Month #34: Jesus Gives Life Back to Us

Dear Aidan,

Hooray, the tree is officially out!

I think every July of the year, Mama starts dreaming of Christmas. I don't even need a white one. Not that we can get one living on the Equator. But the point is, Christmas always brings hope and peace to me. With Kung-Kung passing on, I suppose I'm eager to bring the focus back to life. The gift that God gives through the birth of Jesus who is the author of Life.

Ok, if you guys want baubles, talk to me

On November 19, we took our tree out from the tiny store-room, the box of baubles we brought from KL during our move, and set about welcoming Christmas into our home. What a difference a year makes too -  this time round, with no hive attack in sight too, you actually helped decorate the tree! (It wasn't so last year, if you recall.) As Officer-in-Charge of the box, you handed different decorative bits to Papa and Mama. And later, got your hands dirty by hanging them yourself. Of course, all the ones you put on ended up at the bottom-most branches and in one localised section, too.

Peek-a-Boo!

Mama is very serious about this

It was a real yahoo moment when you wanted to put up the star and managed! Well, it took a while as you were trying to balance on Papa's shoulder and Papa almost fell.

Oh, I managed, Papa. I can drive a car now, I think.

We are the champions...we are the champions...

This month you started displaying a keener sense of imagination. You've begun to build more complex creations with your blocks. Even the shape-blocks from the shape-sorter tray become part of a 'house for Mama  and Papa' sometimes.

A battleship for Mama

I built a house for you, Papa

More than that, there are days when you announce spontaneously that you're a monster and you're going to eat Mr. Dolphin and Mama and that we should really go and hide if we 'don't want to be dead'. You also enjoy singing your own made-up songs using gibberish. It's nice that you're Mama's little entertainer at home.

On a different level, you've become a bit of a Bossy Boots. Your favourite thing to do next to singing is ordering others to sing along. Familiar phrases like "Good boy, Mama" and "Here, you can play with this now" are surfacing. I guess you learning to parrot Mama in more ways than one.

We went back to KL for a week to be with Poh-Poh. But this time, she followed us on our trip back to Singapore for a short stay. Mama has noticed a new facet to your emotions from her 2-week holiday with us: jealousy and over-protectiveness. Whereas you've always been sweet to Poh-Poh in KL, you've instead been angry and rude to her in Singapore. For instance, you like to interrupt Mama whenever I'm having a conversation with her. And you tend to shout at her or tell her roughly that she can't watch 'your DVDs' when you happen to be watching one. Whenever Mama is not looking, you'd give her a frown and a shake of your head to show your disdain.

It's very difficult for Mama to see you behave like this to Poh-Poh. Especially right after Kung-Kung's death. But I also know you can't help it, you don't know any better. That's why Mama has been very tough on you in this respect. It's straight to the Time-Out Corner for every sign of rudeness. And the rotan comes in on the third occurrence.

Some times you're fine though. Like when we're all together, having a meal, and laughing about the same things. Which brings me to your new passion for singing aloud during meal times. First, you'd stand up on your chair. Then you'd blast out gibberish lyrics to a familiar melody. This happens at home and in restaurants too. And it has been challenging, to say the least, you get you to control your volume. Fortunately, so far, patrons at the restaurant have been extraordinarily oblivious to your crowing. When they have paid attention, they've been quite polite about it, praising you for your 'passion'.

Papa looks like a monster from this angle

You've been improving at Church. You used to want to walk out of the pews and/or make a fuss but these days, you can stay pretty quiet for the whole Mass although you do like to stand on the bench to check out the goings-on. You do get a little antsy in the last 10 minutes though. That's when you'll try to climb over the pews or something crazy, but hey, you're just 2+. I think some slack is in order. Bear in mind though: you're soon going to have to follow the order of the Mass. Good luck to us!

Some old habits are coming back, too. Like throwing your toys down just to hear the crash. Or using your Chew-Chew to 'hit' us for fun. There's to be no hitting of any kind in our home, honey. And throwing your toys could mean you end up losing them or they end up breaking. That's why we've had to be tough on you for that, too.

