Walkies

Dearest Skyler,

Papa brought you for walkies downstairs and around the open space near our estate. In the afternoon, Papa brought you downstairs to play with your tricycle as you had given up your chance on Saturday. We went around the whole estate - most of it with Papa carrying you and pushing the tricycle as you only sat in it now and then. :D You looked so cute in it, Lil One!

After dinner, Papa brought you downstairs again for a walk - without your tricycle this time. Papa brought you out to the open space next to our estate for our walk as Papa wanted to show you his previous jogging route. Papa doesn’t go jogging anymore as he’d hurt his knee but Papa still likes to take walks around that area as it is so peaceful and open! We saw lots of people jogging around that area. It was all quite cool. :D After one round, Papa decided to bring you back upstairs.

You were so sweet after your bath, Lil One! For a while, you were running between Papa and Mama and throwing yourself at us for huggies! Mama and Papa couldn’t stop our hearts from melting or even wipe the smiles off our faces. You were so totally heart warming! :D

We love you, Lil One!

Mama and Papa

Kow-fu & Kow-moh Visit

Dearest Skyler,

We didn’t go for church service today as you were still quite unwell and we didn’t want to have the other kids infected with your germs. :P

Kow-fu and Kow-moh dropped by in the afternoon to return a TV set to us. This TV set was quite precious to us as it was a wedding gift from Mama’s close friends. We had lent it to Kow-fu when he needed a TV set in his bedroom. Now that he has his own apartment and thus, a TV set, he doesn’t need it anymore. We’ll put it in your room which we’re using as a guest room currently for Grandma to watch.

Later in the evening, we dropped by the Point to pick up groceries and an M1 Broadband Modem. :D Mama and Papa had been using a dial-up connection for the longest time as we do very ‘small-data’ surfing at home. However, M1 has come up with a (for us) cheaper package with a faster speed than the dial-up connection that we have. It also has the advantage of being mobile enough to bring it for use with Papa’s notebook computer or even Papa’s mobile phone. :D

We love you, Lil One!

Mama and Papa

Clothes Shopping

Dearest Skyler,

You rested the whole day today as you were not well and Mama and Papa wanted you to sleep. Godma Audrey came down in the morning to spend some time with you as it’d been some time since she’d seen you. She was also here to watch over you so that Mama could do some work. Godma left after lunch today. You had such a great time with her once again.

Lil One, it’s so touching that you’re so attached to us. Godma wanted to bring you down to play with your tricycle and you were so excited by the prospect but when you realised that Mama wasn’t going along, you totally started crying and refused to go. You gave up playing with your tricycle because you didn’t want to be apart from Mama. We love you lots, Lil One and we’re glad that you’re this attached to Mama and Papa. However, we’re in a dilemma. We wanted you to be this close to us and we never want you to be apart from us but sometimes you’ll need to be taken care of by someone, Lil One, because we’re too busy. This will be minimised but it will happen. Sigh… How do we balance this?

Later in the evening, we went down to Suntec City Fox Kids to shop for clothes for you as they were having another one of their superlative sales! By far, this is the best Fox Kids outlet we’ve visited (we’ve also been to the ones in Vivocity, Raffles City, United Square and Marina Square - by far the worst we’ve visited). Everything was laid out so neatly and the sales staff was so attentive and helpful. We ended up buying six tops and three bottoms for you! :D

We then very quickly bought dinner for Mama and Papa before heading home as it was quite late by then and we wanted to put you to bed at a decent hour as you were still recovering.

We love you, Lil One!

Mama and Papa

Balloon Uncle Once More!

Dearest Skyler,

Mama and you came to Papa’s school to visit in the afternoon. You spent a bit of time playing in Papa’s room while he completed some work. After that we went over to NUS to submit Mama’s assignment. Mama had spent so much time working on that assignment, Lil One! Poor Mama! It was such a relief that it is finally done!

We then dropped by Vivocity to celebrate the end of Mama’s assignments for this semester.

There, we stopped by Fox Kids to see if there was anything we could get for you. We had bought quite a few pieces of clothes for you previously but we can’t seem to find anything casual for you to wear in your clothes box. Mama let you try on a cap and you seemed totally piqued by it! What a joy it was for us! Mama has been wanting to get you a hat of some sort but you’ve always pushed off the pieces we’ve tried on you previously. But now, we’re totally determined to buy you that cap since you were okay with it. :D However, we didn’t buy anything then because we had to rush off to visit Balloon Uncle.

