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Karen Cheng

A Perth Fashion and Lifestyle Blog

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Archives for November 2005

Sean Update – 8 months

November 11, 2005

Two weeks ago, Sean stood up and walked, while holding onto the sofa. He plodded along, grabbed onto the window sill, and then proceeded to walk along the whole length of the window.

I can’t believe how quickly time flies. Wasn’t this guy doing his swimming-turtle impersonations a couple of weeks ago??

Sean wakes up at 6am. At 8am he’ll nap for an hour. Then at 1pm he’ll nap for 2 hours (same time as Callum my 2.5yo). He’ll eventually go down at 7pm. Sleep. Wake up for a bottle at 11pm. And sleep through till morning.

We’re trying to get him out of the 11pm bottle feed. So that he sleeps through the night, ie. from 7pm – 7am.

How we’ve done it in the past, is to use controlled crying. Basically it’s a technique that teaches the kid to put himself to sleep – by letting him cry it out, while checking on him every 10 – 30 minutes.

I’ve heard so many people say all kind of things about this method – that kids will grow up with a low self-esteem, poor attachment issues, feeling rejected by their parents. But I’ve heard lots of really good things and success stories too. I believe as a parent, you should just go with what you feel is right, keep an open mind to new ideas, and be aware that all kids are different – if it doesn’t work for your kid, then move on!

We first heard of the controlled crying technique when Callum was 9 months (and still waking up 3 times a night). We decided to try it, and we had to let him cry for 1 HOUR (with a couple of checks) before he finally went to sleep by himself.

I remember it was 4am, Andrew and I were in the next room, completely shattered and wrecked with grief and guilt. We felt like we were starving him. We thought that he was going to grow up with mental problems. We felt like SUCH bad parents. But he took to it well, and was immediately sleeping through the whole night from then on.

I haven’t pushed it that hard with Sean, because he’s been such a good sleeper from birth. And I noticed that on the occasion he does sleep through without a feed in the night, he wakes up SO FRANTICALLY HUNGRY AND HYSTERICALLY NEEDING MILK NOW DAMN IT! Which puts him off his breakfast, and makes the rest of his meal times out of whack with the rest of us. Haha, it’s true – the second child just has to fit in with our already established routine.

Babies, Family Life, Parenting

That Skin Crawling Feeling

November 10, 2005

image from getty

I’m one of those people who do their grocery shopping with the kids.

I’ve heard of lots of crazy stories about what kids do on shopping trips. They tear open flour bags, pour liquids out of bottles, rip open pasta packets, squeeze out the shampoo, poke holes into the mince meat, and get stuck into the ice cream etc.

But thankfully, I’ve trained Callum (from a very young age), to sit quietly in the basket, munch on a bucket of hot chips, and arrange all the bits and pieces into size and shape categories. It’ll only last an hour though. Then he’ll get restless and start demanding a strawberry smoothy.

I also go first thing in the morning. So that I’m first in line to get a new supermarket trolley – a super specky shiny one with new baby buckles, no crap smudged between the bars, no rusty twisted bits of metal sticking out, and with all four wheels that move in the SAME DIRECTION. There’s nothing more I hate in this world than trying to push a bashed and broken shopping trolley.

So today, we began our cruise through the shopping centre in our prized new shopping trolley. After a few minutes, I felt a tingling sensation in my hands. Ugh, poor circulation. I flick the feeling away. Then my arms and elbows began to tingle. I thought I should find a seat and sit down, in case I was about to faint or something. Then my upper arms and shoulders began to tingle too, and I started to get worried.

I looked down at my hands, and my hands were covered in ANTS. HUNDREDS OF THEM. EVERYWHERE! CRAWLING OUT FROM THE TROLLEY HANDLE! EEEEP!

I flung my hands around, smacked, brushed and waved my arms in a frantic flurry of panic. Then I looked at Sean, and HE was covered in ants. So I frantically brushed and smacked him too. It must’ve looked ridiculous. I was trying not to draw too much attention, but Callum was so shocked, that he started shouting “HELP! HELP! BUGS ARE EATING SEAN!! BUGS ARE EATING ME!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!”

