Highlight of a typical day

Anya is currently at the stage where I believe she is actively trying to comprehend what we tell her. Sometimes, I swear I can literally see her little head processing furiously what we are telling her whereby she is give a seemingly intellectual response thereafter though no one really knows what she is saying more than half the time. A lot of times, however, her follow-up actions tells me that she understands what we are telling her.

As she embarks on the journey of learning to communicate (actually this journey never ends, does it?), she is naturally interested in the tools of communication, particularly the phone. For months now, we often see her yakking away into her toy phone when she play in her play-yard. These days, one of the highlights of her day is to intercept a phone call between Daddy and Mommy.

 Typically, when The Husband is away at work, we will talk on the phone once or twice a day. Sometimes, we barely even said hellos before I feel a pair of tiny hands tugging at me, gesturing for the phone, calling out for "Deedee /Dadi" excitedly. The moment she takes over, she will lovingly cradle the phone as she calls out for her beloved Daddy. The Husband will ask her about her day, tells her to be good - all of which she will response with her baby talk. At an appropriate pause, I will prompt her to say her goodbyes and pass the phone back to me. Upon which she will wave goodbye and give an audible peck into the phone which always put a smile on both The Husband and my face.

Funny Bunny

After reading from another mommy's blog about how her daughter split her lower lip after bath because of the "wormlet", I decided to stop using the wraparound hooded towel on Anya as soon as she starts walking on her own.

In anyway, I reckon those wraparound towels can be kept for Mini Bun's use. So I went back to Ikea to buy another hooded towel that will be worn over her head instead. Her hands will be freed up instead of being bundled up and she will be able to break her fall should it happens.

Since I am writing about Ikea towels, may I add that I am a big fan of their children's hooded towel. Yes, at $19-$21 a piece, they are pricey if you compare them to what you can buy from pasar malam but I love them because they are so thick, fluffy, absorbent and durable (one year and they are still thick and fluffy!). Plus as they are hooded, I can wrap Anya's head snugly right after she steps out of her bath and leave it on while I dress her at the changing table. By the time she is fully clothed, her head will have become nicely towel-dried.

At this point, the new towel is slightly too big for her, but like all the previous Ikea hooded towels, have the effect of making her ridiculously cute. Or that's what her mommy thinks, at least. :)

Mini bun, Mini bun, what is your gender, Mini bun?

The Husband and I had a bet Mini bun's gender weeks ago. My bet was on female and he on male. Our bet was not indicative of any gender preference. In fact, we always maintained that we do not have any preference, though we did a lot of building-castles-in-the-air on what it will be like to raise two girls versus one boy/one girl. Our vague conclusion was that having a boy will probably drain our energy even more than now (seeing how our friends and loved ones with boys cope) while The Husband expressed that he will feel slightly intimidated by the imbalance of yin/yang in the household if we have another girl - even the Furkid is a err.. bitch.

On our routine check last week, we have an answer. For this occasion, we especially arranged for Anya to go for the check with us, my mom who happened to be on MC on the same day to go for her routine check-up tagged along too. Without any suspense but rather matter-of-factly, my OBGYN announced that "It is a princess.". When queried by The Husband that maybe the 'thing' is still too underdeveloped to be obtruding, the OBGYN reply came, "I'm afraid not. There is really nothing there..".

So yay! I won our $100 bet. And Anya & Muff are gonna have a sister!

Pilgrimage to BKK 2011: Shopping

When I was in my twenties, I always go gaga in Platinum Mall. If I were to be in Bangkok for three full days, I could jolly well be in Bangkok for all that three days from 11am (after I woke up at 9am and stuffed myself silly with hotel's breakfast) all the way till their closing time at 7pm. I like that I can clothed myself in the latest fashion at a fraction of the prices of what is sold in departmental stores. Of course, quality of what you get here will be compromised but then again, fashion goes in and out quickly too. Plus I love the scene of haggling and bargaining. The feeling of triumph when I walk away with another successfully bargained purchase. And if the bargain failed, I could simply shrug and walk away knowing that  the mall has so much many more alternatives to offer anyway.

