Doing chores??

Ian has always been most 'helpful' abt doing chores, last Sat he was, together with his cousins, helping po2 to mop the floor as its his usual request when stay over po2's pl to help mop the floor and always saying "Ian can help to mop the floor" to po2.....guess no one would turn him down but mama has always been doing chores when Ian's not home coz it would be easier and also cleaner hiak hiak....anw some nites ago, he chanced upon this wet wipe on the table and started opening it and started his cleaning of the coffee table....and went on to clean his 'throne' chair and then asking mama if her stool needs some cleaning hahaa...and he went on and on cleaning them.....well its was quiet (at least for a while at home) and this little tot went on and on cleaning with just 1 wet wipe hehee...guess he's been so used to opening wet wipes at restaurant and cleaning the table after he has eaten

Just today, mama called a montesorri sch near our home to enquire abt their preschool prog and in fact they have included such chores cleaning into their cirriculum citing that parents are afraid of their kids fussing abt cleaning at home so they do it in sch....hhmm maybe mama shld start training Ian at home so he doesn't need such 'practice' in sch hhmm anw gd to instill in them such doing chores habit but wonder how come they are so keen on doing them? They think its fun?? hehee nonetheless could start asking Ian by cleaning the walls maybe?

'Shopping' for school???

Hmm dunno whether this is coming too early but the registration for nursery for most schs have already commenced and then now we are in deciding stage on which pre-sch we shld enrol Ian and so brought Ian to this Chinese Kindy which is quite near our place (but yet gotta walk almost 15 mins to get there) and so on a hot tue morning we made our walk there....Ian was asking why so long coz mama took a longer cut so to avoid cars....prior to that telling him we are going to visit sch, he was like No, I got Sun sch and bible sch already....but his response was somewhat different after we went there....anw Chinese Kindy is located at Jublilee Pres Church and we wanted a church kindy coz Ian could grow up in a Christian env which shld be quite close to our home ie sing Christian songs and saying grace....and we chose this church was coz we could walk there or take bus if it rains (tho its only a bus stop away but due to the winding path and dangerous cars, we gotta take longer to walk there) we are still deciding and checking out more kindy before we make our submissions.

Ian loved the sch coz of the indoor playground...and for nursery, its part of the time table to expend their energy out at the indoor playground...hhm wonder if this is gd or bad means he can go endlessly at the playground...we had a tour ard the sch (we went to almost all levels of the sch to know the differences of the levels hhmm well the kids just took turn to swarm to Ian coz of his Thomas train t-shirt I guess....bad choice of t-shirt for the day hahaa). Never had to do this in our lives and it seems somewhat strange like shopping for schools hahaa...made more enquiries abt sch near our home and we shall see...sigh even PAP gotta ballot (like pri sch like that) wonder if we shld but that's quite a tough route to walk shld there be endless rain season like what we are having now....choosing pre-sch is headache enough to talk abt pri sch in future sigh sigh...why so many choices now??

Anw Ian was happy after visiting the sch, I wonder issit coz of the playground or the friendly kids but he says he's going to the sch...he told daddy when daddy came home and PROUDLY showed him HIS sch booklet (which the admin staff passed me a book of the sch) and today he told po2 he went to sch yest....wonder if he really knows what it means going to sch EVERYDAY! hhmm now it seems fun but when reality strikes....eeekk wonder if gotta go thru those tearry moments =(

From the East to the West....

Last Sat, we were at ECP digging the sand and the kids just loved digging the sandpit and making sandcastle cakes while the 2 daddies took turns to take the kids on a ride on the bikes....guess the kids just loved being on the bike enjoying the view behind...

