A whole day spent at the East!

Early in the morning, we made a trip up to East to send ah baa and ah mu's fam off as they are going off to US till CNY so prep Ian with some stuff to pass to gor2 and jie2 since we wont see them for some time and also so that Ian won't ask to take plane as he has been asking when we are going Aust anw Jiu2 and Aunty Lorraine are coming along so not so worried

Here are the folks sending the family off and we will see u all soon in 2 weeks time, have a gd time zooming ard US and spending real gd time at the parks!

After the send off, we were treated to yummy dim sum at Jiu2's pl coz they prep so much for us for the breakfast....it was really nice to be sitting ard with all the warm food in front of us instead of jostling at those eating place (so it was wise choice made by the host!) and they cooked porridge to go with all the dim sum, it was a nice time at the breakfast table =)

And here's Ian with his cheers with Aunty Lorraine with their egg tarts, porridge and baos....he was eating so much despite the fact he had some food on the way to airport hhmm growing boy huh

And then we had some card games and at merely 3yo, Ian has picked up some skills in playing Uno and it has been so long for us to play the cards, it was FUN! Guess we would be picking up a pack of the cards and playing soon everynite at home hahhaa

Before everyone gets sleepy with all the food in our tummies, we decided to go outdoors and we headed to Pasir Ris park since there were more stuff to 'entertain' the boy as he was asking for the playground! And as usual, he just love the swing and he actually took 3 times with other rides in the intervals!

A new ride he enjoyed himself tremendously was this sphere looking thing that went round with the weight of Ian and he loved it as he was going up and down in different angles, guess he shld be quite game for viking hahhaa

When we 1st reached there, Ian wasn't keen on all the climbing stuff he was into those 'effortless' stuff like swings and twirling round and round and then we made him do some climbing and here's the spider web which he eventually got up with Aunty Lorraine and daddy's help so that he could get on the slide which was so high but he couldn't quite slide fast as it wasn't as 'slippery' as we thot it to be

Then he took more slides and then we got to this 'rock climbing' bit and must say Ian was quite gd at doing it after a while and soon he got on to the top quite fast coz u gotta go up this way to play the slides on this little 'hill'

And then we found this carton box which was lying ard and this was a thing we wanted to do for some time which was like a 'magic carpet' (Ian calls it that!) and sitting on it, he just slides down the slope (this was an activity we did when we were little and have been trying to explore places on it) and here he was thrilled to sit on the 'carpet' tho he asked for a longer slope, we will find it again
Thereafter, we headed to Ikea for a lunch tho we were mostly still quite full but the chicken wings just did the 'trick' to make the little boy eat and also the rest of us

Then it was nap time so we bid farewell to Jiu2 and Aunty Lorraine as we fetched po2 and ah gong home and Ian was off his zzzz land

After his nap, we went back to the airport again coz daddy wanted to send his colleague who was going back to his hometown and so we took the sky train coz we parked at T3 and he was going off at T1 and we then took to T2 coz Ian wanted to play at the aviation gallery, after just chatting with daddy's colleague who was going back Qingdao, the boy couldn't wait and bug us to go off to his 'playland' sigh so off we went

And there he wasn't admiring the gallery but instead he was doing his stunts climbing up the carpeted slopes sigh and it took us a LONG while before he agreed to go....hhmmm now he's better at his grips guess he's doing more climbing of stuff than ever and then we finally went T2 for dinner and it was a gd time at the East and sending off pple at the airport really makes us (also Ian) want to take plane just somewhere hahhaa but it was a gd time spent with Jiu2, Aunty Lorraine, po2 and ah gong who despite bored at playgrounds but still accompanied us to do the stuff with the boy! Thanks for spending the day with us and making the boy feel so happy being the ONLY child!

Happy birthday, daddy!

This was how Ian greeted daddy in the morning tho he did ask a few mornings whether its daddy's bday and how we are gonna get a cake for him. Tdy, he's real glad daddy is off from work coz there is someone to fetch him to sch (for this wk he started bugging his daddy to send him to sch as he says he perspires coz of walking hahaa wat kind of excuse but it's a gd workout for the boy and daddy goes work alot earlier well this wk daddy did 'spoil' him by fetching him twice to sch but he's gd on other days!)



