Custom-Made Wetsuits

The kids' custom-made wetsuits are finally ready. They chose the colors themselves. DD, of course, wanted pink. Yep, her favorite color is pink. She says she wants a pink car when she grows up, and for now, she'll like me to buy her pink dental floss (!!!), pink tissue paper, and pen with pink ink.

We also got DD some arm floats since she's just a dare-devil in the swimming pool. She loves plunging into the water and "swimming" like her big brother.

Here's DS with his swim-mate Colette, and our estate's favorite swim coach, Xavier.

Here's DD trying on DS's goggles when he wasn't looking. She has been asking me to get her a pair of goggles too, in pink color, of course! But I still don't think there are goggles made in her size!

And here she is, thinking that she's got the goggles on correctly. :)

The Emergence of the Final Consonant S

DD talks a lot, but many people have difficult understanding her. It's because she makes many articulation errors that are normal for someone of her age. This means that she may leave out certain sounds in words when talking. For instance, she may pronounce the word "bread" as "bad" and the word "telephone" as "teh-phone".

The final 's' sound, i.e. the 's' sound that is at the end of a word, has been consistently omitted by DD as she cannot yet pronounce it when it's at the end of a word. For example, "bus" will become "ba", "nice" will be "ny" and "rose" will be pronounced "row".

But since Saturday, she has been able to pronounce her final consonant 's'! Yipee!!! :) This is very exciting for me as I have been awaiting the day that she can do this. OK, this is obviously a hazard due to my professional background, but almost everytime DD talks, my mind automatically compiles the errors that she makes and the sounds that she's able to produce. It used to be worse when I was in Uni. I used to phonetically transcribe people's speeches as they are talking.

Below is a video of DD taken a month back. That's where the kids do most of their reading (just kidding!!!). See if you can make out the story that she is reading. :) The book is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".

Exercising with Papa

The kids just love to do whatever we adults do. DS has been wanting to exercise so that his muscles will "grow bigger". Hehe.

DS's First Swimming Lesson!

DS has been waiting for this for a long long time. But, most swimming instructors in Singapore only take students from age 5 onwards. Younger than that and you'll need to seek out specially-trained swim coaches (who charge more and frequently won't travel to our swimming pool). So after a long wait, DS, who turns 5 next month, finally gets to start swimming lessons in the comfort of our own condominium pool and with his favourite swim coach, Uncle Xavier. Not that he knows of any other swim coach. :P

Here he is, all excited. He's also warm and toasty, thanks to my friend Vivienne, who lent us her son's wetsuit. DS's custom-made wetsuit will be ready for him next week!

With DS is his swim-mate and playground friend, Colette. :)

Grandpa and DD watching from the side. DD kept asking when it would be her turn to go into the water. (After Mummy finishes taking pictures, of course! Hehe!)


And finally, we have a kick-off!!! :)

I Knew It's a Matter of Time...

....before DD got into my makeup bag and helps herself to my lipstick!!!

Riverboat Ride

We brought the kids to take the riverboat ride over the weekend. The half hour ride brought us to Boat Quay, Clark Quay and out to where the Merlion is. DS was really excited especially since he could recognise key places of interest like the Merlion, the Singapore Flyer and the Esplanade. DD seemed stunned. I think she didn't know what to make out of the boat ride. Hehe.

Unfinished Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort. Should be completed some time next year.

Behind us, you can see the Merlion spouting water and also the Esplanade. Oh, and the tall building sticking out from above my head, that's Swissotel the Stanford, where DH and I got married 7 years ago. :)

DS giving one of those "I-don't-really-want-to-smile-cos-I'm-busy-but-Mummy-wants-to-take-a-picture" smile and DD looking stunned throughout the ride.

DD still not knowing what to make of the boat ride. No smile from her throughout the ride!

Statue of the boys jumping into the water. I really like this! :)

DD's 2nd Birthday!!!

I know I've said this a gazillion times, but I really can't believe how quickly time flies! I can still remember carrying 8 week old DD at Singapore Changi Airport waiting for our flight to Denver. Well, before I can catch my breath, DD has turned 2 years old! Unbelieveable, isn't it?

I've yet to organise a birthday bash for either kids because I'm a lazy mummy, but I decided to just have a small family gathering comprising the kids' grandparents and DH's sister's family to celebrate DD's birthday. Here is the birthday girl, proudly showing us that she's 2 years old already! :)

The cake that was custom-made for DD - strawberry shortcake with a teddy bear face on it - by the talented chefs at The Line, Shangri-La. Those chefs can apparently do up a cake in whatever design you want, even in 3D. But the 3D cakes will set one back by over $350! Maybe I'll start saving up money to get DD a 3D cake on her 10th birthday. :P

Side-view of the cake. Yummy white chocolate with heart-shaped cut-outs and lots of almond!

Here's a picture of the kids and their cousins. They couldn't wait to sing the birthday song!

As it was also Singapore's National Day that day, we had great fun watching the National Day Parade 'live' on TV. The kids had temporary tattoos of the national flag pasted on them too! Here's Grandpa admiring DD's tattoo.

DS with his tattoo.
The kids' 4 year old cousin with her tattoo.

Hehe. The kids' 2 year old cousin, getting the tattoo placed on her face! :)

And finally, the moment that DS has been waiting for. Yes, that wasn't a typo. DS (instead of DD) was so excited about opening the presents. He got a few presents because we didn't want him to feel left out but I think he thinks that DD's presents are also his! Haha.