Girlie Look

Por Por has bought this new set of clothing for Geraldine which comes with a hair band. Mama was keen to try it out on Geraldine, before she starts rejecting things on her head...see...does she look more girlie with the hair band? Since she's been mistaken as a boy in several occasions when she was out shopping, even though she has been dressed up in all pink!

Learning to Sit

Mama couldn't remember when Gwendolyn started learning to sit, but for Geraldine, her bones are really strong...see, she's learning to sit and is sitting rather well without support for 3 seconds on Lyn Lyn's bed...

Proud of herself sitting!

Build A Bear Workshop

Mama has never thought of bringing Lyn Lyn to the Build A Bear Workshop shop at all and don't ask her why...but she's got some vouchers for her birthday this year and all of us went to the shop @ Vivocity for a try on Sunday!

When we arrived at the shop, Mama was surprised to see Hello Kitty stuffed toy there, as she had the impression that they only have "teddy bears", as the name of the shop said it all. However, it was interesting to see quite a fair bit of Hello Kitty stuff there! Both Gwendolyn and Mama was getting a bit excited about the whole experience...what's more interesting was that Lyn Lyn had actually set her eyes on the Hawaiian Hello Kitty costume, where she kept saying : I want the Hello Kitty with the grass skirt!

Off we went...

Step 1 : Walk down the aisle with the empty "teddy" bodies as a base to start from...Lyn Lyn was wondering how come those "teddies" were empty and flat, with an opening at their backs...

Step 2: After deciding on the white Hello Kitty body, she went on to look for the Hawaiian costume for her Hello Kitty! Whilst Lyn Lyn was looking at that special costume that she wanted, Mama wondered around to look at the variety of costumes for the "teddies"...Mama actually wanted one for herself, as the costumes were so cute! Mama picked up a pair of shades and tried them onto Geraldine, as it's impossible to find any shades for a baby! Unfortunately, Geraldine is bigger than any of those "teddies" and Mama couldn't get a pair for her! They have a lot of costumes, just as if Mama could shop for babies clothing...night slippers with pajamas, Hello Kitty t-shirts with matching denim shorts, etc etc...that place wasn't just for kids, but for adults too!

Step 3 : Stuff up the "teddy" at the machine by the staff there! What's more amazing is that they treat the "teddies" as special friend of the child, where the child will go and pick up a "heart" from "the heart box" hanging on the "stuffing machine". Then, the staff will ask the child to perform some action in rubbing the heart between her palm, kiss it, etc...to give them a special feeling, before finally inserting the "heart" into the "stuffed teddy" and then "sewing up the open back". It was so funny to see Lyn Lyn performing all the actions required and in so doing, she felt the "live" of her "teddy"!

Step 4 : After the "teddy" has been "sewn up", the child has to give the "teddy" a good scrub under the shower! The child is given a brush to brush the "teddy", so that it's all cleaned before the child brings the "teddy" to the dressing table! See Lyn Lyn was carefully cleaning and brushing Hello Kitty" under the "shower heads" (without real water).

Step 5 : At the dressing table, Lyn Lyn carefully laid Hello Kitty down and asked Mama to help to dress Kitty up in the costume that she's chosen. Mama had no clue why she's set her eyes on them...but seems like she liked them a lot! See, she's giving Kitty a kiss when dressing Kitty up!

Step 6 : After dressing Kitty up, Lyn Lyn was all ready to check her out at the payment counter...BUT...we were told that we can make a birth certificate for her special Kitty! So, one of the staff led us to the stretch of computers next to the cashier counter and Lyn Lyn sat down to enter all the relevant particulars!

Step 7 : It's kind of un-original that Lyn Lyn had named her cat "Hello Kitty", which it's generally known as Hello Kitty anyways. But she preferred to name her as such and so be it. After that, she had to enter her own particulars, including home address, etc...she did all the typing by herself, with Mama standing beside and spelling for her!


