tiny toes...

happy halloween! boo!

2011-10-30T21:59:00.001+08:00

perth, here i am! 10-17 sep 2011

2011-09-26T21:03:00.011+08:00

king's park

AQWA aquarium

farmstay at settlers rest

caversham wildlife park

fremantle

perth city

happy 3rd birthday to me!

2011-08-30T22:39:00.000+08:00

happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me!!!

happy birthday note from mummy

2011-08-30T21:59:00.002+08:00

My little orny baby (Kieran: "Mama, don't call me baby. I am not a baby anymore!"), you are now almost 3! My, how time flies, and here I am once again, (figuratively) putting pen to paper to wish you a wonderful birthday and many, many, many more amazing ones ahead.

My birthday letters are meant to be little notes of love and nuggets of information for you when you are old enough to properly comprehend the written word. The intent is to keep this up with every passing year, and have a treasure trove of love notes to pass to you to cherish in the future.

(Baby) Kieran – ever since you entered our life, you have been nothing but a ray of sunshine for daddy and me! Of course I am being biased here, but I like to say it would be hard-pressed to name any other toddler who is as cheerful and silly as you, and for that, I can never be thankful enough.

People talk about the "terrible twos" and how babies turn from little cherubic angels into bratty trolls - while you have obviously not always been a 'perfect toddler' (that would be an oxymoron), you have been an amazingly well-behaved little one, listening to our reasoning and explanations, and wise beyond your years.

We also love how compassionate you are even at this tender age – kissing me to ease any (sometimes imaginary) bruises and cuts I have; and how magnanimous you can be – for instance, sharing the last of your M&Ms with us, and blowing little insects off the floor rather than squishing them with glee - which I know doesn’t come naturally for toddlers your age.

We love how you always have a silly little smile plastered on your face from the moment you wake up in the morning and shout "Good morning mama!!!", till you end the day by negotiating the number of goodnite kisses I would get (usually 6, sometimes 7 or 8, but even up to 24, so that I can 'share with prawn baby'– the nickname you bestowed upon your little sibling still in my belly cos photos on the internet of a fetus in the early weeks reminded you of a prawn – and always saying "Mama, remember to pass them to prawn baby for me, OK!").

It is even amusing to see how hyper you can get towards the end of the day – and daddy and I would instantly know that you have missed your afternoon nap in childcare or had too many sweet stuff to eat that day!

It is because we are having such an enjoyable time with you, my little Grubby, that daddy and I were hoping that when the stork visited us again, baby number 2 would be a boy just as adorable and loving as you too! But I guess that was not in the plan, given that Dr Tan thinks prawn baby is a girl. Either way, we are thankful that the baby in mummy's tummy is healthy, pray that we would be twice lucky and have another wonderful child, and cannot wait to welcome her into this world.

Meanwhile, you have been all excited about becoming a big brother, being extremely amused at the rate my belly is growing and giggling at my belly button, asking me "Mama, is your tummy big enough already? Is prawn baby coming out yet?", and telling us how you will teach her new words, pass some of your old toys to her, and try to stop her from crying. While I know it is natural to feel a tinge of jealously once we welcome her into this world come January 2012, I am sure you will turn out to be a wonderful and loving older sibling.

Kieran - I love you, my little one, for being you – the extremely cheerful, extroverted, sometimes mature-beyond-your years, intelligent boy that you are, but also for opening up our eyes to the beauty in the world around us, and reminding us that you are barely three – and in no rush to grow up and grow out of your silly made-up language and cheeky ways.

My little orny, as you approach your 3rd birthday, my wish for you is to always have good health, a pure heart, and a bottomless wealth of happiness. I promise to continue loving you from the depths of my heart.

Happy 3rd Birthday my sweet boy! Always remember how much daddy and mommy love you!

*Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks* *Muacks*

Love, Mommy
30th August 2011

first visit to the museum, to the asian civilisation museum :)

2011-08-06T17:25:00.003+08:00

first time to the museum, to see the terracota warriors from china. cool! :D

a visit to the railway tracks

2011-07-09T14:43:00.006+08:00

most of the railway tracks will be removed from next week onwards, so we visited the historical tracks this morning.

i'm a little fireman

2011-06-11T18:54:00.001+08:00

updated footprints

2011-06-11T18:48:00.005+08:00

did an updated print of my feet. compared to the 8 cm long feet when i was 1.5 months old, my feet are now 15 cm! :)

my 1.5 months old footprints! wow! so tiny then!

batam - 3 & 4 june 2011

2011-06-05T20:26:00.008+08:00

first taekwondo class

2011-05-22T15:20:00.003+08:00

got my taekwondo outfit and started the actual taekwondo class today. :)

my first flight - to langkawi 12-15 dec 2010

2010-12-18T22:05:00.031+08:00

first day - 12 dec 2010

at the airport

happy in the plane, silkair flight MI368

at the hotel - the andaman

in the room (no.124)

second day - 13 dec 2010

langkawi cable car

topmost cable car station. rainy and misty, unfortunately...

underwater world, i quite enjoyed this. :)

getting ready for go-karting! helmet on!

posing with my champion car! :D

third day - 14 dec 2010

at langkawi's famous landmark, the eagle square.

black sand beach

dinner at pahn thai. yummy!

final day - 15 dec 2010

playing at the beach

going home! in silkair flight MI363 :D

happy halloween!

2010-10-30T22:31:00.006+08:00

happy halloween to everyone! :D

daddy made this jack-o-lantern! cute!

happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...

2010-08-29T10:07:00.004+08:00

my second birthday! sea theme this year! :D

i love my sea-themed cake!
fighting to blow the candle with my cousins!

sports day

2010-06-26T22:11:00.003+08:00

today is sports day!

racing with a ball in a net

baton relay

goal!!!

new closed-toe shoes

2010-06-14T15:00:00.003+08:00

mummy bought a new pair of closed-toe shoes for me, because there will be some activities at the childcare centre that require us to wear proper shoes and not sandals. i look smart, don't i? :D

happy mummy's day!!!

2010-05-08T19:27:00.005+08:00

mama, happy mummy's day!!! i love you!!! here's a little paper fan made at the childcare centre for you!

and flowers too! :D

starting life in the childcare centre

2010-05-06T09:02:00.002+08:00

this week, i started my life in the childcare centre. i was not scared and adapted very well to life at the childcare centre. i even grew fatter because i've been eating much more! :P

palawan beach at sentosa

2010-03-28T09:29:00.002+08:00

sentosa's little lifeguard. :)

west coast park

2010-03-07T14:55:00.003+08:00

went to west coast park yesterday. nothing much there. the sun was really burning. but i had fun picking up leaves, even tasted one and ended up having mild diarrhea... :P

first cycling experience

2010-02-28T21:51:00.005+08:00

went to pasir ris park for my first cycling experience. i didn't actually cycle myself of course, i'm too short to reach the pedals, just relaxing on the baby seat and enjoying the nice breeze while my daddy pedalled. hehe... it was really fun, although i looked tired in this photo, well, i sure needed a drink then. :P

happy chinese new year!

2010-02-25T15:32:00.002+08:00

growl! year of the tiger! :D

my first trip overseas: bintan 21 dec - 23 dec 2009

2009-12-24T15:44:00.005+08:00

let's go to the zoo!

2009-12-13T21:44:00.006+08:00

went to the zoo today with daddy, mummy, grandpa and grandma.

i enjoyed feeding the goats most! :)

second trip to the hairdresser

2009-11-01T14:44:00.007+08:00

hair has become too long again. time for another visit to the hairdresser/barber. this time daddy and mummy brought me to supercuts. i think it's much better, though more expensive, but at least the electrical hair trimmer was very silent! i wasn't scared at all, though i became a little fidgety after a while. i didn't like the hi5 show playing on the screen in front of me, i prefer barney. :P
look at me before and after the haircut! which hairstyle do you prefer? :) mummy prefers the "after" look, more boyish and naughty-looking. :P