We are quite worried about your cold, Lil One. You seem to be suffering quite a bit. We managed to get to Balloon Uncle’s just as he was leaving to go home. Mama and Papa felt quite bad about that as he was thinking of leaving just a few minutes earlier but we stopped him. :P He gave you some medicine for your leaky nose and phlegmy cough. We hope you recover quickly, Lil One. We’re worried about all this medicine you’re taking.

We love you!

Mama and Papa

Skyler is Not Well Again!

Dearest Skyler,

Sigh… poor lil Baby Gal! You’re not well again. Papa seems to have passed the cold bug to you! You’re totally dribbly and uncomfortable. Papa’s so sorry! Papa has infected Mama as well so Papa has to work doubly hard to care for both of you!

You seem to find it totally amusing to put your lil fingers into Papa’s mouth, Lil One! At night, when Papa’s trying to put you to bed, you’ll stick your fingers into Papa’s mouth and giggle!

Mama and Papa love you, Lil One

Skyler is Recovering

Dearest Skyler,

Your rash has practically gone away, Lil One. The lymph nodes seem to have subsided as well though it has not completely gone away. Yay! You’re getting better!

You also seem to have a couple of teeth starting to show. That’s great, Lil One! That means that you’ll be able to eat even more food as you’ll be able to chew it all! You’ve already eaten so much of our food that sometimes you seem capable of finishing it and leaving us with very little! :D

Poor Mama has been working so long and hard on her assignment. It’s one tedious piece of work, Lil One. Mama’s feeling sad that she has not been bringing you out these past few days as she’s so busy trying to clear her work so that she can start studying. Mama promises to bring you out once her exam is over, okay? She already has all kinds of plans of where to go and whom to bring you to meet! :D The Zoo is in the plan somewhere! :D

Mama and Papa love you!

Kiddie Rides

Dearest Skyler,

Papa brought you to the Point in the evening, Lil One. You were so attracted to every kiddie ride that we came across that you demanded to allowed to sit in all of them so Papa let you. You sat in the submarine, school bus, car, etc. You were so thrilled! You spent quite a bit of time in each of them.

Apparently Mama was just like that when she was your age, Lil One. Popo would always talk about how Mama would always want to sit in these rides and Gong-Gong and she would take Mama to these rides. :D

We love you, Lil One!

Mama and Papa

The Library

Dearest Skyler,

Papa brought you to the library in the evening, Lil One, after another long day of resting at home. We didn’t go for church service today as you are still suffering from the infection and we were afraid that the rash on your leg and arm may unnerve the other parents in the Sunday School.

At the library, we encountered all kinds of children. There were two sisters who were quite rude in their behaviour towards you and they made Papa quite unhappy. The elder sister actually pushed you aside because you were standing near the table that they wanted to occupy. After that, every time you walked near their table, the sisters would warn each other that you were nearby and they would sweep up all the library books that they had taken off the shelves in fear that you would take them away. They didn’t know that you wouldn’t take their books but still that sort of behaviour was so uncalled for.

Their behaviour was so in contrast to this Kor-kor’s. He was so willing to share the books he had with you and he almost began to read to you when you walked off on your rounds around the library. He was so smiley and polite! It was amazing how contrastive their behaviours were!

You must grow up to be more like that kor-kor, okay? You must be nice to people and be willing to share what you can with them. That’s the way to show God’s love for the people around you.

We love you, Lil One!

Mama and Papa

Grand Shanghai Restaurant

Dearest Skyler,

We went for Uncle Gary Chng’s and Aunty Lili’s wedding dinner this evening.

We had spent the whole day resting at home as we were all so tired. You especially were exhausted from having gone to bed so late the night before. Later in the evening, we took a drive down to King’s Centre where the Grand Shanghai Restaurant is situated.

Uncle Gary is an old friend of Mama’s and Papa’s. We got to know him when we all attended Youth Fellowship together in church. :D We also met other former Youth Fellowship members there and also Uncle Daniel Tong and Aunty Weiling. Uncle Daniel Tong was the priest who married Mama and Papa in our wedding ceremony. He’s also another very old friend of ours - you probably don’t remember him but he came to visit you in the hospital when you were born. We also met up with Aunty Joan (another Youth Fellowship member), Uncle Sunny (her husband) and Che-che Nicole.

