Being boring people and as the husband is scared to death of the Orchard Road crowd, we decided to head down to Ikea this Christmas day for lunch and also to get some last minute stuff for my party tomorrow. As you can see from the pictures, Dyl Dyl is now "smiling" like his brother *shakes head* Good grief, I hope this smile doesn't last beyond these few weeks otherwise all his pictures will be like that!
The "normal" drinking Vitagen face on the left, then the face he flashes for the camera when he saw me taking his picture :s
Under our block, the "smile" starts...
This the first of many of this "smile" at Ikea
The originator of the "smile"
Dylan trying to get the original right, i think he pulled it off here!
and again...
All 3 trying to do the same smile :D
Up to no good...
Dyl asking for a kiss from Gor Gor, I love it when they are so loving.
My favourite shot for the day, they really make me smile :)
Being my second child, I have been quite slack with Dylan in terms of bringing him for enrichment classes, letting him watch educational DVDs etc so one tuesday I was off and decided to spend the day with him doing such stuff. I let him watch Your Baby Can Read, to my surprised, he sat through the entire first half of the video and even paid attention. One of the words shown in the video was NOSE and ARMS UP. During the second half he wanted neh neh, so I kept the video on while he nursed. At one point of the video, it was the ARMS UP word again and when he heard the word, he raised one arm (the other was stuck around my waist)! After he stopped nursing, I let him continue watching the video, next word he mastered was NOSE, he pointed to his nose when the word was read out. Next came KICK. Ok I know most of your kids this age probably already know all these words but this was the first time I let him watch this video and already he picked up 3 words just like that. Made me guilty of what he could achieve if I had the time to sit with him an hour each day learning like this. Gosh, is he missing out? That evening I excitedly told his father about Dyl's achievements and he said it's a coincidence la! I asked Dyl, where's your nose? He flattened his nose as he placed his finger on it :p ARMS UP! I said and both his arms popped up in surrender pose kekeke. You should have seen his dad's face ;) That was more than a month back, he knows quite a few now.
Can say and understand: 1. BALL 2. BYE BYE 3. BUBBLES 4. DUCK 5. STAR 6. FLOWER (wow-wer) 7. CHRISTMAS TREE (ok ok, he calls it quish mus si) 8. NA (Ribena) 9. CHOU CHOU (when he poops, complete with hand fanning action to shows it's smelly) 10.SHOES (hoos) 11.UP 12.NEH NEH 13.MAMA (his favourite word kekeke) 14.HELLO (harrow, he will put a phone to his ear as he says this) 15.BABY (bee bee) 16.MOMO (our cat) 17.HOT (he will exaggerate with a scrunched up face to indicate that it's "hooort") 18.BOOK 19.BEAR (any soft toy is a bear :p) 20.NO MORE (twists wrists and hands to show no more)
Can understand and react: 1. NOSE 2. EARS 3. HEAD 4. BELLY BUTTON 5. EYES 6. SOME MORE? (If he has had enough, he will shake his head) 7. ARMS UP 8. KICK 9. WHERE IS xxx? (He will reply "THERE!" if he knows the item) 10.POSE (cocks head to right side) 11.CLAP 13.Give me a kiss or hug and he will do just that, but the kiss is him giving you his cheek to receive a kiss
I also brought Dylan for the first time to an indoor kids gym called Polliwogs at East Coast. He was a bit apprehensive at first and I ended up with a bit of a workout bringing him around the obstacles and encouraging him to try the slides etc. We went with gor gor a few weeks later and this time, Dyl wasted no time showing his brother around and even went up and down the slides on his own. This boy's a real trooper :) The both of them totally enjoyed themselves and I was glad to see Dylan opening up.
Lately whenever I whip out the camera or my phone and point it at him, he will give this cheesy cheeky grin almost like Kayden's eyeless smile! I wonder if Kay has been giving him lessons on how to smile :s This is what he looks like in that smile :p
OH and I almost forgot, Dyl boy won this mountain of yum yum from a Halloween photo contest by Cold Storage. I happened to buy 2 Halloween props (a witch hat and a devil's horn) from the supermarket and took some pictures of him wearing the horns (he hated the hat) and submitted this collage and he won! The grocery trolley bag that could be pulled up stairs easily (it has 6 wheels) is really handy.
This is the winning shot:
Diet wise, there has been much improvements. Dylan eats rice for dinner now, which I lightly stir fry with pureed vegetables and add in an egg or some tofu for his protein. He's still vegetarian at the moment. He loves fruits, any kind but especially cataloupes, bananas, apples, pears and grapes. He likes to feed himself too unlike Kayden. Often rather taking the food portion from your hand instead of letting you feed him. I like!
One of my resolutions for the new year will be to spend more quality time with the little squirt offering him more opportunities and exposure to education and not waste his capacity for learning.
(all pictures taken on the Lumix and iPhone. my iPhone is the very first version from USA, thus the low image quality)
This lovely mama Elaine, has been a great supporter of us and we are most appreciative of her and family. This is her second pregnancy we are shooting and at the point of her Bloom shoot, she has not yet named her baby, but he had a nickname of Rambo which I thought was so cool ;) When Rambo was 6 days old, we went to her place for some newborn shots of him. He's an EXACT replica of gor gor Ryan! Very chubby cheeks and just totally adorable :)
Here are some of my favourites, please view the entire album on our Facebook page.
