Splish Splash!

Norelle's favourite time...

Double celebration

Today, Norelle turns 1 year old according to Chinese Lunar Calendar. She was born on the twelth day of the twelth month (12 12). We went out for dinner together with my ILs. We didnt follow any sort of tradition such as preparing red egg, steeping on the ang ku (guess this is more the hokkien tradtion and we are hakka) etc...But I guess it would be nice to have this kind of tradtion but no one both of our families pratice this.

Today Norelle also attended Baby Caitlyn's 1st birthday. So many birthdays this month. Baby Caitlyn is 5 days older than Norelle but she is waaaaaaaaaaaayyyy bigger than Norelle. When they stand together, Norelle looks so tiny, hahaha...Baby Caitlyn was so lady-like unlike Norelle. She's very obidient even tough she's not feeling well. And Baby Caitlyn is such a pretty girl.

Together with Baby Caitlyn and her pretty mummy, Elaine

Upgrade...

Finally we are able to put Norelle into front-facing on her carseat. I've been waiting for this day for so long and I'm so happy for her. Come on, imagine sitting in a carseat rear-facing for about 10 months and all you can see is just the top of the rear screen. Plus, everything seems to move the opposite direction is no fun. Once we changed the position of the carseat, Norelle seems to like it and she can even stays longer on it. She managed to stay put in the seat for about 1 hour!!! But am not sure if this will continue once the 'novelty' wears off. Keeping my fingers crossed **

Oh, you mean all this while we are moving 'forward'?

Fun Day at Home

Yesterday was a public holiday, HY and I together with Norelle went for an early brunch at Subway, 1 Utama. We were there at about 11am after we met up with Tracey (the baker for Norelle's birthday cake - more on that in next post). Out goes the Christmas decorations and in comes the cheery blossoms and laterns, etc. And I love CNY!! I just love the hustle-bustle, the ever-so-loud 'dung dung chiang' songs (which seem never ending). But we have not started preparing for the festive season just yet.

We were there for a little walk and we went straight home after that. Upon arriving home, HY remembered that Alice (his 2nd sis-in-law) gave Norelle a small baby pool. He took it out and start inflating it. The 'baby pool' is really small but I guess that is why they called it 'baby pool'. So I brought Norelle up and change her into her bikini. See, I bought that sooooooooo long ago and she never really has the chance to wear it. Even though it's just at home, I can also dress her up for the appropriate occassion, right?

HY already filled the pool with water. She was a litlle bit sceptical when I first placed her in the water due to the temperature of the water. But that was only for a few minutes. Next, she was sitting in the pool happily splashing the water. She was enjoying so much with just hitting the water with her palms. Such a funny sight.

I wanna stay in here forever and ever and ever!

Norelle is 11 months old!

Norelle is 11 months old today. Can't imagine that it's going be a year since she first came into the world. And it seems like only yesterday that I held the little body in my arms - looking so angelic and sleeping soundly away. Zap! now, she's busy walking around (she can walk pretty well now) I cant even sit down for a minute and yakking away (in her own language).

And remember that I posted about 'finally' Norelle's teething? Well, it turned out to be a false alarm. I waited and waited for like, a month and yet still nothing. Hmm..but yesterday I saw her 1st tooth cutting out on the lower left gum. This time I swear that it's really happening. I checked a few times and I can even feel the tooth with my finger when I was bathing her. When I told HY about this, he broke out into a song, 'All I want for birthday is my 2 front teeth'. Haha..

My baby is growing up now. Venturing into toddlerhood very very soon.

Mummy, will I be growing up soon?

1st Christmas!

It's Norelle's first Christmas this year. And it was very kind for VT and Paik Ling to invite us for Xmas lunch at their home. And congratulations to Paik Ling for the good news. Hope your wish will come true ;) Norelle got to play along with Bryan gor gor too (more like snatching toys from each other). Norelle had so much fun playing and exploring all the toys. Baby Bryan is so adorable and macho (like VT, haha). He's so active just like Norelle and has a huge appetite. It's so much fun seeing both of them playing. Should let them meet up more often.

Busy exploring Bryan gor gor's toy

Paik Ling: Say cheese everybody
Norelle: Let me go!!! I haven't finish playing with the toys!!!
Bryan: Hmmm....how many times do I have to pose for a photo? This time, I am not going to cooperate!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Peek-a-boo!

Norelle loves this game. She knows how this game works. Mainly is because I'ven been 'playing' this game with her since she was born. So now when we say 'peek-a-boo' she will cover her face with a cloth and when we say the word 'boo', she will 'unveil' herself and laugh :)

This is Norelle doing 'Peek-a-boo' :

Now you see me...

...now you don't

...TA DAH!! Now you see me again

Norelle is walking...

On Wednesday (19th December) evening, Norelle and I were at the living room playing as usual. Half way through playing, she got up on her feet and clapping her hands - which is usual. She likes to display her ability of standing up and would clap her hands when she does. But that night, after getting up on her feet, she leaned herself forward and at that moment I thought she would fall down flat front on her face. But to my surprise, she didnt and she took her first step forward!!! Then only I realised that she's actually trying to walk - on her feet - on her own! Ha. Then she placed the next foot forward and slowly she made a few steps. I was estatic to witnessed this important milestone in her life.

