Photos by the Pro

Uncle Eu Lee came and took photos for the family last Tuesday. And he took such lovely photos despite Nadine's crankiness! He's good! And Daddy and Mummy are grateful to have such a wonderful friend to help document Nadine's growth! Thanks Uncle Eu Lee!

Here are photos Mummy copied from Uncle Eu Lee's blog, until she gets the CD from Uncle Eu Lee.

Mummy wanted to take Nadine in front of the book shelf coz that's 1 of Nadine's favourite spot to walk. But Nadine was not in the mood to walk. She preferred to be carried. Photos turned out just as nice, if not better than Mummy imagined!

Nadine's mood became much better in her crib, her comfort zone, where she's surrounded by her friends. She smiled the most in this series of shots.

Christmas Carolling

Nadine went for her 1st carolling session on Saturday. Well, sort of. Daddy and Mummy carolled while Nadine made a lot of noise, poked at balloons (to Daddy's horror), and walked around happily in her 1st pair of Nike sneakers, courtesy of Godma.

It was a Christmas party organized by the Residents' Committee near Blk 574 in Hougang, the block that Daddy and Mummy do CP work at. Not a great party, and the emcee who was dressed as a clown looked more like the Christmas Grinch. Our Children Church counsellors can do a much better job any time man!

 

Nadine can now walk pretty well, holding on to someone's hand. Strangely, she's not too keen to walk at home. But once she has her shoes on, she would walk more readily.

  

Poking a giant balloon with a dried leaf, much to Daddy's horror.  Daddy has balloon-phobia!

Happily "eating" the wind fanned by Uncle Andy.

It's been a very busy 1st Christmas for Nadine. She's gone to 4 parties, 1 Christmas service, 1 carolling session, and played with many friends. Mummy hopes that she'll continue to have many friends to spend her Christmases with throughout her life!

Celebrating Christmas with Style

Mummy bought this very Chrismassy dress for Nadine from Perth. It's Nadine's 1st Christmas. So of course she must celebrate it with style - Christmas tree, Christmas dress and Christmas gifts. Christmas food will come next year.

It's less than a month to Nadine's 1st birthday. She's been blabbering for a few months now. And Daddy and Mummy think Nadine's said her 1st words - Papa, duck duck, Mama - in that order.

Both Daddy and Bibi say that Nadine calls Daddy "Papa" whenever she sees him, and when Mummy's not around. But when Mummy's around, no amount of coaxing will make her call Papa. Yes, Nadine's a little diplomat in the making.

"Duck" - Mummy's very sure coz each time Nadine sees her rubber duckies when she's taking her shower, she'll happily call out to them "duck duck".

"Mama" - Daddy claims that Nadine's called out for Mama a few times when he's bullying her, and when she sees Mummy. And yes, Mummy's heard it herself too. But she just refuse to be as delusional as Daddy. Or rather, imaginative, the word that Daddy prefers. But since it's happened a few times now, Mummy's ready to officially acknowledge that Nadine's called her.

Mummy's more sure of Nadine's sign language. She signs milk when she's drinking, and on Sunday night, on the way back from BFC's cell Christmas celebration, Nadine actually signed milk in the car - it was an hour past the usual time that Mummy would feed her. Poor girl was hungry and tired, after 2 Christmas parties and 1 birthday dinner.

Nadine's 1st sign was actually rain. Whenever she sees rain, she'll happily sign rain. Not sure why of all words, rain gets her most excited. She can now also do her bye-bye and fly kiss. And something else Bibi taught her - "chow chow" - smelly in Hokkien. But she simply refuses to sign please, thank you and sorry. Hopefully she'll start signing those words soon!

Nadine & Elisabeth

After 3 boys, we finally have girls in the Lee family. Nadine is 2 months older than Cousin Liz.

The 2 girls are very different. Nadine is outgoing, super-friendly, and a bit tom-boy; while Liz is very shy, reserved and "xiao-jie". So it was quite funny seeing how Nadine keeps trying to go near Liz to make friends with her, and how that scared poor Liz to tears.

    

  

Nadine & her girlfriends

The good old stork has been bringing many baby boys to our church in the last few years. This year, it's doing the exact opposite - bringing us girls and many different shades of pink.

