Another Trip to the Pool

Dearest Skyler,

You woke up earlier today – at about 8 am or so. Have you started to change your schedule again? :D

Later in the morning, Mama and you went down to Aunty Christine’s place to return her some things that she had lent us. Both of you spent a bit of time there. :D

You both then spent the afternoon at home.

You accidentally spilt some milk this afternoon as you were trying to be the good girl that you are. You had not finished your milk and Mama had put it on the table in case you wanted it later. Mama then went into the kitchen to do some things. Next thing Mama knew, you had said ‘Uh-oh!’ Mama initially thought that you had dropped something so she just asked you to pick it up but you repeated ‘Uh-oh!’ and just stood there. Mama came out to see what had happened and she realized that you had spilt some milk onto the floor. Mama thinks that you probably spilt the milk when you tried to help to bring the cup and your towel into the kitchen. You’re such a sweet helpful girl, Lil’ One. But then, Mama had to wipe up all the spilt milk. :p Oh well… :)

You also uttered a new word! You said ‘Minnie’ today! Minnie is another character from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse programme that we allow you to watch. Two characters down, a few more to go! :D

Papa had a meeting to attend in the afternoon but we kept on hoping that it wouldn’t end too late so that we could do some things together. However, as it didn’t end early, we had to keep changing our plans. Finally, we decided that as the weather was quite good today, we would bring you swimming as you wanted to. However, as Papa had no idea when the meeting would end, it became quite impossible for us to know what to do about meeting up.

Finally, Papa asked Mama and you to come pick Papa up so that we could all head to the pool immediately. This initiated the rush that Mama had to go through to pack all the swimming stuff and a change of clothing for Papa.

The funny thing was that once again, you helped to pack and ended up with more work for Mama. :p Mama had been feeding you some bread for dinner as we would probably end up having our actual dinner quite late. So, you were chewing on the bread while helping Mama to collect stuff to pack. As you were bending down to pick something up, all the bread in your mouth came falling out! :D Thus, Mama had to clear up all the ‘mess’ once again! :D Poor Mama! But we so appreciate how much you want to help us around the house, Lil’ One! You’re such a great child! :D

Finally, Papa’s meeting ended and you both came to pick Papa up and we all headed to the pool. By the time we got there, it was quite late but we took a dip in the pool anyway.

A nice lady that Mama and you met in the Changing Room cautioned Mama that the water was quite cold. We think that she was concerned that you would not be able to take the cold. Mama thanked her for the warning but we felt that you could probably take it. When we got into the pool, we realized that the water was actually not as cold as the night before. So, it was more comfortable for us all. :D

After our dip in the pool, Papa and you dropped Mama off at the Point as Mama had to buy some stuff. Papa and you headed back home first. Mama came back later on her own.

You’re such a bundle of joy, Lil’ One. Papa and Mama never understood why people said that children bring much joy until you came along, Lil’ One. Thank God for you!

Papa and Mama love you!

Swimming (in the Rain?)

Dearest Skyler,

Popo came down to our place to play with you this afternoon. You were all prepared to bed down for a nap but when she came, you were totally awake and wanted to play with her! :D

You spent the whole afternoon playing with Popo until you got tired enough to catch a nap. :D Popo brought you for a walk to the shops to buy some stuff after you woke up! As part of that trip, Popo let you sit on one of the kiddy rides as you wanted to. She was so surprised that when she put in the coin to activate the ride, you got so scared. :D

We decided to take you swimming as it had been quite some time since we went. However, as we were walking to the Duckie Mobile, it started drizzling where we were. Popo decided that she should head home since it was starting to rain and we couldn’t swim in the rain.

After she left, we decided to take a chance and drive down to the swimming pool to see if it was raining there. To our surprise and joy, it wasn’t raining! :D Thus, we went in and got changed. However, once again, we felt some drops of rain before we entered the pool! We waited a bit to see if the rain would get heavier and when the sky cleared instead, we thanked God that we could finally get into the pool! :D

Even though the pool water was quite cold, you were able to take it and we spent a bit of time wading in the pool. :D You still enjoy this so that’s just great!

We then headed home after a while as it was getting late and we were worried that you would be too cold.

Papa and Mama had dinner at home – Aunty Christine had brought over some ‘yong tau foo’ for us to try as Uncle James had cooked dinner. It was great! :D

Later that night, as we didn’t have any breakfast for tomorrow for you, Papa brought you out for a walk to the nearby shops to buy some bread for you. It was amazing! It was so late and yet the stores were still open! Thus, we got exactly what we wanted. Papa had been afraid that that shop would have been closed by then. :D

By the time we put you to bed, you were so exhausted. Poor Darling!

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Jazz in the Park

Dearest Skyler,

We had the whole day out today!

We woke up a bit late but we rushed and made it for church more or less on time. :D Mama brought you out for Sunday School and you all had such a fun time! You so totally carried out all the action song movements! Mama was so amused and proud! You also had lots of biscuits too!

We then had lunch with Grandma at Sushi Tei.

After lunch, we gave a lift to Grandma to her friend’s for a visit before heading to the Botanic Gardens.

We brought you to the Botanic Gardens as there was going to be a concert in the park and we wanted to expose you to such activities. We got there early and as you were napping, Papa went off first to queue for what the organizers had touted as National Day Goody Bags. There was already a fairly long queue by the time Papa joined it. You woke up just in time for Mama to bring you to the queue so we could all collect a bag each. After receiving them, we realized that it wasn’t what we had been led to expect. It was filled with snacks and drinks but it didn’t have the other stuff that would be in the National Day Goody Bag. Oh well…

We then sought out a good spot in front of the stage for us to watch the performances. We had brought along our picnic mat for the purpose.

As there was still lots of time before the programme was to begin, Mama brought you over to a balloon sculptor (dressed as a clown) to get a balloon sculpture for you. You were so frightened by the balloon sculptor clown! So poor thing! You were trembling all over! Poor Lil’ Gal! But he was very very good! Mama was so completely impressed with his speed in sculpting the balloons and the stuff he created were quite uncommon. Very impressive! You got a bear! :D

After that, Papa brought you to do some colouring as they were having some colouring contest as part of the activities. You played with the crayons and did some colouring for some time.

