Learning new swimming skills at foss.

Linna at 7 months old (top) and at 23 months (bottom),
with one of her FOSS swim instructors, Miss Lorrie!

When we're back in Minnesota for a visit, I sign Linna up for swimming lessons at FOSS Swim School in Chanhassen, to keep improving on her swimming skills and safety lessons. I fully credit FOSS for getting Linna comfortable in the water as an infant, and turning her into the little fish that she has become!

Linna started taking lessons at FOSS when she was 7 months old, and at 21 months old Linna was able to swim on her own without wearing floaties. While she's still going strong as a 2-year-old, we signed her up for a few lessons at FOSS while we were home for two months this summer, to learn some new things that we can work on at our pool in Singapore. Linna took two classes each week for about a month this summer, and one lesson that we learned from her teachers (Miss Lorrie and Mr. Chad), was incredibly helpful.

While Linna swims well without floaties on, when she comes up for a breath, her body goes from a horizontal position to a vertical position. Linna is in the Backfloat Baby 3 class, and her FOSS teachers explained that when little ones lift their heads up in the water, their bodies go vertical... THIS is when drownings can happen. Scary stuff, and something I never really thought about, but completely understandable. So, Linna's swim instructors worked on teaching her how to roll over to a back-float position when coming up for a breath.

This is something kids are usually taught around age 3 or 4, but since Linna is swimming on her own, her instructors thought it was a good safety lesson for her to learn. We've taken this lesson with us to Singapore, and after a lot of practice, Linna is starting to master her unassisted back-float skills! With her floaties on, she's completely comfortable doing an unassisted back-float. However, we're still working on a completely unassisted back-float.

Linna with one of her classmates Paige, waiting for their lesson to start.

Here are a couple videos of Linna practicing this skill she learned at FOSS...

(Video of Linna with floaties on, doing a 

10-second back-float at our pool in Singapore.)

(This is a lesson we learned at FOSS: Having Linna

flip to a back-float when coming up for air. As you

can see, she isn't completely comfortable yet with the

unassisted back-float. Funny girl!)

(Linna at age 23 months, swimming with her 

instructor Mr. Chad at FOSS in Chanhassen.)

(Swimming with noodles at FOSS.)

(Balance and jumping lessons at FOSS.)

Can't wait to see what we'll learn next at FOSS! Many parents will agree with me when I say that FOSS is the BEST swim school in the Twin Cities.

Update on linna's "wonk eye".

Linna's "wonk eye".

Happy to report that Linna will not need to have eye surgery, wear a patch, or wear glasses (kind of bummed about that one, because kids in glasses are SO cute). I took Linna to the Singapore National Eye Centre to see Dr. Sonal Farzavandi, after we noticed that Linna's right eye starts to drift when she's tired. We call this her "wonk eye". Linna's pediatrician in Minnesota said she wasn't too concerned about Linna's eye at her two-year check-up, but since the "wonk eye" makes an appearance every day, she said we should probably have it looked at by an ophthalmologist while we're in Singapore.

Although it was VERY difficult to navigate our way around the SNEC, the doctors, nurses, and staff were so incredibly helpful and friendly. They are excellent with little ones! Dr. Sonal evaluated Linna, and then we did about 2-3 hours of testing. They had Linna look at objects both close up and far away, tested different corrective lenses on her, and evaluated the inside of her eye for damage. During the testing, we found out that Linna can't see small, simple, objects at a far distance. That part of the testing was shocking for me, but Dr. Sonal said she isn't concerned, because Linna could have just been bored, or possibly confused as to what the objects were.

They gave Linna two sets of Cycloplegic Refraction eye drops, which temporarily impair the eye muscles and dilate the pupil, so the doctor can have a better look, and do a more thorough examination. Linna was such a trooper getting her eye drops, and only whined once (thank goodness for her "wa" and "snuggles")! I'm sure the stickers after each drop helped too:)

Dr. Sonal's diagnosis for Linna is Intermittent Exotropia (AKA a Divergent Squint of misaligned eyes). I will still refer to it as her "wonk eye":) The diagnosis sounds serious right?! Of course I "Googled" the diagnosis when we got home, and totally wish I wouldn't have. The images of children with severe Intermittent Exotropia are disturbing. Linna has what Dr. Sonal calls "good control" over her "wonk eye", so she thinks it is something Linna will outgrow. We will go back to the SNEC at the end of October for some follow-up testing, just to make sure it's not getting worse. If it is getting worse, Linna will most likely wear a patch over her "good" eye.

We're very happy to have a diagnosis, and some peace of mind knowing that there is nothing seriously wrong with Linna's vision. The only downside to all of this is that Linna can't swim for THREE days after receiving the eye drops. Saturday morning can't come soon enough!

Moms' night out on sentosa.

It's not very often that my mom friends and I get a night out. Our husbands work long hours, and most of us stay home with our little ones, so when we can catch a break... we enjoy every minute! This past weekend, my friend Julia (she has a son named Marc, who is a friend of Linna's) and I went to the Oktoberfest celebration on Sentosa! We had so much fun eating delicious German sausages, deserts, and of course German beer. This is the third year the Wave House has featured Oktoberfest, and they flew in a German band from Europe, so we could all dance the night away. Oktoberfest was set up outside, right by the beach, and we enjoyed meeting new people from all over the world. I've never been to the Wave House before, and now I HAVE to go back sometime to try riding "The Wave"! Thanks to our husbands for watching the kiddos so the moms could "play" for a night on Sentosa:) We had a blast!

