Daddy's birthday

Last Thursday was Daddy's birthday. Mummy decided on Tuesday that the occasion calls for a staycation. Very impromptu. So on Wednesday, the family checked into Hard Rock Hotel at Resorts World, Sentosa.

Check-in at the hotel was actually 3pm. So we went to Underwater World first. Nadine was absolutely fascinated by the small, big and humongous fishes swimming around.

At Sentosa, Nadine also got to ride on the bus, for the first time. 'Bus' was one of the first words that Nadine could sign and say. So Daddy and Mummy have been wanting to take her on a bus ride. But Nadine didn't seem to enjoy the ride. In fact, she seemed a bit nervous.

After walking through the entire Resorts World (except Universal Studio), Daddy and Mummy concluded that it's a boring place. Mish-mash and mismatch of shops and decor. Really gave the impression that Genting was only interested in the casino business and nothing else.

There is 1 interesting shop though, where Nadine and Daddy went crazy in - Candylicious! Mega candy shop, which charges mega dollar for their candies! They have little trolleys for kids! Nadine had so much fun pushing 1 around, and putting stuff into the trolley, as if she's really shopping! Mummy snapped so many photos of Nadine in the shop. And it was only before leaving the shop that Daddy saw the sign that says 'No photography in Candylicious'!!! Perhaps all the staff thought Nadine looked so cute pushing the trolley, so give chance!

Oh, and why did Daddy go crazy in the shop? Not because of the candies that Nadine might want to eat, but because of the amount and variety of candies he can eat! He bought almost $50 worth of candies!

And one other thing Daddy and Nadine enjoyed at the Hard Rock Hotel - swimming, or rather, playing in the pool. Mummy forgot to bring Nadine's float, so Nadine was a bit nervous in the pool. But still she was ok with submerging a little into the water, and drinking some chlorinated water.

Look how happy father and daughter are!

Luanne's birthday

We celebrated Luanne's 1st birthday last Sunday at a wonderful party. Luanne's Mummy is great at organizing superb parties, and this party was certainly one enjoyed by adults and kids.

Mummy and Luanne's Daddy have known each other for more than 20 years, and have enjoyed each other's friendship very much. Mummy hopes that Nadine and Luanne will also enjoy a long and lasting friendship!

20 months

Weight: 11 kg

Height: 81 cm

Many strangers who see Nadine think that she's much older than her actual age. Maybe it's coz she has long hair. Everybody loves Nadine's lovely hair. But it "catches" all kinds of food, and causes Nadine to be hot and sweaty and warm days. Still, Daddy and Mummy can't bear to cut the hair off. It's so precious! Maybe when it gets really unbearable .... maybe.

Nadine can now recognize 1-10 very well, and enjoys pointing out the numbers that she sees everywhere. She can also count from 1-6. 7 is always a stumbling block coz she cannot pronounce it properly. And thanks to Signing Time's "My Favorite Things" dvd, Nadine can recognize colors of the rainbow - blue, red, orange, green, yellow, purple + black and white.

Despite her having been such a good eater since young, Daddy and Mummy realized that she's not very good with outside food. Whether it's Chinese food, pasta or burger, she didn't seem to like any of them at all. But she'll happily eat her rice and dishes, porridge or pasta at home. Or is she too distracted outside to eat properly?

Her favorite fruits, besides banana, are pears and apples, like Daddy.

Strangely, Nadine likes sour stuff!

And at 20 months, she's become very assertive on what she wants. She chooses the dvds that she wants to watch, and tries to decide what she wants to do when she wants. Of course, Daddy and Mummy are not allowing her to have her ways all the time. Must let her know she's not the boss ... yet!

Two-word & Numbers

Nadine's 1st two-word "sentence" is 'WASH HAND'. Hopefully, it reflects a sense of good hygiene, but not a sign of OCD!

And she can now recognize most numbers from 1-9.

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 - not a problem for her at all, altho she can't pronounce 7 properly

5, 9 - she always mistake them as 6

3 - she pronounces "tree", and signs tree

8 - she pronounces "eat", and signs eat

But it's still good progress. And Daddy and Mummy are definitely very proud of Nadine!

Girlfriends II

At this age, it's so hard to get the girls to sit down and pose for a nice photo together. This is the best Mummy could manage last Sunday. Gladys is 6 days older than Nadine, and Esther is 3 months younger than Nadine.

19 months

Weight: 10.5 kg (didn't put on a bit in the last month)

Height: 80 cm (grew 2.5 cm in a month)

Surprising pictures/words that she can recognize: queen, igloo, kite .... and money! She enjoys taking money out of Daddy and Mummy's wallets. And she'll always happily say "money" as she takes the notes out.

Even at such a young age, Nadine is extremely sociable. Whenever she goes to the playground, she'll go up to other children to say hi. She doesn't always get a nice friendly response. But she doesn't seem to be bothered, and it's a good thing she doesn't know how to feel hurt yet!

Nadine's 2nd National Day Celebration

We started the day by bringing Nadine to the newly spruced up Lower Seletar Reservoir, which is just opposite our place.

And we went for the traditional National Day celebration in church. Last year, Nadine was a tiny baby who couldn't understand a thing about the celebration. This year, she had a ball of a time running around the back of the sanctuary during service, waving her flag, and clapping along with the singing and cheering.

But during dinner, out in the car park, she was hot, sleepy and cranky. Her mood only became better after people have cleared up and there was more fresh air, wind, and space. She started dancing to the music blasting from the speakers. And the more people clapped and cheered her on, the more she danced and spun around. Too bad Mummy was too tired to take photos of her dancing.

18 months

Height: 77.5 cm

Weight: 10.5 kg

She's saying more and more words by the day. Too many for Mummy to record. Mummy will probably start recording again when Nadine says her first 3-syllable-word, and when she strings words together to form a sentence.

Nadine's also learnt that she can choose and make decisions. She picks the shoes that she wants to wear now, and also the DVDs that she wants to watch. She's also very selective about who can carry her now. Which is both good and bad. Good coz it hopefully means she won't be carried away by a stranger easily. Bad coz she wants Mummy to carry her all the time. So tiring for Mummy!

Thank God Daddy tries and step in whenever possible. Nowadays on Sundays, Daddy will even take Nadine away into the play room to feed her lunch, so that Mummy can enjoy the sermon in peace! Thank you Daddy!

Mr Lee's 80th birthday celebration

2 Sundays ago, Mummy brought Nadine to her secondary school band instructor's 80th birthday celebration. It was an amazing celebration, and a gathering of alumni from the 70s to the most recent graduates.

Obviously Mr Lee means a lot to every one of the "old girls" present at the celebration. He didn't just teach us music. He taught us philosophies of life, integrity, the importance of pursuing excellence and how to be a good person - using principles from the bible, without directly preaching to us. So indirectly, Mr Lee led many of us to Christ. Mummy hopes that Nadine will also have such a good teacher in future, who will teach her wonderful values that will last a lifetime!

Mummy's batch of girls with Mr Lee

Nadine was happy just wandering around in the room. And never once did she worry about losing Mummy. Mummy's friends were so amused by Nadine's independence.

She also enjoyed looking at the Disney band jig-saw puzzle that was given to Mr Lee as a birthday present.

Durian!

Nadine had her first taste of durian 2 weeks ago. And just like Daddy and Mummy, she loves it!