At the Bird Park with the Ows

Last Saturday saw us at the Jurong Bird Park with the Ows :) Ian and Faith.

It was a bit of a last minute decision to meet up, partially cos i missed seeing Ian and Faith and also becos Ian has been wanting to see "baby justin". Decided that we should meet up so that the kids can have some fun :) and since Ian has been asking to go to the Bird Park, we decided to meet here. As we were driving there separately in the morning, it was threatening to rain! Luckily it didn't and the weather held up beautifully throughout our outing! Otherwise we would have to see very wet birds and that wouldn't have been very fun at all.

Here's a shot of the Little One with Ian and Faith. Was trying to get all three of them to focus on the camera but err.. as you can see, each was doing their own thing! Ian was watching the Birds of the Prey show whereas the other two were just, watching something :) Not sure if birds are just harder to focus on, since they are flying here and there, but the Little One wasn't as interested at the shows in the bird park as compared to the zoo.

There was another show that we went to - Birds and Buddies! This one is a bit cuter, with the birds performing tricks such as throwing ping pong balls through small basketball hoops and mascots dancing around.. the Little One showed a bit more interest in this one.. and here he is watching intently while the Big One goofs around :)

After about 3 hours at the place, it was time for lunch at the Bongo resturant. The only one! This is quite different to the zoo where there were lots of choices for meals. Didn't really think the food was very good, even compared to the zoo. But the kids had lots of fun :) think hamburgers, pasta and lemonade.. yummy!

The Little Ones were getting sleepy, especially Justin and Faith.. so after lunch, we went home.. Here's a shot of mummy and the Little One at the entrance of the Bird Park.. till we visit again!

His Auntie's Birthday

:) The month of August is filled with weekend celebrations for the Little One's birthday. Well, there is only one aunty but at least 3 celebration meals. Isn't she lucky?

Here are some of the pictures taken at the celebrations:


These 2 were taken at Chinese Swimming Club where we had a nice buffet meal. The Little One was having lots of fun pointing to the fishes in the pond. Love this black and white shot :) The Big One says he really looks like me.


The Little One is now old enough to get a present for his auntie :) This year he sent her flowers for her birthday.. with a special note from him!

Here's another one with us at Parkway.. He looks like he is trying very hard to pose for the camera! Its as if he is asking "am i hot or what!"

Happy Birthday Auntie!

PS: Can you imagine how busy we will be when it comes to October? its mummy, daddy and both his grandparent's birthday!

What's a Silly Face?

This is the silly face which he makes when you say "silly face" :) taught by Hi-5!

He has also started to make a "wink" but with both eyes.. he would wink and then smile to himself.. very CHEEKY!

Botantic Gardens

Second time we visited the Botantic Gardens this year..the first time was around New Year's with the Little One's cousin and grandparents. Decided to bring the Little One back there again, now that he can walk quite well on his own (i know, i know.. it has been quite a while since he can do that already..pls attribute the rest of the delay on laziness) and also we have been thinking of places to visit now that he has officially dropped his morning nap.

A bit on the morning nap bit - He has stopped taking his morning nap for a week now. it has been so so difficult to get him to nap, like having to pat him for 1 hour, that even sari gave up. And yes, sari has always been the most patient of all the adults at home. Given that she also started fasting this week for her new year, its also good that the boy "converted" to only 1 nap a day, but a much longer one.. around 2 plus hours.

Back to the Saturday.. since he no longer needs a nap, we decided to bring him out for some outdoor play, to get him to run around and exhaust all that bountiful energy! So off to the gardens we went :) blessed with good weather . First stop - koi pond at the entrance of the gardens.

The Little One was clearly excited about the fishes. He can now say the word "fish".. though it comes out more like "phish" and he would point to the fishes and go "phish" and even recognizes them in the storybooks that we read him. He wanted to go into the pool.. but stopped in time.

Now that he can walk quite well, he usually wants to walk on his own, with us just holding his hand. The Big One likes this picture cos he says it shows love :) The Little One has this habit of wanting to walk over the metal grills over the drains. Think that its probably becos of the sound it generates when he walks over it. So yes, even at the Botantic Gardens, we got dragged around in search of noisy drains.

