Blowing Raspberries: The beginning of 2014

Little sweet Ceyone,

The new year 2014 began with lots of excitement. You turned 1 year old. We celebrated your birthday with family and friends. You started walking with help. You often wanted to run before walking. I explored more places in Singapore with you. When you met new people, you were shy in the beginning but opened up soon. You used to say 'hi' to the babies, dogs and your other favourite things. You loved to talk and at times attempted to speak sentences before you learned to speak words. We all smiled so much at your eagerness to express yourself and jumbled up words pittar patterblarrbbllaa.

You enjoyed eating new foods. Some of your favourites were paneer cheese, corn, broccoli, bread and cheese, parle G biscuits and your new found love pasta. I asked Tita to cook Pasta every Saturday and when you saw it in the oven, you gestured in every possible way to have it.

We spent January 2014 with Naani and went to quite a few places around.

One of the Fridays, we went to Jacob Ballas Children's Garden (at Botanic Gardens).

As you loved water in every form, you got very excited to see the fountains splashing in the play area. You wanted to hold the fountains. Even at home when we took you to the kitchen sink to wash up, you held your hand under running water for long minutes and refused to come out. It was so much fun to see your excitement and happiness. I had been waiting for you to start walking and explore these fountains with the kids.

You tried to touch the little droplets that splashed on your teeny tiny feet. You had great attention to detail and alertness.

We saw some unique plants, photosynthesis spot and a rooster marching with his family into the greenery. Your eyes were dazed at the sight of the rooster (first rooster sight).

We put our mat on the ground and enjoyed some peaceful moments. You ate some bread cheese while we all chatted happily.

You liked the place and soon were being yourself, cuddling with Mumma. Nose to nose was your favourite act of affection. You also hugged your favourite toys and they got lots of cuddles from you. Oh did I mention, when you spoke to your favourite toys, you changed the pitch of your voice for them.

You tried to bit my nose too with your 4 little teeth in the front. I love this picture very much!

Then we walked to touch and feel some of the beautiful trees.

You gently touched the leaves and the branches of a low lying tree. The word tree was well set in your vocabulary from our everyday walks and you could recognise one easily.

We all together.

On our way back, we walked over the hanging bridge.

Cute little you, ready for the camera. Love your ever talkative eyes. Every person that we met in Singapore from sales girls to acquaintances, to shopkeepers in the mall, to workers had a unanimous comment - 'Eyes so big'...
Your eyes were very expressive and often poured your crystal clear and genuine heart out.

It was a beautifully spent evening and you enjoyed the place.

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We used to go for walks every evening to the nearby FairPrice (grocery store) and the pet shop. It was our daily routine to walk across the River Valley Road and you drank milk at the pet store. Then I bought some of the groceries and we walked back happy and contented.

You observed every car, every bus, every bike, every bird, every bicycle and every dog.

You could mimic the sound of Ferrari and we eagerly waited to come across one.

You loved to touch the flowers and the leaves. I noticed that you were learning things very fast. Way faster than I could keep up with. Your understanding of the world around you was much more than I knew and you often surprised me with your intelligence.

You liked to observe huge buses and your then favourite song was 'the wheels on the bus go round and round...' You danced to that song by swaying left to right and then up and down, repeating the movements in rhythm.

It was the best time of the day that we spent together outside, discovering, exploring, observing, learning, making friends and experiencing new things. Both you and I looked forward to it excitedly.

Some weekends Papa joined us too.

And it was double jackpot when we spotted doggies (you called them 'bha bha' or 'dogadogadog') The bigger their size the better.

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One of the days we all went to visit Papa's friend Partha uncle's place. Partha uncle and Shruti aunty recently had a little daughter baby Navya. We were all very excited to meet the baby for the first time, even more to see how you'd react to the baby.

On the way to their home watching some birds at the bird shop. You liked birds and said 'baa baa...' for birds. You were quite amazed to see so many birds in one place.

With Shruti aunty's mom who instantly became your friend. You allowed loving aunty to carry you and seemed at ease.

Aunty introduced you to baby Navya and you wanted to touch her. It was very interesting for me to know that you understood the idea of babies. You knew who was the baby in the song 'the baby on the bus goes waannn waannn waaaaaaa...' and smiled shyly every time it played.

We went for a stroll at the Bedok reservoir to enjoy the pleasant weather and the breeze.

When Shruti aunty carried you, you gave her an intense look. I knew inside that you were interested in flicking her glasses.

It was a lovely place and we all enjoyed being near the gigantic reservoir.

We sneaked out some time for a family pic.

I put you on the slide from the bottom side and you liked it. You wanted to stand on the slide but your feet kept slipping. You were very happy to be there.

Mumma stole some me time with you. Because I love you SO much.

You felt excited to see everything from above when I put you on the hand rails. I loved your smile.

It was a great day and you spent some time with my iphone after we returned. You figured out the menu button and pressed it deftly to lit up the phone. You also tried to slid your thumb to unlock the screen. It was then I realised that you were observing each and every thing we did very intently. One of the mornings you saw Papa get dressed up for work and apply some face cream and hand cream. You immediately flicked both the tubes from Papa's room, held them in your hands throughout your meal until you went for nap. You quite liked Papa and tried to copy him. I think Papa loved it a lot.

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Singapore turned out to be a nice social place and inviting friends over to our place was frequent. It was particularly exciting to meet friends from Japan and there was another secret reason in meeting girlfriends. I realised early that you had a liking for pretty girls as you smiled and mingled in no time with my friends who visited us.

When Motoko-san tried to play with you, you were all smiles and seemed to appreciate it.

I loved that expression of yours when you blushed a little and looked at us to share your joy. It was SO cute!

You enjoyed the company of Motoko san and Ria, who were both Mumma's friends from Japan.

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That month we also visited Papa's office. It was a weekend and very quiet inside.

You spotted the fountain at the building entrance and bent really hard to touch the water.

Inside the office, at the reception.

My favourite pic of the year. I love it! You developed an attachment with your pajama string and no matter how much we tried, you were never ready to let it to.