The restaurant was quite quaint as they’d done it up to look like how I would imagine a small little restaurant in the actual Shanghai in China would be decorated. They even had a live band that played and a singer who sang Mandarin songs the whole evening.

You also had a share of food that the rest of us ate. You surely ate a lot of food as well, Lil One. You also were quite restless after a while so Mama and Papa took turns to bring you for walks around the restaurant.

At one stage, you actually took the hand of a waitress and walked off with her. Thankfully, you came back soon after. It’s this kind of action that scares us, Lil One. You cannot just walk off with anybody. What if one day you walk off with someone who does not have good intentions and Mama and Papa were distracted and didn’t see you? We don’t want to lose you, Lil One.

Again, we came back home quite late after the dinner and you went to bed late as well. So sorry, Lil One.

Mama and Papa love you!

My Humble House

Dearest Skyler,

Aunty Rachel and Kor-kor Isaac came to play with you today. Did you enjoy yourself with them? You spent quite a bit of time sleeping as well while they were around so Kor-kor Isaac had to entertain himself during that time. :D

Later in the evening, Mama spotted a lump on your pelvis and we decided to bring you to see Balloon Uncle to check. Balloon Uncle confirmed that it was a swollen lymph node and he prescribed antibiotics for you as he suspected that it was due to a bacterial infection. Mama was so worried for you, Lil One!

However, as you were still okay, Papa continued to bring you to The Esplanade, Theatres on the Bay to attend the 60th birthday dinner of Papa’s Chek Chek. The dinner was held at My Humble House - a restaurant within the Esplanade. We were quite late as Grandma had told us to be there by 6.45 pm. We only got there at 8.00 pm. But guess what! They had only started the dinner when we got there! We still made it in time - sort of! :D

It had been a very long time since Papa had seen his Chek Chek … I think the last time I saw him was back in 1983 when Grandma and Papa visited them in England. We also met up with a lot of Grand Papa’s side of the family there. These are people that we hardly meet - even during the Lunar New Year, Lil One. So, it was quite special for Papa.

What was special for you, on the other hand, was all the food that you shared with Papa. Papa just fed you everything that came and you happily ate them all! You ate quite a bit of fish, chicken, mushroom, etc. Even Papa’s cousin’s wife commented that you were adventurous with food! :D

After we had sent Grandma home, it was very late when you got home, Lil One! So sorry for tiring you out!

We love you, Lil One!

Mama and Papa

Precious Child of Ours

Dearest Skyler,

Mama and Papa are simply so amazed that we have you and that you are so special!

You’ve brought such amazing joy to us. There are so many things you do that completely melt our hearts and bring smiles to our faces. Mama and Papa will sit down at the end of our long and tiring day just recounting all the cute and amusing things you did throughout the day e.g. I mentioned that you started raising your arm and twirling yourself in a circle whenever the how to play Blue’s Clues song comes on. Mama was recounting how you were on the sofa with her when you heard the song and you immediately went into the posture but you couldn’t turn as you were seated on the sofa! Mama quickly helped you to the floor upon which you started twirling in your little circle! :D The smile of delight on your face totally lights up the room when you do that! :D

You are naughty at times (and when you go all jelly-like we get somewhat irritated) but more often than not we simply love you to bits and totally enjoy having you in our lives! You are so oblivious to danger. While it’s not your fault, it’s something that worries us still, Lil One. :P You keep on climbing up some furniture and reaching for stuff and we are so afraid that you’ll fall down and hurt yourself. And when we don’t give you things immediately when you demand it, you’ll scream and cry. It’s so heart-wrenching and frustrating but we so love you so while we want to give you what you want, there are certain times that we cannot let you have it, Lil One. It’s really for your own good.

You also are able to sleep throughout the night. We are so happy with this as it allows us to get some rest ourselves and not have to worry about taking care of you when we need to sleep. This ability of yours has comforted us so much. There are so many people in the world with babies who are told to leave their new-born to cry themselves to sleep otherwise they’d never learn to comfort themselves enough to sleep. This fear that their babies will not learn how to sleep through the night frightens them so much that they actually try the suggested method. We never wanted to leave you so miserable thus we spent almost the whole of your first year soothing you when you woke up and needed to be carried back to sleep. This resulted in our being deprived of sleep but it was something that we decided to do and we stuck with it. For some time now, you can sleep through the night without waking up and needing us to help you go back to sleep. It’s such a relief to us and at the same time, you have shown that parents don’t have to leave their babies miserable when they need comforting and they’ll still learn to sleep well.