While the others were walking their dogs, the Little One was walking his own dog :) The little plastic puppy!! He was dragging it around the park. So much for a pet! He doesn't say the word "dog" but instead makes the "woof" sound whenever he sees a doc.

We were lucky enough to spot the swans this time around. Didn't manage to catch any during our 1st visit. We were just sitting near the pond, next to this lovely lady.. minding our own business. Next think i know, the lady was offering some bread to the Little One to feed the swans and without any minute of hesitation, he reached out his hand and grabbed it! Totally not shy at all! Happily he was holding on to the bread, then wondering why mummy was feeding it to the swans and not him, cos he stuffed some into his mouth when i was not looking! Yikes. maybe he was hungry.

When we ran out of bread, it was also time to head home. Had spent about 1 hour at the gardens and the noon sun was starting to get hot. Time for his afternoon nap too :) maybe will visit again soon..

During the same month last year

Was doing some housekeeping when i came across this video, taking around the same time last year. Boy, the Little One looks so different now!! He was only around 4 months then and still very chubby and round (or as what one PD will tell me.. obese). He couldn't crawl yet but was more interested in pulling up and wanting to walk around. He did eventually crawl at around 10 months, quite late compared to his peers and his crawling days didn't last that long cos he started walking at after his 1st birthday.

He has indeed grown :)

The Paella Weekend

This is my first attempt at cooking paella!


Joining my paella is the Big One's thai squid salad :) its super yummy and its his 2nd try. His salad recipe was courtesy of our family friend, M. M is a super cook and each time he brings back steaks, we would make a troop down to his place and really feast for the night.

Anyways, i digress.. the paella was a seafood one, with a recipe from one of my many cookbooks. Had wanted to cook on Saturday.. partially because both me and the Big One have always enjoyed cooking and also to give Sari a break from the cooking chores. Must say that my maiden attempt wasnt too bad except that the squid was a bit overdone (still trying to master the timing of how the ingredients should be added) and not all of my mussels seemed to get cooked. We polished the whole pan up! heheh.. and also gave some to my neighbour who was having a japanese stew party that night. So far no complains from them so i think it should be okie bah.

Will be cooking this saturday again :) will hunt down a new recipe to try!

Week 2 of new Job

Just a quick post before i go off to la-la-land.
Its week 2 on the new job :) so far so good! But still missing my boy at work and no, have not been plastering my walls with his photos yet.

This week Hubby is on reservist - which means he gets to act macho and use all the hokkien phrases he knows. Luckily for me, he doesn't have to stay in camp. So tonight, he was attempting to read the Little One's story book in Hokkien. talk about getting in touch with ones' culture.

New trick by the Little One.. he points to the photo frames and gets us to bring it down for him. Then he kisses the frames..Awwww.. so sweet!

Does he know what is 1?

Have been reading this numbers book to him for a while. Its from the Baby Touch series. Simple book really.. just counting from 1 to 5, and corresponding to the numbers are some pictures have have some interesting surfaces for baby to touch and feel. Like it cos it quite catchy with bright pictures and hahah.. mummy actually loves to touch the fluffy cats!

For the past few nights, whenever i open the book and the first number is 1, with the soft caterpillar, the Little One raises his index finger and gestures 1. :) Its just 1 so far but tonight, me and the Big One were trying to teach him 2! Not very successful but hopefully we will get there one day!

How much teeth can a baby have?

Gosh! He is teething again! Just when we were all looking forward to some restful nights after the whole flu episode, the Little One has decided that he wants to teeth. OMG! Mummy had to say goodbye to a solid night of sleeping and it has been 2 nights already.

The suprising thing is that, and this is something that we noticed after a while, when he is teething, he would have a great appetitte and love to eat but putting him to bed is a nightmare. We can spend like 1 hour just getting him to go to bed at night and even the naps are a challenge. The good news is that he is gaining back the weight that he lost the two weeks before when he was sick.. the bad news is that once one of us goes to the bedroom with him, its like a massive story time of 5 books, then pat the backside for the longest longest time.

