SIMply CLAIRE

Claire Goes to School

2010-01-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

Waiting for the school bus

Well, before I knew it, my little monster was turning 3, and I had to send her off to school. Our final choice was Gracefields @Teck Whye. Substantial reasons: small student:teacher ratio, good curriculum, gut feel. Superficial reason: They have the cutest uniform. But anywayyyyy, this is Claire on the first day of school, waiting for the school bus to pick her up. Me? I rushed off to school via LRT. Still did not get there in time to see her get off the bus though, because she is the last one picked up before proceeding to school. She is also the first one to be dropped off after school, so that's good because then she doesn't spend hours on the school bus.

Settling in at school and making herself at home, getting to know the toys.

My worries about her not being able to settle down in school were unfounded... Claire was oblivious to my presence and quickly settled down with the wooden puzzles. After about 10 min of feeling unwanted, I decided to step out. Loitered outside the classroom and chatted with some of the other parents. I think the one suffering from separation anxiety is me. :P

Timetable

Looks so packed right??? But the first three days were not like that; the children spent most of their time playing, and then there was some m & m at the end of the day. The teachers couldn't do anything else much either in any case because half the kids were still crying away. Thankfully though mine was her usual unperturbed, adaptable self.

Snack time - eating independently

Well I guess those snack times at Kidsloft must have helped somehow... the Clairester was very independent when it came to eating. She wasn't so adept at using the spoon to scoop up the kway teow though and was one of the slowest to finish. But hey, she did it without any help from the teachers. I thought she was a bit neglected the first couple of days because she was so independent and most of her other classmates attracted and needed more attention from the teachers. But the teachers and the other parents kept telling me about how good she was. oh well.

Time to go home!!!

So proud of my little N1 student! ;)

Homemade Fishcakes!!! (Mummy's entry)

2009-12-25T06:34:00.000-08:00

I still try to cook for Claire when I have the time and energy, but I must admit I've grown a lot lazier from last time when I used to prepare 3 meals a day for her. Recently, my meals for her have been restricted to pasta with white sauce, bolognese pasta, stir-fried pasta... partly due to her pickiness with food, though I know pasta ain't always the healthiest meal! But it gets really discouraging after a while when you spend hours preparing something, only to have her take one bite and reject it. Lately I've had a conscience attack, so I dug out my cookery books and looked for something healthy again (as well as something I was reasonably sure she would eat), and the result was this:

Homemade (with love) fishcakes...

... Accompanied by Dolmio's Mushroom and herb sauce which we both love

Doesn't look appetizing, but tasted surprisingly good! Coz I adapted it from a recipe and I was not exactly accurate with the ingredient portions, the mixture did not stick together as well as I thought it should. Or maybe it was because I made them too thin as I was worried they wouldn't cook through, so they broke apart quite easily when I was picking them up to place in the frying pan.

Anyway, here are the ingredients I used:

portion of salmon

portion of cod fish

japanese sweet potato approx. equal to the amount of fish, when mashed up (the sweet potato, that is, not the fish!) - the actual recipe denoted potatoes, but I didn't get them, thinking that my MIL would definitely have them at home, only to find out that she didn't, so I improvised and used what she did have. anyway sweet potato is supposed to be more nutritious. This is also a good way of getting Claire to eat sweet potato, coz she's refused to eat sweet potato for months now. I was quite surprised that I couldn't really taste the sweet potato at all - it just went down really well with the fish, for some reason!

3 mini portobellos

a sprig of chinese coriander (wang sui)

egg

2 digestive cookies, crumbled (actually not enough, should have used 3)

butter (for frying)

The Clairester gobbled up an amount equivalent to her usual lunch and said she liked it. :) Will try to do the fishcakes up in nice shapes the next time to encourage her to eat more.

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T23:40:00.000-07:00

Estelle's mummy, Auntie Serene, invited us to go trick-or-treating with them this Halloween. Mummy thought it'd be an interesting experience for me, so off we went!

Luckily, Mummy saw this fairy costume going cheap in Perth in July and got it for me. She intended for me to use this next year, but then we decided to go trick-or-treating this year instead, so....

All ready to go. Mummy DIYed my treat-or-treat basket from materials from Golden Dragon store near her work place. Cute huh?

The two little fairies of the night - me and Deszi!!!

You didn't think I'd walk around on my own? right you are. Made my mummy carry me almost all the way. :P She's the one in the green tank, and I'm the one with the white hat, obviously. (didn't go too well with my costume, but there was a light drizzle)

And here we are again...

My loots. We ended ahead of time, as the rain started getting heavier. :( But my loots were still substantial.

Every Mommy's Secret Dream

2009-10-04T05:57:00.000-07:00

When I was young, I loved poring through my mother's wedding album, and above all, totally, totally envying my cousin, who had the good fortune to be my mother's flower girl. My mother kept her flower girl's dress and I remember frequently opening my mother's wardrobe to sneak a peek at the dress, and wishing so, so hard that I'd get a chance to wear it. Unfortunately, my mother was not only the runt of the litter; on top of everything else, she married late in life (well, not THAT late, but considered quite late for her generation), so I never got the chance. *sad*

But anyway, to cut the long story short, even before Claire was born, I dreamed of her wearing a pretty, frilly dress and walking down the aisle as someone's flower girl. And so Claire and I would like to thank Audrey for giving her this chance, and down the aisle in a church, no less!!!

Most people, including Claire-papa, couldn't believe that a 2.5yr old could actually do it. Having heard stories of flower girls who got stage fright, even at 4, 5 years old, I was a little worried that Claire would pull a stunt on the day itself. But then she went for the rehearsal and met her partner, the very friendly and charming Dylan, as well as Dylan's very affable and sweet sister Ria, and after that I felt more relaxed about it. The 3 kids also got along famously, much to my surprise, as this was the first time Claire enjoyed playing with friends so much!

The day itself - all went well, save for one very embarassing moment... Just when I was congratulating myself on how well-behaved Claire was, sitting quietly in the pew, half an hour into the ceremony....

Priest: (some blessing chant)
My feelings - absolutely awed by the beauty of the ceremony and the sanctity of the moment
SUDDENLY... drifts of a familiar strain in the background of the chanting: "A B C D E F G..... H I J K..."
Claire-papa: (nudges me) That's YOUR daughter singing!!!!
Me: *stares back in horror and runs to the front pew to retrieve the Clairester*

So, memories of Audrey and Mathew's very special day - thanks so much for letting us be a part of it!

Mommy, Clairester and Dylan. (P.S. The flowerball was handmade by the bride. So beautiful huh!)

Claire and Dylan.

Claire and Ria waiting for the commencement of the ceremony.

Yes, that was indeed me singing A B C in the middle of the wedding ceremony. *cheeky grin*

Enjoying her pappadum.

And the bonus for today, because I haven't blogged for so long (YES, I know I'm still not done with the Aussie entries), is the video of Claire doing her flower girl act... Yea, she made it to the end of the aisle!

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi oi oi!!!!

2009-08-03T03:05:00.000-07:00

We're back!!!! Hang on while Mummy tries to find time to upload some of our Perth trip pictures.... (Let's hope she keeps her promise this time because people are still bugging her for our US trip pictures back from Dec 08, which somehow never made it here??!!) We had a grand time, and Mummy wants to migrate there! I'm all for it, as long as you let me feed the kangaroos and stuff. I'd feed ANYTHING now! I love animals!!!!!

View from King's Park, Perth.

Day 5: Caversham Wildlife Park

2009-07-29T02:09:00.000-07:00

We headed for Caversham Wildlife Park bright and early in the morning because Mummy wanted to make the most of our time there. Er.. actually we wanted to head out bright and early, but we got delayed because I was doing my business. So when we got there it was still bright, but not that early...

Anyhow, we really enjoyed ourselves there, and Mummy and Papa strongly encourage any families with young kids to allocate one full day for Caversham and Whiteman Park (where Caversham is located). We spent over two hours in the kangaroo enclosure because we loved getting upclose with the roos, and we also spent 1 hour just gazing at the koalas. P/S: It also helps to go on a weekday, where it is much less crowded.

Mummy raring to go; me grumpy at having been woken up from my hour-long nap.

Koala bear! It was also Mummy and Papa's first encounter with these furry cuties, and they loved them. Papa also commented that koalas reminded him of Stitch.

Me patting a koala. The keeper said you have to pat them with the back of your hand so that you don't hurt them.

This koala almost kissed Mummy! Mummy was wondering why Granny and Ah Gu were shrieking away as Papa took her picture.

Me running around while waiting for the Wombat and Friends show to commence.

Mummy made me touch this scaly thing even though she didn't dare to, because she says I should not inherit her fears, so she makes it a point to let me confront all her worst fears. Huh? Shouldn't she confront them on her own? LOL. Anyway I think this is a bobcat...

Picture op with a joey! Of all places I decided to rub the joey's belly.... well, since I, a human baby, liked having my belly rubbed, I guess she should too!

Feeding a kangaroo in the kangaroo enclosure. It's in the afternoon, so they are all lazing around in the hot afternoon sun.... And didn't show much interest in food...

This donkey looks EXACTLY like Donkey from Shrek, right down to the expression in his goofy eyes.

Hello. My mummy said you're a reindeer. We didn't expect you to be so big in real life. How come your nose isn't red, huh?

Feeding the rabbits. I had to tiptoe and lean over just to feed them.

The llama which looked exactly like the llama llama character in the 'Llama llama' series that I like so much.

Feeding the billy goat. See, I told ya I liked feeding animals! Mummy and Papa says this place is about 10,000 times better than the Singapore zoo because you don't have to pay to feed the animals here. All included in the AUD22 entrance fee.

Saying hello to the camel. Too bad we reached the camel enclosure too late and I couldn't get a camel ride.

Bonus: Video evidence of my over-enthusiasm in feeding kangaroos. LOL.

Day 4 - Toodyay and York

2009-07-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

Today the Sims attack Toodyay and York. on the way, we make a slight detour to a free-range emu farm. Quite an experience as we got to stand upclose to the emus (which by the way are pronounced e-mius rather than e-mus).

The Clairester and Mummy posing next to a nesting emu. This is, incidentally, Daddy, and not Mum. Apparently male emus hatch the eggs and look after the young. And this guy would watch over his eggs, come rain, shine or hail. He basically sits there for the 56 days of incubation and does not move.

