Day Trip to the River Safari

Since Miley has started to recognize animals and is able to name a few like monkey, fish, giraffe, penguin, bear, lion etc, we decided to bring her to see some of them over the weekend. And since we've already been to the Singapore Zoo on her first birthday, even though it was already 8 months ago, we went to the newly opened River Safari located just next to the Singapore Zoo! The River Safari is a river themed animal attraction where it houses the the Giant Pandas, Kai Kai and Jia Jai, and also giant fishes from all over the world such as the Mekong Giant Catfish, Piranhas and Manatees aka the mermaid. Since the attraction has not fully opened, only about two-third, we paid a discounted admission fee of $25 instead of $35 per adult. Free entry for Children below 3 years old. Even though its not fully open, there were still plenty to see and took us 3 hours to leisurely tour the whole place. And the best part is that everywhere is sheltered, except for the monkey attraction where the little squirrel monkeys were free to roam in an enclosed outdoor habitat. No sweat!

Mother and daughter in matchy matchy outfit specially for this outing. Daddy dun have.

Giant tank at the Mekong River section.

Miley captivated by the rays of light under water.

Greeted by the Red Pandas as we entered the cool biodome.

Hello Pandas! That's Kai Kai the outgoing one...

And that's Jia Jia the shy one that can only be watched from the CCTV...

A picture with Kai Kai...

Another picture together with daddy...

At the exit we were given a preview of the giant polar bear from the main zoo.

Tea time at Mama Panda Kitchen with their signature dish of Panda Bun (red bean paste inside)

Miley enjoying the breeze from the reservoir...

Beautiful view form the deck. Could see a group of birds opposite which I believe were migrating storks...

hide and seek playtime with mummy...

Cute squirrel monkeys that came so close...

Last stop at the Amazon Flooded Forest where Manatees swam gracefully. Spot the baby Manatee.

It was a fantastic day out. I have to say that the Singapore Zoo including the Night Safari and River Safari are one of the the best attractions in Singapore. Nothing beats being so close to nature and surrounded by gorgeous animals.

Miley goes to School

Miley's uniform with her name and initial hand sewn by Mummy

Today marks the beginning of an exciting chapter..... Miley goes to school! We actually signed up for this Playgroup meant for 18th months old when she was only 6 months old. Not because we were kiasu parents but because we heard many horrid stories of long queue numbers where one had to queue for years! We ended up being the first to sign up for her batch, nonetheless, one item off the checklist.

Daddy and Mummy deliberately took leave to witness her big day! We woke up at 730am to get ourselves ready and to pack her barang barang. Daddy laid everything out on the floor for inspection!  ALL CHECKED!

From top left to bottom right: Spare home clothes / Towel and hanky / Water bottle, milk bottles and milk powder / Extra set of uniform / Toothbrush, cup and comb / Pouch with hair clips and hair rubber bands / Plastic bags for dirty clothes / Diapers.

We have been preping her for this day from the last couple of days. Been telling her that she's going to school and that she will be making lots of new friends and will be having so much fun. Mummy also asked her to be a good girl but if any kid bullies her she must tell the teacher.... Hahha. All in the hope that she will adapt well.

Miley woke up at 815am. Had a quick wash up, change of clothes and a bottle of milk for breakfast. And of cos photo taking session in her uniform before leaving the house! She looks like a big girl now!

Looking bright and cheery!

Not forgetting the back of her uniform!

We picked Cherie Hearts @ NorthStar simply because it is only 5 minutes drive from home. 奶奶 drove us there this morning and will be fetching her to school every morning from now on. Curriculum starts at 7am but we wanted to take it easy and let her start only at 9am when learning "officially" starts.  We didn't want to rush anyone in the family either.

Arrived just before 9am and we were soon introduced to her Form teacher and her Chinese teacher. The teacher student ration seems to be 1:5. There are only two Playgroups in the center and each group consists of 10 students. The teachers were very friendly and we settled in very quickly. 

The center occupied 3 units on the ground floor

Immediately felt so welcomed when we saw Miley's name in the shoe rack!

The interior with a rather large playground with lots of natural light

Miley's clean and neat classroom

The center made an exception on the first day for both parents to accompany. Usually only one parent is allowed on the first three days. Nevertheless, I let Mummy accompany her most of the time while I stayed behind the scene to take photos. Miley acted a little shy at first but quickly warmed up to the new environment, especially the play ground!

Curious kids from the kindergarden class came over to "see" the new student

What better way to warm up then BUBBLES!

Cho-cho train back to the class!

Drink water time!