And aft sch, we went off to celebrate daddy's bday after Ian's off from sch...well well he looked like 1 of those fortunate kids who get to play right after sch in his uniform as daddy suggested driving to JB for a day out and it was FUN! Guess we've been to Tebrau several times but never on our own so we dun quite know how to get there but the last time mummy went with dayi and rem it was quite simple from Causeway so we just drove straight all the way and well we made it there! Was so so simple and we were famished when we got there and Ian took a 20min nap on the way (while we checked out our direction so was quite timely and it lasted him till nite wow power nap!) so we headed to a Mexican restaurant where Ian had his fav pizzallae (Mexican pizza) and daddy had his chicken cutlet rice and mama had American Chicken burger...was a gd time at the lunch pl



Then we headed to Jusco which had a HUGE kids zone and there was so so so many kiddy rides and the seats were so spacious that mama was tempted to sit with Ian hahaha coz it was really spacious for adults as well but the seat did write for kids only so better be gd hahaha anw it was cheap RM$1 a ride so we allowed him take a horse carousel (which was functioning and going round only with Ian on it, what kind of waste huh hahhaa) and also a fire engine ride (can see the shots of it in the pic above) guess its gd when u come with more kids coz each ride could squeeze 3 kids at least hahhaa



Then we went shopping for CNY goodies which was why we wanted to head here coz there had more varieties and their packaging was real interesting so we got for the folks (not us since hardly anyone comes bai nian to us since we are the youngest in family hahaha)

Guess the star of the day is daddy and not Ian huh hahahaa coz we were teasing him he got his fav food, his joy rides and he even got a 'present' coz the super yo-yo was going at 70%off so we got him 1 and guess we always wonder if the special day circles ard the kid rather than the bday parent once we have kid haahaa guess its seeing how happy they looked that made us happy as well

Anw we left quite early as the place was packed coz we guess it might be a Thaipusam PH for Msians coz the place was crowded on a wkday (unlike the last time we came with dayi) and well we were glad we left early to miss the jam and we shld be back soon coz there is a Tesco beside which we could do our grocery the next time and there were alot more to shop haahha now we know there is a kids zone there so its much easier and we could catch a movie too

We came back to celebrate the day with daddy just on our own...when we were preparing the cake, Ian asked how abt the other pple hhehee guess he always think cutting cake must have more pple the merrier hahaha and he chose this choc cake coz he knows daddy loves choc just like him....just so glad we made a whole day out as a family and it was sure fun eating, shopping and playing for all of us not only for Ian =)

Happy bday, daddy and wishing u many more blessed yrs ahead! You are our STAR!!!

Ian's 1st sch work brought home!!!

Every Fri, the kids will be bringing home a file which keeps 2 folders - Chinese and English for the parents to see the 'progress' of the kid and as a 1st time parent sending the kid to sch, we were most excited to see his 'works' hhmm and guess at least we know what he's learning in sch and could go thru with him as he went thru the file together (of coz once with mama and another with daddy!) and this nursery rhyme for term 1 on my body (as the theme for their learning this term was on my body) which struck mama much and just re-inforce the reason why we chose to send him to a church kindergarten

My body

2 little eyes to look to God

2 little ears to hear His words

2 little feet to walk His ways

2 little lips to sing His praise

2 little hands to do His Will

And 1 little heart to love Him still

And indeed hope this little heart is slowly moulded to know God and to know His will as He has called Ian to even way before he was born

An early reunion dinner and celebrating daddy's bday

As ah baa's family won't be ard for CNY's eve so we had early reunion dinner at po2's and ah gong's pl today and it was a fun time for the kids as they know the yummy yusheng is on the menu and we are having steam boat as well as the fried prawn fritters (which is po2's popular dish for the kids) and here we are tucking into the yusheng and wishing everyone well for the new yr

And we had a bday celeb for daddy and Ian has been asking why daddy's bday takes so long, guess he was really glad he could blow the candles out for daddy and then when tucking into the cake, he was remembering whose bday comes next and actually he rem the whole yr's but he stopped for the mid yr, guess he just rems his own bday and can't wait for it to come coz he's telling the 'whole world' he's turning 4yo soon!!! It was a nice dinner gathering ard the table which we probably can do it again only another 3 weeks later.....

Ian is 46 mths old...

this mth, there are quite a few 1stsss for Ian, it has been a happening mth with Christmas, new yr, sch term started and hotel stay and well he also went for his 1st camp fire and visited his 1st youth camp and experienced the talentnite, believe it or not he still rem some parts of the talentnite as once in a while he will still ask how come the gor2 fight and the jie2 they did this and that and the barbie doll....hahaa guess it really made a deep impression in him

