Western Australia IV

Day 5:

Sugar Loaf Rock, Eagle Bay

The Gans took much nicer family photos, coz although they had 1 uncooperative toddler, the 2 smiley and pose-cooperative Gor-Gors more than made up for it.

Uncle Mel had the grand plan of a picnic lunch at Eagle Bay. We drove from one scenic spot to another. None had a proper place for us to sit down, and everywhere was super-windy. We finally found a beach with a boat parked at a corner, which we used as a table. It was such a hurried meal but the kids did not complain coz they got to play with the sand and seawater after eating.

Western Australia III

Day 5:

Country Life Farm at Dunsborough

http://www.countrylifefarm.com.au/Country_Life_Farm/HOME.html

Everybody's given a bucket of carrots to feed the animals upon entry, and paying the expensive entrance fees, $15 per adult and $13 for kids under 2. We tried our luck by saying Nadine just turned 2, hoping that the staff will be kind enough to waive her fee. But without missing a beat, he said, "oh, that will be $13". :-/

Nadine was a bit apprehensive about feeding the guinea pigs and rabbits initially. She kept asking Daddy and Mummy to feed them.

After a while, she decided to try her hand at feeding the rabbits, at arm's length.

The farm had an outdoor playground, which the kids enjoyed tremendously. On its website, it also it offers boat rides. But its micro-mini lake looks more like a mini swamp and its boats look like they've been abandoned for a long time.

Ethan and Nadine fighting over a toy at the indoor playground. Yes, Nadine's probably biting Ethan. Ethan's no push-over either. And Mummy kept reminding Nadine that soon, Ethan will be bigger and stronger than her, and will retaliate more than ever. At 1 point, she turned to Mummy and said she's scared of Ethan. That lasted for 5 min.

The indoor playground had sections for toddlers, pre-schoolers and older kids. There was even a "time-out" mat! More importantly, there was an area for parents to sit, chat, read papers/magazines, drink coffee/tea, as they waited for their children to exhaust their energy ... which can take forever.

Western Australia II

Day 4:

Hillarys Boat Harbour - for the rich and "atas"

Nadine really enjoyed "swimming" in the lagoon

The kids loved the playground too, and didn't seem to get tired of the slide

Nadine climbing up the ladder on her own. Mummy wasn't sure whether to be proud of her independence or to be worried for her safety.

A family shot, with a very sleepy Nadine

Western Australia

We took a well-deserved and much-longed-for family holiday down under again. This time, we ventured all the way from Perth to Albany, led by a super-duper travel agent cum tour guide, Uncle Mel, accompanied by his brood of 3 boys, and of course Aunty Wendy, plus Gong-Gong KK.

It was a fantastic 10-day holiday where we saw some really magnificent sights, and were entertained by the kids, especially Nadine and Ethan, who had a love-hate relationship. They enjoyed playing with each other, but couldn't stop fighting either. And many times, when they fought, both sets of parents and Gong-Gong KK just couldn't stop laughing coz it can be quite hilarious.

Day 1:

Arrived in Perth, drove round to look for dim sum, not realizing that most restaurants are closed coz it's Labor Day.

The Silases came to meet us for dim sum lunch. We stayed with them for a night when we visited in 2009. Look how much all 3 kids have grown!

Day 2:

Fish & chips at Fremantle + shopping at Target

Nadine had loads of soft drink, juices, ice-cream and fries during this trip.

Day 3:

Caversham Wildlife Park

The tour group. Aunty Geraldine joined us for the first 3 days.

Gerald and Marcus in a feed-the lambs competition.

A photo with the really ugly wombat

Taking shelter from the hot, scorching sun, together with the kangaroos

1st Ice Cream Cone

Nadine had her first ice cream cone (mini cornetto) all by herself tonight. Mummy told Daddy to share one with her. But Daddy wanted 1 for himself. Gave Nadine 1, and told her to share with Mummy. Nadine only gave Mummy 1 lick, and then finished the rest of the cone herself. Like father like daughter!

