Changi beach park

Last Saturday, after a birthday party at NSRCC, changi, the man brought us to Changi beach park. I wondered what was interesting over there, it was late, about 8pm and we all had a long day from parties after parties. In any case, I had to support the move because Jazz was extremely excited when her daddy mentioned we're going to see the planes' 'belly button'. Yes, we were there to watch planes. The view was great, with the planes looking much larger than the usual distance we see in the sky. We could clearly see the belly of the plane - Nice! Frequency was quite alot, we caught 8 planes within 20 minutes. Hear the loud engine and it means plane approaching. Night sky complimented the lights of the plane, making it really beautiful to watch.   

The kids enjoyed their evening. Jare felt a little scared whenever he heard the loud engine. He would cling on very tightly to me, yet gazing with much curiosity into the sky. I love his expression. It was dark, a pity that we could hardly take any pictures. Jazz was cute, she saw a plane flew by, tickled her chin with her finger and asked, "Hmm, I wonder what the aeroplane eats?" As her mummy, I wonder why would she think an aeroplane needs food. I wonder what she was thinking. Well, kids need answers, Daddy replied, "Aeroplane doesn't eat, it drinks fuel."

Next day, Jazz asked to watch the plane's belly button again! She's loving it. This time, we went in the day but couldn't catch many, perhaps a different spot my man brought us to, but we could see stationary planes instead. We'll definitely go again, I'm enjoying it as much too.

A far view of the plane

 Make your way down to Changi Beach park!

Ice Cream night out

Coming back to the east brings me near to Siglap again. During my school days, that's the stretch of road I would hang around with my friends. Last evening, I was back there after a long time, as a mother with my 2 little ones, a big man and my mum. We were there for an ice cream night out at udders. I came by this outlet last year when my company held an ice cream workshop there. Shall try out what I've learned during the workshop with the kids when they're older. The flavours they carry are exotic and rather unique, my love is the mao shan wang durian ice cream. Yums to the max! Their alcohol ice cream is a never try unless you love drinking. Their alcohol content in their ice cream is pretty high. It's as good as drinking.

Jazz went for the strawberry fields which is yummy too. We tried horlicks, but there's nothing to rave about, I didn't like it. Jare could only go for the waffle, as he was coughing. A nice place in there, crowded on a Monday evening, perhaps it's dessert time for everyone. The only bad was they didn't have a high chair, we couldn't spend too much time in there because of a wandering boy. At the check out counter, they offer complimentary boxes of smarties to top off your ice cream and that made Jazz's evening chocolatey. Jare squashed a box and 'released' the smarties onto the floor. I had to sweep them up, but I love their prompt service, their staff told me leave it and they'll sweep. 

Jazz being more interested in her smarties

 

Udders is at 87 upper east coast road. Open till 11pm on Sunday to Thursday, and till 1am on Friday, Saturday and eve of PH. We'll definitely be back there for other flavours. It's a rewarding place for kids who have been good. After chocs and ice cream, everyone need a good brush:

Teeth brushing time

 

For some unknown reason, little boy loves it when I brush his teeth and gums, maybe it feels ticklish. He's ever smiley when it comes to teeth brushing. Funny boy.

An evening at RWS

Brought the little ones for a USS night tour, not exactly a tour because we could only walk a portion of the place. The rest were not accessible. It's mainly entrance to dine at their restaurants inside. We went on a Saturday evening and there wasn't any queue to get the $5 entrance tickets, so no worries about arriving after 630pm. The kids were free, so expense was only for the 2 adults. 

 

Little boy is ever happy about outings

 

My lucky moment when both kids are well seated

 

We arrived early to have dinner at the Malaysian food street, which is newly opened. Food was great, place was spacious, high chairs available, nicely embellished, just that queuing for food was bad. I waited about 20mins for my man to get our chicken rice. And I was struggling with 2 kids while waiting, it wasn't easy to keep the boy still. The chicken rice tasted good though. Jare is ever greedy over any food, I fed him some and he loved it. Jazz ate quite a fair bit too. I thought the highlight of the meal was the chicken rice's chilli. It was awesome! I'm gonna pack their chilli discretely the next time I'm back. Ok, just kidding. 

Our long awaited food. Lor mee - My man said was below average.

 

After food, it was USS! Making our way to the entrance was a long detour because I was constantly catching and leading Jare to the right direction. Spot a little yellow fellow, far away from us?!! The nearer we went, the further he went. He thought it was fun chasing and catching him. 

 

Theme of the evening - Yellow!

 

Part of the Madagascar family

After some sight seeing, he fell asleep!

