一把小雨伞

My yi-yi found Claire-claire a little umbrella today. This is my first umbrella. Claire-claire likes it very much. My pa-pa says there is even a little song to go with it.

Claire-claire wonders when he will teach it to me.

Merry Christmas

Sssshhh.....

Please keep quiet everyone, Claire-claire is trying to hear what di-di is doing....

Santa at school

Santa came to school today. My mama said that Santa gives presents to boys and girls who have been good the whole year.

Yeah! Santa gave Claire-claire a present. He even posed for a photo with my papa and I.

Papa's new toy

My papa has a new toy. It is red in colour, just like Elmo! The best part of it....my papa lets me play with it. It has a long white tail, which my papa told me to put at my ears. Claire-claire did just as my papa told me and boy, did Claire-claire get a surprise! Music!


Claire-claire likes my papa's new toy.

Hand Foot Mouth!

It has been a boring weekend for Claire-claire. My mama and papa are not letting me out of the house till Claire-claire gets the all-clear from Dr Vanessa. This is because Claire-claire contracted hand-foot-mouth disease.

My mama was very sad when Dr Vanessa estimated at least twenty ulcers in Claire-claire's mouth on Tuesday. Claire-claire realised soon that this meant she could hardly drink milk, let alone eat my favourite food - fishballs and mushrooms. It was so painful that Claire-claire didn't even suck my thumb in the night!

Fortunately, Claire-claire recovered faster than expected. Today, Claire-claire ate all my porridge and even asked for an apple, a fig and an almond! My mama is quite pleased. My papa and mama told me that they are very proud that Claire-claire is a hardy and resillient little girl.

Hopefully, this means that Claire-claire can go out and play next weekend.

Claire-claire goes to playschool

We have been playschool hunting.

My papa brought me to the first one the previous Saturday. Claire-claire didn't like it. Neither did my papa. Yesterday, my papa brought me to another playschool. This time, Claire-claire enjoyed it much more. We learnt about the letter "M", monkeys and 猴子and all things related to it. Claire-claire also did some artwork and my papa took a photo to show it to you...


At the end of the class, Claire-claire sang and danced and was comfortable enough to venture away from my papa.

Claire-claire wants to be back next week. My papa and mama are glad that Claire-claire likes this playschool. My mama is especially happy that the hunt is over.

Jacob Ballas Children's Garden

This is a garden built especially for little children like me. Here, my papa showed me a cave where bears stay, pity none were there that day. But, it's ok because Claire-claire was intrigued by the wet and noisy waterfall. Claire-claire had fun waving at my mama too!

After that, Claire-claire went to the tree house. There were tubes where Claire-claire can slide down on. They looked pretty daunting at first, but after observing the other children, Claire-claire did. Whheeeee!!!!

This water play area is another fun spot. You have to work the pumps before water gushes out. Claire-claire tried her hand at one of them and helped to water the grass around the area.

Claire-claire likes this garden. We will be back again!

Two Today

Claire-claire is 2 years old today and is now 89cm and weighs 14.1kg. The growth chart says that Claire-claire is on the 90-95% percentile. See how much Claire-claire has grown!

At two years old, Claire-claire can do a lot more things than before.

1. Blow out candles (my first time today!)

2. Zip and un-zip bags
3. Go to the toilet to wee-wee on my own (but there are ocasional
accidents)
4. Remove and keep my shoes on top of the shoes cabinet

5. Blow and clean my nose/mouth with a tissue

6. Run and skip faster than my mama

7. Help set up dining table during meal times

8. Bounce and kick balls

9. Dance to the beat

10. Make sure my papa and mama eat their vitamins daily (though sometimes, Claire-claire tries to get them to take them twice daily)

11.Blow a whistle

12.Help water plants

13.Give my papa and mama a massage (this is their favourite)

14.Collect dirty clothes and put them in the laundry

15.Strap, buckle myself in my pram, child seat

16.Feed myself using a spoon without dirtying myself (too much)

17. Love, pat and kiss my papa and mama.
18. Share my toys (some) with Caden.
19. Turn on my favorite CD/VCD/DVD
20. Keep my toys, CD/VCD/DVD after use.
21. Browse through five books in a row every night.