Well, as mentioned earlier, that was when I was in my twenties. Now that I mellowed a little - with age and with change of season in life, my love for Platinum Mall has diminished a little too. This time round, no longer do I practically camp in there after parking The Husband with a book at one of the cafes. Most of the apparels sold aren't fitting for a big-bellied me anyway. Instead, it was a leisure stroll with The Husband and Anya, picking out one or two gifts for loved ones, shopping for practical  clothing such as pajamas, stretchy pants for my stretched belly and a first bag for Anya. It turned out quite enjoyable, watching Anya taking in the colorful sights, rapt.

Matching PJs formommy & baby!

Anya's first bag - doubles up as a pillow at diaper-changing station

Other than the Platinum Mall, I usually pick up some undergarments at one of the departmental stores as well. As most Singaporean ladies will know, most lingerie brands (Triumph, BSC and Wacoal) are manufactured in Thailand and that means only one thing: cheap, Cheap, CHEAP.

And lastly, there is my final favorite stop for shopping - the duty-free shopping at Suvarnabhumi Airport. One of my discovery about the duty-free shopping here is that not only do they have a good collection of luxury brands here (and they are duty-free!), these boutiques tend to house their past seasons goods where you can no longer find in Singapore's boutique. There's icing on top that comes in a form of slashed price for some brands such as Fendi and Dunhill too! Now, when I was still in the workforce, I used do a bit more actual shopping here.These days, we usually either shop for The Husband or simply window-shop. This time round, however, I went home with something nice from The Husband.

Thanks, dear! :)

One of the great news in this pregnancy...

I am drug-free!

The first morning after we arrived in Bangkok, I must have been so caught up in the holiday mood that I totally forgot to take my anti-medication. By the time I remembered, it was dinnertime.

I had apprehensively told The Husband: "Dear, I have some bad news.."

"What?"

"I forgot to take my medication.."

"Good."

"But what if I throw up?"

Slightly amused, The Husband replied, "Look, it's almost end of the day. How are you feeling? Fine right?"

In a small voice: "Yes..."

"Then okay lor!"

The Husband's dismissive tone indicated that that should end the discussion, but I persisted.

"Erm.. So should I take the medication tomorrow?"

Even more dismissively, "No."

Even smaller voice, "Okay...."

And that was it! I still have 6 or 8 dosages left, which I'm keeping for rainy days (and also because they cost $40 each!). Hurray!

On another piece of pregnancy-woes-related good news: I found a better alternative in Bangkok to curb my excessive salivation! I have been sucking on hard candies which is making me really uncomfortable for fear of gestational diabetes and other pregnancy-related complications at the later stage. Then on the flight to Bangkok, I had a light-bulb moment: "I should try chewing gums!"

It worked better in the sense that it uses sugar-free sweetening though some might argue that that is worse but heck, my OBGYN has given me clearance when he spied me chewing vehemently at the last check two days ago. Plus, per gum has a longer life in my mouth and when you add up, I am really eating much lesser sweets than I used to when using the hard candies alternative. So yay! Double hurray!

Pilgrimage to BKK 2011: Food

Somehow, we always end up in Bangkok when we wanna go on a short getaway. Actually, it wasn't 'somehow'. The elimination process goes this way:

I am hydrophobic and we aren't into spas so the beach-y places usually hold no meaning for us. So places like Koh Samui, Phuket and Krabi are out (though I must admit Krabi is really a beautiful and tranquil place for a quiet getaway).

Next is the consideration of the length of flight. Given that Anya is now a walking but not yet talking toddler, confinement within the enclosed economic plane cabin is a test of our creativity to keep her appeased occupied, tolerance of her screaming & the thickness of our skins. So 4 hours is a stretch while we think 3 hours will be quite bearable. With that, we eliminated destinations like Australia and Taiwan.

