Cheryl can now walk longer distances with her little feet. She is also more steady and can even balance herself when she is about to topple over.

She is so active now and since she has learnt to climb down from our bed, she has not looked back. Once she is bored, she will climb off the bed and walk to the table next to the bed to fiddle with the key hanging from the drawer and flip through our books and magazines. Definitely une petite fille très investigatrice! I can't wait for her to start talking... I mean, speaking in the language we can understand because I reckon, she will ask tons of questions.

1:25:00 pm / Mummy N / 0 comments /

development

Cheryl absolutely loves books!

Hey, I am not complaining. Guess Daddy isn't too.

Daddy's car was in the workshop for several hours so we found great ways to keep ourselves occupied. We went to MacDonald's at East Coast Park for breakfast and then spent several hours on the beach. Then when it got too hot to bear, we decided to walk to Parkway Parade Shopping Centre.

Remember the movie we saw, Daddy decided to buy the novel so we went to the bookshop. That was when Cheryl woke up from her afternoon nap. When she discovered she was in a bookshop, you could not have imagined the glee on her face.

She was so excited and she could not contain herself. She was touching the books and she would not move. Then Daddy found the children's section and Cheryl just let herself go. I am not lying, I have pictures to prove!

2:23:00 pm / Mummy N / 0 comments /

books

Daddy knew Mummy wanted to catch a movie and he got us tickets to the latest craze, The DaVinci Code. So finally, after more than a year, we caught a movie together. The movie was great... in itself. And we both agreed that we should now buy and read the novel.

I think it was a great idea to watch the movie first before reading the book because the movie was well done but I am sure it could not capture everything the book has to offer.

We got home close to 11 pm and our little darling was supposed to be in slumberland. She woke up to smile at us, as if to acknowledge our presence and satisfy her need to see her Daddy and Mummy. Then she went back to bed again.

Daddy surprised Mummy with a dinner. We had originally planned to go to Blue Lobster but unfortunately, the place was closed so we made do with Japanese. The place was quiet and it was like we had the whole place to ourselves.

But our social butterfly had a wonderful time because we sat in a private room and Cheryl was walking round the table, stopping ocassionally to ask for cod fish. She was all smiles with the waitresses and we could hear them from our room, the comments they made about Cheryl. "She is so cute! She waved at me!"

This was definitely one of the best times we have!
Thank you, Darling; the father of our child, the man of my dreams.

Only Daddy can make Cheryl grin like this for pictures!

These are just some of the wonderful food we had. Our precious loves to wipe tables!

11:20:00 pm / Mummy N / 0 comments /

I wonder who taught Cheryl this or from where she learnt it... Hmm, it could well be from either Daddy or me because we tend to hide things behind our backs and then tell her "No more." Have you guessed what she has learnt to do?

She will take an object, then put it behind her back, then give us an innocent look and at the same time, gesture "no more" with her hands. She really knows how to play now and she will do things to keep herself entertained.

Oh, one more thing. I think its her weakness because now that she is tasting the freedom of walking around, she does not fancy being carried as much. But when she hears this phrase "Like a baby!", immediately she breaks out in a chuckle and she will allow me to carry her.

Once, she fussed so much but I "reasoned" with her and told her that she should enjoy the moment because Mummy cannot be carrying her forever as she is getting heavier and older. So she should just let Mummy carry her "like a baby". She smiled and stopped struggling. Now, whenever she is being touchy, I just say the phrase and she will be so tickled, I get to do what I want.

8:27:00 am / Mummy N / 0 comments /

Cheryl has finally taken her first steps unassisted! She will only walk to you if she has the illusion that she is being held on. I would stretch out my hands to her but I will stop short of holding her hands and she will then walk very quickly in her attempt to hold my hands.

She is so careful and cautious and there are times where she still prefers to be on fours because she is a lot faster.

I reckon, give her a month and she will be running a lot more.

It is an amazement to watch her grow everyday and many times, I wonder how the little brain of hers works. She knows so many things now and she can understand what we say. She has her eccentricities like for example, she wants to play with her Daddy first before milk is given to her. Playing with Daddy is her nightly ritual and if I so much as show her the bottle, she will immediately frown and start to kick. She will push the bottle away and refuse to drink. When Daddy comes back late, she will wait up for him and she will play with his shorts and call out "Daddy, Daddy".

And after play with Daddy, she will look for the bottle again. Then she is ready to sleep. Now that she is older, she does not want to be carried to sleep. I have to carry her for only a while and she only wants 2 songs; Barney's "I love you" and "London Bridge" to be sung. Then she will start to push me away and want to lie down on her own. On her bed, she will find a comfortable spot by tossing and turning and finally go to slumberland. I still remember not too long ago, she needed to suckle on my breasts before she could sleep. Honestly, I cannot envision how my life will be like when she does not need me anymore.

Hey, I have to get a grip on myself. It is only natural that she grows up and be more independent. Until then, I guess we have to treasure every moment and capture every thing that happens either with a camera or me writing down the little details. My memory will one day fail me and I do not want beautiful memories like these fading away too. At least, Cheryl will know in the future and when she gets old enough to record her own feelings and thoughts, I will pass the "pen" to her to continue noting down the happenings in her life.

We wanted to bring Cheryl to the Istana and the beach but the skies looked like it was going to open up and pour down on us. On the way there, Daddy decided we should skip the Istana and just bring her to the beach for a while before it rained.

Our little precious was so excited that she could not stop smiling. Baby steps for her but she is getting more steady by the day. Incidentally, this was the very spot Daddy and Mummy took our wedding pictures 3 years ago.

Cheryl enjoying the view and the breeze. She was quietly sitting on Daddy's lap and taking in the view. We should do this more often. The next time, we will come more prepared with food, mat and toys.

The areoplanes flew by every few minutes and Daddy was getting Cheryl to notice them.

Cheryl finally got to play with all the toys she received for her birthday. Daddy laid out the bumper mat and opened the pressies for her and initially, she didn't like to be on the mat but after she saw the toys, she could not help herself.