He did his 1st skit in Sunday Sch as well and tho it was still with much instructions, glad he's bold enough to do it infront of so many kids and this yr he also officially started his nursery class in Sun Sch, last yr he joined in Jun as he was actually pre-Nursery age but he seems quite prepared to sit thru class and he did well this yr coz was still abit aprehensive whether he will be ok without Joy jie2 but he survived with all the boys in the class and he's most comfy with Teacher Brenda and he's always happy to go Sun Sch coz he can sing and dance his songs and can come home asking how come we din sing 'Na na na' today hahhaa

ooppss dunno why the pic can't rotate tho did it...anw this boy he's such a chicken lover, guess he could v much survive in Western countries as he can go without staple and just meat can be his main dish as we tried several kinds of chicken whether grilled, boiled, marinated or not he can just tuck it in even hotel's stay herbal chicken he could still lick off the drumstick hhmm just gotta squeeze more veg in else he's such a food lover, in sch he eats porridge, macaroni and noodle and would come back asking mama to cook the same again for him to eat, he's never bored to eat the same huh

He got some rub off from mama coz he can ask if we are going shopping hahha and sometimes will ask for shopping trips and even its to NTUC he's glad and he has been asking for more stuff when we go out but he knows his rule and there are things we buy home but he knows he can only eat 1 a day and sometimes mama even forgets to give him hahahaa out of sight out of mind but he's surely helping to carry grocery well only his fav and some cashiers are nice to just paste a sticker on the item so he could carry it on his own

We usually have to rush to sch since the sch starts at 820am and there is singing of national anthem and pledge (wonder when he will learn all these hahaha but the kids really sing with gusto, do they do that in pri sch??) but when coming back home we can slowly stroll and take anything under the sun since we are hardly hard pressed for time and here's the boy who will walk among the grass and pick the lalang (or are they weeds) as Auntie Lorraine thought him that he could blow the petals off and he's always actively looking out for them to blow them off

Here's the usual spot he sits while waiting for the car to pick us up and this mth, he had his 1st stay at Jiu2's pl and he has so much to say when he's back guess they packed so much activities for this boy that left real fun experiences for him to come back wanting to tell us and he was even more pleased when he saw Auntie Lorraine sent the pics via iphone to mama

He's so gamed for lokang fishing and sad each time a fish dies back at home and is always asking daddy when are we going back to fish and he will say he has so little fish, well 1st step in getting ur own pet huh

This mth, we also redid his room and the things are more in order and he also found more toys which he used to play when he was younger esp like this doc set and he's always taking out to play when there are guests at our pl and showing off his kit and what he could do.....well does he really look like his daddy in glasses?? hahaha anw we are real glad this mth passed quite easily esp with his going of sch and his liking to go sch and that is the only thing that can wake him up every morning as he simply loves sch and telling him to wake up to go sch he just wakes up with a smile....but his next question is when are we going BSF again?? Guess he truly missing going that bible class as well =)

He's also counting down to his next bday coz he knows he will be 4 and he's counting to daddy's then to dayi's then to CNY and to gor's bday and well you will be 4yo in 2 mths time wow time really flies!

Our staycation from 7-9 Jan 2011

Coz of our wedding anniversary and also coinciding with Ian's 1st wk of sch (so as to encourage him for his 'gd' behaviour in going sch) we had a staycation at Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel as dayi has this gd deal which we could ride on =) and this boy was most excited when we told him we were going HOTEL but dunno why he linked hotel to Australia but told him we were going Spore's hotel....anw last wk when dayi popped by to give him an encouragement gift, he was most glad to say he will go dayi's hostel this Fri but when he is at the hotel, we asked if he wanna go dayi's hostel, his reply was 'next time, pls' hahhaaa guess he just loved the new pl and was checking out every corner of it AND jumping the bed (coz it's forbidden at home! not that we allowed but he conveniently did so)

It took him real long to nap before we told him else we will go shopping wo him hahhaa but well that hotel is just directly opp of Marine Parade so food was easy and we could go shopping at Parkway and the other side of the hotel we could get food from famous Katong so so we were quite glad we had this change of estate which we never got to stay in the east!

That nite we went for a buffet at Feast@east, did hear it was gd and there Ian just enjoyed the food and his fav durian moose....wa it has been such long time we went buffet and we had a gd time over dinner eating non-stop hahhaa

Then the next day came the Chng clan (except Jiu2 and Auntie Lorraine who had a gathering at their pl) and the kids had so much fun at the pool and later had such gd time with all the delicacies from Katong =p it was a different wkend spent away from our usual town area =) and Ian was so sad to be going home and asked when we will be coming again and even kept the hotel card so he could use it when he comes back hahhaaa anw will be back at hotelsss again during CNY coz of dayi's bday bash =p

5 blessed years!

