(Little Leia) Happy 23 months darling!

Leia's just one month away from turning 2! She's been starting to display more independence recently.

1. My little one has learnt to do things on her own! She insists that 'Leia do' when taking off her shoes and socks. And even when we're trying to buckle her stroller strap. Lol. She gets angry when you don't let her try it on her own. I see this as a good thing! She's learning how to do things independently.

2. Her memory's a lot better! She can remember what she did the day before eg. Going to the zoo. Sometimes I'll quiz her on what she did yesterday or earlier in the day. Ohhh and she still remembers our hotel room in hk! She must have loved the place. She relates her new toys as 'hotel room toys' lol. 

3. Leia's very loving at times. She gives super awesome koala bear hugs where she hugs super tight and says 'koala bear!'. My heart always melts when she does that. Recently she developed the habit of hugging our legs too. It's super super cute.

4. Leia still loooooves her soft toys. Her recent favorites are raccoon and panda, both from hk! G makes raccoon read to leia so she has developed a liking towards it hehehe. 

5. Our little one loves to jump and run in circles! She keeps hopping when we're out and it's so funny. She looks sooooo happy when she's doing it. The wonders of being a child. The simplest things can make you so happy.

6. Jo told me recently that Leia no longer cries after she wakes up from her nap. Instead, she shouts from the room and calls 'Auntie jo' lol.

7. Leia looooves chocolate (who doesn't?), Shan za and lollipop. Once she sees any, she will always ask for some! 

8. I love that Leia has learnt how to say please and thank you automatically now. It took us some time to teach her but it was worth it! Always tickles me when I hear her say 'tak u'.

9. Leia loves me to bathe her in the evening. She always insists that 'mama bom bom leia' when I'm home. I love that it's a bonding ritual for both of us. I love watching her brush her teeth and giving me the cheeky smile. She likes me to gargle and spit out water to show her lol. 

10. She can climb stairs and take the slide on her own at the playground! I took a while to teach her how to hold the sides to get up and down the stairs and she's pretty good at it now! She no longer has to hold our hands when she slides down either =D

Our family trip to Hong Kong!

 We had an awesome getaway to HK from 29th Oct to 3rd Nov =D It was our first time bringing Leia overseas on a planeeee! G's parents came along too! Here's a snapshot of our trip:

1st day:

Arrived at HK in the evening and checked in at my all time favourite, Novotel at Nathan.

2nd day:

We had fun at Jordan, Tsim sha tsui and Sham shui po.

3rd day:

Mongkok time!

4th day:

We walked about Causeway bay, Tai Yuen street at Wan chai and went back to Tsim sha tsui.

5th day:

A whole day at Ocean park! 

(Little Leia) Happy 21 months sweety!

My little girl is 21 months now! Just 3 months away from becoming 2. She just started taking aloooot more recently. Apart from words, she's beginning to speak in two to three word phrases.

1. Leia recognizes and says quite a lot of animal names: Dog, cat, mouse, rabbit, pig, cow, horse, lion, tiger, bear, giraffe, elephant, zebra, monkey, hippo, turtle, croc-dile, frog, bird, duck, dy-der (spider), bee, fish and so on!

2. She knows a lot of the words in her ABC book. I realize ABC books with real pictures of objects are the best. They help children relate better. 

3. Leia can say quite a few phrases now! Just recently she started saying 'Mummy/daddy where you!' which made my heart totally melt when it happened. Also, 'Mummy sit', 'bom bom duck', 'Papa Jesus' (which Jo taught her hehe). 

4. She knows how to call her name now! Just yesterday I was asking her 'Who's the cheeky one' and she had this super mischievous smile and said 'Leia!'. 

5. Her two favourite songs of late are Incy wincy spider and wheels on the bus. She keeps asking me to play the YouTube videos for her to watch! She can totally sing along and imitate all the sounds in the wheels on the bus. I love it when she does the 'Mummy on the bus goes shh shh shh'. She puts her finger on her lip and makes the cutest sound hehe. 

6. I love asking Leia questions. Just yesterday, I was asking her which animals can fly. And I was amazed at how she could already comprehend that only birds, butterflies, bees etc can fly and the other animals can't. 

7. Leia can clearly say and indicate yes or no now. I asked her last night if she loves mummy and she said yes! Awwwwww. 

(Little Leia) Happy 20 months love!

Leia's about to turn 2 so soon! Let's hope she doesn't become terrible hehe.

She's been doing so much that I'm losing track of all her milestones! Sometimes I wish I was more hardworking and video recorded all her little moments. I'm trying to do more of that now. It's not as easy because Leia usually wants to play with the camcorder when I whip it out. The other challenge is having to edit! 

Her little moments are so precious. Yesterday, when I showed her a picture or her 1st birthday, she tried singing 'happy birthday to yoooou'. She actually remembers the tune! Leia also loves to sing 'row row row your boat' randomly. I have no regrets singing a lot to her since she was a baby. I just hope to continue this tradition! 

Here are her other recent milestones!

1. She says 'please' when she wants you to give her something. She does it repeatedly now if she doesn't get what she wants lol.

2. Leia knows how to say 'mummy' now and knows it refers to me! She learnt it from Karen Katz's splish, splash baby book. My heart totally melted when she said it for the first time and pointed to me. She doesn't call me that though. In fact, she doesn't really say 'mama' even. She just comes to me whenever she needs me hehe.

3. Leia -really- loves her teddy bears. We got her one from Hamley's toy store and she adores it. She brings it to bed and ride alongs on her little toddler car. She's one of those soft toy lovers! 

4. When Leia asks for crayons, I always I ask her which colour does she want. And she always responds with a cute 'green' or 'blue'. Her pronunciation isn't perfect yet but it's good enough!

5. She knows what to say when she wants us to carry her. She'll clap her hands twice and say 'bao bao'! It's so funny how she picks up what I say when I carry her. 

6. She can mimic many words now! Recently she said 'earring' and 'Jesus', repeating after us! Her current favourite words or phrases are 'Nooo', 'Mam mam', 'dog', 'row row row', 'tis ball', 'sticka sticka' and the list goes on. 

7. Leia loves her stickers! Her favourite past time is sticking them on G and me lol.