I Was A SUGAR PLUM Fairy! Not A Brinjal!

By Shannon

Let me get this CLEAR ONCE and FOR ALL... It's a SUGAR PLUM FAIRY!!!!! I was NOTTTTT a Brinjal OK!

Sigh, what a disaster...

Auntie Christine organised a halloween party for us babies and small kids on Saturday, and Mommy went to Toy R Us and got me a SUGAR PLUM FAIRY costume (I can't emphasize this enough!)

Dun I look cute? Well, the party was lots of fun, and Terisse and Alicia came as well... All in all we had two fat pumpkins, one ladybug, one Honeybee, one Darth Vader (how does he get time off from Star Wars?), one Alien, and one pretty Witch. And of course, ME! The SUGAR PLUM FAIRY...

However, my happy bubble was burst yesterday when Mommy and me met Nicholas and his Grandma while taking a stroll around the garden...

Nicholas' Grandma : Ohh, she looked so cute in her costume on Saturday!
Mommy: Thanks, all the babies were so cute, huh?
Nicholas' Grandma: Nicholas, remember Shannon? She as dressed as a Brinjal?
Mommy: Errr.. well...
Nicholas; Grandma: Right Shannon, you were so cute, cute little Brinjal...!
Me: *Fainting away*


See! SUGAR PLUM FAIRY! How can I be a Brinjal!

You think it's coz of the stick on my hat?

The Big TEN-O, Can I Get My Driving License Now?

By Shannon

Hmmm, today Daddy and Mommy gave me a BIGGG hug and proudly announced that I'm 10 months old today... sooooo... can I get my driver's license now, Daddy? What? Wait another 17 years and 2 months? So what's the big deal?????

Ok ok, so this is just for the record.... At 10 months I:
1) Have two bottom teeth
2) Can get into Standing position from Sitting position and cruise around my cot
3) Can clap hands
4) Can wave Bye Bye to anyone and everyone (Mommy says it's imitation without knowing what I'm doing, but I call it extreme friendliness!)
5) Can point to where I want to go (My own set of transportation, Hah! And it's not only Merc, there's Porsche, BMW, Camry...)
5) Can transfer objects from one hand to another
6) Can walk with Aid

Mommy says we have to work on my fine motor skills as I still can't pick up the little Gerber puffs myself... wellll...I'm just plain lazy... why hurry when you have people feeding you right now right?

Finally! My hair is long enough to comb!

So What If I Want To Run Around With A Dirty Diaper!

By Shannon

oooohhhhhhh.... I know Mommy gets very worried when I don't poo and get constipated, but this is toooo much! 5 times a day! What are they thinking of??????

I'm NOT mumbling baby nonsense ok... Daddy and Mommy bought me to see Dr. Tan yesterday coz I have been pooing too many times in the day... turns out that my tummy has a stomach bug... which causes me to keep pooing, and my my bum is sooo sore and red! I scream like crazy when they try to change my diaper... can't they just leave me alone... so what if I want to run around with a dirty diaper! It's my bum!

But what I want to know is how did the stomach bug get into my tummy? Did it crawl in when I was sleeping? Better remind myself to sleep with my mouth closed the next time...

Anyway, Daddy and Mommy has been squirting some disgusting clay mixture into my mouth to ease the acidity of my tummy, and giving me watery porridge that is just bland bland bland.... what happened to my order of black pepper steak and chilli crab? What's the use of my two teeth if all I get is slurpy mushy stuff....??? You guys are just no fun, maybe it's time to change parents... grrrrrrrrr....

Black Pepper Steak and Chilli Crab, Here I Come!

By Shannon:

Being a baby is super tough... It's tough enough having to endure those big adult making crazy faces at you all the time, and babbling nonsense, thinking that they are talking in your language, not to say all the endless pinching of your cheeks and nose!

Add to that, though they are supposedly smarter than us babies, they have absolutely noooo idea what we mean when we go 'ggaaaaaaa', or 'bbbaaaahhhbbaaahhhh' or 'fffffffiiiii'.... and making silly assumptions over why we cry...! I won't even go there....

Yesterday was a classic example! After all the endless whining and wailing and waking up at nights, and seeking comfort in Perth, my silly (and I must admit, a little dumb) parents finally caught on...! I'm teething! Teething, teething, teething! My two bottom teeth had made a appearance, and from the size of them, they have probably been there since a week ago... but did my parents know? Nooooooooooo, they just assumed all the crying and whining had to do with adjusting to a new environment.... SIGH.... when will adults ever learn?

Anyway, yesterday, Mommy finally got a chance to observe my gums when I was doing my daily Wailing routine during my nap time... and volia! She saw the two tiny pearlies sticking out... Daddy's gonna miss my toothless grins soon.

