Last day of 2010...

On this day, we were glad ah baa is off and we tagged along to go Marina Barrage for some water fun since the morning weather was super HOT and here's the 3 kids running ard the whole pl which was so rarely empty and guess it's just fun with the water splashing and splurting out that they weren't even feeling any chill with the wind coming

Then we went to the 7th storey restaurant for some yummy steamboat and the kids just gooble up the rice with all the yummy stuff, guess they have expended quite a fair bit of energy, here's 3 of them with the cheers with their cooked prawnssss

After nap, daddy was back from his half day work but it was pouring when we were abt to go out and we headed indoors ie shopping at Square 2 - a pl we rarely go and it was fun checking out the shops and we actually went for a Popeye chicken treat and now Ian's old enough to share the dinner with us and he sure did enjoy the chicken hhmm guess we sure can't forget the 1st time we had it in San Frans sigh shall go again when Ian's older perhaps....anw it was fun sharing over the dinner as Ian was totally enjoying his drumsticks that we could chat over the dinner, a rare rare treat for the boy as we dun quite treat him to fast food anw last day of the yr hahaa

And then we went to Tiong Bahru park as there was countdown there and it's so near our pl, how could we miss it, guess after all the downpour the weather turned cooler and here we are with the funny headbands we got as we just have to buy them since everyone (almost!) was wearing it hahhaa and we got ourselves stranded in a queue for lucky dip anw we got more stuff for fun nite of countdown

No, no we couldn't stay on for countdown as the boy couldn't possibly be occupied tho his daddy did think of it but there was nothing to make him occupied for hrs as he was asking endlessly to go playground which was superly crowded so we went for the easier stuff like pop corn and 100 plus which were FOC and the queues were surprisingly short and with our party stuff we went home to do our countdown and of coz to send the boy to his zzz land hahhaaa happy new yr, everyone! Our last blog for the yr!

It's been 2 yrs and 6 mths

That's how long Ian has been staying over po2 and ah gong's pl for the past 2 and 1/2 yrs on a wkly basis and how we recalled the 1st time when Jiu2 came by to pick Ian and po2 up for a 3D2N stay and that was the 1st and how we missed the baby then since he was barely 14mths old and just weaned off BF and he was still crawling and then it became a wkly basis when po2 will come by push pram and bring Ian up north where he will stay a nite and it slowly evolved mama bringing Ian up north with the pram in the morning and then he staying till the next just c coz he knows mama got tuition

Today wonder if he really knows its the LAST time coz we have been preparing him that when sch starts he could only go over during sch hols and tonite po2 has prep his fav sushi dinner and well even got him a new yr gift just coz last wk he was asking for a present. Anw alot of emotions even as we took the last train ride there coz it has been such a routine and now that Ian could walk and run for his own seat, it makes mama just recall of those days when Ian was in pram and could hardly talk and had to give him Cheerios (those days still din have the rule of no eating and drinking) so as to make him sit in the pram

Lots of memories flow coz guess this boy wont have much chance to take train as now he's really spoilt with wkly train ride and to mark the end of it, we even met a boy selling flags at the station and Ian was real happy to be putting the coin in and taking the sticker like precious huh....hhmm how come flag day on a wed huh what a surprise for a boy who doesn't meet such flag days since wkends usually we got daddy's car

Well well all gd things must come to an end and we are sure the bond between this boy and his maternal grandparents have deepened with each wk where he brings so much cheer to both the old folks, we just pray this tie will not weaken by the wks and sure hope they could drop by to visit the boy each wk too and perhaps they could shift nearer for more visits!

We visited the Youth Camp - Ian's 1st campfire

Daddy had 1 more day of child care lve to clear so suggested to visit the youth camp but he couldn't take whole day off so mama brought Ian to Ikea to play in the am and he joined us during lunch then we made our way to the far west to Sarumbun Scouts Camp and by the time Ian woke up nap, it was just nice for us to be there for Valley of Adventure - sth we wanted Ian to experience since he's gonna be a youth some day and will go army eventually so he saw how the youths go down the 'milo pond' (which was like a muddy pool that doesn't look appealing like milo) and many youths were asking if Ian wanna have milo hhaaaa quite a gd experience for Ian to check out esp he doesn't like getting dirty and then we saw some of them going thru 9 tyres and he wanted to see Auntie Lorraine going thru it and she did it , many were cajoling Ian to go thru them as he's small enough to crawl thru them fast....hhhmm a few more yrs huh

Here's Ian at dinner time and he had the experience of bringing ur own plate to get ur 'rationed' food and was most happy to be sitting between Jiu2 and Auntie Lorraine while he had his subway dinner which we had packed in

