Skyler's 2nd Year Blog

To all Family and Friends of Baby Skyler,

Thank you for your faithful readership and for all your love for Baby Skyler. We’ve started a new Blog for Skyler’s 2nd Year. You can simply click on the link at the side bar on the right or go to http://www.skyler-2.blogspot.com/.

With Skyler’s birthday on 28th December 2006, this Blog, Skyler's 1st Year, is now complete. Please do continue to visit Skyler’s new Blog, and do leave a little message or two of love for our Little One!

Skyler’s First Birthday

Dearest Little Skyler,

IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!

You’re one year old today, Little One! Wow! Time has really flown by! Papa and Mama can’t believe that you’ve been in our lives for one whole year already!

It’s been a real experience for us, Little One. Being our first child, you really had to bear the brunt of our inexperience and ignorance. Thank God that our ignorance was ameliorated somewhat by the accessibility of information on the Internet! Mama spent so much time surfing the Net for all kinds of information about how to take care of you that we actually did not feel like we were unsure of what we needed to do most of the time! :D This is really a vast difference from when your grandparents had us. They depended almost solely on the experience of other Papas and Mamas during that period of time to guide them. And if they did not have any wiser, more experienced parents to guide them, they were left on their own to raise children with little information or none at all!

To round off your birthday celebrations, we brought you to the Globetrotters Restaurant in United Square for dinner. Of course you couldn’t eat the food there but Mama had read that this place catered for children i.e. they designed the place with families in mind - there was an attached playroom for children to play while the parents ate, they had dedicated children’s menus and the whole place was brightly lit. We had invited Kow-fu and Kow-Mo along as they really love you and wanted to be with you on your birthday too. Kow-fu got you a balloon to play with. We also took turns to bring you into the playroom to look around. (Mama and Papa were a bit discouraged by the look of the playroom so we took you out quite quickly - it wasn’t very well maintained.)

Surprisingly for Papa, Papa met up with his long-lost secondary school classmates and their families there. Uncle Sang Chong and Uncle Craig were Papa’s secondary school classmates and Papa had not seen them since we completed our secondary education in 1984! Papa and Mama had bumped into Uncle Craig and Aunty Samantha (Uncle Craig’s wife) a couple of times over the years but we never really had a chance to catch up with each other. Both Uncles have three duckies now. It was really cool for Papa to have met them. They were quite close friends of Papa’s when we were in school. :D

After we had had our dinner, we moved over to Swensen’s for ice cream. We had their Firehouse Happy Birthday Sundae in honour of your birthday. Mama fed you just a bit of it since it’s actually yours. :D But we were afraid that you might not be able to take it so we limited it to just a bit. :)-

Happy Birthday, Little One! Papa and Mama are so glad that you are our Little Baby Duckie!

Papa and Mama

Boxing Day

Dearest Little Skyler,

Today is Boxing Day, i.e. the day after Christmas. There are several guesses amongst us as to why it’s called Boxing Day but Papa’s guess is that this is the day the most people in the world who celebrated Christmas will box up all their Christmas trees, decorations, presents, etc. :D

Today was also the day we celebrated your birthday with our families.

We had your 3rd Birthday Party with Mama’s family i.e. ‘po-po’, ‘kow-fu’ and ‘kow-mo’. We were supposed to have celebrated together with Papa’s family but as ‘po-po’ could not make it at night (as per the original plan) we had to have a birthday lunch instead.

We had a log cake for your birthday cake. Then ‘po-po’, ‘kow-fu’ and ‘kow-mo’ gave you their presents! ‘Po-po’ gave you a jade chick and an ‘ang pow’ while ‘kow-fu’ and ‘kow-mo’ gave you an activity centre that made lots of noise and had lots of buttons for you to press. You were so thrilled by it. :D

Later in the evening, we had your 4th Birthday Party with Papa’s family (grandma, ‘ah pek’ ‘ah m’, ‘che-che’ Reika and ‘kor-kors’ Yujin and Kenji) plus ‘kow-fu’ and ‘kow-mo’ came back as well. Once again there was lots of food, noise and yet another cake! :D

Grandma gave you an ‘ang-pao’ and ‘ah pek’ and ‘ah m’ gave you a wooden castle (the kind where you had to move pieces along a wire frame).

