Random Musings on a Friday night

It's been a while since I've written. And when I don't write, I seem to get the feeling that I'm losing my grammar and vocab. I have this imagery of a woodpecker slowly chipping away at my "English" part of my brain - each moment chipping away at bits of vocab and grammar. Maybe this woodpecker is called "Aging". Or perhaps it is "Fatherhood" :) So here goes my random musings on a Friday night....

On Bumbo Consumer Recall As a parent, I have been now more aware of Consumer Toys Recall - each time I see one (e.g. the Fisher Price recall in China), I keep an eye out for whether Faith owns the toy. To my surprise, I just saw over the news that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Bumbo, announced a voluntary recall of the Bumbo seats that Faith has. It turns out that CPSC has received 28 reports of young children falling out of the Bumbo Baby Sitter seat, including three skull fractures, which occurred when children fell out of chairs that had been placed on tables.





When I checked the company website, I realised that the company was not offering refunds. Rather, it was offering to make replacement sets. Because the warning labels currently embedded onto the back of the seats are not that visible. The warning label warns that consumers should "NEVER use the Bumbo Baby Seat on any elevated surface. Also, because the Bumbo Baby Seat is designed not to be totally restrictive, never leave a child unattended in their Bumbo Baby Seat. A child can get out and get hurt."

Verdict: Faith has outgrown the seat in anycase and is more into her high chair. To be safe, we'd probably not be giving the Bumbo to anyone as a hand-me down.

"Goo, gaa, grr?" Today over dinner, I had my first sight of Faith's new expression of anger or displeasure. Where in the past she used to just frown and/or scream, she has now gone further. She has started to hold her breath and scream so that she goes slightly red - the same expression she has when she wants to 'poo' except that she holds that expression much longer when she is angry. I asked Eve if this was the first time she is seeing this - she said no. - Faith has done this in the past afternoons as well. My first thoughts were: imagine myself, a hubbie/father who comes home rather punctually by 7 and yet I miss this milestone. What more would one miss if one travels overseas?

Rock-a-crawl-baby Along with her new-found expression of displeasure, Faith has also started to more visibly "crawl". Actually, it is now more a "rocking" of her buttocks when she is balanced on her hands and knees. I think Eve is convinced that Faith will benefit from having knee guards when she starts, so we'd probably shop around for a pair this weekend.

Faith and Mother in Law Faith has had the fortune of having very doting grandparents who take turns to take care of her over the weekday and weekends. My mother-in-law comes over every weekday around lunch time to look after her without fail. On her way here, she also buys lunch for Eve and more often than not groceries for dinner as well.

We can all see that Faith is very special to my mother-in-law. She's very proud of Faith's every development and she is quick to let her neighbours know of Faith's milestones. And even though she occasionally "beat- Faith's backside" when she is naughty, you can tell her heart melts when Faith starts crying (e.g when she is resisting to take her nap). It is not easy to look after Faith especially since she is getting more demanding by the day, and the fact that MIL looks after her for the most part of the afternoon, sometimes having to manage Faith alone (Eve does need some alone time after all).

Faith, if you read this, pls be grateful for all you have received in the past. Our only hope is you grow up reminding yourself of how fortunate you have been to have been so loved.