Happy first month, Baby Naomi

Baby Naomi turns one month old!

Wayne's little baby cousin. =)

We attended the full month celebration this afternoon. Never fails to remind mommy of when Wayne was just a wee baby too. So tiny, so fragile.

See how big precious Wayne has grown now.

Wayne had a good time by the pool just outside the function room. Took off his shoes and dipped his legs in the water, splish-splash splish-splash, he was happy just splashing his legs. Again, giving his 'smile'. See how his eyes goes into that moon shape each time he smiles. So cute.

Grow up well, baby Naomi! Wayne is waiting to play with you!!

Photo time with cheeky Wayne

Daddy : Wayne, take a photo with mommy!

Wayne : *Faces camera, quickly lifts up a paper and covers his face*

Daddy : *chik chak*

Wayne : One more time

Daddy : *Gets ready*

Wayne : *Lifts paper up and covers mommy's face, & then face daddy, posing for the camera in his trademark smile*

Mommy : *Sigh*

Daddy : *chik chak*

Still can give us that grin on his face!!!

Our cheeky little Wayne

Morning spent at Ikea

Decided to spruce up our living room with a new bookshelf from Ikea. And the plan is to hang up some photos on the wall beside the book shelf too . These one and a half years we have been staying here, we hadn't bothered to decorate our place much or make it feel homely, cos we never knew when we'd move out. But now, hmm, looks like its not that impossible we'd end up staying here for another year or two.. or three... or four..... so well, time to add a bit more of a personal touch to our home, starting with our living room.

First, lunch at Ikea, where Wayne was kept occupied while we ate

Wayne went around in this 'push push' as he calls it.... Wayne's 'smile' for you..

Making himself useful.. helping daddy carry our items to the cashier

Loving the kitchen set

Will try to post up some photos of our super mini re-vamp of the living room, hopefully soon.

Mission accomplished - Sydney Holiday

Finally mommy has completed the entire blog entries for our Sydney holiday!

Refer back to April 2011 for the holiday blog posts. =)

http://breathsofasweetlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/sydney-holiday-day-9.html

http://breathsofasweetlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/sydney-holiday-day-8.html

http://breathsofasweetlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/sydney-holiday-day-7.html

http://breathsofasweetlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/sydney-holiday-day-6.html

http://breathsofasweetlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/sydney-holiday-day-5.html

http://breathsofasweetlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/sydney-holiday-day-4.html

http://breathsofasweetlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/sydney-holiday-day-3.html

http://breathsofasweetlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/sydney-holiday-day-2.html

http://breathsofasweetlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/sydney-holiday-day-1.html

Finally registered!

Finally after 9 months since our first visit to Mindchamps in Oct last year, we finally decided on this preschool for Wayne! Mommy & daddy are pretty slow huh.............. but better late than never!!!! And mommy's glad with our choice!

Registered, paid our deposit, and secured a place here for Wayne.. tentatively deciding to commence on 1 October 2011. Just slightly before Wayne turns 2 and a half.

Daddy filling up the registration form.. Our happy little boy, just woke up from his nap but with a big smile on his face..

Daddy and Wayne!

As with the previous 2 visits we took, Wayne seemed at ease with the place. He seemed to like the place alot, walking around himself, and when he saw the other kids in the schools, mommy asked him if he wanted to go in and play with them, he said "yes!".. which surprised mommy cos normally he's quite timid and wouldnt want to play with other kids. So mommy takes this as a good sign.

The kids again were really cute, and continued to impress mommy & daddy with their well manners and vocality. They saw us sitting outside at the reception and immediately with big smiles on their face, waved at us and said "Hi Sir, Hi Madam!". It was so funny.. they were adorable. And it was not just one kid who did that, many of the kids who walked past did the same. Hehe, I can imagine next time Wayne saying "Hi Sir, Hi Madam!" at the uncles and aunties at the market maybe?.. haha. Funny. Mommy would be proud of Wayne if he turned out so sociable and confident with strangers too.

Here is Wayne asking if he can go into the classroom area...

After a yes from mommy, he took off his shows himself and placed them in the shoe cabinet.. and off we went to tour the school for the third time! =)

Mommy is hoping Wayne would adapt well in this school come October and will really enjoy the interaction with the other kids. Mommy wants Wayne to enjoy his time here and be happy going to school with his friends.

It will be another milestone in Wayne's early years. Can't wait. Love you, darling.

Moments with Grandpa

Wayne going "paw paw" to which Muff will put her paw on his palms..

Patting Muff with grandpa

Having a ball of a time

Yet another indoor play area for kids, this newly opened play area is called Singkids and they are located at Vivocity. Having passed by so many times during lunch on work days, mommy decided to bring Wayne here to 'test' out the fun-ness of this place. Though a bit small and cramped, this place was slightly more interesting than Gymboree, Polliwogs and the other indoor playgrounds. Or perhaps, it was just a fresh change.