It started with Gladys, who was born on 6 Jan, 5 days before Nadine.

Vera was born on 29 March.

There are also Esther and Luanne. The girls don't quite know how to play with each other yet. But soon, soon! Yay, so glad that Nadine will have lots of girlfriends to grow up with!

11-month-old celebration

Nadine turned 11-months yesterday, and Daddy and Mummy celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary yesterday too. Daddy and Mummy got married on 11 Dec, and Nadine was born on 11 Jan - 4 years later.

The family celebrated by bringing Nadine out for her 1st block blessing! She was such a great ice-breaker. So Daddy and Mummy decided that they'll always bring her for block blessing from now onwards!

Botanic Gardens

Nadine went to the Singapore Botanic Gardens for the first time last Sunday - for Daddy and Mummy's cell picnic. It was a cool day and Nadine enjoyed the greenery, assortment of dogs, running kids and rows of Christmas trees (some quite hideously decorated).

Yes, Mummy sat very unglamorously. But that's actually a protective posture! Easy to react if Nadine falls, or to catch her when she crawls out of boundary!

Nadine with Aunty Lala - the only young 20-year-old who wants to be called Aunty! With the Children Church Pastor as Mummy, Aunty Lala is a veteran with childcare, at 20.

With Aunty Jeanette, who has to be called Aunty since Aunty Lala, who is the same age, wants to be called Aunty.

Polliwogs

Last Saturday was Gor Gor Gerald's birthday. Gor Gor Gerald is 6 already!!!

He had his birthday party at The Polliwogs at East Coast Park. It's a huge indoor children's playground with slides, stairs, nets, maze and all kinds of child-friendly stuff for kids to run around, climb and crawl in.

The party was naturally more for older kids who can participate in organized games and run around to enjoy the facilities. But it has a place for babies like Nadine too. The colorful plastic ball pool!

Nadine loved it in there and was even happy to be buried with the balls. Not scared at all. Daddy & Mummy just hoped there were not too many germs and other indescribles in the pool! Thankfully, Nadine's been well through the week!

Hair-rassed

Mummy thinks that Nadine looks like "Boo" from Monsters Inc. with her 2 ponytails.

Mummy's been asked many many times if she's cut Nadine's hair before, or if she intends to cut it. What's wrong with Nadine's hair?

Nadine was born with a little tail, tinges of brown and bits of curls - which will all be lost if Mummy cuts the hair. That's why Mummy cannot bear to cut it. Mummy herself did not have a hair cut till she was 2 or 3 years-old.

So Nadine will continue to keep her hair, till the day that Mummy cannot stand the maintenance anymore!

Zoo-out

Daddy and Mummy took leave on Monday to bring Nadine to the zoo. It's Nadine's first time at the Singapore Zoo. Did she enjoy herself? She probably enjoyed being out with Daddy and Mummy more than seeing the animals. She wasn't particularly interested in the animals.

In fact, during the elephant show, she was more interested in her shoe than the elephants.

We'll probably have to try the zoo again when she's older. Perhaps she'll appreciate the animals better in a year's time.

Front-facing

 

Sign of growth - Nadine could no longer fit nicely and comfortably into her rear-facing car seat. So Daddy had to turn it around to face the front. And ever since Daddy turned the car seat around, she's enjoyed her rides a lot more. She definitely gets to see more things from the passenger window, compared to the rear window, where she probably saw mostly trees and the sky only.

Uncle Chris & Aunty Zin's wedding

Nadine attended Uncle Chris and Aunty Zin's wedding on Saturday, appropriately decked in green - the theme of the wedding. In fact, the whole family was decked in green! And Uncle Eu Lee took this nice family portrait for us.

Nadine was totally mesmerized by the bride - Aunty Zin. She probably couldn't recognize Aunty Zin, and was attracted by all the bling-bling on Aunty Zin. This is her first photo with a bride, and a very stunning one!

Contortionist

Nadine is amazingly flexible (like all babies probably), especially when she's drinking milk, about to fall asleep, and sleeping. She can contort herself into all kinds of funny yoga-ish positions, like in this photo.

Entertainer

Gong-Gong and Por-Por enjoy watching Nadine eat. And I think Nadine enjoy eating for them. Here's a "show" she put up last Sunday.

