Singapore Flyer

Price of working in NDP 08? A free trip for 6 adults to the Singapore Flyer. I guess that sums up the experience in NDP 08, dull, unexciting and ultimately disappointing at the working level. But then again, there's always another perspective to a half empty glass of water. At least it works out to be $180 and more importantly, a priceless moment for the family to get together.




One of the things I had always appreciated in life are my parents and I always try my best to make up to them in whatever means possible. Sometimes, I wish that I could have more time in the evening to talk to them more and understand them better. But then again, work has always taken a toil on me. So, the next best solution is to create opportunities for family bonding over the weekends.

Also, I know Charlene has a special place in mom's heart and nothing is more heartening to have the entire family together for a weekend together.

Well, you can say the same for me as well. I had always adored Charlene, so much so, that I think of her as my god-daughter. Buying her pretty and pinkish stuff had since been my favourite past time as well.

I guess that can be said the same for my brother, who enjoys making trips down to my place on weekdays to play with En Xi. Here, he is trying to strike a conversation with her.

Don't you just love the look on En Xi's face? One moment she's crying, the next moment she's laughing and now, a coy look. Adorable aren't she? Bonding with her had never been so fun...

Ah, such memories, NDP 06 seems like yesterday. I still could recall the ultra late nights we put in and the rewarding experience. I still could recall the words from the one of NDP videos," Places change, people come and go, but out hearts will always remain". Such irony, that the National Stadium is going to make way for the new national stadium by 2010.

By the way, I had never been a true fan of F1, but after watching F1 Singapore, it proved to be a spectacle, at least on TV, in my own opinion.

My favorite person is....

Up up and away...

I always thought that I was En Xi's favorite person because:
1. She can only be calmed down by me whenever she is cranky (which Edwin dismissed as because I'm the provider of her greatest need ie MILK.)
2. She always reserves her biggest smile of the day for me when I'm back from work.
3. She gets amused by whatever I do or say to her.

Tat's why, I always thought that first words will be "Ma Ma" or "Mum mum" (thou it may be mean "food"). But Little Ms Chatty first few words was actually "BA BA BA"!! You can imagine how proud Edwin was, literally showing off to me whenver she does tat. Thou I'm still not convinced cos it could just be her babbling and the vowel of "BA" just seems more achievable! Never mind..1 point goes to him then. I still have 2 points leading with the above-mentioned reasons..haha.

Recently, we also started to convert the space at the living room into En Xi's new playground. She seems to enjoy herself very much with the new-found playground. Her daily entertainment is to challenge herself to reach for the items concealed behind the pilllows such as the cable box, the hi-fi, and whatever that her fingers can land. En Xi is also able to stand up steadily now. From her initial attempts to prop herself up with her wobbly legs, she is able to support herself up steadily within a few days. When no-one is watching, this showy little girl will even shout for our attention when she manages to stand up successfully.

I can reach for the wire!! Need to stretch longer...
Gotcha! Let's play some Wiiiiiiiiiiii!

Hee hee...i got busted!

This little vainpot also know how to pose into the camera! Whenever she sees the beam from the cam, she will actually pause whatever she's doing and even smile into the camera sometimes!

Let me show u my megawatt GUM-smile.

En Xi's first holiday @ Star Cruise

We have been planning our first holiday with En Xi for a while. We settled for a cruise holiday, cos it will be more manageable with her nap and feeding routines. Also, a short weekend trip will be the perfect fit since we wanted to rope in my family members. It's something I've always wanted to do, but it's so difficult to get everyone together for a trip with the the challenges of trying to coincide our leave. I'm so glad that we finally made it happen!

Shou Cong sneaking a tickle at En Xi

Shou Rui: That's 1..2..3 bananas.

En Xi: ok...what's banana?? can eat??

The most enjoyable part of the trip has to be our KTV session. From Mum's classic oldies to my 5-year old nephew's fav nursery rhymes of "ABCD", I have never covered so many genres of songs in one session. My 2-year old nephew even had a starring role of being the backup dancer while his brother was rapping away a Jay Chou's number!

Finally "singing the same tune".

En Xi up and awake at 11pm.

En Xi also had her first swimming attempt at the jacuzzi tub. She started off being slightly uneasy, to getting the hang of it. And finally, she got so comfortable with the warm sensation that she was dozing off on our way back to the room.

I like jacuzzi!

She also garnered a lot of attention among the passengers, smiling practically to everyone that she meets along the way. The consistent remark we get is En Xi's iconic punk hair.

Say "Winnnnnnkkkkk"

The future IR is behind me!!

The funny things

Many parents will also agree with me that no matter how cute other babies may seem, somehow, you will find that your own little one will be always be the most adorable being in the entire universe! We will always have endless reasons to be proud of our children.

Every baby is unique in their own way. Thou they will eventually feed, crawl, walk and eventually debate over the smallest things like anyone else, there's always a little something that makes that moment only unique to them at that moment. This posting will recount some of these moments we have over the past few weeks.

1. Steady..1..2..3..sit!
I'm always amused by how flexible a baby is. Especially when they start to twist themselves into challenging postures (for adults like us..) such as reaching for their toes, as thou it's some yummy lollipop.

I can do a hurdle stretch!

see..no hands..no hands...

Having said that, En Xi has moved on smoothly to her next major milestone, being able to prop herself up in an unaided siting position. The funny is part is when she tries to balance herself by holding out with her arms and juggling like a wobbly jelly.

2. Tinkie Winkie

Recently, we also realised that she will wink her right eye when the camera flashes at her. Initially, we thought this baby was trying to be cheeky! Then only to realise from the Doc that it was because she had a superficial scratch on the surface of the eye, causing it to be highly sensitive to high beams.