second trip to the beach

2009-10-19T20:44:00.004+08:00

second trip to the beach, this time to the tanjong beach at sentosa. enjoyed myself more, the sand felt less coarse, either the sand in sentosa is finer than that in east coast, or the sole of my feet became less sensitive. :P

the sun was burning me, though it was only about 9am. look at my burning rosy cheeks!
lying on the beach and trying to make a "sand angel"... :)

big boy shower

2009-09-26T21:47:00.004+08:00

today i graduated from a baby boy bath tub bathing to a big boy shower! much more fun than the bath tub, cleaner too! :)

adventure at jurong bird park

2009-09-05T21:38:00.004+08:00

went to the bird park today. saw so many beautiful birds!
the penguins are cute. they're great swimmers!
i really enjoyed myself at the bird park, although it was exhausting! :)

my 1st birthday!

2009-08-30T22:11:00.004+08:00

celebrated my 1st birthday with this beautiful birthday cake!

held at owen seafood restaurant at turf city, an old restaurant, but we had a room for ourselves, so i could really enjoy myself running around! mummy brought me to look at all the live seafood, fishes (i could recognise and say "fish"!), crabs (i clapped when my mummy said "crabs"!), etc. so happy!! :)

ate a bit of the chocolate birthday cake too. the figurines are cute, made of fondant. hmm... quite sweet actually.

everyone loves me. i'm such a lucky boy. i really love my family!

mummy's letter to me... so touching...

2009-08-29T17:48:00.010+08:00

A letter to Grubby from Mummy
(A letter to my baby as he celebrates his 1st birthday)

My dearest Baby Kieran,

Announcement of your impending arrival came as an unexpected surprise for your daddy and me over the festive holidays in late 2007. What followed was a (thankfully) wonderful and breezy nine months carrying and nurturing you inside of me, with every kick and nudge drawing us both closer to the day we were to welcome you into this world.

30th August 2008 @2.23pm ~ this day that you were born was one of the best days in my life; akin to falling in love all over again, only this time with a tiny 2.97kg bundle of joy. If babies were special gifts for made for mummies ~ you are one of the best ever ~ tiny, cherubic and perfect in our eyes, like a little pressie bundled in shiny shimmery gift wrap, topped with a big red ribbon!

It has been 365 days since you first laid in my arms and I shakily mouthed to say, with tears clouding my eyes, "Hi little one ~ I'm your mommy!”

And now, in lightning speed, a year has flown by, and you are celebrating your 1st birthday.... As I sit here, gathering my thought and putting pen on paper for when you are old enough to read this and look back at your very early years, I marvel at how much we have both grown ~ as mother and son ~ the past 12 months.

Before you came along, I have never thought of myself as the "mummy kind", wondered if I would second guess my parenting skills (or lack there of), and if I could handle the huge responsibility of moulding my very own little person into a man, and guiding you on the right paths in life.

Fortunately, everything just fell neatly into place the moment you arrived. I guess we both learnt from, and adapted to each other as if it was all meant to be. Make no mistakes, it was not all rainbows and sunshine ~ there were some days when daddy and I wondered what we have signed ourselves up for, and if special little gifts with big red ribbons came with an exchange policy...

But perhaps mummies were programed to forget ~ be it forgetting how huge I grew and how I had to lug excess baggage around during pregnancy, be it forgetting the sleepless nights spent soothing and nursing you, be it forgetting your occasional temper tantrums....for even as your daddy reminds me of the “suffering” we have been going through, these do not frazzle or unnerve me. I guess being a mummy taught me the meaning of endless patience and ‘unconditional love’.

Instead, all I see is you ~ my 11kg of pure, unadulterated grubby little baby boy. I see your shiny eyes as you look at me, your little button nose; and as the tooth fairy started coming by to drop off your little tooth one by one ~ now as you turn one ~ I see your 8 little perfect white pearlies peeking out at me as you crinkle up your face when you flash us that cheeky smile. I see your fleshy, tanned skin, and your fat little fingers and toes. Sometimes I stare at you as you sleep, marveling at this little new creature that has joined our lives, and savor the moment, just taking in your warmth, your distinct, grubby smell, and count my blessings.

