No More Diapers!

乖乖 has not been wearing diapers for his afternoon nap since he was three. And I have been trying to wean off 乖乖 during night time as well. Well, I was in a way 'motivated' by my sis-in-law, 婷婷, from Shenzhen. Remember, we went for this HK disneyland trip together in May this year and she was so surprised that 乖乖 is still wearing diapers at night. Apparently, 小宝was diaper-free by the age of two and this is very common there! 婷婷commented that the size of the diapers in Singapore must be very big.

Come to think of it! This is indeed true. I have seen XL, XXL sizes in the department stores and my other sis-in-law, L has already commented that Aaron is going to outgrow XXL very soon. What's next? XXXL size?

My first trial in July was a complete failure. I had woken up at 3am to remind 乖乖to xu-xu. First night and second night were un-eventful. I was about to celebrate when on the third night, 乖乖 had already xu-xu on the bed before 3am and he was still sleeping! Fourth night, it happened again! and he xu-xu again at 5plus am!! I gave up. I was so frustrated and angry to be changing bedsheet, pyjamas etc in the middle of the night. Not to mention doing this twice at night.

I decided to try again in November. So far, there has been no accidents except for 2 nights when I did not woke up to remind 乖乖 to xu-xu. Can I declare him diaper-free now?

The Zoo

I cannot remember the last time I went to the zoo - must be more than 2 decades ago. This is also 乖乖's first visit. My nephew, Aaron fell ill each time he came back from the zoo and my mum attribute this to the air (germs) there. These has added to my relunctance to bringing 乖乖 to the zoo. But I would think a 4 year old child is of appropriate age plus my SIL has corporate passes for the weekend - means that entry is FREE! There's no better time!

乖乖got the paper frame as a gift from the zoo for volunteering to dance during the animal show. Can you see his dad in the background?

4th birthday

乖乖's 4th birthday is coming. As usual, I bake cupcakes to bring to his school to share with his friends. But I must be crazy this year. I promised the teachers to bake for all his friends from N1 to K2 - 50 plus of them. 60 cupcakes complete with icing! Previously, I only did it for his class of 12.

Though his friends enjoyed the cupcakes, I am not sure if I will do it for the entire school next year. It took me 1 week to recuperate from this job.

Parks

This was taken at Botanical Gardens at the Swan Lake with Mona. We love going to parks (minus East Coast Park, though) during the weekends. They are free and packed with fresh air. Labrador Park, Kent Ridge Park, HortPark, Siglap Park - I think we have been to all of them.

At the Swan Lake, I would usually bring my bags of bread skin. I usually cut out the bread skin from my home-made bread and put them in the freezer for such purpose. The turtles, fishes, birds and the swans love it! Most importantly, 乖乖 love feeding them.

In Love with cars

This pic was taken at Universal Studio. XQ's family came to Singapore for a month-long holiday. There were some antique cars on display at the Hollywood park and 乖乖 went crazy over them.

It all started with the first F1 race in Singapore. We watched it on a weekend over dinner at home. 乖乖 was just over 2 year old. There was no turning back since then. He's still playing with his first McQueen car I bought for him. He has an enviable number of McQueen car collection. And I believe he has watched the McQueen DVD over 100 hundred times. He especially like the part when McQueen car flew in the stadium during the first race of the show.

In the toys department, cars and trains are THE section he would zoom to. Keep my fingers cross, though. He does not usually pester me to buy those toys for him. Hopefully, it will always remain this way.

Phone Addiction

There are only 2 ways to get 乖乖 sit down for a proper meal outdoors: 1. his toy cars and 2. games on the mobile phone. I know it's not good to indulge but if it is the only way to have a quieter meal when we are outside, so be it.

Honey Words

"I am so happy when I am with you. Do you love me?"

Sounds like sweet nothings that 2 person in love whisper to each other eh? Well, 乖乖 said this to me when I was changing him into his pyjamas last night. Of course, it made me hilarious and gave him an extra tight big hug before bedtime.

Which woman does not like to hear such sweet honey words especially coming from one's dearest? Just before my own bedtime, it occurred to me that this maybe one of the reasons most mothers think that their daughter-in-law is not good enough for her son. I mean, x years later, my son would be saying the same thing to another woman!

Christollen

Being a avid baker, it was the first time I heard of and tasted Christollen (what a shame hor! But I am not really that good a baker actually. I just bake the usual same old stuff with a bit of variations here and there mostly.)

Apparently, Christollen is a must-have in Germany during Christmas (where 乖乖's 三爹 is staying). It is not as dense (or gelak) as the usual Christmas fruit cake or as sweet as the usual Christmas log cake. It really is a nice cross between cake and bread. At least the one that 乖乖's 三爹DHL over to Singapore taste like this. Yes, 乖乖's 三爹 actually DHL a Christollen bought from a supposedly famous shop in Germany to us in Singapore, complete with a Christmas card and Christmas decorations on the DHL box. How sweet of him!

Unfortunately, we did not get to taste the Christollen on Christmas Day. 乖乖's 三爹 DHL on 16 December and we only received it on 22 January. But count ourselves lucky, 乖乖's 三爹 told us he also DHL to my in-laws residing in China. They never received it even till now. Maybe the custom officers cannot resist the taste and ate it. Hahaha!