Then Sean started to cry. The ants crawled into his mouth. I was still smacking the ants off his head. And I could feel them crawling up my neck and hair. And not to forget the bites, the dead ant smell, and the layer of dead ants smudged on my palm. Eeeeeew. Oh yes, it was a disaster.

It took me ages to get the last of the ants from my hair. We ditched the trolley. We sat on a bench. We cleaned ourselves up and calmed down. Sean stopped blubbering. Callum slurped happily on his smoothy. And I decided to go home, because I think being eaten alive by ants counts as too much of an adventure for 8am in the morning.

Daily Life

Introducing Etsy – Impulse? Me? Never!

November 9, 2005

Tee hee. Today, my mate Kevin sent me a link to Etsy, an online shop of handmade things.

And eeeeeek after 3 minutes of browsing, I couldn’t resist! I bought a couple of super cute rings. I got the ones on the left and right. I didn’t manage to get the one in the middle though – sold out.

The one on the left was inspired by a Japanese woodblock print of koi. So cool! I’m so excited! Maybe I need to get out more.

Fashion & Shopping

For my readers…

November 8, 2005

Eeep. Lately I’ve been getting heaps of emails from my visitors.

People asking me all kinds of questions, and topic requests for posts. Lots of people want more kid photos and stories. More fashion and jewellery photos. Advice on kids and pregnancy. Lots of people want to know how I met my husband. How did he propose. Whether I can post up my wedding photos. Whether I’m going to have more children. How do I cope being a stay at home mum. How did I lose my pregnancy weight. How do I feel about giving up my career to be a mum. Whether I ever dated Asian guys (hahaha!). What Australia is like. What Perth is like. And lots of design and web related questions.

Anyway… I’ll try to answer most of your questions. I’ll probably weave some of them into my regular posts rather than interview style, after all much can be said for subtleness.

(Ha! Subtleness! – Says she who posts pics of herself on the net.)

Daily Life

Therapy

November 6, 2005

I drove out to the city this afternoon. By myself. Sun shining on my shoulders. Music blaring from the speakers. I had a sudden craving for some alone time. So I left the kids with my husband. I felt a little bad.

I had already been out to dinner with some friends on Wednesday night. We chatted, caught-up and laughed about random and inane things. We shared a huge platter of various tandooried animals and garlic naan. It was gooooooood.

And then my husband and I went out on Friday night. Dinner and movie. The Proposition. It was fantastic – beautifully crafted. Loved it, even though I’m not a Nick Cave fan.

So there I was. Parked on the street. Sitting in my car. Waiting for my song to finish. And… I felt really really happy.

Not because I was away from the kids. Or that I was about to go shopping. Or that I just created a somewhat spontaneous, slightly excessive, couple of hours for myself.

I think it was because my chi had finally settled.

These last few weeks I’ve been battling a constant spell of gloominess, depression, frustration, and overall emptiness.

I know it’s purely the roller coaster ride of post-pregnancy hormones. And I know our life is pretty sweet at the moment. And if I think about it, my week was actually filled with lots of happy, positive stuff.

But… eh, who can know the answer to the mystery of women.

Anyway, I found a super cute shop in the city. Bought a nice vintage top. A mini skirt. A couple of other things. Replenished my makeup supplies. And who knows if retail therapy actually works anyway. As long as the men believe it…

Daily Life

They say, never work with kids

November 3, 2005


We organised a fundraising idea for my toy library – Christmas Calendars with a photo of your kids, and monthly tear-off pages. (Through CrazyCamel.)

I figured it would be a great present for my parents and grandparents. And I’ve been planning for ages to take a nice photo with both boys in it.

Easier said than done. It was unbelievably hard work!! I was pulling my hair out by the end of it. I don’t know how pro photographers do it. I got sooooo grumpy and frustrated. I promised chocolates and ice cream. I waved annoying, squeaky toys. I made stupid googly faces. I trying to engage them in 2 year old conversations. No wonder Anne Geddes works with newborns who SLEEP. Grrr.