:) recently he started asking to nurse, out loud! He calls it "neh neh" and would say that continously till he gets it and 2 sucks and he will pull down the t-shirt. don't know if i should be amused or worried. what if he goes to school and still ask for "neh neh"?

Very active boy now and is capable of climbing up and down the sofa and bed and wants us to give him praise when he does it right? show off! :) And he has picked up something new from the Little Einsteins show that he watches.. he would pat pat pat his lap and raise his hands high above his head, like how they do the lift off movement! Will try to catch it on video!

A new trick

Notice that the Little One can do something new!

He has been watching this Hi-5 DvD and there is this particular song that he likes. It goes like this..

" Big claps, Big claps, 1 2 3
Little claps, Little claps 1 2 3
Tiny claps, Tiny claps 123
Clapping very happily"

During the Tiny claps part, the character on the show "claps" her fingers together. The Little One has just learnt to follow suit, except that he "claps" his index finger to his palm :) quite cute nevertheless!

Mummy's first day at work

Today was my first day at work in CAG ;) was excited about the change but at the same time, missing my time at home with the Little One. From time to time, i would space out and think about my little bub, especially around 4 plus when i used to be home during my part time days.

Didn't think he would miss me that much, since he is quite well adjusted to sari but boy did i miss him! Came home after work and rushed into his room and what greeted me was such a bright smile that just made my heart melt!! He can be quite a darling when he wants to :) but of course his monster habit came back when he tortured me during bedtime that involved a 1 hour pat pat session. Anyways, tonight the Big One was not at home so that made it even tougher with the Little One screaming for "pa pa..papa..papaaaaa".

Let's see how this week progresses... will update soon!

Happy National Day

Happy National Day to everyone!! At 8.22pm, the Little One will be trying to say the Pledge and waving his little $1.25 flag that his parents got for him from Parkway. See how i am practising?

On his 2nd National Day, mummy noticed that he can do these things:

1. When reading his picture book, point out the clock and tv and show me where they are at home.

2. When ask where is mickey mouse, point to the mouse on his t-shirt

3. Point out his daddy and grandma on photos

4. Remember where he keeps his crayons and paper

5. Remember where he keeps his shoes

6. Dance when i say "Lion dance" :) quite cute.. must try to catch it on video

7. Wakes daddy up in the morning (hahah... so that i can catch a few more precious minutes of sleep)

8. Crawls underneath chairs to reach out for his toys

9. Is able to climb onto the sofa and sari's bed on his own.. yikes, can even climb up the coffee table

10. Runs around yelling!!

11. Open a DVD case to spin the DVD (OMG!)

12. Pose for the camera :)

Don't think i can come up with 44 new things that he has done :) so will just have to stop here.

The One about Ginger

The Little One's Grand Aunty (I know she hates being called that) has a very lovely dog by the name of Ginger. We often visit on Fridays cos mummy likes catching up with her aunty and sari likes catching up with her sister (who is my aunty's helper) and the Little One likes to terrorize Ginger :) So we are always looking forward to those Fridays, about once every fortnight where we make that long trip to Grand Aunty's place, where mummy can have her coffee in peace, some adult conversation and the Little One can play with the dog and also climb up and down the stairs.

Given that mummy is going to start full time work next tuesday and have to give up these leisurely friday afternoons, we decided to make one last troop over to Grand Aunty's place. And the Little One suprised us all by calling Ginger by her name, "Gin Gin"!! Ok, since he has yet to call mummy and aunty sari by name, this was a big deal!

And Ginger got very excited to see the Little One and was wagging her tail in delight! Totally not afriad of the dog, the Little One was touching Ginger all over , through the gate, even pulling her ear! Luckily Ginger doesn't bite. When Ginger got a bit tired and retreated into her doggie house, our little tike kept calling out to the dog and gesturing "come come".

Each time when we ask where is Ginger, he would run into the kitchen and stand next to the gate and point out the dog :) We made him drink water (sometimes have to trick him into doing that), by giving the dog some water and told him that Ginger is also drinking :P hehehe..

