Ian on boxing day

This yr, Ian could hardly resist laying his hands on e presents. Last wk, he ripped open his 1st Christmas gift so we told him e gift ought to wait till boxing day to open.

On e eve he receive his presents n was tempted to open but we were out till late. So on Christmas he asked to open so we allowed him 1 n he chose dayi's gift coz dayi told him it was his fav n when guessing wat was it, he actually say snow! Hhaa guess snow is 1 of e things Ian has been asking to see, yes real snow coz last wk he went tanglin mall for e foam snow n he knew tat was not snow. Anw he was real delighted to get a cash register fm dayi n he has been having pretend play tat he is e cashier hee n making all sorts of announcements thru his mic! He was so happy w e gift he forgot to ask e rest hhaa

He is happy w e many gifts n even helped to open mei2's n it was truly a merry boxing day!

Ian on 1st visit on Logos Hope!

Ian has been on Doulos when he was conceived in mama's womb n he went on board on Doulos e last time when he was 3yo when Doulos was here for e last time.

So this time we wanted to get him on Logos as they r here for e 1st time. Ian mistook it for 'sheep' when we 1st told him hee it was quite funny when he asked where is e sheep. Hmm anw glad we board b4 e crowd came n Ian was busy 'reading' e bks as we browsed thru e shelves n was pestering mama to buy books. We did get some n glad he enjoyed every bit of e ship n was Gd to walk up n down e steps as they were steep n daddy was with mei2 at vivo so he was walking by himself most part of e walk. Hope e next time mei2 could go up w us so we could board e ship together as a family

Merry merry Christmas!

We were counting e no. of Christmas Ian had n this is his 5th Christmas while we celebrate mei's 1st n he was truly counting to e day w e countdown advent calendar jiu2 gave us b4 dec started n he was hoping Jesus' bday comes soon n he was hoping to give Jesus present n also to receive his.

On e eve of Christmas, we had a long day, we started w bf early as e kids woke up real early n then we headed north to celebrate at po2's pl n with all e Gd food we gathered ard e table n were enjoying e food! Ian was happily enjoying e food, knowing e end will hv e ice cream log cake (which he specially chose it while shopping for it w dayi) n then it was gift exchange n he was happy to receive so many presents!

The kids loved e cake n were playing w e dry ice as they enjoyed e 'smoke' n blowing it. Then aft e partying, we headed to Changi for TA's young adult ministry's Christmas party n he was overjoyed w e other kids at e chalet n they were busy building sandcastle b4 we started e BBQ n then happily playing at e chalet w all e Gd food, Garret popcorn n even durian logcake! Guess tat nite Ian must b tired but yet smiling thru his sleep as on e way home he kept saying he really enjoyed the nite. 1yr ago, he actually requested his daddy to hold a Christmas party this yr aft asking to attend 1 last yr. Guess we din quite fulfill his request but this day he must hv had as much fun as well. We r also v happy this Christmas as God has given our family a big gift as well which is His Son Jesus Christ!

Yippee daddy is on lve tdy!

Tdy we picked Ian fm north aft doing e errands n Ian was happy to go shopping n we headed to AMK hub since we r near there n shopped for chocs for daddy workplace then we headed for e carebear craft n play area. If u do spend $30 e kid can play n do craft work, it was nice on a quiet wkday n Ian was doing coloring while mei2 zzz there. Ian had bowling game then went on doing Xmas card. It was a wish fulfilled coz e last we din hv chance to do it!

Thereaft we headed to SBG since it wasn't raining in e central n we hv been wanting to go see 'trees of e world'. There are many Xmas decorated trees n we liked this tree w sunflower decor. It was fun just strolling in e garden as was cool weather n Ian started running ard n saw this 'curtain of roots' he was abit scared initially but was fine aft seeing it harmless hee. Just love this kind of time enjoying nature n Joann was Gd in e pram. Hmm think of it, it's 3rd time we came to e garden n she's Gd sitting or zz in e pram. Is it e nature? Hmm well just glad daddy is on lve n time just passed so fast on this day

On such rainy day....

Tdy daddy's on lve n ian's real happy when daddy is off work coz it means a day out (yes, these days he wakes up to see if daddy is home, tdy he woke up real early n crawled over our bed, knowing it's an exciting day ahead!)

