My First Time in an Arcade

Ssh, please don't disturb me.

Last Saturday, Papa decided to bring me and Mama to Hougang Mall to check out the newly opened shopping mall in the heartland and as we came to the top level of the mall, there was this amusement arcade and Papa decided to bring me in for a look. It was my first time in an arcade and though I was sleepy, the noise quickly chased the sleepy bug away. Papa and Mama had not been to an arcade for a long time. Mama also remembered Aunty Siew Lian, her ex-colleague who once told her son not to let her see him in an arcade. Maybe Aunty Siew Lian thinks it is a place where teenagers hang out to waste their time.

Anyway, Mama observed that other than the usual teenagers in the arcade, there were also some aunties/uncles who came here with their children after grocery shopping, lugging their bags of grocery here and laying them down on the floor while they played with their children.

Anyway, here is a picture of me on the kiddy ride. Papa actually activated the kiddy ride machine which moved to and fro. I am not afraid of it moving anymore! The last time I was on an activated kiddy ride machine, I was a little scared. Not now, I am a braver boy already!


Papa also took the opportunity to play with his favourite arcade game. When they were dating, Mama loved to sit next to Papa as he played. This time round, Mama placed me next to Papa. Don't you think I am a chip off the old block? ;)

Playground Boy

Last week, Mama brought me to the playground and this boy came up to me. He actually hissed at me literally, making "pst pst" sounds. Here's a picture of him and me. Most likely, he was hissing at me when this picture was taken. Maybe he kind of imagined he is Spiderman or some other superhero and thought I was his enemy though I have not done anything to get close to him. I was pretty intrigued and amused by the hissing sounds he made at me. His name is Christopher because that was what his own mother called him.

He just kept hissing at me, making the "pst" sounds most of the time when we were together. Initially, Mama felt like whispering into my ears that this gor-gor must be lunatic and let us go away and leave him alone but she decided not do do it and just let us play together.

Strangely though, after a while, he actually held my hand and brought me to a nearby seat and he also raced with his elder brother after failing to engage me in a race. When he came back to me, he hissed at me again.

Mama thought the way he held my hand was very cute. Almost like a big brother holding the hand of a small brother. But she did not manage to capture that shot. Still, she can't help but to be amazed at this first glimpse of the nature of friendship between boys. A nature that speaks of both competition and comradeship. They may seem contradictory but it seems like that's the way we boys relate to each other. Also, it made Mama think that if I am to be sent to a childcare centre, I may be bullied by others without her knowing and this thought made Mama a wee bit sad. Papa has said no childcare centre for me before I turn 2 years old. Only God knows whether I will be sent to one eventually. :)

My First Sticker

Mama has a new student recently and he is Timothy gor-gor who is a primary 2 boy. To encourage him to do his work, Mama also bought some stickers for him and gave me one. So my first fanciful sticker was given to me on my 71st week birthday but it was not to mark the occasion. Rather, it was Mama hoping I will be distracted so that she can focus on planning Timothy gor-gor's lesson. She sticked it on my t-shirt.

By the way, this picture shows my nth sticker which Mama sticked on my foot as she gave me a few more pieces after the first one. In fact, she sticked one on each of my foot so that I can see them when I lower my head. Too bad that she was not able to get a picture of the smiling faces on both my feet. Don't you think it's cute?

Drama Mama

Do you know what I am looking at?

Mama grew up in a Mandarin-speaking environment and she grew up watching many Chinese drama serials of different genres. She only picked up English after she went to primary school. Still, it has not stopped her from enjoying the local drama serials produced in English.

Nowadays, if she is able, she will watch the re-run of Growing Up on TV on weekday afternoons and I seem to like it too. Just see my engrossed look. :)

I Can Lift A Truck!

hi all, guess what I would be doing next?

Did you guess it correctly?



I can actually lift this brick truck that Aunty Cheyanne and Uncle Denton gave me for my first birthday! Don't you think I am strong? :)

Recently, I have taken to dragging this truck behind me much like the way SIA girls drag their suitcases behind them. Mama thinks I must be imitating my parents because that is how they would bring my pram around when it is folded up. ;)


ps: Please don't be mistaken, I am not trying to help Mama with vacumming the house. Mama was vacumming the house when she saw me lifting the truck and thought she should capture this little act of mine! :)

70 Weeks Old

Dear all,

If Mama kept count correctly, I just turned 70 weeks old. Sounds like very old, yup? Yesterday, I had a long half-day. Mama brought me along for tuition with her to Aunty Joyce's house and then we went to Nai Nai's house so that Mama can leave me in Nai Nai's care while she attends a funeral service to help translate sermon.


Nowadays, I am getting better at staying at Nai Nai's place. I don't cry like I used to when I was about 6 months old and Ye Ye and Nai Nai really enjoy having me around, not to mention Shu Shu. But I also spoilt Ye Ye's fax machine because I have been pressing the buttons on the machine. Here is a picture of me and Shu Shu at the machine.

