Private Swimming Pool!

Dearest Skyler,

Papa had to go in to school for a short while in the afternoon so Mama had to watch you even though she was still unwell.

Papa then came back and took over watching you. After Papa had come back for a short while, we took a nap.

After we woke up, Papa took you swimming! When we got there, there wasn’t anyone in the wading pool! In fact, the whole swimming pool was relatively empty. There was so much space for us to do whatever we wanted. It was almost like a private swimming pool for us! :D We did our usual stuff – walking around the water from pool to pool! You really really enjoy playing in the pool, Lil’ One! :D

When it was time to leave, you once again refused! This was even after Mama and Papa had spent some time before we left for the pool telling you that you had to leave the pool when Papa said so. Anyway, you finally did agree to leave the pool when Papa told you that Mama must have been so hungry by then as she hadn’t had food the whole day and that we had to go buy dinner for her. You’re such a good girl, Lil’ One!

Papa brought you first to shower as Papa thought that that would be fun for you too. After we’d showered and cleaned up, we headed for the Point.

We quickly bought some food and picked up some groceries. However, when we passed the horsey merry-go-round, you wanted to sit so Papa let you for a short while as you’d been such a cooperative girl.

When it came time for you to sleep, once again, you couldn’t. Papa carried you for some time and you still couldn’t sleep. Thus, Papa brought you outside to watch some TV until you were tired. Then Papa brought you back into the room and lay you on the big bed until you fell asleep before Papa transferred you back to your bed.

Papa and Mama love you, Lil’ One!

Giant Tortoises!

Dearest Skyler,

As you were feeling so heavy yesterday, Papa weighed you in the morning when you woke up. You’re now 10.7kg! How did you put on so much weight so quickly! You were just 10.4 kg last week! Mama also took your height and you’re 84 cm tall now! :D

Papa brought you out for lunch at the Point this afternoon. We went to the sushi place as Papa was alone with you and thus we had to be served as Papa couldn’t leave you to sit at the table by yourself while he went to buy food a distance away and carry it back! :p

We met che-che Joann there and she came over to say ‘Hi!’ to you. :D You so enjoyed playing with the computer mouse there among other things. You again didn’t eat very much.

After lunch, we went over to the library to return your library books as they were almost due. We then visited the newly opened Starbucks outlet there. We finally have a coffee joint again! :D

We then picked up some lunch for Mama before heading home.

We took a nap in the afternoon.

After we got up, Papa brought you to the zoo. Papa was supposed to have gone for his lesson tonight but Mama was feeling very ill and was in no condition to care for you so Papa had to skip his lesson to watch over you.

We got to the zoo just in time for the sealion show. Actually, they started a couple of minutes earlier so we only got there when they were finishing introducing the penguins and starting to introduce the manatees. Philip, the sealion performed a few new tricks today – he could stand on his rear flippers! Also, with the kiddie audience participation, he accepted the fish thrown by the che-che who volunteered. And he did four jumps while porpoising! :D

After the show, we took a walk around the zoo. As you’d not seen the giant tortoises before, Papa brought you to take a look. They were so huge! But they were all sleeping! Oh well, I guess if you’re that huge, you won’t want to move around so much either. Also, we went to the Critters Longhouse – another place that we’d never been to before. We then continued to take a walk around.

You wanted to see the sheep so Papa brought you back to the Children’s World. However, when we got there, you totally got scared once again and backed away from the enclosure! Poor Skyler! You’re still so scared by the sheep that made that loud and deep ‘Baa!’ sound from way back then!

On the way out of the zoo, we passed by the Nyala(?) enclosure and we saw that two of these antelope-like creatures had fallen into the space between the wire and the railing! They were trapped there! Papa and you then went to look for a zoo-keeper to inform them of this so that they could save them!

We then went for your customary Milo before leaving the zoo. Just as Papa was about to put you in the Duckie Mobile, you insisted that you wanted to sit on the front seat of the car. Papa knew from experience that there was no way he could force you into your seat so Papa let you sit in front to play. You looked like you were going to take a long time playing so Papa enticed you to get into your own seat by suggesting that we go to the Point so that you could sit in the ‘boat’ and ‘bear’ kiddie rides there and you agreed! :D

We went to the Point to get dinner before heading home. Of course, you had your rides! :D Papa always tries to keep his promises. :D

You once again had a few difficulties falling asleep.

Papa and Mama love you!

What a Soupy Day!

Dearest Skyler,

Sigh… Skyler, you’ve not been sleeping well at all! You woke up at midnight and put Papa through the paces for two whole hours and you still couldn’t go back to sleep. Mama then had to come in to help. Yet, you still couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t until almost 4.30 a.m. that you finally fell asleep after you’d laid in bed with Mama and Papa for some time. Poor Baby Girl! :(

By the time we got up, it was past noon. Mama had spent the morning making soup for you for lunch and that’s what we had! :D It was a very yummy soup! :D Thank you, Mama!

As Mama and Papa had work to rush, we asked Aunty Chris if she could watch you for a while and she agreed so we brought you down to her place to play with che-che Joan and mei-mei Dawn. Kor-kor Luke came home later to play with you too.

Mama went down to pick you up a bit later to bring you home. When you got home, we all took a nap.

Uncle James had prepared minestrone soup today and he very generously shared one whole pot with us! It was so filled with ingredients that we had it for dinner with nothing else! It was so yummy and filling to boot! :D

We spent the night at home as we were all so tired.

You still had problems with going to sleep. In the end, Mama came in and slept with you and Papa in bed before you fell asleep.

Papa and Mama love you!

Photo for Che-Che Eadoin

Dearest Skyler,

You woke up at 4.30 a.m. this morning! You then asked for milk and refused to go back to bed. Thus, Papa brought you out for milk. You had a hard time going back to sleep so it took a bit of time before you did so.

Even though you had so little sleep, we still had to go to Church. So, we forced ourselves awake and dragged you out of bed to get ready for church. As all of us had so little sleep, we woke up late and ended up being in church late! :p

When we got to church, we gave the photo of you and che-che Eadoin to che-che so that she has a photo of the two of you. :D The Sunday School teachers joined the baby and toddler Sunday School classes together as so few members turned up. There, you enjoyed the music tremendously and you were the only one who danced to it! :D

When Sunday School ended, you asked for milk and Papa came out to prepare it for you.

After you had drunk your milk, we went to Raffles City for lunch. We parked in church and as it was very hot and glaring, you put on your sunglasses that we’d bought at Sentosa. You looked SO cool! :D

We went to the sushi restaurant for lunch. We were given a small little table. It meant that Papa and Mama had to be extremely alert as everything was within your reach! :p You hardly ate any food there, Lil’ One! Sigh… While we were there, you insisted on putting on Mama’s jacket even though she was cold and actually wearing it then! :p Mama so loved you that she agreed to lend it to you! :D

We went home to nap as we were all so sleepy still. You slept all the way home in the car and we, thankfully, managed to get you to bed still. When we all got up from the nap, you had a shower then we went off to the Point for dinner.

We went to Swensen’s for dinner as you ate their stuff the last time we were there. You did eat a bit of food but still not too much. We got you a balloon. :D You were so cute! While we there, you started dancing to the in-house music! You so amused the waitress there! :D As you stopped eating quite early on, you started to get bored and started demanding a repeat performance of ‘serviette boy’! :D Of course we also had to have an ice cream sundae so you’d have some food. You ate the whole wafer all by yourself! :D

Papa had a hard time putting you to bed tonight. Papa had to carry you for almost one and a half hours before you fell asleep! Papa’s so tired! And you’re so heavy!

Papa and Mama love you!

Drums!

Dearest Skyler,

You had a terrible time trying to get to sleep and staying asleep. Mama took a very long time to get you to fall asleep last night. And you woke up at 5.30 am! It took you almost two hours before you managed to go back to sleep again. Poor Little Darling! We were supposed to have sent Grandma off at the airport but since you hardly slept and thus kept us up as well, we had to forego that idea so that we could all get some sleep.

You woke us up again at mid-day and Papa brought you out to the Point to get some food for lunch. We did a quick sweep into the foodcourt and back so we hardly detoured anywhere. You did get to sit on the two kiddie rides on that floor though. :D

After we’d had our lunch, we took a nap again. Papa wasn’t feeling well so Papa slept the whole afternoon away. Mama had to watch over you for that period and you spent it practising your gymnastics moves. Mama was so tired after that! :D

When Papa got up, Papa quickly showered you and brought you out to the Point for dinner. However, you were so sleepy that you refused to eat the spaghetti dinner that Papa had bought.

Papa really likes the service at the pasta restaurant. They were very nice about helping us reserve a table while Papa and you were in the queue and then helping to bring our tray to our table after we’d made payment as they saw that Papa had to carry you and thus couldn’t manage the tray.

Hmmm… you shouldn’t have broken their table number signage though. :p You were holding onto it and dropped it and it broke! It lost part of its stand so it couldn’t remain upright anymore. :p

At one stage, you tried to push yourself backwards in your chair and instead you pushed the whole table and everything on the tabletop almost fell off. Sigh… naughty little girl! :( It was a good thing you didn’t succeed and Papa managed to help prevent the table from toppling over.

We then went over to the supermarket to buy some stuff. And the cashier was another person who was very nice. She noticed that I had to carry you and also had a few other purchases besides the stuff that we bought from the supermarket so she bagged everything together so that Papa didn’t have so many different things to deal with. Thank you, aunty!

We drove over to the Night Safari after that as Papa and you had to give Mama as much time to study as possible. We only stayed at the outside of the night zoo as we didn’t have time to go in.

Tonight was part of the Halloween period so they had a few people dressed up in spooky costumes walking around on the outside to add to the atmosphere. Mama chided Papa for not having explained what was going on with these people when Papa told her about it. Sorry, Lil’ One! Papa only thought of having you avoid these people so that you wouldn’t have strange dreams. Papa should have explained to you properly what was going on. Another time, okay?

So, we spent the whole time just wandering from shop to shop and also watching the Thumbuakar Tribal performance. You quite enjoyed the antics of the uncles in the performance. They did lots of stuff that ended with lots of fire-eating and such. In fact, we caught the fire-eating part twice as we watched them when we got there, the performance was already half way through then, so, before we left, we caught the beginning of the next performance and stayed for the whole of it.