We love you, Lil One!

Papa and Mama

TV Programmes

Dearest Skyler,

You spent the whole day with Popo today. She spent the day with you with such great joy as she could do so many things with you! The only thing was that you could not watch Blue’s Clues as she could not the DVD player to work. :P That’s a good thing, Lil One as you’re simply watching too much TV albeit only Blue’s Clues.

Mama and Papa are quite glad that you are enjoying Blue’s Clues so much. It’s really a good programme for kids like you. The characters are cute and the lessons they teach are relevant and the mode of delivery fairly well thought out. You also enjoy the songs so much. It’s amazing to us that you’re picking up the lyrics and acting out the actions that go with the songs! :D

People always tell us that it’s ok for you to watch TV in general but we are not going to allow you to watch programmes that we think are unsuitable for someone your age, Lil One. Some children’s programmes broadcasted on children’s TV channels are totally inappropriate for young ones and we’re going to censor them for as long as we can. We hope that you’ll understand when you’re older, Skyler. There’s enough vulgarity, trauma, violence and other undesirable issues in the real world without having a constant diet of such fare from the TV as well.

We love you, Lil One!

Mama and Papa

Day with Kow-moh

Dearest Skyler,

You spent the whole day with Kow-moh today. She had come to keep you company while Mama was busy with her work. Kow-moh was so hard working! Besides playing with you, she also helped Mama and Papa with the housework - she cleaned the kitchen and folded our laundry! She’s the best Kow-moh around!

Mama received some information from a baby website that seems to indicate that you are fairly advanced in some areas of development, Lil One! Well done! :D You are doing some things that most kids will do only in a few months time. But you are also not putting on weight at the same pace as most kids your age and you are definitely not keeping pace as far as teeth growth is concerned. :D

We love you, Lil One!

Mama and Papa

Day with Grandma

Dearest Skyler,

Papa and Mama left you with Grandma the whole day today, Lil One. Mama left with Papa early in the morning to go to school as she had to attend to something so when you woke up, Grandma was the only one around to care for you.

Grandma played with you the whole day and also brought downstairs for a walk. You also took two naps throughout the day. :D

When Mama and Papa came home in the evening, you seemed to have missed us so much! Both of us felt so bad about having left you for so long - almost twelve hours since we left in the morning. We missed you so much!

We then spent the whole evening together even though both Mama and Papa were so tired. You refused to take a nap - we would like to think that you were making up for lost time. :D Thus, we spent the whole evening with you. Even when it was your bedtime, you refused to sleep and cried up a storm! In the end, we just let you hang out with us in the living room until almost midnight when you were so tired that you went to sleep.

Oh! You did something new today, Lil One! You added another dance move to your repertoire! You would raise your hand and move around in a circle whenever the Blue’s Clues song was played! You looked SO cute! Papa and Mama just couldn’t stop smiling when you did that!

We love you, Lil One!

Mama and Papa

Children’s Church w Kor-Kor Isaac

Dearest Skyler,

Aunty Rachel and Kor-Kor Isaac joined you for Children’s Church today, Lil One. Mama said that it could have been better run though. We must pray for the kor-kors and che-ches who run it, that they learn how to exercise church authority over the more boisterous children who attend it or parents may not want their children to attend it anymore.

Kow-fu and Kow-mo also dropped by to spend a bit of time with you as they miss you. They had to leave early to have lunch with Kow-mo’s parents.

We all trooped off to have a sandwich for lunch after church. You were so cute as you spent quite a bit of time with Kor-Kor Isaac and we have asked him to watch over you as well as a good kor-kor should. :D

We then went over to Square 2 at Novena Square as we had signed you up for a session at the newly opened Jumping Beans outlet - a sort of children’s gym along the lines of Gymboree. It was quite sparsely furnished compared to Gymboree. And it wasn’t as safe either as Gymboree was really padded all over. :D But you played a bit before we left.

You’re still wandering around and are very very bold! You just walked up to the che-che who was helping to conduct the session and just sat on her lap! While we’re glad that you’re so okay with strangers, it is scary as well! :D How do we teach you to be more discerning? Hmmm…

We love you!

Mama and Papa

To Borders!

Dearest Skyler,

Papa brought you down to Border today, Lil One.

Papa had been ill the whole day and needed to sleep so Papa could not bring you out sooner. We spent most of the day sleeping as you took fairly long naps as well. Thus, in the evening, Papa felt well enough to bring you down town as that Mama would have a few hours of peace to do her work.

