You are 4!

Dear Noah,

We have been counting down to your birthday and it is finally here! You have been looking forward to turning 4 and when you woke up seeing the "1" on the clock in your room... You exclaimed, "look, 1 on the clock. It's my birthday today!"

I think the best present for you this year is a baby brother to call you "Kor Kor Noah". You have been the sweetest Kor Kor around... Asking "when is baby going to come out", as we waited for baby's arrival; wanting to hold baby Nico so often and singing to him when he cries; being patient with mommy when I couldn't attend to you as I was busy with baby Nico; and playing quietly by yourself when I needed to take a nap. You make a great big brother and I hope the three of you will always enjoy growing up with one another.

I thought you were showing signs of being displaced when you started asking to be carried, to be fed, and wanting mommy / daddy to take a shower for you. Know that you always have a special place in my hearts, and mommy and daddy loves you all the same.

Some things about the four year old you...

1) Your favorite superheroes include spiderman, Incredible Hulk, Michelangelo and Luke Sky Walker.

2) Thanks to daddy, you know quite a bit about Star Wars and enjoy flipping thru ur Star Wars encyclopedia by yourself.

3) You love eating strawberries, kiwis, dragon fruits. You requested for a chocolate cake with strawberries for your birthday cos Kor Kor likes chocolate and you like strawberries. You are thoughtful in that way... Always thinking about the ones you love.

4) Your eyes sparkle when I praise you for a job well done. I believe "words of affirmation" is your love language just like your daddy's.

5) You enjoy story time and wouldn't go to sleep until we've read you a bedtime story. You can read simple readers by yourself (from memory) and love reading to mommy, daddy or kor kor.
6) You never fail to amuse us with your wise cracks, surprise us with your Lego and origami creations, and exasperate us with your 101 questions.

It has been a joy raising you and I continue to pray that you will grow in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Happy birthday Noah Baey!

Love,

Mommy

Happy 49th Birthday Singapore!

About a year ago, we watched the National Day Parade from Benjamin Sheares bridge. We had a good view of the fireworks from where we were, but the boys weren't too happy about not having a seat.

Nathan: Can we go nearer, and sit with the people over there?

Me: Only people with tickets can get a seat.

Nathan: Can we buy tickets?

Me: The national day parade tickets are not for sale. We have to ballot...

A conversation about what balloting means, and why it's hard getting tickets ensued. Finally, I said... maybe we can pray and ask God to give us tickets next year. Then we can all watch the parade from the floating platform.

This year, we submitted our names for the ballot, prayed hard and were blessed with 4 tickets to the preview last week. The boys were thrilled!

Yay! We got tickets!

We packed a picnic dinner and made our way to the floating platform. The coloured sector that we were allocated is indicated on our tickets, and there are clear instructions on the entry point allocated to us to facilitate crowd control. We followed the directions given and it was a breeze getting to our seats.

Walking towards the floating platform via the helix bridge

The NDP fun packs were filled with a wide array of items... button badges, visors, banner clappers, mini flag, LED bracelets, Singapore scarf, biscuits, packet drinks... The boys had fun just rummaging thru their goody bags.

The parade started off with the red lions making their descend. This was followed by the fighter jets and the state flag fly past.

Red Lion

Looking at the fighter jets

F15 jets flying in formation

Majulah Singapura!

I enjoyed the parade segment, where various contingents marched to the beat of familiar national songs. Singing along with fellow Singaporeans, I once again felt thankful for this place that we call home.

The evening ended with a spectacular fireworks display...

This song pretty much sums up my feelings about Singapore... This is home, truly! Happy birthday Singapore!

Home

Whenever I am feeling low
I look around me and I know
There's a place that will stay within me
Wherever I may choose to go
I will always recall the city
Know every street and shore
Sail down the river which brings us life
Winding through my Singapore 

 Chorus: 
This is home truly, where I know I must be
Where my dreams wait for me, where the river always flows
This is home surely, as my senses tell me
This is where I won't be alone, for this is where I know it's home

When there are troubles to go through
We'll find a way to start anew
There is comfort in the knowledge
That home's about its people too
So we'll build our dreams together
Just like we've done before
Just like the river which brings us life
There'll always be Singapore

Noah is 2!

Dear Noah, you are two years old! Unlike your 哥哥, mommy wasn't able to write monthly reflections about you growing up in your first year. I wasn't able to take proper maternity leave, and had to look after you while working from home from the time you were 3 months old. Each time you took your naps, I was rushing some work or other. By night, I would be tired out, and blogging would really be the last thing on my mind. Well, two years have zoomed by... I had to hold back tears while singing your birthday song this morning at school. On one hand, I am so glad and thankful that you're growing older, but on the other hand, I can't bear to have you grow so quickly!

I am glad that you get along well with your brother (most times) and you'd often ask where 'tor tor' was when you first wake up. This morning, when I went to school with your birthday cake so you can celebrate your birthday with your friends, kor kor wasn't there because he had to be in school as well... you actually asked me where kor kor was, and whether we could go and pick kor kor up. 