We had to run errand like collect mei2's passport n to ikea to get a new study table for Ian as it's promo price tdy) n we made a date w ah mu n kids to discovery ctr n yes, to watch Alvin n chipmunks there. It was a nice show, teaching kids to say sorry when they r wrong n to know e intention of parents to lay rules to 'protect' them.

And also to visit e playground n craft work which we did 2 wks back but Ian enjoyed more tdy coz his 2 cousins were w him to join in e fun ESP e dragon slides where there were styrofoam as 'sand' n they treated it like snow n played a long time there.

It was a Gd day out since it rained whole day n there's this indoor playground for e kids while we adults n e baby tagged along e fun! Yes, its e 2nd time Joann has gone on movie but tdy she kindof slept thru e show, coz of busy wkend but she was Gd. Hmm it will b a while b4 any cartoon will b shown else we could b back for e fun!

Cheezel oh cheezel...

Usually on sun, Ian would receive 'surprise' treat fm sun Sch teacher n he would pester us to allow him to eat it aft his lunch. Yest he received a rare treat of cheezel, yes those cheese rings we used to eat when younger.

What surprised us was he held close e pack tho some ard him were eyeing on it. He later told us he was gonna bring to a gathering tat evening to share. Both mama n daddy laughed coz there's hardly enough to share. Anw he said he has to bring it. Anw we had some time out n Ian fell asleep in e car n by e time we reached our home he was too tired to walk so we just asked him to eat cheezel as we walk home n he did n offered to share w us.

Tat evening, we went for e gathering n then e jie2 tat Ian adores then asked him if he brought e pack of cheezel n then it dawned upon us tat Ian was asked to bring e pack to share. No wonder he had e idea of needing to bring there. Anw thereaft asking Ian, he then blamed himself for forgetting abt it n ate it. Anw just thot this boy is so innocent wanting to share tho it was with much a selfish intention fm e person who asked. Am glad we hv a giving boy n he's always more than happy to share w others wat he has except mama has e thot of 'poisoning' his mind w other thots hee. Hmm just stay innocent n giving, our boy!

Ian is 4 yrs and 9 mths old!

This mth has been slowly passing by as Ian's off from sch and guess more time at home makes him alittle bored since it's mostly mama looking aft mei2 and not much time for him but he will find ways to entertain himself like pretending to be a teacher and 'talking' to his students....well he wanna be yang lao shi so it's his way of pretend play...else he's so looking fwd to go out of home be it just going playground with ah mu and kids or even going stay po2's pl and also daddy's off day!

He's getting used to having mei2 at home slowly tho he still ask why mei2 needs to be feed so long....anw he loves mei2 on his lap and is always asking for it when mei2's awake and this mei2 sure loves the gor2 ard as she will keep looking ard for him and smiles when he plays with her...this is one of his cheeky smile coz we took a few and he wanted to have different look in each pic...well guess with Ian at home it's noisy but he sure entertains mama since mei2 is mostly sleepy or need to feed but we sure hope mei2 can sleep longer so we can have more play time every day!

Someone asked him the other day if he wanna a di2 (which is what he wanted b4 mei2 was born) and his answer was NO....guess he knows its endless cries and feeds and most impt they cant play with him yet and mama has lesser time for him sigh....and almost everyone is disturbing him abt bringing mei2 home if he's not taking care of her, even the other day we were at discovery ctr, the staff also teased him abt bringing mei2 home a week....if I were him, I would be thinking why is the whole world wanting my mei2??? ahhahaa

His new 'toy' for the mth is the piano and he knows he can't play when mei2 is sleeping and the other day ah maa came by to ask him to play a tune and he was so spontaneous in his ans that mei2 is sleeping...well guess the thing abt keeping quiet is slowly getting into him and the other day he was asking to go po2's pl and he said so that the house can be quiet....sigh wonder if it's getting too much into him or he's getting too matured....mama do kindof miss his 'noise' when he's away....what an irony!

The other gd thing abt mei2 addition to family is he gets more daddy time coz he knows mama needs to be with mei2 so last Sun he was bugging daddy to go jogging and he goes cycling and he was happily saying BYE2 to mama as he was going cycling and he loves cycling fun (yea he prefers to be on the bike than sitting with daddy...wonder how true is that!) anw guess he needs more outdoor and he is surely getting closer to daddy coz every evening he spends quite abit of time while mama settles mei2 to sleep early, just love this daddy and son bonding time!