That's a good boy, Papa. Now, finish everything, ok?

Meanwhile, feeding Papa has become a fascination for you. I think you're just being a regular scientist, trying to scrape coconut flesh for example. Trying to see what happens to soya sauce when you mix it with soup or rice. I like to look at it as your strengthening your fine motor skills. Some days, though, I like to strangle you too - days when you don't listen after two repetitions and days when you do exactly the opposite even after 3 warnings. Of course, this is figurative speech because Mama would never ever want to strangle you. Still, I can't wait for the day when you stop taunting Gravity (and Mama and Papa) with your persistence. When you're 21 maybe?

Oh God is scolding the farmer for being naughty!

This month, new books are back on the radar! Now that it has been established that short mystical stories with lots of colours intrigue you, Mama has been plying the Popular Bookstore route to get you new additions to your little library.

Month #33/Part 3: Another Death

Dear Aidan,

We've just come out of a very dark November. Did you know that a few days after Kung-Kung passed away, Poh-Poh's elder sister went, too? She'd even turned up for Kung-Kung's wake. But looking back, she did look pale although when Poh-Poh called her the next day, after the funeral, she said she was fine and just needed some oil for her tummy ache.

The next day, a Friday, we went to pick Kung-Kung's bones at the Nirvana Memorial Centre in Shah Alam. Just so you know, we did this so we could put his remains in an urn that's placed in a special locker we'd bought. When we got home, Poh-Poh tried calling your Grand Aunty Li Yi but she didn't answer. She stays quite close to Poh-Poh, actually. So Poh-Poh walked over to her flat in the afternoon to check on her.

I remember you were still napping when Poh-Poh returned in a panic, telling Mama that Grand Aunty was lying on the floor, alert but in pain. She'd lost all energy and had decided to lay down on the way to the toilet.

Mama then followed Poh-Poh over to change her (she'd wet herself), and carry her to the couch. Mama then spent 30 minutes trying to call an ambulance. It was frustrating. A bit like trying to get to eat your vegetables, only this time, it was a matter of life and death.

By 8 pm, we managed to send her to the nearest hospital, just around the corner. But after an x-ray and a CT scan, we were told by the doctor that her intestines were all blocked up - possibly cancer! Surgery however was going to be risky as Grand Aunty has diabetes and her kidneys too had all but failed. The hospital didn't have a dialysis machine so we had to transfer her to another hospital 15 minutes away.

Mama and Papa stayed overnight at the hospital to ensure she was stabilised and admitted to the ICU; her heartbeat upon admission had been very weak. We only left the hospital at 6 am. Poh-Poh, whom Mama sent home to rest at 11 pm, meanwhile, had spent the night in Mama's room accompanying you to sleep. She must have been very tired because she didn't wake up when we got home - she's usually an early riser.

A minute's rest in between funerals for Uncle Khin, and a pretender

At 11 am that day, the hospital called to inform us that Grand Aunty had had a heart attack in the wee hours of the morning, possibly right after we'd left. But she continued to hold on till Monday morning, when she died in her sleep.

Breakfast before visiting Grand Aunty at the hospital

It has been an extraordinarily tough month for Poh-Poh. She only has tow sisters left - the youngest in London and the eldest in Sydney. But Poh-Poh herself is now 75 years old. Imagine! All her brothers have passed on. It seems she has had to be strong all her life and this period has truly been a test of it as well as a testament of it.

We must continue to love her and support her through her twilight years. People are not perfect. We are ourselves people. So even on her naggiest and critical days,  Mama has to try to turn the other cheek. After all, one day, when Mama is grey and old, I'd want you to continue to love me, too. To let me know I'm not so bad.

Month #3/Part 2: An Introduction to Death and New Life

Dear Aidan,

The quick 3-day trip Mama made to KL was an eye-opener. I sat by the doorway to the hospital with my mask on as I was coughing a little. And all I could do was watch Kung-Kung take naps in succession. All I could do was stare at his emaciated frame and wonder to myself: how did he lose so much weight in just 2 weeks? When he was awake, Kung-Kung would look my way an flash Mama a wide smile; a smile that seemed to engulf his now gaunt and bony face.

