Bye-bye train(tracks)

So, on the same day Minister Khaw Boon Wan brought his wife, daughter and chihuahua for a final walk on the tracks, I too, brought the Hubby, Miss K and our westie for that "final" walk on the tracks.

The excitement started when we decided to follow a throng of  visitors up a slope by the main road, in hope for a short cut to the railway tracks. It was a short cut lined by a meter long lalang grass which terrified the dog. The dog stopped dead in her tracks and since there was a LONG queue of people behind me, I frantically started tugging the dog so hard that the dog broke loose from her leash; I screamed for the dog to stay; I can see the aunty behind me started to get rather nervous as we suddenly had a dog on the loose situation, so I frantically scooped the dog up and quickly proceed towards J and Miss K who were then struggling to cross this narrow 45 degrees slanted wooden plank to get down onto the the tracks!



Not too sure whether taking this short cut was a good idea afterall...all these commotion just to get to the tracks which is a mere 100m from our home!

But we did enjoy the short walk from hillview to the Bridge at Rail Mall.

Recollecting the times when the Railway was still in operation, those times when I (sometimes) have to wait at the manual operated level crossing for the train to pass when picking Miss K up from her infant care; hearing the whistle of the train speeding by when taking my nice evening stroll with the dog (this was before Miss K's arrival) ...I do have mixed feelings about bidding farewell to the railway tracks.

Happy Birthday, Don!

Another fun birthday with the bouncy castle!
This was last sunday, 17th July 2011.
(Yes another late post, life at work has been rather hectic lately.)

Miss K had a mini-version of the bouncy castle at her 1st Birthday...then she was a little too young to appreciate the fun of jumping up and down...But of course, she has not even learnt how to walk yet then!

Am still contemplating whether to have a 2nd birthday party for her this year (and that will be only about a month away now!!) And if so, should we be getting a bouncy castle?

Look at how much fun she's having!

And....she was so in love with this Barney cake, she demands that I carry her, and stood in front of it until the whole cake was "dismantled" and served!

Looks like I might have to get started with some research on baking a Barney cake for her Birthday.

The things that parents do for their kids these days....immeasurable!

Beach and Friends

Miss K's Nai-nai (J's mum) bought her a new set of beach toys, so she has been pestering us to bring her to "Dig dig sand".
I was surprised when she requested for sandplay as her teacher did mention that she is still not keen and as excited as the other children when it comes to sandplay.

Well, she seemed excited enough for me to pester J to bring us to the beach last weekend.

So, off to the beach we go,

To dig some sand and burry my toe,

To the lovely friends I met,

Thank you for the fun we had!

                                    -Miss K-

This was how the events unfolded...

Initially, she insisted that mama sits next to her and plays with her.

10 minutes later...she was happily playing on her own.

J and I was sitting down, enjoying the sea breeze while having our snack when Miss K came running to us, insisting that she also needed a break.

This little girl and her brother came and asked Miss K to play with them.

Miss K and her new found friends(s)... :)

Gigi decided to join in the fun! Miss K was not happy.

And then it was time to pack up and go home..

But we will be back again very soon!

Of being adventurous

Finally, I met her teachers during the Parent-Teacher-Meeting, my first one ever.
I'm glad to hear that Miss K is doing well and is rather advanced in her speech and motor skills.
I am now updated with all of Miss K's mischiefs, her social skills and the not-so-glamourous side of her when it comes to certain aspect of personal hygiene.

Miss K did not get a stellar report when it comes to being adventurous.

Here's what she did when they went to the fish pond. Note the distance between Miss K and the edge of the pond!

Refuse to play at the sandpit; would rather sit in her wagon and get friend to push!

Happy 22 months, Miss K!

This post has been sitting in my draft folder for 3 weeks!! Miss K will be 23 months in 12 days' time...I have no idea how I missed publishing this post!

@ic.ac.uk

The song "All things bright and beautiful" always reminds me of this clique of friends.
We share lots of beautiful memories (mainly food) from Falmouth-Keogh Hall cookouts to the amazing stuff we cooked/ate while travelling around Europe.