Daddy's little preciouses.

Streets of Toodyay, a quaint town which reminds us of old western movies.

At the doorway of Newcastle Gaol. This place once housed WA's most infamous bush ranger, Moondyne Joe.

Sigh. I do not know why the parents find it so fun to torture me. First they try to lock me in a cage, next they pull me up to this thing. Oh well.

View of the Avon Valley from a lookout in Toodyay. View was nice, but nothing compared to what we saw from Mt Brown near York later.

York streets. Unfortunately we reached there late and just about everything was closed.

Someone keeps a llama for a pet! Spotted this as we went past a private residence on the way to the suspension bridge. The llama even has his own pond to wander around. Talk about a good life.

The Clairester and Mummy on the suspension bridge over the Avon River.

Dreamy Avon River view from the bridge.

Stunning view of Avon Valley from Mt Brown, at sunset.

Day 3 - AQWA and relocating to Joondalup

2009-07-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

Exciting day today as in many ways it is the real beginning of our vacation. Today we collect our rental car from Bayswater in the morning, then check in to Joondalup Resort, our home for the next week.

My Ah Gu studies in Edith Cowan University which is situated in Joondalup, so it was just nice that we managed to get cheap and nice accomodation near there!

Day 3 began with breakfast at Miss Maud's again - a full breakfast this time, complete with toast, scrambled eggs, chipolata sausages, grilled tomatoes and bacon.

Trip to AQWA was next. Here I am posing with some colourful fishies.

Trying the binoculars on for size coz I saw Papa using them.

Dinner was at Hog's Breath Cafe in Joondalup, voted best in WA. No pictures as we forgot to bring our camera to the restaurant, but Mummy says the steak was the BESTEST. As for me, I stole bites from Papa's delicious burger.

Day 2 - Rottnest Island

2009-07-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

Our original plan was to go on a one-day Pinnacles Tour; however, first the people over at this booking website missed out on answering Mummy's email queries; then when we finally reached Perth and went to the WA Visitor Centre to enquire, the people there told us that I had to have a baby seat and also pay to go on the tour. So - end of Pinnacles Tour. We decided to go to Rottnest for the day instead, mainly to see quokkas in the wild. Rottnest Island is apparently a favourite holiday destination for WA residents.

Mummy and me on the ferry to Rottnest - we set off around 8.30 in the morning.

Me on Rottnest!

And the elusive quokka - distant relatives of the kangaroo, but really more rat-like than roo-like. And extremely, extremely cute.

Here I am trying to lure the quokka with some plant that we saw them eating; but the quokka was having none of it.

The parents thought it'd be fun to put me in a cage. Well, whatever. I don't really care coz I know they wouldn't leave me there for long.

Me doing my Zoophonics while waiting for lunch to arrive. Robbie Rabbit! - Ain't I cute???

Wow are ALL these for me???

Taking the train up Oliver Hill for the Guns and Tunnels tour. Rottnest was an important defence outpost for the British. The guns were positioned to defend

Fremantle's port.

Day 1 - Perth Mint and Harbourtown shopping

2009-07-25T03:32:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Perth on the night of 24 July...
Mission: to visit Perth and my Ah Gu who is completing the last year of his degree there.
Participants: Granny x 01, Papa x 01, Mummy x 01, the Clairester x 01.
It was not very cold as we walked out of the airport and we were all lulled into thinking that Perth was not so very cold after all. This was, sadly, misguidance, as we all nearly froze to death the next day. Strangely enough, Perth city was very cold, but the environs, including the parks, were actually quite all right. Think the environs got more sunshine? Hmmm.

We stayed in the city for the weekend, at the Rydges Perth, before moving to the rented bungalow at Joondalup Resort, belonging to SAF.

Mummy and me on King's Street, from where we managed to get quite a good pic of the hotel as the background.

Room at the Rydges. Nice and clean, but no view to speak of, as we were accorded a 3rd floor room which directly faced the adjacent building. Oh well, we got the room at a steal (AUD169 a night), so we couldn't complain.

Breakfast at Miss Maud's the first morning - Steak and mushroom pie! Tasted great, but helping was very small.

At the Perth Mint. Papa rates this the 2nd most disappointing visit of our trip. We got to watch gold pouring, which was quite fascinating, but the exhibit itself was really small, and totally not worth the AUD15. And what's more, you weren't allowed to take any pictures inside the building, for security reasons.

Ah Gu suggested we go to Leederville for dinner. We were lucky that there was no queue at Siena's, which served gorgeous pasta at great prices (well, for Perth it was cheap!). The carbonara was FANTASTIC.

Phuket Escapade 30 May - 2 June

2009-06-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

So Papa and Mummy had this bright idea when they went to this talk organized by Marriott Vacation Club, which was how we came to be on a plane to Phuket on 30 May. They took up an offer by MVC for a 4D3N stay at Marriott Mai Khao Beach, for USD499. For a two bedroom suite that sleeps 8, it was a very good deal. After two months of anticipation, we finally got on the plane to Phuket.

The Clairester on the plane (not in a very good mood because the flight was at 8.15am in the morning!)

View of the pathetic swimming pool from our 2-bedroom suite on the 5th floor - yup, that's the ENTIRE pool. Sad right.

Papa and Ah Gong competing to inflate my mushroom float while i enjoyed an afternoon snack.

Grinning evilly at the thought of the two slaves at my disposal (see pic above)

They had a DVD player there. Mummy brought my favourite Hi-5 disc (the one I call Hi-5 xing!) and Elmo VCD along, but she needn't have bothered, because there's PLAYHOUSE DISNEY! Here I am camped out in front of the TV in our bedroom (flat-screen somemore, don't pray pray)

You didn't think I'd go anywhere without Pi, did you? :P

Self-entertaining with crayons and paper while the family relaxed at a massage centre in the middle of Central Festival Market - the biggest shopping mall in Phuket (I think). I've been drawing circles for months now, and I even try to draw faces sometimes (but of course if I didn't explain to you that this was a face you wouldn't be able to tell).

Watching the sunset at the beach (yup, you guessed it - another one of Papa's artistic/journalistic attempts!)

Mummy and me - on the way home... so fast...

Making myself comfy on TR153....

Self-entertainment because we couldn't afford a plane with inflight entertainment system - hiaks hiaks hiaks.

Review of Marriott Mai Khao: Obviously a spillover resort for the JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa (which by the way was way bigger and had a far nicer and bigger pool). Very limited facilities (but the breakfast at the restaurant was good). The room itself was very nice; they had everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) you could think of within the room, including your own washing machine and dryer, ironing board, microwave oven, coffee maker, so many kitchen utensils that we couldn't even recognize some of them. Location was far from ideal however; we had to hire a private driver to take us everywhere because there simply wasn't any other cheaper way to get out.

Much-awaited updates

2009-04-05T06:52:00.000-07:00

Oops, I gotta do this as I backdated some entries... LOL... So please refer...

26 January 2009: The Little Pianist

Meeting up with my friends

2009-03-31T06:36:00.000-07:00

Mummy took leave today so that she could go have a look at my potential new school together with Auntie Jane and Alyssa jie-jie (thank you auntie Jane for making the appt for us, and so sorry that we were late!!!)

After the school visit, we went down to Suntec to meet up with a few mommies together with their princesses. The only thorn among us - Kimi - was in school so that Auntie Tona could have a breather, hahaha. But it was still very enjoyable, and at least now we will play together a little. These mommies are some of my Mummy's closest friends from SMH. Oh, and my triplet sister Charlene was also missing in action (Auntie Sharon fly A380 again!).

Mummy says we should have more of these outings, and I so agree!

Alyssa and me - Mummy likes this pic so much coz she says we are posing like models in this. Papa says Alyssa looks like a big sister.

Alyssa, Rachel, me, Estelle and Desiree. Observe the strange face I'm trying to make. LOL.

Rachel: Claire, are those my marshmallows you are holding?

Claire: Psst, Deszi, I 70, you 30. Onz?

Deszi: Eh, why like that. We call it deal at 60-40 la, want?

Estelle: Hey, what about me??!!

Alyssa: I dunno anything, leave me out of this...

3 pretty maidens in a row...

Back at Kids' Loft

2009-03-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

Mummy and I were overjoyed when we finally received news from Ms Lavina that Kids Loft was back in action. Though they took very good care of us at Playdays, overall we still felt much more at home at Kids Loft. I got practically my whole class back, along with a couple of new friends.

With the bigger outdoor area, we've gotten into doing more 'adventurous' activities this term. We did one round of hand-painting, and today we had a session of feet-painting. The minute the parents saw us sitting prettily all in a row, out came the cameras!

Pretty children all in a row.... Where's Zavier? Busy looking for Krissa, hahahaha!

Putting my feet into the paint. Ms Lavina put paint onto kitchen towels for us to step onto, so that we would not feel that the paint was too "dirty", as kids are bound to do...

Waiting for my snacks and posing for Mummy's camera...

Drinking from the cup. For some reason I would only do this properly in school, and this term I developed a fascination with apple juice and drinking from the cup, so much so that I often leave my snacks half-eaten.

Finally exhausted, I fell asleep at the table halfway through dinner. And of course, the first thing my heartless, amused parents did was to whip out the camera, as usual.

The Bento Craze

2009-03-28T03:56:00.000-07:00

Mummy decided to get onto the Bento Wagon a few weeks ago, after being inspired by what some of my friends' moms were cooking up for my friends.

To her surprise, apart from the her satisfaction from the better-looking lunches she managed to create, she also realised that bento lunches were so much easier to make than the hot one-dish meals she spent so much time doing. And best of all, bento lunches can be eaten warm or cold. Yay, to fuss-free meals!

Anyway this was Mummy's creation for this Saturday's lunch. I always get bento lunch on Saturdays as I have to rush to class. Today's menu: Pooh-shaped egg and cheese sandwiches, accompanied by a helping of Gerber's peach yogurt melts. If anyone is going to the US, please be a kind soul and help me get this, because I love it!!!

Not bad for someone who never did well in home economics and decidedly lacked creativity on the artistic front huh?

My cute bento lunchbox.