We then sat down and waited for the performances.

The first was a simple Salsa dance lesson followed by a dance performance. An acapella group came on next. This was then followed by a singer from the U.S. and then a Jazz Orchestra performed.

You had been so patient throughout the proceedings. You were quite enjoying yourself, Lil’ One. At one part, you were even dancing along with the music and someone came and video recorded you. :D

It was quite some time before we left as by that time, you were quite tired and restless. We headed off and at the exit we came across a nice big dog. You were so fascinated by it. You wanted to touch it but were quite frightened still. :p Mama and the dog’s owner kept on encouraging you to touch it. :D The dog was so friendly that it tried to lick you which made you so scared! :p Poor Lil’ Gal.

After that, we headed off to Popo’s place for dinner. Popo was so happy to get to play with you as she missed you so much! We spent the whole evening there before heading home.

What a tiring day, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama love you!

Food!

Dearest Skyler,

Papa had to head in to work this morning. So sorry, Lil’ One. Saturdays are supposed to be time for us to spend together but Papa had to go in to work. It’s just for a few Saturdays, okay?

After work, Papa came home and brought all of us out to Foodedge to pick up some yummy food stuff! We bought some more brownies and ice cream (Mama’s favourite flavour from their selection). We also got some free samples while waiting for our orders to be ready.

The people there are so nice, Lil’ One. They are almost always polite and considerate. It’s such a joy to buy stuff from them.

After going back to put our purchases into the fridge, we headed off to the Point to buy more foodstuff. You fell asleep in the car on the way there so Mama had to run out to buy the stuff first while Papa waited for you to wake up. When you awoke, Mama still had not come back yet so Papa and you went up to look for Mama in Cold Storage.

Mama had bought so much food by the time we found her. :D We quickly made a stop to buy lunch for Papa and Mama before we headed home once more.

After we had put all the food away and Mama and Papa had had lunch, we all were so tired and sleepy that we all took a nap even though it was quite late in the afternoon.

By the time we woke up from our nap, it was already past 6.30 pm! Papa quickly dressed you and Papa and you drove off to pick Grandma up from her home as she was having dinner with us tonight and she would be staying over too. Mama had to stay home to prepare dinner – yummy! We all so love Mama’s cooking! :D

You had a grand time jumping up and down on Grandma’s bed while we were there. Papa was trying to complete a chore there so Grandma had to watch you and you just went around exploring. It was a good thing Grandma kept an eagle eye on you or there would have been pain-pain! :D

After Papa was done, Papa brought everyone home and we had the dinner Mama cooked. It was delicious as usual. :D

You then played with Grandma until it was bed time and we all went to bed.

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Words Galore!

Dearest Skyler,

You can say so many things now! Your repertoire of words has increased tremendously, Lil’ One. You can say words like “soap”, “paste” and “big bird” now. You’re learning so quickly! However, sometimes you still are shy about saying some of the words and you will revert to signing. But that’s okay, Lil’ One. We know that you will use the words when you are ready since you already know them. :D

There was quite a big thunderstorm this morning and you got frightened by the very loud thunder, Lil’ One. So poor thing!

You’ve also started to put our things away as well. This morning, you slipped your tiny little feet into Mama’s bedroom slippers and walked them all the way to the bedroom and left them where Mama usually leaves them at night before going to bed! :D You did it more than once! We’re so impressed! You even arranged the slippers neatly before you walked off! :D

Later in the afternoon, Mama and you came to pick Papa up from work.

As it was still quite early, we went over to the Forum Galleria to walk around. We wanted to buy you a new pair of shoes as your current pair seems to be getting quite snug. We walked around the shops but couldn’t find any shoe shop. :p But we did come across quite a number of kiddy rides that you wanted to sit in. :D We ended our trip there with a short visit to the Toys ‘R’ Us before we left.

We then headed off to United Square as we still wanted to buy you a new pair of shoes. We had our dinner at Swensen’s before walking around the kids’ shops and we dropped in to a few that interested us. And of course we had to let you sit in all the kiddy rides that we came across. :D We couldn’t find any shoes that were suitable so we decided to try again another time.



We headed home as it was quite late already.

We love you, Lil’ One.

Papa and Mama

Skyler Eats A Lot!

Dearest Skyler,

You ate a lot of food today, Lil’ One. You’ve been eating quite a bit throughout the day now. Your usual food was no longer enough thus you started on Mama’s lunch as well. :D You’re growing so quickly, Darling.

We’ve started you on oats and you’ve been finishing all that we prepare for you. You still drink your full doses of milk and bread as well. Today, Mama had some braised chicken and rice for her lunch and you ate a lot of it! … and this was after you had had your oats!

Papa decided to leave work a bit earlier today as Papa had stayed behind to work until fairly late this whole week. Papa missed you a lot and wanted to spend a bit of time with you while the sun was still up.

After Papa got home, we went down to the Point for dinner. We had dinner at the Banquet food court as we had not eaten there for a very long time. You ate up the whole bowl of fish soup, Lil’ One. We cannot assume that you will only eat a little bit anymore. Your appetite’s changed!

After dinner we spent a bit of time at the library. You once again enjoyed yourself walking around and flipping through books though we think you still can’t read. :D We were there until closing time as we had gotten there quite late.

We then headed home so that you could go to bed.

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Playing with Kor-Kor Zachary

Dearest Skyler,

You spent most of today at home with Mama, Lil’ One.

In the afternoon, Mama brought you to Aunty Doo Guat’s so that you could play with Kor-Kor Zachary. You had such fun there playing with Kor-Kor’s toys as they are something that you have not played with very much. :D Kor-Kor had the rocking horse that we’ve seen in Ikea that you just loved to sit on!

Papa had to work until quite late so Mama and you stayed there until it was time to pick Papa up from work.

After that we went back home for dinner and stayed home the whole night as Papa was so tired. We’ll bring you out another day, okay?

We love you Lil’ One.

Papa and Mama

Blue’s Clues Toys!

You woke up today and asked for Papa to carry you. However, Papa had already gone off to work! Papa’s sad that he wasn’t around to carry you in the morning, Lil’ One. But you didn’t mind as much after Mama told you that Papa had gone to work.