And this boy who just enjoyed queuing to get the portion of the food, he volunteered to do it for Uncle Winston and here's him coming back with his plate of food (tho we were asking to be careful as he walks back as it looked if he were gonna spill the whole plate of food =p)

And then it was campfire time, he was most excited to see the fire lit but yet at the same time was a bit worried the fire might get to him but soon he was warmed up with all the songs and cheers and he even enjoyed some of the funny songs which were being taught and he even participated with all the other youths at the campfire doing dances as well

Coming back home he still rems the words of some of the dances like 'As we walk' and 'to the side, the side, the side' and was asking when we could visit a campfire again...guess all his fears were dispelled with all the fun he enjoyed at the camp. We then went to watch the talentnite which Ian got a front seat and he thoroughly enjoyed himself tho on the way home, he was saying which portion he was frightened as some of the boys were 'fighting' (pretending) but he enjoyed himself as if he were watching some shows hehhee just glad we made it for the youth camp coz it was an eye opener for this boy (since he's of the age to enjoy some of these fun and he could identify with some of the gor2 and jie2s and of coz his fav jiu2 and Auntie Lorraine were there as well@!)

1 more wk to school

Today marks 1 more wk to school and so we took the routes to school and timed to see which was a faster route as the safer route took longer hhmm Ian was quite excited to go sch but not able to enter sch as there is hardly anyone there so we walked back but he was in gd spirit abt going sch but wonder if its the same if we were to walk everyday to school hhmm anw there are 2 routes whether by a long way which passes by a hotel or crossing this bridge but have to bypass a petrol kiosk and the diff is abt 5 mins hhmm gotta pace for the school soon, today happened to be a bit gloomy weather so it was a gd weather to walk but wonder if its the same if the sun is on us or the dark clouds are over us anw 7 more days!

We went to visit Uncle Marcus and Auntie Amanda's Duxton Home

After svc on Sun, we adjourn to have lunch with Uncle Marcus and Auntie Amanda as it has been some time since they shifted to their Duxton home and we haven't visited their new pl (since the last we went was before their reno) and so it was a gd time to catch up with the couple which Ian meets so often on Sun and was warmed up quite soon after meeting them and was in fact v pally with Auntie Amanda as Uncle Marcus brought us ard the home. They were really nice to bring us ard their estate and making sure Ian visits all the playground that was there

Here is the playground for kids before 6-12yo so it was not quite appropriate for Ian altho there was a slide but this boy was so smart in telling us it was too hot to slide on it and indeed we checked it was hot coz it was metal....hhmmmm the couple said Ian has been too seasoned in going playground hahaaa and ended up we checked out 5 playgrounds at their pl

Here we are at the 50th floor sky bridge which was really nice to be so high up and it happened to be sunny and windy at the same time so we had some gd time walking ard the place as there was hardly anyone on this Sun and it could only be accessed by the residents' access card else u gotta pay to get up here, we took pic at this direction as this has sea view behind us

And we visited more playgrounds and there was another sky bridge on 26th floor which has a jogging track but they also had playground on this floor, actually staying here is quite gd since there are so many places to explore unlike most estates which only has the playground. There was lots of sitting area to enjoy the view at the sky bridges

And going back to their home, we were treated to ice cream log cake and movies at their place and had a gd time catching up since we hardly have time on Sun to talk anything under the sun hahhaaa and guess the part of the house (beside the view since they stay on 39th flr and the breeze that was so gd in the house) we were fascinated by the Precious Moments collection they own and it must be more than 100 pieces.....looks more than those showcases in the shops hahhaa this pic doesn't quite do justice to their collection as there are still alot more pieces and they even have more pieces which are not displayed here....anw it was gd time spent together in the noon at their new pl and since now they stay so near we could visit them more often =)

THE Christmas Party

On Christmas day, we had a Japanese themed dinner and the kids were most happy as we had sushi, cha soba, miso soup, salad and ice cream cake for the dinner and here's Ian learning to roll the sushi with dayi and he was patiently waiting for the sushi to be ready to be eaten

Here's the boy with his fav sushisssss and tonite we had so much sushi prepared that the boy was so happy to be able to eat various kinds of sushi and be able to roll them as well....a long awaited party for the sushi lover

Here's the family having dinner together and it sure feels warm since it was nice having all ard the table and enjoying the yummy food =)

And rounding off with the ice cream cake we brought and singing a bday song of coz to Jesus and the kids were most delighted to be singing that song =) and having the ice cream cake! It was a cookies and cream cake and specially chosen by the Oreo lover who else but IAN.....and when he finished eating the cake, his whole mouth was full of oreo bits and teeth was dark wonder how many pieces of oreo he ate from the cake =p

And then it was Christmas gifts presenting time and besides receiving the presents, Ian was most happy to be giving off the presents to our beloved family members! Here's to Auntie Lorraine...