I'm Egg-cited (Mummy's memories)

2009-02-19T06:02:00.000-08:00

This evening, as we were sitting in the living room relaxing after dinner, Claire suddenly turned her attention towards the bar counter, where a tray of eggs was lying, and told me, "Claire Claire (yao) kan ji dan." (translation: Claire wants to look at the eggs)

I obliged and carried her up to look at the tray of eggs, but after a while, it got a bit tiring (and boring!) to stare at the tray of eggs. So I put her down again.

To our (my mom and I) surprise, Claire was very persistent and insisted she wanted to look at the tray of eggs again. So my mom brought the tray of eggs down to the coffee table, asked Claire to sit on the sofa and gaze at the eggs from afar.

Which was exactly what she did.

And after a while, Claire came out of her trance, noticed me, and pointed to the seat beside her: "Mummy, kan ji dan!" And I had to sit next to her and pretend to gaze at the eggs too, for a good 10 minutes, before i gave up and got up. Claire immediately pointed to the seat again and told me firmly, "Mummy, kan ji dan!" Poor me, huh? Back to egg-gazing.

Gosh, who knew a tray of eggs could be so fascinating? *yawn*

Online shopping queen

2009-02-10T07:30:00.001-08:00

I've really got to show this off because I'm so happy with it. Dresses "handmade with love" from the USA. Admittedly not cheap, but the unique design and great worksmanship blew me away. I know a lot of people may say that reversible pinafores like these can easily be found in online stores, but believe me, I'm very picky about cutting, and out of so many stores I've looked at only this and one other store sells reversible pinafores with nice cutting. And as you can tell, the Clairester loves it too!

Please ignore the mess behind the Clairester!

I think this is the sweetest smile I've captured of Claire.

Back of dress - the criss-cross look

Laughing away because I asked her to smile for the camera again...

The (Little) Pianist

2009-01-26T06:14:00.000-08:00

Little pianist at work

Here I am doing my best imitation of amazing talented pianist in the making. For the most part I actually play on the keys and not just bang on them. Not only that, but I will sing as I play too. It amuses my mother to no end.

And here's Mummy's first attempt at uploading a video on blogspot... more to come if this is successful. hiaks hiaks. Enjoy...

The Clairester turns 2

2009-01-22T02:33:00.000-08:00

My birthday was a rather sad occasion this year... Mummy originally planned a playdate at Fidgets with Isaiah didi, as well as a visit to a kindergarten she's been eyeing for me to go to next year. Unfortunately the plans were derailed when I began running a high fever on Monday night. By the following evening, the telltale spots were spotted on the soles of my feet and in my mouth - HFMD! Bug ran around in my family because of our big family reunion the week before.

So I was confined at home on my big day, but the good thing was that i got to spend the whole day with Mummy (Mummy originally planned a half-day leave only). Cake plans went unchanged - Mummy still bought me an Elmo cake, which I dipped my finger into very excitedly when I saw it. Papa couldn't be around for the cake-cutting as he had classes to attend, so I cut my cake with Mummy, Granny and Ah Gu.

Mummy let me put on my adorable sunsuit from Teapony (which she wishes she had bought more of, and hopes Auntie Daphne would organize a BP on again).

So. I am now two and counting. I am speaking more now although I'm not very articulate, but Mummy is relieved that I seem to be attempting to speak more. I uttered my first 3-syllable word last week ("Ele...phant!") and am also trying to make sentences in Chinese. I can count to 10, skipping 5-8 in the process (Mummy: I don't care. It means she can still count to 10, just that she likes to fastforward a bit. She says "1, 2, 3, 4, 9,10!" So there!). Not too bad la huh.

Imitating Elmo's sitting position

I'm smiling, but too bad it's in the wrong direction. But Mummy, at least I smiled, right???!!!

Mummy's favourite picture of the lot - Cheeky Claire and Granny dearest.

Blowing out the candles on my birthday cake for the very first time!

Cake-cutting with Mummy

And Mummy's wishes for me in the coming year?

1) That I'll continue to be happy and stay healthy;

2) That I'll learn more about the big big world;

3) That I'll be able to get a place in a good kindergarten.

Birthday treat... a day at the zoo

2009-01-18T07:52:00.000-08:00

For my birthday treat this year, Mummy and Papa thought it'd be nice to spend the day at the zoo (and from hindsight, it is really lucky that they decided to do so, as my actual birthday plans were derailed... *sob* - see next entry for details!) Actually for my birthday treat last year (or rather sort-of birthday treat) we went to the zoo as well, but that time I was really too young and blur to enjoy anything. This time round though, I had a grand time checking out all the animals (and I'm sure they had a nice time checking me out too). We even managed to catch 2 shows! However, one thing Mummy and Papa found quite puzzling was the fact that they found the zoo much less comprehensive than last time. Where did all the animals disappear to???

All in all, we had a wonderful day, and of course, Papa had a field day playing with his Canon S5. Mummy made him take some pictures of us, so in the end 5-10% of the pictures had us in it. But the rest were of animals and flowers (??!! Papa loves to check out the macro function of the cam).

Obligatory animal pic - my favourite enclosure (and Mummy's alltime favourite too!) - the otters!!!

One of those shots that Mummy had to force Papa to take, just to prove that we went to the zoo

My "cute" pose - just gotta figure out how to smile along with this pose...

It figures... that for the one picture that I smile straight at the camera... Papa doesn't use his flash. Grrrr....

Oh, Mummy has a great story to go along with this pic. As we were reviewing the pictures on the computer the night after we came back from the zoo, i saw this picture and I said, "Claire Claire zou lu, Mummy qian shou!" (In Chinese. Translates to - "Claire Claire walk, Mummy hold (her) hand!") It was the very first sentence that Mummy heard me say, and she's so proud of it she's been repeating it to anyone who would listen. Granted it wasn't a very full or even grammatically correct sentence, but it was still progress for me!

Fun at Kids Kampong

2009-01-04T11:38:00.000-08:00

There came one fine Sunday when Papa suggested to Mummy that they took me somewhere non-airconditioned and non-shopping related for once. Mummy pounced at the opportunity and that's how we ended up at Pasir Ris Kids' Kampong, where, for $1 per person (of course babes like me go in free), we get to enter with a small packet of feed. There's longkang and rod fishing available at a much higher price, but as I'm not very adventurous, Mummy and Papa decided against it.

I found the place quite interesting - there was a rabbit station, a tortoise station, a chicken station, a duck station and a geese station, but my favourite of course were the fish in the pond. They were the only things I dared to feed anyway, LOL. We actually managed to stay there longer than Papa and Mummy thought we would.

Verdict: It's definitely worth a visit, but my visits there would be infrequent because we live right on the other side of the island.

Acting cute...

Mummy and the Clairester posing for a photo... hey, I actually came close to smiling!

Feeding the fishies - so much fun!

My Little Ostrich

2008-12-07T05:15:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-05T04:59:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-02T05:50:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-11T05:37:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-10T06:37:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-05T06:14:00.000-08:00

'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 :(

2008-10-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-31T08:15:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-31T02:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

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???

2008-08-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-07-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-07-12T06:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

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....

2008-06-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-14T00:04:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-04-19T23:49:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-04-19T23:34:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-04-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-04-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-06T00:46:00.000-07:00

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!!!!!

I'm Walking

2008-03-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, I'm walking *nod nod*. As of 24 March 2008 evening time, I finally gathered up enough courage to walk on my own, and the timing is something Mummy is very happy about because she kept moaning about her feeling that I would start walking while she was away, but instead I waited patiently till she came back. *pats self on back* Mummy says I am exceedingly lazy about it though, I still prefer crawling as my main mode of travelling from one location to another. Another funny development is, I think at least 6 months too late, I'm beginning to enjoy cruising. Oh well, better late than never right??!!

I also had the opportunity to be the BIG KID in Miss Shauna's class last Tuesday and Sunday. I got to crawl around picking up various things after the rest are done with them, and helping Miss Shauna put them back in the basket. *another little pat on back* Mummy says I've become Miss Shauna's shadow as I like to follow her around in an attempt to grab her attention. And I succeeded because I got to sit on Miss Shauna's lap for the goodbye song on Sunday. *grinz*

Ok, I know, I know, WHERE ARE THE PICTURES??!! Well, Mummy has taken very little pictures of me the past few weeks because.... erm, I guess it's laziness??!! And also I move so fast that it's difficult to take nice pictures of me. And the few pictures that she HAD managed, she hasn't gotten round to uploading them yet. *rolls eyes* But stay tuned, because I'm finally going for my Foto-U photoshoot this weekend (many thanks to my mummy's Crescent family who bought me this package for my birthday!)

In the meantime, my other little achievements the past week:

1) I can now say nai nai when I want to drink milk.

2) I can nod now!!! *nod nod nod* But I still prefer shaking my head. Mummy says it's good because we should always learn how to say no rather than yes *hiaks hiaks*

3) I can follow a bit of instructions at Kindermusik class now. Mummy noticed that I will try for at least one second when Miss Shauna asks us to do something.

4) I love hugging dolls. Oh yes, they are the only things I'm affectionate towards. I have told Mummy that I want a Baby Alive doll. Much to Mummy's surprise, I was very amused by the Wet and Wriggles doll when it started kicking, rather than scared by it. So Mummy says she'll get me one if I remain on reasonably good behaviour.

5) I can cook! Mummy bought me a small masak masak set and now I love to cook and feed whoever is around, complete with the sound effects - "Ah... UM!" I like to share my real food too. It's extremely funny to see Mummy and Papa with their mouths open wide in anticipation. It's even more fun to watch their expressions when I put the food back inside my own mouth. hahahahahahha

It's the little things.... (Mummy's thoughts)

2008-03-16T18:53:00.000-07:00

In the blink of an eye, Claire is going to be 14 months old soon! She is developing so fast at the moment that I find it hard to catch up. Sometimes I just lie back and marvel at the things Claire is doing - it's really a blessing to be able to be by your little one's side, watching her grow up bit by bit.

