[is this the start of the T-2s?]

G has been going through temper tantrums quite often lately. It all starts if we don't allow her to do something potentially dangerous (like climbing all over furniture) or yucky (like picking cigeratte butts off the ground). She'll start by whining and whingeing, then escalate to full scale crying if we persist in our 'NOs'. It's been terribly tiring for both her and us - I'm guessing it's definately the start of those terrible 2s. I've a feeling this is going to continue for awhile - any advice mummies out there?

On the other hand, she's getting more and more confident with her speech and her vocabulary is expanding so fast! She's been repeating words after us and now is taking an interest in Chinese too :P Yesterday at the zoo, we had a free pass stamped onto our hands - she said to me - mummy it's on my wrist! haha... i stood corrected :P






The last 2 pics are the new Duplo toy i got her for xmas - it's kinda belated (cos i'm a sucker for post xmas sales :P), but i think at her age - she hasn't quite grasped the concept of presents yet! She's super duper happy playing with it, as all the animals in the zoo pack were totally recognisable to her. So cute - she keeps going - mummy giraffe say Hallo, baby giraffe going to play with Polar Bear..... :D

[star :) ]

star + joy = pride & joy
heehee... cocoa daisy kit was the star; SOMO kit's the joy chipboard. Love them both! so i used them together to create this little ornament for G's room :D

[shake your bum bum] AGAIN

A short video of gracie on xmas day - doing her shake yr bum bum routine! :D

[crop]

Definition of 'crop' for my non-Scrap friends - it's just an afternoon where we all get together, share our various scrapbook stash and have fun doing layouts. Sometimes includes playing games, but because this crop in particular was only the 4 of us, we just hung out and ate ourselves silly.

So, here's what i did in those 3 hours:
another Layout for the Korea album - this one has journalling to remember gracie's love for corners! She's got her special corner in the hotel room - staked it out on the first day we got there!
This is about her rosy cheeks.... love that 1st pic of her! So cute!

Thanks to Vic for looking after G so that mummy can disappear! M & L for hosting the crop, and cousin F for the lift back home (again!) :D

[a day of giving and receiving]

It's xmas! Even though we're not religious, since it was a long weekend and all the cousins were in town, there was the proverbial family gathering at "new house". It was really great - surrounded by family and good food - we had a lot of fun! Here's some pictures from today:

starting the day right - with presents!
darling kitchen set from grandma and auntie Pgirlies from daddy and mummy
the yummy food spread at lunch
life baby halter dress from grand aunt 'cowpo' :D

[HAPPY XMAS]

Another Xmas! Last Xmas - Gracie was 9months old, barely starting to stand up and babbling only a few words. We spent the weekend in KL, visiting my godbrother and family. I still remember it being our first long distance trip out of Singapore with Gracie. She took the car ride so well and didn't have any complaints abt being cooped up in the car seat for ages!
A year later - G is growing up so fast! She's been holding whole conversations with us, the terrible 2s has definately started - she's being incredibly stubborn, making her independance known. Time has really passed by so quickly! I'm grateful and happy that G is turning out to be a really happy child, with great social skills, so affectionate and so loving! :) Can never get tired of her giving us "big slobbery kisses" and a "great big hug!"

So, here's some pics of some Xmas cards (all made for SOMO dec kit)

[korea LAYOUTs]

I'm starting an album about our trips with G. It is always such a pleasure, as it's the only long stretch of time we get to spend exclusively with her. On every trip, we get so close, so aware of each other, so amazed by the antics and things she says! This album will document those moments....

Here are the ones I've done so far:

[shopping]

Sorry for the poor pics - these few mornings have been quite foggy - so no good daylight before we leave the house for work. Anyways, as promised - here's some pictures of the shopping we did in Korea (these are all the goodies from giftshop at Seoul Tower) :D


the goodies :D
cute stickersmy diary for 2007xmas present to vic

OOOO dun you just love these stamps!!! :D

[good news]

Good news #1 : I've been chosen to be on zingBOOM design team - www.zingboomkits.com! (the kits look so gorgeous)
Good news #2 : I've been chosen to be on Scrapdango design team - www.scrapdango.com too! :D

So, at this moment, I'm no 3 kit clubs and 1 online shop's DT. I have to stop applying for positions now and concentrate on getting some of my LOs published! And also I've to start marketing my stores - the keepsake albums and the Kid's Party Kits!

