Babies' Prom

In my opinion, John's always been a relatively musical child. He loves music, singing and dancing. Even now, he sings more than he speaks sometimes and he can sing whole songs in both English and mandarin - in tune as well (much to mummy's relief). John loves to dance too and when any form of music comes on, he does anything from a little jig to a full on dance. And he's very much in time too.

I guess for John, it's a matter of having been exposed to contemporary worship even when he was in the womb. And every Sunday, he watches mummy involved in worship.

So classical music was not something I thought John would like, but when Steph (Victoria's mummy) asked if I'd like to go for the SSO's Babies' Prom, I thought why not. To be honest, I had my doubts if he'd sit through or enjoy it, so I brought his bag of toys and snacks just in case.

And I was very VERY surprised (in a good way) that John was engaged and loved the show. He even got his buzz lightyear toy to join in! Haha. Kudos to the SSO for making it so relevant to the young ones and engaging them throughout. I was highly highly impressed. We'll definitely go again next year.

Here are some pics:

Conductor Peter Moore was fabulous

Quietly listening

During the part they played the "scary music".

During the part the music was relatively louder and with much percussion.

This is a short video of the segment of the show i really enjoyed - they got some kids to go up to conduct the orchestra. Very funny...

-- Post From My iPhone

Tyke on trike!

Ok, it's not really a tricycle, but it's a training bicycle. With the success he's had on his scooter, we thought we'd promote the little one. And waddayaknow... He's a natural! *grin*

We got his wheels from a bicycle shop in Joo Chiat and it came with a basket (John insists on ferrying his animal friends) and a bell. And it was a hit with the little one right from the start. He literally rode the bike out of the shop!




Now he insists on going to the park to ride and we're happy to oblige. :)

-- Post From My iPhone

Youth Olympic Games

Last month, Steph and I brought Victoria and John to watch the Youth Olympic Games Equestrian Event. I must say that if not for Steph, I wouldn't have even thought about attending a YOG event at all. But having gone for this one, I feel slightly sad that I hadn't really embraced the games all that much. Sure, I watched the token football game and read about it in the news, but still, my support contribution was almost zilch.

Having said that, I'm glad we managed to get tickets to go for at least one game and apart from the nightmarish trip to and from the event grounds itself (we parked at the turf club, which was taxi fare $5.90 away from the actual event venue, which had no parking spaces at all) we actually quite enjoyed it. Good company makes all the difference!

John and Victoria were both absolutely glued to the horses for a good half and hour before getting a little more fidgety. Even I myself couldn't really take my eyes off the beautiful horses that navigated smoothly through the course. Took me a while to really understand the scoring system and country codes (yes, I'm really NOT a sports person), but I was really awed by how these teenagers were composed enough to steer the course and make it through. I forget sometimes that some of these kids may have just hit puberty and yet they have the maturity and are skilled enough for competition on the world stage.

Steph and I were chatting later and we realised we both felt slightly sad that whilst we were kind of good at a lot of things, we didn't actually excel in single thing. Sort of like a jack of all trades, master of none. Thinking of John now, I want to really encourage something he's interested in, be it a sport, music, art etc. I have to remind myself not to quench an interest he might have (unless it's contrary to our faith of course) and to support him in that.

Here are some photos of our little YOG experience:

The lovely Victoria trying to get John's attention.

Victoria absolutely loves horses. After a while she was up standing on the seat and applauding like a proper little lady after each competitor had finished the course. Mummy Steph was beaming with pride!

The course

My little man and I :)

Playing with mummy's sunnies (photo courtesy of Aunty Steph).

Trying to take a picture by the "Singapore 2010" banner. (photo courtesy of Aunty Steph)

ECP with mummy

Last Saturday Daddy was busy so John and I headed to ECP for a couple of hours. It was a nice day... Lovely sunshine and lovely people roller blading and running.

John got to use his "scooter" ( is that what you call it?) and I'm always amazed at how quickly he learns. His Gong Gong got it for him a few months back and though he was rather tentative at the beginning, he soon got the hang of it once he got to use experiment in bigger open spaces.