We try to meet like once or twice a year to catch up on life and stuff; but with the addition of new family members, it has turned out to be an annual affair. And yes, all gatherings, past, present and future, will be packed loaded with scrumptious food.

This time round, the theme was Italian. I was soo busy trying to 'pacify' the sleepy and grumpy Miss K, I had to rely on J when it comes to photos.

Oh well....no food photos, but I have these very interesting shots. Guess what these 3 girls have in common?

The Oh-So-Cute Little Miss E

No prize for guessing who this Cry Baby is...(she was glued to that car toy the whole time we were there!)

Demure Miss C; love her gorgeous eyes!!

They weigh the same!

(BUT they are one year apart; age in ascending order from top to bottom photos)

FP Little People - Busy Day Home

I bought this super long ago! I think it was before she learnt how to crawl.
I totally forgot about it as the box was soooo bulky I hid it in a corner of her room, right in between the shelf, blinds and window, so it was conveniently forgotten until recently.

This is her favourite toy nowadays.
The 'Home' comes with A Mummy, A Daddy, A Baby and A dog just like our family (it also has a cat).
She will often sit in her play yard with these figurines and tells me stories about the Daddy, Mummy, Baby, and sometimes The Dog.

This was a conversation which took place a few days ago:

Miss K:

Bed time, K-K sleep, Papa and Mama sleep (puts figurines in bed)

 Gigi sleep.

No, no, swimming time!

Papa, Mama come on! COME ON! (puts figurines in pool)
Oh-O  (pool too small for all 3 figurines)

 Mama, help me please!!

Me:

The pool is too small, anyway, this baby is still small, she cannot swim yet.

Miss K:

No, NO!!!! No baby, is K-K!!! Swim!!! Come on, Mama!!

Me:

Alright, then, you go in and swim with papa, mama will stand next to Gigi. (Placed the Mummy next to dog)

Miss K:

NO, NO!!! Do-wan, No-wan!!! Gigi come swim (dog is actually stuck, not removable!)
Mama help!
Gigi and mama swim. K-K and Papa swim in pool!

Me:

Don't be ridiculous. Here, look (presses the phone) Papa is calling you now.

Miss K:

(Grabs her plastic toy phone in the play corner)
Hello Papa. Coming home soon?
Hello Papa, coming soon?
Papa.!!!! Coming home soon? (repeats like 10 times!!!)

Me:

Papa's getting on the aeroplane, he will be back soon.

Miss K:

I want to go on airplane. I want bus. No, I want airplane!
I want go airplane see Papa. AIRPLANE!!!!
(Runs to her shoe shelf, grab her pink shoes and Proceeds on to wear her shoes!!)

Me:

Come back here! its time for BED!

N.B. It took me ages to get her to bed that night! She was sobbing non-stop insisting that she needs to go ON the plane right then, so she can be with Papa on the plane!

Toddlers this age are seriously,.... hmmm, how should I put it....C.R.E.A.T.I.V.E?
Every night I will get a sneak peak of the Terrible Twos... God grant me strength!

Miss Grumpy at Changi Boardwalk

I had wanted to bring Miss K and the dog to Changi Boardwalk for a while now, so when I saw that the weather was fantastic, I thought this day MUST be a great day for photos and a family outing ....

....I was soooo wrong. Miss K refused to nap on our way to Changi, she was all grumpy when we arrived, refusing to walk and sulking in most of our photos. Let's see, this was what she was like 90% of our time at the Boardwalk.

We managed to catch that rare smile at the boardwalk when I offered her my coke in exchange for some smiles for the camera.

The dog was much more manageable, she adorably just sat down and pose for the camera. Fuss free.

So, to add to the grumpy behaviour, she demanded to be carried almost all the way throughout the boardwalk; After carrying a sweaty 13 kg for about half the boardwalk, I tried to bribe her with a fruit bar, it worked for about 2 minutes...

...then its back to her refusing-to-walk "Mama, bao bao, BAO BAO!!!!" sobs which means, time for dinner then time to head home.