I just love to press the buttons on the machine as some of the buttons gave a gentle beep when pressed. I am very much into pressing buttons nowadays, especially the buttons that light up. For example, yesterday morning, when Mama wheeled me to Yew Tee Central, I wanted to press the buttons at the traffic light. I actually stretch out my hand to indicate I want to press the button. When we take the lift, Mama usually allows me to press the buttons if there is no one else sharing the lift with us.

Nowadays, I also know where is the partment I stay. When the lift door opens, I know which unit I stay in as I have shown Papa I know which way to walk to get to our flat but I also like to walk to my neighbour's flat to take a look at what is happening.

I am also taking more taxi rides. When Mama takes me on a taxi ride, she will usually put me in the taxi and close the door before she places the pram in the boot of the taxi. I would be a quiet boy and wait for Mama to join me in the taxi again instead of climbing up and down in Mama's short absence.

Ok, that is about all for the moment. Mama will record more when she is able to. Bye bye.. :)

Blackberry

No, it's not the fruit but the real handphone. Uncle Kenneth lent his to me when Mama brought me to the mezzanine floor in our church to attend a lecture on Old Testament. He was trying to keep me quiet and yes, I did for a while as I examined this high-tech gadget in my hands. Nobody told me it is a phone but hey, I can easily figure it out. I just don't know how to make phonecalls nor do I know who I should call.

Mama once heard that God's phone number is 333 because in the book of Jeremiah in the Holy bible, chapter 33 verse 3 says,"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

May I grow up to learn to call on the name of the Lord. Amen. :D

I am 16 months old

Dear all,

I turned 16 months old yesterday but Papa and Mama did not do much to celebrate the occasion for me. Instead, they left me with Ye Ye and Nai Nai from late morning until after dinner. They went to watch Transformers 2 and ate crepes and went to church for a Youth Revival Meeting while I stayed with Ye Ye and Nai Nai but well, this is not so much about them but more about me and so, let's move on. :)

Nowadays, I am learning more things by imitation. The other day, Mama gave me a slice of bread to try eating on my own. She expected me to sink my teeth into the bread but instead of doing that, I tore off a small piece of bread and put it into my mouth. That is how Mama usually feeds me and so I simply imitated her.

Another thing Mama thinks I seems to be imitating is when I hold my foot in my hands. Mama takes that as a sign that I want to play This Little Piggy and she will usually oblige me but she also thinks I take after Papa who likes to hold his foot in one hand and poke it with a pen in an attempt to simulate some foot reflexology.

For the week that just passed, I am starting to laugh at words with funny sounds. Just a few days ago, Mama was trying to teach me to eat with a spoon and I really laughed loudly when she said, "Scoop it out". For some reasons, I just find these words very amusing and I am really tickled by it. The other day, she gave me a small bottle of baby lotion to hold in my hand and she taught me to open and close the cap of the bottle. I was so amused by the words "Open" and "Close". Maybe this is part of my langauge development. Aunty Cheyanne said I will be saying my first word in a couple of months' time.

I am also learning to utter some sounds like "ah", "po", (yes, sounds like apple) and "die" and so other baby utterances. But make no mistake, I have already started to communicate with people around me. For example, if I want Mama to take a toy I am holding, I will hold her hand to touch the toy and when I want to play This Little Piggy, I will also hold Mama's hands to touch my foot too.

Seems like I am an assertive boy and yes, Papa noted that I am beginning to become assertive and he has plans to send me to a playgroup next year for me to learn to interact with other children.

Talking about being tickled, yes, I am ticklish. You just have to know where my soft spots are.

On the spiritual side, Shu Shu has taught me to clasp my hands together when I hear the word pray and now, I will do that when Mama prays or when she says the words, "Dear God" and Mama is teaching me to say Amen. When Mama picked me up from Ye Ye's house on my 16th month birthday, Nai Nai commented that I had clasped my hands together when she prayed with him. If Mama is not mistaken, nobody taught me to put my hands together when she said Dear God. Perhaps God has used the seed sown by Shu Shu to bring on more development.

Physically, I am walking a lot more now and I am really strong. Just look at me lift up the 2 stools.

My finer motor skills are also developing. I am now able to play with the stacking rings Aunty Siew Lan gave me when I was a few months old. I am able to put the rings back to the base stand. I also like to clap my hands when I accomplish some tasks such as putting the toys back to my playpen.

Mama has thought that she does not want to clap for me when I clear up the mess I made because in the first place, it is my responsibility to clear up my own mess and there is nothing to applaud about fulfilling my responsibility. But she will clap for me when I accomplish new tasks and when I am obedient to her.

Occasionally, Mama likes to take me to the playground downstairs while she waits for Papa to come home.
I have also learnt to turn on the electrical switches found on the walls. They would make a click sound and I have been doing it quite a lot. Unfortunately, this landed me in a small trouble. Last Friday, Mama left me to play on my own in the living room and she was washing the milk bottle when she heard me cry. she came to check on me and found me crying with the iron in my hands. I was actually holding it up and my fingers were strangely positioned at the iron.

