My Little Ostrich

Hide-and-seek is my new favourite game. I get a real kick out of the thought that people can't find me. however, Mummy keeps accusing me of being an ostrich, because I apparently have the "If I can't see you, then you can't see me" mentality. That's how you get pictures of me in the midst of playing hide-and-seek, like this:

Classic Ostrich Claire

Further example of Great Ostrich Moves

Oops, I've been spotted, heh heh heh!

Not so easy! Lightning Claire in action!

There. You can't see me now, right? RIGHT?

Babies' Prom 2008

Mummy brought me for my first taste of classical music at the Victoria Concert Hall on 5 Dec 2008 - the famous SSO Babies' Prom! Having heard so much about it, she was really looking forward to bringing me there, and only just managed to grab a single seat in the stall area near the stage - prime location!

But perhaps because she had such high hopes, she couldn't help feeling that the actual concert was a bit of a let-down; the highlight of the concert though, was something she hopes I can participate in in future - a few select kids got to go on stage to conduct the entire orchestra! Wow, that looked like so much fun!

Anyway, it was still great that Mummy could take some time off work to spend QT with me... Mummy, please do it more often next year, ok?

Staring in wonder at the orchestra.

Mummy, what are they doing??? Looks fun!

Tutu-less

My last tutu picture

Yes folks, I'm happy (or rather, my silly mummy is happy) to announce that I'm officially off the pacifier!

On the night of 2 Dec 2008, my beloved Tutu, as my pacifier is fondly nicknamed, decided to leave for greener pastures as I have outgrown it. At least, that's what Mummy told me, although I have this sneaking suspicion that she was too lazy to do a thorough search for Tutu, and so settled for option 2 - blame it all on Tutu.

Anyhow, this was not the first time Mummy had tried to wean me off the pacifier with the Tutu-has-run-away story - but it is certainly the first time I decided that, ok, I can do without Tutu for a while, and not kicked up too much of a fuss.

So anyhow, that was the first night. After that, i tried my luck continuously for about a week, but Mummy kept up with the same story, and eventually.... I GAVE UP. Oh yes, I decided that since Tutu was so heartless, I shall not want Tutu anymore. With that, Mummy, who was plagued by secret nightmare images of me with a Tutu stuck in my mouth at the age of 5 or 6, heaved a sigh of relief.

Mummy's only worry is that I somehow replaced Tutu with finger-biting. I told Mummy that if she's good, I will reward her by stopping. hahahahahahaha

Ai Xin Breakfast

One morning, Mummy finally took out that heart-shaped pan she got sooooo long ago in preparation for my weaning... Result: I got heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast. *grinz* Wasn't fantastic, but I'm sure Mummy will improve with practice.

Mummy's thoughts: The end of a long journey

This has got to be one of the most painful posts for me to write, though I know many many mummies who would be thankful to be writing this - Claire and I have finally come to the end of a long journey - she has self-weaned from the breast. Sigh. *teardrop*

I had grandiose plans to nurse her till she self-weaned; in a way I succeeded as she did wean off on her own, but part of me still feels like a failure because I still can't believe that any baby would willingly wean off the breast at 22 months old. Here I am, willing to nurse for as long as she wanted, and the silly girl weans herself before she even turns 2! I keep thinking about what else i could have done to provide for her longer, and every time she falls sick i feel guilty (coincidentally, she has been falling sick regularly in the past 2 months).

OK, so amidst the tears and overwhelming sadness, I know there is a lot I should be thankful for:

1. That I was at least successful at full breastfeeding for about 1 year, and supplemented breastfeeding for about 22 months. For that, I have to thank my husband, mother, lactation consultant, understanding bosses, and supportive friends like my big friend SK, who was a great source of inspiration and motivation and started me off on this breastfeeding journey;

2. That my wonderful baby took to the breast from the start and seldom gave me breast rejection problems, and also that after the first month, she stuck to a schedule of nursing once a night, and stopped nursing during the night when she turned 8 months old;

3. That despite the regularity that blocked ducts plagued me, I never had a case of mastitis;

4. Lastly, that the pain of weaning is borne by me and not by Claire, rather than the other way round. I have read the experiences of other mums who had to wean their babies off, and if I had to do that to Claire I think it would really break my heart. As it is, she is happily adjusted and (I like to think!) emotionally-secure.