Basically, we are left with Hongkong or Bangkok. KL will be too near to feel like a proper holiday. I want to be able to sit in the plane and warm the seat. And then there is the madness of stiffening crowds in Hongkong. Plus The Husband and I could not agree on whether or not to go to Disneyland if we are there. Husband thinks Anya is too young to enjoy thus will be a waste of money while I think it will be pointless to be in HK but not to go Disneyland with a child in tow. Anyway, you get the point.

And so, the elimination process leaves us with the familiar Bangkok. Okay, more to the point. After being in Bangkok so many times, The Husband and I have a unspoken itinerary panned down which is like a tradition that we follow. We usually work around Anya's sleep-eat-play schedule and let her have an undisturbed nap in the hotel at least once a day. With that in mind, we will spend one of the afternoons at Platinum wholesale and retail mall (shopping for us), we will visit CTC on one of the weekend mornings (more clothes for the furkid) and we will slot in a couple of hours to go to one of the upscale departmental store, usually Isetan @ Centralworld (shopping for lingerie for me). Then, the rest of the times will be spent looking for food and eating. Which is copious amount of time, come to think of it.

Now, even for food, The Husband and I have traditions. There are two eateries that we will definitely go to when we are in Bangkok. Actually, these two places were introduced by the Shopping Accomplice when she went for a work stint in BKK years ago and I went to bunk in with her at her atas service apartment. From then on, I introduced it to The Husband, and we liked them enough to keep going back.

Without further ado, I shall introduce our first haunt:

Taling Pling

Serves authentic Thai cuisine at affordable prices.

I can safely say that whatever that we order here is always served beyond average standard. What is outstandingly good that we tried so far are the green curry, the omelette and the sticky rice with mango whose picture is regrettably omitted here. The prawn-cakes were ordered for the benefit of Anya and turned out surprisingly popular among the adults too.

Taling pling now has a few branches though I still prefer the one in Silom. It is a stand-alone building that has a quiet and quaint ambience. Point to note though, the Silom branch serves pre-dominantly executives and business crowds and The Husband and I were rather under-dressed when we were decked out in berms and tees.

Best-dressed in the family goes to the tot

Given that we ordered four dishes, a dessert (sticky rice with mango) and a drink to share, the price came up to within SGD$50. And we made our bellies very happy with satisfaction. So there, if you are a Thai-cuisine lover, Taling Pling is the place to be! - Just be sure to be decked in smart casual attire at least.

Second haunt:

Somboon Seafood 

Serves Chinese-Thai seafood cuisine that is popular with both locals and tourists. Lots of Japanese sighted (they even serve sake!) and always bustling - think East Coast Seafood Centre.

Again, we have a favourite branch, which is the one in Bantadthong. Beware though, there are plentiful of imitations that even their website also have a disclaimer on it. On this trip, we were driven by a taxi driver to its imitator (also in Bantadthong) and it was a genuine mistake on his part. So even the locals get confused. For be sure that you are at the right place, look out for their signature red and white signboards.

Now, unlike Taling Pling, we had hits and misses in this restaurant. Based on my recollection, we specifically dislike their river prawns in tang hoon. On the other hand, we absolutely love the steamed seabass in chilli-lime sauce. We enjoy the gravy of their signature dish - curry crab though we find the quality of the crabs so-so.  But then again, we usually order their standard serving for the curry crab instead of those weighed Sri Lanka crab. This time round however, we did not order any crabs as The Husband had a tiny dental mishap and could not risk aggravating the situation. So, we ordered the seabass, a steamed prawn with salt, a prawn ngoh-hiong, and a stir-fried asparagus with scallops that was eventually omitted.

Unfortunately, Anya was cranky when we were in this restaurant, and as a result, the meal was a hasty one. Only one miserable picture of the well-loved seabass was taken.