In between the performances, the tribal performers went around the zoo entrance drumming and dancing and you were so thrilled by all the noise they were making and the fun they were having. You kept on pointing to where they had performed and saying ‘drum!’ even after they’d gone off to rest for the next performance. :D

At the shops, we got to play with lots of ethnic music instruments, like anklungs and drums, etc. They also had cute little animal shapes for staplers and other stationery. :D

After we got home, we showered you again and then spent the rest of the time trying to put you to bed. Mama was exhausted by your restlessness. It took you a very long time to sleep. Sigh…

We love you, Lil’ One.

Papa and Mama

Swimming Girl!

Dearest Skyler,

Papa took you out to swim this afternoon so that Mama could have a bit of time to study. Mama had had to take care of you the whole morning as Papa had a headache and needed to sleep. Mama was very poor thing too as she wasn’t feeling all that good either. You were the only one that was healthy today, Lil’ One! :p

We spent as long as Papa dared to at the pool and that meant that we ended up being there for one and a half hours! Even so, you refused to leave the pool when Papa wanted to leave! :p Papa then let you be in the pool for another ten minutes before taking you out and you cried and cried and refused to get changed still! But we couldn’t stay in there any longer so Papa had to force you out even though you were so traumatised! So sorry, Lil’ One!

There were several families that came to the pool today. And we saw a few come and go! :D That was how long we stayed there! :D Papa still can’t get you to practise kicking in the water but I guess that will come later. :p

Mama and Papa are so in wonder at how quickly you’ve taken to being in the water and how much you love it so much. You actually choose going to the pool over the zoo, Lil’ One! And when we get here, you simply refuse to leave and will fight against being taken out! :D Please do know that we’ll keep on bringing you back, okay?

It was only after Papa had changed you and himself that you calmed down. It was such a drastic contrast, Lil’ One! :D Oh well! Once we got back to the Duckie Mobile, you immediately fell asleep. I guess all your crying was a result of your being sleepy cranky as you’d not taken a nap the whole day.

After we got home, we showered you and gave you some food before trying to let you nap. You were very tired still. Papa’s headache had also returned and he needed to sleep too.

By the time Papa and you got up, it was very late at night and it took us a very long time and lots of effort before we could get you back to sleep for the night.

You were so totally thrilled by what you’d learnt at the Little Gym this week that you keep on wanting to do the gymnastic moves. You kept on wanting us to help you roll forward, roll backward and do handstands! :D How can we not sign you up for the class? Hmmm… Even at bedtime, you still asked us to help you do them all! :D

When it came time to put you to bed, you insisted on Mama carrying you to sleep and also you drank lots of milk! :D Poor Mama had to carry you for a long time before you went to sleep, Lil’ One!

We love you!

Papa and Mama

Egg Sandwiches and A Froggy Bowl

Dearest Skyler,

In the morning, when you woke up, Papa weighed you as you felt so heavy and to his surprise, you were 10.4 kg! You had been 10 kg for so long that Papa didn’t think that you’d actually put on weight but you did! :D

Mama brought you down to Aunty Chris’s place to borrow an egg slicer as we were going to make lots of egg sandwiches today for Mama’s class tonight. While you were there, it was time for che-che Joan to come back from kindergarten so Mama and you accompanied Aunty Chris and mei-mei Dawn downstairs to wait for her school bus. :D

You both then came back up and started putting all the eggs that we’d bought the previous night to boil. Mama had invited che-che Joan to come up to help with the egg sandwich making and they accepted. :D So, they came up and helped with the shelling, slicing and mashing of the eggs. :D You had so much fun helping out with the process as well. :D Mama also let you eat some of the egg and you fed yourself! :D You spilt a bit of it onto the floor as well too! :D

While we were preparing the eggs, we were talking and Aunty Chris and Papa found out that we had the same swimming coach and had learnt to swim at the same swimming pool when were younger! :D How coincidental is that! :D

Papa and Mama carried on with the sandwich making after they had to leave and by then, you were quite tired out and just sat down to watch your Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. :D After we were done, we put you to bed for a nap.

After you woke up, you had a shower. We were going to bring Mama down for her class in church. While Mama was going to be there, Papa and you were going to meet Grandma for dinner. However, you refused to get dressed after the shower! You just ran around naked and we were so worried that you were going to pee or boom while in that state of undress! And you did! You didn’t make it to your potty and peed on the floor! Initially, Papa was wondering why the floor was wet and Mama figured out that you had peed! Sigh … :p

It took a very long time before you agreed to put on some clothes and by then, we were very late already! Yet, you still insisted on having a bottle of Vitagen before leaving. :p We didn’t want to scold you for something like this as this is really minor, Lil’ One. But we will scold you for running off on your own as that is very dangerous! :p Yet, Papa was a bit frustrated with it all as Grandma had already set off for our meeting and we were late! Sorry! Papa knows that it is not a big deal as we were not all that late. Papa will do better next time. :p

Also, you insisted on bringing along your froggy bowl! We had no idea why you wanted to bring that along but you did. Mama put the bowl into your Minnie Mouse backpack so that you could carry it along with you. :D

After leaving Mama in church, Papa and you went to meet Grandma. We walked all the way to Suntec City for dinner as Grandma wanted to visit an event there held by Nature’s Farm. They were having some kind of 25th Anniversary celebrations and were offering discounts on their products.

When we got there, you remembered that there was a pet shop that had rabbits and such and you kept on asking to visit it. Papa brought you there as it was along the way. However, as we didn’t have much time as we had to go back to meet Mama later, Papa let you visit them for a short while before rushing you off for dinner.

We went to Kenny Roger’s Roasters for dinner as Papa remembered that you liked to eat the corn nibblets. And yes, you happily ate lots of the corn nibblets and the other side dishes as well! You asked for quite a bit of the food and we fed you until your mouth was full! :p We had to keep on telling ourselves to slow down and let you chew and swallow before we fed you some more. :D You ate quite a bit once more, Lil’ One! Well done! You also carried your own cup to drink water and you didn’t spill any of it! :D

We went to the exhibition area where the event was being held and Grandma went off to look for her products. Papa and you went off to a section that they had prepared for kiddies like you to play. They had boxes and boxes of Lego pieces and Papa and you sat there and played with them until Grandma was done.

As part of the Nature’s Farm celebrations, they had lots of stuff to give away as well. There was a ‘spin the wheel’ thing where Grandma got a packet of raisins for you. They also gave you a coloured-sand craft set where you can pour coloured sand onto a picture to make some sort of craft work. They also gave us a couple of popsicles. You kept on wanting to try the popsicles but Papa refused to let you have it. It’s not the healthiest thing, Lil’ One. You can have ice cream but not these, okay? :p

We then headed back to church as it was close to the time that Mama was ending her class. We went via the Citylink Mall and you kept on wanting to walk and look at stuff. Unfortunately, as we were quite late, Papa kept on rushing you. Sorry!

We sent Grandma off at the MRT station on the way back to church.

Mama introduced you to her classmates when we got back to church. :D Mama gave you a picture of a rabbit that she’d gotten that evening. We then came home.

You were so awake when we got back home. It took us some time before you finally fell asleep. Good night, Lil’ One!

We love you!

Papa and Mama

Skyler’s First Scraped Knee

Dearest Skyler,

We hung around at home today until Popo came in the afternoon. Papa and Mama left you with Popo after she arrived to go out to do some work.

You spent the afternoon playing with Popo. You both played with some flour and made dough to squish and knead. :D You always enjoy that! :D

After playing with some other stuff in the apartment, Popo brought you downstairs to play with the exercise equipment as you enjoy it so much. We think that we have to stop you from playing with them, Lil’ One, as they are not well-maintained. Many of the safety parts have dropped off through wear and tear and no one’s replaced them. Thus, they are quite dangerous.

At one point while you both were downstairs, you started running on your own and you fell. This resulted in you scraping your knee quite badly and there’s a painful wound on your left knee now. Popo said that you were very very brave as you didn’t cry at all! Even when Papa and Mama came back, all you did was tell us that you’d fallen and that it was ‘pain-pain’ but you didn’t cry or let it slow you down! :D Popo was so worried that you’d hurt yourself, Lil’ One. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

We brought you back upstairs to shower you and clean your wound. You were totally okay with water touching it and all. Brave Baby Girl! Mama then applied some antiseptic cream and you were none the worse for wear.

Popo left once she was sure that you were okay.

Then it was time for us to go for dinner. You were so sleepy by then that you refused to get up from a lying down position in the Living Room. We tried to entice you to get up by suggesting all kinds of food that you’ve been interested in before to no avail. Then, Mama suggested that we go have some octopus and your eyes completely lit up! You so totally brightened up at the suggestion! That left us in a laughing fit! So sorry, Lil’ One! Mama was just joking. We totally hate eating octopus and there is no way we’ll ever eat octopus. We don’t even know whether you knew what Mama was referring to but the way your face lit up was such a stark contrast to your expression before that we couldn’t stop laughing! :D

Anyway, you finally decided to get up and we left. You fell asleep in the car almost immediately and even after we got to the Point, you were still sleeping. You slept while we were in the queue to get into the ice cream restaurant as well. You only woke up after we got ourselves a table and it took you a while before you were awake enough to want to sit at the table for food.

We had some spaghetti and chicken frank which you ate quite a lot of. We were quite surprised by the amount of food you ate! You just kept on asking for more! :D As you got bored after a while, Papa decided to put on another ‘serviette boy’ performance for you and you enjoyed playing with it once again. After we’d completed our dinner, we had some ice cream and you also ate quite a lot of that. :D

We then went down to the supermarket to do some grocery shopping as Mama had to bring some food for her class tomorrow night. At the supermarket, you once again just ran off without making sure that we were with you and thus Papa and Mama scolded you again. Since you still hadn’t learnt your lesson, we didn’t allow you to play with your favourite horsey ride.

We came home after shopping for groceries and quickly put you to bed as it was already quite late. You were so sleepy that you were all ready for bed. You didn’t even want your milk feed. Mama put you in bed and you said ‘night-night’ to your animal toys and went straight to sleep! :D

Good night, Lil’ One! We love you!

Papa and Mama

The Little Gym

Dearest Skyler,

We had to wake you up early today, Lil’ One, as we’d made an appointment for a trial session at a kids’ gym for you. This was at Forum Galleria – the shopping centre that you so enjoy going to and hanging out at. We got there just in time for the session, Lil’ One. And we believe that this gym and the programme that they conducted is the best of all that we’ve tried.

