My boy's growing up

Sigh... I do wish you will not grow up so quickly. You're at the perfect age and we're having so much fun with you. I do not want to worry about having to discipline you, get stressed about what school to be putting you in etc.. Can we please stop the clock?

You sitting on the throne like a little man

After your first hair cut - you surprisingly stayed very still for the aunty. I tried cutting for you and you kept turning your head to see what I was doing, so I gave up. It was a good thing as she took only 10 mins. I would have taken at least 2 days!!

Your new cotbed duvet set in preparation for the winter months - it must be comfortable as you do not 'helicopter' around as much with the duvet

You are also no longer in the baby carry cot and have a new front facing car seat.

The throne

No, I'm not planning to toilet train you at this age. All I want to do is prevent you from always bathing in your own pee.

Over the past few weeks, you always wee when I place you in the bath. So, I started to say 'wee-wee-wee' when I put you in and you actually start to wee but the moment I push you forward to prevent you from weeing into the bath, you stop. So, I bought this so that you can sit you on it to wee before your bath. Tried it out today, and it worked!! You peed when Ric said 'wee-wee-wee' and you had a clean bath :) Maybe I will try putting you on it after your meals so that I do not have to wipe your poo too. Then, hopefully you will just indicate to want to go when you're ready to be toilet-trained.

Fearless

Dare I leave you alone?

New function for the trike

It was such a sunny day (but cold) last Sunday that we all went for a picnic after church. You had a ride on your trike again to the park but the moment we arrived, you only wanted to push it around. You walked non-stop for about an hour, and richard and I had to take turns 'walking' you. I think we were more tired than you. You also had a very good time with all the 'kokos' and 'che-che'.



You've also grown a lot since the camping trip as you 'fill' a lot more of the director's chair :)

Hello?

This will serve as a reminder of why we have to be so careful with what we do and say, and what we expose you to. I never taught you to use the phone and today you just picked it up and had a 'conversation'.

First handicraft

You came home from nursery with this. Wonder if this was in preparation for Halloween?

Language

According to baby centre, you're supposed to be speaking 2-3 words at this stage. But, the only 'words' you say are 'dadadadadada', 'dedededededede' or 'babababababa', and no sign of 'Mama' or anything else that resemble a word yet. You do shout a lot though, and we always have to hush you. There's a friend's son who can already say 'I want', and 'I don't want', on top of the dada and mama. So Isaac, there's some catching up to do :)

You do understand a few commands, like sit down, come here, give mama/dada, dance, clap hands, shake head, brush teeth, splash, and will wave bye-bye and 'flying kiss'. Recently, u also recognise the words 'light' and 'nose' as you will point to it, and 'milk', 'yogurt' and 'mummum (food)' as you will be very excited/laugh/stop what you're doing and follow me to get it. I'm trying my best to speak some mandarin to you too but somehow I always revert back to English. A beginning is counting in mandarin when I walk up and down the steps with you.

Reading's supposed to be very good but unfortunately you have a short attention span and love to just flip the pages, close the book or crawl away, rather than listen. So, I bought you a pop-up book with sounds to attract you. Alas, you seemed frightened by the pop-up characters. Maybe it should not have been the 'Spooks' theme :) Well, at least you like carrying all the books around the house and fortunately do not tear them.

Less tumbling

You're no longer tumbling along or walking like a drunkard as much now :)

New shoes - Clark Cruisers

Your 'chubby' feet has been confirmed today when we had your feet measured in Clarks. You were a size 3.5H (range from E-H, H being the widest). The service was really personalised and good, and I was impressed.

I am sure we made an impression on them too, with you walking along and pulling off every shoe from the lower rack and throwing them on the floor; creating a fuss when we tried to put shoes on you because you wanted to continue playing with all the shoes, and a summary of my conversation with the salesperson going:

SP: Those shoes (size 3.5H) fit very well, and they look good
Me: Do you have them in size 4? and can I try them please?
SP: But we do not recommend size 4 as they may cause your son to trip and incorrect shoe size may hurt his feet
Me: I'll still like to try them please
(so she comes with the size 4 shoes, puts them on Isaac after a fuss and he walked away)
Me: He seems to be walking alright with them, how much bigger are they anyway?
SP: 4mm
Me: 4mm????? and when do you recommend I bring Isaac back again for refitting?
SP: 6 weeks
ME: 6 weeks?? You mean a pair of shoes only lasts 6 weeks? I'll have the size 4 please
SP: But, we do not recommended size 4........... (and it went on a few times)

Well, she must be thinking, 'why do you bother bringing a kid for fitting if you don't follow advice'. But, I remember rolled up tissues in the front of shoes and I'm sure that's more than 4mm in diameter, and we all learnt to walk just fine :) Do parents really buy shoes every 2-3 months for their kids when they are growing?