Besides the two of our favorite restaurants, we found some really nice places to eat on this trip. The sixth floor of Isetan has been converted to house restaurants - predominantly Japanese. They are all thematic e.g. Okinomiyaki,  pasta, dons and katsu. We tried out the one that serves dons as well as the one that served pasta. We were very impressed with the former. We were there on our first night in Bangkok and even The Daughter loved the food there before she went on a hunger strike up till last night. Well, that will be another post altogether. Also, being fast-food junkies (The Husband and I), we had to try their KFC and were very pleased with the results. Well, at least the outlet that we went to (In Platinum mall) served really yummy chicken, so good that we concluded that they are better than the better ones in Singapore.

Now, as I'm penning down this post, I am salivating over the wondrous food of Bangkok again. However, The Husband and I reckoned that it will be a challenge for us to travel in the next one year or so to come. Right, it is time to go on a local food hunt for good Thai food. :P

Happy Fathers' Day

Taken on Fathers' Day morning in BKK

My dear, 

In the past one year, many of our friends and relatives have came up to me and remarked what a hands-on father you are to Anya. That, to me, translates to being a perfect Dad to our children. 

On behalf Muffin, Anya and our unborn Mini Bun (each unable to vocalize their love and appreciation for respective reasons): Thank you for being the perfect Dad in my eyes. We all adore you, so so much! 

XOXO,

JS

Goodbye, Study!

Farewell, the lower half of my self-designed bookshelf.

Goodbye, our custom-made desks. You have served us well in the last 5 years.

Tomorrow, we are going away on a short vacation while a team of contractors will be coming in to turn our eye-popping citrus-colored study into an equally eye-popping colorful bedroom for the kiddos. Thankful for the in-laws who are helping us to watch over our flat, the furkid and the renovation work while we are away.

In the coming weeks and months, there is gonna be lots of changes happening to us. The past few days have been spent clearing out our stuff from the study. As usual, at any spring-cleaning session, The Husband and I were bound to have little squabbles over what to throw and what to keep. He, being the thrower, and I, being the hoarder. Heh.

Daddy, please don't throw me away too...

Our domestic helper will be coming in next week (if nothing goes wrong), so we are doing up the study room to make room for the helper and the new baby in time to come. Last night, The Husband and I made a quick trip down to Ikea to pick up some furniture for the helper, the new nursery and new study desks for ourselves. Next Monday, the Ikea guys shall deliver all the stuff and assemble them for us. I am so glad that my energy is back, at least I can help out The Husband in handling some of these domestic affairs while he focuses on his work. After all, he has made some concessions in the past two months and it is time that he give his team and clients more of his attention.

Meanwhile, let's put on our sunnies and enjoy our little getaway! :)

Epicurious Lunch & Hunting down Fidgets

I recently found out that Epicurious has set up a second cafe at Rail Mall. I haven't been to Epicurious @ Quayside yet though I have read and heard nice things about their brunches. Given that Rail Mall is a mere 5 minutes' drive from our home, we decided to dropped by on Saturday for lunch.

The Husband, being  a non-brunch person (he hates runny eggs and is partial to pancakes), ordered a chilli crab pasta with soft shell crab. I zero-ed in onto the eggs benedict and a mushroom soup to share while Anya had a kid's portion of scramble eggs. My eggs benedict were nicely done - fluffy English muffins with poached eggs runny on the inside, causing the disgusted Husband to make rude faces at me while I slurp up every bit of the goo. The sauteed potatoes on the side were well-seasoned, we both enjoyed it though we thought it was a bit too tough to be served to kids (we had to dig the softer flesh from the inside to give Anya). We both liked the mushroom soup. Anya seemed to enjoy it as well, enthusiastically signing for more when I fed her. You can taste bits of mushrooms in every mouthful but I believe some might prefer it to be of creamier texture. However, the adults thought the best dish of the afternoon was The Husband's pasta. When reading off the menu, I had imagine that the pasta will come with plain chilli sauce with deep-fried soft shell crab on the side. I was pleasantly surprised to know that the sauce has bits of crabmeat in it as well. The pasta was al dente and the sauce reminded me of my mom's homecooked chilli crab - kick-ass spicy that is more due to ginger than chilli. The sweet husband left plenty of the sauce for me and I happily slurped those up as well.

