NDP Rehearsal Preview!

Last Saturday was Cayden's first attempt to attend music class. Unfortuantely it didn't go well because he was very affected by his "classmate" cries. He cried when "classmate" cried. Haiz...! Anyways, after the music class, Uncle Sam and I brought Cayden to Marina Square for a quick round of shopping before meeting up with Grandpa, Grandma, Aunty Yangming and Uncle Ryan. We brought Cayden to Fox Baby boutique and picked some clothes for him since there was 40% discount. It was a pity that we wasn't aware that Fox Baby has been selling infant shoes for less than $23 a pair. There are no more sizes available for Cayden to try as much as we would like him to because the designs of the shoes were simply adorable and cute!

Saturday happened to be Aunty Yangming's convocation too and we gatecrashed the session. Little did we know Saturday happens to be one of the NDP rehearsals. Carpark lots at Marina Square were largely reserved for NDP purposes and roads and parts of shopping malls around that area were closed down temporarily for a few hours for the NDP Performing Entourage to prepare themselves before the rehearsal.

We had dinner at Sakae Sushi with Grand Aunty Choo. Take alook at how Grandma idolizes his grandson!

After dinner, Uncle Sam recommended all to walk over to Esplanade to catch a glimpse of airshow or helicopter with the National Flag. Cayden's first NDP preview wasn't too bad. He caught the airshow as well as fireworks! As expected, he was literary put off by the loud sound coming from the fighter planes as well as fireworks' explosions.


As part of the rehearsal finale, there was a near 10 minute fireworks (performance split into three segments within the time frame). At the end of the fireworks, we noticed two very patriotic citizens who were tearing while the national anthem is being played! Being the very patriotic locals, we stood still till the national anthem finishes and we realised that Uncle Ryan was not exactly crying because he was touched by all the NDP performances but his right eye was irritated by the explosives particles that flew into his eyes! To my dismay, I realised the provision of first aid for NDP preview participants was limited to just superficial injuries. We ended the outing by making a 10 minute stop at SGH A&E ward's carpark. Uncle Ryan no longer felt discomfort in his eye and we all returned back to Clementi. It was indeed a memorable day!

Kindermusik

Music lessons, here we come!

Date: 12 July 2008
Day: Saturday
Time: 1.30 pm
Location: Kindermusik Tanglin Shopping Center(http://www.kindermusik.com.sg/curricula_ourtime.htm)
Age Range: 18 months to 3 years
Semester: 4 units, each 15 weeks
Class Length: 45 minutes
Focus: Building the child's self-esteem
Curriculum Content: Our Time encourages your child to uncover an engaging musical world while building confidence, self control, and communication skills. Singing, imitating sounds, rhyming and object identification fosters language skills. Creative movement to various "moods" develops a sense of balance, timing and spatial awareness. Listening and turn-taking encourages blossoming social skills.

We shall see if Cayden enjoys the class. :)

Surprise!

Ahem!

Cayden has a surprise for all... Guess what?



He cut his hair lah!!!



It was an impromptu decision to bring him for a hair cut knowing that he doesn't like the sound of the shaver as well as being manipulated to get his hair cut. During our 15 minutes at the salon whose specialty is in children's hair cut, Cayden was obviously irritated with the trimmed hair falling all over the seat and into his clothes. But we managed to distract him and have the hair stylist complete her job. :D Cayden cried briefly because he was afraid of the vacuum cleaner as well as shaver sound. Half way through the cut, he cried and wanted Uncle Sam and me to carry him. We manage to distract him and had the hair stylist to continue with her work. The Aunty doing her job was really patient and friendly. :)

Silly Aunty Linda didn't realize that she along brought one spare piece of top for Cayden and forgot about making sure a pair of pants came along. Anyways, Aunty Linda got scolding from Uncle Sam for being so blur... :P

Before we left the hair salon at Suntec, Cayden picked a blue ballon and Aunty Linda picked a set of Doraemon sticker for Cayden as a remembrance that he been there and done it! I guess we will bring Cayden back to Suntec level 3 again when the time comes for him to cut his hair.

Little Connoisseur has been relatively naughty over the weekend. However, he is still very sweet and cooperative in most ways. Just take alook at the photo I've taken for him. Aunty Yangming will be attending her SMU convocation this Saturday and she brought her graduation gown back last week. On Saturday, Uncle Sam and I discovered the gown and decided to let Cayden try on the graduation cap. He's like a poster boy for some milk formula!

A Mind of His Own

Cayden does have a mind of his own.

Wasabi says:

u conferencing with wa?

Wasabi says:

tonight i get to see him

Irene Ng says:

yes. showing him my kuma & mr bean's bear

Wasabi says:

oh

Wasabi says:

that day we went to mini toons and he saw mr. bean's bear

Wasabi says:

he kept pointing at it and i brought it down to show him and he kissed the bear!