Step 8 : When all is done...Hello Kitty's birth certificate was printed and we're really ready to check her out at the cashier! How much was all these worth? S$67.80! Wow...nowadays, kid's toys are getting more and more expensive because of all these gimmicks in luring a kid into buying all these "special toys"! I believe most parents would think that it's really expensive for a "teddy"...when most of her "Spots" and "Steves" are just S$11! But if you look that the procedures that they go through, the thinking process required and the way they understand how a "teddy" is made, Mama treated it as a learning process for Lyn Lyn and it's worth it! If you see how she liked her "self-made" toy and what she said afterwards...you'll think that she takes more "ownership" of her own creation! Just to quote one line that she said : I like my Hello Kitty so much that I wanted to be with her forever and ever! So funny to hear that from the mouth of a child!

If you want more information about the Build A Bear Workshop, you may try their website here http://www.buildabear.com.sg/

Lyn Lyn had such a happy shopping trip at Vivocity! Not forgetting to mention that she's got herself 2 more pairs of Crocs shoes...with the new Dora design and a pair of Supergirl! Why did she ask for the Supergirl? Coz her classmate Zara, who likes Dora as well, had a pair of Supergirl Crocs...anyways, Crocs was having a GSS special that when you buy 2 pairs, the 3rd pair onwards would have 15% discount. Hence, Mama's bought herself a pair of sandals, as her current pair is broken already! In addition, Mama was shopping casually at Mothercare and found a pair of Dora flipflops...Lyn Lyn was so happy and Mama bought that for her too...so that she can wear that to the pool! Not forgetting about Geraldine, Mama bought her a packet of rompers too!

4th Month Checkup

Geraldine went for her 4th month 5-in-1 jab @ Clementi Polyclinic on 14 June 2008. She's now weighing 7.7kg and is already 62cm long! Both her weight and height are in the 97% quartile. Like Gwendolyn, she's considered a "BIG" baby. However, visually, one would think that Lyn Lyn was much bigger when she was a baby...hm...Papa and Mama both wonder why???

BBQ

It's been a long time since we've had a BBQ at home. Gwendolyn was asking for one 2 weeks ago, but it was a last minute thing and Papa and Mama didn't ask for any friend to participate. It's rather difficult to have one with only the 3 of us. Then so happen that Mama, Auntie Adele and Auntie Tricia met up for lunch on Tuesday, then on the spot, they've decided to meet up for a family gathering on saturday. Hence, the organising of a BBQ!

Within the next few days, all the mums communicated and came up with a list of food to prepare, assigned tasks and organised the BBQ. Everyone was sooooooooo looking forward to it and finally, Saturday came...Gwendolyn couldn't wait for 5pm and started preparing for the stuff to bring for the BBQ to play with all the kids, as there'll be Auntie Adele and Uncle Kim Siong's family, Auntie Belle and Uncle Chee Leong's family, Auntie Carolyn and Uncle Thomas's family, not forgetting to mention our own family!

We met directly at the function room downstairs, as there are 3 small babies and 3 running kids! Whilst the dads are out at the pit preparing charcoal and BBQ-ing the food, the babies, kids and mummies are inside the function room, enjoying the air-con! Just look at the photo account of the event...I'm sure that whoever is reading this blog post will agree that it was really an enjoyable gathering!

Lyn Lyng brought her entire bubbles collection to the function room to play and Ashlynne was so excited about all the bubbles flying around...all the while, she was chasing, catching and shouting "ball ball"...whilst Lyn Lyn kept using different bubbling tools to "generate" bubbles of different sized and compositions to lure Ashlynne...the funny thing about the whole event was that eventually, Ashlynne has gotten herself with bubble solutions all over her hair, face and body and she had to take a shower to wash up before going home, just in case she fell asleep in the car journey home and ended up being sticky and smelling all bubbly! Not forgetting to mention that Lyn Lyn has splashed the glass panels with bubble solutions all over...Mama didn't hear any complaints from the Management Office, so we supposed that it was okay and someone else had cleaned them afterwards...

