Together At Red Slide Playground

2nd time the kids are at a playground together. YY is beginning to understand that shoes means going out and he'll quietly let you put them on without any struggle. He even knows to point to them when he wants to go out.

Animal Gathering

I love it when OO plays and gets creative. It reminds me when I was her age and would line up my stuffed toys.

The "Lost" Pics

OO's favourite teacher at school Teacher Ika left the school recently but Meimei has her number and have kept in contact. Meimei says Teacher Ika misses OO and have been asking how OO was doing in school.

She also shared some pictures she never uploaded into the i-child portal. These would have been lost forever if Meimei hadn't kept up her contact with her. Oh how cute OO was when she was younger ... no wonder Teacher Ika loved her very much too.

Giraffe Ride

Meimei had bought this sometime ago and now that YY's pretty steady in walking we decided it was time he has a go at it.

Which kid isn't excited when they get a new toy. YY was right on it the moment we brought the ride into the playpen.

Mini Dyson

It's amazing the things companies do to promote their product. And I do have to applaud the lengths Dyson went for their vacuum. I wish more companies would do the same. The mini Dyson is a gift from Layping to YY for his birthday.

YY loves pushing it around. He was already fascinated with the real vacuum so to get to play make-believe was a great treat. We kept constant watch though fearing he might drop the vacuum and hit his leg. That and manage the playtime since OO was very keen to play it too.

So Ramen @Bedok Mall

These days I'm not one to likely blog about food. With the kids Meimei and I hardly go anywhere to eat anymore, other than the nearby kopitiam or malls. Convenience has taken over the urge to find good food to satisfy our cravings.

And its on one of these convenience trip at Bedok Mall that we discovered a pretty good ramen place. Well, truth be told, I wasn't expecting much. It was lunch time and we were looking for a place to eat which is not of the fast food variety. I was craving for soupy stuff and so was Meimei.

We ended up at So Ramen because there are readily available seats and it was empty save for a table or two ... which means faster service.

What was just a convenience thing surprisingly yielded a new favourite place for ramen. And it's so close to home to boot which makes it even more attractive. I had the Grand Tonkotsu Ramen as it had 3 types of meat as a first try to see which meats were better. The broth was rich and flavourful, but not over-powering or jialat. Meimei had the Spicy Ramen which was also very good, with its spicy and sour aftertaste. And a very contentious plus these days .... they serve free ice water. Ha!

I'm definitely coming back again, especially when I'm looking for soupy food.

Secret Playground At Gardens By The Bay Kids Fountain Play Area

I don't think we would have ever discovered this if not for OO wanting to go explore the area behind the kids fountain area.

Initially it was just a few rope play structures for the older kids. But as we moved deeper we found an  extensive area with a 'treehouse' pitched above an entire sand area.

There was even slides that were about 2 storey high to get down to the sand area.

There were all sorts of little corners, paths to other slides etc dotted around the place.

It really feels like you were transported to another place. OO and I had a blast exploring the place. I think the allure of the place was also that it's tucked away in a corner and camouflaged by trees and vegetation. You would never find it unless you deliberately came this way.

Afraid 弟弟 Will Fall

We were visiting 伯伯伯母today with Nyaong and Nyama. They had moved from Tampines to a condominium at West Coast. Pretty good unit, spacious with high ceiling.

The kids were going about every room to snoop till they came to the balcony.

OO was afraid 弟弟 will fall so she kept calling to me to carry him. Aawwwww *love. YY on the other hand was adamant not to be held back and kept walking around without regard for 姐姐's worries.

The silly papa in me quickly whip out the phone to take pictures of my girl girl showing her motherly instincts instead of alleviating her fears. Well I helped carry YY away after snapping the two pictures and gave OO a big bear hug for being caring to YY.

YY is 1!

Silly me, I didn't get a pictures of the completed birthday celebration decoration first. Instead we only have a few we can publish online that doesn't have our faces.

The whole setup was very elaborate and all Meimei. If not for her, I think we won't even have a cake for the kids. She had everything planned intricately ... big big *muach to Meimei for all the efforts.

Time really flies, and it's even faster when we have two little ones.

Feb18 - It seemed like just only yesterday you were born and holding to Meimei's fingers

Mar18 - The contended baby sleeping

Apr18 - Starting to smile and interact ... that or his face also signals he is pooping haha

May18 - Sitting up

Jun18 - Discovering the goodness of fingers

Jul18 - Comfortable on tummy

Aug18 - Sitting on his own

Sep18 - Climbing every chance he gets

Oct18 - Standing with support

Nov18 - Confident standing, unsure walks

Dec18 - Walking confidently

Jan19 - Playing with OO

Together At 3 Slide Playground

This is the first time Meimei and YY joined OO and me at a playground. We had a blast of a time, especially YY who was all smiles as he toddle around with his crocodile.

OO was excited to have company and was tuned in big sister mode to lead YY around the playground.

OO was even scolding and complaining other kids when YY walked in front of the slides and was in danger of being hit by kids coming down the slides.

OO was also the proud 姐姐 showing YY around the playground and leading him to play on slides. Oh how she has grown ... my baby is a big girl now.

A wonderful playground trip. We should do this more often. These trips to the playground are more fun then going out on an excursion or playing with new toys.

CNY 2019

YY's first CNY. We skipped last year's CNY with YY's arrival. The year before we visited a few relatives on the first day and opt out of further traveling in the later part of the afternoon. It's the same this year, we went a few places and excused ourselves for the rest of the trips. It's too tiring for the kids to go from place to place, plus they were missing out on their afternoon naps.

I didn't think to take any pictures. I was more focused on getting through the day without tiring out the children. The only one I can find on my phone for publishing is a pic of YY in his CNY getup.

Fearless with Robbie

Boyboy is fearless. OO still avoids Robbie even though she towers the dog now. But YY ... he stares down at Robbie and even tries to touch him.

YY seems to be fascinated with Robbie. He would chase after Robbie and try to pull his coat. We try to keep a watchful eye on him in case Robbie turns on him. I doubt so though given the body language of Robbie ... he seem more keen to scurry away from YY.

Kuck-Kuck Crocodile

The Kuck-Kuck Crocodile is a hand-me-down toy we bought for OO but she never played with it. She wasn't interested in pulling a toy along and having it follow her. It has however become one of YY's favourite toy. 

He simply loves pulling the noisy crocodile around the house. And he has become very adept at holding the end of the string tightly.

He will occasionally stop, turn around, squat and point out the eyes to any spectator watching him dash around the house with the croc.

He has practically made it HIS toy. I suspect it gives him that 'security grip' since he has only just begun walking on his own. Whatever the case I'm glad he likes it.

Dish Washing Make-Believe

Leave it to Meimei to find and buy all sorts of toys for the kids. This time she got them a washing basin that actually sprays and recycles the water.

Which kid doesn't like to play with water. Even better when you can make believe and act like an adult. The washing part is questionable ... once they actually have to start doing it for real I'm sure they are going to resist it via one excuse or another. But till then, OO and YY are having a blast splashing water around the living room.

Expired Cash Card

For the first time in my life, I managed to use a cash card till it expired. I drove the previous cars past 5 years but I never encountered the cards expiring on me. Probably they were spoiled before their expiry dates, I can't remember though.

At first when the card was beeping in the reader I wasn't sure what went wrong. I took it out and plugged it in again several times but it just didn't work. It seemed rather odd at the time since things don't just break when you don't fiddle with it in the first place.

Thankfully the carpark gantry let me out and not leave me stuck. There was a long row of cars waiting to exit the SUSS carpark. Phew!