Happy Anniversary, 老公!

The poor hubby is always being ignored.
What's on the wife's mind is only about kids and kids and kids.
No more home cooking for the hubby as the wife is too busy cooking for the kids.
No more going out for movie marathon as the wife is too busy taking care of the kids.
No more watching tv together as the wife has already fallen asleep together with the kids.
No more holding hands when walking as we have to either carry or hold the kids or push a stroller.
No more sharing a bed as the kids have taken over the bed (though they try to get the bed back for ourselves).
And there were a few times, the wife even told the poor hubby that she felt that she love her kids more than him :-)
Nonetheless, the hubby loves the wife all the same. And so does the wife.

Happy anniversary, 老公!

A busy day for Xi Yu

Both hubby and me took leave today, the 21st September 2010, the day when our little girl turns 13th month.

Permanent resident of Singapore
We have chosen this date to bring Xi Yu to the ICA, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority Singapore to complete the formality for her to become a Singapore permanent residence. I have submitted her application on the 17th November 2009 and it was only approved in August 2010. It took 9 months for the ICA to go through her details (what to check that she is just a little baby?) and finally approved it. It all had us to be blamed of. We received a notice when we registered her birth of at the Thomson Medical Centre stating the procedures on how to apply for a permanent residency for her. But I am very sure (I read it many times) that it didn't mention that we cannot bring her out of the country until we have submitted the application. And that's what we did, we brought her to JB when she turned full month. So she lost the special status (being born in Singapore) and was considered as a visitor, and so has to join all others in the queue who wants to apply for permanent residency. Not only that, I have to make an extra trip to ICA to apply a long term visit pass (and to pay for it) for her so that she can stay in Singapore.

Anyway, Xi Yu is officially a Singapore permanent resident as of 21st September 2010.

One year old check up and vaccination
Then we brought her to get her jabs (Hepatitis A and second dose for H1N1) at Dr Keoy's. I asked hubby to go with us as during the last visit to Dr Keoy, he told me a blood test will be ordered to check her level of thyroid. The last time when blood was drawn from her for the same test, I went there alone, and she cried so badly, but luckily I was still nursing her at that time, so just offered her my boob and she stopped crying almost immediately. This time round, she is older and strong and very aware of things happening, I don't think I can hold her down to get the few millilitres of blood drawn. The hubby is definitely needed to help. Ended up, she didn't cried at Dr Keoy's, but cried very pitifully after the blood drawn at the laboratory. She pointed to her arm and said "da" (as I told her, 打针, 痛痛). She slept for 2 hours in the car after a milk feed, and we had our new glasses fixed, our lunch fixed during these 2 hours. And then we sent her to her nanny so that we can have half day to rest.

Dr Keoy said Xi Yu is growing very well! I showed Dr Keoy the health chart that I plotted. Her weight has increased steadily, from the 25th percentile little baby, to 50th, to 75th and now she is at 95th percentile, weighing at 11.2kg as of today! She has been a long/tall baby all the while, have been at the 95th percentile since she was 6 months or so, now measuring at 78cm! Her head circumference is also at 95th percentile, measuring at 47cm. Dr Keoy she is an all-rounded BIG baby.

Later of the day, the nurse called to inform us Xi Yu's thyroid level is back to normal. She can stop the pill from now on. That's great news to us! Hope Xi Yu will grow stronger and healthier!

Random
I always feel I don't spend enough time on her. I don't monitor her development very closely, and I don't get to spend much time with her. I said this over and over again, and I couldn't do much to change the situation now, as it's easier for the elder one to get/fight for my attention. I feel she is growing way too fast, so fast that I felt lost at times. I just hope as soon as she can walk even more stably, when she doesn't put things into her mouth, then I can start to let her play together with Hao Re more because as of now, Hao Re's favourite activities are still cutting with scissors and colouring/drawing. I sure can't let her go near the scissors, as it's either Hao Re hurts her or she hurts herself accidentally. And for the colouring/drawing, she is very keen to draw (she can hold a colouring pen nicely and draw out some lines!) but she still put the pens into her mouth, so still have to hold on to this for now.

Mama has improved a lot that I have not been scolding her that much the past month. Mama promised that I will try harder and hopefully from this month onwards there will be no more scolding, hopefully......