From 20 - 23 March, I will be leaving her for the first time - short trip to HK with Clairepapa. I have already announced to Clairepapa that I will be buying Disneyland back for Claire, and I have also plotted out my itenerary to include all the baby clothing shops. Wakakakakakkakakakakakakaka.... I have been preparing her for the short time I will be away from her for the past week, and I think this weekend she finally realised it and has been sticky as glue as a result. This morning she even started crying as I left the house to go to work. Although it's distressing to see her miserable, at the same time, as every mother would understand, I can't help but feel a little comforted and happy at the proof that my presence does matter to her.

Little stuff that she's learnt to do over the past week that amazed me:

Talking - She's properly learned mum-mum, mama, papa, see?! (this is so cute, she will hold out something to you and say, "see?". She also knows the Chinese version - "Ni kan!"), this is (another action-accompanied phrase - she will point and ask "this is?"), no more (complete with the hand action again). On and off she's been saying a lot of other stuff. Sometimes when she's in the mood she'll repeat after you when you teach her, like the day she held up a book and we told her "shu" (mandarin for book) and she repeated it perfectly. Then there was that time when she was chattering to us in the lift and we caught: "zha zha zha zha SOMETHING.. zha zha zha zha". I find it quite strange that she seems to revel in saying words or phrases with double syllables.
When she's in the mood, she chatters the house down (I can't find any other word to fit what she says, she really just chatters). Anther strange phenomenon is that she appears to have a Beijingnese accent. Beats me why.

Communication - She can point more decisively now, and when you understand what she wants, she will bounce up and down very excitedly. Sometimes she will even clap her hands. When she doesn't want something, she will shake her head vigorously. She also takes more notice of other babies during class now.
She's also grown very adept recently, at showing her displeasure when something is denied to her. She stares at the person who has unwittingly offended her, and when no notice is taken of her, her mouth slowly crumples and she breaks out in an angry fit of crying.
Oh, and she's learnt how to demand for attention. Sometimes when Clairepapa and I are chatting, she will shout, "Eh, eh, EH!" until I turn my attention towards her.

Hobbies - Reading. Thankfully she's developed a love of books. I've bought her a set of mini lift-the-flap Dr Seuss, which she loves opening. When she first had the books, she'd chuckle everytime she lifts up the flap to find a new picture underneath. At times she will have story-telling sessions, where she holds up the book and starts reading very seriously. I'll try to get a video of her doing it one day. So far though she only likes Dr Seuss. Other books don't interest her half as much. I think she enjoys the rhythmatical verses.

Other achievements -
1) On Saturday morning, I was playing peekaboo with her in the bath. I put the towel down, saying, "PeekaBOO!" And she chuckled and replied, "I SEE YOU!" Wah, I almost fell backwards in my surprise.
2) Sunday morning - Claire climbs over to my bed and pats me on the shoulder. I lifted an eyelid and mumbled hi to her, went back to sleep. The next thing I knew, she patted me on the shoulder again, climbed up to the headboard, retrieved my glasses and gave them to me, indicating that she wanted me to wake up. Could not describe that sweet sweet feeling I had inside, when I realised that her train of thought and her observation powers are so well-developed already that she not only knows my glasses are the first thing I retrieve when I get up, she knows where I put them too!
3) I've been complaining that for a breastfed baby, Claire doesn't seem to look for the breast very much. Most breastfed babies I know are terribly attached to their mummies, but Claire is an angel, she has never done mini embarassments like tugging at my shirt trying to pull it off, or pointing at my boobs frantically. Well, maybe I spoke too soon, or maybe it's because she's realised she's going to have to do without them for a few days, but this weekend she's learned how to demand for her breakfast and supper. She even attempts to help me unbutton my PJs! LOL.
4) Playing with dolls? I have the feeling that that'll be the next step. For the past few bathtimes, she's been grabbing her finger toothbrush and her shampoo bottle, and attempting to brush the teeth of the girl on the bottle. Funny things they learn, huh?

Functions are loads and loads of fun

2008-03-08T07:51:00.000-08:00

Hello world, wonder what I've been up to since my last update? Well, first of all, Papa and Mummy bought a new camera! YEA! So here I am again. *waves* As you can see, my hair has grown a lot thicker again, but where's the length man???!! Mummy is still waiting for the day she can put all those Gymboree clips into action, LOL.

But anyway, 8 March 2008 was Uncle Samuel and Auntie Esther's wedding (congratulations, folks!!!) and we attended both the church wedding in the morning and the dinner in the evening. It was an extremely well-planned and beautiful wedding. I only wish I could have attended Mummy and Papa's (Mummy has explained to me countless times why I couldn't have, but I just don't get it...)

Morning - 10.15am
We arrived on the dot at Calvary Pandan Presbyterian Church. Nice and big and Mummy tells Papa that if we need to attend church we gotta attend this one coz the pews are cushioned *rolls eyes*. Yes, Mummy has her bimbo moments. We sat right next to the door in case we needed to make a quick exit, but I was good as gold and quite content to play with the old aunties sitting behind us.

Taking a nice family portrait while waiting for the bride.

Still waiting for the bride... so Papa and I started fooling around with the camera (LOL).

7pm - Again, we arrived on the dot at Ritz Carlton. Food was surprisingly good and I got to eat some too! Service - excellent. I also enjoyed evoking "awww, soooo cute!!!" sighs from the next table by insisting on practising my walking skills with Mummy's help. Auntie Sabby,Mummy and me!!!

Enjoying my biscuits while my parents tucked into their sumptious dinner. And check out my new buggy durabib - no more messes!!! (at least that works in theory la)

The tale of the camera that byebye-ed

2008-02-25T00:07:00.000-08:00

If you are wondering why you haven't been seeing much of me, it's because Mummy's poor IXUSi finally passed away after 4 years. Poor IXUSi. Rest in peace. Please watch out for more Claire-pics after the IT Fair (neither Mummy nor I know when that is happening though) because that's when my Papa says he'll be buying a new camera. Kekekekekeke...

A Weekend of Firsts

2008-02-18T00:10:00.000-08:00

15 February 2008 - 1st time I knowingly stood without support. Previously I could only do it unconsciously. The minute I realise that I am without support I will squat down. LOL.

16 February 2008 - 1st full shower. Of course on the next day I cried the house down during my shower, but on the 16th I was good as gold. Really!

17 February 2008 - At my Hougang granny's place - went from squatting to standing without support.

And throughout the weekend - walking with support. Mummy says I walked quite a bit. She's very proud of me, but of course she hopes I can do even better, by walking without support by the end of this week! Dream on Mummy! heeheehee

My 12.5months milestones

2008-02-10T16:15:00.000-08:00

These are my current hobbies:

1) Getting my fingers/hands/feet stuck in tiny holes and then crying for help
2) Treating anything and everything like a drum
3) Throwing things down from my cot so that Mummy will pick them up and return to me (and then the cycle repeats itself)
4) Riding my tricycle
5) Playing catching with Mummy or Granny before/after my evening bath when my diapers are OFF (I've realised that they hate it when I dash off to sit on their pillows after they pull my pants off... I wonder why??? ....)
6) "Xia-ing" people - Boy, is this game fun. Works like this - you give me something, and then I will PRETEND that I want to offer it back to you. When you reach out to take it I will PULL IT BACK! Fun right??!!

These are my current inclinations:

1) Waking up from my afternoon nap in tears when I don't see Mummy
2) Staring down people who try to put me in my place
3) Bursting into tears when I'm scolded
4) Pointing at things (But Mummy still can't figure out whether I'm actually pointing with meaning)
5) Patting Papa on his shoulder/arm to get his attention
6) Vocalizing - mummum, mama, papa

These are my new tricks over the past week:

1) Sucking from straw mug (I just picked this up yesterday - YEA!) and then attempting to put the cover back after finishing with the mug
2) Using various objects - basically anything that moves when pushed and is at the right height - as walkers (Mummy is quite hopeful that within this month I will start walking)
3) Picking up Gerber puffs from my snack container (1 at a time) and putting them in my mouth (before this week I mainly threw them on the floor whenever Mummy asks me to pick one up. I only eat them when Mummy puts them in my mouth)
4) Trying to put things in containers (shape sorter - watch out! Here I come!)

These are things that Mummy wants to help me learn/develop over the next couple of months:

1) Building up enough confidence to stand/take first steps alone
2) Learning to play with my shape sorter purposefully
3) Learning to open and close my straw mug so that I can help myself to water whenever I want
4) Trying out egg and chicken (at last!!!!)
5) Eating more textured foods (not so much porridge)

Birthday Treats - Visit to Qian Hu Fish Farm

2008-01-29T07:38:00.000-08:00

22 January 2008 - Why, Mummy had been racking her brain for MONTHS on how to spend this day with me. She briefly toyed with the idea of shaking me awake at 3.30am in the morning and hollering in my face - WELCOME TO THE WORLD!!!! (See, she wants to pay me back for THAT sleepless night exactly 1 year ago).
Then she decided that instead of being so cruel, she should just wake Papa up at 3.30am, and then the 2 of them can gaze at me in wonder. But that idea also came to naught aas Papa had to work the next morning, and would not be too amused at being shaken awake for some "frivolous" activity as this would undoubtedly be termed.
In the end, Mummy decided not to interrupt her beauty sleep either, and so she just snored through that historical moment when I descended upon the world, exactly one year ago.

Originally, Mummy told Granny that she wanted to bring me to the zoo to introduce me to all the animals. However, Granny was worried that, being the scaredy cat I've become recently, I would be scared rather than amused at those big big creatures. In the end, she convinced Mummy that Qian Hu Fish Farm would be a much better choice as colourful fish shut away in their tanks would serve the following purposes:
1) I would be able to observe them at a much closer range that I would the lion in its enclosure, for example.
2) They are much more attractive to me than the boring brown/grey/black/green animals at the zoo (that is, if I even see the animals)
3) More hygenic and less smelly than the zoo
4) The Fish Farm being a much smaller place,would be easier ground to cover.
5) (I think this is the most important reason) Granny and Mummy can satisfy their curiosity about the Fish Spa at last.

Me next to my new crab friends. They are quite cute, as long as they don't come near me.

Looking at the tortoises (terrapins??) in their pond, at the Farm's Eco Garden.

I got to feed the koi too! (Though at first I thought it was food for me, but that's another story..)

Mummy('s feet) enjoying herself at the fish spa. But of course as usual she screamed and giggled and wriggled away 20min of the spa, before finally settling down to put the spa to good use.