*grin*

Here's a video of the little one riding. Notice he's got an ambulance in his hand? He just refused to put it down. Nevertheless, he still managed without difficulty. :)

After that we went to the beach. John absolutely loves sand and getting dirty. He also loves finding new things like shells, twigs and dried leaves. I like that he's inquisitive this way and I always have to remind myself not to quench it. Here are more pics!

Not too impressed with his new spade.

So he uses his hands. Here's his "under-bum" scoop!

Can you find the cow, dog and dinosaur?

We found an abandoned sand castle. And within minutes it was demolished!

Trying to bury himself.

Got to appreciate the view. :)

John and Victoria take Hort Park!

Hort park is looooovely! Lush greenery and nice chill out areas. The best thing about the place is they have a few playgrounds (one with sand, one with dinosaurs, one normal non-sand playground and a sort of science type area for the older ones) and a fish pond with loads of colourful fishes. Oh, and it's free!

So Steph and I brought John and Victoria there last Friday and the kids had a ball. Pity it was soooo hot with not even the slightest breeze if not it would have been a perfect day. But better sunny than rainy. John was fascinated with the huge dinosaurs for a while, then it was the playground but when he got to the sand pit, there was no holding him back! He was grabbing the sand, throwing it on himself, throwing it on the pavement and once even at Victoria (poor girl). One thing's for sure, he's not afraid to get dirty. In fact, I think he likes it. I'm often tempted to stop him from getting dirty, but I believe I've got to let him explore and be a boy - even if it means a super clean up after.

It's really interesting to see how girls behave. Victoria is very proper and she doesn't like getting dirty at all - good for Steph I say. She's all about the clean play - see saw and swing - and will sometimes follow John to see what he's doing but not engaging at all in the icky play. I wonder if my daughter (when I have one) will be like that. It would certainly be easier for me. haha.

Anyways, here are the photos from the playdate. Most of them (the lovely ones with super vivid colours) were taken by Steph and a few by myself on my iphone. :)

Check out my buay pai seh son sprawled on the sofa at the visitors' centre.

Oooh... Dinosaurs. John's got a fascination for them at the moment. Tory in the background not as impressed.

John jumped right in and started playing.

Victoria wasn't too happy with the black gravel. It took her a while to get used to the place.

Ah. Good clean fun. No sand or gravel here.

We wanted to get a picture of John and Victoria together on this bench, but it proved too difficult cos John just needed 2 seconds of rest before he was off again.

By this time John had absolutely red cheeks, was dripping in sweat and had sand all over himself.

Let's have a closer look!

And here's why... running with a fist full of sand and throwing it on the pavement - getting some on himself in the process.

Snack time.... we finally managed to get a picture of them sitting together! They were actually looking at a couple of boys who had also come to the playground and their helper who was wearing 2 hats - don't ask why.

Look at that ice-cold drink. The mummies had to get a drink after all that running around.

Fish! John was absolutely delighted to see the fish in the pond. They were actually very very pretty because of all the colours.

There was a small dispensing machine selling fish food for a dollar! That's really expensive considering how little food we got. But nevertheless, the kids had a ball feeding the fish.

We're definitely going back to Hort Park again. Next time I'll be sure to check the weather forecast beforehand. :)

Our new friends!

God has a wonderful way of bringing people together. In March this year, when we started on term 2 of John's Julia Gabriel class, one of my Uni mates, Stephanie, joined the class with her daughter Victoria. And since then, I've found another good friend and John has found a play pal in Victoria.

We've unofficially made our Friday mornings playdate days for the bubs and so far we've been to Botanic Gardens Swan Lake and Hort Park - both of which were firsts for John and mummy. I must say it's been wonderful! John and Victoria seem to get along quite dandy and they run around (actually more John than Victoria, she's a real lady), play, have snacks and get dirty in the mud/sand/grass (again, more John than Victoria, she's a real proper lady).

We mummies also get to chat and catch up and we have found waaaay too many similarities in ourselves it's not even funny! Stephanie says it's because we're March babies and I agree. Besides the outward appearance (I'd die to look like her - Adrian's a lucky man), I swear we could have been twins! I say again, God has a wonderful way of bringing people together.