I shall just try to keep the points above in mind, and hold on to the wonderful memories I have of nursing Claire. Memories like this one:

The first nursing experience - within the first hour of birth. The nurse had to help me hold Claire because my other arm was still on drip due to my condition (excessive bleeding), hahaha.

To all mums out there striving to do full breastfeeding: You can do it! It's a long long journey and frequently painful, especially during the first few months (you won't believe how many tears I shed over the pain of blocked ducts, which I rate as worse than labour pains), but knowing that you were the main source of nutrients for your baby - wow, I just can't describe how good that makes you feel. :)

I'm Up and Running Again

'Allo 'allo? Who's that on the other end???

I've recovered! Evidence of this? Look at me up to mischief again. My newest hobby is making phone calls. Or maybe it's more accurate to say I like to talk on the phone. Or I like to pretend to talk on the phone. I'm quite good at it when no one is on the other line, but unfortunately for some reason I'm unable to carry on a real conversation because I go into shock if someone actually talks to me from the other end. I guess I'm still more at ease in my make-believe world. I even pretend to answer the phone when it rings (I don't pick the phone up though, I just stop whatever it is I'm doing, hold up an imaginary receiver and go 'HA-LLO?' very loudly)

The big question: so was it, or was it not rotavirus? Unfortunately we can't tell without taking the stools test (which we didn't). But thankfully it cleared up very fast; by the 2nd day my fever had cleared and my diarrhoea situation ended about 4-5 days later; by the time a week was up I went back to my solid stools state.

Mummy would like to thank all the aunties who have asked about my health. Let us assure everyone that I am back to my usual self!

Claire is on medical leave :(

Poor me.

Mummy says I should never feel sorry for myself, but oh dear, at the moment I can't help but feel so. I have been kept away from my regular playmates because of my illness, which no one can be sure what it is. And I'm so tired of being changed out of nasty poopy diapers. *sniff sniff* And taking medicine. *sniff sniff sniff*



Ok, rewind back to yesterday, when Mummy asked Granny to take me to see my regular GP, where I get my jabs, because I had been having diarrhoea since a day ago, and yesterday morning I started with mild fever. I was diagnosed as probably having tummy flu (since Mummy also suffered from a bout of tummy flu earlier in the week) or food poisoning.



Carried on with diarrhoea the whole day. Early this morning, I woke Mummy up at 5 plus in the morning. I was quite cheery at the time, but Mummy discovered, to her horror, that I was running a very high fever! Our thermometer chose this particular time to go crazy on us again (Papa swore that he was never going to try new-fangled stuff again) but even without it working accurately, both Mummy and Papa could tell that my fever was quite serious. Mummy grabbed the neurofen from the fridge (and for this we gotta thank Auntie Brenda, who advised us to always have a bottle of neurofen on standby). Papa suggested rushing to KK A&E, but, having heard so many "stories" about it, Mummy didn't want to send me there, especially when I was still quite alert and cheery. She preferred to bring my fever down with the neurofen first, then bring me down to my trusty PD in the morning.



Finally at 10 plus in the morning, I managed to see Dr Terence Tan. Immediately, after he heard my symptoms, he asked if I was vaccinated against rotavirus. My folks' hearts sank. Seeing that I was still so lively, Dr Tan thought it unnecessary to worry too much, but my folks were asked to keep a tight watch on me. We can't be sure if it is rotavirus or just some other viral attack, as my parents, after discussion, decided against testing my stool (because we were told that even if I was diagnosed with rotavirus, there was nothing we can do except to do what we were already doing - control my temperature and stop the diarrhoea). But my folks did go home with a much clearer picture of what was happening in general.

Obstacles I decided to put up for my parents:

1) I hate taking medicine. I hate taking medicine. And did I mention I HATE taking medicine? My granny's finger is all swollen from having to force my mouth open in order that I can be force-fed my medicine. I recoil in horror and tell Mummy "bu yao!" everytime I see the syringe. It really pains Mummy and Papa to see me like this. Thank goodness my new medication prescribed by Dr Tan can be taken relatively infrequently.

