East Coast

Today is the 3rd consecutive day that I brought Oliver to East Coast Park, to exactly the same spot, which is near the water venture place and where there are ample parking space as cars park along the service road.

It started on Christmas day, when we fetched Oliver from my mom's place and thought that he might enjoyed a walk. But he was clingy and not too adventuous, as he hadn't really recovered yet, or he just wanted to manja.

Then on Boxing Day, I brought him there again to get him out of the house and to let Sophia have some rest. Same place, although he slept for more than 2 hours in the car and barely set foot for 3 minutes after he had woken up, before he had enough and wanted to go home.

Today, deja vu. Either I'm so absolutely predictable and boring or Singapore is a boring place. Today he was happier and more playful, almost back to his normal self. He must really love East Coast.

Missing Oliver on Christmas Eve

It was a Christmas Eve without Oliver around, and we missed him badly. Oliver has taken ill and is at his grandma's place. Poor Oliver once again fell sick. Last Saturday, he had fever as high as 39c and it lasted for almost 5 days. We gave him paracetamol but it did not seemed to help. It worsened on Monday when Oliver started to develop sore eye. We decided to bring him to see a paediatrician instead of the GP near our house. However, Dr Veronica Toh from Raffles Children Clinic was fully booked and we were told to wait for 2 hours. In the end, we decided to try another doctor who I heard from my friend Eve was quite good.

We managed to walk in and see Dr Vasanthi at Kinderclinic in Paragon. I was expecting a rather old doctor, but she turned out to be rather young, perhap at her late 30 or early 40. She kinda resembled the Dr Veronica Toh. She was patient and detailed in her explanation, and told us that to bring Oliver's high fever down, we need to put a depository into Oliver's anus. Gosh, I was quite worried about the pain Oliver would have for placing a foreign object placed in such a sensitive part. We waited for a while before the nurse demonstrated how she deposited it there. Being a worried mother, I asked the nurse if the insertion would be painful and the nurse was not very reasurring and not empathy. She just replied that being a child, he would definitely cry. That irritated me. How can she be so insensitive towards both the parents and the child? Not a big deal, but little things like that does show the attitude of a person towards caring for others.
Poor Oliver. The total bill came up to about $150 with us bringing tons of medicine back for Oliver.

Oliver, this time round, was very grouchy. He refused to take the medicine through feeding, like his usual brave self. He kept clinging to me and asking me to carry him around at home. At his grandma's place, his 'gu-gu' took over the role. Imagine carrying a 12 kg boy around the house, it can be really tiring. Oliver, you got to recover quickly so that papa can bring you to swim with you new swimsuit brought specially for you by Uncle Augustine from Melbourne.

Chubby Oliver

... a result of too much carbo (rice, bread, biscult and banana) load up

Oliver's latest Lookalike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Black and white photographs - Geneology

Rice and Bread will do

That's what Oliver will eat for his meals over the weekend when he is with us. At school, he is a different kid. He will eat most of the stuff, but once a while, the teacher will say that he refuses to eat certain dishes. For now, he must have "ber-na" (banana) and "grip" (grapes) every night. At times, he also asks for "bis-cake" (biscuit).

Oliver is out of control

When my handphone rang these days, I hope it is not from Delcare. It brings news of Oliver's, usually not too good news. Last Friday, toddler benjamin from the same class hit Oliver's eye while playing. Oliver cried of course. This week, Oliver bit Benjamin because he slept on Oliver's bed. Yesterday, Oliver scratched a older girl's face and leaving marks on her face. The day before yesterday, he hit Heidi. This morning, Oliver bit Boon Heng's finger. And almost everyday, he will hit our face, laugh and refuse to apologise.

Oliver has finally reached the stage where the "terrible two" starts to manifest. As so aptly defined by The National Childbirth Trust, a tantrum is a supercharged emotional explosion that occurs when your toddler feels out of control; it's a practical demonstration of how your toddler feels inside - chaotic, confused and in pieces; (and the not-so-good news for parents) Almost all tantrums happen when your toddler is with the people he loves the most. Or look at it this way, if Oliver alway throws tantrum at you.. it could very well mean he loves you. haha

Very positively, the Trust also explains that tantrums are natural, frequent and positive steps forward in your child's development. Oliver's throwing tantrum is also the beginning of his development of a sense of himself and a sense of his place in the world. And I believe, learning to deal with his temper tantrums will be a practical training lesson for us to develop our sense of patience, and make a sense of our place as parents in this world too.

