Ode to my Nation

Dearest Phoebe,
Mummy filmed a short video of you singing "国旗, 国旗, 我爱你!" You have picked a fair bit of Mandarin from your Chinese teacher at your childcare centre. You have certainly expanded your repertoire to include this song in your mother tongue!

Be good and smile pretty, Daddy Dearest!

Keep it Real

Dearest Phoebe, I am aghast at the number of gramatical errors in Daddy's previous blog entry. I hope U can pick out some of them and let me know. I shall refrain from correcting these errors in order to maintain the spontaneity of blogging. I usually write on the spur of the moment and upload them whenever I have Internet connectivity. In life, nothing is perfect and nothing is constant. In life, the only constant is change.
Be good and smile pretty, Daddy Dearest.

PS: Hhhmmm... that reads like a haiku or something... 8-)

A little less conversation, a little more singing please!

Dearest Phoebe, Mummy has requested that I archived some of your singing videos for posterity's sake. You have a limited repertoire and your singing is off tune most of the time. I guess you must have overcame your initial shyness of singing to Mummy and Daddy.
Hence, I think we need to give you credit for that. For what's it is worth, please sit back and enjoy your singing.

Be good and smile pretty, Daddy Dearest.

Bollywood Hollywood Reloaded

Dearest Phoebe, this is part deux of our day after your school excursion. There was a light drizzle after lunch and you got up just as the wait staff were clearing up the dishes. We boarded the bus and you had your milk on the journey back. I was trying to stay awake while you were just sitting by yourself.

We got off at school and we headed back off after a quick change of your diapers. Teacher Lee was kind enough to help you change.

After we got home, you were still in your school uniform while Daddy tried my best to clean up the mud your sandals picked up at the farm. Alas, I did not get much opportunties to take photos of the trip. Now I know how hard it is for Mummy to bring you out without Daddy's company. After we cleaned up, we did some reading and colouring. I remembered Mummy calling to check on us and I replied "Uh, we are just messing around!".

Mummy arranged to meet with us at Central for dinner so we had to get ready by and leave home by five. The activities were we did are all a blur to Daddy now but there was a moment when I had to catch some shuteye. We were sitted on our sofa and I said that I needed forty winks. With that said, I fell into a deep slumber with you sitted by my side. What felt like an eternity much needed rest, I was awoken with you peering into my eyes with your saucer like eyes and you whispered "Daddy, wake up!". It was one of the best wake-up calls I have had in a L O N G time! We messed around a bit more before you had to take a dump. You would have a little routine of your own before you did your business, so after a while Mummy and Daddy could tell when we should give you some privacy to do your business.

After a quick washup, you finally changed out of your school uniform into something more comfortable. Daddy wasn't too familiar with your wardrobe so I let you had your pick. Once, we were out the door and you fell into a deep sleep as the LRT pulled into the train station. We alighted at Clarke Quay but you were stil fast asleep on Daddy's shoulders.

We walked around Central shopping centre while waiting for Mummy to knock from work. You were awoken from your slumber by the soothing sounds of a string ensemble of two violins and a cello as there happened to be a preview performance of classical recital of the string ensemble. Daddy is no authority on classical music but there was a piece by Vivaldi titled "Four Seasons". With that, Mummy arrived and we adjourned for dinner at a Japanese restaurant.The choice of venue for dinner was made solely on whether they had steamed egg on their menu as that is what you have requested for dinner. The steamed egg at this restaurant cost a bomb.You polished off a bowl by yourself and wanted more!

Well, we really felt it was too expensive and had to cooked up some excuse. We scooted off quickly after settling the bill. We headed back home via NEL. As we stepped into our home, Mummy remarked, "Well, you two were really messing around!" as she took in the full sight of the aftermath of our playtime!

Be good and smile pretty, Daddy Dearest.

Feeling a little lost ..

Dearest Phoebe,
Mummy decided to pen this down in your blog whilst the incident is still fresh in my mind. You were rather cranky last evening (yes, again), probably because you were dragged out from your late slumber. In your crankiness, you started using your legs to kick mummy and even used your fist to hit mummy's back. This was the first time and I hope the last that you would do this. You are rarely rude to mummy, so your actions yesterday kind of threw us off our feet. You know how mummy felt? Mummy was not angry but lost, very lost. These are acts of innocence but in ten or fifteen years down the road, if you were to do that again, it would be a testament of how our way parenting has failed. As Daddy mentioned in the earlier entries, parenting is really a tough job. I recalled one night while you were sleeping and Daddy and I chatted about the 'right' way in bringing you up. Lots of love is the methodology that we would prescribe to. However, an overt expression of love would probably lead to undesirable consequences. So again, the question of how to manage you, the little one, without bruising you emotionally. Daddy had to punish you but ended off with lots of hugs for you. The evening ended well, nonetheless, as you crawled your tired self to mummy's lap again with lots of cuddles. Lots of love, from mummy.

When a picture paints a thousand words...

If a picture paints a thousand words, then this photo of you would clearly describe how you felt when we bring you to Hort Park last weekend. Your beautiful smile and gleeming eyes say it all!

Daddy's birthday present

Dearest Phoebe,

Somehow this entry would probably be better written by Daddy but mummy just felt giving her two cents worth.

We spent two Sundays ago visiting Uncle David and Auntie Christina (Yes, mummy hasn't had the entry to blog these days.. will share more later on this.). As we made our way to their rather exclusive apartment, Daddy and I just shared a common view that as parents, we really hope to be able to provide you with a comfortable roof above your head in future. Whilst some may lament that such parents probably spoil their kids with material needs, we hope that by doing so, you could concentrate on building your career, doing your best for your job. Perhaps, mummy is an idealist but it is sad if your main aim of keeping your day job in future is simply to fulfil your material needs.

As we were busy messing around at Uncle David's house, whom by the way, is Daddy's good friend, Uncle David sprang a little surprise on us - a birthday cake! I must confess at that moment, mummy could not think of anyone else's birthday except yours which was over by then. Well, it turned out that Uncle David actually remembered Daddy's birthday on the 23rd and planned a little celebration for him in advance. I could see Daddy was really touched by Uncle David's gesture.

We ended the evening heading towards a nearby place for dinner. It was a small chicken rice stall near the road (with air-conditioned though) and it serves really sumptious food. You were busy helping yourself with the small plate of rice and the glass of barley. As we were eating, mummy overheard Daddy's conversation with Uncle David in which he said:" This little girl is really my best birthday present two years ago and she will always be." You heard that?