CNY 2013–the 3rd day

This year, we had reunion dinner with my parents and brother at Loy Sum Juan on the eve. This year, I discovered that my daughter really loves to lo hei. She would stick her single chopstick and give it several good hauls. No one can restrain her from that platter of yu sheng and carrots. =7

The first day was then spent visiting P’s grandma and uncle, before going over to his mum’s for more lo hei  and steamboat reunion with his parents and sister. The kids discovered all the CNY goodies and we were more liberal this year.. they actually got to eat quite a few love letters, Christian discovered the wonderful smokiness of bak kwa, and Calista and Christian had an immediate appreciation of kueh lapis and pineapple tarts. I couldn’t blame them for liking the very foods that i like, so I was quite easy-going about letting them try. We did suffer eventually, when the kids fell ill with the sniffles and cough after all those interesting but ‘heaty’ sugary foods.

I forgot what we did on the 2nd day.. other than Gardens by the Bay.. and I ought to note down the events of the 3rd day before that too escapes my memory..

We visited Sentosa in the morning cos P thought of bringing Christian to the newly opened “S.E.A. aquarium” at Resorts World Sentosa. We queued and queued to buy the tickets…bought the tickets, but gave up going in when we discovered there was yet another snaking long queue just to enter the aquarium. Thankfully the tickets are valid for 6 months, so we’ll go another time. We spent the morning buying Garrett’s popcorn, sitting near the water fountain, and people-watching while stuffing our faces with the salty butter popcorn and sweet macadamia caramel popcorn. Yums.

We discovered that Calista can be a model for Garrett’s..she tottered about so happily, carrying the bag of popcorn daintily with her tiny fingers, grinning as she went along…

After Sentosa, Cheryl came over for a visit since she was back from Melbourne. Christian was excited to have visitors in the house, and kept butting in, offering goodies, playing hide and seek. Calista inevitably followed her kor-kor wherever he went, and Cheryl and I could hardly get a word in, in the midst of all that ruckus. I grew fed up, and P suggested I take the car and drive somewhere with Cheryl. We ended up sharing ice cream at Udders, Siglap and having some peace and quiet to chit chat. ^_^

The last event of that 3rd day was a visit to the Singkids playsystem at Changi airport, but that deserves a post in itself. Will blog about that next!

Playing

The grandparents brought Christian out to have dinner with my uncle last night and I rushed home from work cos I didn't want Calista to be left alone with the helper for too long. I got home at 7.20pm and boy was the house quiet without the boisterous boy.

Calista was so happy to see me as usual. Knowing that I seldom get one-on-one time with her, I resolved to spend some quality time just playing and being fully present and focused on her.

(Just the other day, we were watching videos of Christian when he was a mere 20 months old, to see how he looked and behaved compared to Calista now. Watching those videos made me realize that we certainly spent more quality time with Christian doing nothing but playing with toys on the floor. A twinge of guilt towards Calista struck me, but I suppose quality attention is an inevitable privilege of the first-born.)

I had forgotten how to play, having been so busy with taking care of everyday life. I struggled to remember games appropriate for 21 month old babies, and couldnt remember any.

Girls play so differently from boys. P bought her a doll set during a father-daughter trip to Toys 'r Us on Sunday. She was more interested in unscrewing the top of the clear plastic container in which we placed the dolls' accessories, removing the accessories, stuffing that back into the container, and screwing the top shut. Over and over and over again. I lay there watching her, and she was also very generous with her kisses. A kiss for doll's tummy. A kiss on doll's face. A kiss for bystander mama.

I decided to make use of all the empty rooms by suggesting we play hide and seek. Calista surprised me by understanding so quickly what was required of her. She initially followed me as I ran, but I put a hand out and told her 'Wait. Let me go hide then you come find me ok?'

The first round was easy cos i hid ON the bed in a dark room. The second round was more difficult for her cos it never occurred to her that i would hide behind the bed, out of sight. She would call out to me, a little uncertainly 'Ma Ma...?' I meowed in reply and she immediately broke into a deep chuckle. It was great fun, peeking from behind the bed as she tottered up and down past the room I was in after peering in from the outside.

I repeated this with Christian and Calista tonight, and they took turns hiding and seeking. It was such great fun, we should do it more often!

Gardens by the Bay

We were free on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year, and decided to take the opportunity to bring the kids out. While driving to Vivocity for the Singkids indoor playground, I read the conditions of my Groupon carefully and realised that the playground was closed that day. And so I hastily suggested to P that we go to the Gardens by the Bay instead, as a way of salvaging the trip.

Although we had been to the Gardens by the Bay with the kids once before, we did not enter the two glass domes “Cloud Forest” and “Flower Dome” then.

I think I enjoyed the Cloud Forest dome more, with the long waterfall and misty environs. P thought it was so artificial, a typical Singapore tourist trap. Oh well.

The guy at the ticketing counter was very taken by our Ponyo for some strange reason, and was concerned that i did not bring a stroller. He also gave us bee-yoo-ti-ful floral ang paos which has become a collector’s item for ang pao collectors.