Funky boy

This photo was taken by Nate's mommy, Maye, at his birthday. She managed to capture the boys in action. I love Oliver's fussy hairdo when he jumped. Perhap we should perm his hair one of these days.

Oliver expresses.. moo moo

Big brother doing his part for Sister Heidi

Oliver says Mommy!

It is such a wonderful feeling to hear Oliver call me Mommy after waiting for two years. Although it sounded more like money or sometimes monkey.. it is still great. Oliver, your cute little baby.. finally hear you calling me.. = )

Oliver finally meets Siti

It has been almost for 6 months since Oliver last met Siti. It is really nice to meet Siti again. She is still the happy old self.

Before the meeting, I wondered if Oliver can still remember Siti. No worries at all, Oliver immediately recognised Siti and the two of them clicked so well together. It was like going back to the good old days when Siti was still with Del-Care. Needless to say, Oliver was excited throughout the gathering session and keep shouting with joy in the restaurant.

It is such a happy occasion to meet Siti again, especially for Oliver. He was bursting with joy and energy during the session that he felt asleep in the car seat even before we left the car park in Tampines Mall.

Siti, we should meet again soon.

Oliver is a piglet in the Little Red Hen

Can you spot Oliver in pink?

"You are kidding me right? She is definitely not a boy. Why is he dressed in pink" said the server at California Pizza after the performance

The teachers and aunties at Del-Care were full of praise for Oliver's act at the concert. His performance was a short run behind the piglet sister around the stage. And he delivered that perfectly. His diligent run won laughters and loud applause from the audience. Oliver, you are a Star (in our eyes).

Some good news

Just got this circular from Delcare, with a line that says...

Note : Eri has been transferred to Nursery I in accordance to classification by Japanese School system

Yeah! At least he will be witlh Eri next year. Just hope that she won't return to Tokyo so soon.

Yesterday, we met Oliver's Chinese teacher after school, as she was having dinner around the area. She told us that Oliver is very smart, but very naughty as well. Well, I'll take that compliment any day. Better the Oliver that we know than a well-behaved but dull one.

The Cast

Oliver is casted as a pig in the K2 graduation concert later today. God knows how they managed to get all the kids to perform during the rehearsals.

So we've been asking him if he's a pig for the last ouople of weeks or so, hoping that he will perform a snippet for us, but all he did was to point to his head. Apparently he will wear a pair of pig's ear later.

I always thought that Jiajun was casted as a cow, either my eyesight is failing or they changed the cast halfway through the production. So we always asked Oliver if Jiajun is a cow. A few days ago he started to point to a picture of a chicken on the Little Einstein CD sleeve and kept saying "Jiajun". At first I thought he got confused with the animals.

Yesterday, relooking at the list of actors, I realised that Oliver was indeed right all along and have been telling us how he and Jiajun were on board a bus (we think they sat together on the bus during one of the trip to the concert venue).

Oliver also pointed at the bunny from Oi Lin and said Eri and Kate. We dread to know how he will miss them next week.

Just want to say ...

To everyone who love Oliver

Thank you so much for all your birthday wishes, hong bao and presents!

Oliver has so many toys now that my house is turning into a toy land.

You lucky little boy..

Oliver's Green Tea Birthday Party

With two kiddos this year, I decided to hold a small birthday party for Oliver. As much as I wish to invite more friends, this is what I can manage and what my little home can contain for the moment. All the kids are getting bigger and my house is getting smaller.

It is really a green tea party. We have green tea cake made by Gina (we love it), green tea ice-cream and green tea drink. For main item, we bought shepherd pie and Don's chicken pies, and vegetable salad which I bought last minute and not realising it did not come with the salad dressing. Nothing is homecooked except for the porridge which I prepared for the kids. The preparation of porridge has however gotten me stressed up quite a bit as I have lost confidence as a cook. Oliver has been rejecting my cooking and what if the other kids rejected mine as well. Then I thought, if they do, we would have Don's pie to the rescue. The turnout was not too bad. The kids did not complained and the parents also brought the leftover back home. Phew!

more pictures

Cheyanne enjoying her new toy Heidi

Mommy Aileen and Ally

Mommy Caroline and Raidon

Foursome

Daddy Adam and Cheyanne

and more ...

Uncle Boon Heng and Raidon
No breathing space at Oliver's humble house

Adam and Eve and all the princess..ess

Oliver is 2!