She is a cute, lovable and and very happy baby. Watch the video below to prove me right :-)

MUST WATCH VIDEO - if you are up from some good laugh! It's a big blur though as it's taken during a car night at night time. But you won't miss her laughing for sure.

大笑小姑娘! from TJ Kam on Vimeo.

It has become more and more common that a GP would prescribe a course of antibiotics for almost every patient, regardless of the type of infection one probably has. Once when I visited a GP for my flu, this was the conversation between me and the GP:

GP: Most likely that you have caught a flu.
Me: Oh.
GP: I will give you some medicine. Do you want antibiotics?
Me: But I thought it’s usually virus that is causing a flu?
GP: Yes, it’s correct.
Me: Then how would taking antibiotics helps?
GP: ……..
GP: It doesn’t really help with the flu. Do you want antibiotics?
Me: No!

You see, even the GP agreed (well, at least he said yes, if he were to say no, I would never go back to this clinic) that taking a course of antibiotics will not help to cure a flu, at the end, he still offered to prescribe a course of it, it’s like part of the Standard Operating Procedure to offer a patient some antibiotics. Sad. Or maybe, some of the patients visiting a GP will ask for antibiotics, thinking that antibiotics will make them stronger.

There is already proof showing how excessive and/or misuse of antibiotics harm our health. Just google it and you would find lots of results to read on. Who benefits? The manufacturers, not the patients! And what’s the results out of this? More resistant bacteria that is more difficult to cure, patients develop difficult-to-treat secondary infections, and other side effects. And worse still, since the doctor doesn’t really know which strain of bacteria that may be present (or doesn’t even present at the first place), for the “just in case”, the doctor would likely prescribed a broad range or a stronger antibiotics, which would target and kill all strains of bacteria, good and bad, and thus making all types of bacteria being resistant to that antibiotics. Good bacteria stays in our body for many important reasons, to have a effective digestive system being one.

Antibiotics is a substance or compound that kills bacteria or inhibits their growth. It has no effects on other microorganisms, including virus. There are many types of antibiotics in the market and a certain type of antibiotic is made to target a certain (groups of) bacteria only. Taking broad range antibiotics kills more types of bacteria, but the good bacteria will be killed too. Unless the antibiotics is correctly prescribe for a certain disease caused by bacteria, else, taking antibiotics will not help you recover faster, it doesn’t do any good for your immune system, and it does not help if you catch a flu!

While I think the doctor should be blamed for being irresponsible and prescribing the antibiotics unnecessarily, we as the patient should know what are we taking in and why we are taking it and that we should say no to the doctor as appropriate. You should probe the doctor with more question, or at least you should ask how would taking antibiotics help for that particular ailment. It's even more important for kids, especially the young ones. Ask the paediatrician or GP the very important questions, why does your child need that certain antibiotics that he prescribe, and how would the antibiotics help in curing his illness? If the paediatrician prescribes antibiotics for your little one when he is having a flu, you may want to consider switching him to another paediatrician. Taking antibiotics inappropriately, unnecessary or excessively do absolutely no good to your body

So, when the doctor prescribes you a course of antibiotics the next time you visit him for a flu, will you take it or leave it?

在回家的途中,

妈妈: 皓日, 你最喜欢去那里玩?

皓日: 我最喜欢爬高高, 最喜欢playground.

妈妈: 你还有喜欢什么?

皓日: 你(我because he still can't differentiate 你and 我well) 还有喜欢去动物园! (said in excitement)

妈妈: 还有哩? 还有什么?

皓日: 还有...还有....还有....去shopping centre! (very accurate pronunciation)

Duh, this blur mummy doesn't know since when my dear boy has developed the like for shopping? I hope he meant to say to go to the shopping centres for the playground or the merry-go-round, and not for the real shopping. But having said that, he does understand now we need money to buy things, and as long as Baba has money (I always tell her Mama has no money, go ask Baba :-)), he can have the thing he asks for (though not always). Sometimes he would say "I want money" or "给我一塊钱" (in his mind, everything is $1 :-)).

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When I was tucking him to bed,

妈妈: 皓皓今天在学校唱什么歌?

皓日: 今天唱 Ba Ba Black Sheep.

妈妈: 还有?

皓日: 还有 Humpty Dumpty

妈妈: 还有呢?

皓日: 还有 Three Blind Mice

妈妈: 还有吗?

皓日: 还有  Ba Ba Black Sheep!

