Birthday, And More Birthdays!

Today is Jan 1st, 2007 - New Year Day. It's also my chinese birthday, 13th day of the 12th lunar month. And guess what? It's also my little cousin, Sarah's birthday!

We started our day by going to Church - for a great new start in 2007. Mommy dressed me in my new blouse from Disney (Mommy & Daddy bought me some Disney clothes from Rome last October) and off we went to Church.

In Church, I was behaving quite well but when I started to grow restless, Daddy took me out for a change of environment.

After Mass, we went home. Amah had prepared mee suah for me, which was supposed to symbolise long life. She gave me an ang pow (for good luck) and fed me the mee suah, with hard-boiled egg and meat inside. Then, Mommy fed me chicken drumstick and gave me ang pow too. Mmm.... it's so delicious! All these are part of a traditional chinese custom when a baby turns 1 year old (or actually 2 in chinese calendar, since they counted the day that the child is born to be 1 year old).
Next, Amah placed an abacus, a ruler, a book and a pen in front of me. Each of these items were supposed to represent a career and the first object that I chose was supposed to signify my inclination. Here's what I took - in sequence:
Abacus - does this mean I'm gonna be an accountant next time? :)
Suspense... what would I choose next?
Oh, it's a pen! Hmm....what does it mean? A writer?
Followed by ruler - according to Amah, this means an architect.
And finally a book... Oh dear. Will I ever gao thak chek (good in reading) next time?

Then, Amah wanted me to pai pai and pay my respect to the Goddess of Mercy, Kwan Yin.


When we're done with all the rituals, we went to Cousin Sarah's first birthday party!

We had a great time there, and I enjoyed playing with her. But I was more interested in the balloons. Sarah and her Mommy, or Koh Koh, as I called her. Oops, we missed the birthday cake's photo! Sorry, Mommy didn't get to snap any photos after that. After the party was over, I went back to have my nap.

In the evening, Daddy, Mommy and Amah took me to the swimming pool for a dip in the pool. We're supposed to meet Cousin Sarah there, but she overslept so we went ahead. I had a great time splashing away.
So, that's a day of birthdays. Isn't it nice if everyday can be like this?

The real day

It's my birthday today - for real :) I woke up early and greeted Mommy & Daddy with a big smile before they managed to go off to work. Mommy then nursed me, giving me a power start for my day. When I'm done, Amah took me to watch Mr Banana in her room (as a means of distraction from seeing Mommy & Daddy off to work, for fear of me crying). They even managed to take this shot of me with my new doggy... before I cried.










In the afternoon, Mommy & Daddy came back during lunch time to celebrate with me (it's a Wednesday). We opened the birthday present from Mommy & Daddy. It's an electronic barney storeybook! There are 12 pages in total, from A to Z and number 1-10! It comes in 6 different Barney songs, with a microphone too! And there's even a quiz asking for us to find a certain letter or alphabet. Also, there are notes for me to play, see those musical icons at the bottom there - when the Barney songs are on.


Before this, they have already given me a bicycle last week (actually I chose it myself). It's very cool - in bright yellow & green. Got lots of sounds too. Check it out! And it actually came in a hood to cover my head if it's too sunny (it was not shown here, haven't installed yet). As I'm still small, I can rest my feet on the peddle base. When I'm bigger later, I can actually do the cycling myself. Well, hopefully it'll last till then!

At night, after Mommy & Daddy came back from work, they took me to Jusco at Queensbay Mall. I got to ride a few musical rides, even the merry-go-round too :)

Then, I got to do a little exploring inside Jusco...


Did you noticed that I have my new gown today? Amah specially have it tailor-made for me, with the smocking and all. And with my little bonnet, don't you think I look like a princess? ;D
Overall, I have a great time on my first birthday. Got to spend with Mommy and Daddy and Amah.

See, Daddy taught me a new trick - how to say One in Chinese, and raise my hand to show it :)

Me and Amah in Starbuck Coffee...

Posing for Mommy... Here comes my birthday studio shot, ahem!

