Daph's World

A week in the life of Jonah....cont'd

We witnessed Kristin's transformation into Mrs Wesley Wong on Saturday. It's been quite some time since I attended a wedding given that most of my friends have tied the knot, so it was nice to celebrate with friends on this special day. Ms Saw looked so different dolled up  - so pretty! Wishing K&W much joy in their union together :)

Jonah had a lantern date with Mabel and Gabriel that evening. So we all huddled into Aunty Carlene's car and headed to Macritchie Reservoir. It was definitely dark, and any tranquility was pierced by the annoying music coming from the kids' new-fangled lanterns with flashing disco lights. The kids showed off their lanterns and played with sparklers, and then adjourned to air-conditioned comfort for some ice-cream. Again any peace was shattered by the antics of the 3 monkeys, whose focus on ice-cream lasted all of 10min. Seeing that the energy level was STILL high in the kids (but waning fast in the adults), we brought them to the playground nearby to run themselves tired. It's always a nice feeling to see kids play together and enjoy themselves :)

 

And we're not done yet! We had birthday party at the Playhouse @Rochester on Sunday. It's a pretty place with various different play areas for the kids, and the kids were very much entertained.

 

And that was our busy busy week... What would I do without my little monkey? :)

A week in the life of Jonah...

It's been a pretty busy week for Jonah, starting with lunch at Aunty Sash's place, just coz we haven't met up for so long :) It's amazing how much Heather and Jules have grown! They're soooooooo adorable. Josh and Jonah have reached the terrible 3s - still cute but oh-so-naughty!

 

It was the mid-summer festival last week and although it the full moon fell on a weekday, we made it a point to play with the lanterns, even if it was just at the park downstairs. Since Jonah was in the Ben 10 phase, I got him a Ben 10 lantern complete with annoying music. Got a couple of the old fashion cellophane ones and it's amazing how many kids don't know what those are!

This is my virgin post on Typepad after migrating the blog over from Vox... and I must admit that I miss Vox's user-friendly interface and neighbourhood function. It's so tedious trying to just upload the photos! There's more to post but I have to figure out a better way to do this - anyone knows of a photo-friendly blog site?

Kids@Play

It's fascinating to obeserve how kids interact with each other and the dynamics that go on their little world. We had a playdate on Sunday morning at Pasir Ris playground with my colleagues and their brood and at times it was hilarious to see the kids play and talk with each other :) It was a really nice day, not too hot and not wet, but Jonah got grumpy coz he was sweaty and hot. He was grumbling and whining "Mommy it's so hot, push my hair up", "Mommy I want cold cold ice cream", "Mommy I'm so hot!"

After a couple of hours at the playground we adjourned to the airport for lunch in air-conditioned comfort and to fulfill the promise of ice-cream to the kids. Needless to say Jonah was in dreamland after 5min in the car but the minute he opened his eyes he said "I want to see Nicole"... That boy just has girls on his mind!! :P

It's funny... Never did I think that I would enjoy being a mommy but I really do :) And as trying and as difficult it may get sometimes, I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

 

Crazy August

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Yikes it's been more than a month since I last updated this blog... where are all the days disappearing to? Work has been crappy the past couple of months, which is a real downer since 5 days a week are spent at the office. Sometimes I really wonder what the hell I'm doing, since it defies all reason and logic... But I comfort myself with the fact that I'm an independent woman who can support myself and my loved ones :)

I did manage to sneak in a getaway to Melbourne. Haven't been back in 5 years and quite a bit has changed. Everything seems so much more expensive than back when I was a student! Stayed at J&S's cozy abode whilst in the city (thank you!) and ventured to the Grampians for some glorious hiking and the obligatory Great Ocean Road drive. It was cold and dreary on some days and sunny and beautiful on others. But the best part was to not have to think about anyone or anything else :) But 8 days was pretty long to be away from the lil' monkey so I was glad to be back to the warm humidity and craps@%t office.

And there's no better way to spend a Sunday than brunch with friends and fun in the park with my favourite people :)  Look how much fun Jonah is having playing with Aunty Esther's iPhone - is that reason for me to finally jump onto the iPhone bandwagon??

Happy birthday Esther!

This is going to be a dreadful crazy week at work. I hope that I'll have the serenity and wisdom to get through it without strangling anyone...

 

Odds & Ends...

Little snippets of everyday life that amuse/delight/interest me and brighten up the otherwise humdrum routine:

Sunset from Shunfu -

 Fusion Skyline -

Playthings :) -

Speaking of humdrum tomorrow's Monday again and the start of another blah work week...where did the weekend go??

 

Play Time!

