Party party party! B turns 1!

B's birthday fell on a Sat. We held a little party to celebrate our little boy turning one. A little big boy now.

We got our CG twins to help out for the day and this was the sight we were greeted with when we arrived.



I know! Amazing isn't it? I LOVE the balloons.



This was the advance party who helped with the balloons and arrangement of furniture.



When everything that needed to be done was done, they hurriedly lay claim on the kids before others could whisk them away.



K got to pet this little pup.



B hanging out with grandparents and Ah Ku while preparations were being done.



B with Ah Foh.

The spread.

And the extras. Agar agar ordered by my parents. K must have eaten at least 10 that day.

My favourite vegetarian dish - Mee Kng, passed down by my late maternal grandma. A dish which was very much appreciated by the Yeo clan.

The birthday cake - vanilla with strawberry cream and fresh strawberries. I thought Amelia's cake (from PD) was more moist.

Happy first birthday B!

Papa and K helping to blow out the candle.

K helping to distribute the cake. My little helper, a role which she thoroughly enjoyed. She also gave out the goody bags to all the kids who came.

When she was not performing her little helper's duty, she was out at the playground.

Her best friend, Amelia, and her had a whale of a time.

Our samseng dusting off the sand which was trapped in her shoes. Wonder why they still have playgrounds with sand? Plus the fact that there are lots of cats in this estate.

B had his share of time in the playground when he wasn't being passed around to everyone who wanted to cuddle him.

And someone his own age and size to play with. He will be going to school with Jaeden so I guess they had better start getting used to one another.

The balloons were definitely a hit with everyone. Some had them as substitutes for their wives.



Others replaced their kids.



Birthday boy was delighted with them.



Even the tired older sister who was made to carry two home loved them. You just can't tell from this photo.



Being a very cute little 1-year old certainly took everything out of him.

On another sibling

K: I want another baby
P: what will we name baby if it's a girl?
K: Princess!
P: what if it's a boy?
K:.....Finland
P and me: ???

A minute later.

K: I asked God for another baby yesterday and He said yes.

Right.

B @ 10 months

My darling boy.

At 10 months, you still do your leopard crawl though you are much more nimble and can move into a sitting position as well as pull to a stand.

When you wake in the mornings and from your naps, we always find you standing, wailing to be carried out of your cot. You are now more difficult to put to bed because you keep standing up and crying to be picked up.

You eat much much better now. You eat what we eat. Mostly cai png. I enjoy feeding you so much these days and feeling your round tummy after. Such joy. You love chawanmushi. So I love chawanmushi too. More joy. :D

You have also started drinking from a sippy cup but would only drink when you want to. Absolutely refuse to drink when you don't feel like it. You love grapes and oranges.

You no longer laugh out loud as often as you did when younger. But you would still laugh at your sister's little gestures or silly gibberish like they were the funniest jokes on earth.

You like to tilt your head to the side to look at me past my fringe and when our eyes meet, you break into your cheeky smile.

You love clapping and shaking your head. It doesn't matter whether we say yes or no, you would just shake your head.

Your favourite songs currently are: Twinkle twinkle Little Star, Hop little bunnies, If you're happy and you know it.

You are such a wriggly worm that your grandma has difficulty carrying you for long.

Your top two teeth have emerged. Before the bottom two! How different you are. The two bottom ones have peeked out too. Now that your teeth are out, you no longer drool as much and you don't go through 3-4 bibs a day.



You have outgrown your first pair of croc-like shoes and have only worn them twice! K wore hers way beyond 18 months!

You are going to be ONE soon. How quickly you have grown. You are such a sweet boy. Always happy. Always smiling. Always ticklish. How we love being around you. How we love you.

Pasir Ris Park Mangrove Boardwalk

One weekend, we made a trip to Pasir Ris Park Mangrove Boardwalk . P was all excited about seeing crabs climb up trees to avoid the incoming tide. He told K about the crabs for days and even weeks. So we finally went.



When we arrived, it was low tide and looked like that, with less water actually.



Here is the crab coming out of its hole.



Incoming tide. Crabs begin their climb.



Spotted two mudskippers. Actually K spotted the first. We were very pleasantly surprised. She has gotten quite good at spotting stuff. All thanks to our regular snail trails on rainy days. Would be a good skill when it comes to diving.



This one looks kinda pale and sickly.



Here is K trying to spot more stuff.



And a monitor lizard!



Catching crabs for lunch.

My brave little girl finally strokes the shall of a snail. Soon, she would be rescuing snails on pavements.

Can you see it? It's a tiny green snake. Eeks.

The two hot and sticky ones. K was tired and so were the rest of us, not the least B. So we had B sit on K (so he won't cry about being put in the stroller) and pushed both at one go. Much more efficient.

Can you spot it? It's a woodpecker! So many things to see here.

Happy kids.

And we even got to feed a horse! The little girl insisted SHE wanted to feed the horse but chickened out last minute.

It is definitely a good place to hang out for a couple of hours.

Beach time!

We decided to bring the kids to the beach tho' I was skeptical about letting B play with sand. He puts everything into his mouth like most babies so he'd probably end up eating some.

It had been a while since K last went to the beach so she was excited. Also, because this time, her little brother was coming along. It was his first time to the beach so we were also eager to see his response to the waves and the grainy sand between his little toes.

Being rather worried about the sun, we had them dressed in their swim gear with UV protection and slapped on sunscreen (and even then they both got a tan!)



Neither of them liked the waves. He would face away as soon as they came near. If he could, he would have scampered away.



Mummy and little girl building her first sandcastle.



Little boy watching from his pram.



Collecting seashells.



Decorating the castle.



Washing the shells she had chosen to bring home aka playing with the sea water and getting herself completely soaked.



We shall have to make another trip soon and this time, B shall get to play with the sand.

CNY 2011

A shamefully late post.

We have a new addition this time round. B of course!

This year, in order to get into the CNY mood, we braved the crowds at Chinatown with my parents. We soaked in this sights and sounds of the festive season.

And bought our very own pussy willow. We then spent the rest of the evening pruning the pussy willow.

K was very diligent in removing the skin of each fluffy thingy and adding on red decorations.

B sat on his bumbo and watched us.

Our decorated pussy willow. We also fondly called it the CNY tree, as opposed to Christmas tree.

Also bought B some CNY outfits. Decided against doing that for K as she still has 3 wearable cheongsums from our HK trip.

The kiddos on first day visiting to Ah Foh's house.

Family portrait.

Second day visiting to second uncle's place @ Citylights.

Then it's a visit to God sister's place for the official housewarming. The kiddos having some reading time.

B receiving red packets.

My parents came to church with us.

A visit to Donald's place. K hanging out with the che ches.

Christine loving B to bits.



That sort of sums up CNY 2011.

Update on B

While seated, B is now able to flop onto his belly to crawl. Wonder when he would be able to do the reverse.

I've been waiting to catch this look of his. Finally. But only as a video.