National Day celebration

Every year without fail, we would head out in search of a suitable venue to catch the National Day fireworks display. This year, we chose to camp out at Marina Barrage.

The Marina Barrage is Singapore's 15th reservoir, and the first in the heart of the city. Overlooking the Singapore Flyer and the financial district, the Marina Barrage offers wide, open recreational space, lush greenery and breathtaking scenery.

In view of National Day celebrations, we even applied Singapore flag stickers on the faces on all three toddlers - Chloe, and her cousins Anthea and Vera....

By the end of the evening, we were generally disappointed as our view of the fireworks display was unfortunately blocked to a large extent by the 3 hotel towers of the upcoming Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resorts........but the company of family members and other enthusiastic patriotic Singaporeans more than made up for it. And to those planning a similar outing at the Barrage during next year's National Day - be warned, the traffic is horrendous when you leave the place.

Chloe and Miky

My mom always told me that the way a child looks changes quite a fair bit as they grow up. Looking back at some of the older photos, I couldn't agree more !! Just look at the past & present photos of Chloe and her friend Miky (Michael & Taky's daughter).........I can barely recognise little Chloe....

Dancing to the music

We brought the girls to "The Little Big Club" concert in June. This was Chloe's 3rd concert experience and I must say that she had a really good time as compared to her previous two concerts last year. She was clapping, singing and dancing along as the 14 characters came on stage. The smile and joy on her face was well worth the effort of the long drive to Changi Expo for the 1hr 15 mins show.

Some pictures of the 14 characters featured:

The happy faces we love:

Chloe gave a big "Flying kiss" to her purple idol as they bid goodbye.

Balloon Twisting @ Vivocity

Whilst shopping at Vivocity, we came across a balloon twister..... so we stood in line and waited for our turn. Finally it was Chloe's turn - the balloon twister lady asked Chloe what she wanted and she shouted out 'Fish !!"......haha...... The $5 fish balloon entertained Chloe the entire afternoon and gave Clare and I some time to do some 'peaceful' window shopping.......

Mother's Day - Backdated

Chloe made me a gift for Mother's Day and here's her master pieces (of course with the help from her teacher). The feeling was just indescribable at that moment when she said "Mommy, I love you" as she presented her little handprint craft and DIY flower to me.


Oh Chloe's teacher mentioned that Chloe has the biggest palm size in her class of 6...haha

Bitter-sweet affair....

The global recession is somewhat a bitter-sweet affair for many. Bitter because people are losing jobs and taking pay-cuts, sweet because parents tend to be less busy at work and hence spend more quality time with their children at home. Nevertheless, with quiet confidence and cautious optimism I'm rather sure the recession will end sooner or later with the economy bouncing back to what it was before....... so I guess it is best to look on the bright side and focus our available time now on the people whom we love.

I am proud to say that Chloe has grown much more attached to me now than before. Personally, I would say that Chloe is perhaps more attached to me now than she is to Clare, but of course this "claim" of mine will be met by a fierce rebuttal from Clare (she would say that it is only because I give in to all of Chloe's whimsical demands, but none of it is true......hahaha). I can barely leave Chloe alone without her searching/looking for me !! When I leave home without her, she cries........ when she's feeling shy she clings on to me........when she's not feeling well, she would come to me for a warm and consoling hug....... and when it's her water-play time, it's me she looks for (and same goes for her bed time....). Earlier this morning when I got home after buying breakfast, Chloe who was lying comfortably on the living room couch heard me opening the main door and suddenly mutterred to her mom....."Papa....", got up quickly from the couch and ran to the door to greet and welcome me home!! It was such a nice and warm feeling to be missed when I'm gone, and I was only away for 20 minutes!!.....hahaha...

Chloe is also demonstrating progress in her communicative skills, and is getting more vocal these days........ She's able to communicate in sentences or at least a 'string of words', even though some of the things she utters could simply be an imitation of what she hears from others. A couple of days back, Chloe came home and all of a sudden uttered to her mom..."Everybody please sit on the mat"...... Clare looked at her blankly, then broke into laughter......haha.... must have been something the teacher said to the toddlers in school. On another ocassion while Clare was feeding Chloe porridge, Chloe for the very first time said to her mom....."Mommy, enough...." - Chloe used to turn her head away or simply refused to open her mouth when she's full. And now whenever Chloe's hands are dirty, she would say to her mom "Mommy, hands dirty cannot touch Nana" - which is something Clare has been re-iterating to her in the past. It's fun to have Chloe communicate with us using more than the usual 'one word or two'......

Other commendable developments include better recognition of places and people........ for example when we've reached home Chloe would never fail to recognise the brightly lighted coffeeshop in our neighbourhood and exclaim "Mommy, we're home...". And each morning when I approach the designated drop off point (near Chloe's child care centre), Chloe would recognise the building and automatically say "Bye bye daddy....". However, such good memory and recognition does sometimes pose a problem........every evening when we pick Chloe up from the childcare centre, we would walk past Sushi-Tei restaurant (@Far East Square) and Chloe would immediately run towards the restaurant entrance asking for her favourite japanese snack 'edamame' (soya beans)!! - so much so that we had to de-tour from the usual path that we normally take whilst walking from the childcare centre to the carpark. Chloe is also able to accurately recognise and distinguish the photos of her paternal grandparents from her maternal grandparents. Her singing skills have also improved..... now she can sing songs like "Happy Birthday" to the both of us (see video clip below)...... and she'll always sing it first to one of us, then to the other, ensuring she doesn't neglect either one of us.....haha....

Well, until the next update on Chloe's developments, here's "Proud Daddy" signing off.....

Waxing lyrical about Chloe

Ocassionally, Clare would have to work long hours at the office and I would end up bringing Chloe home all by myself. I would pick her up from the childcare centre, wash her hands, and fill up her Dora water bottle before we head home. Once back home, I would shower Chloe, dress her in her pajamas and make her a big warm bottle of milk. We would cuddle and spend some time in the living room either playing with her toys or reading story books. As I put her to bed and quietly watch her fall asleep, I can't help but think to myself "Gosh, she's beautiful.....". I am overwhelmed by a feeling that is difficult to articulate.........I guess, just like a cup of hot coffee on a cold rainy day, she warms my soul.

Past conversations with friends and colleagues on the topic of starting a family has truly been an eye opener. There is a spectrum of diversified opinions - ranging from those who can't imagine living life without kids, to those who just don't fancy them at all. Looking back, let's just say I was previously somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. I never did spend a lot of time with kids, which was probably why I was always apprehensive about how I would cope as a parent. How things have changed..........all I can say now is that even if you feel that you don't connect well with children, you WILL definitely love your own child. You will inevitably love them more than yourself. It may sound grossly cliche', but having your own child instils a sense of selflessness in a person.

The challenges and rewards of being a parent are unique - it is an experience which only parents would comprehend. It can be thoroughly exhausting, but utterly satisfying. Kids can make you laugh under the strangest and funniest circumstances - take Chloe for example. Clare would sometimes punish Chloe by sending her to a "naughty corner", complete with a good old-fashioned scolding that is accompanied by the ever-reliable cane (for scaring effect....haha). Guess what........Chloe subsequently began mimicking her mommy by placing her own piglet Nana at the same designated "naughty corner" and gave Nana a good scolding using the same cane!!! Hahaha......

Chloe is indeed the epicentre of our life, and we are eternally grateful for the joy that she has blessed upon us.