Perth - Bonding with Daddy

Nadine spent A LOT of time with Daddy during this trip. Coz no Bibi. So whenever Mummy needs to shower, pee or crap, Daddy will have to take care of Nadine. And Nadine definitely enjoyed her time with Daddy. Here are her happy photos with Daddy.

At the Sunflower Animal Farm

At the Margaret River Chocolate Factory

On the ferris wheel by the harbor front

Perth - Napping On the Go

We were out throughout the day, so naturally, Nadine didn't get her regular morning and afternoon naps. She was too excited by the new environment, new sights, new smell, new people, new animals, etc, to nap anyway. But there were times when she'd be too tired, and would just knock out in the car, in her stroller, or on Daddy's or Mummy's shoulders.

Perth - Animals Galore .... Mostly Kangaroos

Nadine's never been to the Singapore Zoo. The only (real) animals she's seen so far were cats and dogs. In Perth, Nadine saw many different animals up close, including kangaroos and joeys, and more kangaroos. She stared at and studied many of them, but didn't seem interested enough to want to touch them. Which was a huge relief for Daddy and Mummy, coz Nadine has a tendency to hit really hard, on anybody and any surface. Daddy and Mummy were worried that she'd hit an animal so hard that the animal would turn around and bite Nadine. 

Sunflower Animal Farm, Margaret River

This is a home-run farm, sort of like the farm version of SPCA, as many of the animals were rescued from the road, from other farms, from the wild, etc. Every animal has a name!

  

Perth Zoo

The Perth Zoo is very similar to the Singapore Zoo - modern, clean and well-structured. Nice place to go for a stroll and picnic. But it was quite a disappointing trip for Daddy and Mummy, as most of the animals were sleeping. Are they nocturnal animals?

Perth - Forward-facing

Nadine has been using a rear-facing car seat since she was born. This was the first time she's sat on a front-facing car seat, and she was quite happy about it, at least for most of the rides. There was times when the drive was too long, and she wanted to get out. Wailed and screamed. Then Mummy discovered a good way to keep her quiet - stuff her with snacks!

Perth - The Silases

1st stop in Perth was Uncle Adam and Aunty Sylvia's home in Rockingham. Aunty Sylvia is Mummy's very good friend. They moved to Australia 5 years ago when Jie-Jie Caitlin was a tiny baby. She's all grown-up now!

Nadine had a great time playing with Jie-Jie Caitlin and Gor-Gor Christian, who took really good care of her. They showered her with loads of attention and took turns holding her. It was a pity we could only spend 1 day and 1 night with them. Hopefully, the next time we meet, in Perth or Singapore, we'll have more time!

Perth - 1st family holiday

Daddy brought Mummy and Nadine to Perth last week for a short holiday. It was a fantastic family holiday, and will certainly be the first of many more to come!

Nadine had lots of "firsts" during the trip.

To kick-start, she made a new friend on the flight to Perth. Talisha is about a week younger than Nadine, and was on her way back to Perth, after visiting relatives from her Daddy's side of the family in Taipei. Nadine became instant friends with Talisha, smiling to her, and trying to "talk" to her. This was the first time that Mummy's ever seen Nadine trying to communicate and play with a baby her age.

Playstation

Nadine's got a "playstation", on loan from Josh. It's actually called an "Intellitainer", has many different touch-turn-flip-hear-see components, colours and nursery rhymes. Nadine loves it and can play with it for a long time. So many things to lick, suck and chew mah! Most importantly, it is a safe station where Nadine can be left sitting alone for a while. Thank you Aunty Lydia, Uncle Ben and Josh for loaning the Intellitainer to Nadine! We'll give it a good wash before returning it for Luanne to play!

Teeth

8 months 3 weeks - Nadine's 2 lower front teeth are almost fully out. And she's sprouting 3 front teeth on top. Nursing her can sometimes be a painful affair for Mummy now!

Stand up!

7 months 3 weeks - Nadine can pull herself up to a standing position. Luckily Daddy and Mummy lowered her bed a couple of weeks before so that she will not topple over when she stands up! But it does mean she cannot be left alone in her bed anymore. She cannot be left alone on her bumbo anymore also.  Coz she is strong enough to rock-and-roll it over.  Nadine is growing up!