Fabulous February 2014

Little Sweetheart Ceyone,

February 2014 was another great month. We made the most of Naani's time before she left for India and visited several places in Singapore. The month started with Naani's birthday and Singapore's biggest festival, the Lunar New Year or the Chinese New Year (CNY). 

We celebrated Naani's birthday with great excitement. I set up the cake table at our balcony.
You were very excited with the party caps. 

While we cut and ate the cake, you were busy painting your legs with the cream of the cake. 

We were all happily busy : we chatting and you smashing the cake. Nani and I were laughing exactly at that. 

You tried once and then there was no looking back. 

Finally, we transported the cake inside and left the fondant stem for you to toy with :) You had a gala time. 

You were seriously at work. DND.

Naani put a tiny dot of cream on your cheek for fun. 

Whenever I said 'Kiss', you went and kissed your favourite toy or book character that was near you. That time it was 'Kiss' instruction for Mumma and she kissed her favourite, you!

Papa and mumma love you the most honey. We will always do. You are the cynosure of our eyes. 

"I love you You love me 
We're a happy family 
With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you. 
Won't you say you love me too"... (Your favourite Barney's song)

After the cake it was time for playing with the candles. 

Later that evening we went for dinner to The Song of India restaurant. 

After we all returned, you went to Papa's room and noticed his new ergonomic keyboard below his mac. There was no way Papa could type on it, so we unplugged it and you immediately filed its patent. It was slightly chilly that day and you snuggled with Naani while practising your typing skills. 

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Next, it was time for Singapore's biggest festival - the Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) and 2014 was the year of the horse. You were born in the year of the dragon (2012) and most people I met mentioned that it was very auspicious for babies and referred to you as 'dragon baby' :) We all went to China Town to view the entire street lit up with horse shaped orange lights. A gigantic horse statue illuminated at the mouth of the street. It was a beautiful sight and it left you mesmerised. 

At our condo the gardener brought the traditional bonsai orange plant. The moment we stepped out of the elevator you let out a happy cry to see the round shaped oranges. Touch and squeeze followed. I loved the expression on your face while your hand was in the full force squeeze mode. 

The entrance gate had decorations of your interest. You wanted to befriend the happy horse. Just a bit diverted by the vroom of a ferrari on the main street. Ferraris were your crush of the month. 

Hello horse! Can I touch you?!

 You were a very happy child overall and there were very few nights when Papa and I did not exchange proud glances with each other. 

You admired the bicycles in the parking area while I took some time to adjust the camera. 

Mumma can I please squeeze some more oranges. One was not enough. I loved the expression on your face. 

The same week you also tasted pasta cooked by Tita for the first time. Instant love. Tita mentioned several times that your taste was very 'high' meaning you enjoyed well cooked dishes with flavour. We added everything to the meals minus the chilli. We all ate almost the same food by then. I suspected the purees would be history soon. 

Papa had the CNY vacation and took all the opportunity to join you in your play time. Every evening when the digital lock of our door tinkled with the code, your face lit up, you looked towards the door and whispered Papa. 

We visited our neighbour aunty Mui Hong and exchanged oranges for good luck. You liked visiting her as she had two pet rabbits in her balcony and at first you thought it was mini dogs. You said 'bha bha...' Later I explained to you that it was rabbits and you smiled the 'I got it Mumma' smile. 

You had fun playing with wooden blocks in her balcony with her nephews. 

               

We attempted a family picture at home. It did not interest you too much that time. 

Your first 'hong bao' (red envelopes containing money) that you received from aunty Mui Hong's family. 

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Further on we went to the Merlion Park so that you could enjoy the lion city. 

Next was the visit to the Gardens by the Bay. 

It was your snack time when we reached there. You munched on your favourite happy cow cheese while I took a moment to tickle you :)

 I love your expression in this pic! 

You seemed to understand the word 'Merlion' and were super excited to see a tiny one closely. 

You wanted to touch the projectile fountain water. 

While strolling through the gardens I felt your stroller tilting towards one side. We checked the wheels and Naani pumped up some air into them. In the meantime you spotted the pump and in a few seconds it was in your firmly in your hands. You kept holding it until we jumped into a cab. 

Our family

 

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Some fun moments spent at home.

You observed all of us use clutcher for hair. When you chanced upon Naani's clutcher you immediately tried to put it in your hair. We all cheered with laughter. It was such a cute and innocent gesture :)
                           

 Mumma often wrestled with you with love.