I'm casting for a role in Pirates of the Baby Caribbean..

3. I want to play..at 5am
This playful baby is also observed to be waking up more often during wee hours of dawn. I suspected that it's probably because she is ready for more solids, so took the heed from one of my friends to add a dinner session of solids. Hoping that this will to give her more energy to last thru the night. But it didn't work.

I decided to embark on another experiment - to feed her with water when she wakes instead of nursing her. This will "trick" her into thinking that there will not any milk served if she wakes up at night. That...didn't work too.

Maybe she is punishing mummy for not being around with her in the day. oh well...this is the time that we have to stock up our Brands Essence to see us through this period.

4. Baby can read!

We got her first texture hardbook to get her started on her tactile skills. She likes to hold the book by herself, get cranky if we tried to take it away from her. I think she probably thinks that the items in the books are edible, and presume that we are "snatching" her food.

D for dog...

Let's turn the page...

Mummy..did you hide my teddie bear in the book? naughty mummy..

We also noticed that she seems to have taken an interest to the stories that we read to her. Particulary the story for "Little Red Riding Hood" & "Jack & The Beanstalk", she will always beam with a big smile when we read the title to her.

Rewind to past 4 weeks

Mummy..when are you going to be home?

Edwin & myself have been extremely busy for the past 1 month, and we haven't had the time to update our blogs with En Xi's phenomenal growth.

These are the times that I feel extremely helpless and guilty for not spending enough time for our darling. Many a times, our darling will be fast asleep by the time I reached home. All I can do is to sit by her bed and marvel at how our little girl has grown by leaps and bounds before
I know it. It also made me realised that while I'm busy catching up with project timelines at work, I actually missed out the most important timelines of her growth.

Well, I guess this is the agony that most working mothers go through. I can also appreciate the efforts of some mothers who choose to give up their career to by a stay home mum - kudos to all of you out there!

Here's some of the long overdue pictures that we will like to share with you.

Hat shopping @ MotherCare - we always wanted to get a hat for En Xi to go with her sun dress. Somehow, we feel that she seems to look rather boy-boy with the hat. Luckily En Xi is blessed with bountiful amount of hair since she was born, so that helps to add to the "girlie" look. Her all-time standing hair has also somehow became her trademark.

The white & sweet one?

..the denim one?

...or maybe the pink & dainty one?

Let's take this! It's a goes well with my sundress!

My hair is finally flat!! (but not for long)

First try with solids - Glad that En Xi is rather receptive to her solids. In fact, she is a glutton! She is always grabbing the spoon, and can't wait for us to feed her. Sometimes, she even whine when we are not feeding her fast enough, what an impatient munchie!!

What's this white funny looking thing?

Let's try it..

I like it!! More more!!

Tough times

Honey..don't mess with me

The past 2 weeks has been a tough one for both myself and Baby En Xi. My viral fever came and goes over the weeks. My doc suspected that this could be due to the drop in my immune system, attributed to the late nights at work and interrupted sleep from the night feedings.

As for En Xi, she was noticed to be exceptionally cranky at a certain time in the evening. We thought it was due to her teething problems, since she was shafting her hand into the mouth whenever her crankiness acts up.

Tortise teether tastes good!

But mummy's fingers are still the best!

Else, she seems to be quite a happy baby, picking up a few new-found tricks over the past month. She can actually point her finger at us to suggest “one” and also very amused when we play “peek-a-boo” with her.

See...I can point number ONE!

Introducing my new toy - Mr Bumbo

Her face and arms were also ridden with mozzie-like bite marks, which just multiplied with the day. Ah Ma noticed that she was unusually difficult last week, and she got so agitated during her feedings that it started to worry us. I happened to be at home, and also noticed how her cries was escalating and could only be pacified by nursing her.

Off to the pediatrician - we realized that En Xi was having an attack of eczema, that was aggravated by the dust mites on our beddings (something that children are particular vulnerable to). Also, all the crankiness was as a result of the oral thrush that had built up over the weeks, which cause her to feel painful whenever she feeds on the bottle. Poor baby – but we are so proud of her cos she was coping so well that we didn’t realize the seriousness of the issue. I was intending to wean her off when she is 6 month. But since En Xi seems to be quite an allergic child, I decided to continue to breastfeed her at least till she is 1 year old upon the advise of Doc Tan.

We’re glad that En Xi is recovering well now. We went on a shopping spree over the weekend at Mothercare to celebrate our angel’s smooth recovery. There is always a reason to shop!

I'm a SuperBaby!

The Wang Family

It’s been almost a month since we posted updates, sorry for the silence! It’s been a hectic month for me, as work has been extremely overwhelming.

For this particular posting, I like to dedicate this to my family – The Wangs.

Some trivia about our surname that may interest you:

> It was spelling differently from the rest in the family line which is “Wong” instead by virtue of our dialect.

> The chances of our surname having a different permutation of pronunciation are rather common. Ang Mo called it “Wang” as in “want” with a "g" and Chinese typically as “one”. Either one, we still have not figured out which is the right way.

> We decide to drop the Hanyu Pinyin version in En Xi’s birth certificate, for the simplest reason that the Hanyu Pinyin version is written similarly to my dialect surname (Wang). This is to avoid her friends from being misleaded that she is carrying my surname, or that her dad is being married into our family.

Every since my brother Sam starts to have a penchant for photography, he is the designated camera man to document our key family events. Here are some valuable moments to share with you.

Chinese New Year 2008

Mum's birthday celeb with all of us trying to strike a "funny" pose.

Our first family picnic at Botanic Gardens
En Xi in the comfortable comforts of PoPo