Terrific Two!

It's never been more fun than now! Our babbling 2yr plus toddler is now practicing a whole new array of vocabulary to have her way. Some new observations lately:

1) '1 more time' (holding up her index finger with a pleading look), whenever she wants to read her book again, or watch that video again, or even snooze in for the morning...

2) 'Please' (with a pleading look), whenever she wants her way. She has learnt over repeated teaching the last few weeks she WILL NOT get her way if she whines...

3) 'Rain, rain, go away', no, she's singing this when it rains... BUT deliberately sprinkling water at whoever bathes her. Yes, rain on us indeed...

4) 'Estella takes car to school; Daddy takes bus to school' - her longest sentence so far.

5) 'Daddy, hug & kiss', her must-have before she sleeps each night... So endearing, isn't it?

I have so much to blog about her... but maybe later...

star mumblings

mama: can gong gong go to your house?
star: no
mama: can waipo go to your house?
star: no
mama: can ah yee go to your house?
star: yes

*******************************************
ah yee: can i tie your hair for you?
star: no
(ah yee puts a hairband on star)
star: (removes hairband) no no no

******************************************
mama: i've got a joy joy joy joy down in my heart
star: WHERE
mama: down in my heart
star: WHERE
mama: down in my heart;
star: (where)
mama: i've got a joy joy joy joy down in my heart
star: WHERE
mama: down in my heart to stay

Estella has grown so much... since my last post

Her fav Mcvities biscuits for snack.


Another pouty look...

To date, Estella is 2 years and 3 weeks plus old.
Much progress has taken place:
1) She started attending school since Jan this year. Took a long time to persuade her to put on her uniform. Some mornings, she still wears her PJ all the way up to school entrance, and I change her together with the help of the teacher. I will aim to at least upload 1 pic of her in her YWCA uniform. At this point I am writing this, she is being pulled out from school temporarily because of the HFMD. Will have to monitor for the next few days. I can memorize the school's number already. Oh, did I mention she will choose her own matching shoes, and sometimes decides for me which shoes go best with my outfit?

2) She has many words now... So amazing how she is forming 3-word sentences now like 'Daddy blow balloon'; 'Daddy take teddy bear'; 'Mummy sit here'; 'Estella eat egg'... Interestingly, she also has a lot of 'commands' for us lately - 'sit here'; 'more bread'; 'let's go'; 'Estella shower';... As it is, she is already rather chatty... I am waiting for the days ahead when we can engage in more conversations. She can also be a little drama-queen at times when she sings along with DVDs or at Sunday school. Last week, the Sunday school teacher said she volunteered to be part of the ship crew for the story of Jonah. Seems like everyone (esp the teachers) were having fun! She loves the ACTION songs too.

3) Her recent favourites: catching, hide-and-seek and all the rolling & tumbling games with Daddy. Top bad at this moment, I can only watch her play, especially the rolling & tumbling part. Those super-high-energy activities - Daddy will have to take over as my belly continue to swell.

4) WHY? She is going to be a jie-jie soon! She has also developed the habit of joining us every bedtime to talk with and pray for the baby. How she does it - through my belly button! What she says - "Harlow", "Baby", "See you" - just like when she is on the phone! Very comical sight...

5) Reading routine - we just managed to get this up in the last few weeks. Now, she will fetch her books (as well as mine) and read along together. As I read aloud my book, she does the same! And it's interesting cos her books are mainly 1-2 liners... It's so endearing each time I peep at how she is reading and flipping the pages. Go, my young reader!

Here are 2 recent pics taken from my HP... Guess it's high time I need to consolidate all her pics to 1 place...

Who Looks like Who More???

A more successful attempt at getting her to wear a hairband

See you!

Just want to put this on record that Estella knows how to say "see you" to me before her mama hangs up the phone!!!

Her voice is so sweet and gentle... ahhhh melts ur heart.. (not as much as the D-A-D-D-Y though). HAHA

Some Classic Shots Revealed for the 1st Time

Let's take a walk down the memory lane...

This was the first time she could sit upright and pose for picture. Not bad for a start, right?

She's quite into fashion you know? Playing with sunglasses already...

See her 2 front teeth? Oh! Those precious pearly whites!

Her first ride in the NTUC trolley. Her stern look tells you she's learning to get a hang of it. Today, she can tell you what to pick from the shelves, or better still, DIY.