In the linguistics department, Claire-claire has made some progress too.

1. Knows my animal sounds
2. Calls "papa". And "mama" only in dire straits
3. Says Ice-ss- (for ice-cream)
4. Recognise some alphabets: A,B,C,D,E,R and O (my favourites are B, E and O)

5. Can tell you that B is for bus, bubble, Barney and ball (Claire-claire calls it Oorr)
6. Says uh-oh when Claire-claire is some kind of trouble

7. Says erm...(Claire likes)...EErm..(Claire likes a lot)...EERRMM (Claire likes it very, very much.)

Superlatives

After saying our goodbyes to our new animal friends, we started a long ride to a seaside town. Claire-claire didn't like it as it was boring and hot and the sun was mostly shining on my side of the car.

Things became better when we arrived at the seaside town. First, we celebrated our arrival with the creamiest honey comb ice-cream. Mmm..yummy..Next, we visited the playground and later, the miniature village where Claire-claire was intrigued by the train that went round and round.

The most memorable event of all was the chilly Indian Ocean wind. Before this, Claire-claire had no clue why my mama made me wore layers of clothes and kept telling me that it is cold outside. Until, we stopped by the beach after the rain one morning. Look at my wind swept hair! After this, Claire-claire became a convert to the liberal use of sweaters.

And the most fun thing we did was running in the large parks and playing with my new purple ball and sun-bathing in my thick woolies.

It is a new experience for Claire-claire to be in a cold place. Perhaps Claire-claire will remember this holiday when I'm a big girl.

The Little Farm-Hand

My papa and mama brought Claire-claire to a farm. It belongs to Uncle David. This time, unlike my earlier rural adventure, was much colder. And we had to take an aeroplane to get there!

Claire-claire tried to be helpful on Uncle David's farm by supervising my mama as she feed Bob, the horse. Well, Bob is really big and tall, and Claire-claire is a little frightened of him.

The sheep and black alpaca were less intimidating, so Claire-claire was brave enough to feed them dried grass and even patted them! Claire-claire also had a chat with the friendly goats.
By the rabbits' turn, Claire-claire was a seasoned farm-hand and could feed them all by myself.

It's not all about animal feeding on the farm. Claire-claire also learnt how to use the fire hyrant.
And some tricks of wine bottling.
To round up a busy day, my papa cooked us a healthy and delicious dinner. Look at the big bowl of broccoli, meat balls and mushrooms; well, it was all gone at the end of the meal. Thanks, papa!

Claire-claire had an enjoyable time at the farm feeding the animals, kicking pebbles and running around. When it was time to go, Claire-claire felt a little sad, but thankfully more fun awaits. Tell you more about it soon.

Singing Barney Lantern

A couple of weeks back, my Ah Ma bought me a Barney lantern. Claire-claire likes it very much because Claire-claire chose it.

At first, my mama did not like it because the Barney lantern sings very badly. Thankfully, my papa saved the day by turning off the bad singing permanently. Then, we're all happy again!

Two or Three?

According to the lunar calendar, it's my birthday today. We shall not go into how old Claire-claire is according to the lunar calendar. It is very confusing. Even my papa was not sure whether Claire-claire ought to be two or three.

No matter, two or three, Claire-claire get to enjoy special birthday noodles made by mama. Yummy!!!

Longans on a swing

Longans on a swing are a great treat on warm, sticky mornings. Thanks third grand uncle. Claire-claire enjoyed them very much.

Too big for diapers!

Claire-claire and her papa and mama have been reading this book every other night for weeks. In the book, Ernie learns how to use a potty when he needs to.

Claire-claire is very proud of Ernie. In fact, Claire-claire is now learning to use hers too....

Go Japanese!

You must have read about my experience with Italian food... My papa decided to introduce Claire-claire to another type of cuisine.

We went Japanese last Sunday, and to my papa's and mama's delight, Claire-claire love Japanese food, from chashyu ramen, to chawanmushi to unagi don!

Maybe we can visit Japan for a holiday.

Aeroplanes

Claire-claire loves aeroplanes. A lot of them fly pass my Ah-Ma's house every evening. Some are big and some are small, but all of them make very loud noises.

