Amara Sanctuary stay at Sentosa

Thanks to my company, we got a free one night stay at this nice hotel in Sentosa. It was our first time there, and the first time Isaac stayed in any hotel, or any place away from home. We checked in on Saturday afternoon, and will check out on Sunday before noon. Kinda short stay, but we were looking forward to it.

The room's pretty big and spacious, we even had a day bed thingy - the one we're sitting on - above! There's our cheeky hero, having a good time already :)

Pei Teng balloted for the stay too, and got it as well. We took the opportunity to ask Christine and Mindy to come to Sentosa and meet us, and have dinner in the evening.
Pei Teng's unit was on the ground floor, and the room had sliding doors which opened straight out into the side terraces. There were even peacocks roaming freely on the grounds. Look! It was the first time Isaac had come up so close to a peacock, so he was pretty entranced by it. Actually, so the rest of the kids, and all the adults!
See this Ascendas baby? hahahaa it's Pei Teng's son! Isaac has this t-shirt too, but it didn't occur to me to bring it that day. Yes, our company actually gives us this baby tee when we deliver. Cool huh! :)
When we entered the room, and saw this cot, we thought they brought it from home! Geez!!! hahaha but apparently, she requested it from the hotel and they had it. Didn't know that could request for such stuff :p

Look at Jay and Isaac in the cot. Jay was snacking on some oats/cereal, and Isaac was offered some. Isaac hardly snacks, so he was very amazed with the food, and started eating too.
Here we are at the beach! We walked down to it from the hotel. Was just a short walk as we could cut through a path that led down to the beach. The kids were looking forward to playing with sand.
Oh and if you're wondering - yes! Christine is/was pregnant at the time of these pix! :) about 6 months pregnant at that time... so... yes! She delivered already! Ang Kate Lynn was born about a month ago :) Congrats Cheng Nam and Christine!
I think this was Isaac's first time playing with sand. At first he refused to get down into it, think coz it felt kinda funny to have sand in his toes. But once he saw the rest of the kids digging in the sand, he quickly got into the action too.
After awhile, he wasn't entertained anymore, and headed for his favourite - the water! The waves were the novelty this time. He got all wet, and his diapers ballooned and became huge.
So, since we hadn't anticipated this and brought any change in clothes for him - we went back to the hotel and bathed him! :) Nice big bath tub where Isaac had his second round of playing with water!
Look at my cheeky boy! :) Isaac can do this cheeky look, and now, he can even raise his eyebrows at you repeatedly, while maintaining the cheeky look! It's hilarious and everyone loves to see him do it. We keep making mental notes to have to video stuff - and this is one of them!
After breakfast, we saw this courtyard that had lotsa peacocks. So we had a nice time looking at them and managed to catch a nice shot of Isaac with a peacock preening.
Actually, there wasn't much time to do anything before check-out time, so we decided to go for a swim. But the hotel's pool was exceedingly cold! Largely coz it was beautifully shaded - but functionally that turned out very bad coz it meant that the water was freezingly cold!!!
So we went down to The Longkang. hahhahaa... That was what we were calling this shallow pool of sorts down by the beach. It had jets of water shooting out too, was great fun for the kids.
As I was already in my swimsuit, I joined Isaac in the water, blubber and all :p Most of the Ascendas people were there with our kids. So, the adults had a bit of chit chat as well.
I actually bought Isaac this swimsuit when he was about 6 months old, I believe. And he still fits in it! Basically he never really grew sideways. He just kinda grew taller. His waistline was probably the widest when he was 3 months old, just before I went back to work.
But Isaac eats fine - he eats like a bowl of rice per meal, for 3 meals a day on weekdays. Weekends are a little outta whack coz they're not his usual meals cooked by his Grandma, but he still eats pretty well. Yyet, he doesn't put on much weight. So, seems like he's taken after hubbs in that sense. Actually, that's fine with me! Much better to eat and not gain weight, than having to fight the flab all the time! :p See how I managed to have a decent shot of myself - used Isaac to shield me blubber! hahahhaa...
As you know, Isaac loves playing with water (don't most kids! hahaha) so he really had a great time this weekend, first playing with the water on the beach, then in a bath tub when cleaning up, then at The Longkang in the morning, and now before we check out - bathing again! :)
Here he is, on the bed, refusing to put on any clothes nor diapers! Cheeky!!!
And here! with the help of the timer function, we managed to take 2 family pix :) nice? kekeke...
Thus, it was a short stay at Sentosa, and we didn't really do much, but we had a great time! Wooohooo! :)

pix taken on 15th November 2008

Isaac @ 15 months plus

Balancing act

Isaac seems to enjoy balacing stuff on his head. One day, for a laugh, we placed this 3-eyed pink Pikachu (painted by Isabelle I think) on Isaac's head. We thought he'd just take it down. But he actually liked balancing it, he would try to walk very stiffly, so that it wouldn't fall off his head.

