ZK is three!

Can't believe it has been three years! Happy birthday, ZK! :)

Now that he's older, it's easier to bring him out. So I ventured out with him on Saturday, the day before his birthday.

Waiting for the bus

We reached the National Museum a few minutes before my scheduled brunch hour with LS and SX, and the Masak Masak exhibition was right in front of us. So ZK wanted to play! Unfortunately, it was not open yet as the staff was still cleaning up the inflated playground.

Running about the playground and having fun anyway

Mama, this is how you do it...

Bumped into LS there. She brought mini SX and so the kids met for the nth time but no longer in slings! And this meeting really made me wonder - why is ZK everywhere?! Example - LS went to the washroom and asked mini SX to stay with me. She obliged and even let me hold her as I went after ZK who ran into the museum when the doors opened. And when LS left the table later, she was quietly occupied at the table; I was sitting right there and yet my son was running all over the place *.* Why??

ZK had some food and asked for cake when he saw the cakes. Well, it was his birthday weekend so I gave him a warm chocolate fudge cake. We sang him a birthday song too! :)

Yummy! And the boy is still....

When I wanted to go pee, he wanted to go pee too. Um, ok... So I had him pee standing - but he just had to take off his shoes and pants and underwear, and he stood such that his scrotum was resting on the toilet bowl, yucks!!! And of course, I was in an unglam mama position - kiapping his clothes under one armpit and holding his penis with my fingers *.*

Later at home, I showed him a photo of him pooping with his pants at his ankles. Thankfully after that, he was ok not to take off everything in the toilet, phew!

Had some fun with the Masak Masak exhibition and the kids area after brunch.

Hula hoops!

Playing with his "new friend", as he calls her, even today!

Took a double decker bus home - not his first time but it was the first time I went up with him. He enjoyed the view from the upper deck :)

Sleepily watching the excavators as we passed by...

Took ZY to baby spa after their nap. ZK had fun there too even though he couldn't go into the pool anymore :) But when a new baby went into the pool, he poured water over the baby's head!! Luckily the parents were quite chill about it..

Happily playing water with Papa

Learning about electromagnetic field at a science fair at Vivo - way to go, boy!

We got a cake from Bakerzin on the way home. We couldn't wait for him to blow out the candles! :)

But first, his present!

Mum and Dad got him a helmet for safety. Will upload pictures one day - it's so big on his head. And he looks like ALIEN :p

Surprise at Mum's place!

(He was trying to smile for the camera :p)

More natural :)

Eh, big boy, feed yourself leh!

ZY had some fun too! Looks so fat here!

Cake time!

ZK blew out the candle right after the song ended. RIGHT AFTER. No time for Chinese version, no time to ask him to make a wish, even if he knew what that was all about.

The little family! (While restraining him from cutting the cake!)

Yummy again!

Looks like a big boy with no top, in army pants and some underwear showing haha!

Dinner was at Long Beach at IMM cos there's a playground right outside. Pretty uneventful but I think it's a pretty good birthday :)

Hope you've enjoyed your day, my love! :)

ZY's birthday trip

Well, not really, we just happened to be on a trip on his birthday cos KS was getting married. That was why we celebrated his birthday one week earlier.

It's the standard divide-and-conquer. Sito and I took the small one while the less small sat with Dad. Mum and Y are free cells.

Standing up and not sitting or lying still, sighs..

But the toddler can sit still with entertainment!! :)

Though that forlorn look was probably due to him feeling unwell - he puked towards the end of the coach ride *.* Gave him axe oil to smell for the rest of the journey..

We arrived at PoPo's place with a smelly toddler. Washed him down before we headed out for lunch. Then as usual, we returned to wait for check-in.

Classic shot again - third consecutive such shot!

And ZY's first - what an expression!

Sito was supposed to be on reservist - his first! - in June and couldn't join us on Friday. But something went wrong and his reservist was postponed. The whole episode resulted in us booking a suite instead of separate rooms, to facilitate night time childcare without the Papa.

So with everyone together, we ditched ZY with Y and took ZK out in search of foot reflexology :p That doesn't sound so crazy if you know what's in our bag... That's right - downloaded YouTube videos *.*

We got some bubble tea on the way, endured some whining along the way cos ZK saw car rides and wanted them but we refused to give up our foot reflexology, oops... Anyway, he was ok once we whipped out the videos. Just that twice during the session, he left my side to wander into the full body massage area! The second time, I asked one of the therapists to tell him NO! And then he kept looking at her when he tried to move later :p

Dinner was at PoPo's place. Buffet spread with the yummiest dragonfruit-pineapple blend! Even ZK liked it :) We didn't stay too late as the kids must sleep. Mum stayed over at PoPo's place as she had to go with the groom to fetch the bride early the next morning.

With such a big bathtub in our room, we couldn't resist but take a bath - ZK loves the small bathtub at home which we use every Saturday, and this was a full-size bathtub! (Henceforth known as the big bathtub *.*) Sito didn't join in cos he hadn't pooped... ZK had fun with his dump truck while ZY had fun splashing water!

