Decorating for CNY

Since Mama is due to give birth at anytime, Papa and Mama prepared all the Chinese New Year stuff much earlier this year! Even buying they pussy willow like 2 weeks before CNY! Gwendolyn, as usual, was so keen to help with decorating it! See how she climbed up the sofa and helped with hanging up all the decors!

Auntie Mary!

Auntie Mary is Mama's primary school friend. She came to visit us and stayed with us on 11-12 January! We had a good time...first had dinner at Clarke Quay's Italian Restaurant and then ice-cream at Haagen Daz! The following day, we went to The Cheese Prata Shop next to NUS for breakfast, before heading to Mount Faber's Jewel Box for a light lunch, feeding some fish, before we went shopping at Vivocity!

Gwendolyn enjoyed Auntie Mary and Uncle David's company so much, as Auntie Mary brought along her Nintendo DS machine, with Lyn Lyn's favourite Dora game...she knew how to play the game immediately after Auntie Mary's taught her the basics!

My special 2 scoop chocolate ice-cream!

Not sure how Lyn Lyn managed to take a smokey effect picture for Auntie Mary and Uncle David!

Ice-cream for Papa and Mama

Busy playing NDS at The Cheese Prata Shop

Our light lunch @ Mt Faber Jewel Box

Watergun Sword

If you can remember, Gwendolyn asked for this watergun sword whilst shopping for X'mas presents at Toys R Us in early December. She didn't get to "open this present" until Boxing Day! Finally, she's got a chance to play with this sword, when Papa brought her to the swimming pool!

Looking so girlie with a sword?

Even though it was rather cooling on that day, it didn't deter Lyn Lyn's interest in trying out her watergun sword! Papa challenged her to rush to the floating sword to see who's faster in reaching the sword, so as to be able to shoot the other person! Lyn Lyn, as her usual self, being very competitive, rushed to the sword and kept shouting to Papa: Don't swim so fast! Worrying that Papa will be faster than her to reach the sword!

I shoot you, Papa!

Don't splash water on my face!

Having fun with Papa in the pool!

Not forgetting to show-off her princess swimming robe!

Breakfast with Ms Angeline

Ms Angeline has been a regular to this blog and a close teacher to Gwendolyn. She started to take care of Lyn Lyn since she joined Etonhouse 2 years ago in the Pre-Nursery class, as she was taking most of the after-hours duty! Their relationship grew from then until now...even after she's left Etonhouse for good about 6 months ago...she's still very close to Lyn Lyn.

We met up for breakfast on a Saturday morning @ McDonalds (as requested by Lyn Lyn), at IMM...we're catching up with each other and had a good time! At first, we thought that this was the first time that they met outside of school...but when Mama thought back, no...it's the second time! The first time was the Dora Lookalike Competition, where Ms Angeline and Ms Wahila went to Forum to give Lyn Lyn the support!

New Academic Year - New Phase!

Gwendolyn is starting Nursery 2 this year! What's the difference? She has to start wearing uniform, follow a full-day curriculum during school hours : 9:00am - 3:30pm, etc...That translates to no formal nap time during school hours, no more shower after lunch, as there's no more nap time...what a change for her! But she was very excited about her uniform and thinks that she is now a "big jie jie"!

Since she's been enjoying a "lazy-bone" school holiday sleeping routine during the last 2 weeks of December, sleeping only at around 12midnight, Mama thought that it would be rather difficult for her to adjust : waking up earlier to go to school and have a full-day curriculum! Ms Jam, her new class teacher and Mama agreed to just observe her for the first day and see how things go! What happened on the first day? After lunch, she was so tired that she held on to her Spot and Steve and looked all teary, informing Ms Jam that she was very tired! Since it's only the first day after the school holidays, Ms Jam brought her to Victoria Falls (N1 class) for a short nap! Poor gal...but after that short nap, she was all happy and re-joined her classmates for snacks and a story!

P.S. We've heard of the fact from Ms Jam. Guess what Lyn Lyn told Papa and Mama after school? She was so creative that she's changed the timing of the whole matter, telling Papa and Mama that she napped in the morning and woke up for lunch! Hm...was she genuinely creative or did she have problem remembering the sequence of events? Something to think about...