We realised this mth he has this classic smile whenever we take pic which is quite funny coz it looks kindof pasted smile hahhaaa but well it looks nice but every pic looks the same until he decides to have another look......anw he's counting down to his bday coz it's another 3 mths away and yea this hols we scouted for his party loot bag and it was sure fun for him as he was thinking wat to put in the bag and there was once he said Egg Tart haahaa coz he loves egg tart...what strange idea but he sure looks fwd to turning 5yo.....it's another mth to go before he enters K1 and he's missing all his friends and teacher....by then hopefully he's more busy with sch and time passes faster for him and hopefully soon mei2 doesnt need so much sleep and can play with him...which is wat he cannot wait for mei2 to pretend play as his student hahhaa that's what he's preparing his white board for!

I want to watch movie

This has been ian's request for sometime n tdy daddy is on lve n he got e discovery centre pass to watch e movie - Arthur Christmas n as e pl was having 'Playfully yours' exhibition which has games of e past so it was a nice trip there.

We started w e games stations so we played racing car, dancing station n there was even slides there. What we spent e most time was at craft section which we made chantek, paper helicopter, paper kite, maracas etc. It was interesting even for us adults to learn to make e stuff n so we had so much to bring home coz hardly anyone was there so we could make every item keke.

Then we went for movie n there was an enclosed pl w balloons to play n Ian went n had a Gd time of workout n we then went for e show. We weren't too sure if joann will b Gd during e show so we sat quite front row of theatre but there was a small crowd in theatre n Joann was Gd n in fact watching e movie on mama's lap.

With e Gd time there we shld b back soon coz they r screening Alvin & chipmunk soon n exhibition is till 8 Jan so if u got kid n dunno where to go this Sch hols, check out e exhibition n go for a show. It's highly recommended! We even had tikam tikam at e end (aft filling up feedback form) n we won '5 stones' game. So much memories of e past games! It was a fun fun day at e discovery centre! N collect 5 stamps we got some souvenirs from e centre!

Yeah its daddy time again!

It's e time of e yr tat daddy clears last yr's lve (yes, daddy has accumulated every yr's lve to bring fwd so he has to clear last yr this yr, if u get us)

Anw last wk we were busy w shifting of piano on daddy off day n tdy we were out ikea in morning w joy n Seth as it was pouring. They played in playground for an hr then we had lunch n an ice cream treat, we were all thrilled w e ice cream machine at ikea as it was self svc but wat was interesting was when u put e cone n insert e token, the machine automatically makes e ice cream on top of e cone. E kids were all thrilled by it, guess we would b back again for e ice cream fun.

Glad e rain cleared by noon as we headed to ECP for some cycling as Ian has asked for it for sometime but weather hasn't permitted n he was glad to b ferried by daddy tho he asked to do cycling on his own e next trip while daddy goes jogging. We shld b doing tat soon, we guess!

We signed up for music class for Ian!

We hv been wanting to sign Ian for music class for a while but guess w mei2's arrival, we hv been caught up w busy-ness till Al gu2 asked if we wanna take over a piano then we seriously got down to it ESP w Ian agreeing readily to e piano.

So tdy was e day we arranged for e shift of piano n also signed Ian for yamaha junior cse. He seemed so keen to play on e piano that he wanted to learn at home but guess he needs basic foundation 1st n yamaha only teaches piano for kids above 6 so for time being he will b on electone but guess he could practise on piano. N class term starts in Jan n for time being, he's always on piano playing e one n only song 'Mary has a little lamb' or he might sing any song n pretend to play. Oh our poor neighbor's ears. Wonder how long his zest for piano will last but our sun pm will b gone with his 'enrichment class' oh wat r we getting into? Those enrichment class 'chase'? Nah, we just hope to inculcate this music love for Ian as he's starting to show love for music w singing n dancing n lately he's observing more of pianists in our church. Just hope he will hv this love of music growing in him....

Start of Sch hols!