So many people love you so much, Little One. This whole period saw a lot of rain every day and yet everyone took the trouble to come down to celebrate your birthday. :D

We love you, Little One.

Papa and Mama

Christmas Day

Dearest Little Skyler,

Today’s Christmas Day! :D Today we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ! As we’ve said before, this is not really Jesus’s birthday as we don’t really know when it is but the Christian leaders of long ago chose this date to celebrate His birth. You’ve heard the story of Jesus’s birth many times in the past month at Sunday School, Little Girl. We’re sure you didn’t understand what the Sunday School Teacher said then but we’re definitely going to make sure that you know it by heart when you’re older. :D

Today was also the day that we had your 2nd Birthday Party! Mama’s friends, Aunty Karen, Uncle Heng Yew, ‘che-ches’ Vera and Shana & Aunty Bili came to celebrate Christmas and your birthday! Godma Audrey was not able to come as she had gone on a holiday to Europe with Uncle Henry. Aunty Christina and Uncle Wei Lii had also gone overseas.

You spent the afternoon playing with the ‘che-ches’ but because you couldn’t walk properly as yet, most of the time you watched them move around and took part when you could. :D

We had lots of food and again ended the day with another cake cutting session for your birthday! You received so many presents today – Aunt Bili gave you a big ‘car’ for you to ride on and Aunty Karen gave you an alphabet train. You also had a couple of presents from Godma Audrey for both Christmas and your Birthday as Godma says that she will not shortchange you as they are two separate events that you deserve presents for. :D

Merry Christmas once again, Little One! :D

We love you!

Mama and Papa

Christmas Eve

Dearest Little Skyler,

Wow! Today is Chrismas Eve! The day before Christmas – the day that we celebrate Jesus’s birth! Remember, Skyler, that this is not really the day that Jesus was born. We don’t really know his exact date of birth - 25th December is just the day that the Christian world decided to choose to celebrate his birth. :D

We went for Christmas Eve Service today. We sang a few carols and had a sort of Christmas message delivered by pastor. At the end of the service, you received a ‘Mitsubishi Super Great Truck’ from a nice aunty. This was a small little model of a truck. It was a very nice gesture from her. A few of the ‘kor-kors’ also went around giving out candy that their parents had bought for that purpose. However, we didn’t take any as you can’t eat candy yet and we ourselves don’t really appreciate it so much. :D

After service, we headed off to Wheelock Place and had lunch at Fish & Co. There, we met a nice Che-che named June. She was one of the staff there. She was so happy to play with you that she kept on coming over when she didn’t have to serve other guests. She even carried you all the way to the counter to collect glasses of water for Papa and Mama and you let her! :D You are really very socialble. Just be careful in the future, ok? Not everyone is nice and safe.

We then went down to Borders to look for books to buy. We shopped around for quite some time as we wanted to get a Christmas present for your ‘Tai-pos’ as we were going to visit them and ‘Yi-po’.

It was raining quite heavily when we finally set off for their place. We arrived safely and spent some time there visiting before we headed home.

Papa and Mama used to go for the midnight Christmas service but we couldn’t this year as we didn’t feel that it was right to make you stay up so late. It’s usually quite a wonderful experience as the whole church would be packed with people and after midnight, everyone would wish each other a Merry Christmas. Never mind, we’ll bring you when you’re older and can take it better, ok?

Merry Christmas, Little One.

Papa and Mama love you!

