GARDEN CITY

Grandma Nancy made mee siam last night and she invited my whole family over for dinner. Grandpa Eddy had the BBQ pit going too, so we also had chicken, prawns, fish, crab and sausages on the grill.

When everyone was busy eating, I ran around the garden. Grandpa Eddy has cultivated a small fruit farm right at home. He's got trees bearing papayas, chikus, guavas, starfruits and other tropical fruits in his garden. Grandpa Eddy let me water his plants and cut a ripe starfruit off the tree too. I accidentally trampled on his baby mango tree, but he didn't get mad with me. I apologised profusely of course... :P

Seeing that I really enjoyed playing in the garden, Mommy decided to take me to the Botanic Gardens this morning. The last time Mommy took me there, I was still riding in a pram. Now, I can really run about the Botanic Gardens.

I saw all sorts of plants at the Botanic Gardens, some with colourful flowers, some with enormous leaves, huge trees with bird's nest ferns on them, etc. I also saw red and blue dragonflies, butterflies, and lots of people walking their pet dogs. I love dogs (the Spot series of books and cartoons being my favourite), but I don't get to see them in real life very often. I was so excited to see so many pet dogs today that I kept exclaiming: "It's a real dog! "Gou" (dog in Chinese)! Chien (dog in French)!"

It was a hot, sunny day, so I had my sun hat and sunglasses on. Tourists must really like my fashion accessories because they kept coming up to Ah Gong to ask if they could take pictures with me. I obliged of course... Hehe.

After tucking in some chicken nuggets and cranberry juice, it was time for us to explore the National Orchid Gardens. The admission was $5 per adult, but free for kids under 12. The orchids were really colourful and beautiful. I'd gently touch them, and would say to Mommy at the same time: "Cannot pluck. "Bu yao cai" (Cannot Pluck in Chinese)". There were pineapple plants with baby pineapples, and a Cool House with lots of mist as well.


When the clock struck 1 pm, Ah Gong decided that we should head home, even though we had not finished exploring the National Orchid Gardens yet. We were all exhausted.


When we returned home, there was a surprise parcel waiting for me. It was a box of presents for me from Aunty Julia of the USA. Aunty Julia had read about me in Ah Gong's online journal in sgparenting.com and my blog. My whole family was astounded by Aunty Julia's generosity. We can't thank Aunty Julia enough for all the presents, and most of all, for demonstrating to me the spirit of giving and making me feel touched. She has shown me that, by giving unconditionally, it can make someone really happy. Thank you so much Aunty Julia! :)

MY BOTTLE RIGHTS

I had a traumatic experience last Sunday when Mean Mommy tried to take my bottle away from me. Mean Mommy has already taken my pacifier and diapers from me, and now my bottle too??? I'm now 2 yrs and 4 mths old and Mommy reckons that Big Girls should drink from cups rather than from bottles. But... but... but... I need my bottle!!!

I went on a milk strike the first time she tried to take my bottle away from me. I cried myself to sleep that night and made Mommy feel bad. The next morning, Ipa forced me to drink milk from a cup. I was really hungry by then so I gave in. Ipa did it again just before my afternoon nap, and I gave in only because she threatened to turn off the cartoon I was watching. But at bedtime that night ... hehehe Soft-Hearted Grandma came to my rescue and I've got my bottle rights back.

To all the lil' uns who're reading my blog, stick to your guns and don't let the adults fool you with their phony-baloney tales of what Big Girls and Big Boys ought to do! And... stay alert so you know who you need to curry favour too... :)

Here's a pic of me eating bee hoon with Big Girl chopsticks:-

I started a new term at Growing Up Gifted after Chinese New Year. Most of my classmates are the same as the previous term and Teachers Fairuz and Margaret are still our teachers. Not much has changed, except maybe, Kelly is a little more civil towards me now. Kelly is a little girl who is slightly older than me. Her parents are from China. Since my first day at GUG, she'd been picking on me for no apparent reason. She'd glare at me, handle me pretty roughly and she even hurt me once by squeezing my arm really tightly. Teacher Fairuz had to separate us. Things have slowly improved, with her taking the initiative to hold my hand at our last lesson. I guess some kids are more "territorial" and they take longer to allow people into "their space"...

I enjoy attending GUG, especially the art and craft segment of the class. I stood in the middle of the class at my last lesson and surprised everyone by announcing: "I feel good in class!" :)

Physically, my weight has remained at 11 kg for a long time now, but I'm a little taller than before. My parents are both foodies, but not me. I don't enjoy eating and I've to be force-fed all the time. It takes at least 2 hours for me to finish a meal, and I've developed a habit of keeping the food in my cheeks instead of chewing and swallowing. There're only 2 things in the world which I crave for - keropok and french fries. Mummy's cross with Ah Gong for introducing me to MacDonald's. Now, much to Mummy's dismay, whenever I see the golden arches, I'll yell out "MacDonald's!!! I want to eat french fries."

My memory is decent, but not tip top. Mummy used to wonder about whether Doman kids who had Bits of Intelligence cards droned into them remembered those facts for life. Well, I used to be able to read aloud certain words, but when Ah Gong stopped flashing those cards at me, I certainly forgot some of those words. Yet, on the other hand, I occasionally surprise everyone by saying aloud certain words, phrases or terms which I was exposed to when I was only an infant.

Ah Gong doesn't flash many cards at me anymore. I like to listen to him read and I like to read. I've a whole library of books, but my favourites at the moment would be Spot's series of stories and Toby's series of stories. Several times now, Ah Gong has noticed that when a brand new book is read to me once, I'd be able to recite it or complete a sentence in the book the next day. Mummy is not sure if I'm capable of reading or am I purely memorising. Ah Gong reckons it's a little of both!


Ah Gong is using the Logico games on me more often these days. I've to use my sense of logic to complete a puzzle and I've been doing well in that. Here's a picture of me putting on my "Thinking Cap"! (half of my shape sorter actually...)


Lastly, here's a picture of me fooling around in my bunny suit. "Look! I've got paws!"

Hi Everyone, here are some long overdue pictures from Chinese New Year 2007.

Chinese New Year Day One

Chinese New Year Day Two

CHINESE NEW YEAR PARTY @ GROWING UP GIFTED