Dear Sweet Pea,
Nanny came to visit again! Together, we walked around Esplanade, enjoyed delicious local food and lazed about in her hotel room! You found love in Hokkien Mee at Makansutra and managed to finish half a plate of the noodles in one sitting. We went to Pano Kato for dinner at Tanglin Mall and they provided colouring pencils for you to doodle and draw. While the tripod grip has yet to be mastered, you were finally colouring inside the lines or at least you were showing effort to do so!
You enjoyed sitting on Daddy's shoulders each time he lifted you off the ground. Elevated 1.8 metres off the ground, you enjoyed a wonderful vantage point and loved to point to things in the distance. Daddy's parenting style was obviously very different from mine and I had no idea what he had been teaching you. In the beginning of August, you took off your toy watch and asked me if it was a Rolex.
I enjoyed watching the interaction between you and Diffy nowadays. You would often pat her gently and she would lick your face. Sometimes you would recoil in horror at the amount of saliva left behind on your cheeks and other times you would find her tongue ticklish and would squirm before laughing out loud. You were often apprehensive around Diffy due to her large teeth and bite especially when she got excited.
We seldom head to our old haunt East Coast Park after we moved away from the East. On 11 July, we decided to bring you and Diffy to the Dog run. After a good workout for Diffy, you offered to brush her fur. Since you were using the pointed end to comb and groom her, your efforts were to no avail. However, we did appreciate that you were earnest in your work and always tried to help us with errands.
With minimal help from us, you were now able to complete building your Duplo toy house model. Not only that, you were able to use the Lego bricks to build different types of houses including a model of the house we are living in now! You would take time to explain to us why the lego pig toy was found on the roof of the house and why the lego toy sheep resided in the dog kernel. The bathroom was frequently overcrowded with Daddy, dog and the kid figurines.
We soon discovered that it was easier during the weekend to keep you awake for the full day. In which case, you would usually crash at around 7pm and that allowed your tired parents to have some rest. On 31 July, you told me when you grow up you want to be a doctor so you could help sick people. Whenever you were sick, you would remind me to bring you to doctor and that you would like to have some medicine.
You loved yoghurt pouches and have started to appreciate juices. I hoped our efforts in encouraging self feed were paying off. On 15 July, I hid in a corner after sending you to school to observe how you ate your breakfast. To my pleasant surprise, you were holding onto the spoon and tucking in the yoghurt without any supervision or help from the teachers! You were just sitting there in a corner enjoying your breakfast! I hoped this independence would continue! You took an instant liking to the wonderful taste of prime pork ribs when I offered you some from the pork bone broth I was cooking. This item has now been selected as a permanent offering on the dinner menu. You have also taken quite an interest in using chopsticks to feed yourself of late.
This month, I decided to involve you in my cooking preparation. You actively participated in the marinating of chicken wings on 16 July. This might just be the start of a culinary adventure for you. You massaged each piece of chicken with zeal and passion to ensure all the marinade was evenly spread on each of them. At the end of it all, I almost could not salvage my zip lock bag to reuse it but it was all worth it.
On 17 July, Mummy contracted Covid. It was not long before you were positive too on 20 July as I had been kissing and snuggling with you throughout the entire weekend. I was initially very worried as you were not vaccinated, however, you took all your medicine without resistance, tried your best to be resilient and tried to rest as much as you could. Of course being stuck at home for the next few days meant we had to let you watch some television programs. You now loved watching "Simon Super Rabbit" cartoon and playing large puzzles as they had kept you company when you were down with the Covid.
During the week that we stayed at home, you did throw some tantrums which were unavoidable and I tried my best to be as understanding as I could. You slept with Mummy on my bed and it was all such a novelty for you that you were actually excited at bedtime. We started listening to "Ellen the Elephant" to help you fall asleep each night. Towards the end of the recovery period, you found enough energy to play with watercolour paint on the front porch and within a short span of 15 minutes, you were already covered in blue and purple paint. You finally felt good enough to go back to school on 27 July much to our relief.
We went out with Uncle Godwin and Auntie Jess on 7 August. As we put you in the car, you told us "This is perfect"! We asked where did you learn this phrase from and you said YouTube! I have reduced so much of your screen time but Covid seemed to have dwindled the effort to nothing.
With each passing day, you grew. I looked back at pictures even just a few months ago and you looked so different. Your hair was much longer this month and we could finally start tying ponytails and pigtails.
With Love,
Mummy
P.S Something horrible happened this month, Mummy's good friend passed away suddenly. I am not quite able to articulate how I felt as I am overwhelmed with shock and sadness. When you are older, I will discuss the concept of death with you.