My birthday presents

Finally I got to open my birthday presents at night (I have a long nap after my party, it's such a tiring day). Here's my fire engine from Ah Pek :)

I got a Doggy from Chik Chik... he likes my fire engine too!

And I've got another dog (Snoopy) from Aunty Ah Chin, and looks like both dogs have a great time with my fire engine....

and uh oh! Looks what Mommy is doing with my toys! I was so mad!!!!

I was so excited with my new toys that I have to postpone opening the rest of my presents to another day... coz I've been playing with them till very late at night. Even dreamt about it in my sleep!

Cake cutting

I might not know what's birthday is all about, but when I saw my cake with 1 candle lit on it, I automatically put my hands together and make a wish. All those adults seem to be so surprised! As if babies don't know how to make a wish :)











Wanna have a look at my cake? It's a big pooh in a 1 shape. I love it! Ama's friend made it for me, that's what I heard them saying...

My first birthday party

I woke up in the morning today like any other days. But i noticed something is different - the house is especially clean... Daddy worked very hard to clean it I can see. After my morning bath, Mommy dress me up in a very pretty frock. I thought it's another day's out - going kai kai again? I got to wear my new shoes from Poh Poh, and the little bonnet mommy bought from Singapore. Hmm... something's going on? Ama keeps cooking and cooking and cooking....

Then Mommy put me on my new bicycle and started asking me to pose.

Later, I saw food arriving and so many people started to come. Kim Poh, Ah Pek, my cousin sister Sarah, Ko Ko, the aunty next door, Cik Kong, Chim Poh, and many many more. They all brought presents with them and say Happy Birthday Sze Yi. Ohhh.... so it's my PARTY!

My presents.... sitting under the Christmas tree

I really have a jolly time, and somehow knows today I'm the host. But later I found out that it's not the real day, they just celebrated it earlier to take advantage of the weekend. Today is Sunday, and my birthday is actually 3 more days to go...

Step by Step

Have you ever seen 3 ladies walking step by step? And they are 3 generations apart, mind you :)

Here's to shopping at Queensbay Mall!

Table manners

I learn my table manners today - thou shall clean thy mouth after dining. I'm actually wiping my mouth with a serviette, but you might think that I'm blowing my nose :)

Splashing time

Mommy bought an 'indoor swimming pool' for me when I was only 2 months old. She wanted to give me an early start in the water before I forget my natural float instinct. It seems that babies could float naturally if put into the water before they hit 6 months, since they have got lots of practices in their mommy's womb. But since they are afraid that I would catch cold, mommy get a huge one instead so that I could learn to float inside it rather than in the cold swimming pool.

I used to play inside it even though there's no water. It's been my favourite 'play tent' since then, until Chik Chik disassembled it coz it's too bulky and eats up a lot of space in our house. Since then, I seldom play in it coz it takes some effort to blow it up again.

Anway, I do have some fun splashing in it at the pool. I don't remember when I actually go to the swimming pool to swim, but I guess it's around my 6th or 7th month. Coz mommy bought my swimming costume from Singapore when she goes there for training in mid June. I certainly have lotsa fun splashing away!

My 4th Month Ceremony

I still remember my 4th month ceremony - April 10th, 2006 according to Chinese lunar calendar. It's a Monday and Papa/Mama took leave to celebrate with me. Ama prepared a bowl of great food for me, mainly consists of meat, prawn, mee suah, tofu, mushroom, and etc. according to the Hokkien tradition.

According to Ama, this ceremony is intended to train me to sit on the high chair (I still can’t sit straight by myself yet, see all the pillows that they stuff me with), and taste all kinds of food so that I won’t have allergies when I started solid food later.

And I even get to wear a necklace of biscuits too! She said this is to prevent me from dripping with saliva later….. which I think is quite true

Daddy insists that I get a cake too, even though it’s not my birthday yet….


They are not done with me yet… I have to go all the way to Ipoh so that Po Po and Gong Gong get to treat me drumstick. Guess what, I got KFC, but really, I think I’ve had enough food for today.