She plonked on her butt after a few steps but that only made her more eager and more confident to get up and walk again. Each day, she is making progress by walking further and further. And she just can't get enough of walking - which means I have to walk with her too - right behind her. She's still abit wobbly, so I have to watch over her.

I recorded a video of her walking the walk:

Norelle is (was) 10 months old

As clearly indicated from the title of this post (above), Norelle was 10 months old on the 30th November 2007. This post is wayyyyy long overdue, thanks to the mummy who's buried herself into the pile of work at the office.

Well, back to business (Norelle's bisuness), Norelle is getting more and more active. Can hardly hold her down. I wonder where she gets the energy from? Maybe I over-indulged myself with sugar when I was carrying her?? Hmmmm.....

She can stand unsupported now. And has been doing it very frequently. And now, she wants to stand ALL the time. Irregardless where she is - be it on the stroller, bath tub, high chair, bed, car etc...PHEW! Imagine trying to feed her porridge/cereal while she's standing ON the high chair. Seriously, these past few weeks Norelle has gotten more and more mischevious. Sometimes, I think it's a bit out of hand. She is VERY stubborn, has a character of her own (this already being determined since birth!) Bad tempered (I wonder for this she takes over me or HY???)

We bought a walker for her to practice on her walking since she's been standing on her own quite steady and firm. The moment she saw the walker, she loved it! We guided her on how to walk using it and now she can 'walk' on her own using the walker. It's fun and exciting seeing my little girl is slowly learning to take her first step. Gosh....seems like just yesterday that I held the tiny little body on my arms. And in less than 2 months' time my little baby will embark into toddlerhood.

She is also getting more and more vocal - but mostly still in baby talk. She can say mamamama or mumumum. Sometimes she makes those sound like she's calling out for her daddy - dadadddadyyyy daaaaaaaadddddyy something like that, but I doubt she's calling for HY :P

Oh..she's teething now (or has been for the past 2 weeks). There's a white spot on her lower gum and I can't be happier when I spotted it. I mean - FINALLY! I am dying to see some pearlies on her gum. It would be soooo cute when she's smiling and you can see those little teeth. But that was 2 weeks ago and she is STILL teething. How long does it takes for a tooth to sprout out???

She is more responsive to us now when we are talking to her. And she did a new sign too - sign for bib. Hahaha...I notice that when I was feeding her the other day. I put her on the high chair and usually I will put on her bib before I start feeding her but that day I forgot to put it on. And there she was holding out her index finger and kept pointing it on her chest. Then I realised she was actually telling me that I forgot the bib. I was surprised when she did that.

And she learned another sign as well at my MIL's. Whenever we bid goodbye to HY's nephew s (age 5 and 3), he will do the following - wave bye bye, fly kiss and salute (dont ask me why) . So this little ritual of them has been going on for a long time and Norelle somehow has picked it up. It's so cute seeing her doing the 'salute' sign (put hand at the back of the head).

So all in all, it a good month and the year is coming to an end and when next year begins, it also marks a new begining to all of us. For Norelle especially as she will be celebrating her 1st birthday in January. Yippeee! Can't wait.

Norelle @ 10 months - and with a new hairstyle (NOT MY IDEA!!!)

A video on Norelle's learning to walk using the walker:

For the first time...

Last weekend, there were many firsts in Norelle’s life:

On last Saturday, we brought Norelle to Putrajaya Marriott for HY’s friend’s wedding. Initially we wanted to put her at my MIL’s place (as usual when we are going for a wedding dinners) but not this time as MIL also had an event that night. Looking at the venue of the dinner and the distance, we decided to book ourselves into a room for a-night stay. It marked the first time for Norelle to be away from home – a mini holiday.

We arrived at Putrajaya Marriott at 5pm and we checked in straight away. The weather was breezy and nice. A vast land and greens surrounded the resort – we truly felt that we were somewhere far far away . No noises from cars, only sounds of trees swaying and wind blowing.
The room was spacious enough. We have 2 twin beds and I decided to get Norelle a baby crib for her. Then HY wanted to bring Norelle for a swim – her 1st swim. I changed her into her swimsuit and off we went to the pool. She was so excited upon seeing the pool – to her it’s like a GIANT bathtub! Once HY placed her at the edge of the pool, she wandered off straight away. She was happily crawling at the edge of the pool while patting the water! She was having so much fun. I was surprised to see her taking the pool so well – since it’s the 1st time for her. Halfway through, she got chocked by the water and she puke! Luckily, HY managed to whisk her away from the pool.

So we brought her up to the room and bathed her. Then she took her milk and dozed off. While HY and I prepared ourselves for the dinner. It’s so nice to be able to take our time and no need to worry about the traffic, parking or the weather. Then I changed Norelle into her dress and put her into the pram – she was still in her la la land.

The dinner was fine and Norelle woke up when the newly weds marched in – from all the hands clapping. She was quite well behaved throughout the dinner. Just an occasional whining as she wanted to climb out from the high chair. She didn’t sleep well that night. She kept waking up and cried. I guess it’s because of her blocked nose. In the end, I just scooped her up from the crib and let her on my bed.

All in all, we did have a nice weekend despite the fact that Norelle is now sick – Arrgghhh!! Cough and cold. Can’t wait to bring her for another swim.

Busy checking-out the BIG bed - can't leave home without ALL her toys!

Testing the 'water' - no pun intended

Ok, time for a pose with the Zebra

Splish! splash! and all wet