Our Limited Three-some Time

With Eliana's arrival date drawing closer, we are treasuring every three-some moment like these. Mommy won't be pregnant forever, and this look too, will change!

Our regular walk at ECP...


Mommy's Darling Girl - Estella!

Estella with her hairband (finally)

This one is for Ah Yee, who is still waiting for a successful attempt to help Estella wear a hairband.
Here's how she looks like... Doesn't she look stylish with the sling bag too? :)


Mid-day Humour: This is the Xiao Wan Zi that Shups has commented about... Quite alike right?!

A Voice that Melts Daddy's Heart

'Happy birthday to Daddy, Happy birthday to you!!!'
Yes, Estella was capable of melting Daddy's heart on this special day. A big thank you to all the great frens who had pulled this celebration together at (well, we always claim the most kiddy-friendly restaurant) Globetrotters! It was definitely a great catch-up time. For those who have not seen Estella for a long time, you might have been pretty entertained by her new range of vocab.

We are thankful for friends to join us in celebrating friendship, special events, and Estella's new milestones! :)

We are going to the zoo, zoo, zoo....

Another trip to the zoo... Cos Mummy knows the next one will have to be months from now.
Estella was a lot more engaging this round since she knows the animals' names better! Eh, this was her 3rd visit so far... :)

Of course we visited the Children's Playland for her sake. The good old favourites never fail to win her heart. She always enjoys the swing & slide. There seems to be some new features coming up. Good suspense - we will come and explore again!

Her other highlight was the icy cold, sweet and chocolatey Cornetto!!! Barney songs have got such great influence over her... "ice cream, ice cream, cold & sweet..."
Of course, the biggest draw for her was still the tram ride, which she called the 'CHOO CHOO TRAIN'! It's such a convenient way to tour the zoo with the unlimited rides. Not just Estella, I enjoyed the rides too. It's too high a call for me to walk the zoo in the third trimester.

The zoo remains a great place we want to go back to regularly. Lots of nature, animals, greens... and SPACE! (on a weekday morning) I can see how Estella's eyes sparkle when she sees how her favourite animals come alive before her eyes. This is definitely 1000x more exciting than seeing the pics on her books or watching them on TV!

Button you must wonder...

A new learning experience today for Estella - BUTTONS!!!

"I can do it by myself..." She has been spending this afternoon practising buttoning and un-buttoning. No fanciful books or props - just 1 of her fav polo-tee and You You!

I must say she has succeeded after 15min of perseverance. Mama is so proud of you, Darling!!!

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