Hanging on- a simple task and yet so significant

Last weekend in early March 2013, we were on our typical weekend outing to Changi Airport. Derek was accompanying Gerrard at the Singkids indoor playground and it is the first time that I see Gerrard is able to hold onto the spinning carousel independently. This may be such a simple task to others but it is so memorable for me because Gerrard has taken another step to build up his confidence. His smile is so genuine and I am sure in his heart, he is so proud of himself for conquering this. Thanks to Daddy!!

 

 

The FIRST time we had Western Food as a family outdoors

Sometime in mid February 2013, we had our FIRST western food meal as a family outdoors. A "proper" one meaning everything in the menu is western food. Western food has never been our choice because Gerrard prefers Chinese cuisine that contains his 4 main must-haves: Rice, Vegetables, Meat and Soup. Maybe it could be due to too much of Chinese food dining (plus the recent CNY feasting), we wanted something different for a change and the experience was really nice as we went to one of the best western food casual dining I've eaten- LENAS at Tampines 1. 

LENAS is an American Italian restaurant that serves decent food at decent prices. Although the main course serving is not very huge, the side dishes are and it tastes great. Overall, we felt satisfied and full after our dinner and Gerrard was happy with his first attempt at Western food =)

The first time he donned a Chinese ethnic costume - Feb 2012

We decided it's time to get him a set of Chinese ethnic costume as he is now older and school is always asking them to come dressed in ethnic costumes on 1. Chinese New Year celebrations & 2. Racial Harmony Day. I think he looks pretty suave =)

This is also the first year I had a real CNY plant at home- we got the pussy willow from Ikea at a cheap price.

See? He is now almost taller than the plant!

Hi FIVE!- 30 January 2013

In a twinkle of an eye, Gerrard is now a 5 year old big boy. Big boy indeed because it seems just not long ago where I was wishing time to pass faster so that he'll grow up sooner. This year, it felt especially 'real' when I look at him and see, oh boy, how much he has grown, physically and emotionally. And I did a silent prayer that time will pass slower, let me enjoy more kid-moments with my boy please. 

We had a family celebration at our place a week before his birthday. Gerrard was really excited and had a really fun time with his cousins. I was just busy with the guests, checking sure the kids are ok, the food is ok etc that I didn't have much opportunities to take pictures with him. However, seeing that everyone is happily enjoying themselves, this means more than anything. 

 

It's my party!

 

Goodie bags for the kids

Our lovely relatives

Gerrard & his cousin, Faith

 I ordered the cake from eCreative and it was a good choice I've made. I did some research online but couldn't find many nice (and affordable) 'Alphabet' cakes. Given that Gerrard loves Alphabets, I didn't want to disappoint him and I was delighted to find a nice one from eCreative and he chose it himself when I showed him the picture online. The 2kg cake was quite a good size for our crowd of about 40 pax and although it had a plain vanilla flavour, it still tasted pretty good! 

Gerrard looks on curiously- he was really surprised to see the Alphabet cake in real life!

 

 

 

  

 

What a busy day- we could only find a chance to take a family picture in the kitchen!

Gerrard had more than 3 servings of the cake and we let him =)

On his actual day, we took leave from work and planned to spend a day with just the 3 of us. As it was a school day, we fetched him to school in the morning and only managed to go out after he woke up from his nap. We decided to explore a new place, Polliwogs at Robertson Walk as I've heard some good reviews about it. Overall, the place is good but Amazonia is still better as it's bigger and the wave slides at Amazonia is still the best. After the indoor fun, we took a leisurely walk along Clarke Quay before settling for dinner at Swissotel Merchant Court which coincidentally was the place we had our ROM ceremony so it felt special when we revisited the place with Gerrard now. 

I hope Gerrard enjoys the celebrations as much as the efforts we've put in and wish him many many many more great celebrations to come!