When you were this young

It is amazing. Amazing how babywyx at 17 mths is fully capable of communication with us. Well, communicating via her own delivery of speech, gestures and body language to her bestest ability, of course. Her understanding of vocab, nouns and tone increases with every day and also amazes us everyday, too. The way babywyx fixates her attention on you when you speak to her, the intensity of focus her eyes place on you – right away you know she is deciphering your message. At the same time, she is picking up words and sounds to astonishing effect. Sometimes, she has to only see/listen one word once, and the next time you ask her, she will get it correct. 

It is fulfilling. Fulfilling how my baby girl interacts with me, comes to me for hugs, asks me to sit beside her when she wants to play. Fulfilling how she will grab my finger to walk with her when she wants to walk somewhere else, how she steps into my lap when she wants me to read to her. I know Yx feels safe with us when she tears out stickers and chooses to stick them on our clothes. Some afternoons when I want her to nap, I pretend to fall asleep, just so that she will, too. But she is not sleepy cos I open my eyes the slightest and see my baby girl tap me and call out ‘papa’ repeatedly, asking me to play with her. Needless to say, I lose at this game every single time. 

Proudly showing us her sticker exhibit

It is engaging. Engaging when my daughter yearns for our companionship. Are all babies like this, attention craving and seeking for approval? Babywyx likes interaction; when she spots sth she recognizes (e.g. animals, colours), she will call out to us and tell us about it; when she is entertained, she will call out to us and laugh out loud together with us; when she is reading or walking, she seeks our acknowledgement. Yx likes to hide objects under our laps (but still clearly conspicuous) and gestures at us, where is it? We will ask her, where is it, and she will point at the object, uttering “nehhhh” in such an adorable manner.

Her favourite person she wants to read with :)

Babywyx, though you may have your disobedient and unreasonable times (e.g. when you refuse to eat the porridge we painstakingly cook, or when you drink only 20ml of your milk!); though there are many times I look forward to when you are older and we can have proper meals together at proper meal times; though you are the reason your parents are not having late booze nights or travelling overseas as much as we'd like to – 

I know I'm going miss this you. :)

Love, papa.

Thank you 2016

Hello hello. Waaaaaaaaaaay outdated post, but better late than never! =P

2016 – A relatively uneventful year as compared to the previous years! Theme of 2016 has to be undeniably ‘Family’:

Weekends and weeknights were precious moments doing little but witnessing babywyx’s milestones, learning of new words, flipping over and sitting up on her own. We travelled overseas only once (thrice, if you consider JB); spent more time indoors; were less adventurous at planning activities; stuck to daily routine most of the time – for every babywyx’s little steps and every vocab we were reluctant to miss!

In addition, ‘Family’ deserves high mention in 2016 as my parents played (still playing) an influential role at being primary caretakers for babywyx on weekdays; not forgetting wifey too, for supporting my weekly Sat footy sessions.

Last but not least, my mom had a health scare in late 2016 and this episode served a reminder not to take our health and one another for granted! So thank you, my Family, for providing in my life as well as giving me motivation in life. :)

In 2016, thanks to my company for organising, I found time to volunteer too. Once as a 'tour guide' for disadvantaged primary school students at River Safari, and another as a food packer at Food for the Heart.

Walked River Safari so many times I'm probably not visiting again in the next 10 years

Here's a review of the resolutions set out for 2016:

To be achieved in 2016:

a) Silver for IPPT (no slacking this time!). Am considering a weekly gym session to buff myself up a little. Strangely lost 3 kg since 12 Sep!

- ACHIEVED! HURRAY!! After the letdown in 2015, I was sure not to underestimate the revised IPPT and so I trained earlier and more consistently. I hate running so all thanks to weekly soccer for helping me maintain my stamina at ~12mins for 2.4km! Alas, failed to turn up at the gym and also failed to gain any weight since. Advice, anyone?

b) Earn more passive income (dispose lousy unit trust funds and channel into stable blue-chips)

Sold off some penny stocks and redistributed into better investment products.

c) Teach babywyx to be able to sing ABC song by Dec 2016

MUAHAHA overly ambitious I was, wasn’t I? 15 months isn’t the age when a baby can sing – but hey babywyx surprised me with her other abilities like understanding of simple sentences, recognition of a huge vocab list, good direction sense and excellent memory!

d) Far-fetched wish to go on a Perth road-trip…

Far-fetched, indeed. With a LO in toll it really isn’t as straightforward as before, to just book tickets, take leave and fly. Much considerations have to be put into the choice of destination, for example street cleanliness, baby-friendly malls, water hygiene, tourist safety, language barrier etc… No doubt Perth is a baby-friendly city but the plane journey takes >5 hours and we’re noobish parents – let’s start off with somewhere nearer.

