过大礼 - 11 Jan 2010
My sis's 过大礼 falls on her birthday, so i took leave this day too...
Every auntie came this day, as compared to my relatively quieter affair almost 2 years ago, my sis's rationale is that they are here to see little JY.
My sis kept insisting that it should be a simple affair, well. from the looks of it. its FARrrrrr from simple.
We ordered 8 course mini buffet for 15 pax from Orange Clove, not bad...
Jingyi & Little Caitlyn who also came and join in the fun...My grandparents also turned up....
Little JY is excited to see so many people descending on our tiny flat. Playing peek-a-boo w my bro.
Double Happiness wooden jewellery box i gave to my sister.
2 very effective maids who took care of the 2 babies....
I sure was glad my ceremonial exchange was a much simpler affair as my sister's list of things to buy & give grew along the weeks but it was fund preparing and hearing her prepare the stuff.
To keep the 2 toddlers engaged, i pulled out the books and Little Caitlyn sat sweetly & patiently looking at the Noisy Noisy Moo Moo book, with buttons to press for what sound does each animal make.
Caitlyn slept while Little JY took a bath, with all the grandaunties looking in amusement of the way JY took her bath.
The ever-not-bashful JY looking at her grandaunties.
Birthday Treat - Jurong Bird Park 12 Jan 2010
Since JY loves Birds, my family decided to bring her to Jurong Bird Park on her birthday. My brother & me had to take 1 day's leave and it's such a pity WJ did not manage to join us due to work.
It was a bright and sunny morning, perfect for an outing. Everyone was geared and slathering sunblock lotion since it's so close to my sis's wedding, no one wants to look like a beige zebra.
JY had her morning milk in the car & off we pushed the stroller towards Bird Park. Then JY fell promptly asleep before she caught sight of any birds, we made feeble attempts to put her to sleep in the pram to her resistance. Eventually, she napped for only 10mins on my shoulder cos i was still attempting to put her in her pram when she struggled awake and caught sight of this huge white bird staring at her.
We passed by a flock of pink flamingo cooling themselves in the pond. We all took turns to carry JY throughout the duration of the Park tour.
We made it to the 10am Birds of Prey Show at Fuji Hawk Walk and it is spectacular to see birds making an entrance from left, right, behind, front springing surprises on the audience constantly,bringing visual stimulation throughout the 45mins show. We see owls, vultures and some very big birds flying in.
followed by 11am Birds & Buddies Show at the Pools Amphitheatre which captured our attention from the start when a flock of birds flew from over our heads towards the stage. Then a rush of flamingo entered and crowded the stage...and it's the start of the show! There's the portion when birthday boys/girls including JY are identified and a parakeet sang a loud cackling birthday song to them...
JY finally quietened down after the Bird Show and we have 1hr to catch up on lunch and rest from carrying her. The Bongo Burgers are over-priced and just about average quality, a tourist trap.
Next, we headed towards the Lory Loft - I'm amazed by the aviary , surrounded by high net and suspended wood bridges, we had tree top view of the canopy and trees. We heard so many chirps of the lories and if we squint hard enough, we see little dashing of red/green/blue feathers here and there. JY & my mum looking out for the lories, trying to catch a glimpse at them.
Suddenly, one landed on my dad's shoulder to our amazement. I'm ashamed at myself cos i was quite afraid that it'll hopped to my shoulder, i kept a distance. On the other hand, JY was unfazed and curious enough to get up-close and personal.
Next, we stopped at the Birds of The Prey section, we stared in wonder as this bird is HUGE! This is a Himalayan Griffon Vulture whose wingspan seems like 2m! Apparently, the 2 birds were found soaring over Orchard Road in Dec 2004, apparently immature birds can stray far off from their breeding territory in Central Asia. They were weak and exhausted but recovered in Bird Park.
Photo-time w JY
Past the pelican lake, this aquarium is full of huge fishes, another favourite of JY.
Last stop, African Waterfall Aviary where we found ourselves in the midst of lush and cool foliage with a net so high it's 12 storey above us for the free flights birds to fly around.
Small colourful starlings fleet past us constantly and perched on tree trunks. They are even so used to humans, they hopped close & peered at us curiously instead. So with litle JY learning to walk, she enthusiastically took huge steps towards the little colourful starlings and stared at them at eye level.
It was close to 2pm when we left and all were baked under the sun, tired out by the morning activity and it took all the 5 adults' strengths to match the little tike's energy level.
Jingyi Turns ONE!
Well, Jingyi has her obligatory birthday celebration. At first i was quite reluctant to organise it but in the end, we had such fun planning & purchasing the items for the party!
We had helium "1st Birthday" balloons, party kits, birthday banner.
helium balloons in the living room....little basket of playstuff for children
Birthday bannerButterfly Party Kits
A 3-D Porcupine cake for JY! Everyone say porcupine's cheeks resemble JY's...JY is all decked out in a Lifebaby halter-neck batik dress, a Loang & Noi choker (from me!) and a nice bangle from my mum.
I was totally exhausted with 80 guests milling around, mostly relatives.
