Friday, December 2, 2016

Khye the Chinese Whiz in Our Family


21 Nov 2016 - Khye @ 4yrs 2 mo


Khye came home with this card from his Nursery.
I thought it was just a normal card he sometimes bring home from school.

But when I asked him what card is this, he replied:
"I am the best Chinese reader-lah"

After confirming it with my friends, yes, Khye won the best chinese reader award in his nursery class of 20 students.
The card did not even look like a certificate/award to me. lol.

And apparently, his teacher told us that he won the Bahasa Malaysia award too. But as each kid can only take home 1 prize, Khye got the Chinese award. #superproudmum

So sending him for chinese classes after school paid off. He loved his Chinese class and asked to go there everyday! And his teachers there liked him too and always praise his behaviour and eagerness to learn Chinese. ;)


And at a relatives function last weekend, there was a karaoke session on the stage. Khye surprised me by requesting to go up there to sing Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin (The Moon Represent My Heart), a song by Theresa Teng.
He learned this song in school not too long ago and he loved it.

I was initially a little afraid that he would not sing or follow the whole song through as karaoke music only has the music and no lyrics. But he surprised me by being able to sing quite well.

He was singing solo initially and then later his 7-year-old cousin joined in.

Have a look at the clip and see how my little Khye sang a chinese song to his banana parents! ;P


He is still far from speaking fluently in Mandarin. But for now, my little Khye is doing great and enjoying learning Mandarin. 


Monday, November 21, 2016

Review & Discount Code - EU Scandinavian Pattern Collection's Baby Carrier (EU SPC)

Vern in EU SPC @ 11mo - 29 June 2016

I super, super love this photo above. Look how comfortable and relax baby Vern is in the baby carrier hugged tightly to me?

Thanks to Unison CA, I got the chance to review the most beautiful soft-structured carrier I've ever own - the EU Scandinavian Pattern Collection's baby carrier (EU SPC)

(Please also read the reviews I did for Unison CA for the Pittari Wrap and Sukkiri Ring Sling)



SO WHO AND WHAT IS UNISON CA?
Unison CA is the exclusive distributor of the Lucky Company. The Lucky Company was founded in the year 1934 and it is the oldest and most trusted baby carrier manufacturer in Japan. 
Throughout the years, the advance technology, continuous improvement and the product testing and research of LUCKY products have been recognized worldwide.

The people behind Unison CA are parents themselves. So they encourage parent and child attachment, as how they encourage and promote babywearing. Out of all, safety and comfort of babies are of their utmost care, and so they bring us high quality and reliable products from around the globe.
(Source: unisonca.com


SO WHAT IS SPC'S BABY CARRIER?

Scandinavian Pattern Collection's baby carrier is a designer's series by the renowned Edholm and Uilenius, the renowned graphic designers & illustrators often engaged by UNICEF, Paul Smith. Absolut Vodka, Ikea, and other international brands. Not only it comes with irresstably beautiful design, it is also very comfortable because the material is very soft.
(Source: unisonca.com



FIRST IMPRESSION & FEATURES

The EU SPC came in a brown package and bubble wrapped. 

It came together with the Teething Pads (which I will talk about later on)



Even the box is elegantly packaged with clean and simple design . There is a rubber string on the side of the box that holds the front flap of the box together.
 


Pull apart the rubber string and it reveals a printed page which tells you about the renowned designers Edholm and Uilenius, but it is in Japanese. ;P
 


Opening up the top part of the packaging and it reveals the carrier inside. 

The baby carrier was wrapped in a plastic bag to offer more protection, especially from wetness. It also came with a brochure. 

The brochure is in Japanese as well, but based on the photos and diagrams, I could kind of make out the instructions. And furthermore, this is not my first soft-structured carrier, so I kind of know how it works. 
  


Now let's talk about the carrier.
This is what it looks like when I took out the carrier from the plastic bag. 
Such a pretty floral design
This is the front and back of the carrier. 

The EU SPC is made by 100% cotton from Japan. It is comfortable for both adult and baby. 
 

The logo of the designers' names Edholm Uilenius is at the front centre of the carrier. 


Just at the top of the logo is a zip hidden. This is where the Sleeping Hood/Head Support is. 
This sleeping hood can be adjusted in three stages to fit tightly and comfortably. It helps support baby's head while baby is sleeping and may also act as a light rain/sun shield. 
 

At the bottom is the waist belt. The waist belt is a wide belted waistband which I know will bring comfort to my waist. All good carrier has a wide waist belt to comfortably distribute the weight as the baby grows larger and heavier. It is made of a soft urethane to fit Asian body type. 

At the front of the waist belt is a little flap which acts as a small pocket.
This is where I usually keep my mobile phone. One thing I do not like is that the pocket is not a zipped pocket.
But then once I put my iPhone6 there when I babywear, it became very snug and I know my phone won't drop out. It is just that a zipped pocket would give me more peace of mind. :)


This EU SPC baby carrier has an 'in-built' Insert. It comes attached with safety belts anchoring the baby in the baby carrier. This is especially useful if you use it when your baby is really small. The safety support not only prevents baby from falling out of the carrier, but it also offers the confidence to the wearer to confidently babywear your baby in the 'piggyback' position

(Infant insert is required for newborn up to around 4 months old (when the child can lift his/her head up unsupported). Infant insert is NOT include in EU SPC and sold seperately.)

I did not use this feature as when I got this carrier, baby Vern is almost a year old and is too big to properly fit into this safety insert. 
And up until now I have not tried babywearing Vern on my back, as I prefer to front carry. 
 