We met Grandma in town and had dinner at Cedele so that you could have some of their healthy soup. You were quite restless as usual but you allowed Papa to have a bit of food while you had yours as well.

After dinner, we went down to Borders to look for books. We managed to find a book for Papa and a book for Mama that we could give her for her belated birthday present. :D

You like to wander off, Lil One, and this scares Mama and Papa a bit. If we’re not careful, you’ll just walk off nary a backward glance and we are so afraid that we could lose you in the crowd! Sigh… How do we educate you to stop doing that?

Mama and Papa love you!

Popo’s Visit

Dearest Skyler,

Popo came to visit today. Popo really loves you so much! Papa and Mama are too busy to bring you to visit Popo during this period of our lives so she comes all the way to visit you instead.

You were quite okay with Popo today. Mama could actually go out to do a bit of work while Popo watched you at home. After a while , Popo brought you downstairs to play with your tricycle.

Papa and Mama came back with dinner and you were totally playing with Popo. You even gave Popo a hug when she was going home! You really made her day, Lil One!

We love you!

Mama and Papa

Skyler’s Bravery

Dearest Skyler,

You were so brave today, Lil One! Mama and Papa brought you for your Mumps, Measles and Rubella vaccination today. When Balloon Uncle stuck the needle into your leg, you were totally just watching him coolly; you had no reaction at all! You were so nonchalant about it! Well done, Lil One! You’re really fearless when it comes to needles! From all the injections due to vaccinations that you’ve had over the past year or so, you’ve cried maybe twice? You’re amazing! Papa just can’t stand watching the needle go into him. :D

You also said “Roll Over” today. One of your earliest books was one entitled “Five in the Bed” and the common refrain in the story was “Roll over! Roll over!” When Mama was reading it to you, you would chime in at the correct spots with “Roll over! Roll over!” It was so cute! Papa heard you do it over the telephone while he was driving back home! Your repertoire of words is really increasing, Lil One!

Papa had to go for a medical checkup today and Mama brought you to the clinic to keep me company. While you were there, there were a couple of che-ches there as well. It was so cute when the younger of the che-ches and you greeted each other and both of you held hands and walked around the clinic. You’re learning how to play with other people, Lil One. That’s great!

You’ve also taken a liking to kiddie rides. I’ve told you this before but it bears repeating. :D We brought you to the Point after your vaccination as Mama and Papa wanted to get some dinner. There was a kiddie ride near our dinner place and you simply wanted to play in it. There was a moment where so many other children wanted to play in it as well but you refused to come out! :P We had to pull you out screaming! But you must learn that everyone must take turns and we cannot be selfish and hoard public property, okay?

Mama and Papa love you!

Talkative Skyler

Dearest Skyler,

You were so talkative today. You just kept on babbling practically non-stop! You were so cute! Wow! You really want to communicate with us, don’t you? :D You’ve also learnt a new trick which is rolling your tongue while ‘talking’! It’s so cute!

I forgot to mention that you’ve also taken to twirling around on the spot i.e. while you are standing, you will just walk around and around on the spot. You’ve developed some fine balancing skill, Lil One! :D

Aunties Candy and Janet came to visit today. You so enjoyed their company that you kept on wanting them to carry you. You’re SO adorable! Aunty Candy prepared soup and spaghetti for our dinner! Yum Yum!

We love you, Skyler!

Mama and Papa

Words! Words! Words!

Dearest Skyler,

Mama says that you can say ‘rain’, ‘hug’ and ‘notebook’ (the last word Mama thinks you picked up from watching Blue’s Clues :D) Wow! You’re surely picking up lots of words and practicing them already. Soon, you’ll be able to say something that Mama and Papa will be able to completely understand!

Mama wanted Papa to note this down - in honour of you, we’ve re-Christened our car as the ‘Duckie Mobile’! :D I can’t remember if we ever wrote this before but our pet name for you is ‘Little Duckie’ because your first few pieces of clothing had a cute little duck stitched on it. :D So, now, we’re all Duckies - ‘Papa Duckie’, ‘Mama Duckie’ and ‘Baby Duckie’! :D

You’ve also been a naughty little girl, Skyler. You keep on testing the boundaries of acceptable behaviour and actions and getting upset when we prevent you from going beyond them. You must remember that we are doing this for your own safety and for common courtesy’s sake - you cannot keep on climbing onto furniture as it is very dangerous and you cannot keep throwing things all over the place as it is not nice. We will continue to teach you until you learn, Little One, as it is for your own good. :P

As for your activities today, Mama actually got you ready to go out quite early today but both of you got stuck at home due to the heavy downpour that began just as you were about to leave. Oh well… In the end, Mama took you down to Papa’s work place where we drove over to Vivocity in our ‘Duckie Mobile’ for an outing. We had not gone out for quite some time as a family and we wanted to do so before Mama buckled down to do her next assignment.