Notice Mummy is missing from the scene? We try to move away whenever she's occupied. She tend to forget when she's enjoying herself.

Hiding and observing her from behind the low wall

We sneaked out at about 1030am for food and returned at about 12noon to check on her. Teacher says that she did well and only cried for a while during bath time. She also had some porridge and snacks. Happy to see us, she pulled Mummy to play with her.

Saying 'Hi' to Daddy from her favorite playhouse with Mummy

Fun with hats!

Reading time before nap

That's when she started fighting sleep. All the kids fell asleep after milk at about 1pm but she didn't. She just wanted to play, probably cos we were around. With soothing music playing in the air and the unoccupied comfy mattress, how we wished that we could take her place to catch some sleep! She finally fell asleep at about 220pm. That's when we left for home to rest.

Went to picked her up at about 5pm with 爷爷 and saw her crying when we entered. She must have really missed us. Teacher says that she did well in the afternoon too. Woke up at 315pm, had a bun for snack and played "Parashute". Cried a little but was fine after a while. We are so proud of her!! :D

Rewarded her with raisins for a good first day in school!

Now that her first day is out of the way, I feel relieved that everything went well. Fingers crossed that the next few days will be as smooth and Mummy will be accompanying her. Seeing her in uniform makes me realize that she has grown up so much. Now that she has moved on to the next chapter, we will soon miss her toddler days. She will soon start to speak and talk back at us! Oh no... am I thinking too much?

Bilingual packing list on our fridge. It's a big family affair!

Addicted to gadgets

I think most kids nowadays are addicted to mobile gadgets especially iPads and iPhones. This is unavoidable when kids loves to emulate their parents who usually owns one of these gadgets. It definitely sparks their curiosity to see an adult using the device everyday. Speaking of which, at times we had to use our phones secretly under the table, behind the pillow etc to avoid letting Miley see the device. My mum says her iPad is now Miley's as its loaded with all her apps and she has no priority to use it because Miley would snatch it away at the sight of it! haha... While some parents by all means and ways tried to disallow their kids to use these gadgets, we allow her to use it to watch kids nursery videos and play with interactive apps for kids now and then - whenever we needed a break or to distract her from something else that is a bigger no-no.

At 16 months old, Miley is quite an active girl. Definitely influenced by these videos she watches for she can now sing the last word of several nursery rhymes' phrases! When you sing "Twinkle twinkle little .....", she will say "Star!". She can count 1 to 7 and she grooves to the Gangnam Style song! Was at a friend's birthday party the other day and obviously most kids probably know this song through YouTube.

Someone said that kids who watched too much video or TV will become disinterested in books. That's a little worrying. However I also dislike reading despite there were no such gadgets during my time. Maybe in the future all learning will be become interactive as the technology progresses. Nevertheless, we still tried to make her enjoy books from a young age, by buying her a few children's books although it bored her after some time.

In a bid to save cost on books, we recently decided to borrow from public library. The branch at NEX shopping mall has a huge selection for children and a few shelves dedicated for babies. They also have reading corners with tables and chairs for kids. The conditions of the books are pretty decent. Try to select the newer ones if you are concerned with hygiene. Do make sure they wash their hands before meals. The library is also a great place to spend an afternoon together, browsing books and letting her run around the carpeted flooring. :P

We borrowed 4 books today. Returning 3 weeks later, just about time when the novelty wears off.

Pre-natal Class

We had a doll to play with at the prenatal class today! We were taught how to handle, bath and change the baby. Some basic first aid, feeding for mummies and folding of cloth diapers. Most useful class so far and not just dry theories… :D

Dr Wong Boi Boi was very emotional while sharing stories on how some parents, maids and even nurses mishandle babies that causes injury or death to newborns. I could see her frustration when such things can be prevented. Don’t listen to old wives’ tales and “save the world”! :)

Wonder how much can I remember by the time baby arrives… ;o

What to Expect

My boss lend me a book today. ‘What To Expect When You’re Expecting’ by Heidi Murkoff, the same author of the app that we have been following! From that I already know it’s goanna be a great book! Will probably start reading this weekend. ;)

That's us! :D

Our First Antenatal Class

Attended our first of five parts antenatal class today. It was held in a kindergarten in AMK Hub, conducted by the famous Dr Wong Boh Boi. She makes me feel like I’m back in school again. She’s hilarious! Love her accent and repeats of “Is that quite clear?” ;D

During the 2.5 hours class we watched videos, learned some exercises and massages. I also got to try on a 5kg tummy with boobs to ‘experience’ pregnancy!

RS’s friend Wen Shan was in the same class too! Oh and each couple had a goodie bag to take home. ;)