Papa received an email from his old school friend today. It was such great news! She said that she wanted to share her children’s Blue’s Clues toys with you! Her children had already grown up and they didn’t play with the toys so much anymore and they wanted to pass them on. And as she had read in our letters to you in this blog that you like Blue’s Clues, she thought of handing them over to you! Isn’t that wonderful! :D Thank You, Aunty Lin Lin! :D

We’ll probably pick up the toys next week when we can make the time, okay? But you must promise to take care of them like you have the rest of the toys that you currently have. All these toys are precious! :D

You were less clingy today so Mama could actually get some cooking done in the kitchen. You’re still frightened by the noise that the blender makes, Lil’ One. We pray that you’ll get over it sometime. :p You again watched quite a bit of TV so that Mama could do some work around the apartment.

In the afternoon, Mama brought you to Aunty Christine’s to pick up some stuff. In the end, you spent a bit longer there as Mama helped Aunty Christine to watch kor-kor, che-che and mei-mei as she had to run an errand and she couldn’t bring them all as it was threatening to rain.

After she came back, Mama brought you to pick Papa up from work and we all went home for dinner.

Papa and Mama love you, Lil’ One.

Skyler Answers the Telephone!

What a surprise Papa had this morning! Skyler answered the phone when Papa called and Mama wasn’t available. It was so funny! Papa had called home as Papa wanted to speak with Mama about something. You picked up the phone and as you didn’t say anything, Papa thought that Mama had recognized Papa’s phone number and she had put the phone at your ear and wanted you to say ‘Hi!’ as we usually do with our relatives.

However, it was a very long time before Papa heard you call “Papa!” and Papa didn’t hear Mama in the background at all. As this carried on longer than usual, Papa realized that you had probably answered the phone on your own! This was confirmed when Mama could be heard in the background asking if you were talking to Papa! :D It was so cute, Lil’ One! YOU ANSWERED THE PHONE! Mama had been busy and she couldn’t get to the phone and she was wondering what you were doing when she heard you say “Papa”. She only realized that you’d answered the phone when she came out and saw you holding the receiver to your ear! :D

Papa’s so happy that he was the first person whose phone call you answered! :D

You had a super lazy day today. You were extremely clingy today like a Koala bear thus Mama couldn’t do any work around the apartment. Thus, Mama had to feed you leftover food as she couldn’t cook. You didn’t want to do anything except watch your TV programmes and you wanted Mama to watch it with you. :p

It was only much later in the afternoon that Mama managed to convince you to get changed and head down to the zoo. Even then, you refused to leave the gift shop at the zoo thus you both spent all your time walking around the shop. :D

Later on, you both came to pick Papa up from work and we all headed down to the Point for dinner. And, of course, you wanted to sit on all the kiddy rides that we came across. :D

Oh! We also had your fringe snipped by one of the hairdressers at the Point. It was already so long and irritating your eyes so we had to get someone to help us cut it. We simply didn’t have the tools or the skill to do it properly ourselves. You are so much better at having your fringe cut now. And the hairdresser was so much better at it. :D

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Bye-Bye Ah Pek

You were so sleepy this morning, Lil’ One. As you were not awake, we had to skip church. Even when you woke up, you were still so sleepy that you went back to bed soon after. Poor Lil’ Darling!

After we all woke up, we went to have lunch with Ah Pek and Grandma. Ah Pek was going back to Cambodia today. You were so shy when we met up with them. You kept on looking down and could not look at Ah Pek! However, you were so totally okay with him after a while! :D It’s so funny to see you so shy when we know that you are not always like that.

We drove Ah Pek and Grandma to the airport to see Ah Pek off. On the way there, you kept on repeating ‘Pek-pek’! You were so cute! At the airport, you kept on running up to Ah Pek to be carried by him. :D

Soon, Ah Pek walked off into the transit area and went off to the aeroplane that would take him back to Cambodia. Bye-bye Ah Pek!

After we sent Grandma home, we headed home ourselves. You were so sleepy in the car but when we got home, you were totally awake again. You totally refused to sleep no matter what we did even though you looked so extremely exhausted.

Papa gave up and we went down to the Point to have our dinner. We also brought you to a hair salon to have your fringe trimmed as it was getting too long and it was irritating your eyes. We also tried to look for another pair of shoes for you as the one you have now is becoming too small for you. You seem to be uncomfortable wearing it. We couldn’t find anything that we liked so we’ll have to try another day, Lil’ One.

We then bought a few things from the supermarket before coming home.

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Busy Saturday

We went to the Point early in the morning to collect a couple of copies of a book we had pre-ordered and have a McDonald’s breakfast.

We then went down to Wheelock Place. Mama had an appointment with Dr W. Papa and you collected balloons from Borders before heading to the Toys ‘R’ Us at the Forum Galleria to wait for Mama. You had such great fun there as usual; you grabbed whichever toy caught your fancy and played with them all! :D There was this particular ‘Quaps!’ duckie that you kept on playing with. You were so cute!

When Mama was done, she joined us there before we moved back to Wheelock Place and had lunch at Fish and Co. As we were still quite full from breakfast, we all shared one meal. :D

After lunch, we walked around the toy store there. You loved the Heffalump elephant toy! It was quite huge and you would back into its outstretched forelegs and have it hug you! :D You were so thrilled!

We then headed down to Borders where we collected another two balloons for Kow-fu and Kow-moh. We then dropped by Kow-fu’s and Kow-moh’s place to drop off a copy of the book and the balloons. You so love to be there nowadays as you get to play so much!

We then headed home for a nap. We were all so tired by then. Papa doubted that you would be able to sleep long but to Papa’s surprise, you slept for two hours straight. You really were so tired!

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Skyler Loves!

You were so naughty this morning! You licked the dirty magnets from your toy! You must not do such things, Lil’ One. It’s very unhygienic!

In the afternoon, Mama and you came to pick Papa up from work before heading down to Kow-fu’s and Kow-moh’s.

You spent the evening with Kow-fu and Kow-moh again while Mama and Papa went for another movie. Popo came later in the evening to play with you. You had so much fun playing with them all!

