Desaru

Daddy and Mummy brought Nadine to Desaru over the weekend, together with Godma and other friends. It was a much-anticipated holiday. These friends have been Mummy's good friends for a long time, and they used to travel together quite a bit. But those trips have stopped since the children came. So it certainly was great to be able to go for a holiday together again.

The company was great, but it wasn't the most enjoyable holiday for the family coz Nadine was not well. She developed a fever on Thursday night and although the fever subsided on Friday, she was still not her usual bubbly self. Then on Saturday at Desaru, she started coughing, and slept badly on Saturday and Sunday nights. She koala-beared on Mummy all the time, and was super-cranky. Not very fun. As a result, Mummy took very little photos during the holiday.

This is one of the few photos taken, with Nadine pretending to drive, and in a better mood.

It was a pity Nadine missed this super-fun water playground.

But Mummy managed to sneak out to play with her friends while Nadine was napping, courtesy of Daddy who stayed in the room with Nadine. Sweet Daddy!

Well, this calls for another holiday!

16 months

Nadine is 16 months old. Such a big girl! And she's showing more and more of her character - she is very curious, adventurous and cheeky, definitely has a mind of her own, to the extent of being stubborn. Persuasion works better for her than pressure. And she can now say:

ball

bug

up

dog

bus

boat

book

down (she pronounces "dow")

nana (for banana)

dance

rice

turtle

bed

door & doll (she pronounces both "daw")

baby

gor gor

po po

wait

bubble

no more (she says "mo more")

baaa (for "sheep")

mmm (for "moo")

paw paw (what the aussies call papaya, coz with "papaya" she only says "papa" and Daddy doesn't want to be associated with a fruit)

Look-alike

People have said Nadine looks like Mummy. Just how much does Nadine look like Mummy .... the young Mummy?

Dance on demand

Nadine now dances on demand, and without demand too. She loves twirling around. Think that gives her a high. And of course, she enjoys it the most when people are watching her twirl, and clapping her on. Little entertainer!

Little Ballerina (wannabe)

Nadine loves The Wiggles' rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, because it features 3 ballerinas dancing to the music. And she's been imitating the ballerinas, twirling and lifting her heels whenever she hears the song, whether it's from the video, or sung by Daddy and Mummy. She dances funny. But suppose her dancing is not too bad for a toddler her age! Daddy now wants to buy Nadine a tutu, and is wondering when is the earliest that he can send Nadine to ballet class!

How important is a key? Very, especially if your baby is locked in a room all by herself.

Last Sunday, Bibi put Nadine in Gong-Gong's room to nap, and shut the door, without realizing that the lock button on the door was pressed down. Half an hour later, when Mummy finished reading the papers and wanted to go into the room to nap with Nadine, she couldn't, for her life, open the door. Panic!

Daddy, Mummy, Gong-Gong, Por-Por and Bibi tried all ways to open the door, and tried to find the key, to no avail. Thank God there was a locksmith's sticker stuck on the electricity meter outside. And thank God the locksmith said he could come within 15 min. Also thank God that the bedroom was next to the corridor, where there was a window.

By the time Mummy called the locksmith, Nadine had been woken up. But she was just quietly lying on the mattress on the floor. That didn't last long though. Soon, she was up and walking about. Mummy and Bibi then stood at the window and talked to her and played with her from there, hoping that she'd not cry and ask to be let out. Nadine seemed oblivious to the locked door, and was probably thinking that Mummy and Bibi were playing a new game with her.

That was the longest 20 min of Mummy's life. The locksmith took like 30 sec to open the door. When Mummy carried Nadine out, she (Mummy, not Nadine) was close to tears. Por-Por almost cried too.

What a traumatic Sunday! Lesson learnt - keep the room door keys outside the room!!!

15 months

Nadine is a super-active 15-month-old. She has boundless energy and can rarely keep still, except when she's reading (in a language only she can understand), eating (seated on a high-chair), and of course, sleeping.

She now has 12 teeth and 2 molars. Apparently many for a kid her age. She's also beginning to talk. She can now say

- Bibi

- baby

- picture

- tree

- rice

She signs and says words that she knows

- Dad

- Mom

- eat

- nice

- yes

- more

- night

- fish

- me

Daddy and Mummy can't wait for her to start speaking in sentences!

Tiger

Nadine's first contact with Tiger Beer ...... licking the cold can.

She loves cold cold ice. At Gong-Gong KK's birthday party, Daddy pacified the sleepy and cranky Nadine by letting her put her hands into the icy cold ice-box to play with ice. She kept doing it until her hands were red and sore. And would have continued doing so if she had not been carried away.

Girlfriends

With Luanne and her Mummy. It was a challenge trying to get the 2 little girls to look at the camera at the same time. Even harder when there are 2 cameras. But this candid shot turned out quite nicely.

Little Drummer Girl

Daddy's drum set is still in Nadine's room, so it naturally has become Nadine's toy too. And having seen Daddy play the drums so often, Nadine knows that she doesn't just hit the drums with her bare hands. She'll always pull out a pair of drum sticks to hit on the drums! Yes, if she's interested, Daddy will definitely teach her how to play. But at the moment, Daddy thinks that Nadine will more potential to be a singer, with her loud, powerful voice. Can be a drummer and singer rite?