Just a funny close-up. Don't we all envy baby skin?

At Tampines Ikea for the first time - rocking away...

This shot is taken at Kluang retreat Dec 2006. Logistics for Estella was a feat, really...

Sweet little baby, barely a month old...

Her first carriage. Not a Maclaren yet...

Her dining experience at Alexandra Ikea...

She was just learning to stand up, and cruise around the playpen. Now she RUNS...

Last but not least, this pic was taken exactly 1 day before Estella popped! Daddy and Mommy were taking the usual River-Walk, and planning for a Crab Feast the next evening. It was spent in labour though... Yes, a worthwhile process to behold this little bundle of JOY.

Estella's a Big Girl Now

This is the most recent pic of the lot. Estella is now standing at 82cm tall, and turning 18 months next week. Time flies right? It always brings back such sweet memories when we revisit her older posts on this blog. Ha, it's definitely worth the effort to start this! See the changes, from Day 1 to now... God is simply amazing!

The next 2 BIG THINGs for Estella:
1) We are starting the search for her playgroup already. Hopefully something that's half-day to begin with, so that she can start making new friends and leave her Po-po some free time.
2) Potty Training. Anyone with tips?

Some new milestones recently:
1) Drinking from her own cup (and often finishes her drink with a resounding 'AHhhhhhh')
2) Feeding herself with the spoon (though sometimes she prefers to use her fingers)
3) Feeding herself soup from the soup spoon (and drinks direct from the bowl for greater efficiency!)
4) Indicating her full/soiled diaper by pointing and uttering 'ehh ehh' (good tip for us to start off her potty training)
5) Uttering some words... prastising hard on "Da-ddy", "flo-wer", "dia-per", "to-wel"... Her favourite word is "BUBBLE"!!! Hi-Five's bubble song helps!
6) Helping out with simple chores like cleaning the floor, fetching her own bath towel, and even choosing the shoes she wants to wear for the outing.
7) Picking her own DVD to watch (ranging from Action Bible Songs, Hi-Five, Praise Baby Worship Series, Barney & Friends to Animal Adventures by Baby Genius...)

She's full of action, fun, and new surprises for us each day.
Let's continue to watch her grow...:)

How Estella looks with pig-tails

This is how Estella looks like with pigtails... Wondering how to keep hr hair long in a weather like ours... :)

The missing pics in between

Estella-mama has been most busy! As I'm typing, she is on her way home from the airport from yet another biz trip. I wonder how starrie will greet mama later! (Tho most prob she would have been asleep already.)

So anyway, here are some random pics that I've finally managed to get bz-mama send me after we found out we did not know how to transfer the pic files on her Mac to my hdd. She's growing real fast so don't be too surprised! Meanwhile, I shall continue to bug bz-mama for more pics so that I can help to post them up.

Most of you might already know, little starrie loves all sorts of gadgets! Handphones, cameras and remote controls especially. She has managed to switch on the fan in my room with the remote control and I must say I'm very much impressed cos we most certainly did not teach her that.

She is also a huge TV fan. Even though she is always chatty on the phone when you call her, no way you could get her to the phone when her favourite Hi-5 is on!
She can run very fast now too! Estella-mama gave me a video call one day to show me starrie running around in her squeaky shoes in Borders. Very cute but I wonder what the other readers were thinking. Ha!

She seems to enjoy kiddy car rides too! She will try to mimic her parents' actions eg. check blindspots and turn the steering wheel. Her mama says she refused to leave the Sesame Street car below for a full 15 min. Very insistent!

She also likes to move things around in the house. Estella-mama said she would open the cabinets in the kitchen and take out tuna cans and bring them to the living room. Perhaps she likes to play those masak games!

She loves to munch on her biscuits! It's a great way to distract her sometimes I realise haha.

And my favourite photo of all!
Happy Family!

She doesn't like hairbands

Ah Yee's Debut Post

Hi Estella!

Ah Yee has a huge gap to fill from Mommy's last post!

You have been very talkative lately and Mommy will call me now and then to let you talk to me. Although I seldom could make out what you are saying, you've never failed to entertain with your perpetual surprised tones! The most interesting incident was you video-calling me all by yourself! You must have been missing me huh.. Hehe..