I can tell that he doesn't really sing these nursery rhymes at his childcare that day, because he gives me the same answers every day! It's more that these are his favourite songs at the moment and he really likes the Ba Ba Black Sheep A LOT! Recently he doesn't want to sing Chinese nursery rhymes, and told us he wants to talk in "Ing-ge-lis" :-) I asked his Chinese teacher, and his teacher said he does excellent in her class. Think he is just trying to be funny.

**********************************************************

When I picked him from school yesterday, he was pedalling a pretty big kid bicycle (with the 2 supportive little wheels attached). I said I was impressed that he has the strength to pedal it. The principle said, "Surprise, no surprise at all, he is a strong little man, and he even has the strength to carry his girlfriend!" I was like, what, girlfriend, what girl friend, you mean he already found a new girlfriend within a short span of 1.5 months? The principle and the teachers all laughed and all said YES, Hao Re has a girlfriend already!

So on the way home, I asked him

妈妈: 皓日, 你喜欢和你的同学一起玩吗?

皓日: 喜欢.

妈妈: 你有没有最喜欢谁?

皓日: .............. (no answer)

妈妈: 你有没有女朋友?

皓日: 有!

妈妈: Oh! (trying to stay calm). 你女朋友叫什么名字?

皓日: xxxxCA (I can't hear clearly).

妈妈: 喔, Rebecca!

皓日: 妈妈, NO!!! (said in a rather annoyed tone) 是 Danica!

妈妈: 喔, Danica! 你喜欢Danica. 你喜欢和Danica做什么?

皓日: 我喜欢和Danica玩, 喜欢唱歌, 喜欢playground.

妈妈: 那你有喜欢其他小朋友吗?

皓日: 有, 我喜欢.

妈妈: 那你最喜欢谁?

皓日: 我最喜欢Danica!

Okay, confirmed. His new girl friend is a little girl called Danica. I am going to find out from the teacher who's the lucky girl whenever I have a chance to.

(Note to KM: I also asked him if he still likes Xuan Xuan, he said he likes Xuan Xuan. So don't worry, this new girlfriend is just a temporarily one :-))

Going around the island over the long weekend

Sentosa
A friend of mine and his family were visiting Singapore. They stayed at our place on Thursday. So we brought them to the Sentosa on Friday. Walked around the older part of Sentosa to take some photos and then to the Resorts World. They went in to the casino to look see look see, while we waited outside. Hao Re were so happy playing with water while waiting, while Xi Yu was being pushed around in the stroller and she kept herself entertained by looking at the very busy human traffic :-)

Extremely excited and happy boy with the waterplay!


Merlion Park
Then we went to the Merlion Park. Have our very late lunch (closed to 3pm!) there and took a few of the must-take photos of the Merlion, Esplanade, Singapore Flyer and the newest addition, Marina Bay Sands. Oh boy, oh boy, the view was so different now compared to 2 years back when my aunt and her family were visiting us! Back then it was all very messy with the construction work, and now we have a stunning Marina Bay Sand building stands handsomely.

Left: Xi Yu wanted to be let free to explore; Right: Marina Bay Sands at the backdrop


Detoured to Katong to buy the Katong laksa, one of the very few local delicacies that we would recommend for our visitors. Chatted with them for a bit (haven't talked to my friend since we graduated in 1998, I know, we are old people already). Then they left Singapore in the evening. The kids were very receptive of strangers. They played with them, talked to them (especially Xi Yu, who really "talked" a lot these few days), and let them carried. Our kids are really more of the sociable lot, thanks goodness for that.

Singapore Zoo
Saturday morning and afternoon was spent at home as hubby has to get some work done. At about 3pm, we asked Hao Re where he wanted to go. He wanted no where else but the Zoo! I mentioned many different places and reminded him of the fun he was having there, he still insisted on the Zoo. I took a train with him to Lot 1 to pick up the ticket from Sistic (for the Barney show). When he reached Lot 1, he said "我要去爬高高" as he remembers there is a playground at roof top, but before he said out the last word, he quickly changed to "我要去动物园!". This boy loves Zoo so much and he is so determined to go to the Zoo.