Claire is ONE!!! (Part 2)

2008-01-27T00:46:00.000-08:00

Ah.... while I'm fast asleep, Mummy finally found some time to finish uploading my birthday party photos. Heeheehee. Take a look at more snippets which made my day...

My birthday dress! Cost Mummy a bomb, but she thinks it's worth it because it's my special day. Oh, and I rewarded her for her efforts by plucking the big flower out from the pin within the first 10 minutes. Luckily Granny found a while to salvage the situation.

Hi folks, come on in (as long as you tell me my dress is nice. hahaha)

But but.... I dun wanna kiss Cousin Arianne!!! *face crumples* (Mummy's note: I dunno why she had such a miserable expression on her face, but it's priceless, isn't it??!!)

Scrumptious buffet spread from Kim's Kitchen... Mummy and Papa made the right choice! (Papa spent days mulling over the menu. Good work Papa!)

Birthday cake from Pine Garden. Top tier - triple chocolate. Bottom tier - lychee martini. But neither of which I ate. :( Mummy and Papa spent over 50 minutes standing in Pine Garden deciding exactly which design to get for me. (Papa almost killed Mummy there and then)

My cake with the big "1" candle. Gorgeous huh???!!!

Happy birthday to me!!!

Sweet moment from the princess of the day.

Goodbye! Thanks for coming! (And the pressies too!!!)

KO.... Entertaining for a whole evening ain't exactly easy to do! But Mummy and Papa told me that I was a very good girl that night and didn't fuss much. But of course - I'm a little princess after all!

Claire is ONE!!!! (Part 1)

2008-01-21T06:57:00.000-08:00

My birthday party is over! I had a great time, and so did Mummy and Papa. Thank you all the nice aunties and uncles, and cuzzies, who came over to celebrate my special day with me! Here are some pics to share, courtesy of my ah Peh, the official photographer of the day. In this first batch, let me share with you the pains my family went to in order to decorate our place:

This swirling decoration had everyone asking Mummy where she got this, so Mummy considers it money well spent (though it's not that expensive to begin with la).

My personalized banner strategically placed at the lift lobby, to inform my guests that they have reached the correct place. :) I LOVES it!!!

The odd trio greeting guests at the door. Mummy and Papa got Doraemon and Bloody Pooh in Bangkok coz they thought they were cute, but apparently no one else appreciates them. :( Luckily though I do show signs of being as quirky as my parents.

Banner in the house for cake cutting pictures.

And the most important "decoration" piece - ME! Waiting to be giftwrapped and then passed around.

Checklist

2008-01-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

My birthday party is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope to see all the nice aunties and uncles, and of course my wonderful friends and cuzzies. Mummy and Papa have been working frantically to get things ready this week.

1. Cake - booked and to be delivered. (P.S. I hope it's nice!)
2. Buffet - ordered. Hopefully lives up to expectations in both quality and quantity.
3. Party bags - half ready. Half, because Mummy thinks there's going to be more kids than she estimated. So she wants to prepare more bags, just to be kiasu. hahahaha...
4. Venue - our humble abode.
5. Invitations and RSVPs - Yes, all done!
6. Decorations - bought but not put up yet.

I am ONE!!! (according to the lunar calendar, that is)

2008-01-11T07:08:00.000-08:00

Today is my lunar birthday!!! Mummy has been so busy and stressed out at work, she nearly forgot about it. It was only when she and Papa were returning home after ordering my birthday cake today, did she suddenly remember that my lunar birthday must be drawing near. "I think it's today leh," remarked my Papa.

PANIC.

Mummy ran all the way from downstairs to Granny's flat and asked Granny, who CONFIRMED the date. I was supposed to get to eat mee sua with sweet egg, but, remember my egg misadventure months ago? Mummy didn't dare to risk it at night, so she asked Granny to cook some plain mee sua for me, and then we gobbled it up together. I LIKES IT! heeheehee

Can't wait for my actual birthday (and party!!!) coming up in a week's time...

My Wishlist 2

2008-01-10T07:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is part 2 of my wishlist. Counting down to my birthday party on 19 Jan 08 liao... mummy says it is next Saturday, which means it is FAST APPROACHING. Mummy and Papa have been running around pulling their hairs out preparing for my party. heeheehee

1. Leapfrog Fridge Farm Magnetic Animal Set (Mummy is very keen on this!!! - spotted in OG Chinatown)
2. Leapfrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Set
3. Leapfrog Fridge Phonics Lowercase Expansion Pack

4. Leapfrog Word Whammer Fridge Phonics Set (Mummy is very very very very keen on this! Seen in OG Chinatown) 5. No picture. Leapfrog Phonics Bus.

Er.... looks like Mummy always ends up getting very similar stuff for my wishlist hor. heeheehee.

Inspector Clairester

2008-01-04T23:30:00.000-08:00

My lovely twin sista meimei Carys inspected her family's new car sometime ago. Me? Well, my occupation is to inspect Mummy's bags to see what goodies she has in them.

This is my Mummy's new toy - the Coach wristlet which she got direct from the US with a friend's help. At last check it was still not available in Singapore, so Mummy still feels pretty smug about it.

Ready or not, here I come... let's see what's inside.

Oh, something interesting discovered!

Hmmm.... looks in order....

Ok Mummy, looks good! Here's your bag back!

Winning Eleven

2007-12-27T23:23:00.000-08:00

Papa finished his exams at long last, so he can finally blow the dust off his PS2 and get back to his beloved Winning Eleven again. Being the curious little puppy I am, of course I had to explore the game as well. I even got my very own game controller so that I can have great battles with my Papa! YES!

Er... which button controls what action huh?

My Wishlist

2007-12-27T06:45:00.000-08:00

Recently Mummy has been telling me with tears in her eyes that I'll be a big girl soon and I can't keep throwing my baby tantrums and expecting people to give in to me all the time (i.e. Mummy since she's about the only one who lets me bully her so).

Anyway, I finally gathered that I'm going to turn one very very soon (Mummy says in 1 month's time). And apparently some nice aunties and uncles have started asking Mummy what I would like for my first birthday present *blush* So here's my wishlist of some nice-to-haves. Please consider them when you are shopping for me ok. Oh, and if you do get any of the below for me, please tell my mummy so that she can strike them off my wishlist. kekekekekekekeke

CAUTION: Please do not buy me any Barney stuff because A) Mummy is anti-Barney; and B) I am scared of big dark purple things.

In no particular order, here we go:

1. *Fisherprice Little People A to Z Learning Zoo* (Mummy could not resist and decided to get this for me as her birthday present to me, so as to ensure that I get it. It's really so good, you see. heeheehee)

2. Disney Baby Pooh Activity Ride-on (Mummy couldn't find the pic of the Baby Pooh one on the Toys 'r Us website, so she used the pice below instead. But I like the Pooh one. :))

3. Fisher-price Laugh n Learn Musical Chair4. *Playskool Step Start Walk n Ride* (Another nice auntie is getting this for me!!!!)6. Fisher-Price Laugh n Learn Pots & Pans
7. *Playskool Busy Ball Popper* (one nice auntie bought this for me already!!!)

8. Playskool Busy Ball Choo Choo

9. *Fisherprice Ready Steady Rider* (Another nice auntie got this for me already!!!)

10. Fisherprice Musical Magnetic Easel

10. Any Fisherprice Little People products

11. Fisherprice Folding Kitchen Playset (One nice auntie getting me a Fisherprice kitchen playset!!! YES!!!)

12.Studio package from Funshotz (My mummy's gang is getting me a nice studio package!!! YES!!!)

13. Gymboree E-gift Vouchers because Mummy and I can never get enough of Gymboree clothes

My birthday party invitation will be rolled out very very soon, once Mummy and Papa have finalized the details. So exciting! In the meantime, please keep 19 Jan 08 dinnertime free for me as that is the confirmed date. :)

My First Photoshoot

2007-12-15T00:12:00.000-08:00

Mummt brought me for a photoshoot at B-scene Studios. Why is there only 1 pic? Er, because Mummy took up the package offer with Heinz which offers only 1 pic, and she says the pics are too expensive for her to buy another pic, though she really liked about 10 of them. :(

I enjoyed my photoshoot a lot. Now I'm thinking seriously about becoming a model. My papa is also seriously considering sending me to a modelling agency, ever since he read that Sunday Lifestyle report about how much child models can earn. *rolls eyes*

Anyone wants to buy me a studio package for my birthday? Heeheehee

Sweet, happy and innocent little angel

2007-12-13T17:55:00.000-08:00

Today Mummy is invading my space to complete her tag by Auntie Brenda.

I've been tagged by my cousin-in-law, her name is Brenda. Initially I didn't talk to Brenda much when I first knew hubby as we did not see her very often, but then we popped within months of each other, I'm in more regular contact with her (or maybe with her blog... hey, I'm a fan, ok!). Guess now we have much more in common. I'm always very inspired when I read about the wonderful dishes that Brenda and Tona cook for their babes. I try my best when I have the time.

5 Things I'm tagged for:

A. Found in my Room

: 20-inch LCD panel TV. Wow, when we first got this, it seemed so classy and luxurious. We specially built a hole in the wall to accomodate this... and guess what? Now we can get a 37-inch LCD panel for less than what we paid for this! Grrr... but still it has served us well so far. :)

: Mini wall-display of collage of wedding photos in b&w. This was Ah Heng's wedding gift to me. It was inspired by what we saw at our bridal studio. He spent days picking the photos to display and then deciding which photo goes where, then buying, sawing and spraying the wooden frame. kekekekekeke

: Queen-sized bed. At the time (and for the limited bedroom space we have) we thought this was sufficient. But now with Claire around I wish we'd gotten a king-sized bed instead.

: Claire's cot. This was a hand-me-down from my closest cousin. My nephew and niece used this before her. It's in great condition, considering that it's nearly 10 years old. Hope it'll last Claire till she's 2 at least. It's parked right next to my side of the bed, so that I can reach her within seconds when she needs me at night.

: Claire's toy box (Disney pop-up toy storage bin). It's an idea from my mom. Great economical way of keeping her toys out of the way, and it's light and portable too.