2) I like plain water. Dr Tan advised taking isotonic drinks to keep my carbo levels up, because with the amount of diarrhoea I was suffering from, it doesn't take much to deduce that my body is not absorbing much food I've been given. Mummy and Papa's only consolation is that Dr Tan says the diarrhoea should be relatively painless, just that it obviously is not pleasant to live in constantly poopy diapers. Mummy does kind of enjoy seeing the look on my face moments before I poop though. Mixture of horror and pai-seiness. Hahaha. But I digress. Back to isotonic drinks. Wow, before this round of illness, Mummy never knew that I disliked flavoured drinks so much. The flavoured Pedialyte Dr Tan prescribed for me was swiftly rejected. So was glucose water (glucolin). So was the plain Pedialyte that Mummy rushed out to buy (Mummy: I can understand why. BLARGH!!!). In the end, the only isotonic drink I would take is Ah Gu's Pocari Sweat *faint*. But Mummy was thankful we found something that fits at last. Her mind is still filled with horror images of me hooked up to a drip (which is what Dr Tan warns MAY happen).

3) I can tell Mummy that I have tummy ache. She is so proud of me. At last my communication is "getting there".

Update 31/10/2008 AM: Claire's fever is under control!!! And her last poop last night seems to be a bit more solid. Let's hope this continues. Looks like the probiotics did help!

Another Wedding Celebration

First off, congrats to my Uncle JJ and Auntie LL!!!! They finally took the final plunge today and hopefully I can have a little cousin to play with soon! Pretty please? Wakkakakakakkakakakaka...

Anyway their wedding lunch was held at a restaurant in Haw Par Villa called Made in China. Verdict: Best wedding banquet ever. Although I didn't get to taste most of the food, Mummy and Papa assured me that I REALLY missed out on the shark's fin soup, crab meat bee hoon and wasabi lobster. *sigh* But no matter, I was actually satisfied with my minced chicken and sweet corn bisque that Uncle JJ and Auntie LL had so thoughtfully ordered for me and the other small kids. I spent the entire meal feeding myself the bisque, resulting in peace for my parents (and no doubt contributing to their enjoyment).

And for those who have missed seeing me, this is how I look like, at nearly 21 months old (wow, that's very old le...)

Me with my bowbow from Ashley's Bowtique. I wore it for at least half the banquet, which Mummy says is a new record.

Mummy thought Papa was going to take a nice picture of us, but NOPE, he was merely trying out his new camera *rolls eyes*. See the blur figure behind Mummy? Papa was trying to do the journalistic thing, as usual.

Me in nice dress for the occasion. Mummy had been waiting for the right opportunity to put me in this, hahaha. Today was the day i finally fitted in this dress, and there happened to be an occasion for me to wear it!

Papa trying his 'journalistic' stunt again. I have to admit he's getting better at it, though.

Oops! Caught in the act! I got this hand-over-mouth action from Ms Lavina. Mummy can't stop laughing at me whenever I g, "Oh no!" and cover my mouth, like this.

One Lazy Morning

I think this is Mummy's idea of a joke. Since nowadays I don't really like to be in my high chair, she makes me sit on my little stool at the front door instead. She says it's called al-fresco dining. Sounds very atas, but I think I've been had. but anyway, it's a lot less restrictive than my hated high chair, and I get to see the world go by as I eat (not that a lot of world goes by at the 21st storey, but better than nothing right?)

Oh, and have I mentioned before that I'm crazy about bread? i love wholemeal and white bread (but I'm not keen on fruit and nut loaves though). I can have bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mummy and Papa say it's good because this way they can be sure that I won't starve wherever I may be (because there is always bread, right?)

Hello. Welcome to my breakfast time. please join in!

And because I'm so generous, my caterpillar may have some of my bread too.

Thank you Ms Shauna

It's the end of my Kindermusik journey... *sob sob sob* Last Sunday I had to say bye to Ms Shauna, because Mummy is withdrawing me from Kindermusik. She would have loved to carry on with Kindermusik, but Ms Shauna is leaving the school soon (I heard she is going to Shanghai because her husband has been posted there for work) and I have not settled in to the Our Time class as well as Mummy hoped I would. We didn't anticipate that Our Time would be such a big difference from Village!

In fact I was not supposed to be at Kindermusik this semester as Mummy had already moved me on to Kids' Loft, but at the last lesson last semester she couldn't resist especially when she heard Ms Shauna was leaving after this semester, so ta da!!! I was back the next week!