5 yrs ago, we said the vow and made our 1st family prayer in church and this day, we are celebrating the blessed marriage we have and even the parenthood which we are enjoying. We couldn't have made this far without God and our family. The marriage has gone thru some phases - starting with couplehood and then going thru pregnancy together (which was real fun!) and then looking after a baby (which was kindof totally out of the world experience) and having stay home to look after Ian and then seeing him thru toddlerhood and now going onto schooling life, we are still working out issues together as a couple and continue to pray alongside with us. We see more yrs ahead when we shall grow old together and seeing Ian going thru his education and then both of us retiring (can't wait for that! hahaha) and doing more God's work with His providence

We truly treasure the bundle of joy that God has given us that made the couplehood more interesting but yet testing.....we just enjoy the fun we have with our son, Ian and perhaps it could never be the same without him, he has given us joys and pains which we could work together as a couple and this day, we attest to goodness of God for seeing us thru and even bringing our family closer as the day goes!

Ian's 1st day at sch...

so much worries went unfounded on 1st day of sch for Ian coz he was brave enough to go thru sch on his own =) =) =) wonder issit coz we have prep him enough or coz he's really all psyched up for sch coz we were still preparing him to sit thru the class alone tho the teacher did tell us on orientation day that it was fine for us to stay in class on 1st day of sch. However coz out of the 15 kids in the class, only 5 are new since 10 of them were in the sch for prenursery last yr so that makes the 5 kids totally NEW so they had a special name tag perhaps for the teachers to identify them as new??

Anw today daddy took 1/2 day off to send Ian off to sch and we were proud to say this boy was confident to 'release' us as he just followed his 'lao shi' off to class after waving bye to us! The usual duration of class is 3 hrs but today to integrate the kids in, it was 1 1/2 hr only so time flew past for us to pick Ian and this boy was so elated to see us and to show us the pack of Oreo his lao shi gave him and even told us the lao shi said to eat it only when he's home

We then went off to botanical garden to 'reward' for boy for doing well on 1st day of sch and daddy then gave him a Macs treat and boy, this boy hardly gets such treat and he was in fact finishing his happy meal so so fast!

Then 2nd day we had to venture the hot weather to walk to sch and he was gd even under the hot sun and we met some 'familiar' faces as we have a boy who stays the same blk in his class and another just a few blks away and even our immediate neighbour's gal who is in pre-nursery is in his class too! Guess he will have more friends in time to come =)

Just so glad this milestone 0f going to sch isn't that tough and this boy just simply loves sch and he has been coming home and saying he loves going to sch and daddy asked if he will love it even if he were to go for another 15 yrs at least, his ans is YES, what can we say....

Ian's 1st stayover at Jiu2 and Auntie Lorraine's pl

Ian's been asking if he could stayover at Jiu2's and Auntie Lorraine's pl after some time ago they were asking if he was game to stay over but did tell him they have no toys and no tv but he's sure happy to go with them as he's always happy to go 'camping' and so we fixed up going over their pl to stay this last wkend and this boy was overjoyed to hear. We had our usual dinner at po2's pl but Jiu2 and Auntie Lorraine have yet to come but we were abt to go back, abit apprehensive if Ian will stay on without us but he happily did it coz dayi was there as well

Dayi then told us he was really excited abt going for his stayover and soon they came and he went over with much activities for him - they did sandwich making and played sparklers with him and soon it was time to zzzz. Auntie Lorraine has kindly provided mattress for Ian to sleep beside their bed and he actually woke them up in the morning and they brought him to playground to play oh gosh go playground so early in the morning?? Hhaaaa we have never quite done it and Jiu2's Auntie Lorraine's neighbours must have been surprised seeing them bringing a kid so early to the playground. Well then we met up in church and Ian was most happy to relate all that took place at their pl, thanks to Lorraine who took all the pics and we could do a collage of pics for Ian to keep as momento and he was asking when would be the next time he could camp over again, we have a son who doesn't quite like the routine of staying home huh....sigh

Ian's 1st longkang fishing...

On the 1st day of the yr we went to BottleTree Park near Yishun for some fun and after the playground fun, the kids were asking for longkang fishing and we saw alot of kids already at it and Ian seemed alittle too small to go after the fast swimming fishes and after catching some 'fishes' we realised some were dead as he couldn't quite go after the fast ones! But after a while, he did catch a couple of the fishes and the rest were helped by us adults else the tank could be pathetic hehheee

Then the kids started counting their fishes and were happy to go po2's pl with their fishes tho they would wish to stay longer to catch more but it would be endless and the tank can't accomodate so many fishes

And this happy boy went home with his fishes but wonder issit the weather too hot coz some dead while at po2's pl and he was quite sad as the number of fishes just keep going down and well this sure brings lots of memories for mama coz she used to keep some of these guppies in office and it was sure therapeutic seeing the fishes swimming and this is Ian's 1st pet to keep and wonder how long it would last hhmm anw Happy New Year to everyone!