Mama brought you in for the session as they only allowed one parent to accompany the child. The ‘teacher’ led you through a warm up session by using bells and such and singing some action songs. After that, the ‘teacher’ led you all through a series of ‘gymnastics’ moves like tumbling, etc. You so enjoyed yourself, Lil’ One. You really enjoy all these physical activities. :D

The gym was quite well constructed for little ones like you! The ground was almost completely padded and the equipment was also well padded. The staff there also expected the parents and little ones to clean their hands and feet before they entered the gym area so that some hygiene is maintained. In between classes, they also had someone go in to mop up the floor and wipe down the equipment. :D

You enjoyed yourself so much that you refused to leave even after the session had ended. In fact, Mama was stuck with you until after the next session had begun! :D It took lots of persuasion before Mama managed to get you out! :p Do you want to enrol in the programme, Lil’ One? It’s not cheap though. :p

We went next door to McDonald’s for breakfast after your session. The breakfast was a quick one as Mama had to go see Dr W.

As Mama had to go, Papa and you stayed at the shopping mall to hang around. You hung out at the Toys R Us for a while before we went around the rest of the places. You enjoyed sitting in the kiddy rides and spent most of the time at the ELC. :D

When Mama came back, you still wanted to enjoy sitting on the kiddy rides. You wanted to sit in the aeroplane ride but as it was moving, you stopped in your tracks and backed off until it stopped moving. :p You still aren’t ready to sit in kiddy rides when they move, Lil’ One. :D

After a while, we headed off to Fish and Co for lunch. You ate only a bit of fish but not very much. Actually, we all weren’t very hungry so we all shared one order. :D After a while, you got restless and kept on asking to be carried. As we’d yet to complete our lunch, Papa looked for something to entertain you. Papa decided to animate a piece of serviette and you were so taken by it. You kept on playing and interacting with it! :D Mama started calling it ‘Serviette Boy’! :p

We then went down to the fountain outside the building to look at it close up as you enjoy fountains so much.

We then walked around the bookstore for a short while. Poor Lil’ Darling, you accidentally hit your head against a table top and cried so piteously. Poor Baby! It took us a while before you calmed down.

We then came home and again you were so sleepy, you slept in the car all the way home.

On the way back to our apartment, we dropped by Aunty Chris’s place to collect some mini cupcakes that she had baked for you. :D Thank you, Aunty Chris!

We wanted you to catch a nap at home but you hardly slept before you woke up and refused to go back to sleep.

Papa had to attend a lesson in the evening so Papa went off.

Mama had to watch you. Moh-moh also had missed you so much that she came all the way to our place to spend some time with you and have dinner with Mama and you. You all went down to the Point for food and walked around a bit before Mama brought you home.

You were a very naughty girl at the Point tonight! You kicked up a big fuss about not wanting to eat when you all got there, though Mama finally managed to get you to eat some porridge at the Chinese restaurant. Then, when Mama brought you to the kids’ department store, you just wandered off without looking back to ensure that Mama and Moh-moh were following you. You just sprinted off and Mama lost you for a while. You headed straight for the swing set and played there without caring that Mama wasn’t there with you! It was only after some time that you realised that Mama was absent and you started calling for her and getting a bit worried. You must never walk off like that without our permission, do you understand? That was a terrible thing to do! You had Mama so worried for the time that she couldn’t see you! Mama of course had to scold you for being so naughty and oblivious to danger!

Papa only came back later in the evening after his lesson. When Mama told Papa how naughty you’d been, Papa also lectured you about how dangerous you were. Sigh… We hope that you learn quickly, Lil’ One! You cannot just wander off like that!

When we got home, we quickly showered you. When it was time to put you to bed, you still wanted Mama to do it. :D

Papa and Mama love you!

Southernmost Point of the Asian Continent

Dearest Skyler,

We went down to the Point for a ‘bao-bao’ lunch again today. Being a Monday, they still had all the items on their menu even though we’d gone there fairly late. :D

After lunch we drove all the way to Sentosa once again as we’d enjoyed ourselves so much before. You were fairly sleepy so you slept in the Duckie Mobile all the way. :p

When we got there, we headed off to the small section of beach near the Beach Station to take some photos. We’re hoping to have a photo that we can enlarge to replace the photo of Mama and Papa in the Living Room so that the whole Duckie family can be represented there rather than just Papa and Mama without you. :D We’d brought along our tripod to help us get the necessary shot.

After taking a few shots, we went back to the Beach Station and took a beach tram to the Palawan Beach to visit the small little islet that purports to be the Southernmost Point of the Asian Continent. :D When we were going to cross the bridge, we thought it would be fun if we took a similar photo to the one we took when we were there last year when Mako was around just to compare the differences that have taken place. :D So, that’s what we did. :D

After we got onto the islet, we walked around it to see what was there as we’d never been there before. :D We took some more photos before heading up the watchtowers that they had there. Right at the top, it suddenly turned extremely windy and our hair was being blown all over the place. You so totally enjoyed the experience that you couldn’t stop laughing! :D However, in contrast, Papa and Mama’s only reaction was to get out of there as quickly as possible in case it started raining as the sky had turned very dark with heavy rain clouds having been blown in.

We rushed to the nearby food court for shelter and dinner. While we were having our dinner, it drizzled for a while. After dinner, we dropped in at one of the shops there and walked around.

In the shop you grabbed hold of a couple of handbags and carried them around. You also grabbed a ball to bounce around. :D They sold sunglasses and we found a pair that totally fit you. As it was reasonably priced, we bought it for you! This was a better pair than what we could have gotten at Minitoons as it fits you better and there isn’t some sticker stuck on the lens that can’t be removed.

We then took a mini bus back to the Beach Station and we headed up to our vantage point to watch the ‘Songs of the Sea’ performance. We only walked off after the short fireworks.

We wandered around the fountain area as you were so excited by the place. Sigh… Skyler, you were so worried about the tripod bag at one stage that you struggled to get out of Papa’s arms to go get it. As Papa was trying to regain his balance after lowering you to the floor, you tripped over the fountain’s edges and fell over. That completely frightened us! We were so worried that you’d hurt yourself! :( Thank God you didn’t seem any worse for wear! :p Sigh… Thank you for being so concerned about our stuff, Lil’ One, but be more careful, okay?

After that, we thought of going off but Papa had to complete a couple of chores first so Mama brought you into the coffee shop to look around and you told Mama that you wanted a muffin. As you hadn’t eaten much for dinner, Mama decided to get one for you. We also fed you your milk as we were worried that you were hungry. While we were eating and drinking, we saw a small little snail crawling around the stone bench. You were quite fascinated by it. :D By the time we were done, it was almost time for the next fireworks display from the ‘Songs of the Sea’ show so we decided to stay there to catch it again. :D

We sat on the steps leading to the performance area and waited for a few minutes for it to begin. You’re such a funny girl! You wanted to watch it but when it started you got scared and didn’t look at it at all! :p

Anyway, after that, we headed home. You were once again so sleepy by then that you fell asleep almost immediately once you were put in the car.

When we got home, we showered you again. Yes, showered! You’ve taken to being showered rather than bathed, Lil’ One. :D You’d been showered a couple of times before but this morning, you actually asked to be showered and when we got home at night, you happily ran to the shower area! :D You’re such a big girl now! :D

Thanks for spending the day with us, Lil’ One! We’d so enjoyed ourselves! Hmmm… we sometimes wonder if you’ll ever realise that we probably spend more time with you than any other kid has with his / her parents. :p

Papa and Mama love you!

Che-che Eadoin

Dearest Skyler,

You woke up relatively late today - to Papa’s benefit. Wow! Papa always knew that interrupted sleep is not as restful as uninterrupted sleep but it’s always good to experience it personally. :p You let Papa sleep until then and Papa felt so much better than he’d had in the past many days as Papa didn’t have to wake up earlier to give you your morning milk. :p

However, as you had awakened so late, we couldn’t make it for Children’s Church anymore so we decided that we would only go for the afternoon service. You were awake for a short while before you were sleepy again and needed to go back for a nap. And what a long nap it was! By the time we woke up again, it was time for us to rush for the afternoon service. :p

When we got to church, we could see that you were looking around for the che-ches and kor-kors and none were around at all! :p We’re so sorry, Lil’ One. Our hearts broke on seeing how sad you were that there wasn’t anyone around for you to play with. Even che-che Eadoin wasn’t around.

Anyway, you still hung out with us for a while but having a few raisins, you wanted to go out to wash your hands so Mama brought you to do so. While you were out there, you needed your diaper change so Papa went out to help you do that. Mama went back in to the service.

After changing your diaper, Papa thought of bringing you upstairs to walk around but just as we were nearing the escalators, che-che Eadoin came out the nearby elevators and saw you and rushed over to hug you! She loves you so much! We think that seeing you in church is a highlight of her weekend, Lil’ One! :D

Che-che Eadoin then held your hand and walked with Papa back into the book shop. Outside the service area, che-che told us to wait as she wanted to go get something. So, Papa and you waited outside. Che-che then dashed into the service area to look for her thing and Mama spotted her and came out to see if we were around so that you could play with che-che. :D (Mama didn’t know that we were already with che-che. :D)

Che-che had gone to look for her soft toy to share with you. :D She so loves to play with you so much! :D She once again spoke about how she wishes she had a baby just like you as you’re so cute! :D

While we were outside, Uncle George came to say ‘Hi!’ to you and you gave him a hug! He was so surprised and touched that you hugged him, Lil’ One! :D He said that he was so privileged to have been hugged by you. :D

We then spent some time with che-che walking around the shop before heading off to Popo’s place for dinner.

Popo had cooked dinner for us but she herself wasn’t feeling so well. She couldn’t eat at all so we ate all the food. Popo brought you up to her room to play for a while but as she wasn’t well, she brought you down soon after and we left so that she could rest.

We’re sorry that you missed your Sunday School friends again, Lil’ One. We’ll definitely do our best to get you there next Sunday, okay?