Carollers @ The Esplanade

Dearest Little Skyler,

Mama and you met up with Aunty Seow Hwee today. It was a very interesting (and educational) experience I think for Aunty Seow Hwee. It seems that she has never pushed a stroller or carried a baby before and it was her first attempt to do both with you. :D

You all shopped around Raffles City and Mama had very little time to catch up with Aunty Seow Hwee because she spent so much time taking care of you. Later in the afternoon, they waited for Papa to come.

After we left Aunty Seow Hwee, we met up with Grandma as we were supposed to go to church to listen to some caroling. We went over to the location after dinner and we tried to feed you while waiting for them to start.

We got there at the stipulated time but slowly realised that that time was actually the start of their rehearsals for the day. So, we stayed there to listen to the rehearsals. After the event started, Mama and Papa decided to go off.

We all went over to the Esplanade as Mama had wanted to bring you around there the whole holidays and we were running out of time. While we were at the main entrance, we saw a sign that said that the ACJC Choir was going to perform carols at the Esplanade so we decided to stay to watch it. As we climbed the stairs to the designated performance area, you decided that you wanted to climb the stairs too! Of course, Mama had to help you up the stairs, but you were so determined to make it up yourself, taking big steps as you went along.

When we got to the top of the stairs, we sat around and waited for them to begin. On time, they came out and they performed several classical and contemporary Christmas carols and songs. They were quite good.

It so happened that the choir mistress was Mama’s school friend whom she had not met for years! It was quite a coincidence.

When the performance ended, we set off immediately as it was getting late and we had to send Grandma home before heading back to ours.

We love you, Little One.

Papa and Mama

Mama’s & Papa’s 14th Anniversary

Dearest Little Skyler,

Mama and Papa celebrated our 14th Anniversary of being together as a couple today. It’s interesting to Papa that Mama and Papa were together for 7 years when we got married and then it was another 7 years before we had you. We’re so happy to have you here to celebrate this anniversary with us. :D

We decided to go to the Zoo today as the weather was quite good in the morning. When we arrived at the zoo, it became a bit cloudy and Mama wondered if it would rain but it cleared up a bit so we carried on into the zoo.

We walked around to look at the residents there and as you are now a bit older, it was so much more fun as you reacted to the animals a lot more than when we brought you previously. We covered quite a big part of the zoo today and watched lots of the animals. There was also a vegetable patch in the zoo where we could see lots of local vegetables grown. It was quite fun for Papa as he’d never seen most of these vegetables in this form before. However, you missed out on this as you’d fallen asleep by the time we got there.

When you woke up, we headed for the Children’s section of the zoo as there was an animal performance about that time. However, when we got there, it started raining very heavily. Everyone there headed for shelter at the horse stables and we got to watch the ponies and horses close up. When the rain slowed a bit, Mama and Papa decided to head for the exit as it would have been pointless to stay at the zoo in that condition. And we also had to leave as we had dinner plans.

After we left the zoo, we took you to Kow-fu’s & Kow-mo’s as we had asked them to babysit you for us as we wanted to have a bit of private time for ourselves on our anniversary. Thus, you spent the rest of the evening with them while we went to Ritz-Carlton hotel for a buffet dinner. While we wanted some time just for ourselves, we were constantly thinking of you and wondering what you were doing, Little One. You’re so much a part of our lives!

We went back immediately after we’d eaten to pick you up and head for home. Kow-fu and Kow-mo told us that you’d not slept a wink from the time we left and you’d played with everything in their home! :D

We love you, Little Girl!

Mama and Papa

Skyler’s 1st Birthday Party with Mama’s Former Colleagues

Dearest Little Skyler,

We had the first of what turned out to be several birthday parties for you today, Little Girl. Mama invited her former colleagues to our home for a Christmas-cum-Your First Birthday gathering today. :D We’d invited Aunty Doo Guat and her son, kor-kor Matthew, and Aunty Rachel and her son, kor-kor Isaac. They were particularly special to us because they had helped to take care of you before when both of us could not be around. We’d also invited Aunty Patsy and Uncle Han Chung’s family (you remember them don’t you - we’d gone to the zoo with them and che-che Nicole and kor-kor Ethan) but they couldn’t make it as che-che Nicole was unwell.