When it fell off his head, he would want to put it back on. He looked hilarious walking around with it on his head! hahaha... take a look at the vid :p


pix & vid taken on 21st November 2008
Isaac @ 15 and a half months

Good ol' Spidey tee

Look! This is Becca when she was 2 years old - in November 2005! :) My! That's like 3 years plus ago! How time flies! Hahaha at that time, Isaac wasn't even conceived yet, so I had to impose my Spideyness on someone, right? hehehe...
Becca took to Spidey pretty well. She knew that I liked Spidey, that I was the one who gave her those over-sized tees that she could wear to sleep. She wore them pretty often at that time.
Doesn't she look fantastic in them?! :) hehehe... well, she was alright with Spidey, till The Disney Princesses entered her life, thereafter, Spidey got relegated to Ee-ee only, and then when Isaac came along, they naturally wanted their mum to buy Spidey stuff for Isaac when they see it. hahaha fine with me! :)

pix above taken circa November 2005
Becca @ 2 years old

And lookie here below!!! It's my Isaac in the same Spidey tee!!! hahahhaa...
Still it's kinda big for him, and a little too airy for me to want him to sleep in that. So he hasn't worn this very much yet. But looking at it now, he looks so cute in it! hahaha... Should get it out for him more often :p

pix above taken on 11th November 2008
Isaac @ 15 months plus

Oh, did I tell you that Isaac has his own name for Spiderman? He calls it "Den Dar" hahaha... I don't know why. Just that a few months ago, I noticed that he would consistently point at pictures of Spidey, or toys or whatever of Spidey and say "Den Dar". So, now, we'd say "Go get your Den Dar bottle." and he understands that it's his Spiderman water bottle he has to get. He understands when we say "Spiderman" we are refering to his "Den Dar" as well.

It's really quite amusing that he came up with his own nickname for Spidey, coz it's just so... random?! I mean, like, "Den Dar" ?!?! what in the world is that?! Spidey, apparently! :D

ET & Isaac in November 2008

We haven't forgotten E.T.!!! :) Here they are in November 2008! Look at Isaac trying to tell E.T. to look at the camera! hehehe... actually we stuck E.T. in this position coz he couldn't hold his own head up and needed to be propped.As you can see, Isaac is now more than head taller than E.T.! :) Didn't seem that long ago when we had to lay E.T. on his back, to try to align his feet with Isaac's heels! hahaha... Now, when we go out and see very small babies being carried by others, we always look at them and back at Isaac, and exclaim:"How fast he's grown!"

hehehe that's my affectionate Isaac for you... :)
And as always - Smiley Isaac - He Who Laughs, still laughs and smiles as much as he used to as a baby! :)

pix taken on 11th November 2008
Isaac @ 15 months plus

Lounging in bed

Hehehe... think I've mentioned before that I enjoy taking pix of Isaac early in the morning, when we all just wake up, on weekends.
This is coz of a few reasons. Firstly, having slept a whole night of sleep, Isaac's very fresh and almost always very smiley. Secondly, the morning lighting's very suitable for taking pictures and the pix usually look just nice, without the flash having to come on.

I find that pictures taken at night tend to be a bit dark and grainy, and the flash usually comes on, making the contrast kinda stark and the colours not as natural... hehehe I talk as though like expert, hor? hahahhahaa... nought!!! But really, you see this pic below, the flash came on - so the colours are not as nice as the other two pix above, right?pix taken on 9th November 2008
Isaac @ 15 mths plus

But my cute Isaac makes the picture nice!!! hahahhaa... you know, I've kinda slowed down on taking pix... coz... lazy lah ;p but then, I keep reminding myself not to be lazy! That I have to continue taking pix! Coz kids grow so fast!!! Once the period is over, it's over, and there's no way I can go back to re-capture something that's past. Thus, I have resolved to continue taking as many pix as I can! :)