 

While waiting for the fireworks to begin, we had some snacks at Mel's. One of their restaurant. We were munching some fries and slurping some shake when the man realized the place became gradually empty. He checked that fireworks was at 930pm, but by 9pm, everyone seemed to have evacuated the place, except for those who gotten seats of good fireworks view. The man walked out to check, and evacuated us for fireworks! I wonder where his 930pm news came from. So, it's 9pm that fireworks will spark off. Little boy was sleeping, it was his bedtime, but we woke him up. Fireworks was the highlight of our outing, he can't miss it.  

 

Milkshake cheers!

Woke him up to watch the fireworks. See that sleepy face.

 

Jazz cried because of the loud fireworks. A timid she became.

 

After fireworks, we headed home. While walking out, little boy went back to sleep, he woke up when we got home. That became his nap and both kids had an energetic night till bedtime at 11.30pm. Goodness!

Jare is ONE today

Jare is officially ONE today! We brought him out for some great fun. It was also decided that Jazz will go to school and Jare will get our full attention for the day. There should be moments where each child deserves their individual solo time with their parents. Choose the right moment.

We sent Jazz off to school, told her that didi is sending her to school today without giving any information about Jare's day out. She'll go crazy if she finds out we're on the way to fun without her. After dropping Jazz, we brought Jare for his MMR vacination. What a gift on his birthday. The man said it's for his health and a lifetime gift. Nice gift daddy! Anyway, he did not cry when the needle hit his arm, not too bad for a birthday boy! 

After jab was lunch, he fell asleep after food, leaving me and my man to enjoy some decent meal. We then headed to Kallang leisurepark for his play at Peekaboo. It's free for babies up to 11 months. He was free based on a 'goodwill waiver'. He really enjoyed himself! Just that I was so exhausted for having to climb through the obstacles with him, and we did it thrice! He loved soaking in the pool of balls as well as bouncing on the trampoline. I'm glad he enjoyed.

 

Did you see his birthday kiss from a nasty mossie?!

 

Fun on the trampoline!

 

Obstacles with mummy!

 

His forte - Climbing

 

Crawlers area

 

After birthday fun, it was about time to pick sister, and it was also planned that we'll catch some fireworks and night tour at USS, Sentosa with both kids. We couldn't make it in time because we left Jazz's school without her bags! We were almost reaching Sentosa before realizing it. How blur can we get. We had to go back to school for her bags. For that, we held the principal back for 10 minutes. Glad she didn't attempt to fine us. It was much time wasted on the road with the heavy traffic. It was also torturing to be stuck on the road with a hungry boy. So then, this promised fireworks viewing will be postponed. 

And wow! My boy is ONE, I thought I just delivered him, how did time tick away on us. I've to accept the fact that chubbiness and cuteness will diminish along the way. I'm seeing rascal in the making. I forbid that!

Little Boy's 1st Birthday Party

Little boy celebrated his first birthday last Sunday. We had a little party for him at home. He was smiley and enjoying himself throughout, especially during his cake cutting session. I did lots of planning and preparation for his Big One. I rented toys, prepared goodie bags, games and prizes for little children who’ll be coming, hoping that they’ll have fun. What’s a party when kids don’t enjoy. I created a little playroom for the younger ones and they were in loved with the pool of balls.

 

Outdoor playground (Night view)

 

Balloons! Jare loves them.

Ball pool in the playroom

Jare yet to display liking for any characters, so I set a jungle theme for him - Animals! I ordered balloons, cake, party wares, food and on top of these, I finally realized my goal of hand making cupcakes for the kids’ party. Feedback was good, or maybe guests were just being polite. At least, my family liked them. Looking forward to making more!

 

Jungle animal balloons

Home made cup cakes

Jungle cake

 

Celebration time

 

Ready for the party!

 

Porridge for little ones was ‘selling’ fast, I’ve to admit my helper didn’t cook enough. All in all, I think the kids had fun except Jazz, she was sulking the whole evening and ever sticky to her daddy, wanting to be carried ALL the time. I guess she was overwhelmed by the many kids or maybe she knew she wasn’t the star of the day.

After celebration, it's time for presents. Jazz was helping to open Jare's presents and went, "Why all clothes, no toys?" Hmm, seems like kids prefer receiving toys over wears. Well, they're Jare's presents!

 

Everyone had fun and thank you for sharing little boy’s joy of turning ONE! Thank you for the gifts and red packets. I felt bad for getting guests to climb up and down the stairs to the party area, as the lift wasn’t ready. 

Here are some useful links I used for party planning:

Party Decorations: www.partycity.com

A cheaper overseas site for party stuff, but give ample time for arrival, about 2 months well advanced. They don’t do direct shipping, so you need a concierge, and shipping could be a sum too. Some of my items did not arrive on time, due to some hiccups, singpost - Yikes! I turned to other sources at: 116 middle Road, #01-01 to 03 ICB Enterprise House S(188972), with 3 party stores side by side. I also got some party stuff from the verge at little India, 5^th level.  