Today we went to West Coast Park and we have seen this pedal go kart thingy at the park but din quite know where to rent it and today since the kids weren't digging the sand there so daddy walked to the shop to rent it (its quite far from the macs car park...gotta go by car park 2) and then we got this HUGE bike....gd thing it could take all the kids coz we had some negotiation going on before Ian was ok to sit right in front coz the go kart thingy actually came with just 2 seats and then daddy asked for an add on trailer behind so we could ferry 2 kids and gd thing they had an extra platform infront for another kid (else we would have a kid making noise abt not being on the "CAR")...yes, Ian corrected mama abt saying that is a bike coz he thinks its a car coz it could ferry so many of us....but its sure NOT easy coz it felt real heavy up slope....guess just half an hr could tire both our legs out....while the kids just enjoyed the breeze and chats along the way =) guess we shld be back again tho its quite costly (as compared to getting a bike!) hhmm somehow this window-less 'car' seems better than our air-con car huh =p maybe we shld change to such a car and work out our muscles whenever we wanna go a park hahaaa

Well well just thank God for bringing sunshine for these 2 Sats as we know sunshine is quite precious these rainy days.....anw as we went from the east to the west, we also know God's love is as far as it stretches from the East to the West hahaa just rem the song when mama was doing the blog =p that's why chose the blog title =)

Pockets of memories...

Ian never amazes us with his memory at such young age.....yes, his demands are never forgotten even after a nite of sleep or a few days away from home or even our trip to Aust last yr....he can recalls some things so well we wonder if there are just pockets of memories that he can vividly recall but wonder how brain works...anw just yest we were flipping his book of photos...yes the collection of his pics for the 3 yrs he's been ard...and he amazed mama with 2 pics....
1st was this pic that he was so fast in pointing out yi-maa.....well kindof surprised me coz we dun meet xiao yi so often but he could quickly identify her....well maybe her once in a while popping by ah maa's home for Sun dinner helped but the 2nd pic totally caught mama by SURPRISE!

It was this pic when Ian was barely a yr old when we had yuan xiao at SBG....mama was still thinking how Ian shld call SL but he was so fast in giving mama a cheeky look and pointing out 'Biao jiu??' haaa....mama couldn't even rem how Ian shld call him but he did it with his memory...the only time we saw SL was when we visited xiao yi and family during CNY and also we were at their place at most 1/2 hr and he rem he was biao jiu.....hhmm this totally amazes mama...guess mama never expected a 3-yr old to rem things that happened like 2 mths ago?? Anw just marvel at how his brain works and maybe shld start getting the whole kampung's pics and let him recall names hahaaa

Other than that, just missed those chubby looks of ian was he was smaller =p even Ian could say 'See baby Ian so cute!' guess mama must have said so many times to him till he even commented that of his own pics hahaa...memories!

Meeting up with didi n meimei...

After church today, Ian was elated when mama said we gonna meet didi and mei2 with mama's friend....here we are at Vivo's Kim Gary' HK cafe for lunch and Ian was so shy when he 1st saw didi, it has been almost a yr since we last met the Liew family and after some time Ian was happily tucking into the peanut butter muffin which Auntie Lydia has managed to get along the way....and soon came our lunch....nice chat with old friend since we haven't met since she had her 2nd kid....so fast her little gal is turning 1 too and was happily 'interacting' with us over the lunch table too....it was a short lunch meet up we had and we could do it again and hope the kids are not so shy to talk since the 2 boys are only 3 mths apart in age....

Ian can do his GGggggg finally!

For real long time, Ian can't quite say things that begin with G v well....the most obvious was gor2, ah gong and gu2......so mama was trying to see how to help him...some wks back when we were in bed praying for ah gong's eyes, then was in the mood to correct Ian abt his G so tried asking him say Gorilla....but he was 'Torilla' (as always he's been tor2, ah tong, tu2) and in fact he dozed off repeating 'torilla, torilla' hahaa it was quite funny but it wasn't successful....till yest suddenly we were talking abt Gor2 and then he could do it! Its just just so amazing hahaaa how he could figure out and later told him not to move his tongue upwards when doing the G....hahaa then he was so happy he started naming the whole family.....from ah gong, gor2, jie2...went on to dayi, po2 and ah mu & ah baa....haaaa he was just happy and went on happily to name everyone.
Think this is a common letter kids take time to get it rite but well just din know how to correct Ian tho almost wanted to name 1 of his toys after 'Ggggg' , din quite get to it! Ha...

