Children's Day 2013!

This year was kind of the first official year that we celebrated Children's Day with Kaitlin..so even though it's way past that day it's still a post worth penning down and one that I hope will bring a smile to K's face when she reads this.

K had no school on Children's Day so it was actually a day I was looking forward to. It's been awhile since we last spent a weekday morning together, so this was just what we mother and daughter needed..okay well I'm not sure about her..but I definitely did think that way haha!

Well..our morning started off early. It has to be that way, doesn't it? On normal school days, it's such a chore to wake her up and she cries cos she's not ready to wake up..but when it comes to weekends..public holidays..days like Children's Day there's an automatic clock in her that goes off -.- I'm sure any parent reading this knows exactly what I mean. So..obviously I was hoping for us to start our day a little later than usual, and also for *ahem* myself to sneak in another extra half an hour or so of sleep..but well since K was up that means time for mommy to be up!

We had our usual breakfast and shower and headed out for some fun! It was kinda hard deciding where to bring Kaitlin cos there were just so many fun places I wanted to bring her but I eventually made up my mind. Our first stop was Tiong Bahru Park so that Kaitlin could play at the playground!

K loves to play the swing so that was the whole purpose of bringing her there. Most people might not know..but Kaitlin is terrified of sand. Like if she sees it she will start panicking and then screaming and crying as if I hit her -.- So yeah surprisingly even though she is scared of sand she can sit on the swing. Well of course at first she was hesistant but after trying it out and realising how fun it is she is fine with it. But the sand...she's still afraid of it. Idk why, but it's probably the texture. So it's been quite a pity cos we can't play at beaches and build sandcastles and all but I guess it's kind of a phase and she will eventually like to play with sand.

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Besides the swing, K also played with a few of those rocking rides. I don't actually know what they are called..but she really enjoyed herself and I like outings like these..where we get to have fun outdoors.

After that, we headed over to Great World City to look at rabbits! Kaitlin had been asking to see rabbits the whole morning before we headed to the playground, so of course I granted her wish.

I know K looks quite unhappy in the below picture, but she's really just trying to imitate the rabbit sniffing with it's nose. It's actually quite funny and she can also imitate the baby drinking water from the bottle!

After observing the rabbits, K got to take a kiddy ride before we bought sushi cos she wanted some. The babygirl couldn't wait to eat it so she had some before we headed home and I kept the rest for her tea time.

Needless to say, when we got home for her nap time, she quickly drifted off to sleep. Woke up, and it was time for her tea break..

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If you're wondering what's she eating..it's avocado and sushi!

When she finished her tea break, I brought the babygirl out so that we could surprise Daddy Li when he ended work, and surprised he was! We had dinner at home and then...

we ended off her Children's Day celebration with Cronuts! Yes, she got to have it all..the cream..the sugar and a happy girl she was, and so were we!

It was a really fun day celebrating with Kaitlin and doing the things she wanted for a change. Sometimes, I feel we get so caught up with having to cross off things on our to-do list or doing things that we want that we tend to neglect what the kids want..so this day was specially just for her..doing what she wanted. Of course, it shouldn't just been done a few times a year (her birthday, children's day etc) so I'm gonna try to make a more conscious effort to listen to what K wants and let her have her fun instead of always deciding what we we should do.

Third Year Anniversary - Part 3

Hello! Finally back to continue about Part 3 of our Anniversary!

Started our day off with brekkie and a cupcake from The Marmalade Pantry. Super duper love their cupcakes ever since the first time I tried them. Love love love.

We headed out of the house after and it started pouring insanely and all of us including Kaitlin got wet. Well, Kaitlin didn't get that wet cos we were protecting her from the rain. But since her leggings were wet she got new pants for the day! Lucky girl right.

After settling everything and feeding Kaitlin, Daddy Li and I left for our appointment at Adeva Spa. Finally we got some 'me' time to relax together. This has not happened for a really really long time. So it was wonderful that we finally could have some time together to unwind. I actually bought the voucher for this like really long time ago, but we didn't get around to using it till that day. Like at least been 10 months or something since I bought it. If you are wondering what happened to Kaitlin, she was at the playground playing happily and then after that she took a nap.

I made sure that I booked us a slot so that it would be just nice that Kaitlin would be taking her nap and I wouldn't have to worry so much about her.