Irene Ng says:

HYM showed me the new shoes. nice! i love the color & the stripes, like adidas!

Wasabi says:

Sam picked one...

Wasabi says:

actually i like the other one

Wasabi says:

blue shoe with a duck on each shoe (instead of his tiger or lion)

Irene Ng says:

she sent me the web link too...

Wasabi says:

but sam says the front part of the shoe has thick leather

Wasabi says:

so it is better to help protect cayden's feet

Wasabi says:

then u guess which shoe cayden wants to try??

Irene Ng says:

how much did u buy? cos this brand always got organise bulk purchase

Wasabi says:

white shoe with a pink giraffe on it!!!

Wasabi says:

girl's shoes!!!

Irene Ng says:

let me see fm the web

Irene Ng says:

so how much u paid for?

Wasabi says:

send me the link

Wasabi says:

35.90

Irene Ng says:

www.tykesntots.com

Irene Ng says:

www.shooshoos.com

Irene Ng says:

i saw the duck & the pink giraffe!

Irene Ng says:

the red stripes nice too!

Irene Ng says:

so wat size did u buy?

Wasabi says:

i bought xtra large cos boy is now wearing large

Irene Ng says:

his orange stripes can match his 3 orange / yellow pants fm jshoppers

Another Weekend at Edelweiss

Cayden spent another weekend at Edelweiss past two days. It was easier this round as we didn't have to rush from one end to the other end of the island. More important, Uncle Sam and I had easier and fuller rest on Saturday night as Cayden didn't wake up in the middle of the night crying from the nightmare. Uncle Sam also nearly suffered just one "shadow kick" from Cayden in the middle of the night and he managed to defend himself from Cayden's "attack". Haha!

We picked up Cayden from Clementi on Saturday evening and Cayden was so eager to get out of Clementi! Grandparents tried to trick him by carrying him and saying bye bye to Uncle Sam and I. Cayden thought we were leaving without him and started whining! When Uncle Sam took over Cayden from Grandpa, Cayden clung onto Uncle Sam and he did a quick wave to all without turning back after he got out of the apartment and didn't want to look at for fear of being brought back home. *SMART*

Anyways, we proceeded back home and Uncle Sam suggested to bring Cayden to Airport. Cayden was obviously quite tired at Clementi and fell asleep as we travelled on PIE along Toa Payoh. By the time we reached airport, he was woken up rudely by my unrefined way of removing my seatbelt. Uncle Sam took Cayden in his arm and that's when our dear boy started his "Wa Wa Wa!". We had initially wanted to bring him to the viewing gallery but realised it was too dark outside for him to see the actual planes. We ended up shopping in T3 and we bought Cayden a pair of shoes which Uncle Sam decided on the design. Our next stop in the airport was NTUC. Cayden was so happy helping us with the grocery. He passed me 2 packs of instant noddles and 1 pack of HL milk. While Uncle Sam was queuing to pay for the groceries, I brought Cayden to the nearby soya milk store to buy 2 packs of Soycurd. He was exhilarated when he saw what I took over from the counter. Sadly, Cayden was more attracted to the cleaners sweeping and mopping next to me.

We went home and got Cayden changed into his PJ before Uncle Sam brought up the video camera for msn video conferencing. Cayden never fails to express his excitement whenever we asked if he wants to see his mummy on laptop. He was frightened by the loud volume when we finally connected the video conference with his mum. As soon as Cayden settled down, he started poking and touching the screen whenever his parents face appears moving on the screen. It didn' take him too long to realised that Uncle Sam had something more enticing on his hand - a bowl of soycurd. Concurrently, I was preparing a bottle of milk to help Cayden to get ready for bed and he ignored me for half an hour before Uncle Sam took over the job from me. With just a statement from Uncle Sam, Cayden moved up to Uncle Sam and quietly drank the milk. By 12 am, Cayden fell asleep on the bed.

The next morning, Cayden woke up at 9.10 am... and started sharing how impressed he was with the pool view in our room and went "wa wa wa!" again. Poor Aunty Linda had to beg Cayden to finish his bottle of milk which eventually I failed. I had to replace the milk with Nestum cereal which he finished half a cup! It wasn't too long when Uncle Sam's mum came visiting with wanton noodles and this unfamiliar face frightened Cayden. Cayden went crying when Uncle Sam's mum tried to say hi to him... but after I fed Cayden with some strawberries, he stopped whining and started playing with "Grandma No. 2". By lunch time, Cayden ate cereals, strawberries, yogurt and noodles. He wasn't exactly walking around with a round stomach so I decided to give him another bottle of milk. Again, I had to beg him to sit down and take the milk and I failed once more. Uncle Sam came to my rescue and within 30 seconds, Cayden rested on Uncle Sam's arm and started feeding from the bottle! I AM SO JEALOUS!!!!