We bought you a book shelf from there. It was the one that Kor-kor Isaac has. It’s quite cool as it has coloured shelves - just nice for colouring up your things. :D

We love you, Little One.

Mama and Papa

Furniture Climber

Dearest Skyler,

You’ve learnt how to climb onto furniture, Lil One! Soon you’ll be prancing all over our furniture worrying Mama and Papa to no end! :D

You had already been trying to climb onto Mama’s and Papa’s bed the past few days but never really succeeded. Today, you actually climbed on the Arjang seat that we have in the living room. Sigh… nothing’s safe from you anymore! :P Mama caught you reaching for the stereo set and flinging our CDs onto the floor as you are wont to do. Later in the day, Mama brought you to Papa’s office and you managed to climb onto the sofa set in the lobby area as well!

Thankfully, you have also learnt from Mama to get off the furniture safely by shuffling backwards or else you may end up taking another tumble. :P

Mama brought you to the Point in the afternoon as well and you were so stuck on the bus kiddy ride. Mama couldn’t get you away from it. Even after she did bring you away, you walked off from the other end of the building and made your way back to that ride. You really love anything with steering wheels, Darling. :D Any time we place you in a ride with a steering wheel, there’s no getting you away from it. :D You did the same thing with the Bob the Builder ride in Suntec City on Saturday.

Another thing that is uncanny is your sense of direction. Grandma commented on it before and we still see evidence of this. Mama said that she had brought you quite far away from the Bus ride but you still found your way back there! Just don’t get lost, ok? Don’t lose us!

We love you!

Mama and Papa

Time with Kow-fu & Kow-moh

Dearest Skyler,

Papa brought you for church today. Today is Easter Sunday or as our parent church has renamed it “Resurrection Sunday”. Almost one year ago, we had you baptized on Easter Sunday! So, it’s been a year since your baptism - that was when you got your Godpa and Godmas. :D

As today was Family Sunday, there was no Sunday School. Thus, you spent the whole service with Papa in the main room. The church was quite packed today - as usual. :D You spent quite a bit of time just wandering around and looking at people and playing with whatever you picked up - you kept on dropping other peoples’ church bulletins and such onto the floor! You naughty girl! Papa kept on giving you ours to play with but you insisted on dropping other peoples’. :P

After the service, we drove over to Raffles City as Kow-fu and Kow-moh wanted to spend some time with you and Papa needed to mark his students’ work. Papa had thought of allowing you all to play there while he looked for a place to work. However, we changed to Ngee Ann City as it was opposite Paragon where they have one whole floor dedicated to children. Mama and Papa thought that that would be a good place for Kow-fu and Kow-moh to bring you to play.

Before they arrived, Papa fed you at the McDonald’s. Papa found out that the cost of the milkshake here was 50¢ more than at our place! Oh well… the rental must be real high there. You finished all the food that Papa had brought, Little One! You’ve also taken to feeding both yourself and Papa! :D Every little piece of bread that Papa tore off and tried to feed you, you would take it yourself and either feed yourself or Papa! Sometimes, you would trick Papa by offering it to Papa only to take it back to feed yourself! :D You’re so naughty.

Kow-fu and Kow-moh came soon after. They brought you upstairs to the toy section to play before bringing you over to Paragon to play some more. You hung out at the Toys ‘R’ Us for a very long time! :D It was only later that they brought you back. :D You totally enjoyed yourself with them!

It was only then that we went to buy dinner for Mama and came home after spending the whole day out! :D

It has been a very long long weekend, Little One. Every day was extremely fun for Papa and I hope it was for you too! I love you, Little One! Thanks for loving me back!

Mama and Papa

Day with Grandma

Dearest Skyler,

We had a very busy day today. We went to the zoo and then shopping at Suntec City with Grandma.