Dr. Christina told us that his stomach complications were part of the challenges of pancreatic cancer. After taking some medication, his purging stopped but he'd continued to throw up after every meal. They resorted to inserting a feeding tube directly to his intestines but even then, the tube detached a few time and had to be reinserted. The waiting at the gastroenterologist's clinic for re-insertion really Kung-Kung's alertness and energy, too. It was a disheartening and most depressing trip this time round.

Something to cheer us all up with

On Mama's last day there, Kung-Kung felt a lot better. He also ate without throwing up much. Just a little bile here and there. I left with a bit more hope and brought back two Usborne First Reader books entitled Clever Rabbit and Chilly the Penguin.

A week later, you followed Papa and Mama up to KL again. Just to be there for Kung-Kung and Poh-Poh at a difficult time. It was good to see more colour in Kung-Kung's cheeks. He actually looked better as he could sit up and chat with his brothers and sister. It seemed the throwing up hasn't entirely ceased and the oncologist has been working with the dietician to figure out the best nutrient formula to give him through the tube.

I'll feel better right after a bowl of blue udon mee-mee, Mama

You developed a pretty high fever though the day after we arrived. You woke up from your nap with a temperature of 38.7 degrees celsius. We sponged you. Monitored you. But in the middle of the night that day, your temperature climbed to 39.3. So we took you to the Pantai Hospital nearby and had you checked. We were given suppositories to contain the high fever and it was so sad for us to see you bawling when we turned you around to insert the pill. You only started to get better two days later after we got antibiotics for you from the clinic near Poh-Poh's house.

Once you started mending, you became very sporting. You followed us to the hospital every day to see Kung-Kung; even on the Friday night after a thunderstorm, when we got stuck in a gridlock on the highway for 3 hours on the way to the hospital, you didn't throw a tantrum.

Anyway, Kung-Kung had started insisting on different scans to get to the bottom of the vomitting. There was first the brain scan to rule out metastasis; then by the time we'd left for Singapore, he was due for a throat scan.

I still remember the day we got back from our trip. A Sunday. We had been praying over Kung-Kung on every visit now and while I knew his life was hanging on a thread, I've so far been hanging on the hope of Jesus. But then Monday night came.

Monday night, 11.15 pm came. That phone call from Uncle Khin came. And the news that Kung-Kung's heart had suddenly stopped beating came, too. It had stopped while the nurse had left the room to get his medication. And the medical officer would spent the next hour trying to revive him.

Kung-Kung's death was pronounced at 12.10 am.

Uncle Khin and Mama booked the 6 am flight back to KL. You and Papa would join us the next day.   By the time we got home, we had to take Mama's car to Uncle Yik Kah's home as Poh-Poh had stayed the night there. I remember, as we opened the doors to get Mama's car keys, glancing at the garden and feeling a deep stab of sadness. Kung-Kung and Poh-Poh had spent hours keeping the garden beautiful. It was Kung-Kung's favourite place to be. It was so green, so peaceful and full of life, unlike the Gardener that created it.

2 days after the cremation, you wanted to clean Mama's car

It seems like such a long time ago that we arranged for Kung-Kung's funeral. A lot of relatives and friends came for the wake. Even Mama's and Papa's friends. In a strange way, it was a warm affair. I suppose you could say we felt surrounded by goodness.

Remembering Kung-Kung through his works

Aunty Mei Yoong and Uncle Daniel also brought Gabby along. "To keep Aidan company," they said. God bless them. They stayed till late too, until we all left, actually. Mama brought you to see Kung-Kung in his coffin. You said a prayer with Mama. I remember explaining the concept of death and Heaven to you.  "Kung-Kung's alive in a different place now, " I said. But I don't think you quite understand that once a person goes to Heaven, they can't just come back to Earth because you replied, "Once Kung-Kung's better, he'll come and visit us again."

The saddest part of the whole event was the cremation. Mama just couldn't bear to see Kung-Kung entering the vault and the shutters closing down behind him. It was so final. It was final. But I wish it weren't so. My consolation from the good Lord is that he went on 1st November, All Saints Day. That comforts me a great deal.