There were some exciting presents for JY and one of the most precious one is a scrapbook done by my 2 cousins & aunt who forego sleep the previous night to complete the book. More of it in another blog as i hv yet to take the pics...:)
Weekend Father no more
Dear WJ,
Thanks for spending so much time with JY. It's lovely to see how your efforts paid off in the end. I'm sure it's fun bonding with the little tike, bathing & showering together and seeing her shriek in delight. It's a relief for me that you take over the duties sometimes in the morning so i can sleep in just that little bit more. Or my afternoon siestas over-ran, you kept her entertain with your energetic moves. Or for some evenings when she just refuse to go to bed on my duty, you step in & with your patience manage to calms her down and put her to bed instead.
It makes our day when we saw how your smirk mirrors little JY's one. It never fails to amaze me how much JY takes after you, physically and otherwise.
It just warms my heart when JY learns how to hug and love you.
I'm so glad you chose to be a hands-on father :)
JY's Words & Actions
She's able to verbalise the following, stupid me at first couldn't catch them until my mum reminded me that she's trying to say her first words. At first i couldnt decipher what she's saying as it sounds more like blabber, now better trained ears will pick up some words here and there.
Bird - Berh
Octopus - Pud
Cat - Cat
Bear - Beah
Rabbit - Bit Bit
Apple/Orange - Ap-pa
Car - Brrm Brrm
Pa Pa - ba ba ba ba
Ma Ma - meh meh
Milk/Eat - mumm mumm or nann nann
We have to peel our ears to listen to what she is exactly trying to say and maybe she's sayig more but it's just i couldn't understand. However, she totally understands what we are trying to tell her and she exceled in her ability to comprehend and respond to us.
#1 : Where's the fan?
*point to living room's ceiling fan Where's the other fan?
*point to the dining room's ceiling fan#2: Say (cat, dog, bird, ladybird & butterfly
(*she'll do a catching action & attempts to put into her mouth), fish & she'll point to the different animals
#3: She takes the key & point it accurately to the gate's/drawer's lock
#4: She takes the aircon & tv remote controller and points to the source.
Keen did an extra test on her. He faces her away from the aircon and puts the remote in her hand, JY still turns herself around, faced the aircon & point the remote to it.#5: Loves music from radio or voice, dances to the sound of music
#6: She sayangs everyone with a forward tilt of her forehead
#7: She will now upturn her face and stay still allowing me to kiss her on the lips
#8: screamed excitedly when i read books & ask me to read to her by handing me the book
#9: Love to play hide & seek, often taking turns to hide & seek. She'll attempt to hide by observing the usual places the adults hide out and seeking adults often outwitting them unexpectedly sometimes!
#10: She displaying her problem-solving skills. Once, she pushed the car coupe into a corner and couldn' get it out. She turned around and pushes the car out of the corner and continue on her way OR she will reverse it out, backpeddling.
#11: She helps us to take the lid cover & close over the container. We tested her out by giving her the lid cover upside down and she still will convert it right before capping it down all the times, without fail.
#12: Kicks the ball very well & can grab & throw it to us
#13: Can do a u-turn while walking
#14: Naturally stop short before the kitchen (after training her for so long)
#15: switches on my dad's computer by pressing the power button
#16: wakes up my bro & sis by walking to their rooms, tapping onto their beds then promptly walking out.
#17: Kisses & smile at her own reflections
#18: Shakes her head if she doesn't want to do certain actions
#19: Attempts to play tricks on adults (outstretch her hands to pass things but takes back when adult wants to take it from her)
#20: Hides & retrieves stuff from under the pillow/ blanket
JY's 1st Christmas
JY is in luck...she was invited to 4 christmas parties!! too bad for her mummy who was exhausted from all the present-buying/wrapping and food purchasing.... JY can feel that something is buzzing in the air these days as we go from party to party, so excited and felt so charged up.
25 Dec - Christmas Day: we had a gathering over at my grandparents place for christmas lunch, and everyone loves to play with her! KY is carrying a JY calendar hand-made by my sister for family as x'mas presents. For this christmas lunch, we have an assortment of prawn noodles, curry chicken, garden salad, ham, fruit cake and mango freeze...so not christmas food....i love it when we have big gatherings at my grandparents' place. and with the crowd-puller aka babies. it's double the fun!
then we popped over to KMin's place for christmas party at 5pm. JY only had 3 mouthfuls of her scallop porridge and refused it...so... it went to HCM & the rest of the girls who walloped all up in gusto.
All had a bite of JY's yummilicious porridge and HCM's potato salad. God-ma has a pretty present for JY! we took the chance to let JY have a late afternoon swim & she had a early night sleep in the hosts' bed with Roy as her guardian looking after her in the bedroom.
26 Dec - Boxing Day, it was WJ's family's party & the little tyke received so many presents, lucky girl.
27 Dec - it was with my girlfriends, and the kids nearly out-numbered the adults! Party was at KH's house as she's into full-term waddling. We didnt really had a good chat as at any 1 time, 2 of us were chasing the kids and engaging them so the rest of the adults can have a decent conversation. First time seeing little Jamie up close and personal, little cutie has a different look from Jody and i couldnt really tell who she resembles...she has similar sleeping patterns as JY so hmm..there's something she gotta work on eh... Eliza clung to WJ, Suzanne was also hanging around WJ.... hje becomes Mr Popular with the young girls
Less than a week later, WJ had a NY's party and the usual suspects turned up...and it was the first time i play the Nintendo WII & was i hooked playing the WII Sports & silly raving rabbids!