For Lyn Lyn, one of the key learning points from the event was her learning how to peel prawn shells from Auntie Carolyn. It started when Mama was busy taking care of a whailing Geraldine and Papa was busy BBQ-ing the food and Lyn Lyn was asking to eat prawns. Auntie Carolyn took the chance to teach her about learning to peel prawn shells and the idea of persistent learning and practising to perfect on a skill that she's just learnt. In the end, she peeled a prawn each for Papa, Mama and Auntie Carolyn and all accorded her achievement and praised her for doing well. The prawns that she peeled tasted so nice...that even Uncle Kim Siong de-shelled some before BBQ-ing was not as nice as the ones being peeled by Lyn Lyn!

What's more during the BBQ? Geraldine fell asleep...Uncle Thomas and Auntie Carolyn took turns to carry Liv to try and make her sleep the whole evening, but she only managed to nap for 5 minutes?! Lyn Lyn was trying to take picture for everyone...All the Papas were trying to catchup, since they haven't met for quite a long time (they used to be colleagues and worked together)...all the babies and kids trying to get to know each other better...etc...

AND...the red M&Ms "family" clothing is finally put into use, as Papa and Mama have bought them even before Geraldine was born...see, such a lovely family picture!

After eating all the BBQ food, we went home to proceed with desserts and fruits! Lyn Lyn was so excited in showing off her drum sets to Frederick Di Di and took them out to the living room to play in front of all the guests! Uncle Thomas was wondering who's bought the drum set and Papa reminded him that Auntie Carolyn's bought the drum set for Lyn Lyn's birthday...if you wonder where Ashlynne was...she was swamped in the toy wonderland in Lyn Lyn's room, playing with the kitchen and tea set!

What's at the end? Lovely family pics of all the families involved...but...where's Geraldine? As it was way passed her bedtime, Mama has already bathed her and prepared her for bed!

I'm sure everyone would agree with Mama that it was one of the most enjoyable evenings so far this year! What's more? Auntie Belle told Mama that Ashlynne played so hard that night that she woke up and cried at 5am the followng morning, coz she was too excited!

Feet Fetish...

Last week, Mama was just mentioning about Geraldine's attempt in putting her feet into her mouth...this week, Mama managed to capture that on camera...see...how tasty...haha!

Totally different with Gwendolyn, for Geraldine, everything goes onto her hands, goes into her mouth!

I Miss Geraldine

This week, Papa went to Korea for a business trip. Our current arrangement is that whenever Papa travels, Geraldine and maid will stay overnight at grandma, so that Mama only needs to ferry Gwendolyn to and from school. Last night, though Geraldine was already in a sleeping mode in the air-con room, when Mama and Lyn Lyn were about to leave, Geraldine started making some noise and Mama went in to check on her. When Mama went in, Geraldine opened her eyes big big and smiled at Mama, as if wanting to go home together. She continued smiling, holding onto Mama's finger very tightly...but it was getting late and Mama has to bring Lyn Lyn home to prepare for tomorrow. No choice, Mama gave Geraldine a big kiss and left with Lyn Lyn. In the car, Mama had a conversation with Lyn Lyn:

M: Mama; G: Lyn Lyn

M: Do you miss Geraldine?
G: Yes, I miss my mei mei!
M: Really...do you think she wanted to go home with us?
G: Yes. Can we bring her home? I miss my mei mei and I wanted to cry...
M: Are you sure? Don't cry, she will be fine. I wanted to bring her home too, but Mama cannot manage to send mei mei to grandma and then send you to school when Papa is not around
G: I miss my mei mei...

Mama's heart melted, as Mama didn't know that Lyn Lyn loved her mei mei so much! It was so heart-warming to know that!

Good Habit Starts From Young

Whilst Papa, Mama and Gwendolyn were busy having our dinner, Mama gave Geraldine's favourite book to her for some quiet time to be spent by herself! See...she was so engaged by the colourful book and was seriously reading for 10 seconds, before shoving the book into her mouth again! Nevermind...at least, Mama started her young with books!

