It was our long awaited turn to host the Sept parents and tods in our little tiny 3 room flat!!! We had a total of 12 adult and 6 little kiddos running and stepping over each other last nite! What chaos but oooo what fun we had!

We set to prep as soon as Sophie went down for her nap. We had to move the furniture around a little for more space and hide all the mess. When Sophie woke up, I roped her in to dry the dishes for the kiddos coz she was fussing. Yes, the best way to eliminate fuss? Involve them!

First to arrive - the Teos! With all their barang - 2 kids, 1 humongous tiramisu in a even more humongous pail, etc etc… hee… Super amazing coz they are the only one with 2 kids but the first one to arrive! And the last to arrive?????? Grace, CL n Clarence coz prince Clarence woke up late! Hee but he was in a good mood when he arrived! And they brought the very very nice fruit punch too!

While waiting for everyone to arrive, we had a conference call with the Ongs! We got to see little DN who is miles away in the UK! Oh how we miss the Ongs at parties!!! Unfortunately that didn’t turn out well coz we didn’t have MSN video on our side to support the call and June’s hardware couldn’t support Skype. But at least we got to see them and hear their voices for a bit! So cool!

While James went with Tony to pick up the dinner we ordered, the kids started feasting on the noodles that Joanne prepared. YUMS! Sam and Shawn took turns to feed Sophie. (Thanks guys!)

The guys finally arrived with dinner. The menu for the day was

1. Chefs Salad w Cherry Tomato Olive n Artichokes
2. Grilled Veg Platter
3. Mushroom Aglio Olio
4. Roasted Chicken thigh w Italian Sausages
5. Oven Roasted Meatballs and Mozzerella Cheese

Left: The Spread Right: The Tiramisu

YUMS!!! We finished all the food pretty fast and quickly went onto the famous Tiramisu that Sam made! Each couple had a 4"by5" piece! I’m serious. It was huge! The kiddos had a bowl of Haagen Dazs Berries ice cream each.

That was the best time to take pictures coz we got all of them to sit in a row and they were sitting as still as they possibly can! Bren and Shawn were going a bit crazy singing and making silly actions to get the kiddos to look up so that the rest can take pictures! Aiyo super funny!

Towards the end, we took a group picture. At the end of it, Sophie stood up and started singing and dancing in front of all of us! And the girls joined in and then Clarence and Jovann all joined it and they just all started jumping up and down and laughing. It was so funny to see our kids "performing" for us!

Finally we had the exchange of presents and they presented us with a special present for a reason which we will reveal in a bit on the blog. It was so sweet……. we got a calendar which Grace made with all the kids’ pictures and winter stuff like gloves and scarves. Cool beans, just what we needed!

I really had so much fun and I think the kiddos and everyone else too.

Sophie had some girl friends over yesterday morning and they had a blast!

It’s the season for parties!

Last Friday afternoon, we had our cell mums group Christmas party! Lotsa food, toys, carols and even story telling. Wanz read to the above two year olds and I took the under twos. I was pleasantly surprised that Sophie chose to sit thru the long Christmas story with Wanz instead of tagging along with me while I read to the babies. Hee my baby is growing up and being independent! Really proud of her.

Here’s Sophie having a conversation with her new friend - Michael over dinner (fish fingers n ketchup, unfortunately or fortunately Sophie didn’t take to the fish fingers. She only licked up the ketchup.). More photos here.

This photo’s bit blur (taken with my iPhone) but the moment was so funny - Evan started to lie back to eat her banana and Sophie followed and both of them were laughing at the same time and being silly. It’s so good to have a best friend!

ML n I organised a little Christmas party at our church mums grp yesterday.

The turn out was so good! We had more than 10 mums and more than 20 kids from 7 mths to 8 years old running around. We set up three tables - 1 for craft, 1 for cookie decorating and 1 for the food and drinks. After singing some carols, everyone took turns for craft and doing the cookies coz we didn’t have space for all.

Last year, we did the same activities but I had to do almost everything for Sophie but this year, she did both activities almost on her own. Cool beans!

Sophie REALLY enjoyed decorating her "gingerbread" man, with the help of Auntie SA n ML coz I was busy manning the craft table. All the kids were eating their chocolate chips, sprinkles and I caught Sophie eating off the icing that fell off even before they finished the decorations on the cookies. Sophie decorated three cookies and finished eating them all!

At the craft table, we made Christmas trees as Christmas tree decorations using foam. Some turned out very pretty but I was too busy, forgot to take pictures!

Sophie’s good friend DN is going away to England to join his mummy for a while and we are going to miss him. We will miss his appetite, his smiles, his affection for Sophie and his good sign. Funny how they have the same smile!

Sophie thinks he’s going to see the Queen, like in the poem Pussy Cat Pussy Cat.

The reason why we were in Melbourne was coz James’ long time friend Nick was getting married.

They held their civil ceremony outdoors and dinner indoors at The Prince Deck, Acland St, St Kilda. It was a very modern hotel that overlooked the beach and sea. The wedding was held at about 6pm so we managed to catch the sun setting. It was gorgeous! But it also meant it was freezing because of the sea breeze! oooooo so cold! Don’t ask me why Sophie’s not cold at all, I was freezing!