B. I have always wanted to

..live in France. Erm, kinda out of the question now, but hey, I have Claire, and that's enough. :)

..travel round the world. Erm, maybe when I retire???

..Be a mother. Yup, achieved. heehee.

..Go back to school. Shelved for the present, but we'll get talking again in 2-3 years' time. I definitely wanna go back for my Master's sometime in the future.

..Become trilingual. Target? Need you ask? French of course! But again, shelved for the present.

C. Found in my Bag(Er, can I use my work bag? I don't have other bags to speak of if you're not talking about diaper bags. LOL)

: My trusty BeMine, which I happen to be using as a wallet at present - so much more convenient.

: My BeQuick, which also contains my actual wallet, my thumb drive, and card holder (for the cards which can't fit into my wallet)

: Gymboree invoices - from the last round of Gym I ordered for my kakis back in Oct. What's it still doing in my bag? Er, I seldom pack my bag, so.... *face red red*

: My IB token - gosh, I cannot do without this. Without my IB token, there would be no Sherl - official spree/BP queen (or rather, queen-in-waiting, as I think Dawn and Sharon still win if we were to go into competition. *SCRAM*)

: Makeup pouch - self-explanatory. I don't put on makeup when I'm at home (before going to work) coz 1) I have no time; and 2) I'm worried that Claire will be sensitive to it, since I have to carry her around.

D. Found in my Wallet(er... using my BeMine for this since it effectively functions as my wallet)

: Cash - adequate, for once.

: POSB Atm Card and 2 credit cards - UOB ladies and Robinsons Visa.

: ID Card (for when I wanna drop by the library)

: Car key - I get the car both last week and this week as hubby is indisposed at the moment. kekekekekeke. I am also the designated weekend driver as I love driving and hubby hates it.

: Handphone - yeah man, my handphone fits in here!!!

E. I am currently into

..looking for good nutritious food/recipes for Claire. I believe good feeding habits are key to a lot of stuff in future, and I wanna give Claire the right and best start!

..reading baby blogs. There's something very special about a baby blog - it's really heartwarming to see babies grow up day by day, and when you know them in real life, it makes it even sweeter.

..online shopping. I am a HUGE Gymboree fan, GAP to a lesser extent. Oh, and I love vintage stuff too. And then there's my favourite JJB for myself. HELPPPPPPPP!!!!!!

..reading about baby's development, both intellectual and physical. And I'm trying hard not to be pressured into doing stuff like Shichida, for eg. It's really tough in a competitive society like Singapore's.

..researching on birthday cakes for Claire's upcoming birthday party. Initially decided on Prima Deli, but then... oh well. On with the next one! Do leave me a message if you know anywhere that produces good and also nice-looking cakes. :)

5 Candidates to Tag (all great moms!) :

Dawn
Sharon
Michelle
Lawpei
Charmaine

Dim Sum Dolly

2007-12-13T03:17:00.000-08:00

Mummy did this collage of me the other day. I'm very thrilled with my walker actually, I like to hold it for support while standing, but I don't really dare to push it as it actually moves and my feet still can't catch up with it! Don't I look like I'm pushing a dim sum cart along? Yes, sir? What do you want? har gow? Siew mai? Fun cheong?

P/S: From my mummy - Oh dear, Claire is growing growing growing... My little baby is going to be 1 soon... such a heartwarming but yet bittersweet feeling. Still remember the days when she'll be rumbling in my tummy...

This is the way I brush my teeth

2007-11-13T06:26:00.000-08:00

Mummy spent month after month worrying as I retained my toothless grin for 8 whole months... and then suddenly, at the end of September, there they were - my first two teeth! And the next two sprouted within the next month! And now, there's another on the way, next to my top left middle tooth!

Now i sport a toothy grin. =)

Yeps, I have a grand total of 5 teeth now, and I love brushing my teeth... so much so that after Mummy is done and has put the toothbrush down, I pick it up and put it right back in my mouth again. YEA!

Oops! *shy*

Hmmm.. don't bother me... future dentist at work. And my most important task is to take good care of my own teeth!

Recalling the botak days....

2007-11-11T07:13:00.000-08:00

Mummy's feeling nostalgic... so she went digging through the folders for old pictures of me and decided to do a comparison. Betcha've forgotten I was as bald as a monk once eh? After my haircut (*sob*) at the full month, my hair hardly grew, till Granny shaved my head again at 4 months. At that time Mummy was hysterical when she noticed that I suddenly had NO hair again, but it all turned out for the best. Now I'm so proud of my hair *beams* Ok, anyway, a short trip down memory lane:

1st March 2007

Totally hairless Claire (notice the absence of eyebrows? LOL.) looking as boyish as can be, with the HELLO WORLD! expression

13 October 2007

Hairful Claire (notice even the eyebrows are back, much to Mummy's relief?) with the same boyish and HELLO WORLD! expression (some things never change)

Visiting Isaiah Baby

2007-11-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

Mummy and I went out gallivanting again... Woo hoo!!! Last Friday Mummy started driving again, and of course Daddy was only too happy to let Mummy drive since he HATES driving... as a result Mummy now gets to bring me out while Daddy slogs it out at NUS (good luck for your exams Pa!). So far I've tried to be good and let Mummy concentrate on her driving, LOL. Anyway, we just paid a visit to Isaiah baby all by ourselves. Yea!

Isaiah has GROWN since we last saw him. I think we are almost the same size now. And he has sooooo many cute toys for me to explore! I was particularly fascinated with this funny bear which can talk. hmmm... Daddy, Christmas present? LOL. Oh, and his grandparents thought I was cute too (hey, so are you two! kekekekekeke)....

Isaiah and I exploring another of his new toys. We managed to tear part of the plastic packaging off! But too bad, batteries have died, so we couldn't play with it...

Zonked out after playing....

Zzzz Monster hits Claire-monster and Isaiah-monster

I love Kindermusik

2007-11-06T20:13:00.001-08:00

I started class at Kindermusik on 23 Sep... My mummy and Auntie Serene cajoled and advertised and finally managed to get enough babies to form a class! Yay!

Daddy says Mummy enjoys the class more than me (which Mummy says is probably true) but the key thing is that Mummy feels I will benefit through the class and she really enjoys having this 45min 'alone' playtime with me every week. Though she sometimes grumbles about how she has to carry me and dance all over the place, I know secretly she loves doing it and won't give up the task to anyone else. heehee.

And have I benefitted from the class? Well, Mummy feels I have learnt to enjoy music much much more and she's convinced that seeing all my kakis crawling around during class spurred me on to crawl three weeks after class first started. Maybe, because I hate being left behind! It was quite boring to sit and watch everyone crawling around, so I decided to join in the fun!

Verdict: We likes it! We wants more! So we have signed up for another semester! YES!

Dear everyone, let me introduce you to the place where I have been spending all my Sunday mornings: Kindermusik @ Tanglin Mall!

3 blur babies waiting for class to start.

Mummy and me enjoying our Kindermusik session. In the past 7 weeks, I have learnt how to - clap my hands, wave, crawl... and I've also discovered that drums are my best friend! Mummy is still waiting for me to develop a sense of rhythm, unfortunately. Aiya Mummy, patience, patience!

So come and join me! It'll be fun! See you there! Bye!

About Diaper Bags and All....

2007-11-06T16:23:00.000-08:00

After months of experimenting and dating several brands of diaper bags, Mummy has finally decided to settle down with what she considers THE ultimate diaper bag brand - JUJUBE. Not without protests from Daddy of course - who still grumbles whenever he sees THE bag. But Mummy's in love and hey, so am I! I love the colours, and I think it makes my Mummy look sooooo fashionable. Hahaha!

Me and Mummy's BeSmall and BeQuick. After this pic was taken, my Mummy also added the BeMine to her collection. I like that one too.

Of Odds and Ends

2007-10-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

Hi folks! Wondering what I've been doing?

Well, unfortunately our modem at home has crashed, so Mummy has not been able to update my blog for me at home for the past 2 weeks. Secondly, Mummy has also been tied up at work, so she's got no time to upload photos at work either.

In the meantime, I've been busy terrorizing everyone by crawling (yes, I can finally crawl forward!) and this week I've started first coming to a sitting position from a lying down position, then pulling myself up with the help of my bed rail, the cupboard... er, basically everything and anything I can get my hands on.

This week I've also been torturing Mummy by waking up in the middle of the night to climb all over her. She says I'm testing her patience because when I do that (i) it hurts; and (ii) her beauty sleep gets disturbed. But do you really think I care? hahahahahaha... I think on some level she must be secretly amused by my various naughty acts.

OK, now Mummy is off to work again. She says maybe this weekend she'll try out some of Auntie Tona's DELICIOUS recipes on me. Yea!

Lazy Saturday Afternoon

2007-10-06T08:26:00.000-07:00

This was taken on Mummy's handphone a few weeks ago, and she finally had the time to touch it up and make it into a sort of mini comic. To defend myself, I'm not trying to be difficult, but Mummy can be so SLOW when it comes to fixing up my meals sometimes. It takes effort to be a patient baby, and you know what they say about hungry babies, eh? Naturally, being nice was the last thing on my mind at the time.

Kindermusik Class!!!

2007-10-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

In case you have been wondering what I've been up to... Well, I'm now officially a school-going baby, because Mummy has started sending me to Kindermusik for weekly lessons. Mummy says I love parts and parts of it, but to be honest she also thinks she likes it more than me, because she says she's learned many many more ways to interact with me and play with me. Now she always sings me songs from the Feathers CD all the time. We both have our favourites. Even Daddy also sang me a Kindermusik song the other night.

Thanks to CarysDad and CarysMum, Mummy has the following nice nice pictures from Kindermusik to place here. Mummy says this week she wants to make Daddy stay to take photos of us. Alternatively, the naughty method is to sit next to Carys every week so that we can get many many photos taken by CarysDad, who is a GREAT photographer. Kekekekekkekekekeke

Part of my class. Can you spot me??? Oh, and on my left is my *blush* boyfriend, Kimi!

Carys and I. Mummy says Carys is like my twin sister meimei, because we were born on the same day in the same hospital!

Recruit Sim

2007-09-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

The time came when I was finally old enough to head off to perform my national service. So one fine day I went off into the great unknown with my silly Ah Gu.