And to beloved Jiu2 who both so kindly came by to pass Ian the Christmas presents in advance!

And coming home, Ian was happy with the 'collection' of presents and couldn't wait to open them and he was opening 1 at a time and enjoying the time of anticipating the presents he was receiving and was happy with each gift he got! Thanks all for all ur gifts and wishes! Guess that really wraps up the Christmas party which Ian was really looking fwd and also the day which is Jesus bday which Ian has been counting down to!

We went Philatic Museum on Christmas day!

Some time ago we found out this museum was gonna be open on Christmas day so we rem and on this day we checked out the place, guess the last we did come here was when Ian was really small or either we were still without him and on such a day it was nice to explore the place as it was hardly crowded and we could check out the various stuff and activities and here's a classic place to take a pic of urself in a stamp =)

Here we saw the many stamps across the continents over the world and Ian was happy to know many of the names of the countries

And he is happy to be 'posting' letters at the post letter box as he hardly gets chance to post letters since the boxes we have are usually higher and here he was happy to do it without having to be carried

There was a corner to keep all the past stuff like clogs, lion dance, mama shop stuff at the museum and Ian just wanted to play ard with the clogs and here we are with the same pattern clogs just playing ard...it was nice coz not many pple so we could roam ard the museum v freely and musing ard hahaaa

There was a performance at the museum from the Indonesia and it was quite nice as the instruments were new to us and din expect they could produce such therapeutic music and we stood for quite a while to enjoy the music and soon we zoom off for lunch as the 2 'men' were hungry else we could hop onto the peranakan museum which is just nearby since it was museum day anw it is nice to be able to visit the museum since now Ian's more mobile and able to understand things better, we shld check out more interesting museum on the next museum day and perhaps mama's fav National Museum hehheee

I want to go Christmas party....

That was Ian's request when we saw him on Christmas eve...wonder where he got this idea as we were planning to soak up the Christmas mood perhaps in the mall and have a nice Christmas eve dinner but this boy kept asking why we took so long to bring him to a Christmas party....so had no choice but gatecrash at ah baa and ah mu's home Christmas party....wanted to hear the Psallo Chorus from our church doing the carolling so here we are at their place and Ian enjoying the carolling right in front of them =)

It was nice going for some Christmas carols at home as the effect of a smaller area makes it better and Ian had a gd time with the youths and here's Dawn Jie2 (?) who always come looking for Ian in church and hence gets quite aquainted and here they are both in Christmas color and had some gd time with her iphone =p

Anw we left the 'Christmas party' quite soon as we were going for our nice Christmas dinner hhahaa and Ian left quite happily coz he was given a lollipop when we were abt to take our exit....yes, lollipop again and when we went home we asked if he was happy with the Christmas party....he asked why he din receive any present hahhaa so his Christmas party comes with gifts sigh anw later he asked daddy if daddy could a party next yr hhmmm maybe we shld do sth diff go and gate crash all the Christmas parties in town hahhaaa

Counting down to Jesus' bday

Since the start of Dec, Ian has been counting down to Jesus bday with the help of a countdown of advent calendar given by Jiu2 and he has been excitedly asking to stick a sticker as he counts down to the day and as the day draws closer, he is also counting down with much anticipation as he is older now he understands the meaning of Christmas (and maybe some help from Sun Sch?) and he knows on this day he will receive presents so as the day approaches, he is asking how come he doesn't have presents. Even staying over po2's pl, the malay neighbour also gave gifts for po2 and ah gong and they only gave him an Oreo wafer and he was asking po2 how come he din get any presents....kept insisting po2 to give him presents even if its just from NTUC hhahaa guess that's how desperate our boy is for presents as he doesn't know he will get it on the day since we are celebrating on that day

So nice of Jiu2 and Aunt Lorraine to come by our place to pass us presents so the boy can really anticipate the coming of Christmas and then perhaps open it on boxing day? Coz we have been celebrating on the day itself and usually the kids will open right on the spot (guess they can't quite wait to see what is given to them) and so perhaps giving in advance will allow them to wait patiently for the coming of the day???