Lunch with Tan Family

Tan Family - my side! Yeah both hubbs and I have the surname Tan, so sometimes I forget to specify that we're talking about MY side of the family here.
Can't recall why we suddenly have a lunch gathering thingy, but anywayz, we had fun :) should kinda do this more often. We gathered at the Penang cuisine place at International Business Park, writing this at 3.45am in the morning, I really can't recall neither the name of the restaurant, nor the building it was in. hahhahaa
Here's some great pix of Isaac and his Yew Yi Gu Gu. hahhhaa... "Gu Gu" is Teochew for "uncle (mom's side)". yeah, we're kinda traditional in that sense that we tell Isaac to call our relatives in Teochew dialect. I know Chiang doesn't like being called Gu Gu though... he thinks he sounds like "koo koo" hahahaha... He says:"Just call me Uncle Chris!" hahahaha...
And here's Isaac with his Sar Lao Pek behind him. Sar Pek is my 3rd Uncle - my dad's 3rd (older) brother. dad's older brothers are called "Pek", whereas, younger brothers are called "Zek". Thus the nuances of the Teochew dialect can differentiate and immediately explain a relationship - rather than the generic "Uncle & Auntie" in the english language.
Oh incidentally, did you know, that traditionally, as a daughter-in-law of a Teochew family, I have to 'call' the elders the same as what my children calls. For example, hubbs would call his father's younger bro "Sueh Zek". And I can call the same "Sueh Zek" before I got married to hubbs. But once we are married, my position is demoted by a generation, and I HAVE TO call this same uncle "Sueh Lao Zek" - the "Lao" word basically adds a "grand-" to the title. I.e. I used to be able to call him "Youngest Uncle" but now I have to call him "Grand Youngest Uncle" - basically what Isaac would call him.

So demeaning and sexist, right? tsk tsk tsk... if I did not demote myself and call them that way, I am deemed to be rude to the elders. I love joking about this and telling it to hubbs' relatives who don't know of this, coz he has some relatives who are like 40 plus years old whom I have to call Grand Uncle and Grand Auntie hahahaha...

pix taken on 8th November 2008
Isaac @ 15 months

I can't recall who it was who pointed out to me - think it was Hweech - that, it's funny how we always purse our lips or open our mouths when we try to feed the kids... see what hubbs is doing above! hahaha...

Weaning?

Yes, this is me, feeding Isaac in the car again. On this day, 8th November 2008, I was very sad. Coz hubbs had decided that I was to wean Isaac off. Was a very sad day for me. I spent the whole day whispering and talking to Isaac, telling him that I still loved him even if I didn't let him drink from me. Dunno if I am paranoid, but that's what I fear - that he thinks I don't love him anymore if I deny him my milk.
So, you see here, I got hubbs to take a picture of my sad face. And of me feeding Isaac in the car. See how he clutches my shirt? When he was younger, he used to always reach out with his hand to touch my face. Now? he doesn't, now, he knows how to pull my shirt up and away from his face - guess it's disturbing him - but then - my modesty!!! sighz!!! I'm always like going:"Isaac! Stop it! The uncle in the lorry/bus/motorcycle can see mummy's breast already lah!"
Oh, and now, he also know how to "choose side" already. Side? hehehe... which side to drink lor! hahahahhahaa... That's why he knows how to say "this side" - coz I always tease him by asking him:"Isaac, which side you want to drink?" Then he'd point to either side and say:"This side." Hey he's serious one okay, if he chooses one side, but (for whatever reason) I want to feed him the other side first - he will shake his head, point at the breast he wants first, and say:"THIS SIDE!". Luckily, he's quite even - will sometimes choose right side, sometimes choose left side. And after he drinks from his chosen side, he will always drink the other side as well. So no uneven breasts for mummy! kekeke...

pix taken on 8th November 2008
Isaac @ 15 months plus

So did we wean off? Well, obviously not. HAHHAHAHAA... Think at that time, I managed to wean him off night feeds, meaning that he slept through the night without drinking. But during our trip to usa, it was all messed up already. Coz firstly, on the plane, my boobies were the BEST weapon for keeping him quiet. Was especially useful for take-offs and landings, coz we were afraid his ears would hurt. But actually he was very well behaved on the flight. Think, was coz he wasn't eating well, coz it wasn't his usual porridge or rice, so I was inclined to let him drink when he wanted to.

Then just before CNY, we were like determined to wean him again, coz we thought we had better get down to making Baby #2. So hubbs said that after the 15 days CNY, we'd wean him off. kekeke... guess what? He's still drinking! hahahaha... we're kinda resigned to the fact that I may have to nurse through pregnancy.

Well, I'm hoping he weans himself off like Jeddy did. At least he's eating powder milk, right? Also, one morning, he didn't drink at all in the car, coz we gave him a piece of bread and he was happily eating that. So.... little victories, bit by bit... we hope, and pray... hahahaha... right now, we're just hoping to conceive!!! pray for us!!!

Isaac goes cycling!

