Ananya's 1st birthday bash

Ananya turned 1 earlier in the week and Kavi and Siva threw a big birthday bash today to celebrate.

They booked Changi Cottage, part of Aloha Changi and the funny thing is me and Swana had been there before in our childhood when the place was used as a presidential retreat of sorts. It seemed so much bigger then but as adults, the cottage seems tiny!



Still it was a nice place, great view of the beach and Nat was thrilled by the aeroplanes taking off. Even did a spot of celebrity-watching as Gurmit Singh was there with his family...his son looks just like him.


Kavi went all out to make it a kid-friendly party. There was a bouncy castle, face painters and well as a magician cum entertainer. However, Mr Popcorn as he is known looked bored to death and super 'sian', if I were Kavi I would have withheld his payment!



Food was good, it was a BBQ buffet catered from Breeks so there were people to help grill. Jeanette made all the desserts, an assortment of cupcakes, cheesecake as well as the birthday cake.




When it came to the cake cutting, Ananya was actually asleep at the planned time, poor bubba was nursing a fever. But they managed to wake her up and complete the ritual.



Before we left, we saw Sarah and Riley polishing off all the leftover desserts... wonder what kind of sugar rush Riley experienced after that!

SES MSD - The Reunion

A few weeks ago, I found out Joyce and Nora were going to be in town at the same time and so began an attempt to organise an SES MSD reunion cum pot luck at my place.

Initially there were quite a number of RSVPs but they dropped out like flies nearer towards the event! In the end, there were about 8 of us, add kids and hubbies and there was still a sizeable group. There was so many kids around, at times it felt like a mother's group meeting!

Those who came included Nora and her 8 mth old baby Nadia; Joyce, Xavier and 15mth old Cassandre; Wai Ling and 3 yr old Erik; Yusnita, David and 4 month old Andrea; Wendy; Shin and Pauline. Swana and Gigi made an appearance too, and there was Nick and Nat.





Joyce is expecting No.2, a boy in May, I sold her 2 maternity dresses! Erik 'terrorized' the other girls, Cassandre is so chubby and adorable, so is Nadia. Andrea looks just like Yus!





I didn't really get a chance to chit chat a lot, was busy checking on the food and kids. There was so much food.



But it was really nice to see everyone, some I hadn't seen in like 7 years, especially Pauline and Nora. Wai Ling announced that she is moving to Dubai to work come March, hopefully can have another gathering before that!

Sesame Street comes to Spottiswoode!

We had a small Sesame Street-themed birthday party for Nat at home today, for the extended family including our parents' siblings and some cousins.



As far as themes go, I didn't go all out but there were enough touches here and there to make it a little obvious. Started with the invitation, and I found some partyware at a store in Raffles City. Couldn't bring myself to pay over a dollar per paper plate or napkin so opted for just party bags, party hats, some tattoos and a tablecloth.






I printed some character posters and stuck them along the walls at home and we ordered an Elmo cake from Polar.






Dinner was catered from Sabaidee, the Thai restaurant we sometimes go at Tiong Bahru. That went down well, everyone loved the food. It was really value for money too, considering the menu comprised of 8 items plus drink and dessert. There was mango salad, tom yam soup, seafood fried rice, mixed vegetables, stuffed chicken wings, prawn cakes, dry prawn curry, sliced fish with mango, red ruby and lime juice. The red rubies were huge like marbles!




I hope Nat had fun, it was mostly adults but Riley, Ananya, Gigi and Isabelle were around. Don't think we'll have a similar bash for her 3rd birthday, will focus on Nike's 1st birthday next year instead.


Selena brought me my new Marc by Marc Jacobs tote I had bought through her brother / my cousin. So pleased! Plus the other day I received a Kate Spade bag purchased online which I have declared to Nick is his anniversary present to me. Am not allowed to buy any more bags for the next 2 months...well, except for another MJ tote in a different colour and a Le Sportsac diaper bag I'm eyeing on eBay. Hee hee!




Oooh, and there's a chance Nick might go Greece again in May. Though he offered to let me tag along, it would be almost impossible for me leave Nike so soon after her arrival. But he's volunteered to shop on my behalf so I'll just draw up a list instead!

Happy 2nd birthday Nat!

The munchkin turned 2 today and it was a long day for her!