Tdy marks e start of Ian Sch hols as it's e orientation for new students so he has no Sch. Which means mama gotta take care of both kids whole day n it's a challenge as Ian used to b off to Sch in am n Joann gets to nap but w e noise e gor2 is making, wonder if she gets to nap.

N daddy used to go work late as he fetches Ian to Sch n now it's back to his early going to Sch so mama gotta settle both for bath in am tat's provided Joann is cooperative as sometimes she can wake up early n noisy at our bf time. Well just hope it will b fine this hols n she shld get better as time goes

But tdy being e 1st day, she took a really early nap despite bro is in n she's thrilled w him ard like on this mat, she was in fact frantically looking out for her bro. Seems like mama's fears abit unfounded well shall see but just glad daddy can take some lve to relief mama n ah mu can b help w some relief!

Our 1st Parents Teacher Conference

We were scheduled to meet ian's 王老师 tdy n so had daddy take lve to look aft e 2 kids while mama goes. But upon reaching e classroom, mama saw ian's classmate, isabelle's family waiting n they were b4 us but waiting for their turn n realized we could go in together so got daddy to bring e kids up fm car park.

Ian was initially reluctant to go, dunno issit coz afraid to get complaints hhaa but soon came up n was having a whale of time w isabelle while we waited.

It's our 1st session as we din go e last semester as we were away for hols in Perth so was 'excited' to hear wat teacher had to say. Hmm generally better saying ian's interested in writing n coloring n listens attentively in class n glad he has progressed so much in Chinese. This 1 yr passed real swift n e 老师 was telling him tat she expects more fm him next yr n so glad she will b ian's chinese teacher next yr again. She's probably e 1st teacher tat made a HUGE impact on e boy's Sch life n glad to move on to K1 w her n it will b with Teacher Meg (mama deemed her as e strictest teacher in e Sch hhaa) n hope to see more new learning in ian's English next yr! Well a Gd way to end e Sch term as e whole family goes for e conference! In a way, Ian knows wat is said n expected of him n he was so tense in e meet up.

N here is a pic of him having fun in computer class n teacher commented he's fast in picking out e audio read out of e phonic. E other pix is w Isabelle, Gd tat we met n caught this shot as she was e 1st friend Ian mentioned so much to everyone he met when asked abt his Sch at beginning of e yr. Can still rem how he was referring to Isabelle as HIS friend n now e Sch yr is almost closing, we just thank God for seeing him thru e yr n how many friends he has made! Towards another Sch yr huh

The hello kitty with a mouth?

Just couple of days ago, Ian was busying in his room n when mama came by, was shocked to see e kitty box cover had a curve tat makes e kitty mouth then asked Ian, he told mama 'they forgot to draw e mouth' duh....told him hello kitty has no mouth, he was like 'r u sure?, I thot all kitties hv mouth?' hhaaa was kindof funny then told him to check his other kitty toys to see if they got mouth

He then told mama 'maybe their mouths r white?' hhmm end up e kitty box cover at our hse has a drawn in mouth which looks a little funny, don't u think so. Hhaa just a little joke fm our 4yo son!

Ian is 4 yrs and 8 mths old!

Another mth has gone past and this mth is v much time spent with mei2 dearest as she's the addition to our family and Ian's enjoying going out as a family so much so when we are in the mall and any baby cries nearby he will turn and ask if it's mei2 hahhaa...anw it's a gd thing he's loving mei2 more than ever....his fav meal he has been enjoying is Happy Meal...hhmm guess started when mama was in confinement and he was happy to go out with daddy to get the meal and he loves the toy that comes with it and best is we dun have to ask him to hurry with his meal as he will eat up all except he will say the fries is too much...which is gd =)

The biggest thing that happened this mth was his sch concert....we are just glad he enjoyed it and enjoyed sch so much....guess he just loves learning and even making friends....hhmm tough to ask him to change class we guess but sch is ending soon...time flies, our boy is going K1 soon...arrgghh sounds like the yr just flew past when we were still so worried if he could adapt well to sch life and now it's the end of the term already, we just thank God sch is a breeze for him

He's getting more active which is right for his age BUT sometimes hard to ask him to slow down esp when he's with other kids....hhmm the other day went out with Xin Heng gor2 and both were monkeying ard at the airport's aviation gallery and started climbing all over when there are signs to say No climbing....hard to get him to stop when the other boy just keeps on going till mama has to stop both sigh....is it coz it's a monkey see monkey do thing hhmm