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Swimming & Pizza

Dearest Skyler,

After we finally got up at what has become our usual time, we got ourselves ready to go swimming! You had chosen that over the zoo! :D Thank God the weather was so good today. It was sunny in a fairly clouded way. :p

When we got to the pool, it wasn’t too crowded and we had quite a bit of space to move around in but as time passed by, it began to get extremely crowded. :p We went through our usual routine of moving from one pool to another but the only pool that you are tall enough to stand in was the wading pool! That didn’t stop you from wanting to climb into the adult lap pool though! We had to keep on stopping you and moving you away from it.

You had also insisted on bringing so many toys to the pool but as we expected, once we got there, you didn’t want to play with any of them. :p Thus, Papa put them together with our things so that we could concentrate on watching you instead of worrying about them floating away.

When we wanted to leave the pool, you refused and began to cry non-stop when we carried you all the way to the changing room. In the end, we decided that Mama would bathe first while Papa brought you back to the pool and when she was done, she would then bathe you so that you would have a few more minutes in the pool. That sort of calmed you down a bit but even so, you still cried a bit when Papa yanked you out of the pool when Mama came looking for us when she was done. :p Sorry, Lil’ One!

We headed to the Point for a pizza dinner as that was what you told Mama you wanted while you were being bathed. We decided to try out the pizza restaurant today as we’d never brought you there before. We’d always fed you pizza at the pasta place and Papa wondered if the pizza at the pizza place would be just as well received by you.

We had garlic bread and pizza there and you ate a bit of both. The whole place wasn’t too bad except that the waiters and waitresses were really quite inexperienced. A number of them were sporting “Trainee” badges. They didn’t seem to know what kinds of deals the restaurant was having and they had to be told to go and ask their managers for details. Sigh… Oh well…But on the whole, it was quite an okay experience.

After dinner, we walked around a bit before heading for the supermarket to pick up some stuff and head home. You so totally are a baby of habit, Lil’ One. Once we got to the supermarket, you headed straight for the lemon and ‘buah salak’ area and started putting them singly onto the weighing scale. You do this everytime we go there. :D

You were so tired by then. You slept in the Duckie Mobile all the way home but when Papa put you to bed, you woke up and refused to go back to sleep. It was only later in the night that you fell asleep. However, it was much earlier than most nights that we put you to bed. Papa and Mama were also quite sleepy by then and we slept until after 11 p.m. before we got up to do our work. Hopefully, you’ll sleep through the night, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama love you!

Shopping!

Dearest Skyler,

Papa and Mama worked until 6 a.m. this morning and just as we were preparing to turn in you woke up! :p We gave you your milk and carried out your usual morning routine and thankfully, you were able to go back to sleep soon after. :p

Papa and Mama of course very gratefully went to bed until you woke us up again at almost mid-day.

Once we got up, we had to rush to leave as Mama needed to be in school for a meeting in the afternoon. After we got Mama to school, Papa and you headed off to IMM for lunch. After we had gotten there, Papa decided that we would just hang out there until it was time to pick Mama up as the weather wasn’t good enough for us to chance going to the zoo and by the time we had our lunch, there wasn’t really that much time to go home and do stuff. Besides, there were so many things that we could look at there.

You so enjoyed yourself going around exploring. There were so many kiddy rides that you could climb onto and kids’ stores to go into and such. We just went around walking and we only covered a couple of floors! :p You also enjoyed yourself climbing onto all kinds of furniture either in the common areas or in the stores and at one of the stores, you just kept on walking through a clothes rack over and over again! :D

You hardly ate or drank anything while we were there, Lil’ One. You didn’t even want your milk and when Papa offered you the soya bean milk that you asked for, you refused to take more than two sips. Weren’t you hungry, Lil’ One?

Anyway, close to the time that Mama was ready to be picked up, you began to get tired and sleepy so Papa brought you back to the Duckie Mobile so that you could catch a nap. We drove down to Mama’s school even though she wasn’t ready yet so that you could sleep. We then waited for a very short while before Mama signalled us to get her and we then headed off to Plaza Singapura.

We had to return to ‘Plaza Sing’ as we wanted to get your wings changed. And we ended up doing the usual things again! :D We visited your sheep at the store. You initially were scared to go into the store but Papa encouraged you to go in and after that, you just went around hugging all the sheep! :D (You had also kissed a doggie-face on a toy at IMM just now.) You are such a loving child, Lil’ One! Sigh… you’re such a joy! Keep loving people and animals, okay?

We had dinner at the food court where you only took your milk and refused to eat anything else. However, you patiently waited for us to have our dinner and we thank God that you’ve developed patience in this area for sometime now. :D

We then brought you to the basement as a new fish shop had opened there and we wanted to let you see the fish. It was a fairly nice shop. They had both fresh and salt water fish and terrapins as well. The whole set up was very pleasant. :D

Before leaving, we did a bit of grocery shopping at Carrefour. When we told you that there was where we were going, you kept on saying ‘Carrefour’ over and over until Mama heard you say it. :D In Carrefour, you walked around playing with everything you could grab. You even wanted to sit on this board on wheels. Papa has always wanted to get one for you (don’t know why) but you’re still a bit too small for it.

You were so tired by the time we got home (even with the nap in the car on the way back) you went to bed quite willingly. :p

We love you, Lil’ One! You’ve been such a blessing and a joy!

Papa and Mama

Eating!

Dearest Skyler,

Today was a very funny day – we spent most of the time eating! :p

We all woke up close to noon today after we’d gone back for our post-milk nap. :p

Papa’s phone that we’d sent down for repair on Monday was delivered to our apartment today. It was so surprising! Papa hadn’t expected Hewlett-Packard to have this level of service at all as no organisation has ever done this. We’d sent the phone in on Tuesday, Papa received a call yesterday (Wednesday) informing Papa that they’d repaired the phone and that they would deliver it to us at our place today! The delivery time was supposed to be between 12 noon and 3 p.m. and the delivery guy actually rung our door bell at exactly 12 noon! Wow! Papa had so totally expected to have to go down to pick it up personally like with every other product! Cool service! Well done, HP! :D

We then headed down to the Point for a ‘bao-bao’ lunch as we’d not done that this whole week. It was quite fun. You were so hungry by then that you ate one whole ‘char-siew soh’ by yourself. You then had some ‘bao-bao’. :D

We went down to Plaza Singapura after that to meet up with Popo for some ice cream! You were quite sleepy so when we got there, we let you sleep on for a bit longer before bringing you out to meet her. Mama had gone on ahead while you slept. After we met up, we went to the Swensen’s outlet for our ice cream and you kept on eating the ice cream so happily! We’d also picked up a balloon for you. :D For some reason, you decided to bend the stick that the balloon was on around your neck and it actually got bent and we think you hurt yourself when that happened. Don’t do that again, okay? Don’t hurt yourself!

We walked around the shops for a while after that and you brought us into this shop that sold lots and lots of pink stuff for girls. Mama let you play with this pair of wings that they were selling and you were so happy with them! You ran towards the dressing room where the mirrors were and kept on looking at them on your back! :D You so enjoyed them that we had to buy them for you! :D

You also brought us to your sheep shop to look at the sheep. :D It was so funny to us that we keep on going back there just to stand outside and stare at the poster of the sheep. The shop was open today but we still just stood outside to look at the sheep. :p

As Mama had to go down to church for a lesson, Papa and you left Popo and Mama and headed off on our own. Papa brought you down to Grandma’s for dinner. Yes, another eating session! :p

Papa thought of having Japanese food tonight as we felt that it wasn’t so good for you to keep on eating the coffee shop food due to the high salt/MSG content. Grandma brought us to a place we’d not tried before. The place was called Nihon Mura. It was in the swimming complex there.

We ordered the usual food that we eat. However, the way the business was run was somewhat different from the usual. There were no menus. We had to walk around the food preparation area to select sticks that had the names of the food that we wanted and bring it back for the waiters to order them for us. You ate most of the chawanmushi that Papa got for you and some of Grandma’s salmon and Papa’s chicken. :D

The service standard there was quite okay. One of the kor-kors in charge kept on coming to talk to you and was always on the alert for any customer request / complaint. They were also fairly polite. All-in-all the experience was quite nice.

The only thing was that as it was not part of a shopping mall / area, there was nothing to look at after the dinner so we just brought Grandma home before heading home ourselves.

At home, you wanted to continue playing with the wings that we’d bought so Papa put it on you. Somehow, one of the strings that attached the wings onto your back came loose and there’s no way that you can wear them again. Hmmm… we’ll try to bring it back to the shop to see if they’ll replace it, okay? The other thing was that the wings kept on dropping glitter all over the place. Papa had to keep cleaning it up! :p

Mama came home soon after and we put you to bed!

We love you, Lil’ One! You’ve been such a joy!

Papa and Mama

Fish! Fish!

Dearest Skyler,

Papa had to go in to work in the morning today. Papa had intended to stay at home until you woke up as you usually want Papa in the mornings but you were still sleeping when Papa had to leave. Surprisingly, you slept all the way until 10 a.m.! Papa feels so cheated. :D You always wake Papa up so early in the morning and on the day Papa had to wake up early, you wake up late! :D

Anyway, thankfully, you were quite okay with Papa not being around when you woke up. Mama then fed you your milk and took care of you. Soon after you were sleepy again and Mama put you down on your bed and you went back to sleep!

After you got up again, Mama brought you down to Papa’s school to pick him up so that we all could head on down to Sentosa to spend the day there!

(We think you miss the zoo, Lil’ One. When Mama drove past the turn off to the zoo, you kept on saying ‘zoo!’ and you kept on repeating that even after getting to Papa’s school. We’ll bring you to the zoo another time, okay?)

We drove into Sentosa and parked at the same car park that Godma Audrey did when you went there a few weeks ago. In fact, we did exactly the same things that Mama and you did with Godma Audrey then. We headed to the Dolphin Lagoon to catch the dolphin performance before heading to the Underwater World to look at the underwater life there. After that, we went back to the Merlion to have dinner at the deli and caught the ‘Songs of the Sea’ show from a distance. :D

At the Dolphin Lagoon, we watched the trainers put the three pink dolphins that they have through their paces. It was all quite fun as dolphins are such magnificent creatures and they are so agile and sporting. :D The place was quite crowded with tourists.