It was a pretty rough night though. ZK was supposed to sleep with Dad but came in for us in the middle of the night. Luckily we had a king bed so no one was crushed! First time the little family slept on the same bed :)

Woke up to a one-year-old boy in our bed wanting his milk! :)

And he got his birthday present from us - yup, library card!

We are very fair - ZK got a library card for his first birthday too. But actually, ZK has not used his yet... Oh well!

ZY had biscuits in the premium lounge while we had breakfast; he had his in the room

Got to PoPo's place just before the troop returned from KL. I had stupidly left the angbao in Singapore. Lucky we had enough SGD combined to make a nice number. I had fun at the tea ceremony - I missed out n times being a jiemei when we were in the US so I finally got to play a role at a tea ceremony! Cheap thrill :p

Pre- or post-tea ceremony play time with his cousins

ZK was probably in the naughty corner for being rude when given angbaos by the happy couple...

We headed out for lunch. There was karaoke there but no one made use of it! At least I got another cheap thrill watching MTVs and singing along to my birthday boy - I found that pop songs could lull him to dreamland...

Lunchtime nap!

Some laughs before his nap time

All rested, we went for waterplay!

Source: Dad

ZK drank some water when he slipped as he went further inside the pool. "Don't go there, later fall down..." Awww...

And then we left ZY in the room with Y and brought ZK out. He was quite ok to bring along now. Just that he remains playful as ever!! But as promised, we let him ride the car he saw yesterday.

Driving, driving in my (remote-controlled) car...

And father and son shared some Marrybrown's...

Went in search of another bubble tea and took the wrong way. Ended up with the same bubble tea. And a little cut on ZK's right shin when he fell BEFORE we reached an escalator. I wonder how... Anyway, we got back just in time for Sito to get changed to go to the restaurant - he and Jiejie were the emcees! The rest of us had a bit more time which was lucky as I took a bit to put on makeup :p

Why aren't the babies looking at the camera?? 

But the grandparents sure look happy!

As do we!

Mama with the playful tot - very handsome too!

Also handsome, the birthday boy :)

The wedding was quite different from the usual in Singapore. First of all, it was very traditional, as in hosted by the parents. The friends took only one table; the rest were relatives the couple might not even know! And the logistics were unacceptable - imagine trays rolling out of the kitchen, through your ballroom into another ballroom for another wedding! But the food was good! I even had quite a bit of suckling pig...

Anyway, ZK had somewhat of a meltdown. But it was probably cos he was tired, what with waterplay in the sun and no nap since lunch. He slept on Dad for a while before I transferred him to my lap. ZY also fell asleep and both didn't wake even when we got back to the hotel. We managed to changed ZY's diaper without waking him. Mum managed to change ZK's pants. We were lucky ZK didn't pee in the bed cos the last time he peed was pre-dinner! And ZK woke later than us the next day. Yeah! But we were up cos ZY woke early. Bleah.

We decided to head to the main lounge for breakfast as the premium lounge had a smaller selection of food though it was way less crowded. And with some time until check-out, we ditched both kids to go for foot reflexology! Or rather, we ditched ZY and ZK ditched us for AhMa.. Oh well...

And this foot reflexology was good! The previous one was Thai style. This was Chinese pattern. I could feel the effect for days after, shiok!

Went back to the hotel to rest a little before lunch at a nyonya place nearby.

My cute little tiger!

And his classic tilt-and-smile killer pose

And it's back to PoPo's place with our luggage to wait for the van back home. While waiting, we had durians - MSW, D24, D1, D2, big thorn, hongxia, kampung. I ate so much! And there are still some in my freezer! :)

Come, let's play together while the adults eat the 臭臭!

Gripped by little fingers :)

We went without a break stop and got back in time for dinner. But I was so busy with durians that I forgot to change ZY's diaper before we set off. By the time we headed for dinner, his diaper had leaked *.* And by the end of our Korean dinner downstairs, he pooped *.* Finally got to rest only after washing everyone up!

Now this Malacca trip was only a rehearsal for the long trip in October. The kids will be older but if this and India were anything to go by, we'll be all quite tired at the end of the holiday - good luck to us all! :)

ZY turning one!

ZY called me mama on Tuesday night! :)

I didn't pay much attention. Only heard him crying out from the baby monitor but when I got out of my door, it hit me that he was calling for ME!

I remember that with ZK, for quite a while, it wasn't clear whether he was calling me or just going mamamamamama. But on Tuesday night, it was very clear - he called out "Mama! Mama! Mama!" when he woke at 9.45 pm.

Me happy :)

ZY could say three other words before this: uh-oh, 哥哥 and nen nen. For uh-oh, it's more like making the sound without making an O with his lips but it's very clear cos he says that about things on the floor :) And similarly, he looks at ZK when he makes 哥哥 sounds. I used "nen nen" with ZK for a while but not with ZY so I think he was trying to say 奶奶 - and this is every morning and night for his first and last bottle!

And he's not even one! ZK only spoke a bit later but guess having him talk all the time helps introduce more speech to ZY.

