First Birthday and a Trip to Taiwan

I have really been neglecting my poor blog.

Being busy is never a good excuse but it is indeed the reason why I haven't been blogging.

I haven't even been reading the blogs I follow too much. Tsk tsk.

Anyway, a lot has happened over the last couple of months... apart from super hectic days at work!

Firstly, Little N turned one. Yep, she's officially a toddler now... Aw... only, I still feel she is a little baby. Maybe it's because she doesn't walk yet... nor talk too much... Maybe it's just the way all mothers feel.

It was a little milestone for me, nevertheless. I survived Year 1 of motherhood - breastfeeding (yep, still continuing somewhat), middle of night wakings (yep, definitely still happening) and diaper changing (yep yep).

In celebration, we went to River Safari to see some pandas, fishes and alligators. The River Safari is under soft launch and I feel it's such a far cry from the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari. I probably will not be visiting it any time so soon. But the pandas made a big impression on Little N and she now says "da" when she sees any pictures of pandas.

We also had a few other other things happening at home. My grandma fell quite ill and got us quite worried. It is unlikely she'd recover so we are just treasuring the time we have left with her.

This Saturday, we will be going on our first family vacation. Just the 3 of us. We'd be in Taiwan for 10 days and honestly, I feel a bit nervous.. The food will be new to Nicole because we'd probably not be able to cook most of the time (we are only staying in an apartment for part of the trip).. and I have no idea how she'd handle air travel and missed naps plus late nights.

But still, I'm looking forward to a break from work and lots of time with The Husband and Little N.

Wish us all the best!

Overpriced panda "bao" but so cute!

Little N at 1 year old and her daddy (whom she calls "paaaa")

Bird Park and New Words

We brought Little N to the Bird Park last weekend.

We headed over pretty late.. reached the bird park around 3pm.. with just enough time to watch a penguin feeding session, take a tram ride and catch parts of 2 shows they had...

It was pretty enjoyable though.

I've not been to the bird park for at least 10 years.. The last time I was there was for a team dinner so it wasn't like I saw any birds apart from the flamingoes. My real last trip was probably more like 20 years ago!

Little N seemed to enjoy the Bird Park a lot though. She stared at the penguins.. pointed to the hawks flying above during a show and flapped her hands with the pelicans.

Over the last few weeks, the things she understands seemed to have grown exponentially. From the basic few key words she seemed to understand only a month back, her vocabulary seemed to have grown.

Currently, here are some of the words I observed that she knows:

• She can point at pictures of the following - penguin, apple, orange, leaf, butterfly, zebra, elephant, ice-cream, duck, cow, key, sun, star, clock, watch, smiley face, milk bottle, heart
• She can point at the following objects -  clock (probably her favourite word), alarm clock, watch, fan, air-con, stairs, chair, table, television, balloon, ball, dental floss, hand soap, hand towel, mirror, Elmo, teddy bear, phone, Eeyore, moon
• She can signal the following - bye bye, hallo, wheels on the bus, bell on the bus, honk on the bus (all from the same song), star, shake, brush hair
• She can also point to her own ear, hair, pat her stomach, point to my toes and my bellybutton

It's so fun to see her pick up new things! Penguin is the word she learnt from the Bird Park trip. We showed her the brochure when we got home and asked "Where are the penguins?" When she pointed to it, I almost fell off my chair. She consistently pointed to the penguins each time I asked.. so I guess.. she really does know it after all!

At almost 10.5 months old

My Weekend Routine

Saturdays

• Wake up at 630 or 7, depending of what time Little N wakes. How I wish she has a concept of sleeping in during weekends! I suppose that will come one day... 
• Feed Little N
• Take a shower, pack Little N's breakfast whilst The Husband plays with her
• Have breakfast outside together with Little N
• Attend a 75min class together with Little N
• Go home and cook Little N's lunch whilst she naps
• Catch a break myself if she naps longer
• Pack Little N's lunch and then go out for lunch
• Go home after lunch and bathe Little N
• Play, read and crawl around with Little N until about 4pm
• Feed Little N milk and hopes she takes an afternoon nap. If she does, I'd cook her dinner and do some housework
• If she naps quite well, I'd have a bit of me-time to either take a catnap or have some tea
• If she doesn't nap, I give up after about 60-90 mins and will cook her dinner and then play her her until dinner time
• Feed Little N dinner and then bathe her
• Read to Little N, bring her out to the balcony to take a look at the birds going home and then put her to sleep
• Depending on whether she took a nap in the afternoon, it may take anything between 15mins to 60mins to get her to sleep
• Have dinner with The Husband at home (We usually pack back)
• There are some evenings where Little N will wake between 9pm to 12 midnight. If she wakes, carry or feed her so she goes back to la-la land
• Spend some me-time surfing the internet, reading or just lazing around before going to bed
• Wake up around 1 to 2 times in the night.. bad nights I'd wake up to 3 times..

Sunday

• Very similar to Saturdays except we go to church in the morning and then go out for brunch after church
• The rest of the day is similar to Saturday

 A busy Little N playing with blocks..