(PS:  I haven't taken pictures of Kung-Kung during the height of his illness and leading to his passing on as I want to (just as I want you to as well) always remember him in his spritely and handsome state.)

Month #33: New Adventures, Dark Turn of Events

Dear Aidan,

I like Teacher Richie, Mama

Early October has been a busy month of new activities and day-outs. First, Papa signed you up at The Little Gym after it was recommended to us by Aunty Glenda, Lana's mum. It's an indoor gym filled with gymnastics equipment and there are these teachers who are trained to help children build their strength and confidence through physical exercises. You're now at the Super Beasties class for 2 year olds and Mama and Papa are going to take turns to accompany you or sit by the sidelines to cheer you on.

Ready, get set, dash!

Papa, can I take this home, please?

Last Friday, Papa took you and Mama to watch a live football match between the Serangoon and Geylang districts. You're getting really good at football so Papa reckons he can brainwash you into picking up and sticking with the game. I'm onto Papa and his tricks for sure. But I'm going to relax and just make sure you get exposed to art, music and dance!

Papa, now I want the Blue Team to score!

I know I'm wearing blue but I want the green people to score, too!

It's quite commendable that you paid attention throughout the game. You only got up to get closer to the field. You also innocently wanted each team to take turns scoring, so you were a bit deflated when the blue team (Geylang) had less points in the end and lost to the green team (Serangoon, our district, yay!)

Whoa, it's balloons galore, Mama, Papa!

Wait, little guy, I think we need to start the engine first

On Saturday, Aunty Glenda, Uncle Ian and Lana invited us to join them at SingKids, a gymboree-type place at VivoCity filled with rides, obstacle courses, climbing apparatus, flying balloons and giant balls. I'd say you practically went nuts in there and wouldn't have left if you weren't so hungry in the end. We then left for the food-court to have some yummy noodles.

Hey, Lana,  be careful!

Wheee! I think I'll just sleep here tonight

On the book front, Mama has found a few folk tales from Popular Bookstore written simply for pre-schoolers. They have the same style of illustrations as your other Easy Readers collection. This time round, the stories come from Kashmir, Indonesia and Japan!

Tales Mama grew up with...now you can, too

Now, I must write about the deterioration of Kung-Kung's health. Mama found out just yesterday that Kung-Kung's not responding well to the new combination of chemotherapy drugs. The scan after his 1st cycle had shown a cessation in the growth of the tumour but water hadn't stopped accumulating in his abdomen. Dr. Christina had then left it up to Kung-Kung to decide whether to switch drugs at this juncture and Kung-Kung had said 'yes'. He's had 2 sessions now and not only is he losing weight, he's also purging and throwing up. Poh-Poh says he has checked himself into the hospital for observation. So Mama will have to make a trip alone next week to see him even though Mama's developing a cold. I think as long as I don't sit too close to him, it'd be okay.

A Difficult Month #32

Dear Aidan,

September has come and almost gone. The Mid-Autumn Festival this year was sombre for our family. I remember just last year that we had fun at our old home in Surian Condominium, introducing you to hand-made lanterns and the idea of mooncakes. This year, with so much travel to and from KL to visit Kung-Kung (who could die), and Poh-Poh (who's lost so much weight busying herself to help Kung-Kung), celebrating has been the last thing on our minds.

It's a buggy lantern, Mama

Nevertheless, I've had to be reminded about those happier days.  Your school asked all the parents to help their kids make a lantern to bring to school for its celebration. And this meant Mama has had to go online to find instructions for an easy-to-make version. It turned out quite fun with Mama doing most of the work and your making a bit of a mess helping with the sticky tape. In the end, Mama drew some creepy crawlies onto the lantern as your term's theme in school is Insects.

Join me, Mama, get down on your knees like me, Mama!

Lately, Mama has noticed that you're developing the ability to play on your own - well, for short spurts of time, anyway. You love stringing your tiny toy cars and trains, mix them all up, and moving them along the floor around the house.