At the Underwater World, we came across a few peacocks – Mama counted eleven! One of them had fluffed out its tail feathers and looked so magnificent! Then we looked at the giant sea turtles. They were really huge! We also walked around the exhibits on the outside and Papa touched a few rays. They were really smooth skinned! :D

In the Underwater World, the place was quite packed with people! However, the traffic was quite smooth. We stood on the travellator and went around the place looking at the fish and other marine life swimming all around us. You were so excited that you wanted to touch all of them! :D We also caught a couple of divers feeding the big fish! :D We went around the place a couple of times before leaving.

We took the bus back to the fountains at the base of the Merlion. You so like the fountain there. At the base of the Merlion was a deli and we had our dinner there. While waiting for our food to be delivered, Mama let you play with her earphones and you so enjoyed yanking on the cord! :D You kept on laughing when you did that.

You then had some food before getting restless and demanded to go for a walk. Before we did that, we made you pick up the serviette that you had shredded and thrown onto the floor. We cannot litter, okay? It is not right. If you throw things onto the floor, you have to clear it.

We then headed to a good vantage point where we could see the water, light and fireworks display from the ‘Songs of the Sea’ show. When the show ended, we headed back to the Duckie Mobile and came home. You were so sleepy by then that you slept all the way home!

What a fun day! We always enjoy ourselves so much when we spend time together. Sigh… You must always spend lots of time with us, okay?

Papa and Mama love you!

Aunty Chris Cares for Skyler

Dearest Skyler,

Mama had an exam today so we brought her to her school in the morning so that she could do some revision for a few short hours.

After bringing Mama to school, Papa brought you over to the Hewlett-Packard Customer Service Centre as Papa’s phone had some problems. (You’ve been so cute with Papa’s phone! :D Papa had recorded your voice and had been using it as the phone’s ringtone and everytime Papa’s phone rang, you would say ‘baby!’ in response to your voice being played. Thus, after that, everytime you want to play with Papa’s phone, you would refer to it as ‘baby!’ :D)

After a fairly fuss-free visit to HP, we headed home. You were very sleepy so you slept in the car all the way home. After we got home, Papa tried to put you to bed but you refused. But Papa was completely exhausted as Papa and Mama hadn’t been able to sleep the previous night and only got to bed after 4 a.m. So, Papa, being the naughty person that he is, lay on the bed while you wandered around the room playing with whatever you could lay your hands on. It was not very safe but Papa thought that what we had in the room was not very dangerous either. And you just left Papa to rest while you entertained yourself! Thank you, Lil’One! :D (Actually, it was quite noisy for a while as someone was hacking away in an apartment in our building as part of their renovations of their place.)

After a while, Papa felt guilty so he got up and went to play with you. The funny thing was that you then started feeling sleepy. So, after having fed you your milk and a peanut butter sandwich, Papa brought you to bed and you very quickly fell asleep. Papa of course jumped at the chance to catch up on some sleep as well! :p

After having slept for some time, Papa woke up and found you still sleeping. Papa didn’t want to get up in case he woke you so he lay in bed and drifted off to sleep again. However, the rest of the nap was very fitful as Papa was afraid to sleep too deeply in case he missed you calling for him when you woke up. It didn’t happen! :D You just kept on sleeping. Thus, Papa decided to get up. And you got up soon after. :D

By the time we got up, it was way too late to go anywhere as Papa had to attend another lesson at night. So, Papa spent the time bathing you and feeding you and watching a bit of TV with you before bringing you down to Aunty Chris’s. Aunty Chris had agreed to watch you while both Mama and Papa were away.

Everybody was home at Aunty Chris’s – Uncle James, Kor-kor Luke, Che-che Joan and Mei-mei Dawn. Even Aunty Chris’s parents were there as well. You had such a fun time playing there with so many people! :D You amazed them all with how well-behaved you were while you were there. Mama and Papa had repeatedly asked you to not jump on the sofa and to remain in the living room and you listened! :D

When Mama had completed her exam (which she passed by the way! :D Congratulations, Mama!) she came home and picked you up from there. When she got there, you were being fed by Aunty Chris. Mama took over feeding you. All the uncles and aunties were commenting on how good you were and how brave you were for not crying when left at a strange home. :D

Mama and you then grabbed a cab to the library as Mama had signed you up for a reading activity there and you were already late. However, unfortunately, the people who conducted the reading activity weren’t very engaging so you ended being extremely bored and wanted to leave. As a courtesy to them, Mama couldn’t let you go out and you ended up lying on the floor and trying to sleep.

After the activity, Mama brought you back to the Point for a walk while waiting for Papa to come back and pick you both up. You did your usual rounds of sitting in the kiddy rides and exploring. Mama then brought you to the ice cream restaurant for some ice cream to celebrate the completion of her exam paper. Papa came to join you both soon after.

Papa and Mama love you!

Papa and Mama Take Turns

Dearest Skyler,

Papa and Mama took turns to care for you today, Lil’ One. Mama has an exam tomorrow so she needed time to study and Papa had to attend a lesson at night. Thus, we had to take turns to care for you.

Papa had intended to bring you to the pool for a swim in the morning when we’d awakened so that Mama could study but as she had gone to bed very late and thus was still sleeping when you woke up, Papa decided to stay at home with you. You were also quite sleepy still so we both went back to bed for a post-sleep nap. :D

Later, once we all had awakened, Papa was all set to bring you swimming but it started raining very heavily. Mama had to study so Papa watched over you in the Living Room while Mama was in the Study. However, you kept on going in to look for her. Thus, once the rain stopped and the sun came out, Papa grabbed the opportunity to bring you to the pool.

The pool was very empty today – especially the wading pool. There was only one other aunty with her daughter in it so, we had lots of space to do our stuff. However, as usual, you didn’t want to stay in the wading pool; you insisted on going into all the pools. Papa gave in to you except for the Lap pool as that is way too deep for you right now. Thus, Papa brought you to the Learning Pool, the Fun Pool and the Jacuzzi Pool. :D You so enjoyed each one of them. Papa had to be extremely careful at each of these though as they were too deep for you to stand in properly.

After exploring the different pools, you went on an up and down adventure in the wading pool – you kept on climbing out of the pool and climbing back in using the ladder. You kept on going in and out of the pool a number of times. :D

We then had to come home as Papa had to go for his lesson at night.

After bringing you home, Mama took over watching you for the rest of the night. Mama and you spent lots of time playing and reading and watching TV. Mama even let you play with her guitar! :D You always enjoy spending time with Mama. :D

Lil’ One, you’ve taken to wanting only Mama to carry you to sleep. Every time Papa tries to put you to bed, you’ll refuse and demand that Mama carry you. :D This is so cute. Papa gets to nap while Mama lulls you to sleep as you insist that Papa remain in the room too! :D

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Happy Birthday Moh-Moh!

Dearest Skyler,

This morning, you woke up fairly early again to Papa’s horror! Papa hadn’t been able to go to sleep the whole night and only fell asleep close to 7 a.m. and you woke up at 8 a.m. and refused to go back to sleep! :p Papa tried to put you back to bed but you bounced right back up and asked to go to ‘Church!’ You kept on repeating it over and over and when Mama who was also awakened by you, asked if you wanted to go to church, you said ‘Yes!’ You were so adorable, Lil’ One. However, as Papa was totally exhausted, we decided that we would only go for the afternoon service. Sorry! Anyway, there wasn’t Sunday School today. :p

Papa brought you to the Point for another pasta lunch so that Mama would have a short period of time to do her stuff. We couldn’t really do very much then as we had to rush.

After our quick lunch, we went back to our place to pick Mama up then we all went to church.

Once we got there, we bumped into Che-che Eadoin who said that you’re the cutest baby she’s ever met! She even repeated this to everyone she met. She kept on fawning over you throughout the time that we were there. She would keep on loving you and carrying you. She couldn’t leave your side. She’s so the che-che to you. :D And you enjoy being with her too as she gives you so much attention.

Uncle Anthony and his wife also came for the service and Uncle Anthony made an extra effort to come to play with you because you’re always so shy with him. :D However, you still were so shy!

After worship, you got a bit restless so Che-che Eadoin decided to bring you out for a walk in the store and Mama went along to make sure that both of you were alright. Che-che showed you so many things in the store. At one time, she showed you a seat and after you’d sat down, you told her to ‘sit-sit’ as well. She immediately went to another part of the store and carried a stool all the way to where you were so she could sit with you as you’d requested. :D

Anyway, we once again had to leave service early as we had to go to Raffles City to buy presents for Moh-moh as we’re celebrating her birthday today at Popo’s place. We rushed down there and went on a whirlwind shopping trip picking up presents and a birthday cake for Moh-moh. We then headed to Popo’s place.

When we got there, Bubu and Moh-moh were already there. The food had been laid on the table and we were all ready for dinner. You, naturally, had to head for your car first before you would sit at the dinner table.

You were a very good girl. You sat at the dinner table and ate all the food that Mama gave you. After you’d eaten, Bubu and Moh-moh played with you for a while before Popo brought you up to her room to play. You came down with one of Popo’s necklaces around your neck. :D You so like to accessorise, Lil’ One.

We then gave Moh-moh her presents and had the birthday cake. It was quite amusing during the singing of the birrthday song as we all sang “Happy Birthday, Moh-moh!” You’ve given Moh-moh a new name! :D

As it was getting late, we all then headed home.

Happy Birthday, Moh-moh!

Papa and Mama love you, Lil’ One

Ayam Panggang

Dearest Skyler,

We spent most of the day at home today. Papa was supposed to have brought you out so that Mama could study but Papa still wasn’t feeling very well and needed to rest. Sigh… tonight was your Sunday School friends’ birthday celebrations and Papa was supposed to have brought you but Papa really wasn’t up to it. Sorry, Lil’ One.

In the afternoon, all of us took a fairly long nap as Mama was also quite exhausted and for some reason, you were able to sleep too. :p

In the evening, Papa was supposed to have brought you out for dinner so that Mama could have some time to study but you refused to leave Mama at home. You kept on insisting that Mama had to come along so Mama gave in and gave up on trying to study. :p

We had originally planned to go to United Square for dinner as it is usually less crowded so we won’t have any problems getting a table. Along the way, we decided to drop by the Adam Road Hawker Centre to buy some food for breakfast but the stall was closed as it was Hari Raya Puasa! To make up for our disappointment, we decided to head down to Plaza Singapura instead to eat another yummy dish – Ayam Panggang! :p

Thus, we drove down to Plaza Singapura even though we were worried that it would be very crowded and we might have difficulties getting a parking space. Thankfully, we didn’t face that big a problem with parking our Duckie Mobile. It was quite smooth flowing with only the slightest of delays. And even the food court was sufficiently empty that we could get a table without a problem. The only long queue was for the food! :p

After dinner, we walked around a bit and suddenly you asked for ‘Sheep!’ You remembered the sheep from our visit here last week! Mama then asked you where the sheep were and you correctly pointed one floor up and when we got to that floor, you led us to the shop with the sheep! Your memory is amazing, Lil’ One! We are constantly astounded by what you remember!