Mummy, I will miss you!!! What's going to happen to me??!! *trembling lips...* BWAAAHHHHH!!!!

Recruit Sim, this is your battle gear. Make sure you don't lose anything.

Hmmm... I think they said this is my new milk bottle from now on. I wonder if it'll contain some of my special milk??

Even baby recruits have to keep up with physical demands! Luckily I'm a strong girl!

101, 102, 103..... This is a breeze man!!!

Today is my bookout day, hurrah, hurrah.... Yay! Mummy, I'm coming home!

So, who do I look like, again?

2007-09-16T01:15:00.000-07:00

Hahahaha... Mummy is so happy to see this result. I think she's obsessed with the idea that I look like her. LOL. It's a fun exercise though.

Of Hats and Hairclips...

2007-09-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

Recently, the whole of SMH January Mommies went a little crazy over headgear, my mummy included. So, I ended up being a Gymboree model again. Oh, and Mummy has this thing about doggies... whenever she sees something with a doggie on it, she can't resist and soon, yours truly will have this doggie thing, whatever it is. So don't be surprised when you see me decked out in doggie wear from head to toe - Mummy designed it to be that way!

Sigh. Mummy, are you wearing this correctly for me? How come I look like a baker boy instead huh?

Do I look like I'm trying to smile? Er, actually I'm screaming at Mummy to take this off. Mummy, Auntie Icy, Auntie Mildy and Auntie Melody bought this for all four of us (me, Rachel, Charlene and Shayna) after seeing Ah Des in this (Auntie Dawn is a bad influence! hahahaha)

In addition, the other day, Mummy found this adorable clip while shopping in Raffles Place the other day. She thought my hair might finally be long enough, so she decided to just buy and try. And... TA-DAH! It fits! I think Ah Des and Charlene should look nice in it too. *Mummy grabs Claire and runs to hide under table* Hello world! Mummy says no one could possibly mistake me for a boy now. Hahaha..

All dressed up and ready to go out... If you're wondering why Mummy didn't pose a picture of me looking at the camera, it's because I REFUSED to pose, after having already posed so much earlier on. So in the end Mummy had no choice. Hiaks.

Announcement: I have a tooth!

2007-09-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

I've officially cut my first tooth on 2 Sept 2007!!! My center left bottom tooth has finally made its appearance, making my Mummy a little teary coz she realised that I'm growing faster and faster each day.

Oh, and Daddy's just taught Mummy how to download pictures from her handphone to the PC, so now I'll have even more pictures to show you guys here! Yea!

Anyway, when I was around 5 months old, my Ah Gu bought me some Heinz's teething rusks, but due to my allergies, Mummy has delayed letting me try them (they contain wheat flour, you see). Now that I'm 7 1/2 months old, and have a tooth, Mummy thinks I can try a bit. Verdict? I likes it! I likes it! Iiiiiiii LIKES it!

Hmmmm... yum yum. My first teething rusk. Cool!

New Fitness Routine

2007-09-02T01:38:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Here's my contribution to the gym fad - my very own home fitness routine! It all started when Mummy laughed at me for being too fat (boo hoo hoo!!!)... so I decided to do a little exercise to try to slim down. Hopefully I will soon be as slim and chio as my chio chio cousin Arianne jiejie (who by the way turns 1 on Tuesday - happy birthday cousin!) or my chio chio friend Ah Des (who now has her very own blog and her very own cute gorgor - Ah Des, can you give me your gorgor? I want! hahahahaha).... Ok, so now we move on to the topic of the day - a 'live' demo of Claire's fitness routine.

Ready? Ok, first lie tummy down on the bed.

Use your feet to push the ground so that your butt goes skyhigh! Oh, and push the ground with your hands too!

And now, lower your knees to the ground!

Stay in this position for 3 seconds.

AH-TISH-SHOO... And all fall down! Well done!!! You are now a wee bit slimmer!

P/S: Mummy hopes this is a prelude to me learning how to crawl. By the way, right now I can only stay in position, I can't move. hahahahhahaha

Fisher-price Learning Table!!!

2007-08-24T23:32:00.000-07:00

Mummy has been eyeing this toy for the past 2 weeks... since one of Mummy's friends from SMH talked about it. She took one look at it at Robinson's on Wednesday during lunchtime, and promptly fell in love, hahaha. So on Thursday evening she dragged Papa to Taka to get it for me! Mummy hopes that I will be able to practise and improve on my motor skills with this new toy, as she thinks I'm developing a little slower compared to other babies my age (Aiya, Kimi, why you spoil market? Wakakkakakakkakakaka). This table has soooooo many different types of activities for me to do, and it plays sooooo many nice sounds and songs also. I LOVE IT!

Caught in the act exploring my new toy toy!

Close up of the toy for my friends who are interested

Flashing lights! Music! Many different types of activities! What more could a babe ask for?

Adventures at Rasa Sentosa Resort

2007-08-18T22:50:00.000-07:00

Hello, welcome to a day in the life of Claire.

Here I am relaxing on the balcony of our room. Cool huh. I can pretend that I'm in Bintan (looks about the same when I look out, anyhow.)

Me and Mummy enjoying picture-taking.

Daddy has this thing about changing into a bathrobe the minute he steps into a hotel room. We have no idea why.

Adventures in Sentosa

2007-08-18T22:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Mummy declared that she was sick and tired of staying on mainland Singapore so we went overseas for a night. Yup, you guessed it - Rasa Sentosa Resort Singapore!

Let me tell you about the trip. Here's me in my new Gymboree one-piece which Mummy loves.

Toothless grin...

The first time my feet touched sand...

Oooo... At the beach with Mummy and Daddy

Green Pea Puree with rice cereal

2007-08-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

This is one of my weekend lunches. Ok, so it doesn't look like the most appetizing thing in the world, but it sure tastes good, and it's prepared with lots of love from my mummy, so what more could I ask for? Mummy tastes every puree and even the cereal I eat to make sure that she's not making me eat horrid stuff. The only thing which I eat which she so far hasn't been able to bring herself to taste is frozen breastmilk - she's amazed that I didn't reject drinking it as it's got such a strong metallic smell (which she has been told is normal). But well, I know it's all my mummy's hard work, and consists of all the goodness my mummy wants to pass to me!

For those interested in my food progress, so far, I've eaten: vegetables - carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato, potato, green peas; fruits - apple, pear, avocado, durian (just a taste); cereal - Heinz baby rice and brown rice with si sen from some medical hall. I have also eaten egg yolk which caused my infamous food allergy attack. Haiz.

Potty Training

2007-08-14T07:21:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned that I have my very own potty now? It all started when I refused to poo during the weekends... or actually I should just say, I REFUSE to poo during the weekends. Anyway, Mummy gets very worried whenever I do that, though Granny constantly assures her that I have NO problem whatsoever with pooing during weekdays. So Daddy came up with the bright idea that since I usually use a potty at Granny's house, I may poo if they buy me a potty to use at home. Since acquiring the potty about 1 month ago, Mummy has been dutifully shee-sheeing and ng-nging me every Saturday and Sunday morning, but so far she has only been rewarded with one pool of pee. Which goes to show one thing: Don't force the Clairester to do things she doesn't like! *evil snicker*

Daddy, why are you taking a picture of this too??? *shy*

Holding court on my throne

My ABC Adventure

2007-08-03T22:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, Mummy did something cute for me, but try as she might she couldn't upload it onto my blog. So she's leaving the URL here first while she figures out how to do it. *rolls eyes* In the meantime, if you have the time, just click on the link below to see me starring in my first music video, ok??!!

http://www.myabcadventure.com/index.htm?movieid=CCE0DA6F-A022-4F7C-88D9-52A041638D23

Daddy's Little Princess

2007-07-27T23:13:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to my joker of a Daddy (hey Daddy, this is a compliment, ok??!!). My Daddy also enjoys taking strange pictures of me, or with me also. One of those rare moments.

Daddy trying to be funny and imitating my blur expression. Look like me meh? That's what he thinks la.

Daddy: This is Claire's surprised expression. Oooh!

Claire: *Ahbish* (see my fist from behind? Fed up already la. hahahaha)

Officially Half A Year Old

2007-07-27T23:05:00.001-07:00

Hello world! I celebrated my half-year birthday by developing an allergic reaction to egg yolks and gave Mummy and Daddy the shock of their lives, but luckily I am none the worse for it now (in fact Mummy and Daddy secretly think that my skin suddenly looks nicer for some unfathomable reason). I was quite grumpy for a couple of days now, but rest assured that I am now back to my usual cheerful self. Yay!

Some time before I descended upon the world to terrorize Mummy and Daddy, Mummy bought me this adorable dino suit which you see in Mummy's montage below. She intended to let me wear it when I start crawling because she says it'd be such a cute sight *rolls eyes*. But haha, I still have not mastered crawling, and Mummy can't wait anymore, so she decided to just pretend that I can crawl and let me take pictures in the suit *rolls eyes even more*. (Oh, by the way, Mummy, I'd just like to tell you that.... six months on, your montage skills are still at the same level!!!! Why is that so??? *points finger and sniggers*)

Tell me I look cute, because Mummy (and I) will not accept any other comment. We live in a happy self-created world of denial. hiaks hiaks hiaks.

Wo shi CUTE de lor

2007-07-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

I went for a visit to Auntie Brenda's last week, where I met my chio-bu cousin Arianne jiejie. Auntie Brenda took some lovely pictures of me (nicer than the ones Mummy and Daddy took lor). Mummy, you must learn some of Auntie Brenda's photography skills ok? Anyway, these are Auntie Brenda's efforts...

Hmmm, yes? You want me to smile?

Aiyah.... trying to act innocent

Ok la... Hint of a smile... Wo shi CUTE de lor!

Ooo... artwork.... kekekekekke... Mummy how come you dunnoe how to do things like this? Must learn ok!!!!

While Mummy was at work....

2007-07-16T05:23:00.000-07:00

See what my silly Ah Gu (my uncle aka Mummy's brother) made me do while Mummy was at work today. Mummy wonders why she can never take such funny pictures of me (erm, Mummy, maybe that's because you have NO imagination??) These are the stuff that my babyhood is made of. Heh heh heh.

Hello, waiting to get my autograph?