Another special feature of this EU SPC is that it has a pouch.
This is another compartment where you can keep your mobile phone, or keys and wallet, etc. But I don't feel too secure to keep my valuables there as it is only secured with a button. 

To be honest, I don't really like the fluorescent green colour of the pouch which stands out too much. I would prefer a floral design or just the grey or green design would do. :P
 

The pouch is secured by a button and loop around a flap in your waist belt. 
 

There is also a Rain Cape which will protect your baby from rain and wind, This is especially useful when you are stuck in heavy rain (like the weather now these days) when you are out and about with baby. It can be easily attached to the loop of your shoulder belt. 
 

What I like a lot is the Mesh System which can be easily unzipped at the sides. This is to be used in different temperature, like from our hot and humid outdoor to the air conditioned mall.  

The EU SPC has the usual rubber loop which helps to secure any too-long straps, but they are of a beautiful floral design. I really like the small little details of this beautiful designed carrier. 
 


The EU SPC comes with a drawstring storage bag which I really love. 
 

I got to keep my carrier clean as I keep it inside this storage bag 
 


The kind people at Unison CA also sent me the SPC Teething Pads together with this EU SPC carrier,
 

I like the pleasing design/pattern. It is made of 100% cotton which is soft and gentle on baby's delicate skin. 

This Teething Pads can also very absorbent. Hence it will not feel wet which makes using it more comfortable.  
 

On the inside, the material looks like Terry Cloth and is very absorbent. 
 


It has 2 quality snap on buttons and is suitable to be used for most brands of baby carriers. 


The teething pad tag comes in Japanese and the only English words I could read says "Suck Cover". lol. Direct translation is used I suppose. :P 





TRYING THE BABY CARRIER & TEETHING PADS

Ok, so let's see me trying it on.
These are the front and back views of me babywearing Vern.
And also the side views.

You can see that baby Vern sits comfortably and in an ergonomic position (as in baby is not dangling by his crotch!).
 
 


When I initially tried it on, I tried babywearing him at home to get used to the features of the carrier.
These are some photos I took while babywearing Vern at home.

You can see how happy he is in that carrier
  

And I love how his body curved into mine at just the right angle when he leans his head on my chest


After a few tries and I started wearing it out. 

This is me babywearing Vern at H&M at Gurney Paragon.
 


This is us at Morganfield's Restaurant at Gurney Paragon.
 

This is us at erm, some random place. 

 

Then the unamused and sleepy face of Vern and us, which he promptly fell asleep a few minutes later.
 


This babycarrier is very comfortable and baby Vern has many, many peaceful naps in it, which led me to have many hours of undisturbed shopping time! ;)

See all the sleeping photos. :)
 
 
 


Sometimes if Vern is not leaning on my chest, and his head do fall back a little, then I will use the Sleeping Hood/Head support to support his neck and head. 
 

I also did use it once in a while as a rain cover when I was babywearing Vern and then it started to drizzle. I used the Sleeping Hood to cover his head while we ran to shelter.
If there is a heavy rain, then you would need to use the Rain Cape. 



This is one of the best features so far, in which I could just unzip the sides to reveal the Mesh System and it will transform into a much breathable carrier.
This is very to use if we are somehow stuck in a different temperature during outing. 

I used it a few times, like when the air condition at the mall was spoiled and it was hotter than expected. I promptly just unzip it and baby immediately would be much cooler. 
  
 

As you know, I am an avid babywearing mum. 
I love that it makes me more hands-free when I babywear Vern, and then my other hands are free to hold on to my elder kids or to hold shopping bags etc.


So what are the cons of this carrier? What it needs to improve on?

As for one, I feel that the weight limit for this carrier is a little low compared to other SSCs
The recommended age for this EU SPC carrier is from newborn/10 days old (infant insert is required) up to a weight of 15kg. 

I have used a few other carrier in which the weight limit is 20kg, and thus can be used more into toddlerhood. 
This EU SPC I can feel that it has almost reached the limit now that my baby is 16mths old and weighs 13kg. His legs are getting longer and so it is more difficult to achieve the knee-to-knee ergonomic position.
This is also due to the fact that Baby Vern is a big baby!


But if your baby is a smaller sized baby, then there should be no problem as this is an ergonomic carrier. Just need to pay attention to the recommended weight limit. 

All in all, this is a good soft-structured carrier for mums looking for aesthetic value and good quality Japan product!





To read about my other reviews on babycarriers, click on below :-
a) Soft-structured Carriers (SSCs)
Pikkolo by Catbird Baby
LÍLLÉbaby® Complete All Seasons (Part 1, Part 2)
- Ergobaby; Ergobaby Performance, and Ergobaby 360.

b) Wraps
Ergobaby Wrap

c) Slings SUPPORi Baby Sling
SUKKIRI Ring Sling


TO PURCHASE WITH DISCOUNT CODE

Good news! Thanks to UNISON CA, readers of this blog gets:

20% off ALL products from their website store from now until 28 Feb 2017, using discount code 'HAPPYGOLUCKY' upon checkout. 

Check out the different products by UNISON CA ranging from carriers, feeding products and accessories.




You can also visit their Website or their Facebook Page for more info.
Or you can also add them on Instagram @mysuppori_unisonca 



Disclosure: I received an EU SPC Baby Carrier for review purpose, but no monetary incentive was received. All text and opinions are of my own and represents my honest opinion of the product(s).

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