Little Bun #2 is 11 Months Old!!

Den-den turns 11 months old today and I realize with a startle that my Den-den is only a month away from turning ONE YEAR OLD!! My chubby, happy-go-lucky baby is looking leaner these days but is still as cheeky and jovial as ever. 

Unfortunately (for me, that is) his first (and currently, only) words are 'Papa' although unlike little bun, Den-den is very much a mummy's boy. He still can't walk unaided yet, but will happily cruise around the house with the help of furniture, and boy is he a 'crawling torpedo'. Just a few days back, he was crawling the house following me from room to room as I went about doing some housework. When he couldn't catch up with me, he got frustrated and suddenly sat in the middle of the hall, let out a frustrated wail and looked forlornly at me. Couldn't resist him so I stopped what I was doing and picked him up. 

Happyyyyy 11th Month baby boy!!! I wish you will stay a baby always, really cannot believe how fast you are growing up and we love you so much!

Photos taken during our recent trip to the pool (just before everyone fell ill). The kids had a great time cos we had the entire kids pool to ourselves the whole time we were there! Even den-den, who didn't particularly like being in the pool previously, seemed to be enjoying himself. 

Hand-stamping! This kept him entertained for a fair bit of time.

 

Didn't have a very auspicious start to the Year of the Horse. In fact, it was awful. I caught a cold before the eve of the Lunar New Year and it dragged on into the holidays. And then of cos little bun had to catch the bug from me and he was one crabby bun. Both of us sneezed and wheezed our way through the New Year and just as we were beginning to recover, Den-den caught the &^%$#@% bug!! Because we were unwell, we tried to stay at home during the holidays and we drove each other insane. The boys were unwell and lethargic and needy and grumpy (list goes on).. and Mark and I were equally frustrated. 

Let's just say the year did not begin on a very good note for us and we were all glad to go back to work when the holidays ended. 

Goodbye Miss Snake; Hello Mr Horse!

Today is the last day of the Year of the Snake.. I know that Mark for one, is happy to see the tail of the snake slithering out of sight. This had been a rather rough year for him for he lost his father and grandmother in the span of a few months. For me, this is the year I have attended more funerals than I have ever attended.. Overwhelming year it had been.

Hoping that Mr Horse will be kinder to us than Miss Snake. I don't need 'good' things to happen, all I ask for is a smooth and uneventful year. Oh please, please let this be a better year than the last. 

With Chinese New Year just around the corner, all the shopping malls have their festive decorations out.. fresh flowers, artificial flowers, Chinese lanterns, gold coins, the God of Fortune... I came across this pretty pot of colorful hydrangeas (they are real!!!). I love hydrangeas but unfortunately they do terribly in hot weather (this pot was found in one of Singapore's many freezing shopping malls, hence it was thriving well). 

Mark and I will not be able to 'celebrate' Chinese New Year this year cos his dad passed away fairly recently, hence it is deemed as a taboo for the family to celebrate anything of any kind (birthdays, wedding, festivals, etc). 

Happy little bun on his way home after school. He's wearing the t-shirt that we bought during our Melbourne trip. Now Mark has grand plans to visit Melbourne again this August with not one, but BOTH boys. I am very apprehensive and have serious doubts about his newfound confidence (and optimism). 

Before we embark on that plan, we will start off with something shorter as a testing ground. We have booked to go to Hong Kong in late March!! This trip is mainly for the boys cos we will be sending 2 nights at Hong Kong Disneyland and only 1 night in Hong Kong island. If we survive that trip and live to tell the tale, then perhaps we can plan for the Melbourne trip.  

Looking mighty pleased with himself (reasons unknown). Maybe he just decided that he likes having his photo taken!

He still has very (very) little hair.. no idea why. Some people have commented that it's because we did not shave his head during his full month, but my argument is he didn't even have hair to shave when he was 1 month old! Oh well, I was a rather bald baby/kid too, so I guess he takes after me in this aspect. 

Took my little 'boss' out for a stroll in his little ride (a hand me down from little bun). Frankly I have no idea whether he enjoyed the ride or not cos he had that same 'couldn't be bothered' look on his face throughout and sat there looking like, well, a boss. (I always pride myself as being good in reading other people's facial expressions/ body language, but I am stumped when it comes to my son).

My little musician to be?? 

Little Bun is 27 Months Old!!

To (sort of) celebrate little bun's 27th month, we made a trip to the beach!! Hard to believe but I think this is only the 2nd time we brought him to the beach (the 1st time he was too little to know what was happening). 

It started off innocently enough. Initially I thought we'd have breakfast followed by a leisurely stroll along the park which overlooks the beach. Then one thing led to another.. I found little bun and myself ON the beach (we were not geared up correctly for it.. I was wearing my Salvatore Ferragamo sandals and little bun was wearing track pants, non waterproof sandals and without his swimming diapers on).

The weather was wonderful that morning.. cool and breezy.

Happy bun running along the beach..

.. without forgetting to turn back to check that I am there behind him

Then he wandered further and further into the water until his shoes and pants got really wet (and sandy) so we decided to take them off.. What the heck right? The happy and excited look on his face is priceless.. 

Not forgetting Den-den and daddy who were observing us from a safe distance away without getting their feet wet.

I'd say it certainly pays to always make sure you carry a spare set of clothing and diapers with you no matter where you go when you have young kids!!