Seriously though. I must’ve taken hundreds of snaps. And NOT ONE of them had both boys looking at the camera with a decent expression on their face.

In the end I decided that I AM A VISUAL DESIGNER. I CAN MAKE THIS WORK. And settled with two pics, with similar background, pose and portrait composition – which I’m going to plonk together side by side.

Phew. Thank God for Photoshop.

Family Life, Parenting

Overheard – The 2.7 year old Interpreter

November 1, 2005

Sean : “Uung uh ahhh da da da”

Callum : “I’ve got a pooey nappy”

Sean : “Aaahhh nah nah nah nah nah”

Callum : “It’s so yucky and squishy”

Sean : “Nuhhh uuh uh dah daaah”

Callum : “My bum is really sore”

Sean : “Aahhh eeeee”

Callum : “I stink”

Babies, Family Life

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Welcome

Hi I’m Karen!

I’m a UX Designer, with a background in visual design, digital + interactive design, advertising, social media and blogging.

I’ve been blogging since 1999 – which is 20 years of sharing stories about my kids, motherhood, fashion, fitness, food, books and all my weird and wonderful daily adventures.

These days, my kids are 16, 14 and 10, so I don’t talk about them very much. But I’m still trying to write about my passions – I have so many!

Stick around if you’re a bit obsessed with fashion, social media, reading brainy books, a nice dose of art, design and culture, the constant learning of really random stuff, annoying teenager stories, experimenting with intermittent fasting (not going too well thanks for asking) and plants.

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  • I’m helping to organise a tech conference, checking out the venue and hiding from the 38C heat outside! This place is simply amazing!
  • Pearls, always ✨🐚 @thepeachbox #thepeachbox #lulapearlcollection
  • Hello to Australia’s largest cheese display fridge @cheesecathedral! 🧀💕We celebrated the launch of @europeanfoods_au new Marketplace wholesale outlet with the crew from @wagoodfoodguide and yummy eats by @chefvalvasori! Amazing cheese, chocolate, food, coffee and gourmet grazing table - I was in heaven!!
  • Celebrating Friday with a new blog post! About a year ago, I made a plan to look for a pair of sustainable, earth-friendly and ethically produced jeans, fall in love with them... then buy them in ALL colours. 👖💕 I found a pair from @Everlane for AUD$103 - and yep, I bought them in blue, white, black and grey. Head over to my blog for my review and pics 💕☺️✨
  • So lovely to meet @julessebastian at @wesleyquarter_ sharing her latest SS19 looks, juggling motherhood, her online projects and philanthropic work with @thesebastianfdn 🌸💕
  • Few new blog posts, link in bio! My workplace dress code is quite casual and relaxed... but I like to wear my bold, colourful dresses, because omg I need to wear my nice clothes somewhere!?! 🙈✨
  • 🐚 Pretty new Lula Pearl collection by @thepeachbox featuring freshwater pearls with baroque accents and 14K gold plating pieces. 💕 Awesome quality and so good for wearing everyday. Use "karenlycheng" to get 15% off! ✨ #lulapearlcollection #thepeachbox #sponsoredandproud
  • Well hello there! Got a new post up on my blog about using a dress hire service, now that I’m working in a different industry (tech, not fashion!), going to less events and trying to spend my fashion budget on more sustainable fashion choices.
Also...Trying to kick off the flu. Trying to exercise more. Trying to spend smarter. And trying to resist all the office treats! 🍩🎂🍪😆✨
  • In keeping with my obsession of all things Roman History, I picked up Meditations by Marcus Aurelius... love me some wise, old, humble ramblings! 😆 What a world we live in that we can read the thoughts of one of the world’s greatest leaders/thinkers, written nearly two thousand years ago and see a cracking quote like this:
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” - Marcus Aurelius 💕✨
  • A few new blog posts today! 👉🏼Sharing a bit about my new full time job, what I love about it, what my husband is doing now, how my kids are handling the change. Also sharing my current love of vintage print dresses! Link in bio 💕 #uxdesigner #uxdesign
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