Black Pepper Steak and Chilli Crab, here I come!


Better look all you want, the toothless grin is on its way out!

The Chronicles of Shannon - PERTH TRIP - 7 Oct to 9 Oct

7th October, Saturday

Another fine day with temperatures hovering between 15C to 24C! Today our agenda is full! We returned the Hatch early in the morning, and Eileen drove us up north to Kiwana, about 1/2 hours drive away. Accordingly to her, the little community threr sets up a monthly market there to raise funds for the community projects, or something like that.

The market was great fun! The atomsphere there was very carnival and we saw alot of stalls selling homemade jams and chutney, jewellery, unique clothings, handicraft, and food! We each had hotdogs in the open jammed packed garden, with hot chocolate and coffee from the tiny theater beside us... how quaint is that?? Absolutely delightful.

With our bellies packed, we started shopping.... lots of things to see and so very tempted to buy! We passed by a stall selling frosted cupcakes, and they were sooo sweet that I just had to queue and get one to try... Yummy!

Mal also got a snazzy funky pair of handmade pants for Shannon, look how cool is that! Eileen commented that Shannon will own the only pair of pants which looks like this in SG... haha!

There were stalls selling beautiful wind chimes, stained glass oraments and crystals twinkling in the bright sun... I sneakily bought one for Eileen to deco her cozy little home, she loved it!

And Eileen bought me a early birthday present, a matching handmade set of gemstone necklace and earrings.... thanks pal!

The weather and the atomsphere was so different from our night Pasar Malams. We enjoyed the friendly atomsphere with people giving way to us for the bulky pram and stopping just to say Hi to Shannon and pat her cheeks.


After the markets, we stopped by one of Eileen's favourite Rose Nursery for Scones and Jam.... yummmmmm...and I just have to say this. This was the first time I ever had English tea of Scones with cream and jam, but I am a true instant convert! The blooming roses and a little pond there added to the charm of the place...no wonder it is a favourite place to get married! Another glorious place....



We ended the day at Eileen's home with another home cooked dinner and then it was straight to bed for us tired people.... zzzzz....


8th October, Sunday By Shannon
Mommy had initially wanted to go Fremantle today to satisfy her craving of Corn on a stick, and intro Daddy to their freshly made crepes. But after such a tiring day yesterday, they decided to have a quiet day today and start our hugemonous task for packing... I of course will be busy playing and streching my legs while they are busy packing.....can't believe our holiday is almost over!

Daddy, Mommy and Aunty Eileen bought me to the 10am mass at St. Andrews Church. It really is a very delightful and beautiful little chapel, with stained glass windows and dark brown wooden pews. Mommy liked the serenity of the place, and commented that the commentary that the priest gave was very relevant. Of course, I had to spoil it for her by starting to fuss and being carried out right in the middle of it... how Ma Lu is that? Can't help it that I was hungry right?

After that, Eileen bought us to Northbridge for dimsum.... yummmmmm..... and Daddy and mommy let me have my FIRST Chao Siew Bao! Well technically, it was Chao Siew Bao skin, but who cares? I also slurped up some yummy Tofu Fa... next stop, Peking duck!

We then bundled home to watch Daddy start cramming our stuff into our two puny suitcases. Aunuty Eileen made some tasty corn muffins for Aunty Angie, and at 6pm, we headed to Aunty Angie's house for dinner.

I don't want to be mean, but there was a huge furball in their house... wonder how long do they clean their house.... and it was moving too! yeeks! Oh.... sorry, correction needed, that was their doggie, Cougar, and he was a really lovable big furball! I couldn't wait to pet him!

Aunty Angie made Seafood Horfun which was very yummy, from what I hear from Daddy, since I couldn't have any! (fuming!) And after that, the rest continued to pig out on Durian while I sit and watch! It is soooo unfair!

9th October, Monday (By Shannon)
Here it goes again! Daddy and Mommy are in a frenzy early this morning, running around the house for I dunno what? Then all of a sudden I see not 3 but 4 big bags get squeezed into Aunty Eileen's car.... what's going on? And my bee bee? The one which hangs on the car window to distract me from my hunger pangs? What happened to it? Why was it all squashed into the bag? Hey! I want that back, you know! Grrrr....

(By Shannon's Mommy)
Okie, while Shannon is busy grumbling, let me continue... we packed all our bargains and more! today and had to borrow a bag from Eileen, depsite Mal's insistence that we could cram everything in... well dear... we just couldn't huh? Too many bargains...