Usually, Mama has to join in halfway. Mama and her creaky knees. 

Gotta keep safe, gotta stay alive!

We also bought you a bicycle and a helmet recently. But you've not really shown an interest in wanting to learn how to pedal. To you, the concept seemed unreachable for the moment. Even with Mama getting down on my knees to physically press your feet to the pedals and turning them. The helmet's a different story, though. You find it quite important to put it on when playing with your toy cars "...to keep safe so the cars won't bang my legs!"

You're constructing sentences properly now although prepositions and conjunctions sometimes go missing. Your pronunciation and clarity are also improving. You love your building blocks now and are always trying to build a home for Mama or Papa or your furry soft toy friends. With all the exposure to repeats of short Lion King Musical videos on youtube, you've also begun to remember melodies and phrases from the song. Your first achievement: the feature song to the show. Not Circle of Life per se, but the African intro to the song (i.e "Naaaaaa...si gonya...mama di chi baba...manya hey!")

Yay, I managed!

Ta-dum-dee-dum...an underwear dayyyy

Mama has been over the moon this month too on account of one major milestone for you: you've begun to agree to pee in the toilet bowl. Finally, the pink toilet seat Papa hates, is counting for something! No sign of readiness when it comes to business #2, yet. But right now, I'm just excited about underwear
shopping!

Mmm, full of fibre!

Food wise (and I haven't written much about food lately), you love your basic tomato-sauce-based pastas with fish cake or diced baked honey-chicken; soupy udon noodles (which you call mee-mee); rice with braised ginger-and-sesame-seed-oil chicken; and grilled honeyed cod in soya sauce with white rice. Sometimes Mama makes tofu with minced meat in gravy for you but while you're okay with it, you're not exactly doing cartwheels over it. Mama still has to cook fish porridge for you thrice a week just to keep the vegie intake up. Otherwise, you'd just be having shreds of spinach, diced carrots or minced broccoli in your rice and noodles. You're beginning to like your grapes with the skin on so that's great!

I like peeling the raisins out first

You caught the sniffles too this month. But it wasn't too serious. Well, we got you to Dr. Angela's clinic in time and she found out you were on the brink of bronchitis. On the way to the clinic, after Mama had picked you up from school, we sat outside McDonalds to sip orange juice and eat the raisin bun Mama had brought from home.

We're making headway, Mama. Wait, Papa is making headway.

Bored with the simple 4-6 piece puzzles, you've also graduated to the giant floor ones. The first set we bought's called Animals on the Farm and you get suck a kick out of doing it over and over again. You do get a bit bossy sometimes, though, when you're too lazy to find the piece you need.

Mama has also begun to take your Chinese lessons seriously. Now, Mama notes the term's theme and learns all related words they're teaching you, so I can revise them with you at home! You're usually unfocused for these impromptu lessons but hey, it's okay. When you're a little older, I'll structure sit-down sessions with you. Not to make a genius out of you, of course, but to stretch your ability to sit still and focus. (Apparently, little boys don't like being still for too long. Makes sense, really!)

One day, I'll read to you, Mama

This month, Mama bought more books from Popular Bookstore. They're nice stories and they can be read so quickly. Once you learn to read, they'll be great practice books for you! Meanwhile, Aunty Joanna also got a Dr. Seuss one for you. We had lunch with her one day (she's from BBGS - Mama's school - and what's more, the School Captain before Mama's year!) and she asked you to pick a book. Ok, truth is, you picked a book and some crayons but Aunty Joanna was nice to buy you both!

This one makes me giggle!

On Kung-Kung's front, Mama's been keeping in touch with him about his progress. So far, he's responding well to chemotherapy which is a good thing. His red blood cells are dropping though so Dr. Christina, the oncologist, has instructed him to eat more beef. There'll be a scan end of the month to see if the tumour has shrunk. So we must really storm Heaven with prayers for God to keep him in His good care, for His healing.