Anw we have been telling Ian its Jesus' bday on Christmas and for that reason we are getting a real cake for the Christmas family party tmr coz its not a log cake that matter but its really a member of the household we are celebrating with so much fanfare from the secular world, guess its time to teach our 3yo son what's the true meaning of Christmas even as we read the countdown of Christmas readings from the bible, there's so much to tell of our son the meaning of Christmas

For the boy, he knows after Jesus' bday, its gonna be daddy's bday guess that's how he reads his whole yr calendar by including all the family members' bdays and he is sure counting down to his coz he's telling the whole world he's turning 4 really soon.....hahhaaa so much abt counting down

Ian's 1st act in a skit!

Last Sun was the time for Christmas celeb at Sun Sch and it was a Holy Land celebration and the kids were supposed to come dressed as Jews as if they were coming to Holy Land to meet baby Jesus and glad the kids were asked to act in the skit so they had the costume prep for them and here is Ian the shepherd, Seth the Joseph and Joy the angel and it was quite gd fun seeing them dressed for the skit and we were abit apprehensive whether Ian will really act on the day and he did it! Well with much instructions from the teacher but well he's only 3yo and its his 1st skit and he did well hhmm the kids were given 'flower' stickers for best dressed and he was most pleased to get 3 stickers and he was so happy with the stickers that he kept them preciously and he was glad to get gifts from the teachers =)

Shepherd oh shepherd...

Some wks ago, the Sun sch teacher texted us if we allow Ian to act as shepherd in the Christmas play and our ans was of coz but whether he is game for it, its only 2 weeks away and not sure if this boy will be game to do what is in the script and most impt act in front of all the pple....anw when we 1st asked him, he said OK but when we went for the 1st rehearsal he chickened out saying he's scared and aft the children's camp with another rehearsal he firmly said NO even to teacher even tho he would be given a pack of biscuit

So last Sun was the final rehearsal and we were almost quite sure he won't wanna do it and even aft all we tried to 'persuade' him by saying there will be presents given on Christmas party and all but he was still adamant abt it and finally it took just a Lollipop to 'bribe' him into doing the role heheee aiya this boy so deprived of lollipop huh

Anw wonder issit coz of the other 2 boys acting as shepherds that scared him a little at the 1st rehearsal but the last rehearsal 1 of the boy wasn't there and Ian was ok with the acting, altho he was doing things on his own hahhaa it was quite hilarious seeing him carrying a little sheep and also an umbrella as the staff, here's the cast all gathering ard to see the baby Jesus born in the manger

And whether he did do well or not, it's already a gd job done in agreeing to do the task and he was given the reward of a lollipop and guess its not easy getting a 3yo to act in a play but he sure found it easy and not as daunting as what he thot it would be.....he was most pleased that he 'earned' the reward hehehee shall see how it goes this Sun since its the Holy Land Christmas Party

Aiden DiDi's 1st bday party!

Last Sat, after we picked the kids from the finale of the children's camp, we went to Tampines 1 to attend Uncle Ben's boy, Aiden's 1yo bday party and it was held at F.I.S.H. we haven't tried the food there before but it was a nice pl since the restaurant occupied 2 storeys but the bday party was up the upper deck so it was quite exclusive.....alot of stuff were prep for the kids like the fish hat, balloons, drawing stuff and Uncle Ben even got each kid a projection watch of cartoon character. The kids were thrilled esp with their food as well here's a shot with the bday boy who looked most cute in the tuxedo body suit hheeee

And the rest of us which mainly are from our small grp and it has been some time we met like that coz our family was down the last time when we met for small grp meeting.....guess we will meet again next week for Kelvin's housewarming and hopefully mama will be much much better to enjoy the food!

Ian's 1st children's camp The Secret Garden 9-11 Dec

This Dec, our church is having a children's camp themed 'The Secret Garden' for kids from K1-P6 but thot can bring Ian to try if he can stay thru the day camp so that at least he gets some spiritual input since we have taken a break from BSF for almost 2 mths. So since his cousins are going along so mama thot we could join in but mama knows she shld not stay ard else the boy might be clingy to mama...so much talk abt the camp when we reached on the 1st day Ian was stunned with the many kids and those who were much older than him since there are pri sch kids as well.....there was a boy who came keep touching Ian's face and that scared him a little....mama was a bit apprehensive if he would stay but things were better when they went upstairs to congregate to play games and sing songs

Was just so glad he could 'release' mama and he enjoyed himself in the company of other kids and was soon engaging in whatever activities there were.....Aunty Lorraine and Ah Mu who were there told mama how attentive Ian has been doing all activities and paying attention to teachers altho he was the youngest camper! Here's a pic of Ian with the palm tree which mama captured when picking him up and he's in the grp PALM!