Do I look smart in my new uniform?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We went for steamboat at grandma's house on New Year's day! Bao Bei Gu Gu and Gu Cheung bought Joel and Gwendolyn a present to share! Guess what? It's a spin-by-yourself toy! When Mama saw it, Mama understood the rationale behind buying this toy...as Joel and Lyn Lyn will always ask Gu Cheung to carry both to play the dizzy game! As time goes by, both have gained more and more weight and it's getting tough for Gu Cheung to carry both for the game! The alternative? To let them spin-dizzy by themselves! See how excited both are at this new toy!

Lyn Lyn giving it a try - so easy...as she's played coffee cup at HK Disneyland before

(Note: box said that maximum weight is 15kg...think Lyn Lyn is over the limit already!)

Joel learning to turn the steering wheel and spin by himself

Both excited about trying out the new toy, even though it's not fully assembled!

New Spelling Game

Gwendolyn received so many new toys this Christmas and Papa has bought this new Word Launch Game for her to start her on spelling! Well, is 3 years and 7 months too early to spell? Lyn Lyn doesn't think so...just see how much she enjoys herself with this new interactive toy!

This is fun! In fact, not a very expensive Leap Frog game too!

This tech-savvy generation!

I can spell my name!

My First Movie - Alvin and the Chipmunks!

Papa and Mama's been quite skeptical in bringing Gwendolyn to the cinema. WHY? As Lyn Lyn is very inquisitive, cannot sit still for long and talks very loud, it was quite difficult to bring her to the cinema! However, during this school holidays, Papa and Mama tried her out to watch ALVIN and the CHIPMUNKS! Though Mama hasn't watched before, Papa told Mama that it's a very nice show and he's watched it when he was young!

Lyn Lyn had a good nap before we head to the GV @ Vivocity. We bought popcorn, hot dog and drinks into the cinema...sat her down and prepare her for the show. Surprisingly, she was behaving very well! Though she did spoke a little loud during the show, asking us questions on why did the people cut down the tree, why this and why that, but overall, she enjoyed herself very much and was imitating the singing skills of the chipmunks!

Well done Lyn Lyn! Next time, when there's another appropriate show, she can watch together with Summer!

Boxing Day

As usual, we waited for Boxing Day before opening all our Christmas presents! Gwendolyn was thrilled to open hers, taking a picture of each and every present that she was about to open!

Before...

After (quite a lot of Dora stuff too)!

Guess what? The presents that Mama ordered from amazon.com (with the kind help of auntie Mary to consolidate and send from the States), arrived during the unwrapping process! Lyn Lyn was thrilled with all her Dora presents! Guess what? She liked the toothbrushes so much that she dare not to use it, but to keep the entire collection intact AND didn't want to wear her new pair of Dora Crocs shoes, just in case she dirtied it outside and kept asking Papa and Mama whether she can wear them at home instead! What a lovely girl!

Baby Christabelle's 1st Birthday and X'mas Gathering @ Auntie Suzie

We have a busy winter solstice this year, not because of special dinners, but we have to attend baby Christabelle's 1st birthday party during lunch and to attend a X'mas gathering at Auntie Suzie's house! Gwendolyn has requested to wear a pretty dress to attend both parties!

Birthday cake from Pine Garden, with Lychee Martini and chocolate sponge cake, Precious Moments Growing in Grace Year 1 figurine on top!

Baby Christabelle, Uncle Royce and Auntie May

Lyn Lyn was a bit disappointed at the party, as she was expecting Summer to come as well. Unfortunately, Summer was having a family trip at Bangkok and Lyn Lyn had no one to play with! Papa and Mama comforted her to tell her that she's attending a X'mas party at night and there will be many kids!

At night, we went to Auntie Suzie's house for a X'mas party with catered food from Olio Dome! Surprisingly, the food was very nice! Lyn Lyn ate her favourite spaghetti and requested for some X'mas ham...after that, she was playing with Ralston, Shannon, Brenda, Dillon, Maximus and Hermione. She was smart in spotting the Nintendo Wii game and kept asking Ralston Gor Gor to let her play the "bowling" game, remembering from what she's played back in Gong Gong's house in the July Hong Kong trip.

After a round of game play, it's time for gift exchange. All the kids received presents from each family and guess what? Lyn Lyn's got all Dora presents! Thank you Aunties and Uncles for knowing Lyn Lyn so well...hehe...she was thrilled to see all these Dora presents!

My New Steering Wheel (or Papa's???)