Our very popular Christmas Walk In promo is back for 2009! Please check flyer for details. Do let your friends and family know :) You can look through blog archive for more pictures from last year's walk in.
We were visiting Braddell View grandma at the hospital the other day and as children under 12 years old were not allowed to go into the wards, I entertained the kids while Erwin went up to see his mum.
There was a little girl running around where we were seated and she came to interact with Dylan. Kayden got possessive and pleaded for me to carry didi, "wait other people take him away!" he insists. I asked him if he would like a mei mei like that little girl and he said firmly,"No, I want another didi just like this one." (points to Dylan) I persisted,"You already have a didi, isn't it nice if we have a mei mei?"
"NO! I want mummy to give birth to another didi, must be the same as this one! I don't like mei mei."
"How to give birth? Mummy old already."
"You just eat a lot and a lot then can give birth to didi!"
HAHAHAHAHA! I burst out laughing and couldn't stop for a good 30 seconds or so :D How innocent is a child's mind, he thinks a pregnant belly is from eating too much ;P
I teased him,"Then how about Kayden eat a lot and a lot then you can give birth to a didi?"
"Nooo, I want mummy to give birth and I want 40 didis just like this one!"
Before I begin, HAPPY 17TH MONTH DYL DYL! We have one month to go before you are officially one and a half :)
I've decided to post updates on the kids as and when I have anything to update. The monthly posts on Dylan had put undue stress on me each time the 11th of the month drew near ;) So this post is for Dylan's 16th & 17th month update and about Kayden lately.
The small one has turned into a copycat. He will imitate any action you do and try to repeat some words. He air flosses (saw daddy doing it), opera sings "OOORHH!" after you say Sydney (from Nemo), picks his soiled clothes (after you remove them) and puts them into the laundry basket, soaps himself in the shower like his brother and makes an exaggerated chewing action when you tell him to chew and swallow his food. He can even do a lunge now, imitating me while I exercise :p He MUST also have a bite of whatever you are eating even though he may not like it. You will know if he doesn't, the food will be spat out immediately. When I point my index finger at him to warn him of his bad behaviour, he'll point his index finger back at me complete with the same stern look I gave him :s
He loves to be around Charlene or me in the studio area when we are shooting. Often just sitting or standing quietly on the side, observing us and our subjects. In particular, he has a fondness for young babies, often going near to have a peek at them. I am waiting for the day when he will pick up the camera and start shooting, ahh I can retire soon ;)
While I enjoyed my vacation down under with the family, you know it's not really a vacation with 2 young kids along. Dylan demanded "neh-neh" each time we entered the car or before he takes a nap. My secret wish that he will self wean like Kayden did at 21months seems a bit impossible now as he is still not letting up on the number of times he nurses a day, at least 5 times each day :s The day he weans off the breast, I am booking a flight to Darwin for a photography trip :)
Who is Mr Frank you ask? Ok the other day we were in the middle of dinner at Ikea when a mother with her baby came to occupy the vacant table next to us. Kayden looked at them then said to me loudly,"Mummy, this baby is so ugly, he got so little hair!" I almost choked on the food in my mouth and quickly said to him sternly that he should not say anybody is ugly. I was too embarrassed to look at the mother of the baby with "so little hair". I stole a peek later on and she didn't seem too upset so thank goodness. I went to get dessert and when I came back, Erwin told me that Kayden made a remark about a man who walked past them, he said,"Daddy, that man is so fat!" I was like what? I told Kayden if he kept this up, he's going to be a fat old man with no hair :p Kids, they just say what they see, with no tact whatsoever. I hope he will learn to have some soon otherwise nobody's gonna like being around this Mr Frank.
As you already know, Mr Frank has an obsession with sharks lately and occasionally elephants. Everyday after we pick him from school, we will be presented with this same drawing of a black shark drawn by him. When at home, he will also draw and colour shark after shark. It looks more like a whale with sharp teeth and dorsal fins but to my son, it is a fierce shark. When I commented why always black? He replied that his favourite colour is black (yes, no longer green!) but still proceeded to draw a "rainbow shark" just for mummy ;)
Oh and as I have not completed my post on part 2 of our aussie holiday, I might as well announce here that Kayden sandboarded while we were at the sand dunes! Not once but 3 times! He is becoming a little braver, this boy that was born in the year of the chicken :p He has also been sleeping in his own room since we cleared the smaller room (which used to be my office for Tubbykat Productions) for his 4th birthday. More on this and the "ladder bed" in another post.
Till the next update, I am looking forward to more great discoveries with Dylan and braver adventures from Kayden :)
We had a promotion called Blooming Baby at this year's Motherhood Exhibition. It is a package that combined a Bloom shoot with a newborn shoot. The radiantly pregnant Ms P was one of those who took up this package. She totally rocked with her Bloom shoot and we wondered if her little girl would do the same. Well, check chubby baby Charlotte out yourself! She has the roundest cheeks and tummy and what a delight it was when she burst into a smile while sleeping :)
i am a mummy to two rascals (boys) :)
i own and run The Studio Loft, shooting babies, kids, families and the very pregnant! This blog is a diary of my kids growing up, my photography and personal ramblings :)
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