Eileen drove us to the airport and we said goodbye with hugs... well, not exactly goodbye, since she is dropping by SG in mid Oct!

We did some last minute shopping before boarding the plane, and took off at 11:30am for home!

Shannon was quite a good gal onboard. Thankfully the plane was half empty, so I could prop her on one of the seats and let her play with her toys...

We touched down at 430pm and Shannon's gong gong and mama were there with our car to drive us home! Can't believe our holiday is over!

The Chronicles of Shannon - PERTH TRIP - 4 Oct to 6 Oct

4th October, Wednesday

We had a lazy day in Perth today. Went Carousal Shopping Mall today, it was so huge... something like Suntec... geezzz! Mal bought his pair of jeans, much to his glee in knowing that he didn't HAVE to go for the biggest size here! Also got a few shirts for causal wear... we dropped by Myers and I got Shannon a pink and orange tee and swirly skirt combi, and a jeans and tee combi, good shopping!

Ended the day with shopping for food at Village green and back to Eileen place to cook my famous Carrot, Potato and pork rib stew, long beans and fried eggs, and stirfried cauliflower with bacon.



5th October, Thursday (By Shannon)
ooowwwww, Mommy's having bad tummyache today, better stay clear from her, her mood is super grouchy, which doesn't make MY mood any better! Been whinging and whining and crying the whole day too, sooo bored since we are stuck at Aunty Eileen's place, and I miss my toys, my friends and my slaves! Where is Gong gong, Mama and Grandma????!!!!

Aunty Eileen rushed home from work to bring Mommy to the doctor and she has been rushing to the toilet the whole day. I overheard Daddy asking Mommy what was it that caused her food poisioning, and she replied that it must have been the chinese food she had at Carousal... luckily, it wasn't her home cooked dinner which caused it!

Daddy and me lounging in bed, what shall we dooooo? Bored bored bored







7th October, Friday
Today, we were feeling brave enough to venture out again after my nasty bout of food poisioning.... was drinking soups and liquids yesterday, but today, feel so much better!

We decided to go to Kings Park and see the wildflowers. Oh, Colour galore! The grass was sooo green I kept suspecting they put colouring on it..... and the view...! Georgous!

Photos says it all....

Dangling near the edge, look at the view!

Flower flowers everywhere! Plus US two!

See the green green grass? So green it made my eyes swim!

Shannon deciding NOT to be one of the pretty flowers afterall... what do you mean the flowers are prettier than ME????




After the nice walk at the park, we headed to Habourtown for more shopping bargains... whew, it was a nightmare trying to get there after missing a turn, have to go around Hay street, and Wellington, and with all the one way streets and street works, I think we headed in circles for about 1/2 hour b4 we managed to get in... haha! I managed to get MY shopping done today. Spent 1 and 1/2 hours at Table Eight, and walked away with 3 blouses, 1 skirt, 2 pants.... Mal and Shannon? They just walked and walked, around the store while waiting for me to finish at the changing rooms...*evil grin*

We compensated Shannon for her waiting though by getting a adorable blouse and a pretty dress for her for Jennifer's wedding.

Ended the day with treating dinner to Angie, Paul, Quintin and Eileen at a chinese resturant. Yummy, Had fish, eggplant, beef, Tofu and veg... though the resturant looked dingy and isolated from the outside, we were glad we were early coz it became packed by 7pm!

Angie and family headed back to Eileen's with us to continue with our tradition, having dessert! This time it was a fruit flan with custard filling and coconut shavings..... yummmm... and Paul showed us video snippets of the trip down south.... we laughed all the way. How nice and heartwarming to end a evening like this, with friends, good food, and happy conversation.... somehow you just dun get this in Singapore? Good memories...

The Chronicles of Shannon - PERTH TRIP - 1 Oct to 3 Oct

1st October, Sunday
Today dawned clear the bright! Time to take photos!

What a View! Can we retire here?


Isolated Beach


Fat Seals Basking in the Sun... Opps, sorry, uncanny resemblence there!



Which is prettier? Flowers or me?










We had a hearty breakfast of Bacon, Ham, and Eggs.. yummy! The rest of the day was just spent lounging around, walking the beach and sleeping.... what a way to go! The chefs cooked up a storm in the kitchen and lunch was BBQ (yummy! Where else can you have a BBQ in the searing sun!) with dinner being Spagetti with homemade sauce.... this is begining to sound like a food tour!

We blew up Shannon's mini bathtub and she had a blast in there... it helps that the bathroom had strong heat lights which chased away the evening chill... heaven!

Huh? What you doing? This is RA you know?



Need another Yoda for Star Wars?
















