Nighttime Rituals..

Every night before I sleep, Daddy and Mummy will read some storybooks to me.

Lately, I have been getting treated to "Baby Einstein". The music is rather soothing and I've been moving and swaying to it. Tonight, I watched Baby Noah before bed. So many animals, many of them like the ones I saw in the Singapore Zoo!


The video is very colourful, eye-catching and enriching for me. It has very tuneful songs as well, though none of them have lyrics or people singing. Just the melody. Very nice!



I recommend Baby Einstein to everyone!

See you all soon!

Queer Positions

I occasionally sit in funny positions, and this makes Mummy and Daddy look at me and laugh.


Baby Breakdancing!


About to do a double somersault with one twist (difficulty : 8.5), off the bed!


Double-legged Graco Squat.


Single-legged Over-the-top!



And that is my favourite squatting position of all time!

See you all squatting soon!

A nice lunch out..

Fred and I haven't had a nice meal out for the longest time. Our meals out are always rushed or I will be busy feeding Gabriel. Fred will be eating first so that he can take over whatever I have to do with Gabriel and I will eat.

Today was different. Fred had wanted to bring me to Al Forno as he had a 1-for1 thingy there. We timed it so that Gabriel took his nap while we had our lunch. It was really nice for a change that the two of us can eat together leisurely and not worry about feeding Gabriel or him making noise. If only we can do this more often...

Fred's pizza with panchetta and funghi


My yummy spaghetti with vongole


Our little one woke up with a big smile!!


"My toes, my toes!!"


It was a beautiful afternoon with the family. A bit too hot to be outdoors though...

Attack of the mighty smiley one!

Hi Everyone! I'm back.. and I'm larger than life!

I'm scaling the staircase, without Mummy..


This is the point of view from an ant!

I was busy running around and fell down. I cut my lip quite badly and could only soothed by Mummy. Ouch!

Keep smiling everyone..

See you soon!

*Yawn* *Zzzzzzz...*

Ever bathe a sleeping baby? I have!! Just a couple of days ago. I was just wetting Gabriel's head before soaping him and *kaboom*!! His eyes closed and off he went to slumberland. He was either too tired or I might just have fantastic hands. Hands which can massage your head and put you to sleep.

So I had to bathe a sleeping baby. Dried and dressed a sleeping baby too. Amazingly he slept through all that. It was quite good actually as normally I would have to distract him in order to put on his diaper and clothes. No squirming baby for once.. nice!!



Cute huh? Not sure if this will happen again so I am still enjoying that moment. :)

At the Singapore Zoo for my birthday!

Mummy and Daddy brought me to the Zoo today, along with Uncle Leo, Aunty Celest, Gege Nigel and Shannon, Uncle Mervin, Aunty Debbie and Saffy.

It was a lovely day, but there were spots of rain, which were nice too. It helped to keep the day cool!

Here are some shots of me looking at the White Tigers, Emus, Kangaroos and Elephants. There were so many animals to look at, it was amazing!








I really liked the Giraffes too. I surprised Mummy when I started throwing and blowing kisses everywhere. Yes, Gerry the Giraffe taught me to kiss, so I was showing her I knew the relation between the long necked creatures that were in front of me and the one I have in my bed at home.

We had such a good time, watching the trainers feed the animals and play with them. I hope Mummy and Daddy bring me to the zoo again when I turn 2 years old! I can't wait!



I hope you had a good day too!

See you soon!

It's my Birthday today! I am 1 year old!

It's my birthday today and I'm finally one year old!



Hooray! Clap clap clap!



Mummy and Daddy are bringing me to the Zoo today. I'll update all of you with some pictures tomorrow! I'm sure I will be so tired when I get back tomorrow night!

See you all soon!

I made my first few steps yesterday!!!

Yesterday I made my first few steps!

I was standing up holding on to the chair, then I turned towards Mummy and walked 6 steps!

Whee! Of course, I landed on my bum again, but the applause from Mummy and Aunty Isti was nice. I was so happy!



Here's a picture of me standing unsupported from the day before, whilst opening my presents.

Okay, so I "officially" walked before I was one year old! Does it count?

See you all soon!

I'm so tired, but I just can't sleep..

I know it's part of a song title, but I understand so well what it means.

Sunday night, I was still sick, so I found it very difficult to sleep.

Monday morning, we went to Uncle Mervin and Aunty Debbie's home because Daddy was going to help them fix something up for Saffy. I was grouchy and tired, but I didn't give Mummy much trouble, but I still didn't want to sleep. With all of Saffy's toys around, who could sleep?

Finally, after lunch, Daddy took me around the house on the luge, and the zigzagging motion made me soooo tired. One moment I was looking in front, and the next, I was drooling down his leg.



Here's a few pictures Mummy took. I'm so comfy!

Maybe Daddy's hair helped to cushion against his knobbly knees.. Hmmm?

Here's Saffy's nice canopy over her bed which Daddy helped fix.



See Saffy and Shannon sitting comfortably on Saffy's new bed!

See you all soon!

My birthday party!!

Mummy and Daddy threw me a birthday party on Saturday and invited all my close friends. Wow, all of them in one room, with me.. I was asleep for the first part of the party and didn't hear all the noise downstairs. Apparently, since I didn't want to sleep on Friday night, I was very tired through Saturday morning.. hee hee.. making up for lost sleep!

Here's a picture of me with my Baby Elmo birthday cake, but it looks like Saffy and Gege Nigel are more interested in it!



Here's a shot after everyone helped me to blow out the candles!



Thanks Mummy and Daddy for having my friends over for my birthday!
Thank you Uncles, Aunties and my friends, for coming! I had fun!

I'll put the individual pictures up soon! Look for it in flickr!