Jonah has been spending play time with his new little friends recently and it's always interesting to observe the dynamics between kids. He's clearly a ladies man as he pays more attention on the girls whilst ignoring the boys most of the time. He's quite a gentleman too, waiting for the girls to catch up or lending a helping hand :) He always starts off with his show of macho-ness, displaying his Power Rangers moves complete with audio commentary. Then you realise it's all for show coz he's generally risk-adverse and likes to play it safe :P

This week being the school holidays, I took a day off and brought Jonah to the zoo. It was good weather, cloudy with a cool breeze, perfect for hours of walking. With a map in hand, he became a little tyrant, dictating where we MUST go next, no compromises - "now we go see the elephant" x 20; "now we go find the crocodile" x 20 etc *roll eyes* And he spends all of like 5s at each enclosure coz he needs to move on to the next. So it was with a great sigh of relief when we eventually settled down for lunch and water play, which I think is the highlight of any kid's trip to the zoo -  yeah yeah many cool animals but whoa! would you look at that kick-ass water playground!! :)

The little fella was knackered-out by the time he was done with the water play. We jumped on board the tram and he fell asleep in my arms all the way into the car and until we got home. That's when you know he really had a BIG day out :)

My little ranger

As most of you know, Jonah is a BIG Power Rangers fan. So when he saw the ad on TV about a Power Rangers road show, he soooooo wanted to go. So being the ever doting mommy, I took leave one day and ventured all the way to Bukit Panjang Plaza (first time, got a little lost) on a wet Tuesday, spent $30 (which wasn't difficult :P) to get a photo pass to take a photo with the Rangers, and settled down in front of the stage amongst a sea of little kids and waited for the show to begin. The little one really got into the mood, singing the Power Rangers theme song at the top of his voice, attracting the curious stares of the other kids.

The MC, who was pretty entertaining, requested for 3 children to go on stage to play a game. Jonah, after seeing the kids go up and state their names into the microphone, turned to me and declared that he wanted to go up too and "say my name". So I patted his head and said ok next time, thinking it was all bravado. Then the show began. It was pretty funny and cheesy seeing the Power Rangers come out in their bright spandex outfits and doing their pretend moves - I had a good chuckle - but Jonah was thoroughly entertained. The MC told the crowd that the Rangers would go pick 3 kids to play a game, and Jonah eagerly put his hand up... and the Red Ranger actually picked him!! Didn't think he'd get picked coz he was one of the youngest kids there!  And he happily went up on stage - no fear - and did his moves with the Red Ranger! I was soooooooo proud of him *beam*

He was so happy to take a photo with the Rangers, especially his fav Yellow Ranger. After the show we went to play several games of AK and then had some popcorn chicken. It was a real good day out with my little ranger :)

G'day Mates...

A couple of friends recently made the move to Down Under Perth and the usual gang decided to have one last blast before they left. So casa Pereira kindly offered the venue and that was where we all gathered one Saturday morning. To borrow from Fat Boy Slim, we've come a long long way together.... I remember when we all first met in Melbourne slightly more than a decade ago. 10 years have passed since then!!! Looking back in retrospect, 10 years is really not a long time... I remember we first met Sanjay when he came to visit and we all went to Torquay to 'surf' (they were probably in the water for less than 20min before all their appendages froze); he and Alvin going topless in Alvin's convertible... Those were the carefree days :) Now most of us are parents, with mortages to pay and children's future to worry about. How we've all grown up.... We now find joy in different things, like the laughter of our kids and the appreciation of all the everyday simple blessings that we have.

So all the best for your new adventure Sanjay, Ily, Sarah and the little bub-in-the-oven... Hopefully we'll come visit you soon :)

 

Happy Birthday Jonah *muacks*

Believe it or not, Jonah turned 3 recently. 3!! Where did the time go?? Since his birthday fell on a weekday, we decided to have the party the Saturday before and invited his little friends. They had a blast - I think - what's not to like when you have big slides, ball pool, games, cake and balloons? :)

We had part 2 of his birthday celebrations the next Saturday with a kite-flying session at West Coast Park, and the weather thankfully held up for us. Surprisingly the park was really crowded with lots of people trying their hands at kite-flying. There were big kites high up in the sky, and then there was us...trying desperately to get the kites to stay airborne. We can safely conclude that the kite-flying was not successful but everyone had fun trying and the kids enjoyed running around.

Not only was the weather lovely and not scorchingly hot, we were also treated to a beautiful sunset:

Talking about beautiful, JunNesh welcomed gorgeous baby 'zen' into the world on 15 May... he's a splitting image of his hot mama :) Congratulations!!

All about him...

Am back from sunny Phuket after 3 intense days with the lil' terror. Whilst I was there handling his tantrums and cheekiness, I made a silent vow not to bring him for another holiday till he's like 10. But looking back, it was pretty fun even though it got quite trying and tiring at times. I think it's becoz he knows that he can be super manja with me, so it's a whole different ballgame of pouting, crying and pleading when he doesn't get his way. We were blessed with good weather, soft sand and clear waters, although it was my only trip to Thailand where I DID NOT shop or pig out (*gasp*) coz it was all about JONAH :)

 

Before we left for our trip we went for a children's play at the Esplanade with Yus & RH. Although the play was enjoyable, I think what the boys really had fun with was the post-play activity of running and clambering out and about whilst the parents hid in the shade, desperately trying to stay and look cool :)

Can you believe that it's May already?? Where did 2010 fly by to? The next week will be about preparing for the lil' monkey's birthday party next Saturday. He's only turning 3 but it feels like I've had him forever :) 

Have a good weekend everybody!