And as the months whizzed us by, I see your unique character unfolding like a flower opening up its petals after the summer rain. Even at this tender age, you have already developed a distinct personality and character ~ one who is confident, cheerful, and chatty; but also sometimes reckless, stubborn, and impatient (be it to walk or talk faster than the norm, be it to gobble up all your favorite fruits, or be it to have mummy carry you), ~ enough personality to fill full-sized adult shoes and then more.

Yes ~ you, my little man, are fast growing into you own person, and I am enjoying every moment of it!

Even as we fast forward the years and can no longer call you “Baby Kieran”, I hope you can continue to flourish under daddy’s and my nurture and guidance. I hope you will never stop finding little, unexpected pleasures in life, and never stop loving and living life to the fullest. I know that while daddy and mummy will not always be the center of your universe as you grow up and make friends ~ and in the distant future, start a little family of your own ~ I hope we will always have that special little space reserved in your heart.

The last year has indeed been an amazing journey for all three of us ~ for the two most important men in my life ~ Daddy and Grubby ~ and for me, as I embraced motherhood for the first time.

Baby Kieran, it will be some time yet to come before you can read my scribblings, but I want to nonetheless, take a moment to reflect, and to thank you for bringing such joy to, and enriching our lives.

Meanwhile, I will be loving you always with my heart and soul, and always be here for when you need me. You will always be my grubby little baby Kieran! Hugs and kisses.

Happy Birthday!

Love, Mummy May
30th August 2009

first time at the beach

2009-08-09T22:16:00.005+08:00

daddy and mummy brought me to the east coast beach yesterday. the sand is so coarse! i didn't really like the feeling. mummy was nice enough to give me a grocery bag for me to sit on. hehe... :)

new turtle float

2009-08-01T22:16:00.003+08:00

new colourful turtle float! to match my colourful swimwear and my favourite colourful ball!! so happy!

my first haircut

2009-08-01T22:00:00.005+08:00

my first haircut... was alright initially, the screen in front of me was playing barney! but i got scared later by the noise of the electrical hair trimmer... can't they stick to a manual hair trimmer?? >:(

shorter hair! i now look more boyish! cooler too! less smelly after perspiring! :P

crawling contest...

2009-07-14T22:25:00.008+08:00

daddy and mummy made me take part in the straits times' CATS car-nival baby crawling contest on 12 july 2009... :P
ready, get set, go!!

i got the bronze trophy! 8 metres in 26 seconds! hehe... so happy!

or did i get gold?? hmm... hehe...no, i got the bronze, but i stole the gold trophy just for a moment of pleasure!

my bronze trophy! :D

playing with water!

2009-06-21T21:17:00.003+08:00

daddy and mummy brought me to the swimming pool, i really enjoyed myself crawling in the shallow water amidst jets of water! so fun so fun!!!

i'm a baby model!

2009-05-31T11:25:00.008+08:00

anyone wants me to model for their commercials? hehehe... i accept baby product endorsements too. :P

i can stand very steadily now with support!

2009-05-17T09:22:00.003+08:00

rapper boy

2009-04-25T13:58:00.002+08:00

chicken and sweet potato!

2009-04-10T12:59:00.002+08:00

mummy made another concoction for me - chicken and sweet potato blend! she added a bit of sweet pear juice to make it tastier. hehe...mummy is always so nice to me.

chicken and carrot today!

2009-04-04T16:08:00.006+08:00

i really like the chicken and carrot puree, mummy always puts in a lot of effort to blend all the yummy stuffs for me. finger-lickin' good!

first studio photo!

2009-04-03T22:46:00.004+08:00

me!
daddy looked like me...

floating in paradise

2009-03-15T22:02:00.002+08:00

look how fast i can crawl at 6 months old!

2009-03-14T22:42:00.003+08:00

popeye?