After the dinner, the couple and guests headed to the pub downstairs but we were stopped by the bouncer coz Sophie was too young. So James dropped us back at the hotel which was nearby and went back to party with the couple.

We are really happy for the couple that they took this huge step. Wish them all the very best!

I had dinner with an old old friend last night.

Irene and I go way back. We were best friends in secondary school and have kept in touch since then. We try our best to meet yearly during our birthday month.

She hasn’t seen Sophie in a year so I bought Sophie along. I was afraid that Sophie was going to be a handful after a whole day of activities (morning swim with Evan and afternoon walk at West Coast with my parents) but it turned out so well! Sophie was totally entertaining and kept making Irene laugh with her little anecdotes and funny expressions. She become more fussy towards the end when she wanted to get down the highchair but nothing a packet of raisins and some biscuits won’t pacify.

Great, looks like I can bring her out for more dinner dates with single friends/those without kids.

The girls after a dip in the kids pool.

The original plan was to go to the playground and blow bubbles. But we passed the pool and Sophie cannot just pass the pool. The girls went in their undies and t-shirts and had a blast!!!!!

Left: Sophie reading with A.
Right: Sophie having dinner with kor kor Chris.

I think I’m all ready for No 2…………………… right. Maybe just for an hour a day, ha!

Recently I’ve been doing some babysitting.

First of all, I LOVE KIDS!

Second of all, Sophie loves company and she’s so much happier when there are people around. I’m a great believer of having more kids because they take care of themselves eventually.

And since I live in the neighbourhood of spas and cafes, I’ve offered my friends - come, leave your kids with me and go have a dinner date/spa treatment and enjoy yourself. (I even thought of making this into a business considering the number of expats around this area who wouldn’t mind paying for this!)

So, some time back, Wanz dropped Ally (3 yrs old) and Arya (18 mths old?) with their helper and went for her hair cut. Just last Friday, B dropped A (2 yrs old) off to go do her nails. And on Fri night, I went over to S’s house with Soph to look after my godson Chris (6 yrs old) while his dad went for F1 and his mum was at work.

Ooooooo ok, truth?

The first hour is BLISS! The kids play nicely - sharing toys, food, books……….. I even sat down to read the papers at some point.

The next hour, the kids suddenly turn on each other! Share! No! Snatch! Cry! Fight! Etc……. Here’s where I come in with distractions - here have this other toy, biscuit (somehow someone elses’ biscuits always tastes better!) etc…….

Finally, I put on the TV while waiting for food to arrive. Rest. For like 15 mins……. and then I realise, not everyone’s kid is like mine! I went thru 3-4 vcds because Sophie wanted the "The Backyardigans" but A wanted "Barney". When I put on one, the other say "No!". My part time helper had a good laugh watching me trying to satisfy the two little two year olds!

My conclusion??????????? An age gap of 2 and above is great! 4 years apart even better coz Chris was such a gem and was constantly trying to play with Sophie. Having twins is disastrous unless you’re there watching them all the time at this stage.

But I still LOVE KIDS.

Blowing out the candles. For more photos, look here.

We had a little lunch celebration at Sol Playground Cafe after church for Sophie and her church friends. Ally, Arya, Evan, Skyler, Summer, Kyla and even little Eli were all there! Even Minnie Mouse! I had an ideal in mind - that Sophie can invite one more friend with each increasing year for her birthday e.g. 2 friends when she turns 2. BUT as it turns out…….. nay, forget it, it’s so fun to have friends!

Having the party at the cafe was a great idea if I don’t say so myself! Hiak! Endless supply of great food (as opposed to catered buffet food), someone helping to pour the drinks, play area which I don’t have to clean up after!, super child friendly - no one bats an eye at kids running amok plus there’s a nursing room n changing room in the cafe itself!, free face/hand painting on Sundays (hee I planned it such that the timing coincided haha) etc… SUPER! Only problem was that they didn’t tell us earlier that there was a party after ours and we had to clear out by a certain time. But at least they were nice enough to offer us another table and helped us to move over.

This time round, Sophie was pretty much involved in the party planning. She choose the
- friends to invite
- theme (ok, truth? hee… i didn’t put Barney as a choice… HAHAHA. Sorry lah I’m growing fond of the purple guy BUT balloons, cake n party bags? That’s too much… Mickey still can.)
- goodies for the goody bag (I was really tempted to escape and run out to do a quick buying trip but decided in the end to bring Sophie along. She totally enjoyed the process. I strongly recommend this. She was so excited to pack the goody bags and kept saying "These are for my friends, right?". So cute lah)
- cake (Er…… also guided choice. It’s Mickey OR Mickey. Hahaha)

She was so hyped up about the party the night before, she even said "I LOVE to sleep!" coz we kept telling her that she needs to sleep so that tomorrow can come. Hiak!