Anya's scrambled eggs

My Eggs Benedict

The Husband's blurry but yummy chilli crab pasta!

Mushroom soup

We went at one-ish in the afternoon and the cafe was 60-70% filled. The cafe is housed in two units, and they also have a Thai food menu on top of the brunch /western menus. I was delighted to note that this is a family-friendly establishment that provides paper and colorings for children (not for Anya though since she is too young), has a kids' menu and they even have some toys and a old skool rocking horse to keep the tots occupied. After years of complaining that there isn't a nice cafe near our place, I think we might have found one now!

Our after-lunch plan was to adjourn to Fidgets @ Turf City. Initially, I had wanted to go to Polliwogs but The Husband preferred a nearer location. Given that Anya hasn't been to any of these play areas before, I reckon any establishment is fine for a first. So Fidgets, been the nearest to us geographically, became our choice.

What started out as a fine happy afternoon started to go slightly downhill hereon. Given that The Husband and I frequents Turf City (or to be more precise, Owen Seafood Restaurant @ Turf City), we did not think that we would have any problem tracking Fidgets down. Well, to cut the long story short, let's just say that we had to comb the area thrice (with a toddler, a diaper bag, a brolly in tow), calling up the establishment once for directions, asking a shop-owner and a janitor for more directions twice and 45 minutes later then did we find the place. By then, we were all sweaty, tired and grouchy, and to our greatest dismay, it was super crowded given it was a weekend and there were two birthday parties going on. So, after all that wild goose chase, we did not even go in.

For those who wish to visit Fidgets, some points to note. The place is NOT on the fourth floor, as what their website suggested. Instead, they are on the second floor. To locate the place, ask for directions to Giant, right above the checkout exit of Giant, is an entrance into the building (there is a huge store selling spa-related stuff called Magic Boo). Take the escalator from there to the second floor, and there is Fidgets.

So will we go back again? Probably, but perhaps not on a weekend. The Husband told the staff about our tiring search and in return, they gave us a complimentary one-time pass. So, at least we did not go back empty-handed though we were slightly piqued. Thankfully, all it took was some OJ and carrot juice to put all of us back into pleasant moods before we called it a day.

OJ?

Very nice!

Getting back my energy

In the past one week, I could feel my energy regaining. Suddenly, one morning I woke up and felt simply normal. And that normalcy stayed on for the rest of that day and pretty much all the way till now. Well, I am still on anti-vomit medication and still have excessive salivation (which I manage by sucking on hard candies every now and then), but other than that, hey! I feel.... .. normal! No more lethargic, hardly nauseous, hardly heartburn. Maybe this pregnancy will be easier hereon.

Given the present positive outlook, I have been telling myself to go out more. Being coped up at home, lying in bed half the time in the last two months has been depressing. There are days when I feel lonely and trapped, feeling my way around in mental darkness. It is a terrible phase. Despite feeling down, I knew that God was with me, so prenatal depression could not come near. So now that I am better, it is time to get back my social life, to bask in the pregnancy, to spend more time with Anya, and to resume a large chunk of my responsibility as a SAHM.

Last night, I met up with the Shopping Accomplice. It has been a couple of months since we caught up, and there were a lot of things happening in her life since we last met. Remembering how she raved about the dim sum after her last visit to Hongkong, I had planned a belated birthday treat for her at Dim Joy. To our dismay, Dim Joy is closed for renovation. Funny how they did not update this piece of news on their website and I had to know about this at their doorstep. So without any contingency plans, we decided to take a stroll down Tras street and see what it offers us. We ended up in this Korean restaurant that the SA visited before. Said that their fried chicken was good.

