This has been an interesting month for Mama and Papa. And you. After a visit by Aunty Mei Yoong, Uncle Daniel and little Gabby from KL, we were slightly confident you might be able to sit still long enough to watch...a musical. So Papa bought tickets to the Lion King musical, the broadway version from London, for - not two - but three. Yup, buddy, we took you to the Marina Bay Sands theatre and guess what: you sat through the show. All 2.5 hours of it.
We were right up the front row, so the experience was probably quite in-your-face. Your interest was obvious as you asked questions and helped narrate the story throughout the musical, "That's the mean lion?", "Oh! He pushed Mufasa off!", "That one is Simba!", "Simba is sad cos his Papa is dead!". In fact, you got the attention of the viewers sitting around us with your chatter. We had to apologise for the noise, of course. But fortunately, they were gracious and said that it was nice to see such excitement in such a 'little one' (that's you, honey).
 |
| Sounds like...Bollywood music |
After that event, you started to show a bigger interest in Papa's i-pod and headphones, as well as a new one in moving your body. One Sunday afternoon, Papa turned on some dub-step music on our player, and you practically leaped off the sofa to dance to it. Frankly, we were surprised at how you naturally moved to the beat. It was funny to see.
Two weekends ago, we packed a picnic for breakfast and went to the Botanical Gardens with Seng Jinn who has become our housemate. In case you've forgotten, Seng Jinn is Papa's colleague and friend. He's also a handy babysitter although we've only enlisted his aid for the extremely long Easter Vigil service last March.
 |
| Yay, after this, we kick a ball and maybe chase a few birds, yes? |
We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the Jurong Bird Park last weekend (yup, busy month!). Bolstered by your ability to sit still for a show, we made sure we didn't just looked at birds but caught the shows, too. You quite enjoyed them, especially the one featuring desert hawks and owls. This probably had to do with the fact that the bird-trainers turned up in Arabian costumes and rode grandly into the grassy arena on horses.
 |
| Aidan: "Where's the horse, Papa? The horse?" Papa: "Honey, this is a bird show at a bird park... |
This month, Kung-Kung and Poh-Poh also visited us (finally). They didn't stay with us though as they preferred the flexibility of a hotel. But during that week, they spent half a day at our place and Poh-Poh even cooked a meal or two for us all.
 |
| C'mon, Dillon. We got mischief to make here |
One evening, Uncle Khin brought them to our place after they'd spent the morning at his home. Your cousin Dillon came along, too.
Usually, he keeps to himself as he's quite precious about his toys and needs time to warm up (well, he's probably wary of how jumpy and nosy you are too, heh heh). But this time round, he got curious when he saw you and Mama playing 'Monsters and Saviours' in the Ikea tent we got you.
 |
| Don't mind us, we're just annoying each other |
Soon, he and Uncle Khin were the monsters and we had to defend ourselves in our 'cave'.
By the time Uncle Khin and Mama got home from taking away dinner at the food court nearby, you were both nutting it out together and having a grand old laugh.
This was really nice to see. :)
 |
| Who cares about rhythm, this is just for thumping |
Before they left for home, Kung-Kung and Poh-Poh wanted to get you a present. After dinner one night at a lovely Teochew restaurant in Takashimaya, we walked to a toy shop and though you practically went cross-eyed seeing all the toys there, you chose a mini drum set.
Could your genetic predisposition to music be showing, thanks to Papa? Time will tell. Frankly, however, Mama is all for you to develop a passion in music and if you ever wanted it to be your career, you have both Papa's and Mama's blessings.
It's a lot more fun than law and medicine, that's for sure!
 |
| Kung-Kung...Poh-Poh, save me. Mama Monster is coming to eat me! |
Two weeks after Kung-Kung and Poh-Poh left, we flew back to KL to stay with them. You're really getting close to Kung-Kung and would always be game to let him carry you even though it's something you don't really like these days (unless it's Papa or Mama). I guess he gets down and dirty with you when it comes to play-time. He always takes you for a ride around the suburb just so you can go over a few humps. And he always, always parts with the coins you need for those coin-operated rides at the mall.
 |
| I think I'm ready to get off now. Slow day, today! |
On the potty-training front, we're nowhere near the Victory mark when it comes to business #2. Sigh. You managed to poo into the toilet bowl once. Just once. And even then, it was because you didn't know what was happening when Mama grabbed you, pulled off your pants, and set you down on the baby toilet seat! Yup, the lovely pink one you personally chose at the store. Even the promise of a treat isn't convincing you. So I guess you'll only be ready when - I don't know - when you're 10?
For books, Mama decided to scour the Popular Bookstore (nice name, huh?) at Heartland Mall which seems to have a slew of affordable books for pre-schoolers as well as Level 1 and 2 readers. I got you one entitled Adventures by the Sea. You've been asking Mama for at least 3 re-reads ever since we started reading it together.
 |
| The naughty seagull snatches Emma's ice-cream! |
Feeding you has continuously been challenging. You'd insist on eating yourself until the reality of vegetables strewn all over your rice or noodles set in. And then it'd be a journey in slow-mo to the end of your meal with delays contributed by a multitude of excuses and the storing of food in your mouth. The other day, Papa decided to take over the feeding from Mama and I have to tell you what I overheard:
Papa: What? That's such a small bite. Are you a boy or a squirrel?
You: Squirrel!
I guess you are.