He's v much into family these days and would lay his toys as part of family and he's just gathering all the soft toys in the house together and doing all sorts of formation and latest is even getting the fridge magnets as we got quite abit in pairs....well he will then say who is the daddy and mummy, mei and gor2 hahaha and then ah gong and po2 etc...so much abt family huh

Yes, its a routine he must see mei2 face to face every day and sometimes dictates mama to feed which side....hhmm latest even giving mama 49 secs to feed mei2 as he counts to 49...who knows why till 49 but it's training his counting but well at the end of it, mama will tell him mei2 not enough feed yet and he can start counting again hahhaa just love it when both are total sound asleep at nite and it's peace for mama sigh coz Ian will always wanna wait till mama is done with mei2 to do the prayer and sometimes it can be long for him and dun wanna him to keep waiting up for mama as want him to sleep early and wake up early for sch...well another wk to go only since sch hols we can just ALL sleep in hehee

Yea he loves the cake decoration and perhaps the eating and even cutting cake part which is why he's asking when we are going again hahaha and pushed it to ah mu as mama told him it was ah mu who printed the coupon so can ask her hahaha so ah mu, be prep to be ask WHEN again hhmm wonder when the groupon will come with it again and hopefully can do for his bday hahhaa then we can do it on a gd occasion but with 3 cakes again?? hahaa

He loves doing long hair and this mth dayi came by with a new bought dress and gave the sash to Ian and he just used it to tie his blankie ard his head as some tribe pple huh hahaha and he just loves swinging his blankie ard his head....all thanks to dayi huh

When mama is busy feeding mei2, Ian will sometimes come by and talk and will get shoo by mama if mei2 looks like gonna sleep and with Ian talking she's distracted by his voice and so he will wander off to do his stuff and mama was surprised to see him doing this writing on his whiteboard 1 nite coz the number writing looks nice, dun u think so....for a boy whom mama used to think he doesn't write neatly, this is some cool neat work esp he got his strokes correct coz he will sometimes stroke the wrong side so mama gave him compliments for his gd work and lately he has been learning to do his sums....he will ask mama if '3+6=9'...wonder issit coz his sch is teaching or he got hooked on when he last played this app on dayi's i-pad and he loves to do maths....anw glad he's picking up on his own coz we been slacking on his writing since mei2's born and shld pick up more during hols when we got the extra time in the morning hhmm hope so huh

Anw time flies, he will turning 5 soon in a couple of mths and he's been asking for wish list on what to get for his bday pack, his bday present and even bday cakessss.....sigh guess gotta manage his expectations huh =p

The longest day out with Joann mei2.....

As daddy's yi2 and grandson are out from Msia and daddy wanted to bring the boy out to the zoo, we took the opportunity today to bring them out as Ian's off from sch (aft the sch concert) and it was also the 1st time Joann is at the zoo....tho it was tough deciding whether to bring the infant, it wouldn't be complete if we dun go along...so here we are at the zoo with the unpredictable weather and our gal hehehe

We managed to catch 3 of the shows and actually Mervin (the boy) wanted to see elephants but it was drizzling so the show was called off and we wanted to ride the elephant but the heavy downpour came so he din get to see elephants....Joann was cooperative in the zoo as she was sound asleep in the pram except for occasional carrying for feed or too loud music so she was gd till rain poured endlessly and was a little worried getting wet but we were at the eating area and spotted this buggy fetching pple so mama went to ask if we could be ferried out as we have an infant and thanks to Joann, we had the privilege to be buggied out of the zoo to car park hhehee

And we headed to the airport for the 2 boys to run ard and to have dinner....so we were there seeing planes and 2 monkeys climbing ard....they were both shy at the morning when we 1st met and there at airport they both got so acquainted and started talking so much except that they had a little language barrier....Ian was speaking mandarin at the end of the day and Mervin was speaking English to Ian hahhaa it was quite hilarious hearing them speaking the lang which they weren't so gd in but it was a fun fun day out catching up with yi2....we were out for almost 12 hrs with our little infant and it was a challenge hahaa so we SURVIVED with her missing her beauty nap!