dinner at goodwood

Went out for dinner with Steve, Lily and baby Laura in a Chinese restaurant at Goodwood Park Hotel. Our table were just next to the pool area. The entire hotel was pretty, especially when it has been decorated with lots of lights in conjunction with Christmas that is just around the corner!!

Caden slept late again today! I can see that he is growing up! He can take up to (or even more) than 4 hours without sleep now! [He used to knock off after only 3 hours].

He still naps 2 times a day, in the morning at about 9-10 am for about 1-2 hours. Then in the afternoon at about 2 pm for 2-3 hours. Total he sleeps about 14 hours/day.

Many people said that he sleep a lot for his age, but daddy said, "it's very easy to get kids to sleep less than more. And since sleep is the only time that his brain and body will grow, why should we worry? Soon, he would asking for less sleep anyway!! ^_^

@ 14 months

Indoor Playground at Forum

I just found out about this ‘free’ playground in Forum. A friend told us about it. Well, actually we have to pay $10 for 2 years membership, but with this, we can use the playground for free (they have limited hours but it works fine with Caden’s schedule) and on top of that, we can get discounts at participating stores and restaurants! Don't forget, it's also close by from home! Not bad, huh? How I wish I know about this earlier!

Being a full time mom, I can bring Caden to play on weekdays’ afternoon which is the least crowded time of all. [I heard in the evenings and weekends are bad…huge crowd of kids and maids filling up the place]

Caden loves to play there! He especially loves the pool of colorful balls. He likes to be submerged in it, doing nothing, though, but he could ask for more and more. In the picture, suster was playing with Caden, she gently threw the balls on him while saying “Caden is gone” to submerged his whole body (leaving the head only) in. And the whole time, he looked just like he enjoyed being inside the pool that he didn't care of anything else!

I was actually thinking of making a pool of balls at home but it requires lots of balls and I am afraid Caden will throw the ball everywhere and make a huge mess out of it. Now that I found this playground, I am glad that I have not bought any of the balls yet.

PS: This one is much better from the one at Paragon; bigger in size and much more equipments for the kids to play.

At Gymboree

We went for trial again at Gymboree. The last time we were here is when Caden was only 6 months old (at level 1), and I felt that the class was too slow for Caden. Eerrr... They had massage time (with massage oil & we had to whisper to them to ask for their permission!!!) + questions & answers time for the mothers. And at that time, Caden was wriggling everywhere (read: he was bored).

A friend told us that the class for older kids is different. It is more fast-paced and challenging. So, with that in mind, I tried it again.

[I am just looking for different gym classes around the central area, I am just weighing my options, maybe there is better gym school than The Little Gym]

Caden who is at level 3 now, is even more active and socialized. We arrived at 11.15pm, the class was already started. They just moved to a different level and it looked very clean and nice. The first thing in my mind when we entered the room was, it’s huge and filled with lots of different equipment which looked new, challenging and expensive.

I was excited at first but soon feel a little disappointed and even more disappointed as the class continued. First of all, the teacher did not seem to know exactly what she was doing. She only introduced everyone to different sets of equipment and kept saying that “this equipment is good for their (the kids’) fine motor skill” again and again at each one of them.

Secondly, she sang out of tune!! And this one I cannot tolerate! Grrr…I just hate someone sings out of tune, especially when you are teaching a class that require lots of singing as most children loves to sing.

Although their class is a bit small and doesn't have open gym time for Caden to play, I feel that The Little Gym has the best teachers of all. All of them are energetic, friendly, knowledgeable, really loves children, really enjoy their job (you know when people do something just for the sake of the money), and last but not least, sings in the right tune (^_^).

With this bad experience, I don’t think I am going to the My Gym trial on Thurs. It would only be wasting my time and money!

house cleaning

PS: The green-tea box was empty!!

My First Moving Car Experience (with daddy)

Caden always afraid to stay on any of moving car rides. In Tanglin Mall, they have a few of them. Suster had brought him there earlier when all of us were eating and Caden was crying, as he wanted to stay on longer, when suster told him to get back to the restaurant.

Out of curiosity, we tried to put money on it (again!!) and he immediately cued us to carry him the minute it moved.

Then daddy had an idea, “maybe if I sits down with him, Caden would want to sit throughout the $1 ride”

And, guess what? It works!