We had our dinner at this Peranakan Place:

Gd O' Times,
5 Changi Village Road.
Tel: 65422382.

As Miss K was still in her grumpy mood during dinner, I didn't have a chance to snap some photos of the Nangka Lemak, Ngor Hiang, Ayam Masak Merah and Babi Sio we had, but I have to say, very good nyonya food!!

I got this picture from streetdirectory.com and this is how the exterior looks like. We had an outdoor sitting because we had the dog with us. Total bill came to about $45 including drinks.

Miss K's new fashion accessory...& Wildrocket @ Mt. Emily

J and I love the set lunch at Wildrocket (and Relish).
We haven't been back there for a while, so we decided to bring Miss K along for lunch today.
The little one had a short snooze during the ride to Mt. Emily, so here's Miss K looking rather dazed after I plonked her onto her highchair.

If you have not spotted it yet, she is now inseparable with that  Minnie (Hand)bag which Aunty Mabel bought her from HK Disney! It took me a while before I could convinced her that no one will touch her bag if she place it on the table, and that I will place it far far away from the food so it will not get dirty.

I love, love, love this appetiser - Salmon Carpaccio. J had Bak Kut Teh, which was recommended by the waiter, but J said it was a tad too peppery.

I am a very loyal fan of their signature burger, so I had that for my main. J had the recommended Fish dish and it turned out to be the best "Fish Porridge" ever! The fish was cooked perfectly and the Chai Por at the top was sooo yummy, the broth was also full of flavour. Miss K walloped more than half of it!

Miss K stole my pappadum as soon as the waiter placed the dish on my side of the table. She ate the whole pappadum but only ate a small chunk of my burger. Argh! I shouldn't have ordered it well-done; I had always wanted my burger medium-well. This is how people always tell you that mums are most willing to 'sacrifice' for their child. Heh.

Their Cheesecake and the Sesame dessert with ice-cream (which came with my set) was incredibly good. Sad Needless to say, Miss K loved it too.

She was rather cautious about scooping the sesame while attacking the ice-cream at the beginning but half way through, she decided that the ice-cream tasted better with the sesame dessert, so there goes dessert #1. When the cheesecake arrived, guess who stole it away from us.

My lunch set which came with the Salmon Carpaccio, Burger & Sesame Desert was $28++ and J's Bak Kut Teh, Fish with Chai Por & Broth & Cheesecake was $35++.

Nice ambience, Good service. Average Price.

I give it a 8.5/10.

Oh, remember that (Hand)bag of hers? I think I must show you how she carries it around. Tsk tsk tsk...So Aunty!

My Potty Pooper's Potty Training

I am here to proudly announce that Miss K has now officially passed the potty poop test with an A+.
Hooray!

I have to say that when I started her off on potty training, I was not looking at a hardcore regime which includes potty "drills" recommended by several potty training expert sites.

Let me share my potty training experience...

Week 1
Introduced her to the potty (free potty which came with the baby cot, I didn't bother buying any fancy ones with handles, music, elevation etc) before her bathtime at 8pm. I spent about 5 minutes per day showing her the potty (minus weekends), sat on it to show her how it should be used & encourage her to sit on it. She refused for the first few days, but after a while, she could sit on the potty for about....10 seconds.

Week 2
If you have read my previous entry on potty training, you'll know about the potty books which I find incredibly helpful when it comes to potty training.
This is Miss K's favourite potty book, she loves this book so much I had to renew/borrow it 3 times!

Week 2's potty time is more like a "story time" before her bath time. The little one will always beam with joy when I declare "Its Potty Time" as she knows its story time. I encouraged her by asking her whether she will pee and poo like Lily does? She will always nod and said "YES" most of the time - but no poo, no pee....yet.

Week 3
Miraculously, she pooped!
The next day, as she sat on her potty, I did not pin my hopes on her being able to "deliver" what she did the day before...but she did!
And since her first ever potty poop, like clockwork, she delivers her "stuff" once a day, everynight, right before bath time.

It has been about a month now, and she still poops on schedule, well done, Miss K!