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A quick monthly recap of 2016 highlights:

Jan –
RMJ started the year bright with ideas and passion to venture into a sideline. We met a couple of times to brainstorm our proposals, and started talking with the industry and friends to seek opinion and experience. Alas, none of us is exceptionally motivated towards making it happen and all discussions died down after 2-3 months. Partially why our discussions did not continue was because Jx and I had our family commitments. 1 year later of RMJ, one is a father of two and another is $20,000 richer (courtesy of Carlsberg) – I think we’re contented in our comfort zones for now.

Feb – Airshow.
Good experience serving as a chaperone to my guest from Brunei. Had the opportunity to play good host and through the process, also befriended handful of colleagues from other Divisions, who otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to talk to at all. The food was lovely too, and we got to enjoy watching the aerial performance from the VIP gallery :D

Can has fun @ work too!

Apr – 

picked up Ukulele. Have similar experience in zhongruan, so picking up the ukulele came as second nature. Difference is, there are more fun songs to play with the Uke plus more youtube tutorials. Finally a hobby cum pastime I can do at home, besides caring for my kid.

Completion of Intermediate class

May – Taiwan.

No sightseeing, no exciting activities, no adventurous food involved - super comfy hotel stay was the main attraction. Haha.

Aug – Traded in Blackie for a brand new SUV. Finally, a car of my own!!!

Pardon the colour mismatch - the new car was delivered to our place and I really did go down to the carpark in my home clothes.

Learnt a fair bit about things to look out for when purchasing a car from a PI, for e.g. do your homework on the PI, and don't be shy to nego for a better deal.

Sep – Babywyx turned 1!
Simple affair with family and close friends.

Also in Sep - wifey was in between jobs so we took a day off from babywyx to R&R across the causeway. Went for thai massage, dined cheap and good food, did shopping and took leisurely strolls - simple activities but we felt recharged after that!

Dec – My birthday.

Lucky and hardworking me kept checking Teppei's online reservation website and finally booked a slot - my virgin experience at Omakase and a memorable one!

Say "Aaaaaaa..."

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Resolutions for 2017:

1) Maintain silver for IPPT – no need for elaboration.

2) Travel!
Penang in Jan, Cruise in Feb! How about HK, Korea??! Travel! Penang in Jan, Cruise in Feb! One another holiday will be very very nice! Perth, Korea??! Honestly not harbouring high hopes of any happening…

3) Challenge myself at work

I cherish the mornings nowadays when I would stroll to my cubicle and slump in my office chair, feeling secure behind my monitor and high partitions (Note: high partition cubes are endangered already!). Slowly, I would make myself a hot cup of coffee and check my emails at my own leisurely pace without any external interference at all. Man, this personal time and space are DIVINE shiokness.

For the rest of the day, I would be working on my tender documents, or attending a meeting here and there, or having site inspections or discussions with vendors. I meet deadlines with ease. I admit I can do much more. This year, I shall seek more opportunities to increase my technical know-how and expand my network. Translating this into tangible actions:

a. Attend more factory tests to understand systems and equipment

b. Seek to be more involved in new projects

c. Increase exposure to senior management e.g. volunteering to take up CCA/adhoc projects

d. Continue to look out for external courses/workshops/seminar on related topics

4) More outdoor activities with family

More outdoor (that is, environment not as ‘safe’ as our home) activities with family: Now that babywyx is more mobile, I hope to be able to head out more for her to hone her senses and explore her physical limits!

5) Contribute to society - 

My employer recently implemented a 1-day Volunteer Leave wef this year. Perhaps I can make good use of this?