But I think the train moves slower with such heavy weight on it! Haha…

My First Spaghetti Experience

There were times that I was worried about Caden. He didn’t seem to like new food or snacks, especially when it is hard and need time to chew on. I was afraid that his food need to be smashed all the time and that might not be convenient when we are traveling.

When we give him new snacks or rice, spaghetti or even raisins, he would either put his fingers on the mouth to take it out or close his mouth real tight.

I felt like he doesn’t like new challenges! *not good!!*

But today was different! We ate at Spageddies restaurant in Tanglin Mall with Ainsley’s (Caden’s friend from Little Gym) family. We were having a late lunch (at 12.30pm) so Caden had eaten at home earlier and also to avoid mess at the restaurant.

[I have been observing him for the past 2 weeks; meal times are more difficult when daddy is around. He pointed his fingers to things but when we gave them to him, he refused them. Or, he would close his mouth with no reason, etc]

Anyway, back to the hard food topic, Caden was curious of my spaghetti, so I thought, I give some for him to play (never thought that he would actually ate it). I sprinklered some cheese on the side, too. Then I asked suster to give the spaghetti with lots of cheese to him. He refused at first, but after the first bite, to my surprise, he asked for more again and again.

Haha…

Daddy is right: "Girls are WEIRD!!!"

this time with friends....

Friends in Little Gym decided to check out the garden, too. So we planned to meet up today. Unfortunately, they forgot to bring extra clothes so we could not play in the water park area.

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Oh well!!

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But we had fun walking and chatting at the cafe afterwards! ^_^

My Gym

We went to Great World City Mall today. It’s been a while since I visited the mall. I thought we could have lunch there and checked out the kid’s gym place called “My Gym.”

They have a huge place, much bigger than The Little Gym but I am not too sure if the teachers are good. From a glimpse, they looked very young and not so experience with the job.

What make me interested with this one is that, they have an open gym time. That means, all members can use the gym free of charge at that time, non member has to pay $19 which I did as Caden was pointing to the gym all the time (which means, he wanted to go in and play).

Anyway, I booked for a trial class next week on Thursday. I am still not sure if I should even come for the trial, but I think that open gym time will be very helpful for Caden to burn off his excess energy which always seems to be too much.
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PS: Caden like to go up and down on the plastic stairs. The stairs are designed specifically for young toddler; therefore, he could hold onto the handles and go up and down without help or falling off.

Jacob Ballas Children Garden

I have been heard good things about Jacob Ballas Children Garden, the first Children Garden in Asia, but we have not had the chance to go there. I decided visit the garden last Thursday and I just realized that the park is very close to our home. It took us less than 10 minutes to get there.

The weather was a bit hot but it was such a refreshing day out, instead of going to the mall all the time. At first Caden doesn’t want to walk by himself but soon, he insisted to walk without us holding onto his hands….ughh…scarry … I was so afraid that he fell.

So we went there again today. Unlike last week, this time is more crowded as school holiday had started.

What I like from the trips to the garden is, Caden, the super active dude, usually knocked out once we reach home (of course after we bathed him).

His favorite area is the water park. But we always visit it before we went home, so he could clean up right after we arrived at home.

Definitely, there would be many trips to this garden in the future. Hihi.

Sunday School today...

Caden always looks very happy to be in Sunday school, that’s why I always bring him there every week. At first, I thought it would be too early for him as most of the kids there are older than him. And bringing him to the 2.30pm service means that I will have to wake him up half-way through his nap time which would messing up all his usual sleeping schedules for the day.

I also think that bringing him to Church at young age will do good for his future. He would know more of our loving GOD through the stories and the songs that being taught earlier and I hope it would stay in his mind forever!

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His activities there would be walking here and there, looking at the older kids sing with so much enthusiasm, listening to the Bible story of the week and sometimes even grabbing someone else’s things. ^_^

For today’s activity, the kids had to draw using crayons on the paper that was given. Caden, who was not really able to hold onto the crayons properly, was just messing around with it.

Caden's master piece....or rather, it's suster's.

The messy lines around the white background is Caden's. hihi.

party day...

Today was a busy day for us. We went to two parties: to Dylan's 1 month celebration in the morning and to Nathan 1 year old birthday in the afternoon. Both were held at their respective home. It was fun, especially for Caden who seemed to enjoy meeting other children at the parties.

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But we were soon feel very tired and poor daddy! He wasn't able to took his usual weekend nap before going back to Dubai at 9pm today.