We've been at Kindermusik for almost a year and loved almost every part of the journey. The last 2,3 semesters of Village especially was very fun for us, and a large part of the credit must go to Ms Shauna, who has been wonderfully patient and manages to make each class such an enjoyable experience.

Mummy would like to say a big THANK YOU to Ms Shauna for taking such good care of me and teaching me so many things during the past year. We will miss Ms Shauna's infectious enthusiasm and lovely voice. Mummy is not ruling out bringing me back to Kindermusik again next time if Ms Shauna comes back.

Me, Charlene and Reina with Ms Shauna. So difficult to get 3 tods to smile!!!

Conversation with the Clairester

Time: 10pm

*Claire takes pack of Healthy Handful cookies and brings it to Mummy*

Claire: Mummy, kai! ('open' in Chinese)
Mummy: It's very late, Clairester. You've already had your milk. It's time to go to bed.
Claire: (shakes the pack insistently) Mummy, kai, kai!!!
Mummy: *sigh* All right. But you can only have 1 cookie ok? (gestures '1' for emphasis)
Claire: (thinks a while) 2! (gestures '2' with her thumb and index finger.. machiam like going to shoot mummy, hahaha)
Mummy: (stunned) No Claire, you can only have 1 cookie ok. (gesture '1')
Claire: 2!!! (gestures '2')
Mummy: 1, darling.
Claire: 2!!!!
Mummy: (gives up) Ok darling, mummy is going to give you 1 cookie. Just 1 cookie ok.
Claire: (takes cookie and walks away without agreeing or disagreeing)

******************* FIVE MINUTES LATER************************
*Claire walks back with pack of cookies in hand*
Claire: (very sweetly) Mummy, 1!!! (gestures '1')
Mummy: *pengz*

Papa's comment when he heard about the incident: Wah, not bad, she knows how to bargain leh!!!
Mummy: ...... *speechless*

I Crept and Crawled at Kids' Loft

Long-awaited pictures from my Kids' Loft weekend playgroup, where I attend 1.5hrs lesson every Saturday. I have just completed my first semester there, and have more or less settled in, though I'm still warming up to Teacher Lavina (yeah it takes me a while... it took me about 2 terms to get comfortable with Ms Shauna!). So Mummy says she will most likely be keeping me at Kids' Loft until I'm 3, since I'm progressing well there. Besides, we like it that the class size is small, my classmates are friendly (even though I bully them by hitting them as and when the fancy takes me - trying to control it) and I can get more personal attention from Teacher Lavina. And of course, the very reasonable prices *wink*

Some pictures from my last class of the term:

My certificate, surrounded by my artwork. Mummy was very impressed with the cert which comes laminated and personalized with my pictures from class. This term I painted, stuck stickers, crushed paper, drew lines with crayon.

Playing during free play time. I'm obsessed with this toy and I never fail to grab it when it's free. Mummy's trying to get me interested in the puzzles and other toys, but nope, I'm one faithful gal.

Snacktime. Last day of the term we had a little potluck party of sorts. I love rice crackers, hahahahaha. Mummy is still not having any luck with getting me to say 'please' in class, though I will say it at home when prompted to. Oh, and Shanice and I enjoyed the party so much we insisted on sitting at the table to finish our meal and subsequently missed our zoophonics session. Teacher Lavina couldn't stop laughing at us.

Dancing with bubbles. I am always the first to run to the carpet. I love snug corners.

Dancing along to the music while Mummy stands outside taking pictures. hahahaha...

Oh, and in case you are wondering why we did so little during our class, it's just that Mummy was not able to capture photos of every part of class, as she was alone with me. So she didn't capture photos of storytelling, singing hello, and zoophonics (which incidentally, I missed. Because food is always more important. Hahahahahhahaha)

I hope to see all my classmates again next term!

I WANT

This evening during dinner I was so desperate to have a potato wedge that I screamed "Wo yao na ge!" It was quite funny to watch my folks' reaction:

Mummy: (exasperated with my nonsense but still manages to ask calmly) dear, did she just say "Wo yao na ge"?
Papa: Yeah I think so. I heard it too.
Mummy: I can't believe it. She'll talk for food.
Claire: *screams away but does not ever repeat the phrase again*

Mummy speaks - To Wean or Not to Wean???