2009-03-14T22:30:00.007+08:00

it's spinach today! quite yucky though, will i become popeye the sailor man?

first taste of semi-solid food

2009-03-07T16:05:00.003+08:00

i like my new food. rice cereal...something different. hehe...

like daddy like baby

2009-02-28T11:58:00.002+08:00

i think i really look like my daddy when he was a baby... hehe... i've lesser hair though...

swimming!

2009-02-21T18:45:00.001+08:00

Happy Lunar New Year!

2009-01-27T22:47:00.001+08:00

yummy tiger!

2009-01-14T08:53:00.006+08:00

yummy tiger, limbs first...

now the best part, the head... *evil look*

finger-lickin' good!

am i cute?

2008-12-22T14:21:00.002+08:00

young actor audition?

2008-12-06T20:47:00.009+08:00

first expression: greedy (click on the pic above to see me salivating!)
second expression: happy
third expression: pissed

feed me!!

2008-11-25T21:59:00.001+08:00

tummy time pic

2008-11-15T18:55:00.001+08:00

letter from daddy & mummy

2008-11-14T11:38:00.007+08:00

pic

2008-11-11T20:34:00.002+08:00

no more beer for me... burppp...

2008-11-08T21:49:00.003+08:00

happy halloween!

2008-11-02T18:53:00.001+08:00

swimming!

2008-10-25T23:04:00.001+08:00

went swimming today. daddy and mummy brought me to a place where babies could swim in a deep tub, with a float around their necks. quite a cool experience, it's lucky i could swim quite well and didn't poop in the water. :p

what's so funny?

2008-10-24T16:30:00.004+08:00

look how much i've grown!

2008-10-19T10:58:00.002+08:00

i'm not obese. someone must've shrunk the pillow! it's a conspiracy.

footprints

2008-10-18T17:01:00.008+08:00

daddy and mummy tried to create my footprints. quite smudgy, cos i was moving my feet too much. my tiny feet measured only 8 cm long, at 6 weeks old.

my dirty foot with yellow watercolour... yucks...

lifting my head

2008-10-15T21:47:00.004+08:00

this was the first time i managed to hold my head up for almost a minute during a "tummy time" session. mummy has been giving me a lot of "tummy time", when i'll be rolled over to lie on my tummy and encouraged to lift my head up to strengthen my neck muscles. kinda tiring, but mummy seems to enjoy it. she always smiles like the bright morning sunshine each time i lift my head up.

pooped??

2008-10-08T22:06:00.002+08:00

grape toes?

2008-10-07T17:02:00.003+08:00

my full month celebration

2008-10-04T23:03:00.002+08:00

today is my full month celebration. am really exhausted from meeting friends and relatives.

this is the catered food... looks really yummy. too bad i don't have any teeth... :(
my daddy made a bear jelly too to add on to the desserts! it's yummy, i overheard... :p
and daddy drew this banner for me! he's a good cartoonist, isn't he? hehehe... it was hung up to add on to the party atmosphere. :)
oh yes, not forgetting my new found friend emma. she's a real cute girl, isn't she? and she's really nice to me. :)

my first month! finally!

2008-09-30T15:13:00.006+08:00

i'm one month old today. confinement lady gave me a nice flower bath. wow. so colourful!

happy baby!

after the bath, a manicure! ahhh... this is life...

monster and angel

2008-09-28T10:39:00.003+08:00

the words on my romper are quite apt "i'm a little monster". i may look like an angel, but i'm a little monster!! *evil smile*

(you may wish to use the above pic as a postcard or wallpaper, just click on it to get the pic in a higher resolution)

toes update

2008-09-27T12:02:00.004+08:00

update on my small fat toes, quite a lot fatter and rounder now as compared to when i was just born. :)
(compare 3 sep 2008 post)

guess what i'm saying

2008-09-24T11:01:00.008+08:00

NB: You may need to activate ActiveX or have the Windows Media Player plugin in order to listen to the above sound clip

pic

2008-09-20T13:47:00.002+08:00

here's a stamp of approval

2008-09-13T19:20:00.003+08:00

my first video

2008-09-12T09:53:00.004+08:00

please press the "play" button above and then allow some time for the video buffering...

just me

2008-09-06T16:34:00.003+08:00

me and my toy

2008-09-05T16:03:00.003+08:00

i'm a mummy...