You have also become one very active kid! The other day at the chalet, you couldn't wait to show wai po and wai gong your new found running skills! Ah Yee has also seen how much you wanted (from all the wriggling) to step into the water but was unable to because you did not have an extra pair of shoes to change into. We promise we'll let you do it the next time ok!

And to show how expressive you can be these days, I've posted a pic below, taken when we went to celebrate Mothers' Day. I hope your Mommy will have time to upload those pics we took at ECP soon!

Back into action

Ok, the quiet spell is over. Ah Paw Ah Yee will help to update this blog as well to keep up with the pace Estella's growing... Look out for more pics soon.

Estella's Recent Adventures!

Hey Darling...

A picture paints a thousand words...
If that's the case, I'll leave you to make out the whole story ok...


Love,
Mama

Estella's 1 Year Old Already!

My Dearest Estella,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, DARLING!!! You are 1-year old already!

Your birthday party was something Mummy has put down in diary since the beginning of the year. Well, the whole preparation process was short & sweet. We took just 1 weekend to do up all preparation such as invitation, catering, ordering the cake, packing the goodie bags for your kiddo friends, and turning the house around to accommodate all your guests. Previous work experince in event management sure comes in handy... :)

Maybe you knew your party was coming. The whole week leading up to your party, we saw how you progressed from cruising to hands-free baby steps (1-3 steps each time) to independent walking (7-10 steps consecutively)! Your hard work had paid off and you managed to mastered the "art of mingling among your guests" to make them feel welcomed! (Well, you were basically walking around from room to room, moving toys here and there, balancing against everyone in your path of conquest, and entertaining your guests with your newly-acquired parade skills!!)

There was so much excitement brewing... and it was a great time of catching up for everyone. On this day, it was also the 1st time Daddy and Mummy dedicated you to God in the presence of our beloved family & friends. We've also got Pastor Dong, Pastor Patrick & Pastor Rachel to pray blessings over our family together. :) "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord..." Joshua 24:15

Estella's Been Very Busy Lately

Dear Estella,

With greater independence and mobility, Mummy enjoys seeing you busying yourself with all sorts of activites. Let me show you what I mean. These are just some shots of you trying to get to different places, standing by the window to enjoy the garden view, banging on your green stool,... I have yet to capture those shots whereby you empty out a whole carton of toys, or move things from the left pile to the right, then back to the left again... (if you know what I mean...) That day you did this amazing act by crawling out of your room, with the air-con remote controller, and gleefully switched on 2 more sets of air-con in the living hall and our bedroom! It must had been such an achievement to you! Daddy had to give chase, you know...

I can see you are also trying to communicate more,in the way you know best now. Well, baby-signing has not been very successful so far due to lack of practice & consistency. Shall we continue with that?

And, you are definitely looking more and more adorable by the day. Mummy's verdict of course! I guess some aunties also feel the same...


You are going to turn 1 soon. Just 1 month 1 week more to go... Happy Babyhood, Estella! Soon, I can't call you baby anymore... You'll be a toddler!

To the uncles & aunties who frequently visit this blog...
If you wonder why photos are so rare nowadays.. well, it's true. Photographing her has got to be as discreet as possible. Once she sees the camera, she'll go after it. Perhaps Estella starts young as a techie. She's really quite into handphones, O2s, PDAs, and digital cameras. Whenever she sees them she loves to check them out. Please note however, there is no warranty of your IT products under Estella's Daddy's, or Mummy's name. In the event there is any malfunction, breakage, vandalism such as with the use of saliva, the owner shall bear full responsibility. :-)
(Darling, this note was prompted after Uncle Jiajun let you play with his PDA. He asked if we cover any upgrade as well!!!)

Till the next entry, with more photos hopefully!

Estella is past her 10-months' mark!

10 months - that's a long way isn't it?

Darling,
Mommy's taking this time to record some of your milestones. It has been such fun watching you grow, exploring new skills and chartering new grounds. All these are keeping you so busy that I noticed you willing compromise naps for more activities!

1. Teething... we are glad your 4 pearly whites are sparkling each time you beam that charming smile. More importantly, I don't see you rub your gum as often. I suppose that means it's going to a while before any teething discomforts visit again. Hang in there, we are with you, Darling! You'll get to savour more yummies as more teeth come along!