Recently I got hit by a nasty bout of flu and it got so bad that I had to be put on very strong antibiotics. As a result, I had to stop nursing Claire for those few days that I was on medication. As I haven't had frozen reserves for the longest time, there was no choice but for Claire to be put on FM fulltime.

After I recovered, Claire appeared to be very impatient at the breast; the first night we went back to breastfeeding she rejected me after two or three minutes and cried for the bottle. Had no choice but to give her what she wanted but I felt quite upset.

The next day I told my mum what happened and she suggested that I stop breastfeeding. Well, that got me even MORE upset, because my mother had been so supportive of my breastfeeding journey all along. I wondered if perhaps it was really time to stop - after all my milk supply has been insufficient for the past few months largely due to work stress. But my thinking all along had been that I would still continue to give her what I had because I'm so convinced of the benefits of breastmilk. My intention had always been for Claire to self-wean when she wanted to.

Then this awful thought crossed my mind - is Claire self-weaning from the breast already? She had never been very attached to the breast, but I certainly didn't expect her to self-wean at the age of 18 months. Spent a couple of days waddling in misery over this. The few days when she was on full FM were indeed quite liberating in some sense - so convenient to just make some milk for her when she wants, and there was no need to worry if she was getting enough. But the thought of not nursing her again - well it just hurts! I think I've gotten more attached to the experience than Claire has! *rolls eyes* But still... if she no longer wanted to nurse, then I can't very well force her to stay attached, right? (hahaha... I think I need to be weaned more than she does)

So I decided to let things go their natural course - if she really decides to wean off, then I'll just let it be.

Verdict? After the failed "reattachment exercise", on the 2nd night, I made her milk instead of nursing her - out of 150ml, she drank 120ml, and went to sleep. The next night, I made her 120ml, she drank 40ml, then she rejected the bottle and started crying for "nai nai". I asked her if she wanted to drink mummy's milk. She nodded her head. From then on, it's back to total latch-on at night again. Wakkakakakakakkakakaka... ok, so I guess she does feel some bit of attachment to nursing after all. Now sometimes in the afternoon she will ask to be nursed instead of drinking from the bottle.

Though at the moment Claire is partially weaned off, we still enjoy the whole breastfeeding experience, so we'll still keep on with it for the moment when we can, because I still feel that it's one of the greatest gifts I can give her.

18 months and counting...

Ok, so I'm not the brightest 18-month-old around, but I am still Mummy's darlingest cutest baby monster (yes I have a lot of pet names. It gets me confused. So are you surprised that it took me so long to realise my REAL name is Claire?).

Since the last time I blogged on my milestones, this is how much further I have gone:

1) Spoken Communications - I still hate speaking. Why speak when I can point and hmmm hmmm my way ALL the way? Mummy is tearing her hair out but (hahaha) I'm afraid there's nothing much she can do about it because it's MY mouth and under MY control. Hiaks. But I have still made some progress - I can now pronounce 'baobao' clearly. I also greet 'gonggong' in the mornings and evenings when he comes back from work. Birds are 'niaoniao' pronounced in the Singlish manner (Mummy: yes I know this doesn't sound very nice, but neither does 'bird bird' right??? anyway she appears to have somehow figured out on her own that birds are called 'niao'.) and I get very excited when I spot birds on the road (points and calls loudly, 'niaoniao!!') I have finally learnt to greet Granny's neighbour's dog Cookie properly too ('Cookie'!). I also say 'sit' when I sit down (and I also like to ask other people to sit down). I know one simple sentence - 'Papa baobao!'. And I am still recognizing all babies as 'didi'. Oh, another interesting word I learned is 'ha-ty'. Origin: My block has a talking lift, and as we live on the 2x storey, I hear the voice in the lift go 'storey twenty-???' every evening. However, I can't pronounce 'twen' so I say 'ha-ty' instead. Now whenever I go into a lift I will say 'ha-ty!'

2) Other verbal skills - I can finally say 'ng-ng'. But I still recognize both bodily functions as 'ng-ng' and I tend to tell Mummy only after I actually carry out the *ahem* task. It is only when Mummy asks me "Is it ng-ng or shee-shee?" Then I will differentiate and tell her very sweetly 'shee-shee!' This usually happens after she opens my diaper and discovers that there is no uh, visible output.