Anw this was a pic of him trying to cool the soup by blowing it with all his might...being a soup lover he surprised us when he actually had 2 bowlfuls of soup at Novotel last Sat with those hard rolls....what thrilled us was he knew the soup was hot but he din know the steam coming up had some sensation on his face so he was putting his face just above the bowl of soup and laughing away...as if he's having some steaming for his face pores hahaa....this sight was quite hilarious just can't forget the cheeky look on his face abt the new 'discovery' he made hahaaa....just enjoy this cheeky boy =)

the PINK elephant!

2 Sats ago, we were at Liang Court checking out some stuff and that wkend Ian wasn't too well so we were just walking ard and suddenly Ian insisted wanting to take pic with this pink elephant. Being a v much Jap oriented shopping mall, this was in fact 1 of the Japanese pharmacy located there and this was just an attractive mascot of the shop....wonder how come this fascinated Ian but well last Sat we were there again (coz of dayi who gave us a treat at Novotel Hotel's high tea!) and when we were walking ard after the high tea....the kids also ran towards the pink elephant and wanted pic taken with it....last wk we din take a nice pic coz din bring camera...this time we got the kids with the elephant...when mama was taking the shot, the salesman behind the till was in fact smiling away....he must be thinking these kids are funny to wanting to take with this elephant hahaa...anw was a happy shot and totally contrast in Ian's mood the wk before and this wk but nonetheless the keeness in the elephant din quite change =p

Ian's 37 mths old

It just seem not too long we celeb Ian's bday...maybe coz he was blowing most of our candles so it seemed like we just celeb his bday not too long ago.....this past mth he seems to recall things even better, he could remember some promises we made for him and he could be asking for the things he wanted when he wakes up or either the next day....this mth, he is singing more than ever and po2 often asked what songs he was singing even when mama's on phone with po2 or even when he's out marketing with po2....he is not shy abt singing anywhere he is even on MRT with mama to po2's place hahaaa....he's even reciting the Lord's prayer wherever he goes...guess there are just pockets of memory and he's just singing/saying wherever he goes....the longest singing he had was when we were returning home from po2's place 1 of the sat, he was in fact in ah baa's car singing from Yishun back to Boon Tiong hahaaa this singing boy



This mth, he's often into habits....he is always saying Bye to po2 and ah gong when he is abt to return home from his stayover but he never fails to say Bye2 Auntie Lorraine and jiu2...guess they joined us one of the Thur and its etched into his memory that they are there....and when back home, he is habitually on his toy hp and always talking to dayi hehhee...its quite funny when mama asked him to go out and he will cut short his conversation to 'tell' dayi he's going out with mama

And when he camps over po2's place, he will 'chat' with po2 till po2 falls asleep and he too will sleep....then he will keep asking po2 why Seth gor2 dun go over camping then he can sleep with Seth gor2...guess he just needs companion for sleep then he will sleep in peace hhmm

This mth, Ian's exploring more colors other than his usual blue and purple...he in fact is exploring BLACK hahaa....see the big blot of black he has used....he's actually loving painting but lazy mama dun like to clean up so quite hesitate to do that hahaa....coz he just blot here and there and mama gotta make sure his clothes aren't ruined!

we are also taking more nite walks and he's actually happy to go out and he usually dashes out as if he were imprisoned hahaa....now he know the bao shop at TB market but we were sad to know the shop is closing at TB market...thot they were doing well sigh 1 less place to go for nite walks hhmm the last visit we had Ian actually knew 1 bao was for him and the other was for daddy but when he ate half of his bao, he actually said something was not rite with the bao and wanted the other....and yes, he actually 1.5 bao down (that is after his dinner!) aiyo....and he even wanted to finish the other 1/2 coz daddy was still taking his dinner...this is such a BAO boy...last wk when he stayed over po2's place, he was sick so po2 steamed bao for him but he was too unwell to take any....but the moment he came home, he actually rem his baos! and said po2 forgot to give Ian bao....hahaa his memory never fails him even when he's ill!