I had a great time observing Sophie and how she has grown - the spontaneous hugs to her fav friends, the shyness, the joy when Evan her best friend walked thru the door, the willingness to dress up with a tiera, recognising and mouthing the words of the birthday song when the record was playing because she was too shy to sing it aloud, ability to sit alone with her friends and interact with them, willingness to sit and be painted coz it’s pretty……. yes all that….. My little girl is growing up

The adults also had a great time. James and I felt right at home, walking around playing host to our friends. I was SO thankful that my parents were around helping to keep an eye on Sophie. Sophie’s godparents also did such a great job watching out for her and Vic at one point was feeding Sophie the birthday cake!

We are really blessed to be surrounded by great friends. Thanks guys for being there and also for all the lovely thoughtful presents!

Sophie feeding kangaroos

We’ve caught the zoo bug recently! We went two days in a row!

I gotta say our local zoo ROCKS big time! It’s an open concept zoo so you almost feel like you’re walking thru the park with animals close to you and they are everywhere! Except that the lion and the giraffes can’t reach n tear each other apart because they are separated by moats and vegetation plus a narrow road and pathways that we walk on. Which means, we’re safe too! Phew! But it was funny to hear the lions and giraffes taunting each other across the street or at least it seemed like that, so near yet so far!

Saki Monkeys

In the past two days, we managed to catch the

1. First Day - Splash Safari show where the sea lion, penguins, manatees entertained us,

2. First Day - Water play area where Sophie went wild coz she hasn’t played in the water for a long time. The area needs a major uplift coz it’s very rundown but there’s a new Children’s area coming up soon.

3. Second Day - Kangaroo feeding at the Australian Outback area where DN shook hands with the kangaroos and Sophie asked the kangaroo if she wanted to eat her shoe! Serious!

4. Second Day - Elephant riding, our friends went on it but we didn’t. Sophie saw how the elephant peed and was not very impressed that they didn’t use the toilet. Hiak.

Eh….. doesn’t seem like a lot in two days…

But it was SOOOOOOO enjoyable! I enjoyed listening to the zookeepers and presenters talk about the animals. They are so knowledgeable and so passionate about the animals! And they are oh so so kind! There is hope yet for the service industry in Singapore! Here are some examples of why I think the Singapore Zoo is world class:

1. June and I were running with our prams and babies towards the giraffe feeding when we saw the zookeepers walking towards us. We missed it! We must have looked really sad and disappointed. But they were so kind to tell us to head towards the Australian Outback where the kangaroo feeding was going on. I mean, they could have just told us, sorry finished bye bye but they went the extra mile to inform us of an alternative! AND this impressed me - the guy checked his phone for the showtimes, which prob meant they had some software to indicate that (COOL!) or he already memorised all the showtimes and was checking the time!

2. At the Kangaroo feeding area, they let DN and Sophie share the feed (no, not for the kids, the kangaroos!). They could have very well insisted that we had to pay (or donate coz by right it’s a donation) twice for two kids. They also didn’t hurry us and we took our time to feed the kangaroos. The kids had such a great time! DN even had time to shake hands and make friends with one kangaroo.

3. Bin wanted to let J sit on the pony so we bought pony ride tickets. But when we got there, NONE of the 3 kids wanted to sit on it! Argh. Ok lah I don’t really blame them. We had a chat with the trainer/keeper and he started telling us more about the pony. He was so gentle with the pony. I the goondu got Sophie to pat the pony on the back, thank God, he calmed the pony down quickly or else we would have been kicked! So I learnt never to pat the pony from the back! We met this guy some time before and he left an impression coz he was so knowledgeable and so helpful. Anyways, he told us that we could refund the ticket if we didn’t use it. How sweet! So Bin got it refunded and they went on the elephant ride instead.

What I would recommend to do for a morning trip

1. 9am Watch the Elephant bathing and then after that walk around abit
2. 10.05am Polar Bear Feeding
3. 10.30am Treetops Trail & Otter Feeding
4. 10.45am Giraffe OR Kangaroo feeding (Have to choose either one coz they are about the same time) Cannot miss this one! Cost about $5
and you can share the feed with your friends. Not to eat, to feed the animals.
OR 11am Catch the Splash Safari show (about 30 - 45 mins) and after that head towards the Children’s Play area for water play
5. 12pm Lunch
6. 1.30pm If you still have time, you can catch the Rainforest Fights Back show OR go for an ride on the Elephants (anytime from 1-2pm). The show is free but the ride costs $8 for adults and $4 for kids.

For the feeding and shows, you got to arrive early because they only allow a certain number of people to feed e.g max 5-10. Beyond that, the animals will not eat anyways. On weekdays, the shows are not so packed so you can arrive on time but on weekends, you have to rush for everything. Oh and it can get really hot so bring a hat or in our case, a dainty umbrella and the boys will fight over you…….r umbrella.

The Zoo is going thru a lot of revamping since end of last year and I think a better time to go would be the end of this year. But it is definitely worth a trip. You gotta go. It costs $16 per adult and $8.50 for children ages 3 - 12. A little expensive for a family trip BUT so worth it. Or like us, try to get your company incentive cards and it’s a free trip!

(ok after writing this post, I shd get an award for the bestest friend of the zoo. I hope some PR guy from the Singapore Zoo is doing his job.)