3) Temper tantrums - I'm in my terrible twos stage already. I don't like it when things don't go my way, so I kick and scream and rake up a big fuss all round. And I can go at it for 5-15 minutes. The other day Mummy got so tired of it that she took out her handphone and started videoing my tantrum. (You can ask Mummy to show you the video when you see her, she'll be more than happy to do so) She says she is going to show me this video when I'm older, as proof of the brat that I was/am. Humph.

4) School-going Claire: After 1 month of schooling I can do (or at least I try doing) some of the zoophonics actions! Mummy is actually very excited about that, so excited that she goes at me with "Ally alligator???" every five minutes *rolls eyes* I do only a few, and not very accurately, but to Mummy it's good enough.

*Progress - as at Aug 08 - Ally alligator comes with action AND sound! *proud Clairemummy*

However, one worrying development is that I've started hitting and pushing my classmates in school, despite being repeatedly told that I'm not supposed to do that. Mummy can't figure out where I might have learned to do that, but she hopes I stop it soon.

5)Physical development - 9.1kg!!! Yeah, Mummy knows it's kinda pathetic, only way she can explain it is that I've inherited her skinny genes *YES - wipes sweat off brow*. But not to worry folks - my parents brought me to my PD Dr Terence Tan for a check-up recently and he says my weight is perfectly normal and acceptable, and I'm as healthy as can be.

6) I can kinda (FINALLY) differentiate between walking and running (which to me at the moment is still walking very fast, but don't worry, I'm getting there!)

i love the DHL Balloon!!!

Before today Mummy and Papa always wondered what was the big deal about this funny balloon in the middle of nowhere. Well, today we all found out why. It is a very big deal because it is so FUN. Mummy says it's a great and unique experience and Papa says that it is better than the Singapore Flyer. Me? Well, Mummy was petrified that I'd get blown away by the wind - and she freaked out whenever I stretched my hand out of the balloon. But it was certainly very strange why all the things looked so small from up there. I will probably understand when I'm older. But Mummy is sure that i had fun on the balloon because I kept looking at it and later even when we were at another building watching the NDP rehearsal fireworks I was more preoccupied by the balloon, which we could still see, rather than the fireworks.

Papa says the balloon will be saying byebye in September. I'm very sad, I don't understand why such a great attraction has to say byebye. I hope they find a good home for it because we would definitely go visit again!

Mummy and me on the balloon

Oooo... why is everything so small???

New School and New Experiences

As I'm turning 18 months soon, Mummy decided that it's time for me to begin attending toddler classes where I'd get to interact more and also do more formal learning. Upon Auntie SK's recommendation, Mummy got me on the waitlist at this place called Kids Loft a couple of months ago, and today I had my first lesson. Mummy was quite happy with my progress even though I was not always following the lesson.

Unfortunately no pictures were taken as Papa had to go to school and Mummy had her hands full looking after me. Later when Papa has time to accompany me to school too, we'll have some photos up. :)

The class was very conducive as it was of a smaller number than my Kindermusik class. Teacher Lavina was very nice and I enjoyed her singing, but Mummy understands that it'll take a while for me to truly warm up to Teacher Lavina, though I quite liked her already by the end of the lesson today. :)

A couple of things that surprised Mummy during class:

1) During Art and Craft, we were supposed to paint a black spider. After watching how Teacher Lavina did it, I tried to follow. Though Mummy still had to hold my hand to guide me, she actually did less guiding than she thought she would have needed to.

2) During snack time, I picked up the plastic cup alloted to me and drank from it, though that was the first time I was given that kind of cup to hold! Mummy was really pleasantly surprised at that. Tomorrow Mummy is going to change the cover on my drinking mug to step 4. :)

3) Although I was not always following the lesson, I was not as distracted as Mummy feared I would be. I managed to stay focused at least 70% of the lesson, which is very good! :)

We're looking forward to next Saturday again, where I'm going to stick the legs on my spider. :) Mummy will take a picture of it to show off here when I'm done with it. :)

After a long hiatus....

Ok, this is probably how my readers have been feeling the past 2 months...

Sad, forlorn, dejected... as grumpy as a bulldog can be...

BUT.....

I AM BACK!!!!!!!!

YEA!

