Learnt how to grab my fingers and it became a 'must-do' list during milk and nap time.

Day 122 (25 Nov 2013)

"Happy Birthday Ah Yi, pardon my crying as I am too tired!'

Day 123 (26 Nov 2013)

Day 1 2 3... It's da time to start drooling. This is the period of time when saliva seems totally free and flows non-stop. Bibs and clothes getting wet are signs of teething!!!

Monday, June 23, 2014

Life being a baby: 3rd month (27 September - 26 October 2013)

Can't believe my posts are so backlogged! Ada's turning 1 in a month and here I am, still blogging about her 3rd month's life as a baby. Gosh...

Ok, I try to c. a. t. c. h. u. p. with my tardiness.

WEEK 9

Day 63 (27 Sept 2013)

Daddy's' Girls

WEEK 10

Day 64 (28 Sept 2013)

I think i need a photo to track the shape of Ada's head, and this should be the best gauge!

Day 65 (29 Sept 2013)

"Lifting up my head while I'm on my stomach for the first time! Daddy's carefully watching me to make sure I don't vomit."

Day 66 (30 Sept 2013)

"Hi there, I'm practicing tummy's time on mummy's tummy!"

Day 67 (1 Oct 2013)

Mittens are very important to keep scratches away from Ada's face. Thanks to all the calcium, baby nails are growing at a super fast rate!

Day 68 (2 Oct 2013)

"Thank you Aunty Eileen for knitting such a cute hat for me, but it seems like I'll only be able to wear for a few more times."

Day 69 (3 Oct 2013)

Daddy's bathing for me for the first time ever since I took over the bathing job when Aunty goes home after the 1st month party.

"Good job Daddy, not too bad! At least I didn't slip off your hands."

Day 70 (4 Oct 2013)

Violet has been such a good buddy by talking and singing to Ada... Lovely 1st month gift as it could be customised with her name and sings happy songs during playtime or and lullaby when it's bedtime.

"Thank you Uncle Boy and Aunty Jasline the talking dog from Leapfrog!"

"Thank you Aunty Esther for the pre-loved rocker!"

WEEK 11

Day 71 (5 Oct 2013)

Using rattle to make some noise and get Ada's attention. She did well by responding towards the direction that I'm ringing. We did 4 directions today, up, down, left and right. She took some time to turn around but managed to look towards the right direction!

"Thank you Lijun 姐姐 and Bingcai 哥哥 for the cute owl romper!"

Went out with Sis later part of the day and put the babies together while it's milk time for both! Can't imagine how it'll be like when she grow up and become playmates.

Day 72 (6 Oct 2013)

1st swim followed by a 1st body massage.

Ada's first swimming session after so long! We wanted to start her swimming sometime back but thought better let the wound have more time to recover before letting her kick around in the pool!

She did well by not being too fussy and was half kicking and swimming during the entire 10 minutes!

Whoever invented BabySpa is such a genius. I feel that it's a nice environment for baby to swim and enjoy the water pressure in an enclosed area. So much better than putting a baby in a public / private swimming pool that might contain too much chlorine for their delicate skin.

Cleanliness is of course my utmost concern due to Ada's wound and if not for BabySpa, I doubt she will ever swim at such early age. As for parents who are worried that babies might catch a cold during a swim, don't worry as Baby Spa water temperature are always kept warm.

She enjoyed the tummy massage but get albeit fussy once she got turned around on tummy for back massage. We kind of expected it as usually, she will make noise at home during tummy time too!

She had such a good nap time after swim and massage, what a luxury!

Day 73 (7 Oct 2013)

"Muumy!!!

No swimming and massage today???"

Day 74 (8 Oct 2013)

Ahhhhhhh!!! Didn't I just say that nails will grow very fast and mittens are very important to keep scratches away? Such a deep scar and it must have happened when she's rubbing her eyes.

Day 75 (9 Oct 2013)

OOTD - 清凉装

"Thank you Joy 姐姐 for the multi-purpose pillow!"

Day 76 (10 Oct 2013)

"Because I'm the princess, I deserve to occupy the entire bed!"

Day 77 (11 Oct 2013)

Went out for a good meal after such a long confinement...

WEEK 12

Day 78 (12 Oct 2013)

"Yi Zhang, thank you for shading the sun for me, but... i think the pillow is in the wrong direction?"

Day 79 (13 Oct 2013)

This was the last few uses of the bassinet as Ada grows out of the it! It's good news to grow out of something and this means, she's ready to conquer our bed!

"I'm outgrowing the bassinet soon, better spend more time on this!"

Day 80 (14 Oct 2013)

Supporting her own milk bottle for the 1st time!

Day 81 (15 Oct 2013)

Went swimming with TTT 哥哥们! Baby's Tiden 1st swimming session with Ada.

Day 82 (16 Oct 2013)

Smirked!

Day 83 (17 Oct 2013)

Built a barrier to prevent Daddy from hitting Ada while deep asleep! Still trying to get used to co-sleeping with Ada...

Day 84 (18 Oct 2013)

It's important to let babies feel their hands and learn how to grip things. So besides bedtime, Ada's hand is free of mittens so that she can familiarise herself with the fingers and start to grab things. Instead of sucking her mittens, she is now sucking her fist, with loud "yummylicious" sound.