Month #31: Coping, Getting Away, and Coming Home

Dear Aidan,

The reality of Kung-Kung's illness has started to sink in. But Mama hasn't been able to sit down to dwell much on how serious his condition is. On one hand, Mama's time has been divided between looking after you and researching on pancreatic cancer. On another, my mind has been preoccupied with questions and conundrums. For example, we have to figure a way out to be there for him and Poh-Poh without disrupting your life too much. After all, we may have to move back to Kuala Lumpur for a while; what will happen to your schooling here then? How will I also look after you and yet drive Kung-Kung to and from the hospital and run errands for Poh-Poh? Aunty E.E, your nanny is in the midst of moving to Klang, a good hour away from Cheras, so it wouldn't be nice to bother her with babysitting you on the days when Mama's extra busy.

It's a month of flux, dilemmas and uncertainty for sure and we must be calm in order to do things right. I'm mainly talking about myself, I suppose. Mama isn't very good at multi-tasking unlike most women. The good news is, we've booked our flights back to KL.

Kung-Kung's explaining to Papa that the bushes are strictly to be left alone...

It's funny how even as these troubles are coming to taint our life, new friendships bloom. At the airport waiting lounge, while you were playing at the little indoor playground, a little girl joined you and the two of you played quite well together. Mama finally spoke to her mummy and discovered that she was from BBGS (Mama's school) too. It turns out Aunty Po Li's a year Mama's junior and we're all on the same flight back to KL. We exchanged numbers and then on the flight, you wanted to sit next to Jadyn, so Mama took you to her seat and she offered you a little char siew pastry. Later, when we touched down, you followed her and her parents about and decided to hold her hand. Looks like, you've made a new friend!

A new friend, Mama!

When we flew back, it was good to see that Kung-Kung was in relatively good spirits. His abdomen looked a little bloated now. But he said the discomfort was bearable. Chemotherapy to kill the cancer cells had started and Uncle Khin had shuttled him to the hospital last week when he was up to help. 

We spent what would've been our week-long Bali trip together in Cheras, helping Kung-Kung and Poh-Poh around the house and driving Kung-Kung for another session of chemotherapy.

Ah, a hard-day's work, completed!

Ok, where can I hide this?

I must say that you've been on your best behaviour on this trip, despite the constant moving about. It's not easy for a 2 year old to adjust to such changes, so Mama and Papa are really proud of you.

In fact, it was really nice to see you do your part too when we mowed the lawn for Kung-Kung one evening. 

You helped place the cut grass into the bin bags and even tried your hand at raking them. At least until you decided to do some grass-mound-hopping.

At night, after dinner, you and Papa helped with the dishes while Mama mopped the floor or washed your clothes. Of course, half the time, you put a little too much detergent on the plates and cutlery and Papa had to rinse them quite a bit.

Papa: Whoa, enough detergent there, honey
Aidan: No-o-o, Papa. We need more...

Aunty Katy (Kung-Kung's sister) also dropped by for a visit with Uncle Felix (Aunty Katy's husband), Uncle Andrew (brother) and Aunty Wai Kuen (Uncle Andrew's partner). She taught me some hei gung moves that could help Kung-Kung take in more oxygen as the cancer cells apparently hate oxygen. The next day, Mama showed Kung-Kung the moves. It doesn't look like he's very keen on doing too many things as he's already spending 40 minutes every day just on breathing exercises. Meanwhile, poor Poh-Poh is in a military, get-it-done mode. Sometimes, people become this way to cope with fear. I'm sure she's trying not to panic by burying herself in service.

Love Kung-Kung

Love Poh-Poh, too!

One afternoon, we decided to take you out for lunch as you'd been cooped up in the house for too long.  We had lovely Japanese food at Mizu, Bangsar Village. You really love a good, simple bowl of soupy udon noodles so we ordered that and some teriyaki chicken for you which also slurped up. It's nice for Mama to see that you and Papa are getting close. I must admit that it has been tough for Papa to have you insist on Mama doing things for you.

When we got back to Singapore, Mama had to sort out a nasty bacterial rash on your back. Dr. Angela reckons you could've caught the bugs in the communal paddle-pool at your school. Thank goodness for Foban which Dr. Anglea prescribed. It takes time to work but I can see that the rash has stopped spreading.