You were so sweet! You went round sharing your love with everyone! You kept on hugging everyone before we left after Mama and Papa came back to pick you up.

We are so glad that you’ve become so attached to Kow-fu, Kow-moh and Popo, Lil’ One.

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Happy Birthday, Kow-fu!

Dearest Skyler,

You woke up a bit later today once again. This is good, Lil’ One. Mama always sleeps so late, it’s good that you allow her to sleep in. We’re so glad you don’t wake up at 7 am or earlier now. :D

There was a huge thunderstorm in the morning and Mama was worried that you would be scared by the thunder but you were totally okay with it! That’s great! We’re so glad to see that you’ve learnt that normal thunderstorms are not something to worry about – especially when we’re indoors. :D

After your nap, Mama brought you to the Point to pick up Kow-fu’s birthday present. You had also helped to design a birthday card for Kow-fu as it’s his birthday today!

Mama and you then drove down to Aunty Christina’s to visit as she had just given birth to a Di-di. Mama had wanted to visit for some time but we had been busy all this while. Di-di’s already two and a half months old! They also had a dog at home and you were so cute. You so wanted to pat the dog but you were also scared of it at the same time. Mama kept on trying to show you that it was safe but you were trembling almost all the while. So poor thing! :(

You both then came to pick Papa up. After linking up, we all drove down to United Square as we had to pick up a birthday cake for Kow-fu. We took the opportunity to walk around the pet shop to look at the fish and small animals. They were all so cute and you were so intrigued by them all.

We then headed off to Popo’s place as we were having the birthday celebration there. Once we got there, we changed you into the bumble bee costume that we had bought for you on Sunday. Remember? We couldn’t find the Bumblebee Transformer action figure that Kow-fu wanted so we thought of dressing you up to amuse him. :D You looked so cute in it.:D

You once again had a blast climbing up the stairs and playing with Popo, Kow-fu and Kow-moh!

And once again this week, we got you home so late! By the time we bathed you and fed you your pre-sleep milk, it was of course late again! Papa was by then so exhausted that he fell asleep without saying good night to Mama! Papa feels so bad about that. Sorry Mama!

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Dancing Skyler

Dearest Skyler,

You’re grown so much taller, Lil’ One! You can reach so many things on tables and such that you could not before. It’s getting so that we don’t know where to put things anymore. :D You woke Mama up by tapping on her bedside table this morning! You previously couldn’t reach it from your playpen but you can now! And so many things that we leave on the tables and such are no longer out of your reach! :D Keep growing, Lil’ One! But be careful what you grab! :D

Popo was supposed to have come to play with you today but as she had to work, she had to cancel again. Popo’s very sad, Lil’ One. She misses you so much!

Mama and you spent the whole day at home. You caught a couple of naps and in the afternoon, Aunty Chris and her kids came to visit and play with you. Once again, you enjoyed yourself so much! :D

Papa then came back in the evening and we went off to the Point for dinner. As the queue for the restaurant was so long, Papa brought you over to John Little while Mama waited in line. While we there, you spotted the strollers and wanted to sit in one of them so Papa obliged. Mama was so amused when Papa pushed you to the front of the store and she spotted you her place in the queue. :D

Papa and you then went over to the kiddy ride to play as Mama was still in the queue.

After Mama got in to the restaurant, Papa and you went in to join her. We had a fairly long dinner as we topped off the meal with an ice cream sundae! You ate most of the food that we gave you and you totally loved the ice cream! You kept on asking for more faster than we could scoop the ice cream out for you! :D

We did some shopping after that and by the time we came home, it was a bit late already. Papa had hoped to put you to bed earlier so that he could spend some time with Mama but that was not to be. By the time you went to bed, Papa was totally exhausted and had to go to sleep. Oh well…

You so love to move, Lil’ One! You keep on dancing in front of us when you hear music and you completely melt our hearts as you have this big bright smile on your face when you do that!

We love you!

Papa and Mama

Hello, Mr President!

Dearest Skyler,

You were so cute this morning! Mama asked if you liked swimming and you said, ‘Yes!’. And when Mama asked if you wanted to go swimming again, you again said, ‘Yes!’. When Mama asked you to ask Papa to bring us swimming, you immediately said ‘please, Papa!’ even though Papa had already gone off to work! :D You so love swimming! :D

As you were quite sleepy throughout the day, Mama didn’t bring you out so that you could rest as we had a big dinner to attend at night.

Later in the evening, Mama brought you to pick Papa up. We went for a formal dinner organized by this volunteer welfare organization named CARE at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The President of Singapore was the Guest of Honour.

As we got there a bit early, we walked around Tangs for a while before heading for the ballroom for dinner. We sat with Papa’s colleagues. The food was so good that you ate so much of it, Lil’ One! You were also so well-behaved throughout the meal! We’re so proud of you!

By the time we got home, it was very late already – way past your bed time. Sorry, Lil’ One.

We love you!

Papa and Mama

Swimming!

Dearest Skyler,

You were so naughty today! You kept on doing naughty things today thus forcing Mama to chide you and teach you to say ‘sorry’. You are so testing us, Lil’ One. But thank God you are actually learning to say ‘sorry’ and are also repentant to some extent. You seldom do the same naughty act twice in a row. :D You know, our hearts hurt very badly when we have to discipline you. It totally makes us miserable to have to lecture you but we strongly believe that it’s for your own good as some of the things you do are simply dangerous and some others are just not nice. :p Please learn quickly so that all of us need not feel hurt, okay?

Mama actually wanted to bring you down to meet up with Papa at work so we could go and perform some chores together but you were sleeping when Papa had to leave. Thus, Papa went alone to perform the chores before heading home.

As it was still early (Papa’s chore had taken much less time than expected), we decided to bring you swimming as we missed the chance during the weekend. Thus, we all headed down to the swimming pool. Alas! Papa lost your little inflated yellow duckie! We even called Aunty Chris to help us look for it when we realized that it had gone missing but she, kor-kor and che-che could not find it. So sorry, Lil’ One!

