It was Saturday and V had to work. So, I brought Little Edison to the library at Compass Point together with my helper. After our reading session, we went down to Basement One for some kiddy rides.

We walked pass the children’s art and craft corner and Little Edison was showing some interest. I asked the lady if there is any art or craft suitable for a 3-year-old like him. She recommended the sand art to me.

So, we picked a picture to start. It’s actually quite easy but requires a lot of patience. All he needs to do is to peel off a die-cut piece of paper to expose the adhesive beneath, pour colored sand onto the adhesive until the artwork is completed.

I help him to peel off the die-cut piece of paper. He decides on the colors. It wasn’t too crowded that day, so he got a whole table and variety of colours to do the sand art all by himself.

It took us slightly more than half an hour to complete the art work. His concentration and interest really amazed me. And I really like that sense of satisfaction on his face after he completed his art work.

This is his first sand art! I proudly display it in my kitchen today.

I wonder if anyone of you faced the same situation as I am. V and I are both movie lovers. During our courtship, we would go to the cinema every week. But after I gave birth to Little Edison, it’s difficult for us to sneak out for a movie. We thought of bringing him along but I was worried that he couldn’t sit still and start making noises that disturb the others.

Now, I would like to ask you, “When was the first time you brought your children to the cinema?”, “How old are they when they first watched a movie in the cinema?” and “Do they enjoy the movie?”.

I’m asking these questions because we’re planning to bring Little Edison for his first cinema experience very soon. We really look forward to it. I can imagine my boy munching popcorns, laughing at the funny scenes and enjoying himself.

We’ve been lucky to be invited to watch the preview screening of “Mars Needs Moms” which will be held in 3D.

Here’s a short introduction of the movie:

Take out the trash, eat your broccoli—who needs moms, anyway? Nine-year-old Milo (Seth Green) finds out just how much he needs his mom (Joan Cusack) when she’s nabbed by Martians who plan to steal her mom-ness for their own young.

Produced by the team behind “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” and “The Polar Express,” “Mars Needs Moms” showcases Milo’s quest to save his mom—a wild adventure in Disney Digital 3D™ and IMAX® 3D that involves stowing away on a spaceship, navigating an elaborate, multi-level planet and taking on the alien nation and their leader (Mindy Sterling).

With the help of a tech-savvy, underground earthman named Gribble (Dan Fogler) and a rebel Martian girl called Ki (Elisabeth Harnois), Milo just might find his way back to his mom—in more ways than one.

And here’s a sneak peek of the scenes and the trailer:

Movie Information:

MARS NEEDS MOMS (In Disney Digital 3D™)

Genre: Comedy Adventure

Release Date: March 10, 2011

Cast: Seth Green, Dan Fogler, Elisabeth Harnois, Mindy Sterling, Kevin Cahoon and Joan Cusack

Director: Simon Wells

Based on the book by: Berkeley Breathed

…

Now, I have a good news for all of you!

Disney will be giving away 27 free tickets to OurLittleSmarties readers to watch the preview screening. Please note that the preview screening will be held in 3D, thus kids below 3 years old are not allowed into the hall. Here’s the details of the preview screening.

Date: 7 March 2011, Monday

Time: 7:15 pm

Venue: The Cathay, Hall 7

Duration: 88 mins

To join the giveaway contest, this is what you need to do:

1. Answer ONE simple question – What does Motherhood or Fatherhood mean to you?

2. Leave your answer as a comment on this post and state the number of tickets you’d like to have. [Limited to 4 tickets per family]

That’s it! Simple?

This contest is open to all Singapore residents. Closing date will be this Friday, 4 March 2011 at 6pm. Winners will be randomly picked (using random.org) and their names will be announced on Saturday, 5 March 2011. Details of the ticket collection will be sent to you by e-mail.

All the best! I’m SO looking forward to watch this preview screening with all of you.

Our Little Edison is almost 3.5 years old. He is attending his Nursery class in a church kindergarten from 8am to 11am, Monday to Friday. I know most children behave differently after they started preschool. As for Little Edison, he becomes more chatty and sociable. He greets the neighbours, security guards and cleaner aunties every time he sees them.

No doubt, his language skills and vocabulary have improved significantly. He’s able to express his needs very clearly and his words flow easily with less efforts. Recently, he likes to talk like Swiper the Fox. He says phrases like “Oh mannn!”, “You’re too late” and “You’ll never find (something) now.” He makes me laugh.