Don't joke joke...she's really flipping the pages and concentrating!

Kid's Talk

It's been a long while since Gwendolyn met up with Summer since her birthday party. Papa and Mama arranged dinner with Uncle Don, Auntie Lena, Uncle Victor and Auntie Yaya at Quality Hotel for Taiwanese porridge. During the dinner, Lyn Lyn and Summer were running around the restaurant and screaming very loudly. Despite numerous attempts by Uncle Don, Papa and Mama's warning, both were still playing and running around...

Suddenly, Mama overheard Lyn Lyn talking to Summer as follows:

G: Lyn Lyn ; S: Summer ; M: Mama

G: It's "mine", not "my one"
S: It's "my one"
G: It's "mine"...there's no such word as "my one"
S: It's "my one"
G: Mama, it's "mine", there's no such word as "my one", right?
M: Yes, Lyn Lyn, you're right, it's "mine" and not "my one"
G: Summer, see, there's no such word as "my one"

Mama was so amazed and amused by the whole incident that Mama's constant reminder to Lyn Lyn is actually imprinted into her head...well done Lyn Lyn!

Looking Alike Again...

Another good one with the 2 kiddos...which one is Gwendolyn and which one is Geraldine? Both are trying to suck the same hand and lying on the baby play gym...so cute!

My Castle Playmat

Geraldine received this castle playmat for her full month and Mama tried her out on it. Initially, wanted to have her on her tummy and face the playmat to train her neck muscles...she was too lazy to lift her head and Mama didn't want to suffocate her. In the end, she laid face-up, but doing her usual - grab whatever and put into her mouth!

It's finger-lickingly good...

Fun With Science

As usual, we went to IMM for breakfast @ Cafe Cartel, as we're early this Sunday (weird, everyone woke up before 8am on a non-work day)! After a nice long breakfast, we walked out to the open area in front of the customer service counter and there was this exhibition on Garden Crawlies. What attracted Gwendolyn was not the huge insects on show, but the activities that were available : colouring, craft, etc. Papa brought her for registration, whilst Mama brought Geraldine to Fox to look for babies stuff.

The earliest available activity was at 11:30am, which was the making of a windmill. Papa registered Lyn Lyn and she went in and sat down all by herself, next to the voluntary "jie jie"! When distributed with the materials, she listened carefully and followed the instructions! She was the first to finish with removing the materials from the template card distributed and waited for the other kids to finish. As what Papa said: Lyn Lyn finished with the items requiring gross motor skills and the fine motor skills bit was done by the Jie Jie!

Concentrating, even when the Jie Jie was helping. Asking questions along the way as well...hoping that she can join in to have her hands on the fine motor skills part! See how proud she was after completing her windmill!

If you think she's happy after completing this activity, then you're wrong. She went on to ask for more, as there was a different group of kids who sat behind her just now when making the windmill! Mama brought her to the information counter again to register for the next activity, which was making a "hat" with feelers! The voluntary "gor gor" wasn't as friendly as the jie jie just now, well, men's not as sensitive as gals...anyways...the kids were asked to choose 2 pieces of the long-stripped coloured papers (for the "hat") and 1 bigger piece of coloured paper (for the eyes). Then, they were asked to draw 2 big eyes on the bigger piece of paper and then cut them out after drawing. Lyn Lyn asked whether she can draw rectangular eyes...and the gor gor said okay. She quickly drew 2 rectangular eyes, with a dot in the middle and then cut out both eyes all by herself. The gor gor was just trimming for her afterwards! After that, the gor gor helped to measure the size of their heads and stapled the 2 long-stripped papers together, asking the kids to put sticky tape at the staple, so that their hair won't get stuck when wearing the "hat"! After that, the kids were to stick the eyes onto the "hat" and then take 2 pieces of furry wires to make the feelers! Lyn Lyn did all of the above all by herself again with limited assistance! When all were done, the gor gor helped to stick the feelers onto the "hat" and everything's done!