Early in the morning, Papa, Grandma and you trooped off to the zoo. Wow! We are really using the zoo membership as much as we can! :D Papa decided to take a different route today so that we would not repeat the same things as we did on Thursday.

It’s such an interesting thing to Papa that no matter how many times we’ve been to the zoo these few weeks, we still get to see animals and other exhibits that we had not seen before. We got to go onto the Tiger Trek and we saw the Marmoset exhibit. We managed to catch the tail end of one of the animal shows - the Sealion show! It was quite cool as the sealion caught Frisbees, did some flips, balanced a ball on its nose and splashed lots of water onto the audience sitting in the first few rows of seats. :D

We had to repeat a few of the exhibits as well as Grandma had not been to the zoo for quite some time. But it was fine as the animals are always interesting to watch.

Yet another thing that was repeated was your falling asleep near the giraffe enclosure. This time, you fell asleep at the Polar Bear enclosure. You actually did very well already as you managed to keep awake way beyond their usual nap time. Anyway, Papa had to carry your sleeping form all the way back to the exit once again. :D

After we left the zoo, we came back home for lunch. After we got back home, Papa realized that one of our car’s rear tyres had become flat due to a nail that had punctured it. Papa rushed the car to the workshop to have it fixed. In the end, we had to change all the tyres as they were all worn out. :D

We tried to have you nap as you were really tired but you simply refused. Everytime we put you in bed, you would cry and wake up. In the end, Papa gave up and kept you awake. Papa quickly bathed you before we set off for Suntec City.

On the way to Suntec City, you finally fell asleep in your car seat.

At Suntec City, we wandered around a bit as we had no real aim. However, Papa noticed that you were quite comfortable with Grandma when we were passing a barber shop and Papa immediately grabbed the opportunity to have his haircut. Thank God you are finally comfortable with Grandma. :D

After dinner, we sent Grandma home before coming back home ourselves to be with Mama! :D

We love you, Little One.

Mama and Papa

Milk Galore!

Dearest Skyler,

We went out to buy lots of formula for you today. The supermarket at the Point had a package deal on your brand of formula that was very reasonable and we decided to stock up on it as you drink so much of the formula now. We ended up with eight medium sized tins and four small ones! :D

After that, Papa brought you to visit Grandma. We had lunch at the Kentucky Fried Chicken near Grandma’s place before adjourning to her place. While Grandma was packing for her overnight stay with us, you wandered around the apartment and basically took whatever you could and dropped it onto the floor - nothing was spared! Coins, letters, newspapers… everything ended up on the floor! Papa spent so much time picking up after you! :D After Papa had picked everything up, you went around dropping everything back onto the floor again! :P

Your fascination and love affair with buttons continued with Grandma’s computer. Papa was doing some stuff on her computer and as Papa was trying to show Grandma something, you were there happily pushing the on-off switch thus shutting off the computer! :P You did this twice! :D

After we left Grandma’s, we went over to Giant Megamart to look for a bookshelf for you - to no avail! They had no stock.

The place was so crowded as today was a public holiday - it was Good Friday, the day Christians remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us. It was quite terrible as people were just pushing their trolleys and walking without looking out for anyone else. There were a few close shaves where someone almost ran you down probably because they didn’t see you. Papa was so worried for you!

You were also so sleepy today. You had such a long morning nap after which you still fell asleep on the way to Grandma’s and then you also fell asleep on our way back home.

We love you, Little One!

Mama and Papa

To The Zoo Once More

Dearest Skyler,

Papa brought you to the zoo once more today.

The zoo wasn’t as crowded today as it was not a weekend or holiday. The reason why Papa was able to bring you there was because Papa’s school had a sporting event in the morning and we were allowed to go off immediately after it ended.

We took the other route as we didn’t complete it the last time we were there. This allowed us to see some of the animals that we missed previously. It was quite fun going to the zoo with you again as you are so able to look at them now with some sort of recognition and cognition. :D

We managed to get into the Australian Outback section where we saw common Australian animals like emus and kangaroos among others. We missed this the last time as we got there only after it had been closed.

We also made it to the Children’s World in time to catch the Animal Friends Show. The show was only about two dogs today - I think you weren’t all that impressed with what they did. After that, we walked around the ‘petting’ zoo section (I think it’s called Seletar Farm) where we could see some of the more common ‘farm’ animals close up - donkeys; bunnies and guinea pigs; goats, horses; ponies and cows.