It's OOOOhrs 22 November. Oliver was born 2 years ago!

He didn't stay awake to witness this moment though. He felt asleep in the car on the way home from a hurried and restless dinner, as both Oliver and Heidi were very fidgety and grouchy today.

The start of Terrible Two.

Oliver is turning 2

Happy Birthday to you, Oliver !

For a change, we decide to get Oliver longevity buns instead of birthday cake for his birthday celebration in school.

Most kids enjoy eating the bun, except the birthday boy.


Nate just celebrated his birthday in school one day before Oliver.

Oliver's buddy - Jia Jun

Oliver's "twin" - Kate

Damien.. she is so cute

N1

We were very surprised when we were told that Oliver will be joining the N1 class not in January, but in 2 weeks' time on 1 December.

It's kinda sad as he will be separated from his buddies who are mainly born in 2007. As Oliver was born in late 2006, he will join others like Caleb, Benjamin, Janelle, Claire and Ian.

We don't know if he can adapt to it, and to his new teachers. No fun already.

The Leader

The teachers have told us, and we've seen it for ourselves, that Oliver is usually the leader in class. He would bang on the table during mealtime and some of the kids will follow. Or he would shake his head violently and fling his hair and the rest, with or without hair, will copy him. Lately, I've also seen him roll on the floor and shout his head off and his 3 good friends, Kate, Jiajun and Eri will do it with him. Such fun!

Happy 2nd Birthday Nate!

Nate's Birthday is just 3 days before Oliver's on 19 November 2008. Once again, Oliver was invited to attend his birthday party at Nate's new home. Although it was a pretty last minute invitation, I was glad that we went. Nate and Oliver had such fun running around the house like two happy dogs (they were born in the year of Dog). I could only captured these two hyperactive kiddos on video. Most of the pictures I took were blurred. By the time Nate had his birthday cake cut, it was already 9 plus and Oliver's eyes were tearing from exhaustion. When we hit the road, Oliver was totally knocked out with saliva dripping from his wide open mouth.

At Nate's party, Heidi just sat happily on the rocking chair watching the world goes by. Once a while, she would be entertained by two mad kiddos running around her. But she was the least perturbed. What a cool kid!

Janelle's Birthday at Gymboree

Party away ..

not quite..

Oliver wasn't in much of a mood due to the after effects of antibiotic

But it is a change of mood when Oliver is with his Japanese Girlfriend, Eri

Almost ready for the gastronomy world

Oliver is almost ready to explore the gastronomy world. Oh yes, finally. Now almost two years old, he is definitely a late developer in taste. And we find his taste of food is quite peculiar.

We had him drinking Teh Halia at the Roti Prata shop which we frequent every week. "More?" I asked, and he nodded his head in delight. Some months back, we gave him a bit of the herbal tea and he likes it too. You may think that perhap he is easy on food. No way, he is such a fuzzy baby that he will throw out all food not familar or even familar to his taste. I mean, he can eat fish for a week and then the teacher told me the next day that he threw out the fish in his meal. This bad attitude really irritates me as I totally cannot fathom what he wants to eat anymore. That just reminded me, he is definitely a bread baby, still is. Bread has become his substitute for main meal over the weekend when I get too lazy to cook. Could this have accounted for his double chin? Hope not.

Recently, he also eats, other than apple, pear, watermelon, honeydew, payaya, grape and lychee ice-cream. 3 cheers for Oliver!

Changi Boardwalk

Oliver's big kiss for HeidiOliver leads the way at Boardwalk

Prata and Milo

All of a sudden, Oliver seems to be able to vocalise more words. "Milo", "Prata", "Taxi"... even "Jiajun".

He can also differentiate a taxi and a car.

Train

Oliver in Oct 2008 and in Aug 2007.

Heidi & Oliver at the Singapore River

Bunny on Oliver

It has been a while since we updated this site as we can't seems to upload pictures onto blogger. We tried many times and finally, the toolbar decided to reappear tonight.

This was taken before Oliver fell sick and had to stay with my mum again. We don't know how the bunny ended up on his tummy before he fell asleep.

Oliver is 1 year and 11 month old today

Oliver is sick again

Just after he recovered from HFMD, he is suspected of having it again. He is now at his grandma's place again as we do not want Heidi to catch the virus. Poor Oliver. He cannot eat and drink as he has ulcers in his mouth and throat. This time, he seems to be feeling worse than the last round. Gosh.. when would his immunity system build up?

Oliver strikes a pose with Heidi