SHHOOOOO!!! That's how aeroplanes fly...

Dancing with flags

There are lots of flags put up everywhere! Claire-claire loves looking at the flags dancing in the breeze. Let me try dancing with flags .
That's quite tiring. Now, Claire-claire needs to rest...

The little shopper

My papa and mama brought Claire-claire on a shopping trip. My papa said that Claire-claire is a natural at shopping...walked into a shop, looked around and picked up the cutest thing in the shop. My mama had to remind me to put them back on the shelves.

So, we looked at toys, musical instuments, bags and clothes. How does this bag look on me?

What about this green blouse?

Finally, after an hour, we bought something. My mama says shopping is no fun unless we buy something in the end! Claire-claire agrees with her, especially when you don't have to carry the shopping.

A rural adventure

One fine, sunny Sunday morning, my papa brought Claire-claire and mama to the farm. Our first stop was Hollywood Veggies, an organic show farm.

It was a really warm and humid morning and there were lots of mozzies and other creepy crawlies around. See how happy Claire-claire looked.

My papa said that he saw a snake when he was there a week earlier. Snakes! Claire-claire did not want to be put down and my papa had to carry me all the time around the farm.

We retreated to the cool air-con farm cafe where Claire-claire enjoyed my mama's warm fig tea. Then, Claire-claire helped my mama look for the toilet...Left or right?

Next stop. Hay's Dairies.

My mama bought some hay which Claire-claire fed the goats with. Claire-claire now knows that goats really like hay. They kept coming to munch on them. Claire-claire tried saying "Baa, baa, baa!" to the goats, but they ignored me.

And the best part of the visit was yummy, fresh goat's milk which Claire-claire shared with her papa.

Goodbye, goats. Claire-claire will be back again, when the weather is less warm. As for the veggie farm, we want to be back there to have lunch next time..and papa, more fig tea please.

Guess where

Can you guess where Claire-claire is?

Here's a clue..

Saturday, a day for errands

Claire-claire loves running errands, especially with my papa and mama. In the morning, Claire-claire helped my papa deliver a large juicer to my grandma. Then, in the afternoon, we went shopping for clothes for my mama and slippers for my papa. In between, Claire-claire even had a haircut!

See, here's me before the haircut. And in the next picture, after the haircut.

After such a busy afternoon, Claire-claire had one last thing to do..Pick up a camera-that-went-for-a-swim for my godpa. As dinner time is drawing near, my mama bought me yummy chocolate bread to keep my energy level up and grouchiness at bay.

What a busy day! Can't wait for dinner...Claire-claire's papa brought us for Italian. It was a good start with a nice warm chicken soup, but that's all. There was the artichokes and olives pizza which Claire-claire gave a wide berth. As for Spaghetti Bolognaise, well, the noodles are quite fun to play with - for awhile.
Now, finally some real food....milk!My papa thinks Claire-claire has very cheena tastes. Give Claire-claire her milk, mee tai mak (it's a kind of noodles) and porridge anyday. Pizzas and spaghetti? Perhaps another time.

Happy Birthday, Yi Yi!

We celebrated my Yi-yi's birthday yesterday at a Cantonese restaurant. My mama said that we were celebrating it earlier because my Yi-yi will be leaving for a six-month overseas working stint two days before her birthday.

Claire-claire always enjoys the food at good Chinese restaurants, and here too! From the unsweetened chrysanthemum tea...

...to pieces of lightly salted, but extremely delicious roast pork, and..my all time favourite, corn on the cob!

After a scrumptious lunch, Claire-claire clapped hands and sang birthday song. My Yi-yi tried to get Claire-claire to help blow the candles, but Claire-claire is too shy..

Happy Birthday, Yi-yi!

Sausage boat

This is my sausage boat, but it is quite difficult to manoeuvre. Claire-claire is trying again and again...

Fingers in my ear

My grandma and my mama brought me out for lunch. It was very crowded and very noisy. But no fear, Claire-claire had a solution. Fingers in my ear!

My mama told my grandma that the first time Claire-claire did this was when we walked past a noisy pub during our holiday. They have no idea where Claire-claire learnt it from and Claire-claire is not telling.