...of walks in the parks and a cycling escapade

What's more relaxing in life than a stroll in the park? The serenity and tranquil it provides is like a breath of fresh air into our stale busy lifestyle. That's what I enjoy most. Taking walks in the parks where each pace of our footsteps inevitably slows down.


2 months ago at Hort Park. Really nice evening stroll.

Uniquely Hort Park - sculptures.

Having a whale of a time at the playground.

More recent. At Bukit Batok Nature Park.

Mesmerised by the quarry.

Sand play is gradually becoming one of Zech's favourite oudoor activity.

Just last week. Wild Oats at Punggol Park. Love this place!

Zech's failed attempt to cycle. His legs are just not long enough. :) The funny thing is he tried to move with his legs but ended up reversing. Just like driving his Little Tike car, sad to say, he can't move forward. Zech will do better next time I'm sure.



New discoveries!

It has been a week of discoveries for Zech and me.

After countless times and futile effort for 3 months, Zech can now do a somersault! Thanks to his grandmother's encouragement! His grandmother was beaming with pride as she told me, "See? Zech can do a somersault at 19 months." Well, Zech's stunt is rather entertaining I must say.

The little artist in Zech is also starting to show. I did sponge painting with him and yes! He painted the jellyfish and crab with me. No struggle at all. :) Maybe the activity is meaningful since it's a follow-up after watching 'The Magic Ocean'. Nevertheless, I love the joint effort between us.

Just today, Zech tried drawing on the Ikea easel board. He drew on it for the longest time. The little 'Picasso' is indeed working in him. Looking at his art piece, I told him I could see a sword fish, fish, stingray, monster and flower. Zech looked really proud!

Another discovery was his two successful attempts at using the tongs to pick up the pom poms. He did it! Pity I wasn't fast enough to take a picture of it. Next time, I hope.

3rd week at our new home

In our new home, we are starting to settle down into the routine.  The first week was chaotic. Second week, we struggled through. Third week, we are doing fine and hopefully, things stay this way. The rainbow always comes after the rain and I'm beginning to believe in that. Even though it might not be a full rainbow, some of it is enough to keep me going. There are cetainly good and bad times but I thank God there are no entirely bad days.

Zech is growing up and for every little positive change I see in him, I praise God for it. Moving to a new place means adapting and adjusting. I must say Zech is doing well. Maybe he finds the new place fascinating and interesting. Some activities he enjoys...

Water play on the balcony. Not a daily activity as it's a chore to empty out the water from the orginally intended sand box.  Only tried it once with him. I realised then he can use a ladle to scoop water into the container.  He wasn't able to do this a few months back. But of course, this must be one of the results of being able to self-feed. 

His fav spot - sitting on the swing. He loves it as much as I do.

Puzzle time - He's getting better at it. He's now so used to seatwork he will spontaneously go to his chair when I take out his puzzles. I asked him once if he wanted to do his puzzles on his playmat but he refused and sat on his chair instead. He's really a habitual creature.

This activity is new to him. Just tried it out yesterday.  I was surprised he tried using the tongs to pick up the pom poms. Mummy has to help him of course to pick up each pom pom and place them
into the egg carton.

Moving to a new neighbourhood means exploration. Zech is most keen to check out the playgrounds. We found an interesting one. A fire engine which is really cool!

Zech's jungle room

It has been almost 2 weeks since we moved into our new home. We love it to bits!
Zech's room is the first to be ready! Well, almost. A few more items to be installed by next week.

Spot the monkey? That's my childhood toy from Bangkok. :)

The growing library...

Toy box and of course, the rocking horse.

Zech's comfy bed. In the morning, when he wakes up and usually I'm still sleeping in my room, he can lie on it till I wake up and call him.  So I love this bed too!

Going to put up the big leaf (bought from Ikea) near his study table next week. Maybe I'll buy a big jungle toy to accessorise his room. Then Zech's room will be fully ready to receive his little friends!

Work in progress

After more than a month of reno, our cosy nest is almost ready! We spent the last weekend doing up Zech's room. These wall decal from RoomMates were fairly easy to paste.

But not the tree below. Ordered this decal online after searching for the 'perfect' tree to match the jungle theme. We had to carefully paste strips to form the trunk and branches. Nevertheless, we are happy with the result.

We bought the picture ledges from Ikea, which I planned to place some of Zech's books for easy accessibility and visibility. The top ledge is reserved for photos and other knick knacks.

The lighting and shelves are from Ikea too.

Another purchase I personally like is the bunting from Piccolo House. Planning to hang it near the window.

There is still quite a bit of work to be done in Zech's room. Hopefully, it will be ready soon. The big day is just around the corner!

Zech's morning routine

As part of the morning routine, Zech and I have our worship time after breakfast. We start off by having our praise time, using the Bible CD (picture shown below). Recently, I noticed he is more actively involved. He even enjoys some of the songs now, clapping his hands at the end of each song. Charismatic? Haha! He loves 'Walking with Jesus', 'Praise Him Praise Him', 'Come Bless the Lord', 'Ask, Seek and Knock' etc. Most of them are action songs and Zech attempts to use his drum, tambourine and maracas as accompaniment. But of course, there are songs that he doesn't like. :( For instance, 'Jesus loves the little children', 'Deep and wide'. I wonder why... I feel horrible everytime I struggle through these songs.

After praise time, we have story time. I used to read to him a short segment of his Bible book. It didn't work as he was simply not interested. Then I decided to use story CDs instead. He enjoys listening to them. So I rotate between 'I thank God for you' and 'Moses in the bulrushes'. The story of Moses is longer and he won't sit through  He usually wanders around in the room or looks at other books but I feel it's fine.

Finally, we have our quiet time where Zech sits down and reads his Bible books on his own while the CD plays Bible stories and songs. Just a week ago, we were struggling with this. A week later, he seems to know what is expected of him and he readily takes his books, sits down on the floor and does his own 'reading'. I'm proud of him! :)

Progress of Zech's new room

Our new flat is currently under renovation. It's exciting to see it 'grow' week by week. Especially exciting is my Zech's room! :) The theme for his room is different from the flat. I've decided on the jungle theme specially for him cos I want his room to be full of life, happiness and vibrancy, conducive for learning and of course, resting as well.

Colour for his room - in green and yellow.

Wall decal border.

Wall stickers

My inspiration for a book display rack.

More storage space for Zech's books and resources.

Not forgetting fabric for new bedsheet and cushions.

Time is tight. Need to source for ceiling light, shelf, animal soft toys. Bought a tree decal online which will not arrive till at least 2 to 3 weeks later. This will probably be the last item to be put up. More updates next week on Zech's room...