It was raining quite heavily today but both aunties still took the trouble to come. And even though they couldn’t make it for the gathering as they had to care for che-che Nicole, Uncle Han Chung still came later in the evening bearing gifts for you and the other little ones! They love you so much!

We had prepared ham and cheese sandwiches for snacks and Papa walked out to get some heavier food for our dinner. Aunty Doo Guat arrived with kor-kor Matthew as Papa was leaving and Papa met Aunty Rachel and kor-kor Isaac on my way back. :D

After Papa got back, we laid out the food. Then Mama and the aunties caught up with each other while the kor-kors and you played. :D It was only after we had eaten that Uncle Han Chung came with their gifts. He could not stay as he had to get home to help care for che-che Nicole.

We then got out your first birthday cake and everyone sang you the Happy Birthday song and Mama helped you blow out the candle and cut the cake.

You were so tired out by then, Little One, that you went to bed quite immediately after our friends had left for home.

Happy Birthday in advance, Skyler. :D

We love you!

Mama and Papa

Skyler Can Sit Up

Dearest Little Skyler,

Wow! You can sit up from a lying down position, Little One! We’d come back from the hotel and placed you in your playpen and before we knew it, you were sitting up. We didn’t even see how you did it! We’re so proud of you! But it was also something that made us worried as the playpen height that you’ve been sleeping at is a bit high, i.e. you can easily tip over the sides from your sitting position. So, we had to change the height of your mattress in the playpen.

I don’t know if that was what caused you to not sleep the whole night. Papa had to carry you to comfort you but Papa’s strength gave out at about 3.10 am. Mama was awakened by Papa then to take over. Mama then woke Papa up again at about 3.40 am as she was exhausted too. You finally went to sleep at 4.10 am! Hooray! Sigh… Papa had to wake up two hours later to go to work!

Oh well…

We love you, Little One!

Papa and Mama

Holiday Hotel Stay

Dearest Little Skyler,

We went to stay over at a hotel this weekend, Little One. As I think I’ve said before, this is something that Mama and Papa like doing as it allows us to get away for a while. We decided to stay at the Swissotel the Stamford as we’d not been there before.

When we tried to check in they didn’t have a room ready for us. The desk receptionist informed us that we would have to wait an hour before the room would be ready as they were over booked and some guests had checked out later than expected. In the meantime, they allowed us the use of a waiting room. That’s where we went and we tried to feed you your afternoon milk. Godma Audrey came over then to spend some time with you and give Mama and Papa some time to enjoy our afternoon tea.

When we finally got to the place that served the tea, they told us that we had missed the tea session. However, they were willing to prepare an alternate selection for us and they gave us a table as well.

After the tea, we went to try to get our room but, again, it wasn’t ready so we were upgraded to a Club room. When we got there, it had two single beds instead of one big double bed for Mama and Papa. Thus, we asked for a change of rooms again. In the end, we got back the room that we were originally slated for. What an afternoon! :D By the time we were done and returned to the first room, where you were with Godma, Godma had already tucked you for your afternoon nap. You were so tired from playing with Godma that you fell asleep right after she put you on the bed!

Since Godma still had a bit of time to watch you, Mama and Papa shopped around Raffles City and bought novelty balloons for your birthday. We bought twelve balloons – one for every month that you’ve been with us. :D

Godma had to leave soon after as she had a dinner appointment. We fed you your dinner,

then took you out to walk around Raffles City.

We went to look at your favourite fountain in the basement too!