2008-09-04T13:14:00.002+08:00

the confinement lady came today, seems like a nice hardworking lady. wrapped me up like a mummy, so that i won't feel cold and will think that i'm being hugged perpetually... :S

i'm out!

2008-09-03T15:36:00.014+08:00

i'm finally out, on 30 august 2008. weighed a hefty 2.97 kg and measured 49 cm long!

daddy is nice and artistic enough to make a birth announcement poster for me. hehe... cool eh? i'm a star baby!

am well and healthy, except i love to sleep. just waking up to drink milk. hehe.

daddy and mummy have been very diligent in attending my needs, but i feel bad that they're exhausted. i'm trying not to be too demanding... i hope i can. :p

one more pillow!

2008-07-05T18:04:00.005+08:00

mummy also made a beansprout husk pillow for me! she refused to let daddy's pillow get all the limelight. haha. now... compare the two... blue one is daddy's masterpiece, the white one is mummy's, which is nicer? honestly, i think mummy's workmanship is better. and she only spent half the time daddy spent! well, after all, girls do learn sewing in school, don't they?

my pillow, toys and shoes

2008-06-02T08:43:00.013+08:00

not skilled in sewing, but daddy still took the time and effort to personally make a pillow filled with beansprout husks for me. he used the cloth of his old shirt and took almost 4 hours to complete the pillow... supposed to be placed over my tummy to prevent me from rolling facedown and suffocating. so nice of him...

mummy also bought some toys and shoes for me. hehe... my parents are so sweet...

my room!!

2008-05-17T21:28:00.004+08:00

daddy & mummy spent a couple of hours doing up my room today. so colourful! hehe... i love it! can't wait to lie in the cot, looks really comfy...

i'm a boy!

2008-04-21T21:36:00.013+08:00

detailed scan today shows i'm growing very well, all vital organs are perfect. am estimated to weigh about 314 g. cool, i'm growing bigger and bigger. and most important of all (which i think my parents are anxious to find out!), i'm a boy!! woohoooo!

this scan shows my skull and brain.

my side view, looks pretty good.

eye orbits look well-spaced too...i'm gonna be a good-looking boy. hehehe.

the 4 chambers of my heart

the left scan shows the blood flow... and the right scan shows that i'm a boy! hehehe... MALE!

my hands, though not very clear

these graphs show i'm normal! the crosses belong to me

16th-week scan

2008-03-24T23:01:00.003+08:00

16th-week scan, have grown too big to fit into one scan frame, weight is approximately 138 g, estimated from the abdominal circumference. daddy had a glance at my waving hand with my five tiny fingers!

can see my spinal cord and head (on the right), and leg (on the left) from this scan. gynae unfortunately could not tell whether i'm a boy or girl yet... well, will just keep everyone in suspense until there's enough amniotic fluid for me to swim around one month later...

second part of OSCAR test

2008-02-27T09:04:00.004+08:00

the nurse just called to inform that the results of the second part of the OSCAR test are normal. the second part of the test is a blood analysis for the levels of PAPP-A (Pregnancy Associated Plasma Protein-A) and free beta-hCG (beta-human Chorionic Gonadotropin). both mum and dad are very pleased and relieved. :D

25 february 2008

2008-02-25T21:37:00.006+08:00

second ultrasound scan...

this is the first part of OSCAR (One Stop Clinic for Assessment of Risk) test, to assess the risk of Down's Syndrome, the nuchal translucency scan looks very optimistic. :) have grown about 2 cm bigger now. am fidgety. heartrate = 150 beats/minute, pretty fast for a teeny weeny fella.

anyway, mummy is glad to know that i'm growing well. :)

will now wait for the results of the second part of the test...

my first ultrasound scan on 11 feb 2008

2008-02-25T21:19:00.000+08:00

my first ultrasound scan... am 9 weeks 5 days old, 29.3 mm big.

head is about the same size as the body, i feel funny...

estimated birthdate = 10 Sep 2008 :)