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Signing off 2016!
Wishing everyone good health, cherished family moments and peace at heart! :)

Babywyx at 17 months

Been awhile since the last noting down of babywyx’s milestones. She turned 17 months young a few days ago!

She started walking independently a few days short of 16 months. It happened overnight; I bumped into my pri school friend a week early and we shared our daughters’ milestones. She recollected that her daughter started walking at 16 months, and only after stepping on a huge, grassy field in Australia. She felt that babies felt safer to pick up their first walks on a large, cushioned ground. Thus, a few days later I tried the same with yx; brought her to a vast open space (albeit cemented). Noticeably, she was more adventurous at walking and did so more confidently. A few trips and loss of footing were inevitable, but through the process yx discovered her newfound freedom! After that day, yx started standing up and walking on her own. Tada, #mythproven!

Other things yx can do at 17 months:

- Runs to mummy when she sees her at the end of the day. Only to mummy!

- Loves food! When we dine at home, wifey and I will take turns to eat so the other can jaga yx. So one day I was playing with yx in the living room and wifey was eating in the kitchen, and then wifey exclaimed that the steamed chicken rice I cooked was “hen2 hao3 chi4!” what happened next was hilarious – yx immediately put down her toy, stood up and dashed to the kitchen to ask mummy for some food. So entertaining! On the same note, yx has a sharp sense of hearing. She can pick out the dog barking from the void deck, the bus arriving at the bus stop downstairs, and the occasional baby cries from a neighbor unit.

- A for “apple”; B for “(ba)nana”; C for “cat/cake”; D for “dog”; M for “mama”; W for “wow” – she answers those words in apostrophes

- Very shy around stranger adults.

- Amazingly understands adult speech. She knows when we are talking about her and she will grin abashedly or snigger sheepishly. Also understands simple questions and instructions, such as “where is your book?”, “do you want to drink milk now?”, “go see who is at the door?” and “who are inside the photograph?”

- Shower time: learnt that after her clothes are removed, she shall take it to the kitchen and dump it in the dirty clothes basket. And it shall be fully inside, not partial hanging over the top of the basket.

- Recognizes many colours! Red, black, white, green, pink, purple, yellow.

- Absolutely still adores Barney. Takes the TV remote control and passes it to us, muttering “Bar, Bar”.

- Beginning to impressively mimic words she picks up, e.g. “yellow”, “red”, “H”, “M”, “duck”, “book”, “tang1”, “yes”, “one”, “nine”.

- Likes to dance? Sways her body from side to side even to Lion Dance drum & cymbals! Also, recently I was singing one of the songs from her fav Barney shows, “Sitting in an airplane, looking out the window, watching the clouds go by…”. To my surprise and amazement, for the last line, she lifted out her hand and swung it slowly from front to the side, JUST LIKE HOW THE KIDS IN BARNEY SHOW DID IT!  I was awed! Hasn’t occurred to me that all the time her eyes were glued to the screen the many times when Barney is being shown, she was actually picking up all these gestures???! Gosh, must avoid showing violence, horror and anything rated above PG…

- Likes to look for us especially when we are in the bathroom. Will open the door, stick her head around the corner and look at what we are doing... o_O if we’re on the throne, she will go “mmm mmm…!”

Continue to amaze us, babywyx J

Arsenal fans woes articulated

"They lack backbone and resolve and, when the heat is on, buckle under the pressure. It is something that Wenger has allowed it to persist, like a leaking roof or a dripping tap...

....One manager -- Conte -- accepts something isn't working and makes changes, while another -- Wenger -- waits for the day that his beautiful vision becomes a reality."

http://www.espnfcasia.com/blog/the-match/60/post/3052459/chelsea-get-stronger-under-antonio-conte-as-arsenal-malaise-continues-with-arsene-wenger


THANK YOU WENGER - IT'S TIME TO GO.

An orange Barney??

So my mom started learning about Barney (plus singing along) with babywyx, cos Barney is simply babywyx's fav!

One day we caught Barney's live performance at Velocity!

After that we drove to the airport to have coffee break. Changi Airport was giving out Pokemon plushies this season and Mom saw someone holding the Charmandar plushie walking past.

Sample

Mom shot us a skeptical look and whispered, "Eeyer, how come Barney comes in this colour?"

LMAO!