When we were putting Matthew to sleep, Matthew did something which caught me and Mike off guard. It was so funny. Matthew sat on the bed, moved his hands like he would turn a steering wheel and made "vroom vroom vroom" sound, with varying tones! It was so CUTE! too bad it was lights off, no camera, couldn't capture it.

Yes, it's officially confirmed. Matthew has weaned himself off his pacifier! Hip hip hooray! yuppie! At least I did not to go through a painful crying episode to wean him off. It's not only bedtime, it's the same for nap time. He would play with his pacifier, instead of sucking it. Three cheers for Matthew!

Wow. I did not even realise it. This is the 100th post.

Today, Matthew is 11 months old! Time tick tock tick tock away so fast. One more month and Matthew would be baby no more! Now how shall we celebrate his FIRST birthday? mm.. on 19 February, Matthew would be celebrating his birthday in advance with other SM babies, Ignatius, YiXuan, Joshua, Cayden, Nayli, Cheng En.

Should we hold a full birthday celebration with buffet and invite all? or maybe just a simple birthday party with immediate relatives and close friends. Time to crack our heads! any suggestions?

For the second time these two days, Matthew has refused to have his pacifier while we put him to sleep. He simply took it out of his mouth and threw it away (literally). Then he just laid there, stroking the bedsheet, tossing around, hugging his pillow and bolster. When I transferred him from our bed to his little cot (his eyes were still wide open), he did not fuss around. He tossed around for a while, looking for a comfy position to sleep. Finally he found it. He laid there, stroking the bedsheet, hummed and said a few "ba ba ba" and fell asleep! ;o)

Matthew knows his 8!

We were at IMM Giant supermarket this afternoon, just shopping around. We were looking at the prices of EnfaGrow A+ vs EnfaPro A+, when Matthew started to bend over and point at a price label on a lower shelf (those labels which are placed below the product, indicating the price). He kept pointing at it. At first, we did not know what he wanted because it was just a price label. We told him that there were other labels within his reach. Then Mike realised that that price label had an 8 on it. When Matthew pointed at it again, he put his finger precisely at the number 8.

Matthew, you know your number 8. It's time we teach you the other numbers! So proud of you!

Matthew has picked up so much over the past two months.

He recognises the number 8, that is the level where we stay.

He is able to point out most of the pictures on his alphabet chart when we ask him.

He appreciates music now. He would open and close both his palms facing us, when the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is sang or played in the car. He would wave his hands like a conductor to some music, like "Are you sleeping, Brother John". When the music for a lullaby is played, he would grab his pillow or bolster and pat, indicating that it is a sleeping song.

We taught him how to get off the sofa and bed backside first and now he is a pro at it.

Instead of turning his toy car upside down to play with the wheels, he now knows how to push the car and chase after it.

He just learned how to shake his head.

He is able to stay awake as long as he wants to.

He knows how to hold his little toothbrush and brush his gums. No, still no sign of tooth. He is still our cute little toothless rooster.

He entertains himself, playing with toys, flipping books.

Time flies, in another week Matthew would be 11 months old. One more month, he would be baby no more. Looking back, our baby has grown up. He has brought us joy and laughter. It seems like only yesterday when he first came to rest in our arms. We love you Matthew, with all our hearts and souls.

it has been more than two weeks since my last update. My apologies to all our regular readers and Matthew's fans. It has been a busy fortnight, both at home and at work. Here's a recap on the past two weeks.

7 Jan
Mike had some appointment at Suntec City, so Matthew and I followed as usual. Look at Matthew in the car, one hand on each steering wheel, like a pro.

8-9 Jan
We booked two chalet units at Downtown East. Chris and I wanted to bring the two kids to Wild Wild Wet for some water fun. But it rained and rained and rained non-stop till Monday morning. It rained again after lunch! Here are some photos of Matthew and Megan.




13 Jan
I brought Matthew for a cutest kid contest photoshot at Tanjong Pagar. He was a good boy, posing for the camera during the shot, but did not smile at first. He was occupied with a toy car and a red football. When he saw Pooh, he kept pointing at it. Connie the photographer took it out and placed it next to Matthew. Only then Matthew started to smile. Here's the link to the webpage: KzTalent. To vote for Matthew (via email), click on his photo on the webpage or click on the photo on the side.

After the photoshot, I brought Matthew to United Square to wait for Mike to get off work. He had his dinner real quick at Ben & Jerry. After Mike came, we brought to sit in those musical cars again. Here's a video link >> Matthew's a pro.

