The LMM goes to SENTOSA!

We brought the little milk monster to the butterfly park and Underwater world today. We didn't expect a visit to Sentosa would be this fun! Gong Gong met us at the entrance of the butterfly park at 10.30am this morning. The LMM was captivated by the water fountain outside the park. Inside the butterfly park ($10 per adult), we saw many different types of butterflies. Travis touched a crumpled one resting on a flower. I figured that this butterfly just came out of its cocoon. Hence the crumpled wings.

While Gong Gong continued to take more pictures of butterflies, Travis savoured his lamb porridge in air-conditioned comfort of the insect exhibition area.

After a meal at one of the eateries, Gong Gong decided to head back home. We wanted to go home as well (it was so so hot!!!), but we decided to head to the beach, hopefully the LMM would take a nap and we could catch up with some newspapers, cold drinks, maybe a nap as well.. and we did just that. After a cool coconut, I fell asleep on the chair with the wonderful sea breeze softly blowing towards me. Leadwe read the news. Travis slept on. It was simply a perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon.

Then...the LMM woke up, drank milk and we decided that we would finish our trip to Sentosa with the Dolphin lagoon and the Underwater World ($19.90 per adult). After we bot tickets to the Underwater World, we realised that the Dolphin show, which starts in 5 mins, is actually back at the beach vicinity. We hopped on a bus, reached the lagoon, and enjoyed the last 5 mins of the show. Travis had his eyes glued on the cute pink dolphins as they did the hula-hoop, waved goodbye, kissed the trainers, leaped in the air. Looking at how intensely he looked on at the dolphins, I felt that it was worth it. Worth it even if its just 5 mins.

After the show, we took the bus back to the Underwater World. I realised that I have never been there before. There was an area for visitors to touch and feed sting rays, fishes, star fish, etc. Papa touched a sting ray...soft and smooth he said. Mami cannot imagine doing the same.. yieks!!I would give the Underwater World a rating of 9/10 for entertainment value. We saw fish bigger than papa, sharks, rays, wierd fishes, jelly fish...

We stank at the end of the trip... all three of us really needed a shower.

We will return. We will return...

He Knows...

And we always think,"What do they know?? They are babies!!" and that's also why there's that phrase,"you want me to treat you like a baby?"

And today, I realised that babies like the LMM can actually know what he needs to do. This morning, he woke up at 7am (as usual) and I made his milk at 7.15am (as usual) and he drinks it up by 7.30am (as usual). What's unusual today was... after he completed his milk, he struggled to get away from my embrace and tried to walk. I held one of his little hands and let him lead the way. He walked straight to the end of the kitchen, where the potty was. He smirked when he saw the potty and started to sit down on the floor, mimicking the action of pooing. And so I put him on the potty and he did what he have to do. And all of this without me telling him (as usual)," Travis, go emn emn..." . A new adventure begins..

First Family Photoshoot

The photos were taken when Travis was about 10 months old. He didn't really like the photo taking session and much effort was spent trying to get him to stop crying and to start smiling. Still, I am so glad we managed to get a good collection of photos from the shoot. And my favorite ones are:

Mr. T turns Eleven!

29 Aug 2008 - He turned Eleven with a third tooth emerging on the front left upper gum. Travis is really growing up really fast. He has spent 11 months on earth with us so far. I really wish that he can slow down on growing up.... I know that I really will miss his reliance on papa and mama for basic things like walking, bathing, feeding... I love doing all these things for him and I know that soon, he will be walking by himself, feeding himself and bathing himself...

Travis never fails to surprise me occasionally. Yesterday, he picked up my mobile phone and guess what? He held it close to his ear, just like the way I always answered a call. Then lately, he moved his right hand in a circular motion each time we asked him where the fan was. He can also wave goodbye and blow a flying kiss.. I feel like crying each morning when I go to work and he does that.

Travis loves going to the park in the evening. That's where he gets to see his friends in the neighbourhood. Leadwe and I were on leave today so we played with him in the park opposite Grandma's house. We played soccer together with a basket ball and Mr T really knows how to chase and kick the ball.

At this stage, there are a couple of things I would like to do with him more often:
swimming
playing games he enjoy (soccer, hitting a ball or object to the ground, putting things in a box)
reading books
let him play with other babies his age

Its a pity I only have that 7am-9am in the weekday mornings (feeding takes up 7-8am so we're left with just an hour or less of playtime in the morning) and whole weekends. I know that I'll have to make full use of these hours I have with him.

Leadwe and I are planning for a 10day trip with Mr T. We are still undecided on the location although we would love to go back to Hokkaido. Many frens have suggested Perth though because of the shorter journey and the child friendly infrastructure. We'll see...

