It has been a very busy week. What is new these days? Sad.

I have office works to do after Little Edison goes to sleep. By the time I crash into bed, I’m too tired to apply any cream on my face. Thanks to b.liv, my face is still well-behaved despite the lack of maintenance and sleep.

I’ve been using b.liv products for about one month now. This brand was recommended to me by my dear sister. I must admit that I’m very impressed with the products. If you have oily skin, blackheads or whiteheads problems, this brand will really suits you.

This is the range of products that I’m using now.

And here’s my thoughts about them:

#1: Squeaky Clean

Overview: It is green-tinted, gel-like, non-foamy and smells a little minty. It has fine micro-beads that helps in exfoliation and removal of impurities as well as excess oil.

After Use: I use this cleanser once at night. It makes my skin feels so clean, refreshed and smooth after using. It really lives up to its ‘squeaky clean’ name. Exactly the kind of clean feeling that I’m looking for!

#2: Off with Those Heads

Overview: This is a light cooling gel that removes black/white heads and keeps excess oil secretion under control.

After Use: I apply it on my T-zone and cheek after toner twice a day. Black/white heads reduced significantly after one week but I wouldn’t say that they are completely eliminated. However, the residue stubborn blackheads can be easily removed with gentle squeezing.

T-zone doesn’t feel oily after a whole day at work (even with make-up on). That’s what I really like about this product! It keeps oil secretion at bay. A must try!

#3: Shrink and Tighten (for day use)

Overview: A lightweight serum, slight hazy in color with a mild citrus scent. Filled with collagen, antioxidants and skin cells repairing properties, this serum helps to shrink the pores and calm down skin irritation.

After Use: I’ve been using it for two weeks now. I apply it on my face after Off with Those Heads. It absorbs into the skin effortlessly and it doesn’t feel sticky or oily. I haven’t seen any significant improvement in pore size at the moment. Probably in another two weeks or so, but I will continue using it.

Keep reading >>

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Little Edison turns three years and three months old today. If you were to ask me how to describe him at this age, I would say that he is extremely active, enjoys talking and loves to ask questions.

On being active

He is on the go all the time – no matter how much he runs around, he never tires. Considering the fact that this fussy eater eats so little everyday, I really wonder where his energy comes from.

He prefers energetic movement play rather than games that require him sitting still. He is also more adventurous with play equipments now. Two weeks ago when he was sliding down a spiral slide in an indoor playground (I think the slide is quite high for his age), he told me, “Mama, no need to hold me. I’m big boy already.” I was amazed.

Enjoys talking

He enjoys talking nowadays, even when we would rather have some peace and quietness at times. He combines words, gestures and facial expressions to make his accounts more vivid and interesting. His words flow more easily with less efforts.

He is now able to use language more efficiently, partly due to his increased vocabulary and partly due to his better listening skills. He learns a great deal about language just by listening to us. His sentences become longer with more gramatical structure and they carry more meaning too.

Recently, he likes to pronounce long words with four or more syllables. He finds them very challenging and fun. He pronounced chrysanthemum as ‘chry-san-mum-mum’. When I laughed, he thought that it was funny.

Asks lots of questions

This is the toughest part to deal with. Why this, why that? His questions are more penetrating now as he seeks more detailed information from us.

Little children are naturally curious. When he asks questions, no matter how trivial the questions are, or how busy I am, I will always answer his questions in an appropriate way. Asking questions encourage thinking. Answering questions encourage further thinking. That’s how he can extend his knowledge and make sense of the world around him.

Last but not least, he is no longer so dependent on me. He strives to manage things by himself. I love to hear him say, “Mama, I’m big boy already.” But in my heart, he will always be my baby.

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In the last week of November before the school holiday starts, we attended the second parent-teacher meeting at Little Edison’s school. Although this is not our first meeting, but I still feel anxious and excited as ever. [I wrote about our first parent-teacher meeting HERE.]