The deco here was really cute.. there was this giant teddy bear which turned round and round and you could climb all the way up and sit on the teddy. But of course, our timid little Wayne didnt dare to.....

Instead, Wayne loved this set of blocks which he stacked up numerous times and got a kick out of pushing them down after stacking them as high as he could.

As well as this bouncy slide area .... which he enjoyed sliding down so much. There were also giant balls in this area which he hardworking-ly pushed up the slide and laughed as he pushed them down the slide.

Unfortunately, mommy had forgotten to bring my camera out that day, so we had to make do with photos taken with mommy's iphone... which explains the rather blur photos.

Well, basically for the hour that we were there, Wayne had a blast running around the place, up and down the slides, and moving things around. Mommy played with Wayne for half an hour, before swopping with daddy for the next half hour. Mommy could barely keep up with Wayne. Hehe. It was good we arrived pretty early, as the place got quite crowded closer to noon.

Here's a video of Wayne going quite crazy chasing after the 'flying' balls in this enclosure, screaming...... until he had company, and decided that he'd rather just stand by daddy's side. =p

Wayne must have been pretty tired out from that one hour of running and climbing, cos when we got home at noon he slept all the way till 4pm!!! A record 4 hours nap....

Precious weekday family time

As much as we can, we try to spend more time with Wayne on weekdays. Work has been pretty manageable lately and that meant more nights out with Wayne after work, which has made mommy feel very happy.

The day before, mommy picked Wayne up at 6pm (whee! so early!! happy!). We went for dinner and grocery shopping at Tampines One and Wayne was such a darling. He was so well behaved the whole night with mommy. Unlike when there are more people around, where he'd be running around & wanting to get up from his seat etc. With mommy, he just sat beside mommy eating his dinner, hugging me in between feeds and was just happy to spend time with mommy. And after dinner, we went grocery shopping & again he was so well behaved, he actually walked by himself, not requesting mommy to carry him as he normally would. That made bringing him out alone so easy for mommy. Thanks precious, mommy really enjoyed the solo night out with you.

And then, yesterday, again we brought Wayne out for dinner, this time with daddy too! We went to East Coast for dinner. And after dinner, we went for a walk by the beach. Wayne ran around in the open space, played with our shadows on the ground and enjoyed the night sea breeze together. We also sat by a pond and watched the fishes swim and turtles move around. It felt good to relax together as a family after a long day at work. Mommy & daddy felt really happy watching our little boy as he stood by the pond, intrigued by the many fishes and turtles that swam by.

In this busy hectic life that we lead, family time is indeed precious & whats most important to us.

*constant reminder to self and husband*

Happy 26th month

Happy sweet 26th months old darling. Mommy & daddy loves you alot & you mean the world to us.

Welcome to the family, baby Gabe!!

Finally, the latest addition to our family, welcoming baby Gabe on 14 June 2011 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Cant wait to carry you in my arms baby! Er-yi, Uncle HK and Wayne loves you so much already. We will see you very soon oki?

Be strong & grow up well, little Gabe. Or "Di Di Briel" as your gor gor Wayne calls you now. =)

Wayne is funny at class

Today was by far one of the best classes Wayne had since starting Shichida. Only 3 students this week, probably the rest are on holiday given its the school holiday period now. Why mommy says its the best lesson? Cos little Wayne gave his 100% in participation today!

Wayne responded to all of teacher Marge's questions, participated in ALL of the activities and simply had lots of fun!

The kids were learning about objects in the living room and when Marge asked each of them what the object hanging on the wall with a woman's portrait was, Katie answered picture, Seth answered photo and Wayne... he answered "mama!", sending us adults laughing away.

The next activity learning about sea creatures, Marge pointed to a clownfish and asked the kids what that was, Katie answered fish, Seth answered fish and Wayne... he answered "..mo!". ("Nemo").

And after the class, the kids were playing behind the classroom, Katie was happily hopping away when Wayne shouted "Stop stop stop" at her... and then Seth started to run around the classroom, and Wayne again went "Stop stop stop" at him.. Sigh, baby.. if you continue doing that,you'd have no more friends by the end of the term, you know?

Last lesson of the term next week, looking forward already!

86 year old ‘ah ma’ - Happy Bday!!

Sometimes we wonder how old we would live till.. whether we would be fortunate to see our little ones grow up, whether we would be fortunate enough to see our grandchildren? Or even great grandchildren?

Well my granny sure is blessed. 86 year old ‘ah ma’ whom mommy thinks is really fortunate and blessed to be able to enjoy her 86th birthday with the family – with her children, grandchildren AND great grandchildren! And most importantly, ah ma is still very healthy.. being able to live on her own, take care of herself and even drive around crazy BP town in her old-and-manual-and-almost-conked-out red car. At this age, ah ma always says that she is already very happy being able to see all of us grandkids grow up.. and now even having our own kids. That to her is happiness.

