nick nick CAN...

i must say .. i have really lost a lot of time with nick nick ....

but over the past few weeks nick nick has grown tremendously in skills!!!

8 months old achievements:-

• nick nick can crawl forward (though he started crawling backwards at 7 months)
• nick nick can clap his hands (though he started closer to 6 months but stopped for a while ... til now)
• nick nick can say NO
• nick nick grew a tooth!

nick nick can crawl forward - this was something he learnt while we were in hong kong for that week .. and he realised that going forward was the only way to get to me and have me carry him!!!! and that gave him enough of a motivation to MOVE .....

nick nick can clap his hands! and more surprising - yesterday i had nick nick on my lap and we were playing a game of clapping hands. with him seated back-facing to me, i clapped my hands and he would follow and clap his hands. at one point, i clapped my hands and then asked him to "Clap Mummy's hand". I use my left hand and kept my right hand. Nick nick raised his right hand and clap that against my left hand!!! and after that he turned his head to look at me and smiled!!!

i was shocked and happy! and i did that the second time .. .and again nick nick raised his little right hand and clap against my big left hand!!! and smiled again at me with that big toothless smile!!

nick nick can now understand instructions!!

nick nick can say NO - when we feed him and he has enough, he will shake his head and close his mouth ... and that is the same for food or drinks or milk ... nick nick can tell you - NO.... and of course if you still dun get it .. he will start to cry and use his hands to push you away ... nick nick can say NO...

nick nick grew a tooth!! the bottom right tooth!!! it was pushing its way out during the week we were in hong kong and goodness me! that was a painful exercise for him and for us too!! but now - he has ONE tooth!! :P

so ... nick nick can do lots now ..... nick nick CAN.

i can read ...

grandma wanted to bring iggie along on a car ride to pick GongGong from the service centre where he drove the car to.

to entice iggie to come along, grandma showed him a street directory and told him "from thomson road, we will travel on this road and turn right and go to this other road and then turn left and find this red building. can you help me read this map and guide me so that we can pick GongGong up?"

iggie eagerly agreed ... and hopped on the car with the street directory opened up on thomson road on his lap.

so grandma started the car and asked iggie "are you ready?"

iggie looked at grandma and replied "iggie doesnt know how to get to thomson road"

grandma laughed and said "ok - i drive you to thomson road then you guide me from there? is that alright?"

iggie smiled and said "ok!"

while driving, grandma asked "iggie, next time when you go hong kong you will go to school and will meet new friends and learn to read"

iggie replied "iggie doesnt want to go to school, iggie doesnt want to learn to read"

a surprised grandma said "you need to learn to read"

iggie asked innocently "why?"

grandma replied "so that you can find a job and work to earn money"

iggie replied happily "iggie will drive the train, iggie can read the map"

a shocked grandma took a 1 min, laughed and said "yes iggie, even if you want to be a train master, you need to read the map and read the signs....."

iggie looked at the street directory on his lap, paused and said "iggie can read the map"

fly me to hong kong ...

this was a conversation between iggie and grandma two nights ago:-

Grandma: "next time grandma has to find cheap tickets to fly to hong kong to see iggie. do you have place for grandma to sleep in hong kong?"

Iggie: "you need to bring your own pillow grandma..... and your own bolster. in hong kong there are only 2 bolsters and 2 pillows"

Grandma: "what? can you share your 'zhou-zhou' (one of the two bolsters iggie has) with me? you hug 'xiang-xiang' and grandma hug 'zhou-zhou'"

Iggie: "no, you need to bring this big bolster. you can bring it up the plane"

Grandma: "what? so big? there are no space"

Iggie: "put on the floor"

Grandma: "what? its so dirty"

Iggie: "put in the under-carriage of the plane"

Grandma: "but if i put this in the luggage there will be no space for my clothes"

Iggie: "hong kong is very hot"

Grandma: "so grandma doesnt need clothes? ha ha ha ha!" (iggie laughs too...) "so where is grandma going to sleep?"

Iggie: "mmmm....mmmm.... there is no space"

Grandma: "hmm... i think i need to find a big bird to fly me to hong kong. what do you think iggie?"

Iggie: "a big BAD bird" (sniggles)

Grandma: "then the BAD bird will drop me into the ocean! then what's grandma going to do?"

Iggie: "mmm.... iggie open the window and drop the wood down to you"

Grandma: "and what's grandma going to do with the wood?"

Iggie: "you build a bridge"

Grandma: "what? i need to find a big bird to fly me and then i need to build a bridge from the ocean to hong kong to see you? why dont you buy me a ticket and fly me to hong kong?"

Iggie: "because iggie doesnt have money"

not enough answers ....

daddy asked iggie "do you like to stay in hong kong or singapore?"

iggie looked up at daddy and replied "iggie likes singapore and hong kong"

daddy continued to ask "you can only choose one - which one would you like better?"

iggie looked down at his feet and after 1 min of thinking, replied "singapore"

daddy looked surprised and asked "why iggie? dun you like hong kong?"

iggie continued to look down and after 1 min of thinking, looked up and said "there are not enough toys in hong kong"

daddy looked relieved, and said "we can pack all your toys from singapore and bring them to hong kong"
iggie looked at daddy, and said "there is not enough space in hong kong"

daddy looked stunned .... and said nothing more.

not enough space..... cant pack space into boxes .... cant make more space .... cant answer ......

timing is everything ....

timing is everything .... and this time we didnt get the timing right....

just brought both boys up to hongkong to visit daddy ... and goodness me - it was a 10 day training camp for us!!!

first - Weather Timing
this must be the worst week to go hongkong as it was super hot and super humid!!!

nick nick when he is hot / warm / sweaty would be uncomfortable and start to cry ... and iggie under the hot sun (without our trusty car in singapore) literally melted away into the stroller and refused to walk any step or go anywhere.... not even to the downstairs clubhouse or swimming pool.

the only day we got him to be excited about going to the pool - the pool was closed due to "Storm Warning"... which baffled me coz it was blazing hot sun outside .. no sign of STORM ????? where was that weather station - in DownUnder Australia?????

and the other pool was closed for maintenance during that time!!!!

timing ... just wrong timing to be away from cool singapore ....

second - Growing Timing
nick nick is close to 9 months old ... and seem to be teething for the longest time.

iggie had his first tooth when he was 4 months old.... but nick nick has been crying, biting and drooling non stop for the past 4 months ... and this week had to be the crucial week when the first tooth was pushing its way out of his tender gums ... and nick nick cried, screamed - literally screamed til his voice was hoarse .... and each episodes of his crying / screaming / kicking would last no less than 30mins ... and each episodes repeated itself every other hour .... even through the night .....

timing ... just wrong timing to be away from his usual home singapore ...

third - Crowd Timing
on our last trip to hongkong with the kids, we purchased the annual disneyland pass ... and iggie went there for 3 times ...

this time round we decided to venture out there on a Tuesday (a work day and non school holiday) ...

but it was horribly crowded!! the queues were no less than 30 mins and each ride would last no more than 3 mins... under the hot sun and with no shelter and spent all your time queuing .... iggie was upset ... nick nick was hot and teething ... we all couldnt wait to get home .... and with no car ... it was another long MTR ride having to change 3 trains back and walk from the station back to the apartment ....

timing ... just the wrong timing to be crowding with hundreds and thousands of other people ....


so timing .. everything is about timing .....