To her horror, I had turned on the switch and I had probably burnt my fingers. She quickly turned off the switch and carried me in her arms. By the time she was ready to take me to the doctor, I had already stopped crying and was my happy usual self. Still, she brought me to see Dr Loo who told her to observe me for a day to see if any blisters would form. I was pretty ok the next day and she forgot about checking me for blisters. Maybe one did form afterall because Papa found my left ring finger with broken skin and redness and most likely, the blister had burst. Still, I was not too disturbed by it except for the occasional ouch when they tried to wash me. So worry not, I am still my happy self. Hopefully, this will be the last of my childhood injury. I will probably stay away from the iron for a while until I have forgotten about this painful episode and Mama has now kept the iron away in the storeroom.

Ok, will end here. Thanks for reading.. God bless you. :)

I am a Good Boy

My usual bedtime is about 9pm at night. Of course, there are many nights when I sleep later. Sometimes it'e because I am still active and other times, it's because Papa and Mama went out and we arrived home late.

Today, Papa was trying to fix some computer problems at Ye Ye's house and so we reached home late. When we were home, it was already 10.10pm at night and Mama quickly bathed me and gave me a bottle of milk. Then she put me to bed and I fell asleep very quickly.

Mama thinks I am a very good boy because I was not cranky when we left Ye Ye's house to go home. Instead, I was pretty good natured and cooperative and even gave Nai Nai a flying kiss before we left. When Papa wheeled me back in the pram, I was quiet and not cranky either. When we were home, though I showed some signs of being tired, I did not cry and Mama could quickly put me to bed.

Mama thanked God that I am a good-natured boy. It's sleeping time. :D

bye bye, Aunty Cheyanne and Uncle Denton

Dear all,

This is my Aunty Cheyanne and Uncle Denton. They are Papa's sister and brother-in-law. I had been hanging out with them quite a bit for the past few weeks because they will be going to USA, Dallas, to do their postgraduate studies for the next couple of years and I won't be seeing them much. In fact, by the time you are reading this, they are already in Dallas.

As they took a very early morning flight at around 2am, I did not go to the airport to send them off but Papa did and he told Mama that Aunty Cheyanne was waxing lyrical about me to her friends who came to see her off. You see, just hours before they left, I was with them at Ye Ye's house where they were packing their stuff and there were moments when I was just quietly sitting near to them, occupied with an empty cough syrup bottle. Occasionally, I will amuse them with my antics like trying to keep their things in Aunty Cheyanne's cupboard.

The next day, Uncle Bernard also told Mama about Aunty Cheyanne saying many good things about me at the airport before she left.

If you are wondering why their pictures are so small, well, this is because Mama took these pictures from Aunty Cheyanne's Facebook profile and used them without her permission. Well, you can't expect much from Mama who really isn't the most IT savvy person in the house... ;p

Science Centre

2 days ago, Papa did not go to his office. Instead, we had a family outing to the Singapore Science Centre because Papa wanted to see the Da Vinci exhibits. We first saw the big dinosaur model near the entrance of the Mac Donalds there and Papa carried me while looking at it with me.

Then we had breakfast at Mac Donalds. Then Papa went to view the Da Vinci exhibits while Mama brought me into Science Centre to play at the water playground.

When we were at the water playground, there were no one else except for me and Mama. It's the first time I am allowed to play at a water playground and I was a little ginger about it. Mama had to carry me and taught me to stick my hand out at the water fountain. It took a few tries before I dared to do it on my own. I would stick my hand out at the fountain, get a little splash on my face and then run to Mama who is just a few steps away from me. As a result, Mama could not get much good shots of me playing with water. Maybe I am not such a water baby afterall.

After drying me, Mama brought me to see other exhibits. This is probably my first discovery at the Science Centre. The green button actually lighted up when I pressed it! It took Mama about seven shots before she could capture the one below. You can imagine I really pressed this button many times. But maybe I was a little scared I may get into trouble when it lighted up because I actually walked away after it lighted up. haha.... :)

We were also in time to catch the Thunderbolt show. It was actually a demonstration using high amount of electric charges of about 3oo ooo volts. I was busy examining my sandal when there was a sudden loud sound and Mama held me close to her body and covered my ears for me. We left before the show ended as Mama wanted to protect my ears from the last experiment which really was quite loud. But Mama really thinks it's a thrilling demonstration. Perhaps she will bring me here again to watch it when I am much older. Hopefully this demonstration will continue to run for many years to come. It is such a pity if I am unable to see it when I can understand more physics.

We met up with Papa who finished watching the exhibits and I even took a short nap and Papa and Mama got to watch some of the exhibits at their leisure.

Then I woke up and we saw a few more exhibits and took some interesting pictures before we left for lunch.

The room below makes use of the optical illustion that is created by a room with sloping floor. Papa said it's the "trick" Hollywood used to make Elijah Wood look short in the movie Lord Of The Rings.

Here's another one of the exhibits that make use of optical illusion. See Papa's head on a platter!



Mama thinks the Science Centre is very good place for our family of three to spend our day together as she can bring me to the Waterworks Playground while Papa can take his time to view the exhibits. His favourite exhibits are the ones about Mathematics. Would I grow up to like Mathematics too? ;P