You once again totally enjoyed yourself at the pool even though you were cold. You even looked like you didn’t want to leave the pool! You had such confidence that you started walking around the wading pool by yourself! Of course we didn’t let you move alone more than one arm’s length from either of us but you looked like you were totally comfortable with being in the water. Well done, Lil’ One!

We headed off to the Point for dinner before heading home after our swim.

Now, that we’ve confirmed that you enjoy the pool, we’ll make sure we bring you swimming more often, okay?

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

The Days Are Just Packed!

Dearest Skyler,

We went for our weekly church service this morning as usual. It was Children’s Church today so Mama brought you for the activities that they had planned for you.

We left early today as you were quite sleepy and hungry. We had to feed you your milk as we were meeting Kow-fu and Kow-moh for lunch and that would only be later. After your milk feed, we set off for the Cathedral to meet them.

We had lunch at Cedele. You were totally not interested in the food that we got so we had to depend on your milk feed and some biscuits to sustain you, Lil’ One. Also, as there was no high chair for you, we had to place you in the normal adult seat. You were so restless that you kept on asking to be brought around for walks. Kow-fu and Kow-moh were kind enough to bring you around to look at the fountain and for a short walkie around the stores.

After lunch, we headed off to Suntec City to shop a bit more. We bought you a bumble-bee suit because we thought that you would look so cute in it! You also enjoyed walking around the Toys ‘R’ Us for a short while.

When we were done, we headed off to the Botanic Gardens as there was a Band Fiesta at the stage area. You were slowly getting into the groove of the performance when it started drizzling. Papa was worried that it would rain so we packed up and headed for the exit. However, by the time we arrived at the exit, it had not rained! Oh well… Sorry, Lil’ One - we should have stayed.

The next stop was Borders again as Mama had seen a couple of books that she wanted to get you last night. We swung by Borders so that we could pick them up before we headed home to have dinner.

By the time, we got home, it was so late! You had only had two cups of milk the whole day and hardly any other food or drink! So sorry! You were so thirsty that you had one and a half cups of milk when we got back. Also, Mama managed to help you eat one whole bowl of porridge! That’s the most food you’ve ever had in one sitting, Lil’ One!

It was really a packed day!

We love you, Lil’ One.

Papa and Mama

Tired Parents

Dearest Skyler,

Today was such a lazy day for Papa and Mama and you had to endure our tiredness, Lil’ One. We are so sorry. Papa and Mama had been tired out by the whole week of work and taking care of you. Mama’s even worse off as she only gets to do her own things after Papa and you go to sleep. Poor Mama!

By the time we were awake enough to do anything, it was evening already. In fact, it was very late in the evening when we actually went out – we decided to go down to Borders as we like to walk around and browse the books there; and you love to climb the stairs there! :D On the way to the Duckie Mobile, we stopped by Aunty Christine’s to drop off some stuff that we had gotten for her.

Once we arrived, you practically headed for the stairs immediately and thus started Papa’s and your journey up and down the stairs. Papa must say that your steps are much more stable now – you’re getting very good at it, Lil’ One. Papa and you also walked around the whole bookshop and when you spotted the fountain outside the store, Papa brought you out to it as well! You had so much adventure walking around the place!

As it was getting late, we decided to head home. Papa and Mama hadn’t had dinner as yet as we were debating what to get. We finally decided that we would scrounge up whatever we had at home as it was really quite late. However, on the way back, Aunty Christine messaged Mama and asked if we wanted to have some food leftover from a gathering she had had that evening. We totally accepted as that would solve our dinner situation. :D We collected it on our way back home. :D

We love you!

Papa and Mama

Time with Friends and Relatives

Dearest Skyler,

You woke up so late this morning! Mama couldn’t get you up as you kept on wanting to return to sleep. Thus, Mama was not keen on leaving the room and possibly waking you up. This totally freaked Papa out as he had not received any messages from Mama or you the whole morning and you both did not answer the phone when Papa called home. It was only after ten o’clock that Mama answered the phone! What a relief that nothing had happened to either of you!

Later in the afternoon, Mama brought you over to Aunty Christine’s for a while before coming to pick Papa up.

Papa had to go to the chiropractor to have a fitting done for his orthotics so we parked at Forum Galleria so that Mama and you could walk around Toys ‘R’ Us while waiting for Papa to be done. You again had such fun playing with the toys! :D

After Papa came back, we brought you to Moh-moh’s and Bubu’s to play while we went for a movie. You had such great fun there! Bubu and Moh-moh brought you downstairs for walkies a couple of times and you got to play with all the toys in their place. :D You had such great fun that you didn’t even feel sleepy until Papa and Mama came back to pick you up!

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Reunion

Dearest Skyler,

This morning, Mama and you went for a walk to the nearby market to purchase some stuff.

In the afternoon, Mama and you went to Aunty Christine’s for a while to visit. :D

After Papa came home, we all rushed to the Point to buy food to cook for Ah-Pek and his family as they were coming over for dinner. This was the first opportunity for us to meet up since they came back from Cambodia. Sigh… We’re all so busy.

Grandma, Ah-Pek and family came in the evening. Actually, they were too early so we were not yet home when they came. Thus, they had to go downstairs to play while waiting for us to return from the Point. We quickly rushed home to let them into our apartment. :p

Che-che Reika was so keen on playing with you. She even fed you your dinner! :D You thus spent the evening playing with your cousins while the adults caught up with each other. :D

After they left, you were so exhausted that we put you to bed soon after.

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Slide!

Dearest Skyler,

Bubu came to visit this morning and Mama and he brought you to McDonald’s for breakfast where you received yet another penguin toy. :D Later, Bubu brought you downstairs with your trike for a while. :D

In the afternoon, Mama had wanted to bring you to the zoo but as she wanted Papa to come along, she decided to wait to pick Papa up first. Papa had hoped to leave work earlier to spend some time with you both, you see. However, the whole plan fell apart.

Mama came as scheduled but Papa had still not completed what he needed to do. He was still in a meeting and it didn’t come to an end until much later. Mama brought you to his cubicle instead to visit Uncle Roland and Aunty Shuk Yin while waiting for Papa.