We then went down to Carrefour to pick up some stuff before heading home.

You were so tired by then that you went to bed quite willingly.

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

Popo Comes to Visit

Dearest Skyler,

Popo came to visit today. This is something that she looks forward to all the time. She just loves you so much!

Papa had to go in to work today so you were with Popo and Mama at home. As it was raining, Popo couldn’t bring you downstairs initially so she played with you in our apartment. You both played with the dough (one of your favourite activities now). You almost made a great big mess. Thankfully, Mama managed to minimise the mess by stopping you from touching everything around with your doughy hands. :D

Later in the afternoon, when it’d stopped raining, Popo brought you downstairs with your tricycle for a walk. It’s been sometime since you had a ride on your tricycle, Lil’ One. Thanks to Popo you got reacquainted with it. :p

Papa only came back after Popo had left. Papa then brought you out to the Point for a quick pasta dinner before bringing you to ride on your favourite horse merry-go-round. Then we came home.

Papa wasn’t feeling very well so Papa headed for bed almost immediately. Mama had to take care of you and put you to bed alone tonight. Sorry Mama!

We love you, Lil’ One!

Papa and Mama

A Short Trip to the Zoo

Dearest Skyler,

We spent most of the day at home as you kept on appearing to be sleepy but you never did go to bed. Everytime we tried to put you to bed, you would stay awake and make noise. :p

Finally, later in the afternoon, we decided that you weren’t going to take a nap so Papa brought you to the zoo. Once Papa put you in the Duckie Mobile, you tried to go to sleep but Papa didn’t allow you to fall asleep as Papa didn’t want to waste all the time and effort to bring you to the zoo only to have you sleeping in the car in the car park there. :p Thus, Papa kept on talking to you to keep you awake. :p

Once we got there, you were once again totally awake! Since we got there so late, there were very few people around and in fact most of the people who were there were heading for the exit as we were strolling in. :p In the time we had left before the official closing time, we actually managed to take a quick walk around the perimeter of the zoo and visited most of the enclosures.

We visited the Otters – they were totally running around today. We couldn’t figure out what was making them so excited. There was one particular otter that kept on swimming up and down the small little pool that they had. It was quite cute.

We managed to catch the Polar Bear in the open today. Inuka was just pacing up and down as he usually does. We then walked all around the place looking at whatever we could. :D

We happened to wander past the Children’s World Animal Land so we dropped in to take a look at the sheep but they were all gone! Papa’s not sure whether the zoo keepers had taken them into a shelter due to the rain or that they have kept them away because of the renovation work going on.

We also dropped by the penguin enclosure. Next to the enclosure was a sculpture of sealions, seals and such. You climbed onto a couple of them that were about your height like they were a kiddy ride. :D You also went around tapping on those that were in a sleeping pose and telling them to “wake up!” That was so funny! :D

We then headed to the Milo place to get our customary Milo drink and you finished the whole cup. Papa was only left with two sips! :D

We then headed home for dinner. This time, Papa let you sleep in the car as you were so so tired by then.

After dinner, you wanted to play with dough. It was quite amazing for us. You started making a sign for massaging dough and saying “dough”. It took us a while to figure out what you were saying as that wasn’t a sign that we’d taught you! You’re totally astonishing, Lil’ One! You’re coming up with your own signs and they are totally appropriate to what you’re trying to say! So, of course, we had to let you play with the dough though it was already a bit late.

Mama had actually bought some plastic toys for this very purpose – it consisted of eyes, arms, hats, legs, etc that you could add on to plasticine, dough, etc. So, we of course took them out for this activity. You had so much fun kneading the dough and sticking the parts in. :D And of course the whole table was a mess from the flour that we used to make the dough. :D

We put you to bed soon after, Lil’ One.

You’re getting a bit noisy, Lil’ Gal. You keep on raising your voice sometimes to demand things and we don’t like it. We’re going to ignore you when you do this as we are not going to give you anything when you speak like that.

We love you!

Papa and Mama

An Afternoon with Grandma

Dearest Skyler,

Papa brought you out this afternoon to meet up with Grandma. Grandma had a chore to complete and needed Papa to be there as well. Since Mama needed the time to study, Papa brought you along.

You were actually quite sleepy in the afternoon. You were already sleepy before we left. Papa was hoping that you would take a nap in the car but you didn’t. You were trying to – but you never succeeded.

After picking Grandma up, we went off to complete the thing she wanted done. While we were there, you totally enjoyed walking up and down the place and exploring things.

However, when we wanted to leave, you refused to get into your car seat! :( You were so totally resistant to being put into your seat! You cried and cried your little lungs out. Poor Sweet Baby! (Papa and Mama don’t believe in forcing you to do things when you’re like that. We don’t believe in giving in to you when you’re simply being spoilt but when you’re crying yourself delirious, we’ll always try to figure out how to best care for you.) Papa had actually gotten you into your seat and buckled you up and driven off but since you were crying so piteously, Papa parked the car again and took you out.

Papa tried to reason with you and entice you back into your seat by telling you about what we could do at Suntec City but you simply didn’t want to get into your seat. You insisted on sitting on the front seats and after that you still refused to get into your own seat. We went back into the building for a short walk before coming back to the car and you still refused. Papa thus had to carry you for a long while and sing songs to you as well. You started falling asleep in Papa’s arms and Papa thought that that would be a good opportunity to put you in your seat. However, a car came into the car park blasting music extremely loudly and woke you up. Papa never liked people who did such things with their cars and when that person drove in blasting his sound system in such a manner that woke you up after Papa had spent so much time and effort trying to get you to fall asleep Papa renewed his dislike for such people. Sigh…

Papa still tried to get you into your seat and you allowed him to but you kept on crying. Poor little Darling! Papa was so sorry but we’d already spent a very long time in the car park there. Papa and Grandma kept trying to comfort you on the drive over to Suntec which was not very far away. You calmed down quite soon after, thankfully.

When we got to Suntec City, Papa brought you to sit on some of the rides and allowed you to walk around. We also visited the little furry animal shop where you saw bunnies and hamsters. We headed for Toys R Us but you weren’t really interested in staying there; you came out very soon after. We ended up sitting on the ride outside of the toy shop.

We then went outside to the Sky Garden where there was a small playground. You were so keen on the slide that you scrambled up the platform and went straight for the slide. Grandma had actually sat down on another piece of the equipment but Papa called for her to be at the end of the slide to catch you as Papa had to be with you at the top to make sure that you didn’t lose your footing. You so enjoyed it that you went up and down four times! :D

We then went for dinner at Fish and Co. You initially didn’t want to sit in your high chair until Papa suggested that you drink your milk. However, it took a very long time for some warm water to come as they only started boiling the water when we asked for it. By the time it came, you were crying very hungrily already. In fact, you were so hungry that you finished both portions of milk that Papa had brought.

After drinking so much milk, you let out an extremely loud and satisfied burp when Papa was least prepared for it. Papa actually thought that you were going to throw up! When Papa whirled around to face you, you had your hand over your mouth and you were totally grinning! As both Papa and Grandma were looking at you, you happily said very clearly “Sorry!” You were SO cute! Grandma was totally amused by your saying that! She even commented, “Wah! She knows how to say ‘Sorry’!” :D

And then you also had a bit of fish and rice (not very much). Papa was so busy with you that Papa didn’t realise how long it was taking for his food to arrive – Grandma was already close to finishing her food by then. So, Papa asked about it and was told that they had not sent the order into the kitchen and they had just started to prepare the food! :( However, the management was quite apologetic about it and offered to give us some soup to drink while we waited for Papa’s food. We accepted it as you wanted the soup. You so love the soup, Lil’ One. You practically finished drinking it all! :D

After dinner, we headed back to the Duckie Mobile and brought Grandma home before heading home ourselves. You slept in the car all the way. :p

After we got home, we hoped that you would go to sleep early since you didn’t really have a proper nap the whole day except for the one in the car on the way home. However, that was not to be. Papa took almost two hours to get you to bed. Sigh… Oh well… Poor little Duckie! :(

Papa and Mama love you!

Swim-Swim Day

Dearest Skyler,

Papa and Mama ended up sleeping very late again – about 5 a.m. – thus it was quite terrible for us when you woke up at 7 a.m. and refused to go back to bed! :p Papa managed to get you back to bed later but you didn’t sleep very long so Mama had to watch you while Papa slept like a log! :p

As you were so awake, we decided that it was futile to try to see if you would take an afternoon nap so we brought you out swimming instead as you wanted to. On the way to our Duckie Mobile, we bumped into Kor-kor Luke and Che-che Joan and their grandpa in the lift. They were also going swimming but at a different location.

We spent quite a long time at the pool today as the weather was good and the pool was empty but most importantly, we had no agenda for the evening. :D You so enjoyed yourself in the water that you were reluctant to leave even after the two hours that we’d spent there.

Skyler, you’re actually quite strong! You keep on pulling yourself out of the water using the side walls. Papa remembers that when he was much younger and learning to swim, a few of his friends had problems pulling themselves out of the water via the sidewalls – they actually needed to use the ladder.

You also totally enjoyed jumping while in the water as it’s so much easier for you to do so. :D

After leaving the pool, we headed back to the Point for dinner. We had chicken and fish at the food court and you ate so much. You must have really been very hungry after the swim.

After dinner, we went over to the library to return your books and Mama chose some more books for you. You spent the time running around the library playing. You so enjoy walking on the stepping stones in the library. You also kept on removing your sandals. We still don’t know why you keep on doing that. We had to keep on putting them back on. :p

Before heading home, we bought some groceries.

You were quite sleepy by then so you hardly put up a struggle before going to sleep.

We love you, Lil’ One.

Papa and Mama

Sleepy Girl

Dearest Skyler,

You woke up a bit early today but you were still very sleepy so you went back to bed soon after.

When you woke up again, it was time for us to bring Mama to school. As we didn’t have time for a proper lunch, we bought some fast food from the store near our place and headed off to Mama’s school.

You were again so sleepy that you slept in the car all the way there and back.

When you got home Papa and you watched a bit of TV before you once again got sleepy and needed to sleep. Papa gladly joined you as he was sleepy too.

After we both woke up, it was near the time to go back to pick Mama up. Amazingly, you were quite sleepy again and kept dozing off in the car on the way there.

After picking Mama up, we headed off to Plaza Singapura. When we were walking from the carpark to the mall, Mama got you to repeat the letters of the alphabet after her. You were so cute! You diligently repeated each letter after Mama. Papa and Mama are so excited about how you're able to mimic us so well now. How you've grown, Little One!

We had dinner at the food court as they finally have high chairs. Apparently this fact was not made known to the cleaners there. Mama had asked two of the cleaners separately whether they had high chairs and both said ‘no!’

Papa went to near a counter there and spotted the high chairs stacked up near it. Papa had also spotted someone using a high chair there. Sigh… poor service once again. The chairs didn’t look brand new so they must have been used for quite some time already. How can the cleaners not know that they existed as they have to be the ones who had to put them back in the storage area? Sigh…

While Papa was looking for a table for us to sit at, apparently, you spotted some teddy bear iron-on patches at the bookshop across the aisle! While we were having dinner, you kept on pointing at the book shop and talking about ‘bear’. We had no idea what you were talking about. After dinner, Mama asked you to bring her to the bear and you brought her straight to the display rack at the store! We are totally impressed with your eye sight, Lil’ One! How did you spot the bears at the distance we were at? The bear patches were so small! :D

You were so cute at the dinner table. Mama started singing the alphabet song to you and you started dancing to it. :D Your whole face lit up as well! It was such a cute sight! :D

After that, we went down to the store called Spotlight as Mama wanted to buy you some wool to make a small pom-pom ball for you. We ended up buying some other stuff as well. You had a whale of a time playing with all the stuff there. There was a ‘feather-like’ material that you kept on putting around your shoulders; you also played with this styrofoam ring where you kept on pulling it up around you like a life buoy; you also picked up a plastic sword and carried it around for a while; you also wore a big sun hat; etc. :D

While Mama was still shopping, you brought Papa on a walk outside and we came across the Serta mattress shop and you were so attracted to the sheep mascots that they had in the store. You even told Mama about them so that she could take a look as well.

We’d wanted to go down to the supermarket to pick up some stuff but when we got there, there was a big commotion at the entrance/exit – two middle aged women were arguing very loudly and they were even tugging at each other’s clothing. It was so shocking! The security guards were there trying to calm them down.

Papa really can’t understand what our society is coming to. Sigh… Why are older women resorting to physical violence to settle disagreements? Young girls are becoming gang leaders and they do terrible things that even bad boys don’t do and these girls don’t even think that it is wrong. We really pray that you never have to experience this nonsense yourself.

As they were still arguing there, we decided not to go in to the supermarket so we headed home instead.

We love you, Lil’ One.

Papa and Mama

Cutest Lil’ Girl

Dearest Skyler,

We went for church today. You managed to wake us up quite early today so we were not that late. :p

It is the 3rd Anniversary of our church and they were having a celebration. However, this meant that there was NO Sunday School! Both of us were shocked! We had been promising you Sunday School but now there wasn’t going to be one! :( So sorry, Lil’ One.) You had even been so patient waiting for it to start and hanging out with us in the main meeting room.

After a while, you dragged Mama out with you and you headed straight for where the Sunday School class usually met but there wasn’t anyone there! Poor Baby Gal! You must have been so disappointed!

You then walked around the store for a while before Mama brought you to the supermarket to look around. As you were quite tired and sleepy, we decided to leave early so that you could sleep in the Duckie Mobile.

We went over to Raffles City for lunch as we wanted to shop for a present for Moh-moh as her birthday is approaching. We had lunch at the sushi place and while we were there, Bubu and Moh-moh dropped by to visit you! They had to leave soon after as they had to attend their cell group in church.

After lunch, we walked around a bit to shop for Moh-moh. Mama bought you your birthday card while we were shopping! :D Mama’s also already decided on which birthday cake to order for you! Talk about preparing way in advance. :D You so enjoyed running around the shops and exploring. We always have to keep an eye on you in case you get into trouble. :p

After walking around for a while, we headed back to the Duckie Mobile as you were so sleepy. You slept in the Duckie Mobile all the way home, Poor Lil’ One!

Mama then tried to put you to bed after we got back. You didn’t want to sleep initially but you finally did so as you were really tired still.

In the evening, we went down to the Point for dinner. You kept on saying that you wanted pizza but your signal was quite confusing as when we asked if you really wanted pizza, you said ‘No.’ But then you would say ‘pizza’ again. In the end, we decided to eat at the ice cream restaurant as they had a deal on pizza and we could get some ice cream if we wanted.

While Mama was waiting in the queue, Papa and you went over to the nearby department store to walk around. You were so thrilled by the ‘health products’ that were laid out and you kept on climbing onto them. You did this until Mama got us a table. That was when Papa brought you in to join Mama.

When we’d seated down, you asked for an ice cream so we did order one for us to share after having had our dinner. You were such a good girl! You ate some of the food though you didn’t really want any before starting on the ice cream which you really wanted. :p

We then went down to the supermarket to buy some stuff before heading home.

Darling Skyler, you really are the cutest lil’ girl in our lives! There are just so many things that you do that amuse us to no end. After we’ve put you to bed every night, Mama and Papa will sit down together to recount how cute you are. You’re such a huge part of our lives. You’ve changed our lives so much – in all the good ways. We so love you!

Papa and Mama

Swim-Swim!

Dearest Skyler,

We went for a ‘bao-bao’ lunch this afternoon. We ate the usual stuff and you ate your usual amount. :D After that, we left immediately for the swimming pool as it was already quite late.

When we got there, the sky was a bit dark but we decided that we would take a short dip in any case as we’d wanted to bring you to the pool for some time and you wanted to swim too.

The pools were quite crowded as there were several children’s swimming classes going on. However, though it was crowded, we still had our own little space to move around in so it was actually still quite good. :D

After a short while, it started drizzling and we were worried that the rain might become heavier so we got out of the pool to stand under some shelter. We didn’t want to leave immediately like we did the last time as we were wondering if the rain might stop after a short while like the last time. :D It did! So we went back into the water. :D

After some time, we thought it best that we leave but you didn’t want to leave. You wanted to stay in the water for a bit longer. :D However, it was very late already and you hadn’t had a nap the whole afternoon so we pulled you out to get changed so we could all go home.

After we got home, we bathed you and then kept you up for a bit longer as your hair was wet. Then we tried to put you to bed. You so didn’t want to nap initially. Mama had to carry you for quite some time before you were willing to sleep. You woke up after a while and we thought of going out with you for dinner but you were so fussy and cranky. We decided to eat in instead. However, we realised that you really needed to go back to sleep. You must have been so tired out by the swim.

You woke up again quite a bit later and of course that meant that we had a hard time putting you back to bed for the night. We tried to get you to bed at 10 something but that was obviously ridiculous as you’d already had more than 3 hours of sleep an hour or so before that. Sigh… Poor Lil’ One! We shouldn’t have let you nap for so long but what could we do?

You so totally want Mama to carry you like a baby now. It’s so cute! :D

Papa and Mama love you!

A Visit to Kow-fu and Kow-moh’s

Dearest Skyler,

We spent the whole day at home today as we were just so tired. We’d intended to bring you out to either the new section of the Botanic Gardens meant for kids to learn more about the park or for a swim at the pool. In the end, we did neither. By the time we were ready to leave our apartment, it was time for us to bring you down to Kow-fu and Kow-moh’s place for a visit.

By the time we came back to pick you up, you’d already had so much fun playing with them. Moh-moh fed you your dinner (Mama had prepared porridge for you) then they brought you downstairs for a walk before Bubu went to bring Popo over to play with you. You also played with your Big-Bear and Kangaroo! And of course, you headed for Popo’s stickers which she gladly took out to let you play with. :D In fact, you had so much fun that you didn’t want to leave! :D You so love your Bubu and Moh-moh, Lil’ One! Your face simply lights up whenever you see them. :D

We had to bring you home as everyone had been exhausted by your boundless energy, Lil’ One. We’ll bring you over to play with them another time, okay?

We forgot to mention a little trick of yours, Lil’ One. You’ve taken to asking us to sing your Sunday School songs with you before bed time and after we sing, you’ll dash off to try to snatch our spectacles off our bedside tables. :D Of course we know that you’re attempting that so sometimes we’ll stop you but it never fails to make you laugh. You’re so amused by your attempts. :D Your being amused makes us very amused too! :D

Also, you’ve finally started trying to say your own name, Lil’ One. It’s so thrilling to hear you try. You keep on surprising us with the number of words that you can say now. :D

Papa and Mama love you!

A Day with Grandmas

Dearest Skyler,

You woke up extremely early today – just before 7 a.m. Considering that Papa only finally managed to fall asleep at 4 a.m., that was really really early! :p Actually, you were still very sleepy. You had your milk and watched a bit of TV but you could hardly sit up; you kept on lying down on Papa’s lap. When Papa decided to put you back to bed, you made a big fuss but as you really were sleepy, you did go back to bed.

Popo travelled all the way down to spend some time with you today. Papa and Mama took the opportunity to go out for a movie since Popo would be around to care for you. However, when we were about to leave, you kicked up a big fuss and refused to let us go. You were so sad, Lil’ One. You kept on crying and clinging onto us - one at a time! Our hearts so totally melted at how much you love us and need us. :D In the end, you finally calmed down when Popo brought you downstairs with us to see us off. Sigh… Poor Lil’ Darling!

Thus, you spent the whole afternoon with Popo. You took an afternoon nap as well besides doing all your usual stuff. :D

We came back later in the afternoon and brought Popo home. Papa and you then gave a lift to Mama to an MRT station so that she could go down to church for her course. Papa and you then headed off to Grandma’s for dinner. As it was the Rush Hour, the traffic was super-heavy and it took forever to get there. Papa was so tired from driving by the time we got there.

We had dinner at the usual coffeeshop. You ate only a little food but drank up a whole glass of Milo. :D You actually didn’t want to sit at the dinner table but Papa ‘forced’ you to. Papa brought you over to the toy machines and got you a toy to play with while you were seated. It entertained you for a very short while before you lost interest. :p

After dinner, you both walked Grandma back to her home and you were such a good girl! You said goodbye to Grandma according to Papa’s requests – you said goodbye, said night-night, gave Grandma a kiss and a hug! :D You made Grandma so happy! :D

It’s so funny! You’ve taken to repeating most of what we say as you’ve developed your ability to speak quite well. One of the things you’ve picked up is calling us “Hon!” :D That’s a term of endearment that Mama and Papa have for each other – it’s short form for “Honey!” :D Hahahahaha! You’re not supposed to call us that, Lil’ One!

Oh! We forgot to mention that you’ve also learnt how to take off your clothing top. You did that a few times a few nights ago because it was so warm. :D

Papa and Mama love you, Lil’ One!

Elephant Show

Dearest Skyler,

You were quite tired out from the visit to Sentosa yesterday so you were still very sleepy when you woke up this morning. You kept on lying on Papa’s lap and could hardly sit up to watch your programmes. :p Thus, Papa put you back to bed after an hour or so even though you didn’t want to. :p

When we woke up again, we had to rush to go out for lunch as Mama had to do some work. We went over to the Point for a ‘bao-bao’ lunch before Papa and you left Mama to do her work. Papa and you went to the zoo for the afternoon.

You are such an expert at handing our Friends of the Zoo card to the kor-kors or che-ches at the entrance! You took it from Papa so confidently and so ‘cool-y’ handed it to the kor-kor today. :D

Papa and you’d gotten to the zoo just in time for the ‘Elephants at Work and Play’ show so Papa carried you and rushed to the Elephants of Asia enclosure! Along the way, we passed by the Tapir enclosure and we saw a Mama and Baby Tapir just next to the fence! They were so cute! :D

There was quite a crowd at the elephant performance today but we still managed to get seats, thankfully. The elephants were in good form today. :D They did so many great tricks that entertained the crowd tremendously. :D

After that Papa and you headed for the Polar Bear enclosure. You passed by the primates section and there, you stumbled across a ‘paddock’-like space where two of the zoo staff were learning how to ride on ponies. The kor-kor staff member was a bit more confident on the pony and he rode it all the way to where we were. You were a bit scared of the pony so you refused to stroke it so you left. :p

At the polar bear enclosure, Inuka looked quite bored. He just lay there next to a plastic-thingy and only looked up every now and then. As you were quite scared of the bear as well (or maybe you were bored), Papa and you walked out. Papa thought of taking the tram around the zoo to get closer to the exit so that there wasn’t as much walking to do and that’s what you did after dropping in on the springboks and the rhinos. :D

At the zoo exit, you wanted to go in to the shop and browse around so you all did that for a short while. You were totally fascinated by the lighted candles and pig-pen fans (which we have). :D

You all then shared a Milo from the KFC before heading back to the Duckie Mobile so that you all could come back to the Point to meet up with Mama for dinner.

You fell asleep in the Duckie Mobile and Papa let you sleep a bit longer before bringing you up to the pasta place for dinner with Mama. However, as you’d drunk almost the whole cup of Milo at the zoo, you didn’t really want to have anymore food. Anyway, the spaghetti that we’d gotten actually tasted wrong (maybe even spoilt). The manager was very nice about it. He cleared the spaghetti and gave us a new dish as a replacement with no fuss whatsoever! That’s what good service means! :D

We’d thought of going for a swim but after shopping for groceries, it was very late already so we gave up on that idea.

On the way back to our apartment, Mama brought you to Aunty Chris’s to pick up something that she’d baked and wanted to give us. As she’d brought Mei-mei Dawn to visit the doctor, Mama decided that she would stay there with Kor-kor Luke and Che-che Joan until she came back.

We’ve decided that we’re going to start your bedtime routine much earlier, Lil’ One. This may get you to go to bed sooner and it did! :D However, you’re still not really drinking your milk.

You haven’t been finishing your milk at all these few days. Have you gotten tired of it? We thought that maybe you don’t like having your chocolate milk mixed with the bear-bear milk but even though Papa gave you pure chocolate milk for your night feed, you refused to finish it though you kept on asking for it when we tried to put you to bed. Oh well… Hope you’ll still drink it though. We’ve lots of tins still stocked up! :p

You were so exhausted today as you didn’t even get to nap in the car very much, coupled with yesterday’s exertions, you didn’t put up as much of a fuss going to bed tonight.

Papa and Mama love you, Lil’ One!

Sentosa Outing with Godma

Dearest Little Skyler,

Today is our great Sentosa outing with Godma day! Yippee!!

You hadn’t seen Godma for a while, so Godma decided to take leave from work today to bring Mama and you to Sentosa. Mama started telling you about this outing yesterday, so you started saying “god-ma”, and even said “god-ma” when Mama was on the phone with Godma last evening.

We started the day rushing about preparing for our outing. Mama also needed to post a package to the UK, so we had to rush some more to get everything done so we could meet Godma on time. The package to the UK contained an academic paper that Mama hopes will be published. The postage cost so much! $18.60! Let’s pray the paper is accepted so we don’t have to send it to another publisher.

When we met Godma around 1pm, Papa helped to transfer your car seat to Godma’s car. Papa would be going to work today, so Godma was going to drive Mama and you all over the place.

After driving into Sentosa, our first stop was lunch next to the beach. You were so thrilled by the little fountains they had along the beach! You also had so much fun playing with Godma’s sunglasses.

When we were done with lunch, we decided to head for the Dolphin Lagoon to watch the dolphin show. We had to take a Beach Tram to get there, and since we had just missed one, we waited for quite a while before the next one came.

While waiting, we found a neat little shop next to the beach that was well stocked with everything one might need at the beach. The things there weren’t overly priced either, which was quite a pleasant surprise for Godma and Mama. You could get a pair of slippers there for $3, for example, or a nice set of sandcastle toys for $5.90. Pretty reasonable.

We also saw the “primates show” while waiting for the Beach Tram. The trainer with the macaque kept trying to coax you to get nearer to the monkey, but you were simply too afraid. You clung on tightly to Godma and kept asking Godma to start heading in the opposite direction. Poor little girl!

When we finally got to the Dolphin Lagoon, the show was about to start, so we didn’t have to wait. Though this is a Tuesday and a working day, the place was packed to the brim with tourists! We had to sit in the back row and you had to stand on Mama’s lap to see the dolphins. When the pink dolphins first appeared, you were very excited and kept pointing at them. After a while, however, you lost interest and started playing with the sand with your shoes. Godma and Mama both feel that dolphins aren’t supposed to do tricks like that. It seemed unnatural and almost cruel for the dolphins to be trained to perform these tricks for us. Poor pink dolphins!

When the show was over, we decided to bring you to the Underwater World, since you like fish. We had to take the Red Bus there and the bus we got on was quite crowded, so we had to stand all the way. What a bumpy ride it was too!

Once we got off the bus at the Underwater World stop, we saw quite a number of peacocks and monkeys. There were at least 6 peacocks and 3 monkeys wandering about there. There was also a man there with an albino python. Just outside the entrance to the Underwater World, there was also a big pond with huge turtles in them. You were so fascinated by the big turtles.

It was really crowded at the Underwater World, and since it was tea time, we decided to sit down for a drink and let you have your milk. Godma and Mama shared a can drink that cost a grand $2.60! Godma felt that we shouldn’t just ask them for water to make your milk if we didn’t get a drink, so we had to get a drink even though it cost so much. Even then, the uncle was very reluctant to fill your cup with water. Ah well…At least you got to see a little bee-eater bird and a squirrel while we were having some raisins.

When we finally entered the Underwater World, it was still crowded. It seemed as if the whole island was packed with tourists today!

We had a really great time in the Underwater World today. We saw lots of manta rays, sharks, jellyfishes and crabs. You enjoyed looking at all the different types of fishes and watching them swim around in their tanks. Most of all, you enjoyed the travellator ride round the “tunnel”. You were so funny, Little One! There were huge big sharks lying around in the tunnel aquarium. You thought they were sleeping and kept saying, “Wake up! Wake up,” to try to wake them! =D

As you hadn’t had a nap the whole day and was already very sleepy, Godma and Mama decided to bring you home. We started making dinner plans as we boarded the “Blue Bus” back to the carpark. However, along the way back to the carpark, Mama saw fountains along the Merlion Walk and asked you if you wanted to see the fountains. You were falling asleep in Mama’s arms then as Mama cradled you like a baby, but you suddenly got up when you heard Mama say “fountain” and nodded your head immediately. You really do like fountains don’t you, Little Girl? =D

Godma and Mama figured that we should just take you to see the fountains, since it was a really rare opportunity for us all to be together today. So off we went to the fountains. You were so thrilled with the prospect of seeing fountains that you got down and walked with Godma there.

Along the way, we saw a beautiful sunset and heard the bells at the Merlion Park play a lovely tune. Of course, once we got to the whole long mosaic-tiled stream, you got totally excited and went around peering into the “stream” and watching the jets of water jump around the stream. How quickly your new burst of energy came! =D

At the end of the long stream was the huge Merlion which people can climb. We didn’t go up the Merlion, but we did decide to have dinner at the Delifrance at the bottom of the Merlion. You weren’t so keen on the food, but you finished the whole cup of hot chocolate that Mama got you. You also had such a great time playing with Godma. You’d push the paper cup between your chair and the table and giggle non-stop when Godma caught it at the other end. You really had such a great time with Godma!

By the time we were done with dinner, the sun had set and it was all dark outside. However, there were pretty twinkly lights lining the whole path along the stream! There were lights in the trees, lights in the stream, and little blue lights on the floor that you went around stepping on. You also enjoyed looking at the gushing waterfall at the base of the Merlion.

When we got to the end of the stream, we realised that the “musical fountain” show was on in the distance. From where we stood, we had a great view of the show! We could see the fountain dancing about, the holographic images and the fireworks at the end of the show. What a fitting end to our wonderful day with Godma! =D

After that, Godma drove Mama and you all the way home!

Godma’s a really good friend of Mama’s, Little Skyler. Mama hopes that God will line your path with great friends too, that you will always be in good company.

Papa and Mama love you!

Mama & Papa