Brought Joey swimming this morning!

It's such a sunny hot day today!

Nevertheless, Joey's spirits were high.. you should see the way her eyes light up when I mention the word 'swimming'. Haha..

All raring to go!

She obviously hasn't mastered the art of sucking in her tummy yet.

Haha.. Like 大姐大

Can you see how sunny it is?? I was almost afraid she would get sun burnt. Haha..

Very garang-ly, she attempted the water slide all by herself...

But when she reached the end of the slide, she dared not step back into the pool, and I had to go into the pool to rescue her back. Kekeke..

She saw some kids having swimming lessons...

.... and she told me she wants to learn too.

And our swimming came to an abrupt end when she lost her foot and splashed her entire face with water, that she immediately got out of the water looking very traumatised, and muttering, 'Go home, go home'.. sigh.. so much for swimming lessons indeed..

After we left the swimming pool, Joey got attracted by some rocks outside the complex, and wanted to take some photos with them.

Bet you can't tell, but they are actually pretty tall rocks. Haha..

What: Her 1st 'decent' masterpiece

Where: City Harvest Church Playgroup

When: One fine Saturday afternoon

掌声鼓励鼓励！:)

Joey is such a darling.

As she grows older and is able to express more of herself, she becomes more and more of a darling to me. I guess there is always something very uniquely special between mother and daughter. There is this closeness that is hard to explain. Daddies, don't be jealous! Haha..

You know my daughter can be pretty rough sometimes when she plays, so when she accidentally hits me (and it's really very painful sometimes!!), she would suddenly have this 'compassionate' look in her eyes and she would ask me softly, 'Ok?' Then she would stroke and sayang me gently. (Awwwwww...)

In the middle of doing something, she would suddenly come to me and say in a very endearing manner, 'Mummmmmmyyyyy' and give me a big tight hug. (Awwwwww...)

Whenever I can, I would accompany her to sleep at night. I would lie down next to her and pretend to sleep as well, so that she would get to sleep faster. It used to be that she would want to hold my hand as she sleeps. That alone feels very sweet already. But recently, she developed a new habit of hugging me and patting me! Instead of me patting her to sleep, she insists on patting me instead, and in the process falls asleep herself. And she would hug me in such a way that my head is resting on her chest level. Haha... reversal of role... In any case, I don't mind cos I feel very loved by my daughter! She sure has a motherly nature... keke..

Everyone around me can testify that Joey is someone who will take initiative to ensure that everyone is taken care of. Whenever she is eating titbits like biscuits or cornflakes, she would pass one to everyone nearby her. And she doesn't do it just once. She will eat one herself, then start pass out one by one till everyone is 'fed', then she would eat another one herself and start the process again. She seems to enjoy taking care of people!

I am starting to feel that daughters are so close to the hearts of mothers and I thank God for giving me such a lovely daughter!

It warms my heart everytime I see Joey.. =)

Chinese love to drink soups. Soups and rice go well like shoes & socks. Haha..

So, just a simple beef & mushroom soup for baby joey to go with rice..

There are 2 bear onigiris and 2 bunny onigiris to make it more interesting!

The soup contains beef strips, chinese mushrooms, carrots and wolfberries. It smelled really heavenly! Yums! =)

Joey's behaviour recently has convinced me that she is perhaps ready for school. Much as I belong to the kiasu parents era, I do not really think it is necessary to let my kid go to school way too early. I think 2 & half to 3 years old is a good age to start her on school. So, it's good to see Joey displaying signs that she is positive about going to school.

In the morning, I would sometimes let her carry her haversack to office with me. And when I do that, she would 'think' that she is going to school. When we leave the house, she would wave goodbye enthusiastically and tell my MIL that she's going to 'SCHOOL' really loudly. Haha..

"I'm going to school!"

Any good recommendations for schools? =)

We walk the same route to work every single morning, so Joey knows the way like the back of her hand. There is this yellow vending machine which Joey will always play with when we pass by it downstairs.

Thanks to all the uncles & aunties who love to bring her to vending machines, she knows exactly where to slot in the coins and where the drinks will come out from.

And of course, without fail, she will bug me to take out my 钱 and buy her a drink.

Which I will of course refuse, and she will whine like this. Haha.

Then we will continue on our journey, as if nothing happened.

This is a routine we go through every morning. kekeke.. And if you've been following this blog, you would know that she next heads to the playground. Haha..

Brought Joey out on Monday to Tampines Mall while waiting for Isaiah to finish work, and Joey accompanied me to eat ice cream at Haggen Daz! Thank you Papa Isaiah for sponsoring the ice cream! (Actually I paid using the sub card he gave me. Wahahahaha!)

Joey was very well behaved. I guess the ice cream was a major draw for her to sit still.. Haha..

That's our ice cream!

Girls will be girls. No girls can resist ice cream.

We are very happy with our ice cream!

Tampines Mall is a very kid friendly place. The whole sky garden is made for them! There is an open-air space of playground and also a separate air-conditioned room that plays cartoons with lovely ikea chairs & tables for kids to enjoy. I thought it was a very nice gesture of the mall to create such a space just for kids. =)

You can see the outside open-air playground..

Although this air-conditioned room is very comfy to be in on a hot sunny day like this, I am not surprised my baby is more drawn to the playground outside. Haha.. But I didn't let her go out cos she might become a roasted baby pig in this kind of hot hot hot weather!

Enjoyed myself with baby.. =)

Joey is at a super friendly age now. It doesn't help that she is already by nature a super friendly girl. So, you can imagine how she would sprint away to kids around her age when she sees them.

That day, we brought her to Terminal 3, and she saw a bunch of kids playing. Without any hesitation at all, she ran towards them, and started to laugh together with them & chase after them. Whatever the kids did, she followed suit, and she just merged into the group without a tinge of shyness. The kids looked at her weirdly at first, but soon accepted the little girl into their games. Amazing how fast she can make friends!

Just today, I bought her to Central, and she saw a little boy playing with his cars, and she immediately ran to him, sat down next to him and played with his cars! I tell you, the poor boy looked alittle shocked. But Joey was totally non-chalant. (Check out the pics.)

When we are out, and she sees some people pass by, she will sometimes call them 'Uncle!', or 'Auntie!'. When we take taxi, she would say 'Hello' to the driver or 'Bye Bye' when we alight... She even waves enthusiastically to buses when they drive past... sometimes, I see amused passengers looking at her waving..

I guess it's good that at this age, she is not self-conscious at all and not hindered by any mental barriers at all when making friends. To her, the whole world is her friend. But I must admit, it is sometimes a headache for me, cos I got to keep watch on her and pull her away quickly when she gets over-friendly, lest she scares the other kids away. =P

6.45 AM

That's the time my darling baby wakes up every single morning.

Even I am amazed at how accurate her biological clock is. Not a minute more, not a minute less. It's always 6.45am on the dot.

Amazing.

Yawwwwwnnnsssssss.

A simple one today...

Main Course: Beef & Mushroom porridge

Side Dish: Steamed veggies (Broccoli, carrots, yellow bell peppers) in Bovril soup base.

Snack: A mini box of Smarties & 2 Mandarin orange wedges.

Used a new bento box today! Just the bento box alone can brighten up my morning! =D

The meal today is very balanced with meat, veggies, carbo & fruits. Good Good. =)

The staple item - Shell pasta

The main course - Beef cube soup with spinach & carrots

Dessert - Dragonfruit cubes

Looks very cheerful & happy eh??

This box is really useful. Every small container comes with an airtight cover, and if I remove all the individual boxes, it becomes a big bento box with a divider in between. Very useful box indeed!