Hubby and Xi Yu picked us up from Lot 1 and so we headed to the Zoo. We rented the Tiny Explorer again as we didn't bring any stroller with us. Walked around the Zoo and then stopped by at the Kidzworld playground. Hao Re refused to have a waterplay, really don't know why he doesn't like the most famous, the best, the "talk of the town" waterplay at Kidzworld? I mean he would want to play with the water at other playgrounds, just not this one, why? He played in it once or twice when he was younger, and been refusing to for almost a year now. Anyway, he spent some great time playing at the "dry" playground and Xi Yu was happily walking and exploring the surrounding too. We were glad we went there in the late afternoon this time round as the Zoo was very crowded because of the school holiday and it's also the long weekend.

Both kids didn't take nap before we left the house (Xi Yu took an hour of morning nap and that's it). So both were very, very tired when we left the Zoo at 6pm. Hao Re couldn't hold it for the short 10-15 minutes car ride and fell asleep right before we arrived home. And he continued to sleep till 9.30pm! When he woke up, he came out of the bedroom and happily declared "妈妈, 我起来了". Gave him some food, and then we tidied up all the puzzles in the 2 drawers (he has a lot of jigsaw puzzles!). Then at about 11.30pm, he declared "妈妈, 我们进去, 皓皓要睡觉了!" And he knocked out soon after that. While for Xi Yu, she managed to keep her very heavy eye lids opened till we arrived home. Hubby showered her, changed her, I fed her dinner (only ate a bit of porridge), gave her milk, and she fell asleep at 7.30pm to the next morning (well, with a few brief waking up in between just like usual)! Mission accomplished - we have successfully tired the kids out, hahaha **evil laugh**!

Barney Live Show
Sunday morning, I managed to prepare breakfast for everyone (something I haven't done for a long long time!). Then we were off to Expo for the Barney show! Surprisingly, Xi Yu enjoyed the show more than Hao Re! This little girl couldn't take her eyes off the stage since Barney first appeared! And guess what, though I only made the booking on Thursday, I was so lucky that I got the first row tickets, yes, you hear me right, FIRST ROW! We have never been so close to a performance stage before, the kids are just so lucky! Since we decided to brave it to not to buy an additional ticket for Hao Re, we opted for the most expensive tickets. Turned out a right choice, totally unblocked view, and kids have rooms to move/walk/run/dance. And guess who's the one moving/walking around? Not Hao Re, it's Xi Yu. Hao Re just wanted to sit on our laps and watched the show, and when we asked him to get down to dance, he got annoyed. Think he had enjoyed the show to a certain extend, but definitely not as much as the Thomas Live show, though he was much younger then, but we can still remember how his eyes brighten up and got all excited, screaming and shouting when Thomas appeared on the stage! I also find the Thomas show is a better one, and a more interesting one to watch. Or maybe we didn't grow up with all these English medium kinda popular TV show (Barney, Elmo, etc), so we don't introduce it much to our kids? And I certainly don't want to introduce those hi 5, the Wiggles and alike stuff to my kids. Well it's nothing wrong with that, but it's just me who felt that it's silly to watch a few adults trying to act funny (no offence the their fans, okay!) :-P

The kids (and the dad?) enjoying Barney show


Luckily the show didn't last too long, as we were losing control of Xi Yu, who kept walking, picking up the confetti on the floor, and disturbing other audiences


Popular Fair
Then we headed to the Popular Fair after lunch. Not an enjoyable lunch, with one fussing, and the other one kept wanting to be put down on the floor and walk (and we forgot her shoes, duh!). It says that the sales was up to 80% off, so it gonna be good. I went off with Hao Re, with him sitting in the shopping trolley. He picked up so many books and toys for himself. I didn't want to disappoint him, so let him pick till we have one trolley full! And we only did the screening (i.e., didn't pay for those unwanted books/toys) when we were at the counter, that way, every one's happy! Hubby went off with Xi Yu. The little girl was already so tired after all the excitement from the show. She slept SITTING in the stroller (we took the lightweight stroller so cannot put her to lying down position), and she positioned herself so well that she looked comfortably sleeping in a sitting position :-) Both Hao Re and hubby got lots of books (and toys) while I got nothing for myself :-( I wanted to buy some parenting books but too lazy and tired to look around. The Chinese books were definitely a great buy, almost all Chinese books were going at $5 or 3 for $10!!

Xi Yu continued to sleep and Hao Re fell asleep during the car ride. Hurray! When we arrived home, Xi Yu already woke up while Hao Re continued to nap till 6.30pm (now once he takes nap, he usually sleeps for 3 hours!). It's so easy to just handle Xi Yu. And then the night was just to cool down and the kids got tucked in at 9-10pm.