After Papa ended work, we all headed home for dinner. After dinner, Papa brought you down to the Park to play for a while. You so totally enjoyed yourself wandering around all the structures and playing with them.

You also had your first solo ride on a slide tonight! On the way home, we walked past the playground downstairs and you insisted on climbing up the structure to play with the slide. As the whole thing was too small for Papa to get on as well, Papa let you slide down on your own! You had so much fun that you kept on going back up on it to slide down again and again! :D

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Skyler’s Concentration

Dearest Skyler,

You woke up in the middle of the night and had some difficulty going back to sleep. You woke up with your legs all cold. Poor Lil’ Gal! Thank God you managed to get back to sleep after some time.

You were so cute! Later in the morning, you tried to put on your fluffy bunny slippers on Bruin Bear’s paws! :D There was no way they could fit but that didn’t stop you from trying. :D

You were supposed to have gone down to Ngee Ann City to meet Ah Pek’s family in the afternoon but Grandma called to change the plan… they wanted us to go down to their chalet instead. However, as it would be very difficult for Papa to get there after work, Mama informed Grandma that it was too far for Papa to travel so you didn’t get to meet them today.

Instead, Mama brought you to Aunty Doo Guat’s place to play with Kor-kor Zachary. You had such great fun there playing with their car! However, you were still a bit too short to reach all the controls easily. Yet, that didn’t stop you! :D

After that, Mama and you came down to pick Papa up.

We stopped off at the library after having dinner at the food court at the Point. You had so much fun in the library running around and exploring. You were also so busy at one point helping to transfer books from the bin to Papa at one of the tables and then returning all the books to the bin. :D You were so full of concentration on this task that Papa was so totally amused and touched! Papa’s heart just melts when he looks at you being so diligent – in fact, at any time! :D

After Mama had chosen some books for you, we came home.

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Walkies Galore!

Dearest Skyler,

You’ve been waking up very early again these days – you wake Mama up by 7 a.m. almost every day, Lil’ One. Hmmm… We wish you could sleep in a bit more. Oh well…

Popo was supposed to have come to visit today but as she had gone on a trip over the weekend and had only come back last night, she was not up to traveling all the way to where we are, Lil’ One. So sorry about that – Popo won’t be bringing you downstairs to walk around. Never mind, she’ll come another day, okay?

In the afternoon, Mama brought you to the zoo once again. Being a weekday, you both enjoyed complimentary trips on the tram service and you both had nice train stamps on your arms. :D At the zoo, you saw the new-born pygmy hippo! It was so tiny and cute! :D You also saw something that looked like a pangolin at the Elephant enclosure and Mama wanted to take a photo of it to show Papa but a family there was surprised by it and they tried to chase it away because of their shock and it scampered off.

At the zoo, there were also some (probably) zoo people who took photos of you both and tried to charge money for the photos. Mama wasn’t sure what this was about but as they were dressed in zoo T-shirts, Mama thought it was okay for them to take the photos. However, after that, when Mama was considering whether to buy the photos, she was shocked at how much they were asking for them. It was way too expensive and they didn’t even state what the money was for unlike the other money generating ventures in the zoo. Thus, Mama didn’t get the photos. We didn’t need those photos anyway as you both brought your own camera and had a similar photo taken!

You both then had your customary Milo drink before leaving the zoo and coming to pick Papa up from work. :D

We went straight home as Mama had prepared dinner beforehand. Yummy! Papa loves the food Mama prepares!

After dinner, Papa brought you downstairs with your trike to make up for Popo not having come today. Papa had promised you yesterday that Popo would come to bring you downstairs and since she couldn’t, Papa decided to do it instead.

As it was quite late, Papa didn’t bring you very far – just the area downstairs. Once again, Papa is so glad that we stay where we do as we have so much space for you to explore and play. This area is just so good for you to grow up in.

After moving around our estate for a while, you wanted to play at the playground and Papa brought you there. Actually, Papa was quite reluctant to let you play there as it is quite well-used and probably quite dirty, you wanted to go onto the structures so Papa allowed you to. After climbing up the structure, you wanted to go down the slide! As Papa was alone and you are still too young and small to go down the slide on your own, Papa had to hold onto you and go down the slide with you! :P Thank goodness there were two slides with one being bigger. This was the one that Papa brought you down – three times! The other was just too narrow for Papa to fit! :D

We then went back upstairs to rest. A while later, we set off downstairs again! We had not got breakfast for tomorrow and Papa had to go out to the shops to get something. Thus, Papa brought you along once more. Wow! The shops there really close very late, Lil’ One. It was already close to 10 pm and the shop operators looked like they were nowhere near closing.

As you wanted to walk, Papa allowed you to walk back all the way – even across the road – as the roads were more deserted by then. But Papa kept a hold of your little hand for dear life! Thankfully you were a good lil’ girl and gave no problems at all.

You had lots of walkies today, Lil’ One! Hope you enjoyed yourself.

Oh! Tua-pek and family came back today and Che-che Reika tried to speak to you over the phone but other than saying ‘hello’, you didn’t say anything else to her. :D

Darling, you are really such a god-send! You are so cute! You’ve come to say ‘Uh-oh’ in such a super sweet way when you do something you know is wrong or by accident. You usually say that when you drop something and you know that we will chide you for it. When you do it, we are always so amused that it is difficult to really be unhappy with you as we will struggle to keep the smiles off our faces. :D

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Mama’s a Great Mama!

Dearest Skyler,

You woke up quite early today and Papa fed you your morning milk. After which, Papa put you back to bed as you were still a bit sleepy and Papa went back to bed as well. By the time Papa woke up again, we were late for church!

We quickly packed up everything and rushed to church even though we were late. As it was Family Sunday, there was no Sunday School. You were such a good girl today; you didn’t wander off at all! You stayed with Mama and Papa throughout the time we were at the service!

After we left the service, we headed off for Raffles City for lunch with Grandma. We thought that you would take a nap in the car on the way there as you had appeared quite sleepy in church but you didn’t. In fact, you were totally awake! Thus, after arriving at R.C., we walked around a bit in Robinson’s while waiting for Grandma.