We finally got around to installing a child seat on one of our mountain bikes, for Isaac to sit in. It comes with the seat belt, which we thought we'd have a problem having him agree with it being put on - but seems like our fears were unfounded - he didn't seem t mind it at all! Which was such a relief for us!
Here's hubbs having a go on the bike with Isaac first. I was kinda scared at first to get on the bike, coz I scared I'd not be able to balance with the additional weight at the back. Plus I had not ridden for a long time, so... wasn't confident of ferrying Isaac yet. Guess I was just afraid that we'd fall and Isaac'd get hurt.
Isaac had a blast! :) He was really enjoying himself, though it was kinda a subdued kinda expression he was carrying, not an 'ecstatic' one. But we could tell he really liked it. He kept asking to continue. Think he liked the motion of it, and the wind in his face.


We were taking the vids and pix, and was trying to get him to wave bye bye to whoever was behind the camera, and he did - belatedly! hahaha... if you see the wids, you'd see him waving, AFTER he passes... hilarious though! hahaha...
Here's me with Isaac. hehehee... I finally decided to give it a try. My fears were pretty much unfounded. I took to the bike pretty well, reminding me of my bike zipping past hahaha... I love cycling. When I was in primary school, I'd used to go cycling round the blocks with my primary school friend Shuwen. We used to cycle to JE Burger King to get a burger, and a Mr Softee at the 7-eleven after.

In secondary school, I managed to convince my dad to get me a mountain bike for my birthday. And boy did I go places on that! During the school holidays, I used to cycle all the way from my home in Upper Bt Timah, to my secondary school Crescent - which was in Tanglin Road. Quite a feat, eh?! :) I remember the time in JC too, when I went cycling with the Odac guys - Ruiwen, Junxiong, Huijie and Shaoyong, to Pasir Panjang, to meet Xiaofeng, who stays there! hahaha... At night too! What fun! :) ah... those were the days...

Here's me on the bike with Isaac! woooohoooo!!! :)

pix & vids taken on 8th November 2008
Isaac @ 15 months

At the paediatrician's clinic

It was time for Isaac's 15 month jab. So I took the afternoon off from work, and we brought Isaac to the clinic to see Dr Lee. Here's the fun Isaac was having before the needle... kekeke...

vids taken on 7th November 2008
Isaac @ 15 months and a day

Affectionate Isaac

Isaac is a very affectionate boy. He would hug us and interact with us in an affectionate way. Like in these pix, I can be sitting up, and Isaac would come and climb onto my lap and push my shoulders down so that I end up lying on the floor! He's a very strong boy!
Then he'd proceed to rub his face into mine. He also has pretty masochistic tendencies - he'd use his head to knock my head! hahaha... hubbs says he got these tendencies from me - I think he's right. hahahah coz I enjoy using my head to headbutt hubbs too! And now Isaac does that to me!

pix taken on 2nd November 2008
Isaac @ four days to 15 months

Hahaha... yeah, the interesting thing is that Isaac only headbutts me, my mum and my mother-in-law! Nobody else! Not even hubbs! So, think it's a special thing that he headbutts us :) when he did that to my mum, and she was telling me about it, I said:"Wah! It means he likes you! Do you know he only does this to my mother-in-law and me?! and now you! congrats!!! hahaha!!!"

But generally, Isaac is very affectionate and generous with his hugs with those close to him. Which is really nice :) hehehe...

Bouncing castle

It was my company's Family Day, at Fort Canning, and they hand a bouncing castle thingy. It was Isaac's first time in anything like that, so he was pretty amused by it. We couldn't go in with him, so we had to watch him from outside, and make sure he's alright, or that other kids don't bump into him.

Thankfully, only two other kids were in the castle with him when he was there - Fiona's Darius (you see him above, behind Isaac), and Eunice's girl :) So, it was a good thing that I knew Darius' name, coz I could tell him, "Darius, wait, wait for Isaac to move away first, before you jump down." And he did :) He's quite good boy, would patiently wait for Isaac to get out of the way, looked at me for confirmation, and when I nodded, then he would jump down the ramp (yes, he preferred to jump, than slide down the ramp). But partly, I think he was kinda 'scared' also, that's why he listened to me, coz "How come this Auntie know my name!?" hahahah...


pix & vid taken on 1st November 2008
Isaac @ five days to 15 months

Isaac, are you still a baby?!

See my Isaac, the toddler, sitting in Natalie's baby bouncer.
He enjoys looking at the display which has bubbles "blown" in the water, and some music and some plastic shapes turning within. He used love standing in front of it, watching it all the time.But now that he's bigger and more mobile, he'd climb into the seat by himself, and relax there, watching the 'display'.
He's obviously a bit too big for the bouncer already - see his feet sticking out. But I let him climb in, just need to watch him a bit to make sure he doesn't topple backward on the bouncer whilst climbing in.

pix taken on 1st November 2008
Isaac @ five days to 15 months