We then bought food for Mama’s and Papa’s dinner. We ate the food in the hotel room as it was more convenient than eating one at a time in a public place as you tended to want to play when we wanted to eat! :D

In the end, we had to take turns eating anyway as you couldn’t get to sleep. The cot that they provided was too small for you to turn around in. Everytime you turned, you hit the side and woke up. It was such a tiring night. Papa carried you for so long trying to get you sleepy. In the end, we gave up trying to get you to sleep in the cot and placed you on our bed in between us. FINALLY! You managed to stay asleep. :D

The next morning, we went down for breakfast. The staff seemed to insist that all families with little children had to go to a particular restaurant to eat – we think it was to minimize the discomfort for the other guests. Anyway, we had a very quick meal as you were fussy again.

Kow-fu & Kow-mo came later that morning to spend some time with us.

We spent the whole afternoon with them, even after we’d checked out. We had lunch then we did some shopping before we headed home.

We love you, Little One!

Mama and Papa

Kow-Moh’s Brother’s Wedding

Dearest Little Skyler,

We went for Kow-moh’s elder brother’s wedding dinner today at Yunnan Garden Restaurant, IMM. We had to pick Po-po up along the way.

So many people enjoyed playing with you there. However, you had a cold that day and were quite unsettled.

Mama and Papa took turns to bring you outside to walk and carry you as we didn’t want the dinner to be disrupted by the noise you were making.

In the end, we decided to leave early as you were really uncomfortable there because of your runny nose. We wanted to bring you home to rest, so we ended up buying a McDonald’s dinner before we left as we were both very hungry. What irony, considering we were at a Chinese restaurant having a yummy dinner! :D Oh well…

Here's a picture of you appreciating the pretty rose that Kow-Fu gave you before you left. You enjoyed touching the velvety petals so much! =D

We love you, Little Girl!

Mama and Papa

Bambi Given Away

Dearest Little Skyler,

This is the day that we gave away Mama’s and Papa’s first furry pet – our Rabbit Bambi. We had asked Kow-fu and Kow-mo to watch over Bambi for us from before you were born. After that, they continued to care for Bambi for the following year. However, as they are thinking of having a Little One of their own, we had to put Bambi up for adoption.

Papa had put up advertisements at both the Point and the City. Though we got calls from people who saw the advertisement at the Point, nothing came out of it. However, there was one phone call from someone who saw the advertisement at the City and he was the one who came to take a look at Bambi.

Before he came to take a look, Mama and Papa decided to send Bambi for grooming at the City as she had not had one for some time. It was also only fair to that guy if he really adopted Bambi.

While Bambi was having her grooming, Mama and Papa had lunch at Sizzler. We had not had such a meal for quite some time. We used to go to this place called Ponderosa who served much the same fare but it seems to have closed down in Singapore. And this Sizzler seems to be the only outlet that we’ve come across. We feasted there as the salad bar was open for a free flow of food. It helped that you were asleep for the most part so we could eat without worrying about you. J There was a tourist couple there who sat at a table next to us and the lady of that couple kept on looking at you, and when you woke up, played with you. :D

After our lunch, we went to collect Bambi and returned to await the arrival of the potential adopter. He came with his two teenaged daughters. The che-ches were very keen on having Bambi! Their eyes were practically aglow! There and then, they packed her off. Mama and Papa were quite sad as she was our first big pet together but we had to do it for your sake. Oh well… I’m quite sure Bambi is happy enough with her new owners – they seem like they will care for her well.

We love you, Little One!

Papa and Mama

End of Mama’s Exams & Vivocity

Dearest Little Skyler,

Mama took her last examination paper today, Little One! Hooray! We have Mama back again! Mama wanted to be in school early so that she could locate the examination hall and have a bit of time to revise her work so we brought her to school before noon today.

As we had some time before Mama’s examination ended, Papa decided to take you to his school to pass the time. Papa was also hoping that you would be okay for a while so that Papa could do his work but that didn’t work out as you wanted Papa’s attention all the time. Even when you were sleepy, you refused to sleep. Papa carried you for so long but still you refused to sleep. Thus, Papa didn’t get any work done at all. It was a good thing that no one else was in the room that day or we would have ended up disturbing Papa’s colleagues.