Before the massage, we were actually able to use Adeva's facilities like the sauna and jaccuzi, but cos we worried about Kaitlin, we only arrived 15 mins before our appointment time so we didn't get to do it. Instead, they assessed what we would like for our massage, for example the pressure and the type of oil used. I think this personalised service is great.

Pictures taken before we started our massage. Service was excellent and they were very caring. The masseuse were worried about me being cold cos my hair was all drenched so they covered me up and advised me to take a shower later on to rinse out the rain water. Also, the thing I love about it is that they were yakking and chatting away or like trying to promote you to buy a package or something whilst doing the massage. I would have been damn annoyed if they did. 

Another plus point is that the massage bed has a warming function. They didn't mention it but I could feel it warming me up and I thought that was great, esp since I was freezing cold from the rain. 

Overall, the massage was good but I didn't end up falling asleep. Personally, I assess if they are good also by the fact if it was relaxing enough for me to fall asleep. However, in this situation, I would not say that they were not good, but rather that I could not put my mind at ease cos I was worried about Kaitlin and thinking about her. Daddy Li fell asleep during the massage and even snored so I guess it the whole experience was not too bad. It was just me!

Massage ended and Daddy Li and split ways to go use their facilities. We made sure that Kaitlin was still asleep before proceeding on cos if she wasn't, we would have just left.
 

I went into the sauna for like a few minutes and left to shower. It just wasn't my thing. Took a hot shower and then went into the jacuzzi for awhile. Good thing was that I was the only one around so I got to use all the facilities without caring if anyone was there :D The jacuzzi got a little cold for me cos well I'm used to warm/hot water and Lihai knows that. I bathe in extremely warm water everytime and he thinks I'm insane. So anyway..I took another shower to warm myself up.

Even though Kaitlin was still asleep, we didn't use the facilities for that long cos we just didn't want to be away from her for too long. Before we left, Adeva Spa served us a complimentary warm chinese dessert each. I don't know what it was, but it had pears and some nuts in it. It was super awesome and I wanted more!!! Then of course, the staff asked us if we would like to purchase their package and we kindly declined since they were not being overly pushy about it. Honestly speaking, if it was not for the voucher, their regular prices would have been a little too pricey. Then again, with such great service, I wouldn't mind paying, but we really wouldn't be doing this on a regular basis with Kaitlin being a small girl still. Perhaps in the future when she grows older, and we can worry less about her and have more 'us' time we might. 

If you are on the lookout for a massage or facial for yourself or as a couple thing, you should definitely give Adeva Spa a try. Plus, one of their outlets is located at Paragon, so central and convenient you won't regret :)

Headed for lunch at Fish & Co. cos everywhere was crowded. We do not really like Fish & Co. or Manhattan Fish Market but since it was all the eateries were packed we didn't really have a choice :( Oh yes, we gave Kaitlin some fish and rice to try and she loved the fish! Probably cos of all the salt and all, but don't worry we gave her a tiny amount only. After lunch, we brought Kaitlin over to her trial class at Julia Gabriel.

This time, Daddy Li accompanied her so that he could have a better idea of the lesson and she was an absolutely well-behaved and cooperative girl. I sat right outside the classroom just in case she got cranky or was looking for me but throughout the lesson Daddy Li could manage her so super big thumbs up to Daddy Li and Kaitlin. 

Don't have much images of Kaitlin for this trial class since I didn't sit in but I managed to take pictures when they were playing at the playground! Kaitlin kept going to all the vehicles and trying to ride them and for this particular car that she was "driving" in, she didn't want to close the door! Daddy Li tried to close it and she pushed it open, and when the teachers closed it she pushed it open again. Being a bad ass I guess.

So that was basically how we ended off our Third Year Anniversary. Next year is the fourth, and oh my soon it will be the fifth. So fast right! Can't imagine Kaitlin being 3 years old by then!

Mid-Week Musings

For this week's Mid-Week Musings, I'm gonna share what Kaitlin has been up to. If you've been following me on Instagram (@beaverwoo) you would probably have seen most of the pictures..

This was taken last week at the MRT while waiting for the lift to come. We were going to NUH to see the Orthopedic. It looks more like Kaitlin is going for tuition class, and obviously Godma Enna though the same too! Great minds think alike :) 

This photo and the next few were taken at the playground at ToTT when I was meeting Kaitlin's Godpa Ronald and Godma Kar Yan for lunch on Monday. The staff allowed me to bring Kaitlin into the playground despite them closing off the dining area in front of the playground. She got so excited when she saw the playground and started kicking her legs before I could even put her down.