I love watching kor kor helping you with your shoes, with fixing a toy etc... you'd be real patient, letting him help, and thanking him thereafter.

You enjoy going to the toy shops and trying out items on the shelves. You are content with just playing with the toys at the shop, and have never bugged us to buy anything for you.

Your favourite toys are typically musical instruments... guitar, drums and basically stuff that play music and makes lots of noise. You enjoy bobbing along to the music, singing along and also pretending that you are playing in a band. Recently, you saw someone playing the violin and the next day, you took your toy guitar and put it between your shoulder & chin, pretending that it was a violin. Was pretty amused by your ability to improvise.

You love trains and ride-on toys... and you have this ability to hold on to a toy for a really long time. That's you at a friend's party at Happy Elves. You found the knife at the cooking corner, and held on to it the whole time (almost) you were at the party... making you look like a car thief in the photo below.

I like that you are able to stick at a task and be rather focused especially if it is something that interests you... Your favourite song has been "Baa Baa Black Sheep" for the longest time, and you are also able to sing a good part of the National Anthem, Jesus Loves Me, Walk Walk Walk Walk in the Light, Celebrate & Sing, and a few other songs we frequently sing in church. 

You started talking a lot when you were about 18 months, and is well able to tell us what you want. You are also very capable of expressing your displeasure.

You are quite cheeky, and enjoy making us laugh.

You love to eat, you can eat almost anything and you love FRIED CHICKEN. You love ice cream and Yakult. You love Buzz Lightyear. A few months back, you start having opinions about what you want to wear... your brother on the other hand wears anything I pick out for him, even now when he's 3+. That makes you a vain pot. You sleep well, and haven't given us much trouble, even though you're more bossy than your brother. You fuss when you don't get your way, and can be quite stubborn at times.

In recent times, you have taken a liking to books, and often pick up a book, demanding that we 'read'! You don't always sit thru a book though. I hope you'd get better at this in the near future.

It has been a good two years. Daddy and I are thankful for you, for you've brought us so much joy and added so much to our family. We are looking forward to many good years ahead, and continue to pray that you'll grow up strong & healthy, and be a man who'll honour God and remember His grace.

Nathan's 3rd Birthday

Nathan turns 3 today. We celebrated his birthday (2 days early) with loved ones and friends at Happy Willow. After considering and checking out 2 other venues, I knew that Happy Willow will be the perfect place for his party, and I was right! The playground was big enough for the 3 year olds, and yet small enough that that parents could see what the kids were up to without having to tire ourselves out climbing up and down and thru the tunnels with them. There was also a play area for the younger kids and Noah enjoyed playing with the trains and tool bench. The party room was nice and cosy, and the food was yummy. Kids' food was catered from Pasta Mania and the adults' food was catered from E-Sarn Thai.

The birthday boy and his friends had so much fun! The big smiles I saw and the laughters I heard that day made all the effort I put into planning this party all so worth it. Special thanks to all the staff from Happy Willow for making this birthday extra special... for being so accommodating and patient with us, especially when the birthday cake was delivered late. Nathan still talks about his birthday party at Happy Willow, and I am certain that this is a happy memory that will stick. :)

Dear Nathan, you are growing up so quickly and I although I really like having a big boy, I do miss the baby you. You've brought us so much joy and we continue to pray that you will grow up being a man who will honor God and remember His grace.

Thanks to all for popping by and having fun with us. Nathan's birthday celebrations wouldn't have been so special without your presence. :)

Some random facts about Nathan at 3...

1) Still sucks his thumb when he sleeps, and needs to have Colin with him in bed.

2) Likes to drink soup, hates vegetables. Favorite colour is yellow, likes "red car with eyes" (Lightning McQueen), loves going out to do fun stuff.

3) Enjoys feeding the fishes at the Botanical Gardens.

4) Some of his favorite songs are Jesus loves me, Jesus loves the little children, Deep & wide, Give me oil in my lamb, One People One Nation One Singapore, National Anthem. 

5) Recognises / reads over 80 Chinese words.

6) Counts to 20... but after 10, he goes in increments of 2. And to him, 5 is a lot.

7) Knows Sesame Street, Madagascar, Sponge Bob, Superman, Spiderman.

8) Likes going to McDonalds... he actually calls it O-McDonalds.

9) Loves coconuts... 公公 did you buy coconuts today?

10) Has a good memory. Remembers details and can relate stuff we did months back.

After the party, as I was taking a shower for Nathan in his bathroom, I told him that he can choose one present to open that night. He said he wanted to open the 'teddy bear present'. I asked him who the present was from, he said Isabel. He's held each present he received (about 12 in all) for less than a minute each before I kept them and he ran off to play. So I was surprised when I went to get the presents from the car boot, and found one with a teddy bear wrapping paper. I took it out, and saw "Isabel's" name on it!