We ordered a small fried chicken combo that consists of all the three flavours of garlic, original and spicy (i think), a small kimchi steamboat and a vegetable pancake. Overall, we were very satisfied with the food - with the exception of disliking a particular flavour of chicken, we happily stuffed the rest of the items down.  For once, I brought a camera and remembered to take pictures before we tucked in (the SA had to remind me twice though)Unfortunately, the lighting of the restaurant did little justice to the dishes.

Tonight, we have a gathering with The Husband's buddy. Upcoming, there will be more weddings to attend (Total of 6 in one month alone!), our short getaway next week, and we are planning to bring Anya to Polliwogs and explore brunch haunts and cafes! So much to look forward to! :)

Anya's First Trip to the Hairdresser

I have decided that Anya's hair has grown to a decent length that should no longer be subjected to my amateurish-stationery-scissors-haircut. Given that her bangs are threatening to prick her eyes these days, we felt that it is about time we make a trip down to those 10-minutes@$10 hair salon. So last night, that was what we did.

From what I gathered from some other Mommies' blog, these $10 salon chains has individual TV screens for respective customers where you may request to them to play your own DVDs. Unfortunately, it was not the case for the outlet that we went to, probably the aforementioned was another $10 chain. Instead, the LCD screen was playing advertisements that do not interest Anya at all. So instead, we had Anya sit on her Daddy's lap at some point and being carried at other times while I play Pororo on Youtube using my iPhone to keep her still.

Putting on a giant bib. One for Daddy too.

iPhone to the rescue!

Harassed by the strange suction monster

Well, it went quite well. I merely wanted a trim to neaten her messy mane and thus the predictable result of a little China doll.

The story of a little girl and a donkey

It all started a few months ago. Our little family was grocery-shopping in a supermarket. We were about to check-out our stuff when we noticed the shelf lined with stuffed toys. I went up to the shelf and did what I did for the past couple of times we past by this shelf. I randomly picked up a toy, brought it to the view of Anya who was seated in the trolley, and see what happens.

In the previous occasions, she had been indifferent. She would cast a quick glance at the toy in question, then look away. This time around, her eyes set onto the said toy, broke into a loving smile, then edged forward to kiss the toy. It did not just stop there. She kissed the toy again and again, then hugged it lovingly. The Husband and I were stunned. We looked on bemusedly as this tremendous amount of affection that was displayed. I was the first to find my tongue again.

The object of her affection

The first words that came out was, "Erm.. How much is this Ee yore?".  Then it was a muffled shriek, followed by, "This thing is $20!!?".

The next thing heard was from The Husband, "What?!!".

For the record, the said Ee yore is a mere 8" tall little soft toy. Between The Husband and I, our mental guess-timate of its price-tag was $12.95, not the actual $19.95. Then we look back at the trolley where the afftectionate scene of Anya hugging and kissing her newfound friend continues to unfold. Feeling slightly torn, I did what I thought was the kindest thing to do.

I let The Husband decide.

Let's just say it was a happy end to that day where Anya gets to bring her new love home while I was issued threats on never to pull that let's-take-a-soft-toy-to-show-Anya-and-see-what-happens stunt again.

Since the day Ee yore came home with us, he sleeps with Anya during every nap-time and bedtime. When Anya goes to her grandparents' place and is expected to have her nap-time there, Ee yore tags along. Now, unlike her dummy and favorite hanky (which she uses to sniff through as she dozes off), Ee yore can be dispensable. However, she does tend to hug on him and smother him before settles into lala-land.

As the love blossoms, we find that having the donkey around has its usefulness. The stuffed donkey seems to have a calming effect on her on occasions when she is unwell or when she is spiraling downwards to am impending meltdown. 