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"Hope you can catch some sleep in the plane, daddy and see you next weekend!"

dinner at Vivo City

All the three of us went to Vivo today! We departed from home right after Caden woke up from his afternoon nap (around 5 pm). We had an early dinner there, window shopping at Toys R Us & Crocs store and arrived at home at around 8pm.

Very seldom we brought Caden out this late, but it's nice to do this once in a while, especially since daddy has so little time at home; we have to maximize all the time that we have.
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When daddy is here, Caden would cling to his daddy; Wanting him to carry him everywhere and demanding him to play with him all the time. It's nice to see them both play and laugh, how I wish they would have more time together!

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But I remind myself that we should always be grateful of what we have now!

Julia Gabriel's party day

Today was the last day of Julia Gabriel class which means, it's party day. Teacher Winnie said that we have to dress-up for the party. So Caden was in his tux today. All of the kids received a gift (from other parents that was given a week before) that was given by a Santarina (female version of Santa Clause). hihi... It was hmmm...different and fun!

Caden was lucky enough to have daddy to come to for the party. This would be daddy's first time accompanying Caden in a class. ^_^ Thanks daddy for coming!

cleanning mom's bedroom

Jab: Chickenpox

We went to the doctor again today to get the chickenpox jab and to ask the doctor about Caden’s cough and flu. He has been having flu for about a month and never really recovers from it. At some point he seems to get much better but soon, it get worst again.

Then the doctor said, Caden had gotten 2 (or three) different viruses, that’s explained the almost recovering period (and soon got worst again).

Again, he was seen bright and happy in the waiting room but immediately cried when he saw the doctor! He was crying even more when he was given the jab. Poor Caden!

I don’t usually allow him to wait inside the waiting room cos’ there are always too many kids that have cold and flu (or other sickness) and I don’t want Caden to get infected with new viruses. But today is different, we were the first patient and not much people were inside the waiting room yet.

By the end of the consultation, people were starting to come! So while I was waiting for the payment, I told suster to bring Caden outside. And apparently, he wanted to be inside with me and to play with the toys again.

visiting Kongco at hospital

Kongco is in Singapore since last Saturday night. He was rushed to Singapore as he was having some health problems and we would want to make sure that everything is alright with him.

He is 81 years old and never had any serious problem with his health until he has to be admitted to a hospital. So this will be the first time.

He looked worried on his first day here but today, he looked so much better. There were smiles on his face again! Doctors said, he could go back home tomorrow, everything seems alright and there was no major problem, he just have to eat some medications.

So I decided to bring Caden to see his great-grandpa. I know hospital is not for babies, but, it would only be for a while and I am sure this could give more smiles on Kongco's face.

So here we were…half an hour inside the room and Caden was destroying everything that he could touch. We then took some pictures for nai nai (great-grandma) who is in Jakarta to see before we go home.

Fuihh…Thanks GOD that everything is good with Kongco! We hope GOD will continue to bless Kongco and Nai-Nai always! AMEN!!

the mouse in the house...

At 6 months old, Caden found out that his hands taste really good. At around 7 months old onwards, he always brought EVERYTHING that he can grab into his mouth.

And now, he brought them into his mouth, bite it with his only four teeth (2 below and 2 directly above them) and leave it there for a few moments. When it fell, he will try to put it in again and again.

He did this with almost everything that is light and small enough for his teeth to hold; chopsticks (his favorite), yogurt plastic can, toys, pens, and even his mut-mut.

He gets more attached with this security blanket. But I think, compare to some children, his attachment is not that bad. He doesn’t have to bring it everywhere (outside home) and only use it when he is going to sleep but sometimes he carries it outside to the living room to play with.

Christmas is just around the corner...

I can't belive it that Christmas is just around the corner. The year of 2007 is going to end very soon. I still remember Caden's first Christmas last year. He was only 3 months old and wasn't able to do much. Now he is more than 1 years old and he can walk and talk (though mostly in his own language ^_^).

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I loves Christmas, everything seems to look prettier at this time of the year. Orchard Road has been decorated with lots of christmas ornaments and lights. It's going to be pretty!

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We were surprise to see the huge Christmas tree in Takashimaya. I guess, in Singapore, Christmas starts in early November and probably going to end in February next year. hehe...

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But we don't mind, we enjoyed the beautiful sight. Caden looked at the Christmas tree with owe. It is indeed a hugeee oneee...