That ends our long weekend :-)

(Side note: Hao Re went diaper-free for day time for all 3 days, including all the outings, and car rides and nap time, with no accident at all. Though he still waits for us to bring him to toilet and doesn't tell us that he wants to pee. He waited till the night when we put on diaper for him getting ready for bedtime, then he pooed. Made him sat on the toilet bowl a few times when we heard him fart, but he didn't want to sit long and no success with the pooing in the toilet bowl, yet!)

How much has she changed? And on walking and dancing, too.

I know, I am late to post this, which I should have posted on or around Xi Yu 1st birthday almost 3 weeks ago. Oh well, better be late than none :-)

We do up this photo collage, whereby we select one photo per month from the archive, to see how much Xi Yu has changed from birth till now. We did a same collage for Hao Re when he turned one.

I think Xi Yu hasn't really changed (her look) much since she was 3 months old, don't you think? Still chubby and cute (quoted from a friend :-)). But for sure that she is gaining weight and height healthily and steadily, so that has changed :-)



And since she started walking, she never slows down. She is moving all the time! She is a smart girl. We were chatting one day why she didn't want to let go of her hands to start walking earlier since that she had been cruising very well for a long time. It's clear to us now that this little girl only wanted to let go of her hands when she has got the full confident, and she wanna be sure once she walks, she doesn't fall! We are really amazed as how quick and how well she manged the walking skill. Hao Re was different, he let go of his hand and started walking at 10 months, because he was not scared of falling (boys are rougher?).

Xi Yu exploring the playground at Lot 1. Now if we don't stop her, she loves to be left alone and do her own walking


Xi Yu walks, walks and walks from TJ Kam on Vimeo.

And I have to post this. She really understands what we tell her to! In addition to the usual wave goodbye, clap hands, flying kisses, make "wa wa" sounds, etc, she knows how to shake her butt when we tell her to dance! Don't believe me? See the video below.
Our little dancing queen! Together with her gorgor, they make a perfect pair of dancing partner!

Our dancing queen! from TJ Kam on Vimeo.

Hao Re never got us worried about his motor skills. He shows very good progress since young, all thanks to the conductive environment provided at the infant care centre he attended, and that many learn through play sessions we have with him. There are lots of fun activities we do at home with him to help him developing his motor skills!

Since a few months back till now, he is still so into cutting, and he still hasn't got sick of the scissors after so many months. He can handle a pair of scissors very well. While some mummies worry that their toddlers might hurt themselves using a "real" metal blade scissors, we don't have any concern with this, except we have to prohibit Xi Yu going near or getting hold of the scissors. To demonstrate how well he can cut now, see the photo below, a nice cicle (about the size of half a A4 paper) that he managed to cut out from a page of his Disney Playhouse magazine. And by the way, this little fella owns 2 pairs of scissors, one bought from Hangzhou, the famous 张小泉剪刀. Kids nowadays, spolit brat huh :-)

The cut-out from the magazine. Consider great work, that he did it all on his own without any help. And he actually spent some time trimming the circle to make it rounder and nicer :-)


And see below for the "making in progress" video :-)

Handling a pair of scissor from TJ Kam on Vimeo.

We bought him a threading set which we didn't have chance to let him play because of the possible choking hazard for Xi Yu. Oh wait, I actually let him tried once, but he didn't show much interest then. This time round, he managed to fill up one full string with the colourful wooden beads. And Xi Yu was the one who got to enjoy the  hard work, or as a reward for her for staying away from her brother (and the threading set).

Hao Re gorgor is making a nice necklace for Xi Yu meimei. You want one? Send in your order, Hao Re says :-)


He likes (loves) playground! He would be looking around to spot a playground wherever we bring him to. This one is at the roof top garden at Lot 1 Shopping Centre, Choa Chu Kang. Once he tried this spinning thing, he didn't want to touch anything else except this. And the very kind little girl (the one in pink) guided him along, patiently play with him, took care of him (when he fell). They didn't talk to each other, but they kept each other accompanied for almost half an hour on this spinning thingy!

I was secretly scared of him falling. But I didn't stop him, wanting him to learn how to protect himself and know what he can/should do and what he can't/shouldn't.

Spinning fun from TJ Kam on Vimeo.

This is one of the things that we don't rush into.