We also went through the Fragile Forest again as the last time we were there, you slept through it. We came up close to ring-tailed lemurs. They were so comfortable with human presence that they just sat there within arms reach and ‘posed’ for photos with people who wanted to have photos taken with them. It was amazing because they were not placed there deliberately; they were just sitting there staring at the people coming by. :D

You fell asleep after we left the Fragile Forest, Little One. What’s with you and the Fragile Forest that you fell asleep near that place once again? :D Anyway, Papa then had to carry you out of the zoo with you totally knocked out in deep sleep. :D

We love you, Little Darling.

Mama and Papa

Papa Comes Home Early

Dearest Darling Girl,

Mama’s still exhausted from yesterday, Little One. Mama couldn’t get any sleep as her arm and shoulder still ached badly from carrying you for so long yesterday. Thus, Papa had to leave work early and return home to take care of you so that Mama could get some rest at least.

You’re so cute, Little Darling. You’ve been imitating a lot of what Mama and Papa do with you and it’s always entertaining for us to watch you do it. You’ve taken to feeding all your soft toys with your plastic spoon and make-shift cup and some times, you’ll even ‘feed’ us as well! :D

Papa had to go for his lesson in the evening. Popo came to visit you while Papa was out. Popo misses you so much. When Popo thought that she was coming down with the sniffles, she was so devastated when we told her that it might be better if she didn’t come. She was so sad as she misses you so much! Thus, when she was feeling slightly better, she came all the way here even though it was already somewhat late in the day. Popo really really loves you so much, Skyler.

Mama and Papa love you!

Exhausted Parents

Dearest Darling Skyler,

You’ve totally exhausted your parents, Little One.

Aunty Rachel came to visit with Kor-Kor Isaac today. They were supposed to help watch over you so that Mama could have some chance to do some work but you were totally clingy and cranky because you refused to take a nap. Mama carried you so much that her arm totally hurt but you were still so cranky. Sigh… Mama’s totally hurting now.

Aunty Rachel so totally tried to help us out by folding our laundry and washing our dishes. We’re so thankful for all the help. Thank you, Aunty Rachel!

We love you, Little One.

Mama and Papa

Che-Che Wenmin Visits

Dearest Little Skyler,

Che-Che Wenmin came to visit today. Mama needed to do her work so Che-Che Wenmin very kindly came to care for you. We really thank God for such good friends who are willing to spend their time helping us out.

Che-Che Wenmin brought you downstairs to play with your tricycle and you met with a few che-ches and kor-kors. It was quite amusing when they asked Che-Che Wenmin why it was that you looked like a girl! They thought that you were a boy who looked like a girl! This was despite the fact that you were totally in pink - including your shoes!

Later on, we brought you for your usual Monday MRT and car ride as Mama had lesson tonight.

After Mama’s lesson, we went down to the Point and in Cold Storage, you did your usual carrying and moving thingy. You picked up whatever took your fancy and you would then carry it around the store before leaving it on the floor for Papa to pick up. :D It’s supposed to be a common thing for a toddler your age to do but it’s still so amusing to Papa and Mama. :D I really wonder what actually captures your attention and why you pick certain things up and not others. :D

Mama and Papa love you!

Dust-Busting Skyler

Dearest Little Skyler,

Today was the first day that Acts Centre, our church, started its service at 10.30 am. This meant that we could sleep in a bit longer and still make it on time. :D The timing works out, I guess, as you usually wake up at the time that we need to wake up to prepare to leave for service. And Papa and Mama can sleep in a wee bit longer so that we’re not so exhausted when we do get up. :D We even had time to drop by the food court to pick up some food and top up our car with petrol along the way! :D And we still got there 10 minutes early! :D

Che-che Wenmin and her boyfriend, Kor-kor Daniel dropped by to visit the service as well. We had lunch with them before we came home.

Later in the evening, Papa had to clean the floor a bit and as you wanted to be carried by Papa, Papa had to carry you in one hand and manipulate the dry mop / wiper with the other. Papa then had to stop for a short while to do something and before we knew it, you had taken over the dry mop and started pushing it around! You looked so cute! The handle had been extended by Papa to suit his height so you looked amazing pushing the super long mop around! :D Hahahaaha! Mama and Papa simply couldn’t stop laughing at how cute you looked! Anyway, don’t be so eager to start doing housework, ok? Papa’ll hand over the duties to you soon enough. Hopefully, you’ll still want to do it then. :D

We love you!

Mama and Papa