Papa then fed you lunch in the pantry and Papa’s boss happened to be there finishing her meal. She sat and chatted with us while you were being fed. She really likes you, Little Girl. She constantly comments on how well you behave and pretty you are. Hee hee!

Since Papa couldn’t do any work in school, Papa decided that we might as well go to IMM to do a bit of shopping. We then proceeded to purchase some snacks, a drink and a magazine for Mama because Mama would probably not have had anything to eat while she was in school studying and she would be hungry after the paper. We also did a bit of window shopping before we went to pick Mama up.

After picking Mama up, we decided to go to Vivocity to do some shopping. When we got there, we looked for a place to feed you your tea. Gloria Jean's, the coffee place, was fairly empty, so we decided to go there. Here's a picture of you with the milk bottle that we carry around for your feeds.

Of course, the funny thing is that you don't use it as a milk bottle but as a cup! You've insisted on drinking only from a cup, so we carry this bottle around as a measuring cup to make your milk and you drink from it as if it were a cup too! People usually give us funny looks when they see you having your milk like this!

After tea (Papa and Mama had a yummy slice of cake too!), we went around to different places from the last time we were there so as to see other things there. It’s really big and there’s so much space for people to walk. There are also a number of art installations there. Here's a funny one of a really tall and skinny snowman looking out towards Sentosa island.

At 6pm, we spent a bit of time watching a music performance outside. Some musicians linked wires from the stage to Vivocity and played on these strings like a giant harp!

It was all quite interesting, but the music was quite loud, so we went back into the mall after a while. Mama was able to spend most of the time with you as she has finally completed her examinations and she is now all yours again! =D

We love you, Little One!

Papa and Mama

Grandma the Whole Day

Dearest Little Skyler,

This is the last day before Mama takes her last examination paper tomorrow. Papa had to take you out again as it was very important that Mama could concentrate on giving a last burst in studying before tomorrow’s paper. Papa had actually intended to take you to East Coast Park to take in the beach and maybe meet up with an old Pre-U friend before meeting up with Grandma as she wanted to complete a chore. However, Papa’s friend could not make it. Thus, Papa decided that he will bring you to the beach any way.

While driving there, Papa telephoned Grandma to confirm the time that we would meet up and realised that she was still at home! Papa had thought that she had gone out. Since she was at home, Papa decided that we might as well meet up immediately and get the chore over with earlier, so we drove over to Grandma’s place to pick her up.

While there, we realised that Grandma needed something from Ah Pek to carry out her chore as she had left it with him. Thus, we needed to meet him. It so happened that he was at Ikea Tampines once again with Che-che Reika and Kor-kor Yujin. So, that’s where we went, once again.

We met up with them at Ikea Tampines and che-che and kor-kor were in the children’s play room. It looked quite big but as an adult Papa could not go in so I’m not sure how big it actually is. It looked quite fun though so maybe when you’re big enough you can go in and explore it.

We wanted to have lunch but once again we could not find any seats at the restaurant. It’s a huge restaurant but it’s simply crowded all the time! It’s amazing! In the end, Granma, Papa, Ah Pek and the others had to go to the deli counter to eat hot dogs for lunch. (You still cannot eat these kinds of food yet, Little One – next year, ok?)

After we’d had our food, Grandma, you and Papa drove to Sim Lim Tower to help Grandma run her chore. It took a bit of time but it wasn’t so bad because you got a teddy bear out of it. J The aunties there were very nice to you and they kept on playing with you.

As we still had time and Grandma had nothing else to do, we decided to go to Parkway Parade anyway. We parked at Parkway Parade and walked around for a bit. Papa had to feed you your afternoon milk. After that, Papa decided to bring us all to East Coast Park as the weather seemed okay.

We walked all the way across and sat on a bench for a while staring at the sea. You had fallen asleep by then and Papa didn’t want to disturb your sleep. However, the clouds started turning dark soon after and we quickly left to head back to Parkway Parade. The rain came down while we were heading back but by then, we were quite under shelter already so it wasn’t so bad.