2nd Oct, Monday
We headed to Busselton Jetty today and sat out on the sun to have ice cream. Shannon got her first taste of ice cream.... I sneaked some in between her fruit salad yougurt!


Hmmm, Fruit yogurt tastes so funny, 1 spoon sweet, 1 spoon sour!








We also ventured the 1KM jetty walk! Can you imgaine, a jetty that stretches out 1km, the 2nd longest in the world! The wind was blowing hard too! At the end, there was a small underwater aquarium with colourful corals and fish.

Lifting 'weights' along a very loooong walk down the jetty

Colourful coral everywhere












In the evening, we gathered by the family room and watched TV, chatted and made friendship bands... haven't made one in 10 over years, but I'm glad to say mine turned out pretty well :) Really mellowed out.....!


New Buddies












We ended the night with toasting gooey marshmallows in front of the fireplace with sticks which Paul picked up from the bush after a short rambling walk in the night. Everyone had fun poking fun at Angie for turning up her nose at the 'disgusting green sticks' which we used to stick the marshies with... that said, it was yummy!





3rd October, Tuesday (By Shannon)
After many hot hot sunny days, and cooooolllllld nights, Mummy and Daddy suddenly announced to me during bathtime that it was time to leave this little beach house... what, just when I am starting to have fun and not waking everyone up with my night howls?

What to do except take more photos to say goodbye!

Look, I adopted a whole new family! Looks like me, right?




The whole Jim Gang, well, except Quintin who's holding the camera!




Goodbye, Capeview!













we stopped by Mandurah on our way back to Perth, and I dunno much except I wass wailing my heart out for my milk feed! After that was settled, (mummy and daddy settled for a quick stop by a lakeside park) all three of them tucked into fish and chips and clam chowder at Ciserello's while I could only sit and look and drool... selfish pigs!

Satisfied look of contentment after lunch for all of us

The Chronicles of Shannon - PERTH TRIP - 28 Sep to 30 Sep

After 3 whole days of physically recovering from the Perth trip, decided to get off my butt and start updating Shannon's Blog on our Perth Trip... with abit of help from Shannon of course...

28th September, Thursday night
We packed and crammed all our luggage into two 21 inch suitcases 1 haverpack, and 1 baby bag... some 'Cannot afford not to bring' items....
1) Inflatable mini pool for Shannon's baths
2) Her intensive moisturing creams
3) Her toys! Stacks and stacks of it!
4) Her nail cutter
5) BOTH her smelly teddy bears
6) Baby jar food
It got to the point that we were so overwhelmed by what to bring!

Shannon was a good gal all the way till we got to the airplane. She flirted shamelessly with all the elderly Australians and Europeans boarding the plane, stretching out her hands to them and playing peekaboo with them. All of them were charmed by her smiley face UNTIL...! The plane started taxi-ing down the runway. I had to buckle her on my lap, and it was then that she became a MONSTER! She started crying, and crying became wailing, and wailing became screaming... imagine Mal's and my hot and red faces and the pained silence surrounding us during takeoff. The little minx then decided to drop asleep once the plane hit the skies.... and from there on, it was sleep, wake up, cry, sleep, wake up, cry, sleep, wake up, cry...
all the way to Perth.

Service on the flight? Welllll, it was okie I guess, but not what I would call good... I think most airlines dun have the standards of being baby friendly yet, no baby food was offered to us, and once Shannon fell asleep, I felt that the sterwardess should have gotten us our dinner rather than wait in line? By the time our food was served, Baby was up and crying again!


29th September, Friday
After reaching Perth, and being greeted by Eileen, we headed off to the collect the rental car. Though we had asked for a Sedan, it became a Hatch.... hmmm, wonder how we gonna fit 3 suitcases and a pram into the boot?


30th September, Saturday
Today was a fenzy of packing again! We packed the bare minimum to bring to Peppermint grove Beach! Doesn't it sound so charming? Peppermint Grove Beach! Decided to forsake the pram coz we had a hard time squeezing everything into the boot.

We met Angie, Paul and Quintin at their house and it was off for a 2 hour drive! By the time we reached, it was nearly dark, but the house was cozy and welcoming.... boy, was it COLD! Brrrrrrr!

Shannon on the way to Busselton.... Huhhh? Who woke me up from my nap?





Our little family out for a evening stroll... BRRRRRRR!




Look at the Gorgeous Sunset! And the Strong Wind!









See our home away from home! http://www.capeviewcottage.com/

Family room









The kitchen where Eileen and Angie whipped up wholesome and fanastic food... also the place where the famous dishwasher which got Angie's Thumbs Up is stored!





Our place of zzzzz... thanks goodness for the King size bed and warm covers... looks out to the ocean.. hmmmm...