Here's some LOs i did with the SOMO nov kit:

[back to life, back to reality]

Back to the regular humdrum of normality. It's comforting to be home - where there are all the familiar elements. And in the days that we were gone - we had ikea come by to fix up a BRAND new dining table and Gracie's very own tot bed! She's estatic that she has her very own bed - now she does everything on it - from changing diapers (gracie wants to change diapers on gracie's bed NOW!) ; playing with ginger miao miao; snuggling under the covers... so cute! our grown up little girl!

I'll post pictures of my shopping when i get a chance to take some pictures of them - my best buys:
1. Sergison Morrison shoes for S$60! (as they were on 70% off!)
2. Set of stamps from my Favorite shop in Seoul!
3. A pair of cute linen shoes for Gracie
4. Great button accessories from Insadong

:D heehee..... nothing makes my heart beat faster than a good thrift find! :D
p.s. nursery rhymes and songs that gracie can sing now (well recite - still quite tuneless):
1. Ba ba black sheep
2. Twinkle stars
3. Ke Ren Lai (her favorite)
4. San zhi lao hu
5. wheels of the bus
6. Incey Wincey
7. One Two buckle my shoes
So proud of her!

[coldest day so far]

Today was the coldest day since we've got to Seoul. I guess the weather was around zero. Gracie didn't really mind the cold - although she threw a big tantrum when we wouldn't let her come down to walk along the streets of myeongdong. We spent the entire morning trying to look for diapers for G - first off was Lotte Dept store - where a pack of 25 diapers will set us back 32k W (which is equivalent to S$65!!) crazy! Didn't really think we were THAT desperate (even though i had to fight a strong urge to just get it and continue with the day as scheduled!) Next stop was Lotte Mart - nope, not in the same building but 3 tube stops away. 1 tantrum, 1 milk feed and 1 meltdown later, we finally got to the supermarket. Thankfully, we bought a pack of diapers for a more palatable price of S$25. (Huggies would cost around S$40 for the smallest pack!) We really did wonder how did the less affluent Koreans with kids get by? Gracie has fallen asleep by now, and after our lunch and then feeding G her lunch - it was already almost 3! We decided to just go back to the hotel to take a short siesta before going out again in the evening. So, more pics - but today's was pretty boring - no interesting location shots, just lots of pictures in the hotel and then at night.
just love the strawberries!
our pantry shot

view from our hotel window

1st and 2nd layer of clothesall set! Can we go now?
sunny day!

back in the room again - this time with my grocery shopping!

trip out at night to see interesting architecture - the galleria shopping centre at Apjugeong
Kinetic art facade of the Galleria
Next to giant teddybear in front of the shopping centre - G kept wanting to come down to climb on the bear!
This is her being cheeky inside - under strict instruction to only touch WALLS and FLOORS - she was trying her luck with touching the display and saying - gracie touch this? gracie touch that? haha.... very exasperatingly cute.

[took 328 photos today!!!]

it's a bit crazy with a digital camera - esp one that has 2GB of space! We just keep taking and taking. Incredibly, just in one day - i took 328 photos! :D Mostly of gracie playing around at Seoul Tower. Will fully recommend it to parents with small children - as the indoor areas are clean and have funky furniture that double up as slides and play equipment. I love the shop too - full of cool designer stuff - think MOMA gift shop or the TATE gift shops :D

So, i'll let the pictures do the talking:


all bundled up - outside our hotelsitting in the yellow bus - going up to seoul tower

climbing up the slope to the tower - the air smelled of fresh pine, the entire hill was covered with pine forests.




inside seoul tower - we didn't go up the tower as it was a really foggy day. Gracie LOVED the indoor play space though :D

outside at the base of the tower

leeum art gallery - fantastic architecture - not such a good space for a tot- but i think she quite liked the giant spiders! :D