Anyways, we left Edelweiss at 2.30 pm and headed straight to Vivocity. Cayden fell asleep once again and when we reached Vivo, he was struggling to open his eyes like a baby rat! Uncle Sam and I kept laughing at him!!! We headed to the basement to grab some fishballs before strolling to OP to get Uncle Sam his annual supply of 3/4 pants and shirts... We left Vivo at 4.50 pm (50 mins over the targeted estimated time of departure from Vivo). Obviously we had phone calls and sms from Clementi to check on our status as Grandparents and Aunty Yangming obviously missed Cayden after not seeing him for nearly 24 hours. We had dinner outside before Uncle Sam and I called it a day...

It was tiring but fun because having Cayden around and checking out his expressions is never the same experience each time. Waiting for the weekend to come soon...

New Expressions!

Cayden picked up some new expressions from Uncle Sam over the weekend. He was taught once and he remembered how to do those expressions from then. HOW SMART! :)

On Sunday night after dinner, we heard Grandma lamenting over Cayden's dislike for brushing teeth. Uncle Sam tried to take up this challenge and was determined to convince Cayden brush his teeth and he succeeded!

Spining in His (Toga) Cape...?

Lately, Cayden has a penchant for his cotton blanket. Apart from using the blanket for his nap and bed time, he has been kind in sharing his blanket with everyone else including Grandpa, Grandma as well as stuff toy Honey! I tried to help Cayden explore the other uses of his blanket bearing in mind that he shouldn't be turned into Charlie Brown's friend who goes about everywhere with his blanket.. Check the video out!

Uncle Sam and Aunty Linda has been spending the past two weekends together and this certainly helped us understand and nurture Cayden better. Just over the weekend, we've tried to help Cayden read and say A, B and C...So far, we've been only successful in teaching him saying Apple! A little progress so far has been really encouraging for Uncle Sam and I to continue nurturing little Cayden. :)

Independence Weekend!

Yes! For the first time, Sam and I were allowed to bring Cayden out ourselves in his Jinbei suit. Fortunately Cayden was cooperative and in fact, he was unusually sweet too!

We visited Jurong Point yesterday for 2.5 hours at around 3.45 pm and Cayden went "Wah! Wah! Wah!" as soon as he sees anything new. While Uncle Sam met up with someone, I brought Cayden to Toys R Us and the first thing he say was the Yakult vending machine. Cayden's eyes lit up the moment he saw the bottles of Yakult on display in the vending machine. Then he started pointing towards the direction of the machine (hoping that I would buy him a bottle). I said no and brought him furthur into the shop. I allowed him to walk about and he didn't just dash around like the other brats in the shop. Instead, he grabbed my hand and took me to around to explore the surroundings. When Uncle Sam finally arrived, we continued our exploration and we passed by this plastic slide and Uncle Sam helped Cayden up the slide. He was sooooooooooo happy to be sliding down the slide and tried 5 times in total.When we finally said we had to go, Cayden didn't cry or scream to ask for more attempts on the slide, instead, we just carried on with our window shopping. He was really excited to see the kitchen toy set! I was so tempted to get him one but held back my decision as the toy packaging stated that the toy is only suitable for kids above 3 years old.

We proceeded with our shopping and brought Cayden to Kiddy Palace to check out some shoes. He is growing fast and the pair he is currently wearing is getting abit tight. Uncle Sam wanted to get him a pair of shoes from Kiddy Palace but I stopped him because for the same price or slightly more, you could get a pair of Clarks (First Shoes series)... :D This means: MORE SHOPPING THIS WEEKEND!

Anyways, at the end of 1.5 hours, Cayden was tired and he refused to walk himself... So Uncle Sam and I took turns to carry him. Cayden was just so addicted to his smelly tortise! He fell asleep as soon as the car moved off from Jurong Point. The ride home took half an hour as we stopped by Jurong West to grab KFC. When we reached Clementi, there was no more parking lots available and Uncle Sam went...: "NO MORE LOTS?" and I said "OH MY GOD!". At that very moment, I noticed Cayden grinned at me with his eyes closed and I went "OH MY GOD" again and this time, he grinned again with his closed eyes then he woked up!

So lovely!

A Story to Tell...

Cayden: "Mmm... I am feeling abit bored. My gums are itching... I need to find something to bite!"


"Any food around...?" Cayden looks around the living room...



"YAY!!! The stick biscuits! I better start eating before the rest asks me to share!"



"Ooops! Aunty Linda and Grandpa sees me eating... I better turn around and finish up the biscuit!". Concurrently, Aunty Linda says, "Cayden, share your biscuits please!"


Cayden turns around and says "NEH NEH NEH NEH! The biscuit is full of my salivia... who still wants a bite?!"

He Grunted!

Cayden grunted!!!

He probably picked the skill from Grandpa who usually snores when he sleeps. Cayden realised that his grunt brings joy and laughter and kept grunting the whole of last night.

Video's at home.... Oh man...