Your mealtimes went very well if your hands were occupied in some sort of activity. I had refrained from using entertainment devices during your meals. You had a healthy appetite and you liked experimenting with new foods. I had set your meal pattern to be a puree and finger food combination. Some of your favourite foods were mango, pears, pomegranate seeds, seedless grapes, strawberry, paneer and pasta. You also ate roasted atta (wheat flour) with Milo. You did not favour the ready to eat baby foods and we prepared all your food fresh at home. I had a shelf full of unused Cerelac, cereal, baby custard etc. 

One of the favourite mealtime game was the water play with syringes. When the nurses packed syringe with your medicines at the hospital, we saved a few. It was great fun to see you play with Tita while I speedily pushed spoonfuls into your mouth. 

The year 2014 was very unique weather wise in Singapore. It was pleasantly cold in Dec/Jan mornings opposed to the humid days. But it also meant flus and colds. You got cold, had runny nose and harsh voice for many days. I took you to your paediatrician Dr. Chu Hui Ping at Raffles Hospital and no infection was diagnosed. You liked the hospital atmosphere but yelled at the top of your voice when 

Dr. Ping tried to check your throat with her spatula. Before we went in for the consultation, you had a rocking time literally. 

At home you were best friends with the vacuum cleaner and every week after Tita finished vacuuming it was an hour of play time for you. I dressed you up in a black Kurta Pajama (Indian dress) that Sohail Chachu got for you from FabIndia. We lovingly called you 'Sallu bhai' (Salman Khan, Indian actor). The dress suited your little macho built very well.

You liked trying out new foods and when offered almond cake at PS Cafe Paragon Mall, you participated very well. :)

One day when I took you to Fair Price grocery store, you selected a corn and brought it home. I didn't know you'd savour it so much! Of course it was not gentle on your stomach later. 

One Sunday, Papa and I took you to Marina Bay Sands Mall for fun. The attraction of our trip was the boat ride in the canal between the shops. You had a gala time there. You liked listening to the rhyme 'row row row your boat...' and the boat ride was welcomed by you. We visited a second time too. 

    

We spent time playing at Fidgets indoor play area after the boat ride. It was also your first slide experience and you loved it! Papa forgot to hold my hand while shooting our video and Mumma was lying at the bottom of the slide for a few seconds with you. It was such a fun moment!

          

We also visited Vivocity mall one Sunday. 

Feb was also the time when I was preschool shopping for you. We attended a few Mom&Me classes too. It was surprising to see your social side and you mingled well with other babies. Your team spirit was commendable and at 13 months, you could follow patterns, colouring, eating. 

Potato painting activity at White Lodge school, Bukit Timah. You liked the wooden block so much that you carried it home. Later, it fell in the swimming pool from our balcony and floated away. After incessantly searching the pool, I offered you a similar looking wine bottle cork in compensation. 

At the mucky pups baby class. You painted a first Valentine's Day card for Papa.

You liked the bubbles, tent activity and the animal shaped biscuits. 

Next we visited the Julia Gabriel Center in Forum Mall on Orchard Road.

You gelled very well with your teacher Andrea. 

We had a weekly play date with your friend baby Samar. We visited each others place with a few toys to exchange and play. 

One of the Saturdays we went to my friend Motoko-san's place for BBQ party. I picked up a chicken ball dipped in BBQ sauce with chopsticks and brought it to your mouth to taste the sauce. I got a bit caught up in chatting with the people around and when I looked at the ball, a huge chunk had vanished. You bit a piece of it and munched a chicken ball for the first time. 

       

At home one of your favourite activity was reading. You liked all sorts of books and brought them to us to read. Sometimes you also picked catalogues and magazines. A sure shot hit, you were ready to read any time. Some of your favourite titles were Cinderella (you called her 'laala'), Why I love my mummy, Thomas the tank engine and Farmyard Tales. I quietly turned pages after reading the same book for the 3rd time and you didn't mind the absorption. 

 

Those days were even more interesting as you were learning to walk step by step bit by bit. You looked so cute just like a baby with a few shots of vodka trying to balance the walk. Sometimes you didn't know where to stop and you walked around the whole house. You enjoyed spending time in our huge balcony the most. 

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Towards the end of the month we went for BBQ at East Coast Lagoon Village with Papa's office colleagues. 

You enjoyed airplane and ship viewing near the beach with Tita. 

When you discovered the ice box, you wanted to keep it open all the time (and we tried to close it :)

Papa's boss Ashok uncle lifted you to his shoulders by surprise and we all cheered for you both. You were also very excited. He took you near the sea and showed you some ships sailing far away. You returned super happy. 

Being a Mum was not so easy at times. But your sweet smile made it all so possible.

I liked a poem that I found on Mothers Group and here it goes.