I really wonder how you, mothers, feel when you attend the parent-teacher meeting at your child’s school. Are you nervous and excited? Or are you just taking it as another ordinary day?

Frankly, I was a little paranoid about his performance at school. It wasn’t because of the lack of confidence in him, but I do feel that being the only child at home, he is rather pampered and well-protected. Nonetheless, I still enjoy visiting the teachers and seeing what my little boy had been doing in his school for the past eleven months.

What I really love about his school is that the teachers, principal and staffs are very friendly. They always do their best to make the children feel welcome when they reach the school. The teachers even address the children by their names, although they are from different classes.

The parent-teacher meeting went well as I’ve expected. All his teachers assured me that he is doing well in class. In general, he is displaying most of the milestones of a 3-year-old. He is also independent, cooperative, sociable and obedient. I feel so happy hearing all these positive words from his teachers.

As compared to first half of the year, he is now more vocal and able to express his thoughts, likes and dislikes. His teacher once commented that he had difficulties learning in a group-setting. However, she starts to see improvement in him in this aspect. It is still too early to conclude whether he has any attention difficulties, but she will continue to monitor his progress.

I must say that I’m really impressed with the achievements that he has made this year. From a difficult beginning (with lots of crying and separation anxiety), he has now successfully completed his pre-nursery. Since he started pre-school, his independence has taken a huge surge forward. He is also able to hold logical conversations with me and share with me in details about his day at school.

I certainly hope that his pre-school days will remain one of the joyful moments that he will grow up remembering. He loves his school, and we’re glad that we made the right choice for him.

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It has been a very busy week. I was on annual leave for two days last week as my mother and siblings were in Singapore to visit me. We had a fantastic gathering, and we brought the kids to the Polliwogs and Universal Studios. Heaps of fun definitely, but it’s very tiring too. I’ll share some pictures on my blog when I have time to process them.

I’m returning to work this week. Work has steadily piled up when I was away, but again, what is normal these days except being busy? As much as I enjoy being a full-time working mom, sometimes I do wonder if it worth trading our time for money. I spend ten hours at work, five days a week. To a certain extent, I really do miss the daily routine with Little Edison – I’m unable to pick him from school in the afternoon, prepare lunch for him, feed him and shower him.

As a matter of fact, I leave my office at 6pm everyday. After office hours and weekends are strictly reserved for family. I have dinner with Little Edison, shower him in the evening, read story books with him and tuck him to sleep at night. V thinks that I should delegate the duties to our helper and get some rest after a long day at work. But I feel that it’s vital to have some bonding time with my son everyday.

To a large degree, I really do envy work at home moms. They can take a portion out of their day and spend it with their children, have a dedicated space for home office and save time from travelling to work. Most importantly, they can leave the office politics behind and take time-off as and when they need it.

Any work at home moms here? I love to hear your feedback.

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East Coast Park is a lively place, brimming with outdoor-loving teenagers and active children. There is so much to do here, you will never get bored.

From renting a bicycle and go cycling, build a sand castle, learn wakeboarding to leisure walk around sun setting time, there is something for every member of the family.

The weather was perfect yesterday. No rain, no burning sun. Ideal for beach outing. We packed up our picnic mat, towels, slippers, bottles of water, beach pail set, and we drove to the East Coast.

We spent two hours mucking about in the water and sand. Little Edison chased after the waves, got splashed and screamed with joy. He also had a great time building sand castles, decorating them with leaves and shells as well as burying his feet with sand. It was magical to watch him having so much fun.

It has been a very busy month for us. The days are flying by and we are completely dominated by our work and daily routine of breakfast, school, work, come home, dinner, bath and bedtime. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours every day.

I guess that’s why our weekends are so precious. At this moment, I don’t want to think about enrichment classes and extra-curricular activities. I just want to spend every weekend with Little Edison. If I don’t, I can foresee that in a blink of an eye, I’ll be missing his childhood.

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