Its back to work for mami and papa tomorrow after this long weekend (we took Mon off to relax). 4 more days to the weekend again. Hope that the rain stops soon so that we can take Mr T swimming.

mami bel

The Third Tooth ("TTT")

TTT is finally coming out... it's location? Well, its one of the two upper front teeth. I guess his gums are itching quite badly but unfortunately, the little milk monster's not interested in all the teething toys we bought for him. He prefers to grab our fingers (or whatever he can grab! Shoulder...legs..neck..nose) into his mouth, leaving visible teeth marks on our skin.

With his new eating tools, we now chop up his food instead of putting his grub into the blender. He manages to gum the food into a smooth paste before swallowing (pardon the excessive details..only mothers will understand here..)

It's fun with the LMM around. He now loves to walk around the house, mostly searching for his papa. His favourite game is peek-a-boo for now.

Papa bought the LMM several paste-on-the-wall type colourful posters in consultation with papa's colleague who incidentally is also a papa.. The first poster contained all the alphabets and the other contained shapes. Hope that these will keep the LMM occupied as he loves to walk up to the cabinets (to try open them up).. we'll be pasting these posters on the cabinets this time.

The weekend beckons again. I wonder if the skies will clear so that we can all go swimming. Its been raining for too long.

mami bel

Zoo Zoo

We spoke about bringing the LMM to the zoo several times until last weekend when Dann & Gina invited us to their new condo's house warming bbq in Woodlands. And then it was clear that it was time to head up to the zoo.

The LMM is now able to walk holding on to both our hands. Because he is able to do that, he now refuses to be carried for long periods of time. Hence, I had to buy him his first pair of shoes. Got him a cute red one as red seems to be his favourite colour.

I salute all parents with babies whom I met at the zoo that morning (we reached the zoo at about 9.45am) because I now understand what they probably went through that crazy morning. Here's a glimpse:

7am feed the baby his milk and breakfast
8am start cooking the baby's lunch. cut the veges, steam everything, mash everything, store
9am bathe the baby, dress him up
9.10am pack up all the necessary things like diapers, milk powder, spare bottles, the hot food, toys, changing mat, spare towels, spare clothing, wet wipes..
9.15am (yes, those things have to be done in 5 mins.) parents quickly dress up (ya we now take super fast to get ready) and set off!

At the zoo, we showed him the parrots, lions, giraffes, orang utan (chomel - ah meng's daughter) snakes, huge fishes, and he saw the polar bear show, the penguins show and he fell..asleep. And so Leadwe and I enjoyed the rest of the animals. Think my favourite section is the baboons. They are really a wonderful community.. functioning a little like humans. I saw a mami pulling a hyper active baby baboon's tail to make sure he does not go anywhere far away from her. I saw a baby baboon trying to get a ride on a papa baboon. I saw several teenager baboons fooling around, trying to kick each other down a rock. I also saw an old baboon getting groomed by his relative (and my! they are thorough with that fur checking..). Its a pity LMM was sleeping when we went to this section. Guess he'll see it the next time we head to the zoo again.

Ten Months of Bliss...

******** The Milk Monster turns Ten *********Another month passed by so quickly, and yes, that coffeetable book I've been working on has kept me busy in the nights. And yes, that is the reason for this terribly late blogdate.

Well, the LMM has finally hit the ten month milestone. He poos-on-schedule in the potty, crawls super fast, throw things on the floor and laughs when the silly adults pick them up (again), takes a long time to drink his milk / refuses to drink until you can find something to distract him effectively (the remote control does the job so far), boo-s his food right out after each spoonful is fed to him, and lately, loves to walk while someone holds him up via his little fingers...

I realised that he has grown up. He's definitely got a temper, he's got feelings, he's always thinking "Hey Daddy! See! See! I can do this!! Watch me!!" (this is evident when he does something clever, and his daddy is around.. he always looks up to see if his daddy is happy with what he did, and if Daddy approves, he beams!!!), he wants to be loved... and love is what this lucky LMM gets..from grandparents, uncles and aunties, and us, his daddy and mami...
He now plods around the house...from the living room, to the bedroom, to the toilet, out from the kitchen, back into the living room...searching for daddy, and then wanting to go yet another round. He does the same in grandma's house, inflicting most of the adults in the family with some degree of backache at this point.

He opens the drawers, the doors,watches the washing machine go around and round. He can play with a string for a long time, sucking at it, lining it up... Little pleasures like these really cheer him up.

He can stand unassisted for 1-2 seconds and I am definitely waiting for him to take his first solo step but first........ i need to get him some shoes!

ps: our photoshoot is coming up.. I need to slim down MORE, daddy needs a tan..and LMM needs a facial... will post photos when those are ready.

For now... daddy is sneaking up in the kitchen cooking some maggi noodles which he is NOT supposed to be eating at this hour if he wants to lose weight....and mami...she's just tempted.