Now whenever we go shopping malls he will ask to sit on the kiddy ride and we are happy when he doesn't ask for coins to insert....the other day we took him to a nearby NTUC for grocery and there was a 20c kiddy ride and daddy then gave him 20c but the ship probably shook too hard, he asked to be carried out and so we saw the ship rocking wo anyone inside sigh....guess shouldn't give in to such rides huh

Anw took this pic of the car coz some time ago, Ian actually 'fantasize' abt having a car and told mama its gonna be a purple car hahaa....then mama will sit in front with Ian (of coz with Ian driving) and daddy will take the back seat hahaa....mama will still sit with Ian huh....and with his toy car at home, he's actually pretending he has the gadget like daddy's car to lock the door after he 'parked' his toy car in a Lot with no. 8....yes wonder when he loves the number 8....nowadays he will check if daddy parks in a car park lot with no. 8 else he will fuss....aiyo park car still must check number, headache esp our car park here super packed at nite!

This was a pic he was playing with Seth last wkend after the shaomu session and he was in fact closing his eyes to pretend asleep hahaa...these days he can pretend to sleep when he doesn't want to see someone or sth hahaa....its quite funny coz he's peeping in a way....anw in his hands were 3 lollipops he got from po2 and he never failed to forget his gor2 and jie2 and things come in 3s for him and this was the life saver for us coz Ian din want to take the fever med when he's sick coz he's so used to flu and cough med and insisted dun want strawberry med (coz it was in pink!) and only the lollipop could do the trick sigh....just glad the sick ordeal is over!

Happy Birthday, Mummy!

These were the words Ian told mama in the morning and this is the 1st time Ian's able to greet mama Happy Birthday! What a day! Thereafter we headed for the "Wild" Birthday hhehee
Heard abt the going into Zoo for free on bday and so mama went to get her 'badge'...quite nice huh altho we could go in free since daddy got his corporate pass...but with the badge there is ice cream and all heheee and mama loved the badge so we got 1....tempted to go the Nite Safari since its FOC on bday as well...well will go when Ian's older I guess

On the way, we did ask what animal ian wanted to see and he said Polar bear and we rushed to see the polar bear feeding but we caught the last bit and here we are at the area

Then we went on to another fav of ian - GIRAFFE...but this time we give the feeding a miss coz we know Ian's not gonna feed it and so we caught a close up shot with the giraffe behind and we watched others feed!

The only show we went for was the Splash safari coz no matter how many times we have seen this, we just loved it hahaa and we can even see how some can miss the frisbee and some can make it to throw to the sealion....we got a nice seat coz we were early and then we saw some kids who were abt Ian's size and age going for sch excursions....hhhmm the teachers din quite take gd care of the kids so we wonder if we would let Ian go if ever there is such an excursions hahaa just some after thot!

We went to the zoo again this time coz wanted Ian to play at the wet area....abit apprehensive abt him getting to the water since he just recovered....he told us he was not keen for the water play...instead...

he was hopping ard walking and checking out this orchid garden....here's our camera 'boy' taking a shot of us with the white orchid behind...gd try!

Then we went on to take more pics of the nice orchids in this garden...what a shame v few pple came this place to appreciate the pretty flowers....we had the whole garden to ourselves posing with the orchids and all hahaa

Ian was in the mood to take pics....he even went on his own quite near the edge of some slope when daddy asked him to stand there for a nice scenic view behind and he was a sport! Well we missed the water play but we had some gd time taking pics and checking out the other part of the zoo we never quite venture before!

We were entering the fragile forest....quite a nice place to come up close to the creatures...here's Ian coming upclose with the baby frog and he was almost kissing it hahaa....what an animal lover huh...then we went to the rainforest which had huge 'exposure' of animals running ard...quite surprised we could see racoon real upclose and also some bats flying over our heads! The little boy wasn't scared at all, this we were surprised...in fact he was chasing some huge birds we were worried they might come chase after him hahaaa what a gd time we had at the zoo! The weather was gd and the mood was rite hahahaa what a pleasant trip!

Soon was the time for us to drop Ian off at po2's place for his nap and his stayover so we could have some couple time....we were really afraid he might wanna come with us since he had such gd time and he knew daddy was off from work....he surprised us when we were abt to lve, he actually said Bye and that made our departure so easy and hassle-less...so much worries unfounded!