He is still as fussy as before – especially when it comes to food. He doesn’t eat skin at all. We have to remove the skin from meat, fruits and even bread for him. He doesn’t like sands in his sandals, he doesn’t want to wear certain clothes, he wants to be changed immediately when he is wet or dirty and he fusses over trivial issues.

Tantrum becomes a daily affair now; it ranges from a short ‘easy-to-soothe’ to a long ‘full-blown’ version. It takes a lot of patience to reason out with him and to explain to him why he is wrong. When he realizes his mistakes, he will apologize to me. I give him a big hug and assure him that I still love him as always.

He enjoys writing, drawing and coloring now. I leave his pencils, crayons, markers and drawing blocks on his desk. Every night, he will sit at his desk to write and draw all sorts of things. He can write number 1, 4, 7, 9 and 10 but he’s still trying very hard on number 2, 3, 5 and 8.

Motherhood is not easy. Although I’m often exhausted with work and motherhood duties, I still feel privileged to be given the opportunity to see him growing up, to guide and teach him, to take care of him and to share with him the joy of our life.

There are several types of Clarisonic systems in the market – Mia, Classic and Plus. Mia is the smallest size with single speed. Classic is the original system with two speeds while Plus is the advanced system with three speeds for the face and a body mode. I understand that currently Sephora Singapore has the Classic and Plus, but not the Mia.

This is how I use my Clarisonic Mia:

First of all, I remove my makeup by hand using a makeup remover. Then, I wash my face with clear water before I apply the facial cleanser on my face. I wet the brush head slightly with water, press the on/off button and gently move the brush using a small circular motion. I begin with forehead, then moving on to my nose, chin and lastly my cheeks.

The timer in Mia is set at one minute so it will automatically shut off after that. You don’t have to worry about “over-washing”. I use it once a day at night now and will gradually increase to two times daily. I find that the brush works best with foamy clanser.

Be careful not to wet the brush head too much. Otherwise, the soapy water will drip and goes into the eyes.

Care and Maintenance:

This little engine needs some maintenance too. After every use, I rinse the brush head thoroughly with water to remove all the soap. Once a week, I wash it with antibacterial soap. Clarisonic recommends that the brush head to be changed every 3 to 4 months.

Here’s my verdict:

Ever since I stopped facial treatments at beauty salon, this is the first time I feel my pores so clean. My skin feels softer and smoother after every wash. It doesn’t cause any break-outs and it does not leave my face dry.

The best part of Mia is that it is water-proof – I can even use it in shower or bath tub. It is so gentle and easy to use. The only little problem is that it gives a ticklish feeling when I’m cleaning my nose due to the vibrations.

Overall, I find that it’s a good investment, especially for busy mothers like us. With Clarisonic Mia, we can achieve the effective cleaning at home even without visiting the beauty salon that costs us a bomb.

I SO look forward to using it everyday.

Ladies, I have something really really amazing to talk about today. If you’re following my friend – SY’s blog, you should have heard this beauty gadget before.

It’s the Clarisonic Sonic Skin Cleansing System, one of the popular products being raved about in Glamour Magazine.

As an introduction, Clarisonic uses sonic technology which creates 300 movements per second for the brush head to provide a facial cleansing experience that no other products in the market can provide. It’s time to throw away our good old face sponges!

It thoroughly removes 6x more makeup and 2x more dirt and oil than manual cleansing using our hands. It cleanses so well that skin care products absorb better, pores appear smaller and with improvement to skin tone and texture. Are you convinced?

I ordered a pink set from SkinStore.com. The usual price is US$149.00. After 20% discount and with USPS International Shipping, the final price is US$134.15. My little pink baby arrived six days after I placed my order.

Picture source: Clarisonic.com

Let’s meet Clarisonic Mia. The kit comes with a pink cordless Mia, a brush head, a compact charger, a trial size Gentle Hydro Cleanser and a user guide. I quickly glanced through the user guide and I realised that I need to charge the Mia for 24 hours prior to the first use.

So, I quickly attached the charger to Mia and plug it into the power outlet. Much to my dismay, the charger uses a 2-pin blade socket configuration that is different from Singapore’s 3-pin rectangular configuration. I scrambled to find a suitable converter and luckily V has one for me.

I’ve been using my pink Mia for the past three days and I simply love the whole cleansing experience. After washing, I pat SK-II miracle water onto my face. I can feel and hear the pitera oozing into my skin. “Pong, pong, pong!” It feels so great. Okay, I’m exaggerating. It’s fine to chuckle a little.

Clarisonic Mia, she really rocks my world!

I’ll be writing another detailed post about this little engine later this week. Stay tuned!