Mama bought an XBox 360 for Christmas and Papa bought a few driving games and most importantly, a steering wheel to play these games! Gwendolyn's been asking Papa to allow her to "drive" Papa's car in the car park, but Papa's made a deal with Lyn Lyn that he'd buy a steering wheel for her to play at home, so that Lyn Lyn cannot "drive" Papa's car any more! Lyn Lyn couldn't wait, but to try out the new steering wheel by herself! Since it's a "new toy", no one can control it well yet, Lyn Lyn found it not as fun as "driving" Papa's car and has requested not to use this steering wheel any more, but to continue "driving" Papa's car!

Trying her best to control...but the steering wheel is rather difficult to control!

Muscial Chair @ Vivocity

As mentioned earlier when we had breakfast at Sunset Way, we had a long day of Christmas Shopping at Vivocity (mainly toy shopping for the kids)...we've chosen a whole trolley of toys for more than 10 kids + miscellaneous requests by Gwendolyn! Lyn Lyn mistook that all the toys were for her and were so satisfied with the trolley of toys! Nevermind, it was the process of shopping that counts!

After Toys R Us, we went to Mothercare and Baby Fox to look for some baby clothings, so that Lyn Lyn can choose the first set of clothings for "Mei Mei" to wear when she's discharged from the hospital after birth! Lyn Lyn was so attentive and careful when choosing the clothings and keep removing from the clothes-hanger and tried putting on herself to ask Papa Mama whether they look nice or not!

Too tiny for Lyn Lyn

After all the shopping, when we were about to return to the car, we heard of some events going on outside C K Tang. Lyn Lyn saw the host announcing a musical chair game and was so excited that she wanted to play. When she heard that 1 more kid is required, she quickly ran out and stood next to the bigger kids! Even though there was another older kid walking out, the hosts saw a small kid like her offering herself, included her into the game. The adults around kept murmuring and said that: This girl is so cute...so small...So instead of 5 kids fighting for 4 chairs, there were 6 kids fighting for 4 chairs. Surely, Lyn Lyn didn't manage to find herself a chair when the music stops. But she's won the cheer of the crowd for being brave! She's also won a prize as well!

Poor gal, didn't know what to do when she couldn't find a seat and the other 2 girls have to settle via scissors, paper, stone!

Doesn't matter, I've got a prize!

Breakfast @ Sunset Way

Recently, Papa has been introduced to the new eateries at Sunset Way and brought Gwendolyn and Mama to try out. Mama noticed an outlet serving "English breakfast" and suggested that we try it out on Sunday morning! Since we have planned for a long day of Christmas Shopping in the afternoon, we had a heavy breakfast to start off the day...

This place that serves "English breakfast" actually serves "German" cuisine...however, the breakfast was great and the coffees were attractive as well...

Lyn Lyn trying out Mama's skinny latte with different facial expressions (actually, she was posing for each shot!)

Papa's hot tea, Mama's skinny latte, Sausage and Egg and Egg Benedict...yum yum

The food and drinks were fantastic, but the prices are a little steep for an HDB neighbourhood environment! We don't mind to go again, as Mama hasn't tried the BRUNCH, which is the true full "English breakfast", which costs $16++!

Island Creamery @ Serene Centre

After dining with Auntie Carolyn and Uncle Thomas last weekend, they have both suggested another ice-cream place for Gwendolyn to try out: Island Creamery @ Serene Centre on Farrer Road! Apparently, they have good quality homemade ice-cream, with a local flavour: e.g. Teh Tarik, Putu Hitam, Soursop, etc. So we went to try it out and surprisingly, it's VERY VERY crowded! Lyn Lyn, as usual, asked for her favourite chocolate flavour and Mama, tried the Nutella flavour (Good value for money if order 2 scoops for $4, whilst single scoop is $2.50!). However, Papa and Mama didn't really like the chocolate, as it's quite bitter...but Lyn Lyn loved it! She kept asking Papa and Mama not to touch her chocolate and eat the other one instead!

After the delicious ice-cream, Lyn Lyn tried out the guitar at the "kid's corner" and pretended to play!


But what's more interesting to her? It's the ride outside the shop! She was thrilled to try this "new" ride, which goes very high! See how much she's enjoying herself!

Baby Ashlynne's 1st Birthday

Today was Baby Ashlynne's 1st birthday. Auntie Christabelle and Uncle Chee Leong have organised a chalet BBQ party for her and all of us have been invited! As Mama has some company event at Fort Canning in the afternoon and Papa brought Gwendolyn for the Dora Premiere Live Party @ United Square, they went to Downtown East Pasir Ris Resort separately. Papa and Lyn Lyn arrived earlier and went directly to the chalet to pass Baby Ashlynne her birthday present first, before meeting Mama at McDonalds!