Here's a pic which Aunty Lorraine so kindly sent via iphone with the packed with chicken rice which Ian finished it all by himself wow.....abit shocked at this empty box hahahaa

Here's the pic of him sitting attentively listening to Teacher Brenda telling bible stories, btw she is one of the few teachers Ian 'adores' we wonder why but somehow she's the only one Ian will hold hands and walk all over

And here's the tag that says I trust in Jesus and then he could enter 'heaven' guess there are quite abit of hard lessons to teach Ian when he's back home like heaven coz he did ask ah mu what is heaven like, guess he shld have learnt quite abit in the 3 day camp tho he only stayed thru the 1st day taking 30min in joy's pram in the library

And here's a balloon hat made by Joshua gor2 and Ian just loves wearing it....well well we made a right decision in signing Ian up for the camp coz at least he got to learn alot more than just Sun sch and he has learnt how to pay attention which is needed when he soon goes to sch in 3 wks?? Yes another 3 weeks his daddy is counting down for him! This boy misses the children's camp and when he woke up on Sun he was asking are we going children's camp.....and he has learnt so many songs now he sings them everywhere he goes =)

Ian turns 45 mths old

This mth, Ian found his new found love for french toast WITH kaya....we chanced upon french toast at Kopitiam foodcourt and he loves it and after being spoilt at YaKun, now he asks for Kaya to go with it aiyo....so sinful hahaa tho mama always say french toast easy to make but yet oily so dun better not to eat so often

And now Ian's into making dominoes and this is wat he often does with his building blocks and well he's quite gd at making LONG dominoes coz mama always remind him to hold them with stable hands so they won't topple when he's stacking the next one....this can thrill him for gd time for now at least! And he is trying more formation like having a tower stacking another pc on top of the lined dominoes....all his ideas are coming =)

Yea trying to train him to go sch tho mama is already decided to let him wear crocs to sch but the teacher said it would be better with shoes that means he has to learn wearing socks coz he has playground time everyday so now 'training' starts....practice shld make it perfect but mama has stocked some crocs shoes for him to go sch ehhehee so be a bad mama and break the teacher's 'advice'???

This boy has started writing small letters tho not perfect but was complaining how HUGE his capital letters are and now with small letters he tend to write them really small as well hahhaa anw glad to see him enjoying every bit of writing and drawing too these days and its a gd past time when we take train to po2's pl, he will ask for paper and start doodling and there were occasions there are aunties sitting beside him and they will comment on his drawing and this boy will just hide his drawing and making sure no one peeps into his 'art' piece buaaaahh at least this is a quieter way to spend travelling time =)

We visited the Central Fire Stn this mth as well and it has a yr since we went that pl and now Ian can ask to go various parts of the stn to try out diff stuff and he still loves the CPL which we gotta endure the long waiting due to the queues of pple there and we found this fire bike(??) interesting and make a shot with it and this just reminds us how Ian has grown coz last yr we came he barely know what is going on and daddy has to carry him then....now he's almost grown up and exploring places and knows what is fire engine and ambulance

Yes building blocks, now he can stack them quite high and doing all kinds of formation tho he still wonders why they fall when they are taller anw the most impt part is he never gives up tho his towers fall endlessly that is the spirit, my boy!

Just a few more wks of preparing him to go sch and kindof fall into a schedule for him to follow ie go playground in the morning there aft snacks and then its 'study' time where he will do the nursery books which we got and he even told daddy he does HOME WORK hahhaa coz that's what mama calls it and he's always happy to do HOME WORK altho he doesn't quite understand the words and he is starting to do chinese work as well hheheee so scary as we count down to Christmas, we are also counting down to the day he enters sch and someone commented that day that once he enters sch, its for LIFE....how true that statement goes!

Dinner fellowship that is so sweet!

Always loved dinner fellowship esp with close ones and best part when someone else does the cooking hehheee so today we had the honor of Winston cooking the dinner for us....have always loved such dinner fellowship where we could pick up more cooking recipes and skills, so glad he is back for gd and the last he taught us Oyako Don and we missed a session of claypot rice....tonite he prep for us chicken stuffed rice and it was amazing to see how he debone the chicken, he could get the whole carcass out and so if u could do it nicely, the whole chicken could be boneless just with the drums and wings and for the rice he cooked with dried shrimp, dried sausage and mushroom....somehow it tasted so so yummy, can't wait to lay the hands on a chicken to try it out hahaa till we could master it then we could do it when going for dinner parties or when we host pple at home hahahaa

It was nice to have dayi to come and join us as the kids never have enough of their dayi and over dinner table it just made mama recall of those days when we were still youths and we could chat over meals wo interuption from the kids tho hahaa and sure savor such moments and sure look fwd to more....with the cool weather and such home cooked food it sure made the dinner fellowship sweeter than ever!