See you soon!

Can't sleep again!

It's 6am and I can't get back to sleep again. What better time than now to try to get some reading done.

"Book, book!" Yes, daddy, can I please have a book.



Err. I wonder if daddy will take me on a drive again to get me back to sleep. I've only been up since 5am..
Oops, daddy's sneezing away! Maybe he got my sickness.. Uh-oh!



See you all soon!

"Book, book!"

I have no idea when it started but our little boy has become a bookworm! We have been trying to read to him as much as we can, whenever we have the time. And I make it a point to give him a story or two before he goes to bed. Possibly from there, books have become his good friends. Nice huh?

But it is not too nice when he wakes up in the middle of the night and goes "Book, book!", pointing his fingers at the bookcase and looking at you with his beady eyes. Last night, he did that at 4am!! He shouldn't be up asking to be read to especially now when he is sick and he needs his rest and sleep! But how can you refuse this little boy who is looking at you longingly, asking for a story. Sigh... So there we were reading books at 4am in the morning. (Fred was woken up as well... no choice, had to put on the light)

Hopefully this "Book, book!" phase doesn't go away too soon. We want to continue in nurturing a love for books habit in Gabriel. But we do want to get some sleep at night, so hopefully he doesn't wake up at 4am too often and go "Book, book!" :)

Will put up a picture of him with his books once I find one.

Football Fever? Tennis Fever? Gabriel with Fever!!

It's a terribly stressful period for many families with the football and tennis tournament going on at the same time. The result of it... people, especially the fathers, not getting enough sleep and rest resulting in them losing their cool easily. It gets worse when the kid falls sick at the same time (not too sure if he is affected by the many fevers going on).

Should we bring him to a doctor? Should we self medicate? Maybe bring him to a paediatrician (which will definitely cost more than $50, and that is the cost we try not to incur as only one of us is working)? Sigh... what should we do?? Little boy can't sleep at night as his nose gets blocked and he is crying through the night. It gets worse when Daddy wants to watch the tennis match which is going on. With the flashing light from the TV, baby and mummy can't sleep too well. What to do, what to do??

Well, hopefully everything will be back to normal by next Tuesday. After that, I wonder what all the men do at night. Any other tournament coming up??

Godma and Godpa

Last Monday, we went to Godma and Godpa's place for dinner. Godpa bought lotsa nice yummy food ; Sweet and sour pork, chili prawns, man tou, bean curd and veggies.. not forgetting the ngoh hiang and you tiao.

I could see daddy's face almost glowing as he dipped the ngoh hiang into the sweet sauce and putting it into his mouth.. hmm.. what about me, daddy?

After dinner, I had so much fun with my "Godsisters" Alexis and Ashlee. I think Alexis is so cool.. she keeps calling my name and she does it so well!

Here's us in a few pictures together.


I had so much fun pushing the hippo around the room. I can do it on my own already, except for the turns.



I flash Godpa my pearly whites!


Thanks Godma! Thanks Godpa! See you soon, Alexis. See you soon, Ashlee!



See you all soon!

Soccer again??

I think there is some kind of telepathic connection between father and son. Fred wanted to watch the match between Germany and Italy this early morning but couldn't stay awake. Somehow Gabriel got that message from his daddy and woke up at 4am, just in time for the 2nd half!! You guessed it! Father and son watching the match together at4am!!



They obviously enjoyed the match very much! And myself, I went back to sleep of course, leaving them to spend their quality time together.. :)



"See you at 4am later, daddy!!"

The Great Pianist (in the making)

Kong Kong has introduced me to his Grand Piano. I was wondering what all that noise (Big People call it music!) was coming from and how it was being made.



Now I sometimes ask Daddy to let me play when Kong Kong is not home. It's so fun!



I think I may take up the piano when I grow up... that is, if Daddy doesn't make me learn the violin first.. hee hee! Maybe I can be the next Richard Clayderman, John Williams, Robert Miles...

See you all soon!

Kong Kong brings us to Samy's Curry

Last Saturday, Kong Kong brought us to eat Fish Head Curry at Samy's. The papadum was nice and I only got to smell the curry. From the looks on Mummy, Daddy, Mama and Kong Kong's faces, they liked it mighty much! See the empty claypot below? Kong Kong was giving us a lesson on getting the fish brain out too! How interesting!


Soon.. Yum yum!



See you all soon!

SAHM?

SAHM? Well, that means Stay-at-home-Mum. I've been called that for almost a year now. Friends ask how I am coping. I am loving it actually! Almost every day! First, I don't have to wake up at six every morning :) Then, I don't have to slog everyday marking assessments non-stop. I don't have to face some very naughty kids. Well, I am enjoying my life I must say.

But those are not the actual reasons I am a SAHM. The idea of leaving Gabriel to grow up with someone else other than myself is quite unbearable. I love being woken up by him every morning (I am not refering to the 2am-6am kind of Gabriel-alarm). Watching him do his things everyday is a joy. I am the first to know all the new things that he does. He responds to me so much better now and we are communicating really well, with me talking and him babbling. And nobody understands him better than myself. Nice, isn't it?

Some parts of me do miss going to work. I am only afraid that when I am finally ready to do that, I am not able to handle what I was really good at before. I have friends who are envious of me, being able to stay home. They said that they cannot afford to do so as it's a burden financially. Well, we are not rich and Fred is not really earning tonnes. We are just surviving with what we have. We don't spend when we don't need to. It's not that we can really afford having me stay home. It is a choice we made. And with that there are many sacrifices we have made.

Whatever it is, I am enjoying myself now. Watching Gabriel grow in every way is something money can't buy. Gabriel is growing really fast and I am blessed to be able to witness that everyday!!