Grandma and Papa then had a drink before we went back to Grandma’s place to feed you your dinner and then we also had ours. It was later that we went back home to Mama who had been studying all day.

Mama has been so poor thing these weeks, Little One. She couldn’t study during her term time as she had a lot of work to do. So, she had to rush her studies these couple of weeks to try to catch up with her readings. Therefore, even though we had to go out so much and tire ourselves out a bit as we couldn’t take naps properly, it was all worth it because we are helping Mama, ok?

Mama and Papa love you!

Popo the Whole Day

Dearest Little Skyler,

Papa had to attend a workshop today as part of his work so Mama invited Popo to come and play with you. I think Popo was very excited by that as she loves you so much!

Papa left early in the morning so Popo had to come quite early as well. Both of you spent the whole day together as Mama had to study. Popo just played with you and went through all your toys with you. Popo also taught you the action for a Cantonese children's verse "dim chung chung", which is a whimsical verse about children playing with bugs that later fly away. You learnt quickly and repeated the action after Popo to her amazement and delight. Papa thinks you must have enjoyed yourself as you had nothing but 100% attention from Popo. :D

Papa only came back later in the after and Popo could then go off to do her own things.

Papa and Mama love you!

Solo At Church & Suntec City

Dearest Little Skyler,

As Mama still has to study for her next examination paper, Papa took you to church by himself. We went to the Acts Centre and Papa took you to join the junior Sunday School group. The aunties there were curious about where Mama was and seemed quite surprised that Papa brought you by himself.

There were very few people who turned up for that class that day so Papa had the chance to listen to their chatter and learn the names of the aunties and their children. J The Sunday School auntie could not find the music CDs so she led us in three songs before she told us the story of the birth of Jesus as it is near Christmas and then gave us crayons to draw with. After that, we had snack time where Papa took you aside to feed you your milk breakfast. (Later on, Papa found out from Mama that this is exactly what they do every week as the children your age simply can’t do anything else.)

After the service, Papa still had to keep ourselves occupied so Papa brought you to Suntec City. We spent quite a bit of time walking around and window shopping. Papa fed you your lunch and then Papa kept on hoping that you would go to sleep so that Papa could eat. It took quite a bit of time but you finally did fall asleep. By then, we were already at Marina Square so Papa had his lunch there.

Papa had also come across these people who were advertising their bed bugs cleaning services and Papa signed up for a free demonstration. We had also bumped into Aunty Patsy, Uncle Han Chong and Che-che Nicole at the lift landing in Suntec City. They attend a church in the building.

Later in the afternoon, Papa brought us home to rest as we were both quite tired.

We love you, Little Girl

Papa and Mama

Aunty Carene’s Wedding & Aunty Pearlyn’s New-born

Dearest Little Skyler,

Yet another day, Little One, where we gave Mama space to study for her next Exam paper. Today, Papa brought you for his colleague’s church wedding. It was at a church that Papa had not been to before but Papa had a rough idea where it was and based on that rough idea, we set off.

When we got near where the church was supposed to be, Papa saw a sign board that said that we should park there for the church, so, that’s what Papa did. After parking, Papa had no idea which building housed the church, thus, Papa went around asking the people who happened to be around there. It was so funny because everyone Papa asked had no idea either. They all responded that they were new there as well. :D

Therefore, Papa decided to just head down the slope to the main road and see if we could find it. Thank God there was someone at the foot of the slope who pointed out where the church was! It happened to be in the building next to where we were and we had to cross a patch of grass to get there! Thank God the grass was not too long or Papa would have had to carry your stroller all the way! As such, Papa could roll your stroller along to get to the church. By the time we got there, Papa was dripping with perspiration! :D

