When Daddy is finally back!

James had been travelling continuously for quite some time, & finally he's back after months of waiting & waiting & waiting!

He took leave for 2 weeks in the last 2 weeks of Dec to clear his leave since he can't bring them over to 2011 anyway, so off we went to many adventures! I think both Charis & me felt "set free" as we were mainly cropped up at home & seldom go out when James is away...

We brought her mostly to Orchard Road for the Xmas lights up & its her first time to Orchard in many many months... It was also the first time she tried walking by herself in town as she roam about in the deserted Forum Shopping Mall.

Beary Xmas Tree at Takashimaya & outside CK Tangs

Hello Kitty Photography Session at Nex

Happily roaming about in the deserted Forum Shopping Mall

It's snowing time at Tanglin Mall!

(But u can tell Charis wasn't too happy being in the "cold"...)

Our 1st Family Overseas Trip - 3D2N Batam

Since James was away for a whole month last month, we been pondering on a short getaway to spend some quality time together, a relaxing one given my pregnancy state. However, we decided to bring Charis along since we can't bear to leave her behind while we enjoy ourselves somewhere far away. We also asked my sisters along since it is no longer another honeymoon with Charis around anyway...

We stayed in Harris Resort - a family oriented resort with their own bowling alleys, big swimming pool, kids club, ktv, flying fox, bicycles & board games rental etc. But I love their staffs' service the most - warm, friendly & very helpful. However, the resort is located at such a ulu pandan place. Just to reach the town by car takes us half an hour...

Charis always love to go out (in her terms, its "gai gai"), so she was smiling, laughing & giggling the whole time for the 1st 2 days. My sisters even commented the person who enjoyed the most for this trip must definitely be her. The time we spend together also created an obvious closer bond although it was only 3 days.

I must say I am very pleased & even proud of her because she was very well-behaved (except for that few moments of mischiefs). For the city tour, she never made any noise throughout the whole day bus trip even though she was very tired. She just lie down on James' lap peacefully & even sat quietly with us throughout the meals. Many praised her for being such a good girl!

The drama (or trauma) happened on the last day in the return ferry trip. She finally gave in to her tiredness & she was very cranky in the ferry, crying for 3/4 of the ferry journey. Everyone was looking at us & I was so embarrassed, but there was just no way to quieten her down. Stressed... I guessed 2 days is her maximum limit for overseas trip & before that, we were even thinking of bringing her to Japan next year after I'd given birth.. Hopefully bieng older, she can cope better by then.

As for me, I was totally exhausted by the end of the 2nd day. One of my sisters was pick-pocketed (pls buy travel insurance whenever u travel), & we had to go through some hassles & "bribes" to make a police report. By the time we reached back the hotel, I was so exhausted that I vomited all my dinner & fell asleep straight once my head hit the bed.

I felt better when I woke up the next day, & it brightened my morning just to see Charis having fun at the baby pool. However I was so irritated with Charis in the ferry that it kind of affected my mood & made me even more tired. I guessed things would be better if I am not pregnant, as it means I will be less tired & more patient.

But despite of all the discomfort & tiredness, it was most rewarding to see Charis enjoying herself so much. I guessed that's always in a parent's heart - just to see their child smile.

Candylicious!

We brought Charis to Sentosa 2 weeks ago, & I was so glad we made it on a weekday. There was no typical weekend crowd which puts me off, so we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly unlike the past few experiences there.

There's a new candy shop at RWS - Candylicious! I love it! It's heaven for both Mummy & Baby Charis :) Even if I have to pay $3 entrance ticket into Sentosa just to visit the shop, I think its all worth it!

It is so colourful & beautiful inside, with all types of candies everywhere. Even the lollipops are so unique! Of course, their prices doesn't come cheap too. I saw a stalk of lollipop chocolate selling at $12...

Charis was so excited the moment we stepped into the shop that she wanted to grab everything she saw. She was laughing & pointing at everything she could feast her eyes on. Too bad she's still too young for them or I would get her some cute treats. It was a pity there are no snapshots allowed inside the shop.

Outside the shop, there was a huge poster that screams, "If there's no candies in heaven, I'm not going!" Hmm... surely God hears our desires. My house in heaven will be a candy house ;)

There's some cute M&Ms, jollibeans huge figurines displays outside the shop for you to take pictures with & at certain times in the day, there will be mascots too. Charis frowned, then cried when she saw those mascots cause disappointedly, those mascots aren't exactly very nice-looking.

Candylicious gave us an experience of heaven that day!

Mooncake Festival Celebration

My family brought Charis to Punggol Park for the annual Mooncake Festival Celebration. Punggol Park is always filled with the "lantern" & "sparkles" festival mood, crowded with families & children playing lanterns, candles, & sparkles together.

We brought Charis some lanterns (light bulb kind) but she wasn't interested in them at all, but she was very excited at the traditional paper lanterns instead! She kept wanting to hold them so we let her try it, but with alot of supervision of course. She kept swinging the lantern around I was so worried it would catch fire... so my hands were over hers all the time. Tiring... imagine one hand carrying her, the other holding a lantern for her...

There were balloon sculptures & the balloon maker made a flower as tall as her & a flower "bracelet" especially for her. She loves them! Charis & her flowers...

1st Time at Playground

Before I had any children, I always told James I wanted to bring them to the playground as young as a few months old to let them have fun. That was how my niece & nephews started out their play. But the wierd thing was when the opportunity comes, I find the playground extremely dirty for a baby who can only crawl around the dirt... so I hesistated & never brought Charis to the playground till today... So she was really like a "mountain turtle".

Charis still can't walk so I was still a little hesistant at first because she will have to crawl around the playground, but I decided to give her a "proper" childhood by letting her get dirty then bathe for her afterwards. It would be tough to bring her alone since James is still overseas & I had to pant much to chase after her as she climbs up and down the slides. It was also dangerous in my pregnancy state. Thanks to my sister, Serene, who accompanied us & chased after an active playful toddler.

She was very happy once we reached the playground. At first, she was quite hesitant & just sat at the end of the slide. But less than 5 mins later, she mustered up her courage to explore the new environment & then, it was catching time. She enjoyed herself so much that she cried & kept shaking her head to say "no" when I told her that we are going home already.

When 2 Little Ones Get Together...

Don't ever leave 2 little ones alone... You can never imagine their creativity...

I think Zander was imagining Charis to be a pet, trying to lock her in her "cage"... oops, i meant playpen...

Updates for Dear

Know you have been missing her, so here's an update of how's she doing :)

She still loves cereal time but now likes to say her favourite word while eating.

She's trying to show "good, delicious" but she don't know how to put her thumb up, so she's using her fore finger instead ;)

She's even more inseperable with her Eyeore now...

She enjoyed herself with swimming (no crying this time). She even tried to crawl inside the water! She didn't want to get out of the pool too...

She still get excited over balloons at Siqi's birthday party. She'll yell at them excitedly & would want not just one... but all the balloons!