Mama spotted a Blue’s Clues ‘Blue as a Firegirl’ on a fire engine toy! :P Mama was quite excited as Mama felt that you would enjoy having such a toy. Thus, we bought it for you – especially since it might be the only Blue’s Clues toy that you may ever have.

We then went for lunch with Grandma at the Sushi Tei restaurant where you had your usual chawanmushi. :D We prefer eating at this outlet compared to the one at China Square as the portions are more decent. :D

Lil’ Gal, you have a bad habit of spitting food out these days. Again, we’re wondering if it has to do with your throat. Hmmm… You’ll swallow the soft food but you keep on spitting out the stuff that you have to chew. We wonder what’s wrong. Sigh… Oh well… You still appear healthy and your weight hasn’t dropped, we guess that you’re still okay. You’re drinking lots of milk so we guess that you should be all right for a while. :P

We brought you back to Robinson’s to walk around a bit before heading down to the basement to get some ice cream as we are wont to do when we are there. :D We sat at the fountain to have our ice cream. We didn’t allow you to have ice cream as your nose was dribbling. Next time, okay?

We then went into Jason’s Supermarket to buy some groceries to cook for the next few days. It’s so great having home-cooked meals again. You’ve grown up enough for Mama to have a bit of free time to cook now! :D

We then sent Grandma home before we headed home ourselves. When we got back to our car park, you were wondering where Grandma had gone. You had fallen asleep immediately after we had returned to the car at R.C. and had slept through our sending Grandma home. :D You were so sweet!

Once again, we were hoping to get some sleep as we were still sleepy. However, once again, you were totally awake by then even though the only nap you had the whole day was in the Duckie Mobile on the way home from town. Thus, we had to take turns to nap once more with Papa dozing off while watching you yet again! :P

In the evening, Papa brought you over to the nearby shops to buy dinner and for a short walk downstairs. :D

Lil’ Gal, Papa and Mama totally treasure the time that we get to spend with you! You are such a great daughter!

Papa constantly thanks God and Mama for how you’ve developed and grown up! You are such a good girl (most of the time! :P) Mama has really sacrificed so much for you and Papa can really see the fruits of Mama’s sacrifice! Papa’s so glad that he married Mama as Mama is such a wonderful wife and Mama! :D

We love you, Lil’ One1

Papa and Mama

Sleepy Day!

Dearest Skyler,

Papa had to go in to work in the morning today and Mama and you stayed home to rest.

After work, Papa came home and we had a good home-cooked lunch prepared by Mama!

After lunch, we were wondering what to do when we got so tired that Papa and Mama actually wanted to sleep. However, you were so awake! In the end, we took turns to sleep so that one of us could watch you at all times. :D

However, when it was Papa’s turn, Papa was so sleepy that Papa kept on dozing off while you were running around playing. Papa was also so bad – Papa kept on leaving Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on for you to watch so that Papa didn’t have to do anything to entertain you. But it didn’t work as you were not so interested. :D Thankfully, you managed to entertain yourself and didn’t get hurt while Papa dozed off. :P

We were supposed to have met up with Grandma that night for dinner but as we were so exhausted, we just stayed home instead. We didn’t even have the energy to go out to the Point for dinner so we had dinner at home. :P

As you hadn’t slept the whole afternoon and evening, it became that much easier to put you to bed at a more decent time, Lil’ One. You finally went to bed at about 10 pm or so! Finally! :D

We love you, Lil’ Gal!

Papa and Mama

Books, Books, Books

Dearest Skyler,

Poor Lil’ One! You’re having a cough! So poor thing! We wonder if that’s the reason for your poor appetite. You’ve not been eating much of the solid food that Mama has been preparing for you. You’ve been surviving on milk and yoghurt and such!

As your cough was not really serious, Mama thought of bringing you over to Aunty Doo Guat’s so you could play with Kor-kor Zachary but you were so sleepy in the afternoon that Mama put you back to bed.

Then Mama thought of bringing you to go play with Mei-mei Dawn but she was also taking a nap and by then it was time to go pick Papa up from work! :P

After picking Papa up from work, we all trooped down to Ngee Ann City for dinner and a walk. We walked around Kinokuniya (a bookstore) and then ended up at the library and walked around there! You had such great fun pulling out the books and flipping through them! :D We really hope that your interest in reading will be fully developed, Lil’ One, as Papa and Mama really love reading. :D You also made a bit of noise in the library due to your excitement! :P We hope that the patrons of the library didn’t mind! :P

After borrowing a few books for ourselves, we then brought you home. :D

We love you, Lil’ One! You’re so amazingly sweet and cute! :D

Papa and Mama

Skyler’s Sleep Saga

Dearest Skyler,

It has been quite warm these few days, Lil’ One! You woke up with heat rash after last night’s sleep! So poor thing! And to think that last night was the first night this week that you slept through until morning! At least your nose has stopped dribbling and you seem to have gotten over the ‘cold’. :D

Later in the morning, you managed to drop off for a nap, thank God. You really need to rest so that you can recover quicker, Lil’ One.

Later in the afternoon, Aunty Karen K cam over to visit. She’s another one of Mama’s close former school friends. She’s a doctor based overseas, Lil’ One. While she was here, guess who else dropped by – Aunty Chris and her kids! :D They had come to deliver cookies and play. So, from a slow afternoon, it became a whole play session! :D

Mama and you then walked Aunty Karen to the MRT station and Papa met you both downstairs on your way back as he had returned from work by then.

After dinner, we all took a nap – which proved to be a bad mistake as you were so awake after that. Actually, you were still very sleepy when you woke up from the nap but later in the evening, you simply couldn’t go to sleep! Papa tried for one hour to put you to bed to no avail. In the end, you only went to bed at midnight! :P

You know, Papa actually treasures the time spent putting you to bed as it is just you and him for that whole time! And Papa just loves to carry you in his arms. :D Sigh… You’re going to be too old to want to be carried to sleep soon. Oh well… :P

We love you, Lil’ One.

Papa and Mama

Skyler’s So Loved!

Dearest Skyler,

You still had troubled sleep last night. You woke up a few times once again but not as many as the night before. You seem to be getting slightly better. :D Yet, once again, you woke up so early and woke Mama up with you. And Mama was so poor thing as Mama was not feeling all that well either.