We waited a bit for the service to start and while we were waiting for the bride to arrive, the MCs decided to rag the bridegroom by asking him stuff that are usually reserved for the wedding dinner such as how he proposed, etc. It was quite funny for this to be done in a church but it was definitely entertaining. :D

After Aunty Carene arrived, the wedding service started. It was conducted in Mandarin and that was a great big challenge for Papa to figure out what was going on. :D They also had a Praise song that was in Hokkien! That was the first time ever that Papa praised God in Hokkien! :D

Oh! I forgot to mention that Uncle Ravi had arrived before then and we sat together. Uncle Ravi played with you for a while and you allowed him to carry you. :D

During the service itself, you were quite fussy so Papa had to carry you to entertain you. We went to the back of the church hall so that we did not disturb the other guests.

There was a little che-che and kor-kor playing there. They were throwing small little pieces of crepe paper and collecting them together before throwing them again. While we were sitting there watching them play, the nice che-che gave you one piece of their crepe paper. She also told the kor-kor to give you one so that you had something to play with. You must learn from their example, okay? You must share what you have with others even when you don’t know them. It’s a nice thing to do.

During the lull in the service, Papa carried you again to near our seats. There was an Aunty who was sitting behind our seat who happened to walk back to her seat while we were standing there. She reached out for you and you happily reached out to her! You allowed her to carry you and she brought you to sit down with her friends (other aunties)! You just happily sat there with them for many minutes! You’re simply amazing! When you are in the mood, you’ll allow anybody to carry you!

After the service was over, we had a reception in a room behind the church hall. We sat with Uncle Ravi, Uncle Jeffrey, Aunty Hui Hon and Aunty Ailin. It was a while before Aunty Carene made her appearance at the reception as she had gone to change out of her wedding gown. She also carried you and you had a photo taken with her! :D

After we left the wedding service, we went to visit Aunty Pearlyn as she had recently given birth to her third child. We drove over there and spent about half an hour there. Aunty Pearlyn daughter was there too. Che-che is about 2 plus years old already. She doesn’t talk much yet but she practically towered over you. It was so funny at one stage as I let you stand up facing che-che and you just kept on poking her in her tummy! I had no idea what you were doing!

Aunty Pearlyn brought us in to see ‘di-di’ and he was sleeping on his front. He was so small – just like you were at that age! It still amazes both Mama and Papa that you were so small then and now you’re so much bigger!

After that, we came back home to rest.

We love precious Girl,

Papa and Mama

Mama’s 1st Exam Paper

Dearest Little Skyler,

Mama had her first examination paper today. We brought her to the examination centre early in the morning so we had to wake up very early. As both Papa and Mama had studied there before, we’d assumed that we knew where the examination hall was. We drove to where we had expected it to be and realised that it was not there! Papa then stepped out of the car to look at the campus map to try to locate the examination hall and realised that it was all the way on the opposite side of the campus! It just goes to show that we shouldn’t make assumptions about things that are important!

After we had let Mama off at the examination centre, thank God that we had factored in a lot of extra time for getting there in case anything went wrong (which did! :D), Papa brought you to his school (another lesson to learn – always factor in time for things to go wrong where important things are concerned so that you have time to remedy the problem if possible). Papa wanted to do some work but you were so awake that Papa ended up spending all his time with you. Papa fed you milk then brought you around to chit-chat with his colleagues to while away the time before we had to go back to pick Mama up. Finally, we left school and headed back to Mama.

After picking Mama up, we headed back to the Point for lunch. You had your first taste of Char-Siew Pau then! :D But we only fed you the skin and not the meat so maybe I should say that you had your first taste of Pau then as you didn’t have any Char-Siew. :D

Mama wanted to study so we left her at the library and we headed home instead as Papa was really exhausted from taking care of you by himself the greater part of the week. Papa had asked Mama for this favour as Papa really wanted to have a bit of a rest at home when you took a nap. However, Mama was also very tired and she came home soon after and we spent the rest of the day together.

We love you, Skyler.

Papa and Mama