Delayed Post: Shanna's 4 Year Old Birthday

OK. So this is also another delayed post. We still have many, not being hardworking enough on this blog.

It just didn't seem too late to post this entry about Shanna's 4 years old birthday, since Ian's 1 year old birthday posting came 2 months after his actual birthday... We did celebrate their birthdays at the actual time,  that is what counts, right? :P

Our darling girl turned 4 years old on 5th March 2013, about 2 weeks after we arrived at Melbourne. Most of her birthday presents were still in the container sailing from Penang to Melbourne. I had, however, an idea to make her a tepee as a present, ever since I saw this one here. So, Daddy Tim got the supplies from Bunnings Warehouse and I got the cloth from a fabric store online, and this tepee was up when the birthday girl opened her eyes on the morning of her birthday.

We had a small and cozy birthday celebration with our friends at home. Talented Ida of Sugar Rattle made the cutest Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cupcake and cake set for Shanna. Of course, the little birthday girl was delighted with the cake.

Lovely cake by Aunty Ida

 

Being 4 years old is exciting. Shanna decided to become a 'big girl' after she turned 4. Overnight, she started going to Sunday school by herself and she stopped drinking milk from her bottle. She is now looking forward to be 5 years old! Slow down, little girl. D&M are enjoying the time spent with you as a 4 year old, though sometimes your 'Why?' questions drive us speechless.

Shanna's reading picked up a lot during the period she attended Vital Years pre-school in Penang. She can read Peter & Jane 3B quite easily, and going on to 4A, and while she has the potential to learn many more words, progress is not as fast nowadays since she stays home with a busy mummy who has to cook and clean and take care of 2 kids. She still loves to read story books, and books about how things work, how people live, etc. She still doesn't know how to appreciate dolls, rather, building toys, trains, balls, are what she prefers. She loves to talk and make jokes. She now speaks half Malaysian and half Aussie accent.

Since Shanna has been staying home with me, she has learnt to eat faster and all by herself with the aid of a timer. Her chores include helping us to set the table for meals and taking her own plate and utensils back to the kitchen counter once she is done.

Shanna takes care of Ian by reporting to us: Ian put the toy in his mouth! Ian spilled water over his pants. Ian wants to go out, Mummy! Ian, remember to turn off the toy when you are done playing.
They have their loving moments, unfortunately most of the time they fight instead.

Now Shanna's best friend is Esrene. When I pick Shanna up after Sunday School, she is usually right next to Esrene. Shanna wants to be a princess now, because Esrene likes princesses. Shanna loves drinking fresh milk, just like Esrene. She even wants to play doll, so she can be like Esrene. We are happy that Shanna and Esrene like each other. They are so cute together.

Best friends!

To our Shanna girl, Daddy and Mummy and Ian love you always! You are our best girl!

~ Audrey

Delayed Post: Ian's 1 YO Birthday Photos

Thanks to all who came to this gathering for Ian's birthday and our farewell, it was a memorable evening for us with family and friends. 

P/S there are too many photos to post here, so anyone who would like to get copies of photos just drop either Tim or me an email.

Life at Our New Home

Since we moved to Melbourne, I have taken off the hat of being an engineer with Intel and put on a new hat of homemaker. To be honest, I never saw myself as a stay home mom, but we feel this is the best thing to do for our family at this time.

And so I find myself cooking,

Feeding,

And cleaning up messes.

Playing, sometimes at the park,

At the backyard,

Memory games... with me losing to the small girl,

Spending time with these two cuties everyday,

While all three of us eagerly await Daddy's return from work :)

Thank God for friends here.

And for weekends :)

First time in the park

There's a small park near to our place and today we finally have the chance to walk there after dinner

poker face

delighted at the play ground

wanting to sit on the swing

so happy to get to walk on the ground

swinging happily

picked up some red flower from the floor...

I so missed the DSLR photo.... 

:)

T&A

It was Christmas, New Year and now Chinese New Year!

And we have been blog-absent. Well, not too late to wish everybody a very Blessed Lunar New Year!

Somehow we missed out writing a 1 year old summary for our Ian. So, no more delay! (he's already almost 14 months!!!)

Over the course of the last 2 months, our little boy has GROWN! He now speaks a few words! His first word was 'Deng' (mandarin word for light), and followed by 'I Want', 'mum-mum', and some mams/ah-da's which we are hoping he means Mummy & Daddy :P

Ian is a great mimic. He finds so much fun in following actions & facial expressions, he's a riot :P

Being a boy, he is sometimes all rough and tumble, strong too. But mostly, he is a good boy and knows how to obey when we say 'No'.

At 13.5 months, he can stand and walk a few shaky steps giggling all the time, before collapsing into outstretched arms.

Not much progress on hair growth, hair still remains sparse. And there is less of it now since it got trimmed today for the first time at the hairdresser's.

Oh, and he weighed 9.6kg at 13 months... he's a comfortable bundle to carry, well rounded and not too heavy yet :) From the looks of how he enjoys eating, we have no doubt he's getting enough food and perhaps even too much this festive holidays :)

So here is a short post and hopefully you'll be hearing more from us at more frequent intervals :)

Tim & Audrey