So while we know ah ma is not getting any younger, we try to visit her a little more often and mommy is glad this year, we have managed to visit her 3 times already in half a year. That’s not bad. =) And she was especially delighted with our last visit as it was to celebrate her 86th birthday.

Mommy is glad Wayne has a chance to know his ‘ah chor’, a feat not many has a chance to. 84 years apart – that’s 7 cycles of the Chinese horoscope between them. Yeps, they are both born in the year of the Ox. And yeah, they are both pretty stubborn people too.

Happy 86th birthday, ah ma!

This shot was funny, Wayne wanted to stand beside all of us, just like one of us adults.

Belated bday celebration for daddy!

Two weeks on and finally we managed to gather with the entire family (almost) to have a post birthday celebration for daddy with mommy’s family on 11 June. Though late, it was the thoughts that mattered. Thanks everyone!

We had yummy Ippudo ramen, and little Wayne as usual brought much joy to the family. We took photos and shot a video to be shown to Da-yi and Uncle Terry & Gabe when grandma goes over to Japan in a few days time.

Daddy imitating Wayne Wayne's 'smile'!

As with all birthdays, Wayne again got to help daddy blow the candle and cut the birthday cake, much to his delight.

And daddy received a very nice green shirt from the family. How nice.. as it has been a while since daddy had some new clothes! Daddy loved it & wore it the first chance he had!

Wayne's super one-in-a-million daddy

In most parenthood journeys, when it comes to showing our appreciation and thanks, daddies are sadly often forgotten. The small actions and sacrifices daddies make always ‘appear’ to pale in comparison with mommy's. And I say ‘appear’ as it definitely is not true. At least, in our parenthood journey with Wayne.

In our journey, daddy is a one-in-a-million kind of a daddy.

When mommy had to wake up every two hours to breastfeed Wayne in his initial months, daddy never failed to wake up too, to take care of the soiled diapers and accompany mommy. When mommy had to express milk ever so frequently, daddy was also kept equally busy taking care of the many pump equipments and bottles, washing and making sure its sterilized, ready for use the next round. Whenever we were getting ready to go out, while mommy prepared Wayne, daddy would be taking care of the baby bag & stroller, packing and ensuring we had everything ready for our outing.

And as Wayne grew older, daddy continued being our super dad. Daddy was in charge of milk feeds, early mornings and nights, daddy was the one to get out of bed to prepare Wayne’s milk and wash the milk bottles. Daddy also helped bathe Wayne ever so frequently, a task that hardly any daddies out there helps out with. Each time we run out of something at home for Wayne, daddy would always go out of his way to just get it, no matter how tired he was from a long day at work. And that’s on top of all the ferrying he does, driving mommy & Wayne around all the time.

And till today, Wayne is two, and daddy is still our super one-in-a-million daddy. Cos he places mommy & wayne above all else in his life, spending a lot of time with mommy & wayne, taking care of us and making mommy & wayne feel safe, protected and loved all the time.

Thank you daddy. Happy third father’s day.

Happy birthday Da-yi!

Happy birthday Da-yi!!!! A few more days before baby Gabriel will be out! We are counting down together with you!!! Wayne can't wait to see his lil cousin!!! Wayne's future playmate!!!

So enjoy your birthday lots with your big big tummy, da-yi!!! Stop eating so much!!!! Doctor's order!!!

Hope you like the pressie sent all the way from SG.

Miss you lots!!! Love you lots!!! Hugs! From Wayne Wayne, Ra & HK.

Learning with ice

After a successful lesson learning shapes with raisins, it was now time to learn hot and cold with some ice!

Monkey faced Wayne

Bright eyed boy. Actually this is just his exaggerated look when he discovers something new..

Playing with the cold cold ice...

Putting the ice to his cheeks to feel the coldness

Ehh?....... after putting the ice down, my cheeks still feels very cold!

Now learning that with 'gloves', the ice would not feel as cold

Well Wayne was just happy to play with something new. He was genuinely amused and had alot fun with something as simple as this. As for mommy, this was good as it kept him occupied for a good 20 minutes while mommy was in the kitchen doing some household chores. =)

Learning shapes with raisins

Mommy & Wayne had a fun morning playing with raisins today!

Haha, before you start to judge mommy for allowing Wayne to play with food, it was actually educational!! We were learning about shapes and having breakfast at the same time!

Well actually it was more a case of Wayne wanting to eat raisins instead of the bread and I had to distract him into eating both by doing something fun with him. And it sure was fun! With Wayne trying to make shapes himself.

Smile face to start the morning right!

Sun! Wayne's creation with mommy's help!

A tree!

And a raisin moon!!