I'm liking this big, wooden bench, Papa

Mama, I feel embarrassed

To cheer you from the misery of the itch, we took a weekend off to spend at Sentosa Island. Papa decided that we all needed a nice, short break to ease the tension of what we were all going through.

In addition, we thought you might enjoy the Songs of the Sea light and fountain musical which actually takes place outdoors by the sea.

Upon arrival, we checked into the Movenpick Heritge Hotel for the night as rooms were on offer. While waiting for Papa to register, we did silly things around the lobby, like make faces at the shiny elevator doors to see our reflections.

My body says this ranks about 9/10...

The room we got was comfy. Papa was happy with the Nespresso machine while I just liked the look of the bed. I think you and I think alike because the first thing you did was dive onto it and lie down with your Chew-Chew.

We decided to lunch at the in-house restaurant and the food wasn't bad at all. You and Mama shared a noodle and we all had bites of your vanilla ice-cream for dessert.

Where's my ice-cream?

In a good mood, you started a conversation with the waitress about the Merlion and managed to tickle her with your quips.

Waitress: Can you see the Merlion?
Aidan: There! There are people in the mouth!
Waitress: Yes, you can go up too if you like to check out the view.
Aidan: No, thank you. If I go into the mouth, the Merlion will eat me!

Funny smiles now, Papa! 1, 2, 3...

After lunch, we returned to the room for a bath and a nap. (Well, you had to be coerced into having a nap but once you settled into bed, you were knocked out in minutes.)

In the late afternoon, we walked about to explore the artist's space beneath the Merlion (we didn't go up though). It was a special buskers' week and there were many funny mime artist as well as ventriloquist and magician shows to watch.

After catching a few performances, we had a dinner of fried rice and stir-fried vegetables at a colonial-looking restaurant up the hill. You seemed to like the morning glory because for the first time in my life (and yours), you actually asked Mama to cut you more vegetables! Let it not be a phase, Jesus!

It looks like the fish I eat in my porridge!

At about 8.30 pm, we got tickets for the tram ride to Siloso Beach to catch the musical at 9 pm. It started to drizzle so the show attendants gave out raincoats to the audience. I think you really enjoyed the colours and the drama of the light effects and fountains in different shapes.

That koh-koh must be getting very wet

Whoa, explosions! Bombs!

After it ended, we got some tit-bits from the 7-11 convenience store and took a tram back to our hotel. We decided to do some scribbles together lying on our tummies. And then you got up, walked to the phone and 'made a call to God' regarding Kung-Kung. It was a pretty sweet thing to do though we're not really sure you understood exactly what you were doing. Anyway, God works in mysterious ways. Cliched but true.

The next day, we spent 2 hours at Underwater World just looking at fishes, turtles, jellyfish, sharks and other undersea creatures. It was fun watching the deep-sea fish swimming overhead in the tunnel. We finished our visit with a sea lion and dolphin show. We then returned to the hotel, checked out and got home in time for Mass.

These are not for eating

Hey that toothy one keeps looking at us!

I know how to clap, too

Mr. Dolphin is such a good boy

Mama, jelly fish in Chinese is called...'sui mu'!

Last weekend, we finally met up with Lana's parents, too - Aunty Glenda and Uncle Ian. They had wanted to meet up ever since we passed Lana's birthday present through the teachers because we couldn't attend her party due to our trip back to KL.

She's from my school, Mama!

We had dinner at Nex and it was really fun because the conversation flowed naturally. You and Lana also exchanged toys quite easily. And on the train back, both of you had a giggly old time, pulling faces and hand actions.

Sing along now, Mama, Papa!

This month, Mama's been exploring numbers as well as small alphabets with you. You've got a bit of an antsy behind as you can't sit still or focus for more than 20 minutes. I guess that'll just have to do for now. Meanwhile, some single-story books Mama bought at a bargain book store while in Kuala Lumpur are Teddy's Red Nose and the Babe, the Flying Pig.

Along with a second-hand Bambi, these two books cost just RM7
(Only at Cheras Leisure Mall)