Hao Re is 32 months now, another 4 months to his 3rd birthday. And he is still not fully toilet trained, yet. We do it so slowly that it can hardly be considered as "training" at all :-) He doesn't complain and still willing, most of the time that is, to put on diaper when we go out or whenever it needs be. So we don't go "all the way" as what some mummies advised.

We just let him go diaperless when it's appropriate. So there is no crying, no scolding, no punishment. And there is, so far, only reasonable amount of "accident" (i.e., leak urine, or worse, leak stool).

Just like last Saturday. We made a trip to JB. While having breakfast at a non air-conditioned cafe, he kept scratching his butt. Upon checking, I saw bad rashes on his butt. He demanded to take off the diaper (it's hot and he's perspiring like nobody business!). So I did as I was sure that would help to ease the itchiness and help to discourage the further spread of the rashes. And he survived the whole day without diaper despite that we were out shopping and the long car ride and nap!

We were at the Tebrau Jusco for about 3 hours. Brought him to the toilet twice. Then it's 1.5 hour car ride back home, which he didn't pee at all. He fell asleep during the car ride and continued to sleep till about 7pm, and he woke up dry, no leak urine for the 2.5 hours of long nap! But that's understandable as he didn't drink as much water during this time as he would usually do.

We reckon that as he is an older toddler now, that's why he can understand fully what's happening, why he needs to do this (hold his pee), and he is capable of doing it. Though most of the time, we still need to prompt him if he needs to visit the toilet, than to wait for him to tell us that he wants to go. In the morning, he still wakes up with a full diaper, so he is definitely not ready to go diaperless for the night time.

The only concern we have is that while holding to his pee, he is holding on his poo as well. When he is diaperless, he doesn't usually do big business. Okay, there were a few times we managed to catch "the moment" and he pooed in the toilet bowl, but I think he would rather hold the poo, for now. What happens now is that he would let go of his poo when we put on the diaper for him at night, sometimes it's hard stool, making us worry that this might lead to (slight) constipation. That's the similar problem his teacher has at his childcare, as in she does not dare to let him go diaperless the whole day, as she is afraid of cleaning up the mess should Hao Re poo without the diaper. So she only lets Hao Re go diaperless after he has poo. Hope sooner or later, Hao Re sorts this out too.

He is slow comparing with his peers, but hey, what's the rush for? And sooner or later, he would be able to say goodbye to his diaper, won't he?

That's for Sunday afternoon

Pretty much staying at home the whole day until 4pm when we headed to the West Coast Park. Oh yes, we love this park a lot. I read from one website who said that West Coast Park is just like East Coast Park except that it's located at the West. That's soooooo not true. West Coast Park is totally different from East Coast Park. It's definitely less crowded, it has lots of different playground for children of different age (I think it's either 5 or 8 playgrounds), plus a few obstacle courses for the kids, it's windy and has a big field so it's ideal for kite flying, and it's less commercialised.

Hao Re loves the playgrounds. Sometimes he is okay to explore them on his own, while sometimes he wants either of us to acccompany him. Today he was at very good mood, he sang when he was climbing and running all over the playgrounds, made me so happy watching him.

Since Xi Yu started walking a couple of weeks back, she enjoys the park a lot more now. Today, she spent a lot of time with the sand, which she didn't like at all when she was younger. This little girl is amazing. Since she took her first steadily steps, she just walks and walks and walks, and she seldom falls.

Photos of the day:-

Hao Re, once again, refused to take nap, and fell asleep during the car ride and continue to sleep in the park for a little longer.


We have time to spend on Xi Yu while Hao Re was sleeping :-)


Xi Yu and sand.....


The little guy woke up and since, never stopped playing till we left the park


Xi Yu explored the park quite a bit. She is very careful with her steps and she may be as brave and as active as her gorgor. We will be surely getting busier and busier when these 2 little darlings.


Hubby brought her for a walk in the stroller, hoping that she would fall asleep, But she didn't. L:ook at the bottom right photo - eyes almost closed, but just not yet :-)


There will be more visits to the West Coast Park for sure.........

Last minute outings on Saturday evening

When hubby told me he had to go to the office to attend a pre-arranged briefing, I took it as it's going to be another Saturday with me alone staying at home with the kids. I changed my mind at about 3pm, when Hao Re started to kicking a fuss as he was tired but refused a nap. I was hoping that he would fall asleep during the car ride. Usually after a nap, short or long, he would be all cheerful and happy again. So we tagged along.