Presentation of the birthday present!

When Mama arrived, Lyn Lyn was sharing some french fries with Papa with a huge plate of ketchup! Once Mama arrived, she went to take some chilli sauce and put right next to the ketchup! Even though Mama has already reminded Lyn Lyn that there is chilli sauce next to the ketchup, she still made a mistake by dipping into the chilli sauce...oh poor gal...Papa Mama were chatting away when suddenly Lyn Lyn became all teary and cried! HOT HOT!!! Immediately, Mama asked her whether she's "accidentally" dipped the chilli sauce and then she nodded her head! Her whole face was red and Mama offered her some icy cold drink, but it still didn't work...so Mama had to play with her and put the icy cold cup against her face to make her smile...I think she'll be put off from anything spicy and be very careful with any sauce that is red in colour!

Hot Hot Hot...weep weep...

To further distract her, we leave McDonalds quickly and went straight to the chalet! This is the first time Mama come to this chalet. It's very big, in terms of land area and she was amazed by all the BBQ pits in the chalet area! Finally, we arrived at Block J, where the BBQ location is...it was very hot! But luckily, no rain! So the BBQ can still go ahead. Lyn Lyn was very enthusiastic in helping Uncle Chee Leong with BBQ-ing the food...fanning the charcoal, whilst snacking on her favourite satay! She kept eating and eating until we've lost track of the number of sticks she's eaten!

Cake-cutting time! Lyn Lyn couldn't wait, but sit herself down at the nearest location of the cake, i.e. right in front! Wow...it's a doggy face. So cute! Lyn Lyn led the birthday song and clapped the loudest!

After Auntie Christabelle and Uncle Chee Leong carried Baby Ashlynne away, Lyn Lyn sat sneakly in front of the cake! Why? She was picking some chocolate shavings at the side and snacking away! How cheeky! Some of Auntie Christabelle's friends saw her and was laughing away at her act as well...she didn't eat the cake, but she helped out in distributing the cut out pieces and pinched on the shavings! Haha!

What's last? Before we leave the chalet area and call it a day, Lyn Lyn went to the exercise area and tried out every single exercise bar, despite herself wearing a pretty party dress!

Wee...I'm so strong! See! I AM STRONG!

Dora Live @ United Square

Dora Live started on 23 November, with a special Premiere Show at 3:30pm, especially for StarHub Digital Cable TV subscriber! Since Mama was unable to bring Lyn Lyn for the Premiere Show, as she had some company activities, Papa took leave to bring Lyn Lyn and Joel along!

Registration was supposed to start from 2:45pm, but Papa didn't arrive until 3:00pm and the queue was already very long...unable to register on time, Papa quickly went to look for the end of the queue, which was not in sight at all...worse still, the viewing area was already full and there is no way that Lyn Lyn and Joel can squeeze in and be seated down for the show! After a long struggle, Papa managed to get Lyn Lyn into the designated show area...and what did Lyn Lyn do? She navigated her way to the front of the stage, despite the kids and parents already seated there! Wow...well done Lyn Lyn!

Throughout the show, she followed all the singing and dancing and was at an all time high! This was a much better show, featuring the Best Friends Day episode! Lyn Lyn was so excited and enjoyed it soooooooo much!

After the show, it was photo-taking time! Without following the queue, Lyn Lyn didn't bother about other people and rushed all the way to the front when another family was taking pictures! Guess what? Papa bumped into Auntie Lena, bringing Summer and Rachel along to watch the show, as her colleague had 2 spaces to spare (each ticket holder can bring a family of 4)...in the end, Lyn Lyn, Rachel and Summer took pictures with Dora and Boots together!

Boots was hugging Lyn Lyn and Rachel

What a nightmare, according to Papa...having to take care of Lyn Lyn, whilst having Joel sitting on his shoulders! As Joel couldn't take care of himself like Lyn Lyn did...Papa has to make sure that he had a good view of the show too! After the show, all of them sat at a ride together! The show was supposed to be not more than 30 minutes. However, with the big crowd, it didn't really start until after 4pm and Papa only left United Square at 5:15pm! What a hectic day! Lyn Lyn couldn't wait, but spoke to Mama on the phone, telling Mama how much she enjoyed it! That's the most important!