Cake: www.pgcake.com

I love their designs and taste. They are quite a popular choice among parents for kids' party. Email them for more designs. They can custom make too!

Toy rental: 

1.  www.toyrentalclub.com (Rented their pool balls, playground, high chair, kids table and chairs for a week)
2. www.rent-a-toy.com (Rented their outdoor playground for a month)
I really wanted kids  to have some playground fun, so I decided to make use of some empty space to hold big toys. You might need to compare the rental pricing of a same toy between different companies.

Photography: http://sgeastphotography.zenfolio.com/

He covered our 3 hours event. I never knew the importance of getting a photographer for a birthday bash until I realized how much I missed out during Jazz’ 1^st birthday party. Glad I’ve got some memories captured this time round.

Food: meihao99
Love their braised duck!

Parties are fun!

CNY performance

It was Jazz's first CNY performance with her school. All this while, only the older kids get to perform during CNY. Her growth qualified her this year. We've been talking and preparing her for the performance. It would be a disappointment if she stood still like her children's day performance last year. It was a promised that she will perform well for us, she knew we would be among the audience. She told her teacher, "I will perform for daddy and mummy to see." "Manage expectations" I thought to myself when her teacher told us. Haha.

It would be a pity if she did not do well for that minutes of show. It takes much practice during their everyday music lessons just for that moment. Yet kids are always full of surprises, never know what you'll get till it happened. To motivate her further, we promised her a pressie if she does well.  

The endless motivation, talks and enouragement worked! She did an excellent show. Even Jare was captivated by his sis's performance. I enjoy watching her video over and over again. Here's a snip of her performance.

Jazz's CNY performance

It was a fun morning in her school, watching all the talented children danced and performed. Even the little emcees were so good! Public speaking at such tender age. I applaud.

Jazz taking her position

 

After performances, we went round her school for games and some playground fun. Jare enjoyed playing in that big playground. 

 

Slide play

Jare wana get on the tricycle

 

After her school's celebration, we headed off to united square for lunch, and at the same time, shopped for her promised pressie at toys r us. Jazz went round, made a few choices and finally decided on her most loved, a little stroller. I was worried about who she would be getting for, so we asked, "A stroller for who?" She said, "For mouse mouse!" Phew. And so wish granted. I was afraid she would tell us that the pram is for little bro.

 

Pushing her pram around the mall

It was a long and wonderful morning. The kids were all so exhausted when we got home.

Room for the kids

Jazz is coming 3 in months time. Since birth, she had never slept apart from us, same goes to Jare. We've all been in the same room or sometimes even co-sleeping on our king sized bed. Yesterday, Jazz's bed arrived, the kid's wardrobe too. She really was excited about her new bed, but I'm not sure how receptive she is about sleeping alone in her new room. Jare is pretty much dependent on us still, waking up for milk. Only on lucky days, does he sleep through. I wish he can kick that fuss away.  

 

Last night was her first night alone, she did it so well. It was me who was thinking all night about her. I slept lightly just so that I could jump when I hear noise from the baby monitor. In the middle of the night, I visited her twice to make sure she was sleeping well. I'm starting to miss co-sleeping with her now. Well, good start, good move. Hopefully, I can migrate little bro over with her soon.

She flipped from one end to the other

A little mattress in fear that she might fall off her new bed

 

Their room isn't very complete yet. From packing to unpacking, I've realised these kids have been blessed with so many Toys! They are overwhelming the room. I'm trying to declutter as much as I can, but still, something seems amiss. I can't seem to get the ideal kids' room that I've always imagined. If only I've some interior designing talent. Back to the arrangements again.

It's her second solo night today, seems good!

Roll roll bag

Jazz has been asking for a roller bag. It's also a time of age when she sees her friends having it, and starts making requests about owning one. Well, I thought she really needed one. She has been using a naraya bag as her school bag, which I thought was practically big for her school usage. It's time for a cutesy bag now. I got her a minnie mouse roller bag in addition to her existing mini roller bag, which is too small for her day care stuff.

Every monday and Friday, she will go to school with 2 bags and back with 2 bags. One as her sleep bag and the other for her necessities. She sleeps in a different room, so the need to separate the sleep stuff from her necessities. While walking to the car this morning, I snapped this. A little traveller or a little stewardess on minnie mouse airline? Well, I don't hope that she'll travel away from me frequently when grown up, leaving me to only see her 背影 most times. Stick to me kids, for as long as possible.