The Day the Sky Cried

It rained today for the woman who had brought up my husband passed away. She was a good wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

RIP - Aneta Constantin

25 March 1926 - 4 May 2012

The Master Plan

Thinking of the Plan

Pen and paper ready

Drafting out the Plan

Executing the Plan -- Work for mummy >.<

Painting the Carpet Black

*Glob-Glob-Glob* Emil's heart stopped after hearing that. He immediately rushed over to the shoe cabinet where Dan was playing.

He shouted for me to grab some towels and to come over. I was then taking a cat nap immediately bounced out of bed, grabbed some towels and rushed over.

Dan's hands and feet was covered with black shoe polish. He managed to open the bottle, break open the seal of the shoe polish and poured it all out.

Moral of the story, keep an eye of your kid, make sure the house is child proofed and have fast reflexes.

First Day at School

After the big move we thought that it would be good for Dan to go to school. We have both agreed that having some interaction with other kids would do him good.

Today we had a trial. So far so good. Dan was so busy exploring the school compounds and other kids that he forgot about me. Two hours went by swiftly. It started off a little harsh with him hiding between my legs but within a few minutes, he was good to go.

Let's see what happens tomorrow.

How to Track an Active Child

Emil had the idea of tying a helium balloon to Dan's t-shirt when he was out alone with Dan.

After a long day out

Ball-session

Emil brought Dan to meet his university-mates and their babies - Darius and Irina in the park this evening. And as usual, Dan had his little adventure and made dad run.

Dan has started to have this obsession with balls. Every time he sees a ball, he goes running for it. Does not matter if someone is playing football or volleyball or basketball and the ball is over his head.

Today little Irina brought along her ball to play. Dan saw the ball, picked it up and ran across the field. Darius, saw Dan running with the ball started running after Dan. Emil then started running after both of them to try to get the ball back to Irina. Imagining this just made me laugh and this was not the end.

At both ends of the field, two other children were playing with their balls. Dan spotted there was another ball, ran towards it and picked it up, now running with both balls in his hands away from his dad. Darius on the other hand, spotted another ball at the other end of the field, ditched the idea of running after Dan, ran towards the other ball instead. Now, with both kids running separate ends of the fields, Darius's dad had to run after him as well.

Emil finally caught up with Dan and tried to persuade him to return both balls. With no where to run, something else caught Dan's eye. The little girl had a wand with a ball at one end and a few balls dangling at another end. Well, Dan being Dan, dropped both balls and got hold of the wand. Emil was relieved that Dan was no longer running and have obediently returned both balls. However, his nightmare was not over -- Dan still had the wand. The little girl's parents called out and told her it was time to go home. Emil without any other solution had to release Dan's tight grasp of the wand by removing finger by finger and taking the wand away and returning it.

Darius on the other hand spotted some stones in the middle of the field and thought throwing stones were more fun than balls. Irina learning by example thought it was fun too and started throwing as well. Emil, carrying the crying Dan back to the middle of the field and placed him down. Seeing both Darius and Irina playing with stones, he thought it was quite fun as well and started playing with both of them.

Finally all parents were able to chat and catch up after a whole hour of chasing after their kids. Too bad I was not there to witness the whole thing. However, just listening to Emil describing it just threw me off my seat and it deserves me jotting this down. :)

Mummy, gave me Bangs!

Dan's fringe has grown so annoyingly long that I just had to cut them.

He has been rubbing his eyes so often because hair was poking. During his nap two days ago, I found a perfect moment. However, I guess it was a bad idea cutting it while he was in the pouch.

And the result: Extremely short bangs. Oops...

Sweeping and Wiping

By now - 13 months, Dan's learning something new everyday it is hard to keep track of what is new. Everyday is a new learning and even though he might not be showing what he has learnt, you know he is observing and absorbing. He has started this habit of sweeping everything off the floor and once the table is clean, he beems with pride. He might have to start learning to put things back in order though, for the sake of us, parents. And whenever, he gets a tissue, he starts wiping. I guess he must have learnt that from me. At this stage, it is quite facinating and scary at the same time at how adults are models for a child's behaviour. It is a huge responsibility I must say.

Tip of the Day: No Toys for Cranky Baby

Especially when it is made to withstand numerous bangs. And never when you are of arms length (with the baby in the sling)

This was what happened a month ago trying to calm a cranky baby in a bus - and I don't wanna give names :p

A Big Step

Dan has grown so fast. I now understand why people always look at babies and say that they grow up so fast. One year has past and now looking back, it was like yesterday that he was this little baby all wrapped up in a bundle, wailing without any reason.

Now at one year, he is toddling around, dancing, eating by himself, babbling and of course still wailing but for a reason. He is also able to fall asleep by himself. Gone were the days where I was prowling on sleep sites, breastfeeding or cloth diapering. Now, parenting, play, and diet are on top of the list. There is so much to learn yet so little time as he is learning so fast.

Much has happened for the past year in our lives as well. We got a baby, from working full time to being a full time stay home mum, travelled quite a lot, moved into a new apartment, and now moved to a new country. It has been constantly changing. Every month was something new for us. Though at that point of time it seemed to be nothing. Adding up seems to be quite a sum.

It has been a big step for us not only for Dan, adapting to a new born and with life as partners and parents at the same time. And I am really glad we have made it so far. One year has passed and I look forward to the next year with a new chapter with new learnings and challenges

Bed Testing

TEMPUR found a new model. Immediately when I put Dan down, he lied down to test the pillow and loved it. Usually he hates being in that position especially when he is awake and we have to change his diapers. Maybe Tempur should produce changing tables or mattresses for baby cots?

I Like to Ride My Bicycle, I Love to Ride My Bike

Dan was trying along the way to see past his dad's butt. However, he failed to do so. So the best way was to turn and look behind instead. By doing so, he got tired and finally fell asleep.

Juliet, oh! Juliet

Little Dan starting young.

Baby Steps: Dan's Little Girl Friend

We were at the indoor play ground today. Little Dan had lots of fun playing in the ball pool, with the slides, and crawling around the obstacle course. Even better, he found little friends of his size and age. Curious enough, that motivated him to take more steps as well. He saw this little girl who was 2 months older toddling around and tried to show off what he could do.

I initially wanted to just take a video of him playing at the playground with other kids. However, to my surprise, Dan decided to walk towards the little girl instead.

First Steps

Closing in to his first birthday, little Dan has been attempting to take his first steps. He can now toddle one or two at a go before sitting down. Great achievement after practising for more about half a year standing and cruising.

Climbing

Little Dan is quite a climber now. He is able to climb the whole fleet of stairs and also climb down with minimal help. He can also climb down from the bed by turning his back and landing on his feet first instead of his head.

It is amazing how much he has grown to be aware of his surroundings -- that he uses his feet to touch lower ground first before climbing down.

Musically Inclined?

Dan has been instinctively grooving when music is being played. I wonder whether this is in born in all babies.

Waving Ta-Ta

Have not been posting anything for the past one month due to travels and little Dan has learnt so much. I would not actually say learnt.

I feel that he has been just absorbing and waiting for a time to burst out his knowledge. I guess all babies are like that -- just absorbing everything around them and not showing it until they have the opportunity to do so. 

Little Dan started waving a few months back, now he is interacting and letting us know that he understands when people part, we wave -- that I believe is not only a trick to wave but understanding the context of social behaviour. 

Headache

Teleportation

After hours and hours of discussion of how to teleport from city to city to cut travel time, we found a way -- we FLY!