You were so funny today! You actually made great efforts to sit on your toy ‘Thinking Chair’ from Blue’s Clues! It is such a tiny toy, Lil’ One, but you went to so much trouble to sit on it! You’re really determined, Darling. :D But it’s too small to be comfortable, yah? :D

You spent a fairly lazy day at home today.In the evening, Papa came home from work and brought us all to the Point for dinner and to buy some groceries. :D

We had dinner at Sakae Sushi where we met up with Che-che Joann and she was so thrilled to see you.

You ate up the whole cup of chawan-mushi, Lil’ One! Wow! We hope that you don’t overdose on egg. :P Later, you allowed Che-che Joann to carry you and she brought you all the way to the freezer to get you two pieces of mochi ice cream. Wow! She loves you! :D We tried to feed you the ice cream but they were so cold that you couldn’t bite it so Mama and Papa ate them instead. :D

We then headed down to Cold Storage to buy some groceries so that we could cook over the next couple of days. You once again had a whale of a time running around the supermarket picking up stuff and carrying them around. :D After buying the groceries, you insisted on sitting on the ‘horsey’ merry-go-round so we let you. You had the time of your life as there was no one else there! You got to sit on every one of the horses! :D

Sleep well, Lil’ One!

We love you!

Papa and Mama

Skyler’s Not Well

Dearest Skyler,

Poor Lil’ Darling, you had such a terrible night last night. You were not feeling well and woke up almost every hour. We suspect that you may have had a back drip that interrupted your breathing and thus sleep. Even so, you still woke up so early this morning. You’re so dribbly still. Poor Lil’ Darling!

You were so cute this morning. You wanted to put on your fluffy slippers and Mama helped you to do so. After that, you kept your feet high up around Mama while she was carrying you so that they would not fall off! :D

You totally scratched at and peeled off the plaster that Balloon Uncle put on your injection puncture. Your ‘wound’ was all red due to your scratching. To prevent any possible infection, Mama put a ‘crying face’ plaster on you and you pulled that off too! :P We pray that you will not get infected, Lil’ One. Do be careful.

Due to your lack of continuous sleep last night, you were a bit cranky but you still refused to go back to sleep! Poor Darling! You must be so worried about going to sleep due to the possible back drip. But you need the rest or you can’t recover, Lil’ One.

Later on, Aunty Chris came and gave us an avocado as she had heard that you eat it. Gong-gong and Popo also came and they brought lots of fruits – two combs of bananas, a pumpkin cake and two boxes of durians! :D Wow! You’ve got bananas, Lil’ One! But later that evening, we asked Popo to take one comb of bananas back as there were too many and there was no way we would be able to eat them all before they spoiled. :P

You spent lots of time playing with Popo and Gong-gong while they were here and again, you didn’t go to bed. You even had them bring you downstairs with your trike so that you could play. :D

After they left, we put you to bed for a short nap, and as we were all exhausted as well, we joined you. Later that night, we tried to put you to bed again but you had a hard time falling asleep. Sigh… We hope you recover quickly, Lil’ One.

We love you!

Papa and Mama

Swimming? Yes, Please!

Dearest Skyler,

We had a lazy morning at home as we were so exhausted from the weekend. By the time we were ready to leave the apartment, it was for lunch at the Point. Once again, we had to visit the Kiddy Rides that we came across. :D

After lunch, we finally brought you swimming. We had been wanting to do that since the start of the school holidays but we never made it. We brought you to SAFRA Yishun to swim as Mama and Papa are members there. We also brought your beach set – a pail for scooping water and bathing, a boat for playing with while we were in the pool.

We were so apprehensive as we did not know if you would take to the water. We had bumped into Aunty Chris and Mei-mei Dawn at the lift landing when we were leaving our block and Aunty Chris mentioned that Mei-mei had been fearful of the water on her first attempt at going into the swimming pool. Thus, we were not sure how you would react. Thank God you had no problems whatsoever! In fact, you were totally enjoying yourself! You walked around the wading pool and when we brought you across to the 1 metre deep pool to let you float, you were also okay! The last thing we did before we left the pool was to dip your face into the water and you were still okay! Yay! We can bring you swimming!

Oh! We must thank Aunty Patsy and Che-che Nicole for the swimming costume that you had as they had passed it to us. You looked so cool in it, Lil’ One! Thank you Aunty Patsy and Che-che Nicole! :D

In the evening, we went to Gong-gong’s and Popo’s place to celebrate Gong-gong’s birthday. Kow-fu and Kow-moh were there too. At the dinner table, you recited everyone’s ‘names’ much to the pleasure of everyone. :D And of course, you climbed the stairs again.

During the cake cutting session, Gong-gong enlisted your assistance in blowing out the candle and after several attempts you finally succeeded! :D You were so cute throughout the whole process! :D

By the time we got back you were so exhausted. You were so totally cranky just before going to bed. So sorry for tiring you out so completely, Lil’ One. We should have put you to bed sooner.

We love you!

Papa and Mama

Shopping

Dearest Skyler,

We went down for Church Service and Sunday School this morning with Grandma. We are now trying to teach you to only accept food from people when we give you permission. Thus, the Sunday School biscuits were controlled by Mama. You have shown that you can learn this and we hope that you will always practice asking us for permission before taking food from people, okay?

We then had lunch at a Ramen Restaurant with Grandma. We couldn’t feed you much of the food there as it was all very salty. Even the noodles was soaked with the saltiness of the soup. Papa was quite grossed out by it all. Thank God you already had some ‘bao’ from church. :D

We headed off to Suntec City after lunch and we grabbed some popcorn and candy floss. We also went into the Toys ‘R’ Us where you went around hugging the soft toys. You look so sweet when you do that, Lil’ One! You’re so loving! :D

We bought you a Mega Blocks set (the same one you play with during Sunday School) & your very own soft bedroom slippers from Carrefour! You finally have your own slippers, Lil’ One! You also insisted on playing with all the Kiddy Rides we came across.

By the time we got home we were so exhausted that we slept immediately on crossing the doorway. By the time we woke up, we ended up having dinner late. :D

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama