What a hot sweltering Sat!

On this past Sat, we brought the kids to Marina Barrage for some water fun coz its been so long since we went there for water fun and the kids were lost thinking what to do there since we often been going there for kite flying...this time we were caught surprised with the quiet water play there so the kids were happy when they saw their swim wear and soon were running ard with the cups to play at the water place...we went off after they had an hr of water fun for lunch and nap

After their nap, we went to 1-North for a swim (yeah again, their swim wear weren't dry yet but obviously they din mind!) since the weather was melting hot so they were happy to know they could dip into the water again....this time with all their gears and floats....here's Ian who looked kindof studious with his goggles hahaaa

And off we went to po2's place for dinner and here the kids (and the adults!) were treated to the Mini Connettos! Here's the kids with their blueberry/strawberry ice cream cones...dun they look so perked up with the rare treat! So much for the hot weather.....so much fun and treats as well =) guess they just loved the hot weather coz there are so much activities to do on such days!

Ian's 1st prayer....

Two yrs counting and yet Ian's still loves 'cooking'...its almost a weekly event Ian will ask mama to sit down on the playmat and he will 'cook' for mama to eat....when he was barely a yr old, he loved the small cooking set which mama got for him and then we just got more stuff to add on to his cooking set....last yr went to Taka fair and got him a bigger cooking set and since then he's been standing at his 'stove' and pretend play cooking for mama...today he was cooking soup (for us to 'dip' bread in and also pizza since he has an 'oven' hahaa it was quite fun...coz he was remembering the things mama asked him to do when mama was making real lunch for him...asking him to sprinkle the cheese on the pizza and he was giving mama the same instructions as we had pretend lunch making today.....guess that's how they learn abt real cooking, he was turning on and off his stove and asking mama to stand far in case its too hot for me...sounds familiar huh guess that's how they picked up things

And when 'lunch' was ready, he started closing eyes and saying grace for our 'lunch' hahaa it was quite funny when he did that so mama quickly snapped a shot...see the layout of the food on the mat, he was preparing for us to tuck into lunch and we even had pretend biting into the 'food' he prep....

see how he was dishing out the sausage to mama's plate and then asking mama to blow if its too hot, hhhmm so much of reflection of what mama often said to him.....from this then we learn how much our kid has learnt! Just glad he's enjoying his days even staying home with mama which can be boring at times =p just few days ago, he woke up seeing daddy going to work and insisted he was tagging along to work coz he wanna earn $$ so that he could go Australia....again his dream abt Australia and 1 evening, he came running after mama into the kitchen and say 'Look, I got money! So we can go Australia!' and he was holding 2 $10 notes and found out he chanced upon this ang bao on table and was happy that he got money to go Australia....daddy and mama had a gd laugh saying the money can only bring him to the airport hahaa....then he said he's going to work to 'earn' money hehee...think he knows the concept of working to earn money so he said he was going to give tuition to earn money (coz he knows mama gives tuition while he stays at po2's pl) hahahaa as if anyone needs tuition from him hhmm just some hilarious incidents we have back at home so its not all that bore all the time =)

Just glad Ian uttered the 1st prayer today besides the usual bedtime praying for gor2 and jie2...today he truly was thanking God for the 'food' and blessing it to mama and Ian2....sounds so much like mama's prayer but think he's surely picking some bits of such habits =p

The 1st letter Ian has learnt to write is the letter I

This morning we were doing some colouring and writing and Ian started writing 3 strokes and when asked him what was that, he said 'I' hhmm wonder issit coz his name starts with I but well hope he will start learning some letters hahaa....too early I guess but starting to write some basic strokes....so far he's been doing well for the vertical learns so he could write 1 but trying for 2....0 seems ok coz its more like circle but this letter 'I' kindof surprised mama coz its made up of 3 strokes...maybe he shld start writing his name since he has the benefit of having a short name =)

And then he went on to tracing letters with the stencil...he seems to enjoy it well mama just thot of doing this coz he was quite fascinated by this ruler which could draw outline at ah maa's home and he's been doing it with his cousins so brought this stencil book out for him to learn to write letters....some mths back mama tried for him to outline but he couldn't do much...guess he's really growing up and time to do more 'work' hehehee

The love for colouring begins...

For some wks we observed Ian starts to love doing colouring....we used to do colouring on some days but soon he will stop for something more exciting but now we observed he could sit down for some time to do colouring...actually noticed that in Sun Sch coz ah mu has been telling us how Ian will insist on doing colouring while the other kids run off....altho he comes back with BIG blots of coloring across the page, he is still satisfied with his colouring and just this wk mama was teaching him to add colours to different parts of the pic (to be more fanciful) coz he is so used to having just 1 color pencil and colouring the whole page....hhmm when will mama start teaching him colour gradient hehehe...for the time being just enjoy the time he can be quietly doing his colouring while mama 'stone' (oooppss I mean meditate!)

Evening walks start....

For the past few wks, we have been reading on papers so much abt pple getting heart disease and what not...its freaking mama out and therefore decided to have dinner with Ian at 5+ (shant't wait for the man! hehe) and thereafter to go out for walks....last wk we weny out to buy loaf of bread then realised there are at least 5 of the 7-11 stores ard where we stay (hhmm so much abt convenience!) and we hopped from 1 store to another coz we couldn't find the HIGH fibre bread hehee....and this Mon, daddy surprised us by coming back on time (we met him along the corridor...if he came back slightly later he might have missed out for our 'walks') and off we went to the Hort park to feed fish (yea a new found place to feed our bread!) guess we shall do more of this and surely hope daddy could knock off early to join us for early dinner and evening walks...

Who's got a free ride???

On Fri, daddy managed to knock off on time so we headed to Vivo for dinner and after dinner we were just walking ard and there was this whole array of kiddy rides just outside Giant and here's Ian hopping from 1 ride to another (of coz without putting in coins) and finally when he got into this colorful animal ride, he started asking for coins to insert in order it can move....he was asking RELENTLESSLY!!! We just had to say till Seth and Joy are with us then we will pay the $2 for the 3 seats....but he was still insistently asking for money....then at this time a lady came with her gal and asked Ian to sit tight and she put in the coins...there he got his wish...who said there is no free ride in the world...here the boy was happy yet shy....we asked him to say thanks to the auntie but he just bobbed down his head....hahaaa well he had his wish but seriously quite alot of parents are willing to pay $2 for the ride huh....Ian's never been so insistent on a kiddy ride...he must have been spoilt by ah gong who will pay for such rides!

Ian's off from his pram....

This is kindof the last time we will see of Ian's pram since he has started walking, we have been using lesser of the pram only the wkly visit to po2's place, mama will put him in the pram more coz of the market visits he has with po2 and it is used not only to put Ian into the pram but also for po2 to hang her marketing stuff onto the pram....so the pram has been worn out for the 1yr+ it has been taking on Ian's weight as well as po2's stuff....for past 2 mths, Ian has requested not to sit in the pram to po2's place coz he can WALK....

yeah we been walking to train MRT these days and well guess with a young kid, we have privilege to have a seat...there were many times we had pple giving seats for us coz the boy just looked too young to hold onto the pole....just this wed when we were taking the pple packed train, there wasn't any seat given up for us and this boy had the cheek to ask how come we dun have a seat...guess he's been too spoilt with kind souls giving up seats for us...well its just 3 stops before we gonna change train when we will have ample of seats...except that when this train gets crowded, Ian seems to be occupying too much of a seat....he could sit on mama's lap which he often choose not to coz he wanna sit on the seat so he can watch his 'passing gallery' hehee

Anw po2 has commented Ian's able to take long distance walk with her as well coz po2's visit to THE market is inclusive of the wet market and supermarketSSS as well coz with the many markets near her place she will choose to scout ard for stuff....so Ian's been commendable to take her 'market hopping' hehee and for these few wks, the pple in the market has commented that Ian's TALL for his age guess earlier he was always in the pram so pple hardly see him TALL as he is hahaa...anw just glad we dun need to lug the pram to po2's place anymore coz can be cumbersome for mama on the train coz to manovuere among the working crowd can be tough at times (tho we try to avoid the peak hrs)

So on Ian's bday we brought the pram out so he could zzz on the pram, mama was just telling daddy whether the pram will fall apart since haven't used it for some time...well it din fail us...it did bring Ian ard the shopping mall for some gd time while we shopped in peace, it has served us well for these 3 yrs, rem those days when Ian could zzz real long in the pram when he was much younger and he was easily knocked out by the motion when mama swerves endlessly so we could shopped in peace and it has brought Ian to BKK and Perth for both his flight trips....guess it can still 'hang ard' for some time before we can consider discarding it =) tho the wheels seem to be falling apart some times (maybe coz it has been 'overworked' hehee)

Ian's 3rd birthday!!!

Just added this blog entry with earlier one (2 days before Ian's bday) as couldn't find the camera cable tho took alot of pics =) of the dear boy's bday....here's how we spent the day as it was a 'tradition' that daddy will take lve to spend time with us...so here we are at the bird park...quite glad it was a gd gloomy day (no rain as compared to Ian's bday last yr when we went to the zoo!) This time, ian was most excited when he heard we are going to the bird park...guess he knows its a place of fun and shows!

Here we are sitted at the amphitheatre....we went for 2 shows, one on the hawks and eagles show where they soar real low just above our head and another on birdies show which had more friendly birds like flamingoes and maccaws....we saw alot of kids as some kindergartens and pri schs were there as well and the shows were entertaining....

This is the part we had to come coz when Ian was barely a few mths old we ever came to Bird park and took a pic with the aviary waterfall and here we are back again except its less crowded this time and there happened to be a solo tourist to take this pic for us hehee....nice huh in a secluded place...must dig that old pic and make a comparison hehee

And we came to this playground for our packed lunch.....there were some wet play but we din bring change for Ian as we came before and thot it wouldn't be on like the last time when we came it wasn't running...well Ian had a gd time at the slides while we ate our lunch...a time for him to work out his limbs....

before we went for yet another children's parrot show which had barely 3 kids (most adults) as the kids from the schs have went back and we had a time all for ourselves since the attention were on the few kids and Ian just loved clapping as the parrots sang and counted 1-10! At a point the person was asking for anyone who's bday was on the day coz the parrot sang a bday song! How timely for us to come for the show!
After the show we left the bird park coz we went ard the park already and we were on our way for ian's nap!

When he woke up from his short nap on the pram, we gave him a treat to Swensens...or rather Swensens gave him a treat coz mama just tried to check if we could get a free firehouse for his bday since we din have his birth cert with us and the mgr was most pleased to give us the complimentary firehouse and we had fries to go with it...lately Ian's been keen to do coloring, see how intensely he was doing his coloring with the fries which din manage to tempt him for a while only hehee soon he was checking on the fries and ice cream!

Happy Birthday our dear son.....so fast u are turning 3 already and truly enjoying the ice-cream before him and was most happy to be able to blow the candle and eat the ice cream =) yumpsss..

Thereafter we were on our way to pick up ian's present from us and here's the bike! And he was happy to own a bike after seeing us having our own bikes and his tricycle was deemed a bit too small for him already and after some 'coaching' the boy was peddling his bicycle away and most happy to be ringing his bike bell as well! Here's when dayi's gift of the helmet supposed to come to use but we were out whole day so we din bring along for the cycling....we will go for more cycling huh...

And of coz not forgettting the mini celeb we had at nite and we got a real tiny cake since we had too much sweet stuff in the day....Ian's just happy with the candles and cutting of cake...at a pt, he did ask how come so many cakes....hhhmm counting the mini one which po2 got him when he stayed over the wk before, he had 4 cakes just for his bday sigh....wat luxury huh well hope u will really walk without daddy carrying soon huh since u blew out so many times of the candles!

This cheeky boy actually purposely closed eyes on the timer camera...he was closing his eyes at almost all the pics we tried to take...anw the finale of the bday was him going for hair cut with his daddy...we din kindof think of going so soon but he just din allow his daddy to go wo him and the condition was he was supp to sit on his own (on the wooden plank at the barber)...mama din go (as she thot Ian wouldn't be game to sit on his own) so no pics but well he DID sit on his own...hhmm what a change on his bday huh =)
And of coz 'chopped' the mini cake as well hehhee....what a truly blessed bday Ian had....not only the many blessings from friends and families but also from God and his parents =) the next bday ticker mama got for Ian was counting his blessing one by one till he turns 4 next yr! Well guess next yr will be quite different since he will be entering sch and perhaps we will still sneak him out for a day of celeb just with the family =)

This mth we see him asking more WHYssss...almost a punctuation to every statement we make....sigh sometimes dunno how to answer some of his whys hhmm....but now he's more independent, wanting to do things on his own and definitely able to sit down to do more drawing and colouring....guess more learning coming along the mths ahead!

Ian's 3 wonderful God given yrs!

As we reach Ian's 3rd bday, we just wanna thank God for seeing us thru these 3 wonderful yrs with our little boy....how we grew from a family of 2 to 3....

It just seemed not v long ago we had the full mth celeb at our place (refusal to admit how time flies hahaa) and how wobbly Ian was on our arms, it was such a joy to our family =) We coincided most of our travelling plans ard Ian's half yr mark so when he was barely 6/7 mths old we went our 1st road trip with him to Msia and here we are at Petronas Towers and that time Ian's just started sitting on high chair and he was still on baby food...travelling was easy coz he had bananas, eggs and baby jar food and lots of milk....he was v chubby back then huh....must be the loads of milk and beauty sleep he had hahaa

Then we reached his 1 yr mark and it meant alot coz by then he's more awake and can make funny expressions and sounds as well....he was getting more active by then and had to be busied with his movements! (see some loss of baby fats as a result of his active movements and more wakeful moments sometimes not wanting to take 2 naps a day hhaaaii how we managed to stretch him to have a nap after he turned 1 and he started sleep thru the nite only ard 14 mths after a church camp at melaka hhmm coz that means wo waking up for feed as well so mama weaned him off abt that time)

Then when he was 1.5 yr old, we went for his 1st flight trip to BKK and boy was he excited abt his flight, he was pointing endlessly to the aeroplane even as we waited to board it. During the trip, the late walker took his 1st few steps at the hotel.....that trip we kindof started letting him eat the table food coz cooking was impossible since we were on the move(ie shopping haha)...he was an easy eater so he had lots of soup noodles and rice(his 1st Viet beef soup glass noodles) ....that trip we had to carry him alot on sling as it was tough to get the pram going in BKK but it was a memorable trip for us since Ian soon started walking after the trip and also we had loads of shopping done =) yes with a boy in our lug

Then we celebrated his 2nd bday and it was a nice choc cake bought by ah gong and po2 and by then the little one has been walking for some mths and he was more mobile and talking alot more....able to play with his cousins and maybe some 'fights' hahaaa I rem the time he was slapping on Joy's face and visa versa....hhmm time flies and just before his 2nd bday he was into singing the bday song as he knew cakes come with bday and candles and he just loved blowing candles, singing song and CUTTING the cake!

For his 2.5 bday we did get him a cheesecake and had a mini celeb back home(he just returned from his 'camping' from po2's pl), he was most pleased to have the cake as he loved blowing the candles and cutting the cake....then he was talking quite alot already in sentences and making requests using words =) and by then he was walking quite abit on his own (at least dun need to take much pram and mama was off from carrying him, only his daddy was still doing so hhmm)

For his 2.5 yr old mark, we went a little further to Perth and this trip he knows what is Australia and enjoyed his flight thoroughly....be it in terms of sight, food and play...he could barely sleep on the plane coz there was so much to check out hhmm....this trip he enjoyed food even more...he was not a fussy eater and he ate most of what we ate and best of all, po2 and dayi cooked most of the dinners so we had chinese home cooked food back at our accom and Ian even had celery with chinese cooked style of pasta =) and he had lots of fun with the animals and local food tastings! Now he can even rem this trip and constantly bugging daddy to go back Australia again....well well we are considering if we get some gd deals afterall down under is a gd place to move ard with kids!

Even we approach the day he turns 3, daddy has laid down rules that there will be no more carrying thereafter, so there is special meaning even as Ian blows out his 3 small candles but all the more we know even as he blows the candles, it meant more yrs of blessings ahead with this little boy with us and truly wanna thank u all who have been walking alongside with us and praying for our family =) on this special day, we just wanna give thanks to God for his 'gift' of this bundle of joy to us coz it meant more than all we could ask for in life! Though there are ups and downs in parenting, we are still asking for God's guidance in showing us how to do godly parenting but we know its thru the journey, we will embrace Ian all the better and also keeping our family whole! Praying for more God-given yrs ahead!

2 days to Ian's bday - opening of his prezzies!!!

Missed out these blog entries as had the camera cable missing for some days....nonetheless, here are the happenings on the 2 days prior Ian's bday....and he had helium balloon surprise from jiu2 and Auntie Lorraine and guess what it happened the 3 balloons represents our fav colors....Ian loves blue, daddy likes green and mama has her fav yellow....and Joy had the pink balloon...all were happy =) and Ian loved his balloon surprise n he was hopping the whole nite

Here we are with the balloon but boy we had to bring back 4 balloons in the car =)

And here are the kids busy with ian's opening of prezzies...with 2 'runners' helping to cheer Ian on as he rewrapped the presents....1 will help to 'rip' open the wrapper and the other helping to throw the wrapper...what a help=) and here's Ian present from ah baa and ah mu which are add on pieces to his lego set =)

This photo was the most hilarious coz dayi wanted to ask the kids to move aside as she wanted to take a bday shot with ian but both the kids moved to dayi's side and joined in the photo shot hahaa...see ah mu behind giving the sign how come they are in the pic hehee....well here's dayi with the gift of a helmet for Ian....hhmm to complement the gift from mama and daddy (which u will see later on!)
Here's Ian with jiu2 and Aunty Lorraine and the 2 cousins....and they got Ian a soccer game (which he can play with his daddy who is a soccer fan hhmm) and also a jeans for Ian...except forgot to put the balloons into the photo shot! And Ian unwrapped his prezzies even before his bday which was kindof gd coz we will be too busy on his bday=)

And here we are with Ian's mickey cake (which he chose a pic of minnie and mickey on a holiday....hhhmm guess this boy really dreams of holiday huh) and with his 3 small candles =) and here we are singing LOUDLY bday song for him hahaha

And of coz the boy with his FAVOURITE cutting of cake =) till he refused to let mama cut the cake into pieces for the rest as he wanted to cut his own cake his own way hmmm....thanks everyone for ur prezzies and thots for this boy who has turned 3! Many more God's blessings coming along the way in his life!

3 days to Ian's bday....1st bday celebration at ah gong & ah maa's place

For a change, we were at ah gong and ah maa's place for dinner tonite instead....together we brought along a small Doraemon cake to celebrate Ian's bday there...guess most of the time, the kids are more excited abt the candles, cake and the knife....this time Ian was 'protecting' his knife making sure he's the only one cutting it hhaaa

And of coz his favourite blowing out the 3 candles and all of us reminding him he's gonna walk after his final blow out of candles and he was reciting the 'rules' to all of us....let's hope he does it huh!

Just glad to be able to celebrate the 3rd bday with our family and here's the boy with his 'protection' of the knife coz after the shot he wanted to cut everyone a piece of cake (hhmm just dunno whether it would be proper cut cake tho!)

We were at the F1 Pit for the OCBC Cycle!

We were there for the 1st time at the F1 pit....tho v much wanted to join the OCBC Cycle, we were abit apprehensive if Ian would be keen to cycle thru the 'race' with his tricycle, he was most tempted when he saw Seth gor2 and Joy jie2 on their bikes so we gather we shld get a bike for his bday present...so here we are at the viewing gallery (which is AIR CON...guess its only for the VIP to be in this exclusive room for the F1 race) and we were most glad we were in the cooling room watching the race as the weather was too melting hot! So here is Ian enjoying the race with the pop corn given as well....here we are checking out for gor2 and jie2 but there were too many pple in the race....can see the whole grp of pple behind in the pic??

Here are the kids enjoying the Ben & Jerry ice cream on such a scorching hot day and glad they made it to complete the race =) there were so many pple at the place and it seems every other person was in some cycling race

But here's the contented boy with the 2 balloons which he collected at the place....he was most proud of having 2 balloons and had no shame when the starbucks staff offered him a 2nd balloon which later burst (coz he was too engrossed eating his ice-cream) and the staff immed came over to give him another balloon to replace the burst one....well we were just glad to be part of the crowd to check out the place hehee guess we shld go for F1 race soon when Ian's bigger huh

With daddy daddy....

Of late, Ian's getting more attached to daddy...beside the usual asking 'where is MY daddy?' when he wakes up...yest he started asking 'why daddy has to work?' when mama gave the standard answer of daddy has gone to work....and now he will wanna look for daddy even in the mid day so there were a few times he attempted to call daddy to come home hahaa...in the pic above it was a daddy with son's time choosing a bday cake for his bday...ya took the brochure home so the boy can choose his cake =) counting down a few more days to his 3rd bday! And on that day he knows from that day onwards his daddy won't be carrying him anymore...wonder if that comes true but the daddy sure will grin from mouth to mouth if that happens hahaaa
And last Sun we had an unintentional yuan xiao lunch and here's a cosy shot Ian had wanted to take with his daddy and thot it looked kindof nice huh ahhaha now doesn't he look just like his daddy hehee