Mummy, Swana and Gigi came over in the morning, and Gigi couldn't wait to hug Nat. Aunty Sarda popped by and not long after, Mildred swung by with a birthday cake and we fed Nat an early lunch because we had a studio appointment for 12.30pm.



Left the house right after cutting the cake but Nat wasn't co-operating in the studio. She refused to pose on her own, hence I was in most of the shots.




Mildred couldn't get in a good shot with her, and Nat even cried a couple of times and had to be bribed with Ribena and some studio props.

Decided to just buy all the shots taken, and thereafter tapau-ed lunch home. Spent the afternoon making pineapple tarts and made Nat and Gigi pick 4-D numbers when they woke up from their naps.



We couldn't decide what to eat for dinner and were on the verge of Tony Roma's at Suntec when I decided to make a reservation at Sante Fe at Marina South Pier instead. Thought Nat would enjoy the boats and view.

The upper deck of the riverboat was too windy for dining so we changed to indoor seating. The restaurant was deserted, which was a pity because everything we ordered was really good. I shared ribs with Nick, and their mashed potatoes are the best ever. The older folks enjoyed the food too, though the boat was pretty rocky this evening. Aunty Sarda and Arlyn took sea sick pills.

The best part was we were entitled to a 30% discount on main courses because we were dining with 3 generations. That's a daily promotion which we were not aware of so we saved quite a bit. Will definitely be back there soon, need a mash potato and nacho fix before I pop.



After dinner, we stopped by Marina Barrage, the folks had not been before but we didn't stay long because the babies were tired. Nat fell asleep in the car and that was how she spent her second birthday...

My little 2 year old

Another year gone by just like that and the munchkin is 2 years old. Doesn't seem so long ago that she was crawling and doing baby-talk, and now we can have proper conversations with her.


She has a sense of humour and remains cheeky, but in front of strangers she's very shy and takes at least an hour to warm up. When she doesn't sit in the car seat sometimes, she'll imitate me and say 'I'm warning you' with a cheeky grin. Try forcing her into a stroller and she'll wail as if it's the end of the world. The other day at AMK Hub, I tried twice to strap her in but she threw such a tantrum that Nick caved and took her out. Each time he did that though, she would 'make eyes' at me and toss a triumphant smile...sneaky!


She can sing 'Twinkle twinkle little star' and 'London Bridge' in full, as well as the whole alphabet. She can sing along to other songs too, but the words are still distorted. She can also identify most of the major Sesame Street characters including new ones like Abby and Zoe.

She's curious about things around her. When she doesn't know the name of something, she'll ask precociously 'This what name?' like a Buddha painting at Pops' house and a roll of scotch tape but once she knows the name, she more of less retains the information and can even point out excavators at construction sites, and is starting to be able to tell the difference between palm trees and coconut trees.





She says 'yes' like Sean Connery i.e. 'Yesh', and when she poops, she scrunches up her face and goes 'Hmmpf, busuk'. She and Gigi are so cute when instructed to keep their shoes whenever they come back from somewhere. They will remove their shoes on their own and obediently (most of the time) walk to the kitchen and tip toe to place their shoes on the shoe rack. Keeping their toys though is another story...they never put back what they take, but Gigi will sometimes.

Gigi and her love playing 'Simon Says' and sometimes I use it to get things done, like 'Simon says open your mouth' (when trying to brush her teeth) or 'Simon says be quiet' but the moment doesn't last very long.

Everyday now she kisses my tummy and I think she can't wait to see the new arrival. Gigi has started rubbing and kissing my tummy too, though sometimes she aims for the boobs! They both have this 'old lady' walk that they started doing after attending a wedding last month, they must have seen a hunched old lady with her hands held behind her back for that's what they've been doing daily!

Nat has taken to flashing too, she'll lift her t-shirts or dresses and say 'Nat Nat shame-shame' and Gigi has started as well. Think they picked it up after seeing a can-can dance on an Elmo DVD.

Gigi is forming short sentences already at 17 months, like 'I try', 'Daddy sit down', 'Gigi sleep here' etc and she seems to add an 'oh' after each phrase, instead of 'lah' or 'eh' like the Canadians. E.g. 'biscuit oh', 'Nat nat oh', wonder if she picked that from Arlyn, who likes to say 'Oy' after certain sentences.





No progress on the teeth, still at 4. She can identify some animals and can say their names but chooses to make an elephant sound instead of saying 'elephant' whenever she sees a picture of one!