So much food!

I even ate sauerkraut. My dad would be so pleased!

Some Aussies that we met... sporting the German lady wigs of course:)

Julia, enjoying her Erdingers!

The Tale of the Frog Prince.

Linna waiting for the show to start!

We love Singapore theater options for kids! This week, Linna and I caught a morning performance of The Tale of the Frog Prince at the Singapore Repertory Theatre. Linna was so excited to go, and the show was really cute! The story is about Prince Phillip, who incurred the wrath of a wicked witch who cast a spell on him, turning him into a frog. Ashamed of his outward appearance, the frog prince hid in a swamp, until one day, he was found by the young Princess Rosalie. The frog prince tells her the spell can only be broken by his one true love. 

This 50-minute show held Linna's attention with fun songs that got us on our feet, dancing along with the cast. We left the theater singing songs like "Just a Little Scratch", which was really catchy! The only time the kids in the audience (and Linna) got a little "bored" was during the love song between Prince Phillip and Princess Rosalie toward the end of the show. It was lovely, but a little slow for the little ones. Other than that, Linna loved every second! I love that the cast really involved the kids in the audience. It was the perfect way to spend a rainy morning in Singapore!



The Tale of the Frog Prince

DBS Arts Centre
August 29th - September 29th, 2013
Tickets start at S$21 (excludes the $3 booking fee)

GIVEAWAY: Charlotte's web tickets.

*** CONGRATULATIONS TO NICOLE SIIRTOLA OF MANKATO, MN ***

Nicole Siirtola of Mankato, MN is the winner of a family 4-pack of tickets to The Children's Theatre Company's performance of Charlotte's Web (tickets are ONLY for the Thursday, Sept. 26th, 2013 show at 7 p.m.)! Nicole, please email us (minnesotababyinfo@gmail.com) by Sept. 25th at 5 p.m. with your address and phone number, so we can verify and get you your tickets. Thanks everyone for your participation, and stay tuned for another giveaway coming up soon!

This show runs September 17th through October 27th at the CTC in Minneapolis. It's one of my favorite childhood stories, and now you can see it on stage! The story is about a farm-girl named Fern, who ends up saving Wilbur (the smallest pig in the litter) from her father’s axe. Wilbur feels like nothing bad can ever happen again, but the other barn animals know why the farmer wants to make his new pig fat and tender. Wilbur finds help in the seemingly fragile web of Charlotte the spider who weaves a path to freedom for the pig. I wish we were going to be back from Singapore to see this performance in Minnesota, but Linna and I did get to see a performance of Charlotte's Web in Singapore a few months ago.

For your chance to win, simply comment on this blog post below with your first and last name, and the city you currently reside in. This contest is open to US residents only, and please only one entry per person. You must enter by Monday, September 9th, 2013 at 9 p.m., and the winner (randomly selected) will be announced on Tuesday, September 10th, so be sure to "like" and check the Minnesota Baby Facebook page to see if you're the winner (winner will be announced on this blog post as well). Good luck everyone!

Linna's latest favorite bedtime reads.

(Papa Saigh reading "Paw Prints on the Magic Sofa" to Linna.)

"Purple Paw Prints" and "Paw Prints on the Magic Sofa" are two of Linna's favorite books recently. Papa Saigh reads these books to her almost every night, and Linna loves saying the parts of the book that she knows! My favorite is when she says "... nobody knew" (as seen in the video above).

The author of these books is a mom of three boys named Sarah Mounsey. She and her family currently live in Singapore. This is Linna's second book series by an author in Singapore, and so far we're three for three (that means they are very good)! Sarah's first book, "Purple Paw Prints", is a story about a boy named Eddie, who decided to paint his dog Oscar purple! The story follows Eddie and Mia, as they attempt to clean their dog and get into all sorts of wet and purple fun along the way. "Paw Prints on the Magic Sofa" is a story about Eddie's adventure on his magic sofa, where he meets different animal friends that jump on the sofa with him to travel around the world! If you have someone read this book to your little ones with some enthusiasm in their voice, you'll be sure to capture the kiddos' attention, as their imaginations run wild!

"Purple Paw Prints" and "Paw Prints on the Magic Sofa":

Under $15 each (under $20 each for orders outside Singapore)
Available at sarahmounsey.com and Amazon

Britax frontier 90 car seat review.

The Britax Frontier 90 car seat uses a brand new, almost fool-proof installation technology called the ClickTight Installation System. This technology allows parents to easily achieve a safe and secure installation using the vehicle seat belt throughout the life of the seat (in harness mode), without having to worry about the weight of the child. A car seat that is not installed tightly leaves children vulnerable to injury in the event of a crash. You can use this seat in harness mode up to 90 lbs., which is huge! The booster mode will take your child up to 120 lbs. 

ALWAYS, make sure you refer to your car seat instruction manual, as well as your vehicle's owner's manual to find out how to correctly install your car seat.

Britax Frontier 90
Retail price: $329.99