Since the office's nearest place (shopping malls excluded) is the National Museum, we decided on the museum. And true enough, Hao Re knocked out about 10 minutes after we started the engine, and continued to sleep in the stroller. Hubby went for his 2-hour briefing, Hao Re taking his nap, so left with me and Xi Yu. I took the easy way out - sat down at the museum's cafe to enjoy a nice cup of coffee with a muffin (such an unexpected and nice treat for me!). Gave Xi Yu her biscuit to munch on. And we kept each other accompanied. Taken some nice photos of Xi Yu (with her nice clothes from the Poon family!).

My sleeping handsome :-) See how big he is comparing to the stroller. The stroller is my best "helper", I put them both inside the stroller for easy management and minimise muscle and back pain :-)


Xi Yu is very good with the camera! See how she is all willing to post for me to take photos! This is the "act cute" series, which she tilted her head and made the "jiak". So cute that all the waiters and waitresses came out to see her acting :-)


She happily and obediently sat inside the high chair for almost an hour without fussing. Only need to give her 1 biscuit to munch/play with. While I enjoyed my cup of coffee, heaven!


Hao Re was sleeping so soundly, I decided to wake him up when it's close to 6pm so that we can explore the museum a little bit. That's so wrong a decision! I don't know if it's the wrong timing or I didn't pick the right exhibits to view or it's just me, it's actually nothing much for us to explore (we went to the 2nd floor, the Life Gallery). Hao Re refused to go in to the next exhibition room after we went in to two. I should have let him continue with his nap and I continued with my coffee :-) So I brought them to the green space in front of the museum instead. Photo taking session started again.

He was running and climbing. Hasn't stopped/slowed down for a single minute. What an active toddler we have!


Xi Yu cried a little when I put her on the grass. So I have to let her wear Hao Re's sock, and then she was okay to stand on the grass. She was happy to be left alone to explore the surrouding.


Hao Re got bored very quickly, like after 10 minutes only, and he wanted to go in to the museum again. So we went in, not to view any of the exhibits, but to let him climb the stairs, run up and down, and do whatever he wanted to as long as he didn't make any noise. The pair attracted the attention of a couple (think they are Australians), and they entertained Hao Re for about 10 minutes, talking to him and taking photos of him, etc. Then we went back to the front of the museum again. While waiting for hubby, I fed Xi Yu her dinner (the tomato and minced pork porridge).

Then we decided to head to the Universal Studio since we were already in town. Heard about the after dark special entrance ticket to the theme park, it's only $5 per adult which allows you to explore the main street of the theme park (no rides at all). We thought it would be cool to dine there leisurely, and then watch the firework to end the day. Very wrong of us. The place was packed with people, especially the restaurants. ALL restaurants have long queue! Luckily we managed to get hold of some food to just fill our stomach.

We couldn't get a table. Just put all the food on tray and sat down on the floor to quickly have our food (pizza and pasta).


Besides the not so good dining experience, we had enjoyed the theme park! We are impressed. Felt like as though we were not in Singapore. Hao Re was really amazed, can see his eyes lid up seeing all those fancy stuff. We arrived at about 8pm and have to wait till 10pm for the firework. There was nothing for Hao Re to play, except those nice big vintage cars on display. He happily used them as his "playground", he climbed up the car, climbed to the top, then slided down from the back. And he did it many times. We got a warning from a patron to not to let him doing it, as the cars are for display (and photo taking) only . But we just couldn't stop him and have to literally dragged him away and brought him to the shops to distract him! The firework was a really a nice one, especially that we were so near to it. Hao Re enjoyed the firework a lot, making lots of "wow", "wah", "boom" sounds. We are sure going to visit the Universal Studio again, with the full price ticket :-)

Hao Re and his new found "playground".


Girls are girls - Xi Yu loves all these hats! Not only that she didn't protest when we put one on her, she actually smiled and like asking us "aren't I cute?". And boys are boys - Hao Re only wanted to try that cowboy-ish hat.


Needless to say, both the kids (and us) were totally exhausted when we arrived home at close to 11pm. More so of Xi Yu as she didn't take any afternoon nap at all! Finally I could head to bed at half pass midnight. My whole body was aching as a results of too much carrying of the two heavyweights :-)