Hmmm, I seem to recall that I'm a doggie, not a seal, but oh well...

Mummy's Girl

2007-07-13T02:38:00.000-07:00

Mummy got a pleasant surprise today. Ok, you see, there has always been a hot debate over who I resemble. Well, it's true that when I was born I was the splitting image of Daddy, but since then, I have somehow morphed into unknown person (hahahaha).

So today when Mummy was on childcare leave, she dug out her baby photo album to have a look, and she was so jubilant after that (Mummy: "Of course I am, Claire. I have always hoped to have a Mini-me if I couldn't have a Mini Cooper, and now I do!" Claire: *rolls eyes*)

Check out the results of Mummy's research!

Hey, that's me, not Mummy! Or is it Mummy? *blur*

Mummy's night out

2007-07-08T03:10:00.001-07:00

Mummy is going to attend her friend's wedding dinner tonight and leaving me home alone with Daddy. But Daddy has placed a STOP order on Grandma so that he will not be totally helpless if the need arises, kekekekekekeke.... Mummy also couldn't bear to leave me at home but she says we must learn to live without each other sometimes too... (actually, Mummy probably misses me more than I miss her, hahahahhaha) Mummy has reassured me that she'll be back later tonight and that she has left a bottle of my special milk in the fridge. Hopefully Daddy will know how to heat it up. I'm a little nervous.... Mummy, come home soon!!!!

Mummy: Claire, look at the camera and smile! We haven't taken a nice picture together yet!

Claire: Huh? Camera? What's that? Is that the funny thing that's blocking Daddy's face??

Mummy: *grrrr*

My new toy toy

2007-07-08T03:04:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! Recently Mummy bought me 2 beach balls. I took a bit of time to figure out how I'm supposed to play with it, but hey, everyone needs some time to learn, right? Daddy wonders if I can be the next Mia Hamm or something, but for now I'm just happy heading it or chasing it around on Mummy and Daddy's bed. Fun!

Here ballie ballie ballie....

Hmmm.... let's see what it can do....

My first semi-solid meal

2007-06-24T05:45:00.000-07:00

Yea! Today Mummy decided that it's finally the right time to start me off on rice cereal. The cereal has actually been sitting on the top shelf of our kitchen cabinet for three weeks already.

Mummy was worried that I won't take to the rice cereal well, so she made me only 1 teaspoon and made it very very watery, but to her surprise, I took to it like a duck to water. In fact, I wanted MORE (see, that accounts for my chubby physique!) but Mummy says it's enough for one day, she's gotta see how I poo first. Heheheh.

So tomorrow Mummy is going to ask Granny to make my cereal slightly thicker, and then during the week Granny is probably going to give me some cooked apple. :) *happy* Mummy says she'll make some carrot puree for me this weekend. Yay!

Apprehensive Claire waiting for her cereal...

So this is what most of my Jan friends are taking, and I've been missing out on. Hmmm.....

Say "Ahhhhhh......"

We likes it! MORE! MORE! MORRREEEEE!!!!

Shrekie Claire

2007-06-24T05:39:00.001-07:00

Mummy joined my Jan friends' mummies in going Shrek-crazy lately.... She's been taking series and series of Shrek photos of me in the hope that I'd smile in at least ONE of them so that she can send it off to Auntie Ginsengmum, who's compiling the Shrekie photos for my Jan friends, but of course, no such luck, ahahahahahahaha...

Anyway, here's a couple of her efforts when Daddy was around...

La-da-di-da....

Aiya, forget it. Take picture of Shrekie Daddy smiling instead... confirm 100% success!

Spot the Clairester

2007-06-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

Today, Mummy was digging in Daddy's picture folders to see what new pictures of me she could post, when she came across a folder of pictures taken during their last pre-Claire trip. Mummy told me that this was my first documented overseas trip, hahahahhahahaha. And it just so happened to be a cruise as well (although it was on a cheapo cruise as Star Cruise would not accept Mummy and me on the ship - grrrr, long story). Anyway, at that time I was 24 weeks old in Mummy's tummy, on a 2-day cruise to nowhere. Mummy says I was seasick throughout the trip coz I didn't move much and she was quite worried for me, but the minute we touched shore I became active again. Luckily on my recent Star Cruise trip I had no such problems (though I got terribly homesick by the 2nd night).

See if you can spot me in the following pictures, kekekekekekeke. (By the way, Mummy's latest nickname for me is 'Clairester', which Daddy doesn't like much, but I think it's ok!)

Mummy and me on the top deck. (Wah, Mummy was so fat when she was having me!)

See, there's me again! Dun ask me why Mummy had that look on her face.... I also dunnoe. Was I torturing her? hahahahahahaha

Claire Babylegs

2007-06-19T05:19:00.000-07:00

Mummy came home this evening with new stuff for me (again). But I rather like them, and so does Granny, who thinks they'll come into use when I start crawling. So verdict: good buy, good buy!

Me in my multi 06 Babylegs!!!! (PS: Mummy also got them in stripe pink and polkadot blue for me.)

So Exciting!!!

2007-06-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

Oh, Saturday was a very exciting day. I met many many new friends! But silly Mummy forgot the camera, so now she has to wait for other kind souls to donate photos documenting my Saturday adventures. In the meantime, let me tell you all about it first.

At 11am, I set out with Mummy and Daddy to Mt Alvernia Hospital, to visit my little uncle (the family's newest arrival). Mummy says even though he is younger than me, I gotta call him "shushu" because he is actually Daddy's youngest cousin. While Mummy and Daddy gushed over shushu, I was really more interested in playing with my lao kim (shushu's mummy) and lao kim's friend... Kekekekekeke... Mummy says I'm jealous of new babies, but Mummy, it's just that new babies cannot really play with me mah. They're so boring, just lie in their cots and sleep sleep sleep all day. Haiz. Oh, and Mummy also told me that I was born in Mt Alvernia. We didn't get to go and see whether I first descended upon the world (Mummy says cannot anyhow enter delivery suite) but I did get to see the nursery which was home to me for the first three days of my life (not that I remember much...).

Then, on the way home from hospital, Daddy suggested that Mummy and I go and visit Auntie Crystal and Baby Isaiah today instead of tomorrow, which was Mummy's original plan. Mummy was only too happy to agree, so off we went! Mummy says Isaiah and I are going to play together next time, but hor, I'm not very interested also, because Isaiah also seems to do nothing but sleep! Auntie Crystal took a picture of me and Isaiah side by side (though Mummy didn't dare to put me too close to Isaiah coz she says I got roaming hands, worried that I'll disturb him). Mummy says last time I was only as small as Isaiah, but she finds it very amazing that I'm the giant I am now. Grrrrr.... Halfway through our visit, Isaiah got hungry, and then Uncle SF came out with a milk bottle for Isaiah. Everyone laughed when they saw the woeful look on my face as the bottle went to Isaiah instead. I don't understand - at home, bottles belong to me, me, ME! How come other babies also got bottle leh? Then Mummy told me the milk bottle contains milk for Isaiah, but I drink special milk that's meant for me only. Hmmm... only slightly placated.

Then I went home to attend the family barbeque, and Auntie Pook and Uncle Korn dropped in! And Auntie Pook bought me a little gift which I liked sooooo much, I almost decided right there and then to go back to Thailand with her! Needless to say, Mummy was a little miffed that my loyalties shifted so quickly. But hor Mummy, when it comes to bedtime, I decided that I still want only Mummy by my side! Mummy is still my favourite person in the whole wide world! So Mummy, don't be angry at me anymore ok. *pat pat* kekekekekekeke... See who's jealous now! hahahhahaha

Ok, will try to update next time with pictures...

My first holiday!!!

2007-06-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

This is my first time going on a holiday, so exciting.....!

Sleeping on the balcony is sooooo comfortable!

My swimming costume!

Jie jie's goggle (its too big on me, isn't it obvious?)

Our family photo!

Sitting on a sofa at 'Galaxy of the stars'

(The place you people play Bingo!)

My travel 'ducky' bath tub (courtesy of Aunty Jeya)

I'm 4 months old liao!!!

2007-06-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

Aiyo.... What you all trying to do?

Argh.... Ok la ok la, take a snappy snap, please.

This photo was taken on the day I was exactly 4 months old. Dunno why there's this funny theory about rubbing a drumstick on baby's lips when they're 4 months old... How would you people feel if I rub something on your lips and NOT let you have it? I don't exactly enjoy it (you can tell straight from the first photo) but anyway, its something new so give daddy and mummy some face and pose nicely (thou reluctantly) for a second shot...

For the benefit of those who don't understand about this drumstick-rub-baby-lips thingy, according to one of my 'lao yi', it symbolises the opening ceremony of meat eating (or something like that la).

My passport photo

2007-06-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

Due to popular demand (or rather there's too many complaints that my blog is outdated), daddy and mummy finally managed to squeeze out sometime to update my blog:

In this episode, my passport photo making process is featured. Think its quite a tedious process cos both daddy and mummy tried taking at least 40 photos before they are satisfied (and I'm exhausted from their torturings spread over a few days...)

My xie zhen ji

2007-04-30T22:14:00.000-07:00

Today is Labour Day. Daddy says if I were born on this day then it'd be more appropriate, but I don't understand why leh. Why hah??? Anyway, what is most important is that today is a public holiday, so Mummy and Daddy can be with me the whole day!!!!! And what do they do when they are free? Take pictures of course!
Mummy and Daddy were applying calendula cream on me when Daddy decided to flip me on my tummy so that it's easier to apply the cream on my back, and then Mummy had this bright idea to take my xie zhen ji!!! *blush* Mummy and Daddy say that every baby must have this kind of photo... really meh?

Tummy time!

2007-04-10T01:51:00.000-07:00

I now do my tummy exercises for a few minutes a day - when Mummy remembers to make me! And today for the 1st time I held my head up straight for about 2-3 minutes, enough time for Mummy to play with me, go get a camera to capture this historic moment (HISTORIC? Mummy, you exaggerate la), and after that, play with me some more.

My classic "HELLO world!" pose.

See how high I lifted my head!!!

Mummy: "Look at the camera, darling! Smile!"

Claire: *grrrr* It's hard enough holding my head up for so long. You still expect me to SMILE?