Obviously one of the first things she attacked was the slide! Even though she has a personal slide from Godpa, she still loves to play with slides. She's funny cos she likes to climb up the slides and she can even do it herself sometimes..but mainly on those wooden slides cos the plastic ones tend to be abit slippery.

Who knows? Maybe Kaitlin will like one day win the Policewoman of the Year award (do they even have such things?!) and I can show her this picture that from a young age of 13 months she already knew what she wanted to do! How cool right. Though..I'm not so keen on her risking her life and all. If she wants to do it, there's no stopping her so we'll see I guess.

Looking all fierce and probably wondering when Godpa and Godma are going to arrive for lunch and when mommy will stop taking pictures already!

The video below was taken this morning.

Kaitlin actually knew how to move the beads from when she was 11 months old, but I realised I didn't capture any pictures or videos of her playing with it so here it is.

Hang in there if the week's been tough! Seeing that Friday's a public holiday we are really near to the weekends already :)

Water Fun at Vivo City!

I know I really need to keep up to date with my blogging, but it can be quite tricky esp with a one year old roaming around the house and with lots of errands to do + important matters to settle.

Being an adult is so tiring and I'm sure every adult out there would have days where they wished they were just a kid again! No bills to pay, no important decisions like housing to make, there's always food at the table, if you need money just go to your parents, and you don't have to deal with any big mess that you've made, cos your parents would usually pick up the pieces for you, both literally and not. 

Well, on days like this..I like to open up the photos on my phone or laptop and remind myself of the happier things in life, and why exchanging my youth + sleep + freedom for parenthood is so rewarding. It never fails to make everything about a bad day go away!

So the past two days weren't so good, I did the usual while putting Kaitlin to bed and I chanced upon these which I realised I have yet to blog about:

These were taken at the water area at Vivo City. Only the one with her sitting down was at IKEA.  Babygirl really enjoyed it, though it was really quite warm. She totally KO-ed after, so I would say it was a good workout for her!

Strongly recommend parents to bring their kids if you guys run out of activities. It's free so that's a bonus! Also, they've got a baby room near the area for you to change the kids. There's also a breastfeeding area inside. 

For the older kids, there's also other playground facilities and motorised cars and animals for them to ride on. Looking forward to bringing Kaitlin to play all these when she's older.

I like that there are kids apparel shops nearby, so that in the event that I "forget" to bring an extra set of clothes or even towels for her..I can always buy new ones! So sly right..lol! Happy Tuesday guys :)

Amazonia Singapore

We've been bringing Kaitlin to quite a few indoor playgrounds lately, and one of them's Amazonia Singapore located at Great World City.

They have a variety of activities available apart from the usual slides and play areas. For toddlers and those younger, they have a toddler play area which is soft padded and includes a ball pit, a large musical keyboard, mini slide and interactive play panels. Other activities for older kids include Jungle Play Gym, 3D Glow Golf and a Spaceball room.

Since Kaitlin is still tiny, we couldn't try out the other activities and played at the toddler area. Kaitlin's favourite was the mini slide. She also spent most of the time there playing with the interactive panels.

We went down on a weekend and it was very crowded with alot of kids running around everywhere. We witnessed a few incidents where there were violent kids bullying the others. Thankfully for some, their parents and helpers were around. I think it's best to be with your kids when in such environments, especially if they are under 3. You never know when accidents may happen.

Amazonia also has a cafe within it's premises. I like that they have a cafe for parents to chill while their older kids go around doing their own stuff. For us, since safety is an issue, we of course couldn't leave Kaitlin on her own to play, but we liked that we could grab a drink and re-charge from all that playing around. There are also magazines for adults at the cafe, and books for kids! They also hold birthday parties so perhaps we might even look into that in the future for Kaitlin's birthday.

Location wise, it is very convenient for us, as it is a few bus stops away. On other days, we even take a stroll over to Great World City. Amazonia Singapore is definitely worth checking out. You can find out more information about them and the rates on their website.

Don't forget to bring socks for yourselves and your kids when you head on over to:

Amazonia Singapore

Add: 1 Kim Seng Promenade, Great World City #03-08

Tel: 6235 4522

Opening Hours: 10am - 10pm