Shoes - choosing and wearing

Since last week, Nadine has been attempting to wear her shoes herself. She's quite successful with this pair of sandals, although Mummy will usually need to help her tighten the velcro. But it sure is a milestone that Daddy and Mummy are very proud of!

Actually, not only can Nadine wear her shoes herself. She now picks the shoes she wants to wear too. On some days, Mummy and Nadine will have a long "argument" on which pair of shoes to wear. Can be very exasperating!

25 months

Enjoying "Shrek" for the 2 millionth time, with Daddy

Weight: 11.5 kg

Height: 83 cm

At 25 months, Nadine is already showing herself to be quite a neat freak. She likes to pack all the remote controls into the drawer, and cannot stand to see stray pieces of laundry hanging on or next to the laundry basket. All laundry must be inside the basket. She'd even pick Daddy's socks from the "sock pail" and put them into the laundry basket. She's quite good at keeping her dvds too. She'll even try and slot the dvd into the same slot. But, with toys, she needs to be asked a few times before she'll keep them. Dunno what's the difference between toys and other things which she'll pack so readily.

Nadine also amazes Daddy and Mummy by what she can do with Daddy's iPad and iPhone. She knows exactly which icon to press to find her favorite games, and she even knows how to turn the camera into mirror mode so that she can look at herself.

Chinese New Year 2011

As a 2-year-old, Nadine was able to enjoy Chinese New Year much better this year than last year. Whether she understood or appreciated it better or not is debatable.

This year, she could say "Gongxi Facai" and "Happy New Year" and knew there's money in the ang paus. She'd promptly bring the ang paus to Mummy, and ask Mummy to keep. There were also moments that she'd want to take the money out of the ang paus. Wonder if she'll want to keep the ang paus herself next year!

A CNY family photo ... but Nadine was too distracted by the munchies on the table to sit still

Ladies of the Teo family - Jie Jie Joelle, Mummy, Nadine, Yi-Ma and Po-Po

And Nadine entertaining herself by attempting to draw happy faces on Po-Po's toes

Photos by the Professional

Uncle Eu Lee came and took photos of the family the weekend before Nadine's 2nd birthday. The shoot was done over 2 days coz weather on 1st day was not good, so cannot take swimming shots.

Day 1 was at home, in the familiarity of Nadine's room.

Day 2, we went to the pool. Nadine loves to "swim", and so Mummy thought it'll be easy to capture happy shots of her in the pool. And really, the moment she hit the pool, she was just oozing excitement and joy.

And bonus shots from Uncle Eu Lee at Nadine's birthday party. He captured such wonderful Kodak moments during the cake cutting.

2!

On 11/1/11, Nadine turned 2!

It's amazing how 2 years passed by just like that. From a little bundle, she's become a little grown-up who decides what she wants to wear, eat, watch, read, play or do; and can be quite persistent in asking for what she wants. But she is also now able to sit through the reading of a short story, listening intently to Daddy or Mummy read. Previously, by the third word, she'd want to flip the page to look at other pictures already. And she speaks pretty well for a 2-year-old, able to string words to make short sentences. Hopefully, this means she'll not go through "terrible 2"!

Her birthday present from Daddy and Mummy - a bike! German, nothing less!

Days before Nadine turned 2, Uncle Eu Lee came to take photos of the family. Here are a couple for sneak preview .... before getting the full CD of photos from Uncle Eu Lee.

Our happy family at the start of 2011

She was happily spinning when this shot was taken

To celebrate, Daddy and Mummy threw a small birthday party for her, inviting Daddy and Mummy's close friends, and their children, who are Nadine's regular playmates.

Happily waiting for her friends to come. At home she kept saying "i go happy birthday party"!

With Ethan, one of Nadine's favourite friends, and Uncle Mel, who probably wouldn't mind a 4th child if it's a daughter, even though he wouldn't admit it

Zia, who enjoys jumping and dancing with Nadine during worship

After this birthday party, Nadine had another celebration at Gong Gong and Po Po's house. Po Po bought Nadine a birthday cake that was too big for us to finish. She's so blessed to have so many people who love her!