Apparently, your feet will also grow thinner as you walk more and the 'fat' in the feet will go away. Isaac, you better walk a lot more as there's nothing wider than a H.

Your little obsession?

You're not the tidiest of toddler, but you ALWAYS put the 'piano' on top of the trike box, no matter where it has been left. Maybe it's because it's the perfect height for you to play on it.

Your look of shock and dismay when you couldn't find the box to put the piano back on (as the trike was being assembled) was so funny that I have to share it. It's probably time that I start to teach you about tidying up also. Well, we kept the trike box for your sake.

My first trike

Richard finally assembled the trike today, with your 'help'. As the weather was good, we immediately went out for a test drive. Too bad your legs were still too short to reach the pedals.

Eating out

Crystal came for a visit and we attempted another dinner out with you. Unfortunately, it was again quite stressful as you got restless and bored easily and needed to be entertained all the time. You were also very 'talkative' and made sure everyone heard you. Richard and I have decided - no more fine dining for now.

Double whammy

Over the weekend, because of my fascination with taking photos of you, you slipped (as you're still not used to walking/cruising with shoes yet) and sustained a small cut just below your right eye. I felt really bad but at least you had a good time playing with all the electronic cars. Then on Monday in nursery, you slipped and hit yourself on the same side of the face, resulting in a bruise on that cheek. You were quite a pitiful sight when I picked you up as you had a bruise and scar on the face and mucus crusts all over from your flu. Plus, there has been 6 cases of chicken pox in nursery. Hopefully you will not get it.

Enjoying yourself before the fall - boys and their toys :)

First steps

In the past few weeks, you zoom around with your walker and love to walk with us holding your hands. You lead us as to where you want to go and will refuse to walk if we try to lead you. It was also very tiring on our backs, and Ming felt it over the weekend :)

Over the last few days, you have gained confidence and started taking a few steps on your own. It is really funny watching you as you look like a drunk little man trying to walk straight :)

Bath time

This is why we have to put you inside our bath, and you fuss and cry when it's the end of bathing time.

This is the way we brush our teeth

After a few weeks of refusing to open your mouth and crying when I try to put the toothbrush in your mouth, you have finally learnt to 'brush your teeth', twice a day. It was all through imitation and letting you see us brush teeth all the time.

First birthday party

We started planning your birthday party more than a month ago. We knew you won't appreciate the party but we wanted it to be memorable for us, and you, when you look back at photos in the future. It was also a reason to organise a party as a thanksgiving celebration :) We toyed with the idea of a function room in a restaurant, a hotel, or renting a penthouse. We settled for the hotel after visiting a few penthouses and realised that living room space in penthouses were not as big as we thought it to be. That aside, I am also glad we didn't rent a penthouse as the hotel took care of the food, deco, ambiance and cleaning-up, which would have been impossible for us to do with a child that needs constant attention.

It had to be the weekend after your birthday as that was the only day the hotel was available. With the venue sorted, the invitation card and cake had to be designed and guest list made up. If only all your grandparents could have made it. 'Sam yi' came up with the superb games idea - 'captionise your expressions'. Finally, there was the photo montage of you that needed to be arranged. Someone asked me if I was planning another wedding :) Isaac, you are this important!! Well, we also specifically went shopping the day before for your birthday suit. Thank God for sisters :) (Siau, wish you were here)


We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on the day. I think you suspected something was up as both 'sam yi', 'sai yi' and Justin koko were here to play with you and we rushed you home from church so you could nap and have your lunch before the party. You were so excited when you saw so many people in the hotel and as usual interacted with everybody. When it was time for the 'Happy Birthday' song, you were a little shocked and stared at everybody. Although I tried teaching you to blow a candle a few days back, all you wanted to do was to grab the flame. It was hilarious. You especially loved the balloons and ate your birthday cake happily.




You left the hotel with one shoe, my 'Cinderella'. After your afternoon nap, we showed you your presents. Thank you everyone for your generosity!! There will be no more toy shopping for a long time, after we buy you your birthday present.


You were very excited by the gift 'sai yi' bought and was like a little mad pianist. You still do it now when I let you play with it. A little hidden talent maybe?



The next day, all the balloons lost their 'helium' and was flat on the floor. However, you were equally tickled by them and could not stop laughing.



I remember being totally exhausted that night as the party sapped more energy than I expected. Having a party with kids is so different and I learnt lots. I am so grateful to all who came and for the support we had over the past year. We should probably make the effort to meet up more often. Will there be another party next year? We'll see.