Ok, the reason for no updates is that Mummy is going through a very difficult time at work at the present, and looks set to be doing so for the next 6 months. So unfortunately she often has little to no time as well as little to no mood to do regular updates. But she says she'll try because she doesn't want my growing times to just fly past without records....

How am I doing?

Physical development: Currently I'm walking quite well and quite fast. I also like to do a lot of squatting (??!!). My grandaunt was very surprised when she saw me squatting the other day and even more amused to hear that I squat rather than sit most of the time.

Speech: I can say 'xie zi' - Chinese for shoes, gougou - Chinese for dogs, maomao - Chinese for cats. However, I have a penchant for calling my neighbour's dog 'Kitty'. It's annoyed poor old Cookie so much that she no longer responds when I go to her door and call for her. Well, you can't blame a dog for being on her dignity, right? I also say 'please' when I want something done for me REAL badly, but it comes out like 'teas' 'seas'... various permutations. I also say 'ba' when I want to be carried, and 'baobao' and pat my tummy, when I am full. I'm definitely Chinese-speaking; if you speak to me in English I do not always understand.

Social Development: Oh yes I lean towards the social butterfly side. just today Papa and Mummy brought me to NYNY in Lot 1 and the staff there fell in love with me. They brought me all over the place (Mummy was very pleased about the unexpected free babysitting that allowed her to eat in peace for once) and even gave me ICE CREAM. But the downside is Papa and Mummy worry that I'm a prime kidnap candidate as I am a most willing victim. Oh well, you can't have it all. Oh, and I say 'hi' and 'bye' quite happily too.

More updates coming up later as I have to be bathed now...

Snack Trap

I love feeding myself. Currently I am limited to feeding myself biscuits and bread. Sometimes Mummy will scoop a spoonful of rice and pretend to let me hold when she is actually still controlling it (Ha, Mummy, you think I dunno izzit??!!) but because I'm still not very sure where my mouth is (Go on, come and ask me, it changes position everyday. *gloat*) so I end up making a mess, my food gets wasted and it goes cold before I can finish it.

But Mummy knows that at some point in time she'd have to just hand me a spoon and a bowl of food, put lots of newspaper around, and then close her eyes tight tight, and hope that when she opens them 1/2 hour later I'd have miraculously managed to finish my meal without dropping a single crumb (Ha! fat hope!)

But again, we are digressing. This post is actually to blog about one of Mummy's good buys off the forum. This unassuming-looking cup with the funny opening is called a Snack Trap. It enables Mummy to be able to throw me my biscuits and leave me to my own devices while she does other evil stuff, without needing to worry that I am throwing biscuits/container around the place.

Watching Baby TV and eating from my Snack Trap.

UMMM

Big accomplishment! I can feed myself without creating a mess!

Why don't more shopping malls do this?

So much talk about Singapore being child friendly, but so far I've seen this installed at only 2 places - United Square (inside the handicapped toilet only) and Ikea.

For a mum who brings her baby/toddler out alone, this thing is a lifesaver. I don't have to worry about:
1) Squeezing my stroller into the teeny weeny cubicle (and not succeeding)
2) Using the handicapped toilet (yes of course I have to do that, if not I'll probably have to start using adult diapers??!! - I mean, what can I do if my stroller doesn't fit into the teeny weeny cubicle???)
3) My kid sitting down, or squatting down and touching funny things on the ground.

Granted, Singapore is already very baby/child friendly when compared to some other countries, but we should always strive for improvement right? (BTW, the underpass linkway from Novena MRT to United Square - UNFRIENDLY. You go through all the trouble of installing escalators and all, just to have a small flight of stairs leading down to the walkway, from the escalator? What's up with that???)

The Day I Walked Away from Mummy...

Cheeky Claire discovering the meaning of freedom

Okok, so I took my first steps on 24 March 2008, but April 19th was the day that I really began to walk all over the place on my own. Before that I was still happy being led or being carried. And I didn't even hesitate and turn back to look for Mummy... I was just wandering, wandering, wandering.... No wonder I have a harness buddy. Sigh.

Gogo Bambini!!

Now that I can finally walk, Mummy can finally fulfil her goal of bringing me to play at one of those new-fangled indoor playgrounds! And her choice of playground was one of the more well-known ones - Gogo Bambini at Dempsey Road.