Dining table to seat 8... we had lots of fun lunches and dinners at that table, chitchatting in front of the fireplace.

This Is How You Tame A Tigger

Today was a tiring but fun day... we went to Anita's house to meet 15 other babies... wooahhhh! The energy level was super high, imagine 16 8month old babies put together with a loadful of toys and playmats... not to say a tableful full of delicious snacks for the mommies and daddies!

Shannon had loads of fun, and she skipped her noon nap in favour of playing, playing and more playing... hmmm, what did she do today? Played with loads of toys, learned how to tame a Tigger, rode a yellow rubber Pony, sat in a jumparoo and bounced around, got her feet painted PINK! Sounds like tons of fun right?

Photos says it all....

GETTING READY FOR THE HOT GROUP DATE!
So Mommy, do I look nice enough for the gathering?

Huh? What dun match? My hairband not nice? Maybe I should have worn the other one? Can we go home and change?














HOW TO TAME A TIGGER
First you grab the Tigger by its eyebrows...

Then you pull it's mouth wide open...

Then you shake the head reallllllly HARD! There, that's how you tame a Tigger!














FUN WITH 380 BALLS!
What do you mean time's up??? I just got in only! Have to pay again???









IN THE JUMPAROO
Hmm, I wonder if this Jumparoo can bounce me home...?









FOOTPRINT SOUVENIR
Shannon's little footprints... at 8 months 3 weeks old!

SMILE 2006 - Shannon Style

By Shannon:

Hummmf! fuming mad.... Mommy submitted my cutie passport photo to the Smile 2006 project, you know the one in preparation for the IMF meetings? I gave a demure smiley face for that precious photo, and mommy submitted it in. I had expected that the organisers of the project to pounce on it and pick it as one of the smiley faces welcoming the delegates when they arrive, who can resist such a angelic face right?But nooooooo! They choose to pick other people instead.... hmmmf! They really dun know a good picture when they see one!

See how demure and angelic I looked! This took so many hours of practise to get right!


So, who says that Smile 2006 can be the only project around town? I'm starting my own SMILE 2006 - Shannon Style, and this time, nobody can say that my picture's not in!

SMILE 2006 - Shannon Style

Another Level Higher.. Or In This Case, Lower

We lowered Shannon's cot today again... after the fiasco the last round we did it, it was with a little more than anxious nerves today when we did it....

But anyways, the deed was finally done, and so today, Shannon reached another level higher, or in this case, lower :).

hmmm, this is yummy!

BURP, that was a good dinner!



Hey you! The blue one... get over here!

Mommy, they're not listening to me!

When Did My Desk Become A Leg Stretching Machine?

By Shannon:

Hmmm, something tells me that Mommy and Daddy is obsessed with my height, or lack of it...

You know my work desk? The colourful one with such alot of stuff on it? Which shows how busy I am at times pressing the 'keyboard keys' and answering the ever ringing phone?

My Work Desk, Busy right?












Well, Mommy and Daddy raised the height of my work desk today... as if I don't have enough things to do already, like whacking the rolling toys or trying to pull the darn string off the silly turtle!

Now, I am standing on tip-toe, whilst trying to turnaround to kapo at all the things hapening around me. This is frustrating... since when did my desk become a leg stretching machine???

See how comfy I was before the height raising a.k.a leg strething excerise...

Just right!

The leg stretching machine at work...eehhhh!

Me Crawl??? Are you out of your mind????

Today afternoon, we attended the Tumbletots trail class kindly arranged by Sophia. Thanks to her hard work, we met up with some of the other Jan'06 mommies like...

1) SL and Charmaine
2) Cindy and Lucas
3) Chillies and Zaxier
4) Florence and Melody
5) Sunny and Ying Xin

Well well well, what a small world.... Mal discovered that he's NOT one of the oldest daddies in our gang... he met up with not one, but TWO of his Uni school mates, HA! So much for whining about not having kakis with common interets at the mommies' gathering...!

Shannon enjoyed the singing and actions very much, which was evident in the way she furiously chewed her little fingers.

But when it came to the excerise time, she balked at many activities, and iterally sat down and howled at the tummy/crawling excerise! We could clearly see what was going through her mind at that time, "Me Crawl??? Are you out of your MIND???"

That aside, she enjoyed the trampoline, and the rubber slide, though the rope swing gave her the creeps and she couldn't really decide whether to enjoy it or wail at it.


See me bounce, bounce, bounce away... on my bouncy trampoline.... ladalalalada...


Superwoman Shannon saving the day, pushing the heavy red cylinder away! Eh, actually, am being rolled around by it...