Lyn Lyn was really concentrating at every step...think that's how she has made all her great creations in school too!

What's the greatest thing of all? The activities were actually for kids who are 5 years and above. Papa and Mama told the organisers that she's close to 5 years old...if not, she won't be able to participate. What's more encouraging was that, even though she's not even 5, she could do much better than the real 5-year-old in completing the task! Well done Lyn Lyn!

Lyn Lyn @ work, curling up the furry wires! Who would have thought that she's not even 5?!

Posing Naked...

Look at the way Geraldine posed...as if she knew it's for the camera...so cute! Don't you find her "fleshy" in the pictures...she doesn't look so "fleshy" in real person though!

Anyone noticed her birth-mark at her left bum?

Running Water Over Geraldine's Face

Gwendolyn was very scared of having running water over her face, so Mama had a problem with washing her hair when giving he a shower. In order to help Geraldine to avoid the same problem, Mama started her early, trying to run water over her face since young...see, seems like she's getting along rather well!

At least she didn't cry, only blinking her eyes...

New Hat

Whilst shopping @ Kids Mall, Mama found this really cute hat for Geraldine! See how happy she was when trying on!

Still Trying to Hold the Bottle

Geraldine is still working on holding the bottle...see, she can grab quite well now! However, if you look carefully, from that angle, she can't drink anything...BUT, as Mama's said...it's the effort that counts!

Yoga Master!

I think all adults agree that babies are the Yoga Master of all...see how "agile" their bodies are! They can bend their bodies like nobody's business!

Recently, Geraldine has this fetish in grabbing her toes...see...again. She takes pride in being able to grab them!

Shannon's Birthday Party @ Jurong KFC

We're invited to Shannon's birthday party @ Jurong KFC and Gwendolyn was really looking forward to it, since it's been rather quiet with minimal activities for a while. However, she told Papa and Mama that she's just had a KFC party in school on Friday, as Nicholas's mum has organised a KFC party in school, and that she had a chicken drum and can't eat any more KFC. (If you can still recall the Horror Story some time ago, where Lyn Lyn got to know that she cannot eat too much fast food, as she's really worried that she'll become "fat fat"!) Papa reassured her that she's only had a small drum and it's ok for her to have 1 BIG piece of KFC (normally referred to as the chicken thigh).

Once we've arrived @ KFC, Lyn Lyn made herself at home and joined all the kids at the kid's table...you can just see from the pictures below how she was enjoying herself at the party...

Paying attention to all the activities, Lyn Lyn is such a cheerful and team-player that she wasn't shy with strangers around! Not forgetting to mention...look at the bottom left picture, she put on lip gloss, as she's attending a party and she has to look pretty! Vain...

Gwendolyn Feeding Geraldine

Friday morning, Papa went back to his army camp for a fitness check, as he's reached the "old age" for IPPT's purpose. The camp just wanted to make sure that he's still fit for IPPT. Hence, Mama has to send Geraldine to grandma before sending Gwendolyn to school. Since Mama was in a hurry, Mama enlisted Lyn Lyn's help to feed Geraldine, whilst she freshen herself up in the washroom! Initially, Lyn Lyn wasn't very sure, but with her "happy helper" character, she took on the challenge and tried it out! Mama was so impressed that she was doing it very well and managed to feed Geraldine half the bottle of milk! Kudos Lyn Lyn!

Imitating Mama at Geraldine's cot-side

Looking very well-trained in the job!

I Can Hold My Toes!

Mummy's been teaching Geraldine to hold her toes with her hands, whilst drying her after her bath! She's enjoying that and finds it fun to be able to hold her toes.

Update: Just last night (5 Jun), when Mama was bathing her in a sitting up position, she grabbed her toes with her hands all by herself! Well done, Geraldine!