 Whenever we go out, Ee yore tags along. When the car ride becomes too long for Anya, out comes Ee yore for some TLC just to while time away. At the departmental store where Anya points out at a random stuff toy on display and insist on holding it, we will whip out Ee yore from the diaper bag and her affection will immediately divert back to the donkey. In retrospect, Ee yore is really a good buy, considering that he has helped us to divert many mini catastrophes along the way.

Calming her when she turns grouchy

After two months of being surgically attached to our daughter, Ee yore has turned a shade duller and stank slightly of stale saliva. A few days ago, I gave it a wash and dry. Not wanting to risk ending its fate prematurely, I decided that a gentle wash in the machine and then air dry instead of using the dryer will be safer. So Anya was to venture the whole of that day on her own. As predicted, she had no problem going down for both her naps. Her first love, Rabbit, took the place of being cuddled before she drifts into lala-land.

Away on a wash & dry

That evening, we went out to the nearby mall for dinner and some grocery-shopping. At the supermart, something caught our attention. Some 12" / 15" tall Ee yores are on sale! At $12.95! Anya saw me when I was picking up one and checking the price. She got excited. Seeing the joy on her face, I had to let her hold it.

At that point, I sensed dagger stares upon me.

*Gulps* Dagger stares upon me

Thankfully, we managed to coax her into parting with that Eeyore. We told her that her Eeyore is at home, and this big Eeyore belongs to the supermarket. Then we told her to kiss big Eeyore goodbye which she obeyed beautifully. Phew! 

So yep. That's about the love story of my daughter and her beloved donkey. I am curious how far this story will carry on. :)

T turns one

Over the weekend, we turned up for Tristan's birthday bash. 

T's mommy and I have a friendship that went all the way back to primary school days. Both of us share a love for furry animals (we used to play mummies to lost kittens in the neighborhood estate near our primary school), books and mindless banters. Later, we happened to progress to the same secondary school and then junior college. Come to think of it, the only times we were ever in the same class was in Primary 5, 6 and JC 1st three months , the rest of the time? We were always next door to each other! Really, such coincidence! During our schooling years, we always had our own respective cliques that we moved around in, but somehow, somewhere, we will be intertwined in one same clique together. Into adulthood, we related to each other well as our major milestones in life almost always coincided with each other. We both got married in the same year, went flat-hunting within the difference of a year or two, and our firstborn are a mere two months apart. Okay, enough about the background introduction of my dear friend and back to her son's birthday bash.

We were once again, unabashedly, the last guests to arrive. This time though, I did inform The Girlfriend in advance as The Husband had a corporate community work drive in the morning. So by the time we arrived, the party was in full swing, in fact, it was almost time for cake-cutting. The Girlfriend booked an outdoor sheltered gallery within the compounds of a newly renovated community club in Ang Mo Kio. We thought it was a great place to have a children party as the gallery was among greenery and was situated right next to a playground. Although it was not air-conditioned, there were four power ceiling fan blasting away, so we were kept nicely cooled.

Given that we were the last to arrive, we had the decency to stay back so we get to talk to the parents and play a bit with T. When we put Anya and Tristan side by side, the same realization hit both The Husband and I. Behavioral-wise, Anya is indeed now a toddler while T still has that baby-ish pre-tod demeanor. Oh man! They grow so fast! Given that he is the birthday boy, I tried prompting Anya to hug and kiss him. It tickled us how generous she was with her hugs for him but refused repeatedly when it came to kisses. It was only after numerous tries that she finally planted a quick one on his face. Haha! And because we were the last to leave, The Girlfriend and her MIL made us "dabao" leftovers home. And we unabashedly (again) did. Heh. 

To end off, here's some lousy iPhone-quality pictures. :)

The hosts

Sweet-nature T okays anybody and everybody to carry him!

With the girlfriend and our sullen-looking offspring

Special occasions such as this that she gets to have her cake and eat it

Fun @ the playground!

Totally heart this item that came in Anya's goodie bag. Guess what it is?

It is really an old skool toy made in the shape of a camera! Coolness!