Pitter-Patter of Little Feet

Dearest Phoebe,

the first time I came across this phrase was when I was a thirteen year old. I vividly remembered my Literature teacher reading it aloud during class. It never really occurred what it meant but it got of stuck in my subconscious memory for eons and for reasons far beyond my comprehension.

Nowadays, as you grow more steadfast on your feet, Mummy and I tend to hear a lot of your 'pitter-patter' of your feet as you make your way about our humble adobe. At times, these sounds would betray your presence as you went about your play activities but sometimes, they would sound angry as you ran about throwing your almost unbearable tantrums. In the near future, this 'pitter-patter' would fade into memory again as you grow older.

It would probably be replaced by sounds of your ringing cell phone, instant messaging alerts from your computing device or even the shrilly ring of our telephone as your friends attempt to contact you. Its absence is a reminder of how you have grown.

I would probably just hear its familiar echoes in my heart only.

PS: We had lunch last weekend with Auntie Sereen, Uncle Chee Leong and baby Jonas. It was an enjoyable meal at Fishermen's Wharf. You really enjoyed the company of Jonas and even offered your candy to him. Be good and smile pretty, Daddy Dearest

Hear me sing

Dearest Phoebe, Mummy is beginning to sound like a broken record. But I can count the number of times you exclaimed "I am so happy!" when you were in Perth. At that moment, mummy just felt really rewarded. Here's a song you sang while in the apartment chilling out. p/s: Mummy has checked with the 'experts' by looks like the video can't be rotated to 'portrait'. So tilt your head and enjoy..



PS: Dearest Phoebe, Mummy forgot to consult one more 'expert' on the abovementioned matter.
I have taken the liberty to rotate the video on Mummy's behalf. I guess no one would give an arm or a leg to heard you sing, but nobody should be asked to tilt their heads rite?

Be good and smile pretty,
Daddy Dearest

WA - Perth (Jan 2009) Part II

Dearest Phoebe,

Till now, Daddy and I still could not get over the fact that our much-awaited holiday in Perth has ended. For now, we would just mull over these lovely photos of you till the next holiday comes...

Out on the Weekend

Dearest Phoebe,

I remember reading a blog entry by Mummy and it had this confessionary tone by which she stated she's a bad ambassador for motherhood. Don't get her wrong or in case you misunderstood what she wrote, she's probably wore out from work and all.

Mummy and I converse daily and most of the time, we would be talking about you. You should see how Mummy gets all perked whenever the weekend's approaching. The eve of this year's Lunar New Year falls on a Sunday and she was all excited about having our own "private" reunion meal! It's not the weekend that perks her up, but the fact that she can put aside her weekday commitments to spend time with you that becomes her catalyst for life.

If you think life's hard, wait till you try living it! We all need that spark or push to keep us going once in a while. As for me, I tend to take things as they come. And if there came a day or night when I felt I needed a little nudge - a simple reminder to keep pursuing my dreams and not to dwell on life’s minor setbacks, I know I can always count on Mummy to tell me things are OK, over and over again. It's that simple and comforting.

PS: If you ever needed that nudge in the form of an accompanying song to put a smile on your face, my suggestion is Neil Young's "Out On The Weekend". It’s an archaic but relevant (1971) country folk rock song that is about moving forward! Oh ya, it helps if you belt it out at the top of your lungs, hee....

Be good and smile pretty,

Daddy Dearest

WA - Perth (Jan 2009)

Dearest Phoebe,

Just last week, we spent a couple of days in the beautiful city of Perth, in Western Australia. We stayed in the heart of the CBD and we got around via public transport. This was our first overseas holiday as a family and it was planned by both Mummy and Daddy.

We went to many places of interests and probably every one of them was your favourite! If I were to pick one from the heap, I guess I would go with Caversham Wildlife Park, hands down! You were having a ball feeding the free ranging kangaroos in the park! You jumped with joy after one of the kangaroos gobbled up all the food pellets from your palm.

From marsupials to sea creatures, you were also fascinated by the jellyfishes we saw at AQWA. The highlight of AQWA was the walk-through aquarium that is the largest in Australia. The close encounters with the marine life were simply breath taking!

Our evenings were spent shopping for groceries and preparing for dinner. Mummy whipped up sumptuous dinners of pan-fried pasta with vegetables, grilled pizza bread, boiled sausages and oven baked meat pies! Yum, my appetite's whetted just writing about it!

Fun aside; I would like to thank Mummy for planning for the trip. Hats off to you for behaving yourself whilst in transit and on the ground! I still remember how worried Mummy was about you during our flight to Perth from Singapore. You felt discomfort during the flight due to the pressurised cabin but you just seek comfort in Mummy's arms, just like a baby koala!

The flight back was less worrisome but you were busy visiting the loo to relieve yourself as you drank a lot of water during the flight. When we landed in Singapore, it was already past ten. You fell into a deep sleep during the cab ride back home. You were probably still dreaming of kangaroos, koalas and Kings Park!

Be good and smile pretty,
Daddy Dearest

Can you kick it?

Dearest Phoebe,

Mummy has beaten Daddy to the draw in writing the first entry for your blog for the new year.
Nevertheless, this is my first entry to your blog for the year 2009.

I remember Mummy asking me about some of my entries and she questioned some of the topics I broached in them. Basically, she was asking what the unifying theme in the entries was. I must admit that I was stumped. After some hemming and hawing on my part, Mummy gave up pressing for an answer.

A few days ago, an answer popped into my head and I would want to share it with you. "Lest you should forget"; that is the grand unifying theme of my blog entries. My entries contains snippets of pop culture, daily happenings and plus a smattering of Daddy's thoughts and emotions put down in prose. Hopefully, they serve to remind you of your younger days when you were just too busy growing up to remember.

PS: I have put together a slideshow of photos of your daily activities. They involved visits to the Singapore Flyer (Gulp...) and the Marina Barrage, where you perfected your wind-in-my-hair strut. It also comprises some of your art and craft activities, including your drawing which looks like a Cubism intrepretation of the human face. One of your favourite activites was playing with Playdoh and mashing them into different shapes with the playset tools!

Be good and smile pretty,
Daddy Dearest

The 100th Day of School

Mummy loves these two photos of you taken at your childcare. You looked a little lost in one of the photos while in the other, you pretended to be a "turn turtle".

Last Saturday, we brought you back to your childcare [note: You have not gone to school for over a week as you are having a bad cough.] to collect your graduation photo plus other admin work. Mummy was pleasantly surprised to see how confident you were in moving around the school, such as going to the toilet, bringing out the montessori materials, rolling and keeping the montessori mat and sitting with your legs crossed! Mummy remembered how when you first started school in the first few days, you did not know how to roll the montessori mat and you refused to sit with your legs crossed. As we were about to leave the centre after chatting with your teachers, you even asked to eat your lunch in school and that was about 11.30am. Hahha.
Mummy hopes you will continue to enjoy school and making new friends all the time. Love mummy.

p/s: The 100th Day of School is the title of a new book by Scholastic which you have and come to think of it, you have been attending school for almost 100 days (minus away all the 'no-shows'!)