The trip was marred by Christian pushing me into the flower bed at the behest of his father, whilst we were in the flower dome. I was happily smiling for the camera when P said “Push mama into the flowers”. P said he did not expect Christian to comply but I was sooooo furious I stomped off to cool down for a while, leaving him with the two kids. Harrumph. Juvenile. He apologised after I gave him the cold shoulder.

 

Ah well. Methinks we won’t be back there in a long while..the Botanic Gardens is more appealing and less manicured in comparison.

Aunty XJ’s wedding

It was Aunty XJ’s wedding on 8 Jan 13 and Christian had the honour of being the ring bearer! It was Christian’s first time being involved in a wedding in this manner and I must confess I was a little worried about him freezing up when all eyes are on the kids just when the church doors are thrown open.

Lots of prepping helped and he played his role brilliantly, although I must say his smiles were a little forced. He had fun monkeying around with Lana the flower girl and listening to the kind uncles who took time to explain the various instruments, during rehearsals.

I was glad to be a part of my friend’s wedding too, as a jie mei and by singing a song chosen by the couple during the church service.

p/s apologies for the long hiatus from blogging, been quite tired from work and parenting duties.. hope to get some energy back soon..

Calista’s bedtime at 18 months

Last week, when I was putting her to bed, I put my face really close to hers as she was drinking her milk. She peered up into my face and I smiled tenderly at her. She then proceeded to pluck the bottle out from her mouth and offered it to me wordlessly, with a raised brow. My heart melted at her generosity as I turned her offer down.

She spoke so much to me tonight, as I put her to bed. I tried to entice her into sleeping in the cot next to my bed, by turning on the projector cot mobile such that butterflies and leaves were projected onto the dark ceiling. She was fascinated but not fooled. I tried to pat the pillow in the cot and told her that she was sleeping there. Immediately came the pout and “Noononono”. She shook her head and hurriedly clambered out of the cot. I smiled and tried asking sweetly again. “Sleep there?” Her reply – “Zeep there”, before collapsing on MY pillow on MY bed. I burst out laughing and tried a few more times before giving up. She clearly wanted to be sleeping near me.

And so I tried to put her to bed. She kept offering the small spare bolsters to me. “Mama, mama…. bou-ster. There.” She passed me one, then said “One more”. I accepted her offering, and put her to bed. She asked me to turn the light off. “Off, mama.”. I did as told, and was very surprised when she spontaneously said “Dang-gyu”.

I sang her a lullaby. “Storp, mama, storp.” Sigh. I half-growled and told her to sleep. Immediately, she grabbed her bolster, and went into foetal position, acting docile. “Night-night. Night-night” she went, until i replied. She started babbling and humming to herself as I smiled silently, but she started going “Maaa-ma…MAaaa-ma” as if for sheer fun until I put my foot down (well, not literally) by turning my back on her. She was disturbed and started climbing over my side to put her face close to mine. Sigh. Doesn’t this remind one of puppy behaviour?

Anyway, she finally fell asleep after I patted the side of her thigh a bit. She touched her thigh after I lifted my hand, and was satisfied when I continued patting. I escaped the room right after she slept, and ran to the other room to kiss Christian good night. 3 minutes later, I heard a baby cry “MMAAAA-maaaaaaa” in distress. Sigh. Ran back to her and saw that she was on my side of the bed. She must have tumbled over to my side looking for me and bawled when she realised I was no longer there. Thankfully she immediately calmed down upon hearing my voice and fell asleep in 2 minutes.

And that, is the incredibly long story of Calista’s bedtime.

The words of Calista Wang at 17.5 months

FAMILY

MaMa, DAaaaaady, Dor-Dor (Korkor), meimei, Po Po, dordong (Gong gong), Nai Nai, YeYe, Che-che, Rae-en

ACTIONS

Go, come, bye bye, zeep (sleep), ayang (sayang), ng-ng (when she poos and pees), press, dance, up, igh down (lie down), torp (stop), off, draw, out, sit, aben (open), walkwalk, push, hide, brush, run, kick, bao bao (carry)

FOOD

Mum-mum, breadbread, rice, nana (banana), milk milk, yagurd (yogurt), berry, jus (juice), feed

GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS

wash, wet, drop, meow, cat, dog, hello,  no more, more,  toes, TB (TV), pain pain, knock knock, baby, yuck, dirty, light, kok (clock), bearbear, bir (bird), bus, bore (ball), bu yao, No, book, there, where, nice, pease (please), danggu (thank you), want this,  scare (scared), play, toy, bag, car, yes, bowl, spoo (spoon),  two (after I say “one”), button, cross, ear, eye, nose, cloth, airpane (airplane), roar, wah, rain, wah-ter  (water), night-night, row-row, lion, bou-ster (bolster), pi-o (pillow), bectacle (spectacle), give

oh-kay, xiexie, hao,