Steph's also a wonderful photographer and when we go out, she's snapping away. She can afford to, unlike myself, who has to run after John half the time cos he's trying to catch a caterpillar or he's playing with mud. So thanks to her we have our little playdates documented in pictures. :) So here's some photos from our Botanic Gardens outing.

John loves birds - any kind of bird - so he was happy to see the swans.

We brought bread to feed the swans. John happily threw the bread into the lake until he realised it was food and started to eat the bread himself! Good thing mummy brought fresh bread! Victoria didn't feed the swans and held onto one piece of bread the whole time. I think she was reluctant to share. haha.

The two of them look sooo cute here. Expressions almost identical.

I can't remember what they were doing here but it was really nice to watch them "communicate".

We sang the Barney song and when we came to the "great big hug and a kiss from me to you", John went over and kissed Victoria on her nose! It was so sweeeeet.

John shared his toys with Victoria.

... and he's off!
My bub runs off to explore the big trees.

If you think these photos are nice, wait till you see the Hort Park ones! Coming up soon!

Look out!

Traffic police! :)

John had a go on an actual traffic police motorcycle at the Ministry of Home Affair's career fair at Marina Square earlier this month. Needless to say, he was thrilled. :D

MIA & Water Play

I know i've been MIA for a while. It's been mad mad mad wearing the mummy hat and the working hat simultaneously. But over Christmas, I've decided that I will catch up with my blogging in between parties and gatherings. :)

John's now 18 months old and one thing John really really loves is water. Anywhere with a fountain or water play he loves and seeing how much fun he has makes the hassle of cleaning up and changing later on all worth it. Here are some photos from one such water play session at Vivo City.

Up up and away!

Yesterday we took John to Marina Barrage to fly a kite. I was inspired by Joan, whose 30 list included flying a kite, coupled with the fact that John's been sick so we couldn't go anywhere indoors with other kids and he needed the fresh air. Also, the view's fantastic.

I had never flown a kite before and had the impression that it was really difficult. Fortunately for me, I have a pro of a husband, who as a child successfully flew a kite at his mum's clinic with close to nada wind. He showed us how eeeeasy it is to fly a kite. He didn't even need to run.

This is y favourite pic of the lot. It's got my 2 fav people and the Singapore skyline complete with the flyer.
It's now my desktop picture. :)

When we arrived, there wasn't anyone at the field. But soon, bus loads of primary school kids lined the field. Many of them tried flying their kites unsuccessfully and one girl even came over to consult James on how to fly properly.

Here's my husband being consulted. It was so funny I just had to snap a pic.

Close to the end of our session, the wind got ratehr strong and we managed to fly the kite very high. We had almost no string left. That was really exciting for me.

Me having a go. The kite's so high up you can't really see it in the pic.

Of course true to John Chng's style, he did a HUGE poop while we were there and we had to change him in the open field. Of course we disposed of the 'toxic waste' after we left. :)

That's my bub all clean and satisfied after his poop. :)

But we just had so much fun we're definitely going back to fly our kite again.

John and Nat

Last week we had lunch with Chris the baker and her bub Natalie. We had Thai food at Siam Kitchen at Parkway (Chris now stay in the east!!! Woohoo!) and the two little ones had a treat of spring rolls, phad thai and thai fried rice. Very yummy.

It was a nice, relaxed lunch for us both cos the two little ones were in relatively good moods and were happy to get to know each other. Close to the end of the lunch, they were playing 'follow the leader'. Nat would start to bang the table and John would follow suit and then vice versa. I know it's not socially considerate behavior but the restaurant wasn't too crowded and it was too cute to watch! Here's a short video:

Then there was the book swop...

After lunch... reading time.

Nat's more interested in what John's reading.

John decides Nat's is more exciting too and they SWOP!

Swop completed and we have to happy bubs!

After lunch Chris headed to run some errands and I prepared to head home. But John decided to leave me a present... a HUGE present. Good thing Parkway has a nice nursery in Isetan. I used so many wet wipes i actually lost count - but i won't bore you with the details. :)