So ZY turns one this Saturday! But we had an early celebration on Sunday as we will be in Malacca this weekend.

We started with presents, then shoe wearing, then picking a job (career? :p), before heading out for lunch at Swatow...

Papa, the shoes are on the wrong side!

Don't worry, GuGu will right it for you!

Now let's walk!

But I want to take a closer look! You call them shoes?

The dinosaur is ZY's present but think ZK is the one playing with it mostly, with ZY looking at it longingly by the side..

I introduced the items to him before letting him loose. And he chose....

Ball! Ok, do we have a tennis national team?

He picked up the pen next, touched the abacus, threw the rulers and pick up the stethoscope.

I'm Dr ZY...

With Mama on the way to lunch

Happy birthday, ZY! :)

Come, 哥哥 will cut the cake with you..

The cake was a white chocolate carrot cake from Delcie's.. Wanted to get the yogurt cake like for ZK's first birthday but the outlet near us closed. Finally found a cake with no added sugar, i.e. ZY could have it too. But it was just too healthy. The carrot cake part was too dry. The cinnamon taste was very strong. I couldn't taste the chocolate at all. And it was super ex - 500g for $55! Never again!

I've packed new clothes for him to wear on his birthday. Trips are always bad for sleep but I hope he'll get enough somehow and spend his birthday happily! :)

I love you, ZY! :)

My first white hair?

As I was removing the fallen hair from my hair brush just now, I spotted a strand of 70% white!

At almost 35 years and a half, I'm starting to show the most definite sign of ageing...

But that is not my first white hair. I used to have this short and thick strand of white hair at one sideburn area either very near or just inside the edge of the ear. I noticed it some time in secondary or JC, and I plucked it out!

Now I'm wishing for a mob of stark white hair when I'm old :)

It's happening...

ZY crawled to the door last night, crying for me. He'll be in our room before we know it! *.*

And because I've been very busy, I haven't been sorting out photos :( But I have accumulated a lot of little ZY stories so I'll write them down now... The pictures can come later..

20 March

He poo-ed into my hand! Ok, I had a wet wipe between the poo and my bare hands but I could feel the warmth! I was wiping his poopy diaper five minutes prematurely...

More recently, however, he tends to be constipated. Poor thing..

19 April

ZY can now clap on cue. If he wants to entertain us, that is.

25 April

I thought ZY said "mama"! Perhaps I was biased... But he really sounded like he said "no no" when gesturing at all the no-no items...

And this weekend, he's finally crawling, albeit with his butt still touching the floor. And now? He's speed-crawling!

On Vesak Day on 1 June, I learnt that I might have crawled like that when I was a baby *.*

7 May

After flipping comes sitting up. ZY could pull himself up into a sitting position. I remain sleep deprived..

12 May

At bedtime, he spotted his shadow cast by the nightlight. He seemed to be playing with his shadow by swaying left and right! I couldn't be sure then but now I'm sure - he plays with his shadow! Now ZK did not do that so you could imagine my surprise! ZK also didn't crawl all over the room at bedtime, or knock on the cabinets in the dark. Sito thinks it's because ZY is smarter.. And he began to think of that commercial...

28 May

I felt his first pearly whites! Luckily I stopped breastfeeding already! :p

30 May

He finally had rice at lunch! But haven't tried since then as he was feverish last week..

6 June

Last weekend, I found that he could put his pacifier back into his mouth. Perhaps he could do that for a while but his usual attitude towards his pacifier is to throw it far far away...

In other news...

We're looking for a new helper now. Need someone who is able to take over my night duty until ZY can walk over on his own, like ZY. Um, together with ZK? *.* Our bed is not big enough!!!

I smell my babies

ZY is at the perfect size where he can sit with his legs around my waist and look up at me, just inches away from my face. So I hugged him like that just now, his head in the crook of my right arm. I kissed him; he smiled. I sniffed loudly at his baby skin; he tried to sniff too and gave me his piggy face, which I first saw yesterday morning. My baby is so cute! Even though he was scentless as his last bath was in school, I smelled him some more :)

When it was time to pack ZK off to bed, he let me carry him in a cradle hold, his head on his pillow in the crook of my right arm. I kissed and smelled him - he smelled so nice from his shower! I sayang-ed his baby cheeks. And he said, "Can I come down, please?" My baby is so cute! So I laid him down on the bed. This time, he didn't ask to be showered with kisses. He just rolled over and slept. I kissed him anyway :) And I'll smell him again pretty soon when he comes over in the dead of the night!

Six on a Wednesday

Yup, it was also a Wednesday this day six years ago :)

It just so happened that I was at ROM last Thursday for work, and it occurred to me then that the last time I was there, it was today six years ago. In fact, I almost chose to go last Friday, and last Friday six years ago was when we got to ROM early in the morning to verify documents and make some statutory declaration.

Despite having had two kids already, glad that sometimes we still feel like two kids who just started dating - on the second day of LNY in February when Sito was out with the guys, he recorded himself singing a song for me; last month, it was my turn to sing for him on stage at Rocku Yakiniku :)

Happy sixth, my dear!