2. Cruising... standing up is no longer a challenge for you. You've gained a new perspective of everything, eversince you learn to make baby moves along the cot/wall/sofa. Good practise there! I see your eagerness to walk! One step at a time. But first, learn to stand firm.

3. Yet another new haircut! This one is done at the hairdresser (specially for children) located Suntec. It was a 'hefty' $16, considering the amount/length of hair actually cut. Haha, do you know your haircut costs more than Daddy's?

Mummy hopes to update your blog more often than this... :)

Estella's Finally Been to the Zoo!

This is another one of those delayed posts. Thank God for childcare leave! Comes in handy for a day of family outing like this!

It was an outing for 4 adults and 4 children. Unlike the other 3 older kids, Darling, you are the only who didn't voice out what animal you want to see. Your god-brother and his cousins were busy navigating us with the maps on their hands.
Though it was a hot and humid afternoon, nothing beats being able to spend time with you, as a family, with dear family friends!

Here are some shots:

On the way...

At the entrance...

With the white tigers...

Estella, you are 8 & 1/2 months old!

You've really lit up our weekends. No matter how tired the week may be, you never fail to energize us by putting the smile on our faces. :)

Shopping At Ikea
Remember yesterday's outing at Ikea, that was so much fun! Simply because we got to spend time together. Most of the shopping was done for you - new flower wall lamp as your night-light, power-socket covers, new containers to store your toys & knick-knacks... We were deliberating to buy you this igloo play-tent since you were having such a good time in there!

Though the restaurant was jam-packed, thank God we had our little corner. So while Daddy ordered lunch, you got to start first as usual. You are such a sweetie, and I love your cooperation during mealtimes, even when we are out. Of course, what we didn't quite expect was how you raised your voice -repeatedly- while we were eating. You discovered your decibel power right? That was also the reason why I had to bring you out of the chapel when Auntie Joyce & Uncle Yifan were exchanging wedding vows the other Sat. Sometimes I suspect you are trying to communicate with the older kids around.

A Little Gathering At Your Cousins' Place
Because of your older cousins, we are so blessed with lots of hand-me-downs. :) This day, we swung by to pick up your boundary-markers - a set of colouful barricade. Woohaahaa!!! Yes, your crawling skills had improved tremendously and it's time to cordon off the out-of-bound areas for you!

It was such a joy to see you playing with Elise & Evan. They were both so excited to have you in their house. Especially Elise, she was so helpful and kept bringing out toys to share with you. What amazed us all was - you were so warmed up to your cousins in the new place in less than 5 minutes! Months ago, your cousins could only 'sayang' you while you were lying down. Now, you have joined their rank in the Toy Kingdom!

A Quick Catch-up With Uncle Sam, Auntie Angela, & A New Playmate soon!
Girl, Uncle Sam & Auntie Angela were amazed at how big you are now versus 3 months back. It was a good introduction on baby's growth, since very soon, their little one will be here. You'll have a new playmate! It's so sweet of them to get you the present. I'll dress you up in the new clothes the next time we visit Auntie Angela & Baby.

Remember how you amused Uncle Sam? You were so persistent in wanting to chew his TV remote control! That's also the reason why Mommy have to keep the TV remote out of your reach. You practically put everything into your mouth now. How can I stop you? Your other favourites include tissue paper, handphones, daddy's keys, Popo's newspapers, many aunties' watches... (!!!)
That's you, Darling!
Mommy's looking forward to the next weekend with you! Hugs...

Love,
Mama

Estella is going places!

My little speedy crawler has sprung into full action just a few days before turning 8 months. Her playground has expanded beyond just the little cot and playpen. Unless her room door is closed, she has also learnt to venture beyond her own room to seek out adventures in other rooms. In instances when her door is closed, she will crawl to the door, stand up behind the door, and bang on it. It's high time to babyproof the whole house!!!

Oh, I witnessed a funny sight of how she went after the vacuum cleaner while I was cleaning the house last sat. No choice, her little fingers are capable of picking up little dust balls (and others which I wish not to imagine). I better get the vacuum cleaner to gobble down all these before Estella makes similar attempts. ;)


Here's a little gathering shot when we celebrated Kor's birthday. The little one is curious, and also a little restless as you can see... :)

Mum's into 2nd month of work. Blogging is truly a luxury...