Dear Sweet Pea,
So...you have been taking every opportunity to walk for the last 2 months. You tried to walk at home, in school, in the play pen, holding daddy's hands, in the crib. Then on the 3rd of October, a few days before your 2nd birthday, you started strutting around the house. You then proceeded to crawl and walk for more than half an hour. You refused to be carried around and insisted on using your own two feet to explore the different corners of the house. You continued this walking streak to Grandma's house as you collected your first lantern (in the shape of a red rooster) and a little red packet ahead of your 1st birthday.
We are so proud of you little one! You are our ray of sunshine during these covid times and in some ways we have never missed any significant milestone of yours in the last one year. We will always carry this gratefulness in our hearts.
You took your time in taking an interest in solids and are finally eating well now. You are now more receptive to different textures and tastes. Your favourite food for the 1st two weeks of the month has been chicken pasta. Daddy is very proud that you have the European genetic trait surfacing in the first year of your life. He forgotten that your genealogy lineage is of French descent and not Italian. Before long within the same month, you grew tired of chicken pasta and turned your affection to chicken and sweet potato porridge lovingly prepared by Mummy. However, you still display mild interest in fruits. You are also not too fond of sweet treats. I am secretly happy at this point that you have not inherited Daddy's genetic disposition for sweet tooth.
You relished playing and biting on the teat of the milk bottle, squirting the milk out and catching it with your mouth wide open. The milk would often end up all over your face and you would break into strings of laughter. You loved to do this while sitting on Daddy and he would tickle you as you squirm around in his arms. Mummy started to wean you off this month and supplement your intake with more formula milk. Mummy has reduced your breast feeding to once or twice each night and I had honestly missed you being so close to me.
They were quite a few first experiences this month for you. We kickstarted that with your first visit to Sentosa and your inaugural cable car experience with us. You were a little jittery and nervous about the cable car ride but slowly warmed to it as you went from sitting to standing on Daddy's legs to look out. You have also learned how to kiss Mummy and Daddy upon request.
We celebrated your first birthday with a bang this year! Since we were not able to invite anyone over, we celebrated it with just the 3 of us. Daddy wanted to replicate his 1 year old birthday cake for your special day; it was a cake in the shape of the letter 1, covered in smarties! We scoured Singapore for the right smarties we could put on the cakes and we searched high and low for them finally found them at Jewel, Changi.
We started baking your cake on 7th October after putting you to bed! Since Mummy isn't a fan of pastries and cakes, I do not really know how to bake a cake. Of course in Daddy's mind, there isn't anything we cannot do together as a couple. Hence we started embarking on this journey of baking you your first cake together! We began our adventure at approximately 11pm.
Mummy had earlier borrowed a weighing machine and a hand mixer from my colleague because when it comes to cake recipes, you definitely need to follow the instructions to a T. Daddy watched YouTube videos on how to beat the egg while Mummy learnt to sieve the flour and we both created the batter and baked the base of the cake together. Also, the kitchen was turned into a winter wonderland as we both tried to whisk the flour and butter together. I am not sure when is the next time we will be attempting such a feat! Daddy was then put in charge of cutting the cake to the right shape while Mummy did the frosting. After that was done, it was time to put the Smarties on the cake. The best part of decorating it was eating the Smarties and how we needed the sugar rush! We only had time to put the cake into the refrigerator when you started crying for milk!
On your birthday, we both took a day off and sent you to school with a lovely strawberry cake to celebrate with the kids at school! In the afternoon, we picked you up for a stroll at the beach before heading home to cut your birthday cake while video calling your Nan in Australia! After that, it was a blur of you unwrapping or rather tearing through presents in glee.
What an exhilarating, life changing year it has been with you in our lives! My dear child, we hope to be celebrating each and every single one of your birthday every year! Our only wish is for you to be healthy and happy!
On another note...we found our dream home.
Xoxo,
Daddy and Mummy