14 Jan
Iggy's mommy organised a trial session at MyGym for SM mommies. It was fun. Lots of space and equipment. Matthew still has a little stranger anxiety, but was a good boy. He and Ignatius were like directors, watching the world go by when all the other babies chased the bubbles. Then the two of them did an "arm westle" trying to turn themselves on the round round. He did well during the separation time, when mommies and daddies were not "allowed" contact with the babies. Matthew did not cry when he realised we were not behind him. Check out Yi Xuan's and Ignatius's blogs for more photos!






Here are some video links on some happenings at the trial:
Matthew having a swinging good time
Matthew and Ignatius on the Merry-go-round
Separation Time

15 Jan
We decided to bring Matthew and Megan down to Chinatown for the lights and display. Instead of driving there, we parked our cars at Sing Ave (where Tianfa's mother stays) and took a NEL train from Farrer Park to Chinatown. It was so crowded at Chinatown and Matthew kept wriggling and struggling, wanting to get down to walk (or crawl). Matthew had his dinner at MacDonald's while Tianfa and Chris brought Megan to walk around. We then met up with them at Sing Ave for dinner. Matthew and Megan played with the toys while we had our dinner. Matthew must had too much fun, he refused to sleep when we got home, kept wanting to play more. Well, he did not sleep till 11pm! I was all exhausted!

Since it was a public holiday yesterday and the eve of the new school term, we thought East Coast Park (ECP) might not be too crowded. We decided to bring Matthew for cycling again. As with New Year's Day, we woke up to a gloomy drizzling morning. No harm going to ECP. If we couldn't cycle, we could stroll and do some people watching.

We reached ECP at 8:15am. It looked as if the sky was clearing, then again it started to drizzle, so we looked for a pavilion to feed Matthew his breakfast of museli and apple. Then after that, we walked around, watching dogs with their owners, people on bikes and roller blades. Matthew kept pointing at everything.

We ended up at MacDonald's Children's Playground. He was walking up the slide with Papa's help and sliding down. Then we found this slide tunnel and Matthew actually crawled all the way up to the top and he explored the area. He had so much fun.











It was nearing nap time, so we strolled by the beach and coaxed Matthew to sleep in the sarong carrier. While he slept, we had some breakfast and decided that we shall wait for Matthew to wake up. If no rain, we would go ahead with our cycling trip.


And the weather cleared. Matthew remembered his previous cycling adventure and was very eager to get into the child seat. We made our way to Bedok Jetty. Along the way, Matthew was so happy that he was singing and making lots of happy noise. He was shouting "ba ba ba" so loudly that we had people staring at us!

We stopped for a short while at the beach near Pasta Fresca where we noticed some activities. There was a group of people having a team building activity and some water float activities. Mike brought Matthew down to the water and let Matthew walk on the sand. He was unsure at first. As the waves came and went, he was happy to touch the water and walk on the sand.







We then made our way to Bedok Jetty. Matthew was quick to point our the aeroplanes that were landing at Changi Airport. Has he "inherited" his Ah Yi's fascination with aeroplanes? We fed him his lunch of pasta as he sat in the child seat watching planes go by.







After lunch, we made our way further east, but it was almost time to return the bikes and Matthew was getting cranky. We rode back in silence as Matthew was tired and kept quiet on the return journey. What an adventure that morning.

Labels: east coast park

What a start to 2006! It rained the whole day, virtually. We woke up to a gloomy morning on Sunday, wondering if the sky would clear for the SPH Gift of Music concert at Botanic Gardens.

Finally the sky cleared. We made our way to my mom's house for a wanton noodles feast. After that, we made our way to Botanic Gardens. At first the weather looked fine. We walked round the Symphony Lake to feed the ducks and fishes. We came upon a large group of ducks, of perhaps 20. At first Matthew was not sure where the ducks were. He kept staring in the general direction where I was pointing. The ducks "quarrelled" and they were flapping their wings. Matthew got excited and kept pointing at them.





It was a hot afternoon and all the fishes were hiding in the shade under the lotus leaves. We did not see that many fishes and it was difficult to lure them out with the pieces of bread we were throwing into the lake. But we saw an arowana! Huge one. Too bad I did not capture a photo of that.

When we finally circled the lake, it started to drizzle, then it poured. What a disappointment. But we did meet up with the other SM mommies, daddies and babies. Elaine, Weiwen and Iggy, Jamie, Joash and Cayden, Stephie, her hubby (I did not get his name, sorry) and Cherylin, Lih Miin, Chee Wey and YiXuan. Matthew was big gor gor (brother) that day. We managed to get five high chairs for all five babies. But we did not manage to get a photo of all five of them together.

Here are some photos...





Matthew did not have much nap, so by 6:30pm he was getting cranky. It was time for us to go home.

I hit on a great new idea to bathe Matthew. In a big pail. This way, we did not have to worry about him standing and trying to get out of the tub. He could have the water all the way up to his chest when he sits down in the tub. Here's a photo of the sleepyhead!

Labels: xmas new year