Am going to miss these Fridays and am sure the Little One will miss Ginger.. don't worry, Grand Aunty will pop over to bring you to her house!

Till the next time we visit!

Our Home Stay

Decided not to cancel our leave despite not going to Club Med , so for the past 3 days, we have been spending time with the Little One at home!

It was nice, although the Little One still had bouts of coughing and was nursing like crazy for comfort... (Hubby said that i was a 7/11 drive through, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Spent most of the time indoors with the bub, only taking him down for short walks around the park and playground. Didn't want him to catch another bug when he has yet to recover from this one. It was really nice seeing father and son spend time together :) Now that the Little One is bigger, he enjoys roughing it out with the daddy and playing all the silly games that the Big One teaches him. He goes around hiding and playing peekaboo (both the big and small one like that) and goes for their walks where they check out the netball girls. grins :)

Hubby goes back to work tomorrow whilst i start on my new job on Monday. I think i will get separation anxiety!

OK.. its H1N1

Took the Little One back to the pd on Monday morning cos Sari tot she saw rashes on the soles of his feet.. OMG! The first thing i tot of was HFM.. so called the clinic and asked how long the wait was going to be (given that its monday morning). The Big One happened to just step outside the house for a swim. Decided that it couldn't wait till he got back since if its HFM, its probably contagious and serious since the Little One was already down with the flu.

We had to wait outside the clinic in case it really was HFM and had to entertain the boy by running up and down the ramp with him. One look by Dr Lim and thank goodness it wasn't HFM but she noticed that he was wheezing a bit.. sigh! I struggled with him through that neb session with him nearly boxing my face and everyone esle in the clinic hearing him wailing away. By then, the Big One had also arrived at the clinic.. thankfully! Saw Dr Lim again after the neb and she said the Little One was still a bit breathless.. since he was already on the whole course of antibotics and not recovering, she gave the verdict as "its probably H1N1 and he should be put on Tamiflu". Was worried about the side effects of giving it to him but the doctor reassured me that its safe. No choice right? Then the nurse told me that Tamiflu is quite bitter and he might throw up after taking it.. wah, like double whammy. Total bill=$150. Total bill for this whole episode = $500.

Luckily touchwood, he didn't reject the Tamiflu and he seems to be responding well to the medication. In all, he has 2 types of nose drops (Illdin and Beoptic), the normal cough and cold meds, was on the liquid ventolin for opening his airways and when that was no longer effective, he upgraded to Bambec. Then there is the expensive singular to protect his lungs. He was on two courses of antibotics- augmentin and zithromax.

That plus throwing up frequently cos there was phelgm stuck in the throat.. he is positively skinner.. no more extra baby fats. Even his face looks slimmer. Poor boy! Was remarking to Sari that he use to have this extra pad of fats on his foot, like a little bao, and even that is gone. I went to get some probiotics to help after all that medication.



After another bout of coughing today, i noticed that he had a strand of hair sticking out of his nose.. was wondering if it was his nose hair. The Big One told me to pull it out.. was tuging at it when it came out.. and... (okie picture isn't very clear)

but it sure isn't nose air lor!! Its like a 6cm strand of hair!!! How did that get up his nose??? Strange. Is this the cause of his nose irritation? Probably. Must ask pd.

Anyways, since he is ill, we can't bring him anywhere so its like mega activity time at home. And he recently started liking to draw with his crayons. Today, he formed a letter 'A', with help from the Big One :)

The bottom ones in red are done by the Little One! In August, he will be 16 months old.. and now he can:

1. Shake his hands to gesture 'no more'

2. Shake your hand

3. Gesture hi-5

4. Recognize the tune "london bridge is falling down" and play along with you

5. Calls his carebear "bear bear"

6. Hates bath time now especially washing his hair.. so have to shower him now

7. Can walk up 1 step by his own

8. Climb a flight of steps using the railings

9. Blow kisses (but don't know why he touches the side of his face instead of his mouth)

10. Open and close lids of containers (is totally fasinated by it)

11. Pull along his doggie toy and sometimes talks to the dog.

Hmm, don't remember anymore but i am sure there is..will add on later.