Then we went for mini chill out time hhahaa we had this huge mango snow dessert that was hard for us to finish.....then we wished Ian could be ard to share this with us hahaa...he's been so much a part of our meals that we kindof miss his cheeky and noisy sounds hahahaa....what a 'wild' bday mama had and certainly enjoyed the day THOROUGHLY with the beautiful weather =)

Thanks to all who sms me and drop me msg on FB....its just nice to know I am not forgotten in the midst of busy lives! hahaa just thank God for family and friends ard me who's ever so giving to me and of all, thank God for who he is ever so real in my life =)

We went to shao mu, Bollywood and celebrating mama's advanced bday!

Since Ian's well and we could join the Chng clan to shao mu this early morning (to beat the shao mu crowd) and we were early (before the rest) so we bought a bouquet of flowers for a dear friend of mama and daddy...its been 5 yrs and we are still feeling sorrowful over the loss of this dear friend and visiting his tomb brings back a lot of memories....guess Ian doesn't understand when we said this is a friend of mama and daddy but sure to bring him back again...somehow the lawn cemetry just seems so much 'neater' than the rest...anw we joined the family to visit our grandparents (ie Ian's great grand parents) tomb and its been the 2nd time Ian's visiting them and its been a family tradition to lay flowers during the Gd Fri season....

Since we were ard that area so we dropped by the 'infamous' Bollywood...heard so much abt it and well they have a wide variety of the plants there and it was time for the kids(and also us) to know more abt the different plants....glad the old folks could join us for the visit tho its a little too hot since the sun was really scorching hot!

Here is 1 of the trees we have found out abt.....being in BSF for some mths, we learnt abt Nicodemus meeting the Lord under this tree and the fig tree has often been mentioned in the bible so we took a shot under the tree =) hehee can show Ian when he's older that he's been under a fig tree before =)

Then we adjourned to town for lunch (so as to meet jiu2 and Aunty Lorraine as well) at Bugis swensen's and here's us taking a pic with the ice-cream cake which we have ordered since being member has 20% disc =) and Ian has asked for a blue balloon and he's most proud of it tho its just adding to our balloon collection back at home....just a reminder that its nice to have family together to celebrate good times and bad times as we never know how many more yrs we have to spend together as a family...just some thots after visiting the tombs....haaaiiizzzz or maybe maama's just growing OLD!

GOOD Friday!!!

As usual, Ian went po2's place to stay on Wed but Wed nite, po2 called mama and said Ian dun look rite as he's not in his usual playing and eating self....due to lack of sleep, he became exceptionally warm (at his limbs and his forehead) and something was not rite....true enough he soon came down with fever....it has been so long since Ian came down with fever and for all parents, fever is sth we all get worried as the kid gets lethargic and all (unlike flu and cold) and whole nite, we were worried how he was and upon calling po2 the 1st thing in the morning she said ian asked for mama and daddy in middle of nite and po2 gave him some ice towel and he was better and fell asleep

So mama came on Thur am to pass him med and to make sure he was fine, he again refused med (as he is so used to his cold and cough med) he din want the 'strawberry' med and at such time, the lollipop did the trick! Sigh so he took and zzz he was much better that evening but to play safe, we brought him to see the PD that evening (as next day as PH) and his fever came on and off but that nite, he slept better with the med and the next morning (ie Gd Fri am) he was asking for noodles....making sure he doesn't take too much, he was enjoying his usual fishball noodles again....and he had a super long nap and then he was back to his normal self
Just glad the 'episode' only last for 1 day+ and soon we could enjoy the gd Fri...we went the Nihon Maki at Revenue House (nice Jap food with cheap parking hehee) and we were on our 'buffet' spread since Ian's well so its time to celeb =) see he was gulping up the food he missed on Thur nite =)

And then was the Mini Mango Waffle =) we just enjoyed the early dinner (coz he zzz so long we all missed all lunch) but it was a quiet Jap restaurant on a PH late noon and we could order any sushi we liked (we liked the concept of getting the sticks we wanted to order rather than from menu) and just so thankful for the boy who is well again! we then went shopping ard the vicinity and of coz to Toys R' Us coz looking for some laptop 'toy' for this boy to learn more abt ABCs

But ended up we got this tumbling block which daddy found it fun at his coy's course some days ago and daddy was playing with the boy when we came back at nite....just enjoying family time together and 'rejoicing' that Ian's well on this GOOD Fri! In time for us to enjoy more family time =)