Review: These indoor playgrounds are really more for 3-4 year olds huh? There were such crowds of 3-4 year olds screaming and running wild all over the place. Still I enjoyed myself at the infant ball pit for a while, and Mummy also brought me into the playground itself for a bit, in a secluded corner where I stood less risk of being trampled on.

Price: PRICEY!!!! This outing together with lunch for Granny, Mummy and me cost a whopping $50. And it wasn't even that fun. Humph.

Aftermath: The next day, Mummy felt very stupid for bringing me to the indoor playground as she suddenly remembered that it was the peak of HFMD. *slams head against wall* Well, the good news was I didn't come down with HFMD, but i did manage to come back with a rather nasty bout of flu. Mummy just thanks her lucky stars that it was only flu and not something else.

Rare smiling picture - Gogo Bambini's cafe

Mummy and ME!

Surrounded and half-buried in the ball pit!


Why doesn't anyone want to play with me? *sob*

Oooo.... isn't the ceiling high....

YEA! I've mastered the art of balancing!

Am I cute or am I cute??!!

By popular demand

Ok, I finally managed to prod Mummy into sitting at the computer and uploading more pics from our photoshoot!!! Most are happy-Claire faces.

Mummy bought this Dale from HK Disneyland for herself, but somehow I took a crazy fancy to it and now I get to borrow it most of the time. LOL

Rocking horse!!! It was my Ah Gu who first taught me how to play on the rocking horse. I have a similar one at home, but this one is more colourful.

Nice pose? Heehee

One of Mummy's favourites - Papa says I look Harry-Potterish.

Fell in love with this walker at the studio and wouldn't let it go.

Claire at 14.5 months...

Ok, just a short record of what I've been doing the past week.

Mummy's newest form of entertainment - asking me to point at my body parts. I can identify my nose, eyes, mouth, ears and hair. Mummy also thinks I can identify my foot. But I have a strange tendency to tell Mummy that my mouth is up my nostril, and my eyes are really in my ears. It irritates her no end, because she knows I can give her the right answer, but I'm just being naughty, as usual.

Other things I can do:
1) Toddle around class helping Ms Shauna keep the instruments and such. I like to pick up the instruments (Mummy nearly fainted last week when I picked up the heavy drum I was allotted and happily went looking for Ms Shauna) and approach Ms Shauna with them. When I'm in class, I forget that I need Mummy around in order to walk, so I'm quite happy toddling around. But outside of class Mummy has to hold my hand, if not I will just crawl. LOL.

2) When I want to go out, I will go look for my shoes and try to put them on. Oh, and I will stand at attention by my tricycle. Not that Mummy takes any notice *grrrr*.

3) Taking off my clothes. I will put my hands up so that Mummy finds it easier to slip my shirts off. Sometimes she just takes my arms out and then leaves me to pull the shirt off my head. *rolls eyes* My Mummy gets amused by the silliest things.

4) Not progressing much in terms of actual talking, but I AM getting much better at communicating! To Mummy's horror, this week I've stopped wanting to talk. Instead I'm quite happy pointing, shaking my head, and em-ahing my way through. Any ideas on how to encourage me to learn to talk again? Please drop Mummy a note!

My family photoshoot

Whee whee!!! I went for my first family photoshoot session yesterday. It was extremely fun watching all the funny people dancing around with exaggerated expressions and huge strained smiles, in valiant attempts to make me laugh or at least smile.

Mummy and Papa were very happy with the results. At first at the studio they thought the pics would look quite ordinary, but when they came home and looked at the DVD-rom they were quite stunned that the photos looked so good, hahahahahaha. Now Papa is considering whether to go for one huge family photoshoot with this Uncle David from Foto-U.

Oh, and big thanks to my aunties from Mummy's Crescent family, for getting me this package as my 1st birthday present!!! It's certainly left Mummy with some everlasting beautiful memories of moi! Kekekekekekekekekeke

Here are some of Mummy's favourite shots to share. If she can spare the time she will upload more later.

Hello, my name is Claire, and these are my parents.

Yes? You were looking for me??

Last chance to take this kind of traditional naked baby shot. Kekekeke
Nice family shot.

Here I am crawling away again...

Korean Baby

Mummy likes the way my foot is positioned in this shot.

Bathtub!
Wizard in training... BAHHHHH!!!!!