Kyan's birthday

My brother officially starts his "terrible twos" today (although unofficially, we all think he's already been getting lots of practice at it!). We celebrated it with another cake and a little party at Mama and Gong Gong John's house.

Yum yum! Getting ready to blow candle and cut cake

Kyan getting a little help from Mama and me

Chocolate is still our favourite flavour!

The birthday boy with his usual biscuit in hand pose

Finally, Daddy takes a break from his camera.

Out and About

Mama bought me a pair of gardening gloves so that my hands won't freeze when I get in touch with nature.

Kyan meanwhile enjoyed some retail therapy at Rundle Mall, and as usual, he can't go without some sort of snack while waiting.

Back to Nature

Lovely day at the playground! But our attention wasn't on the swings or slides this time..

coz we're in bubble heaven!

Dandelion fun

We found a lot more dandelions last year, but somehow nobody managed to take photos of me blowing on them. So this year, when the weed came up in Mama's garden, our parents made sure they captured a shot of it.

Focused on making sure i blow every single seed away

Kyan wondering whether it's edible..

Maybe it is...

Then again, I'd better just play it safe and save my stomach for dessert instead!

Our Family Trip

June's arrived and school holidays are here! After a seemingly endless week of hot sweltering weather, Daddy and Mummy started preparing for our trip to visit Mama and Gong Gong John in wintry Adelaide. This trip would be different from last year's coz we're going without Ku Jie and Uncle Colin (who now have baby Benjamin to busy themselves with). Also, mummy didn't seem to fret over the packing too much this time around, maybe because plans were only confirmed at the last minute (no thanks to the H1N1 bug) and we're both older by one year, and hence, need less essential luggage (Mummy looks forward to the day when diapers are a thing of the distant past!)

As usual, we took the only night flight to Adelaide, and, having experienced a lot of hassle last year, we decided to be prepared and be at the airport earlier. Unlike last year however, check-in was smooth-going and, having about an hour and a half to spare before boarding the plane, we managed to fit in supper at Hard Rock Cafe in the transit area. Soon, it was time to board the plane and before long, after a brief delay, we took off ten minutes past midnight.

I don't remember much of the journey. Maybe the novelty has worn off a little, maybe I was extra tired that day, or maybe i was lulled by the rocking motion of the plane when it encountered turbulence that lasted for almost half the journey but I actually slept through most of the flight and didn't even wake up to eat my "breakfast" which was served about 2 hours before touch-down. The next time I was fully awake (thanks to an unexpected "incident" which I'm too embarrassed to disclose here and for which I was extremely grouchy afterward...), it was dawn in Australia and soon, we were preparing to disembark. No hassle too at the customs and immigration unlike last year where we had to open our luggage for inspection. We were simply waved through and after another short wait, the familiar sight of Gong Gong John and Mama came into view : )

The first significant event was my birthday celebration. As we had arrived a day before I turn four and it being a Sunday, the adults decided to go out for dinner. And so, I got to blow the candles on my chocolate birthday cake at a little eatery called the Cafe Beach Pit.

mmm, there's nothing like chocolate cake for a birthday celebration.

Posing with Gong Gong John and Mama under the birthday banner (given with love from Ku Jie and Uncle Colin)

Cheeky me ; )

Back at Glenelg

We visited Glenelg again on a beautiful sunny day. My favourite spot there has got to be the amusement park where the bumper cars are, but this time, we didn't go on them because Kyan wasn't tall enough to go into a car so I would have to drive the car alone (and how is that called driving in a bumper car..)

So the theme of the visit this time is really the outdoors. And as our happy faces show below, the combination of the crisp sea air and wide open spaces of sand and grassy promenades makes this one of our favourite places to visit!

Enjoying the sun, sea and sand

Nope, the wind didn't style Kyan's hair. He woke up this morning with the punk look already intact.

We had fun tramping all over our shadows.

I'm growing up fast! This cap now no longer covers my ears.

Ready, set, jump!

Now that was a good work-out!

My Artwork

School is getting more interesting and nursery requires us to produce more complicated art work. Here're some snapshots of all the art and craft pieces I (and mummy in one case) worked on so far this year.

This is Mummy's handiwork. Was supposed to submit an ox mask for Chinese New Year but guess my job is only to put it on. Mummy did the rest of it, from the cutting to the colouring to the fitting.

My Easter bunny and Easter egg, Doesn't the egg look a bit like Elmo's nose?

Two Mother's Day cards that I made for mummy dearest : ) Can't see from this picture, but both cards have a drawing of mummy on it - at least how I imagine her to look like on paper...My first sketches of human figures and faces didn't turn out like I expected, but I promise I'll work on it and produce a much more accurate and complete portrayal of her beauty next time!!

At the "Meet the Parents" session at the end of the term, my parents got to visit my classroom and view some more of my masterpieces.

A picture of a sunset being displayed on my classroom wall and my version of "Munching Mike" - letter "M"'s name in Letterland.

'T' for turtle and 'T' for Tristan.

Two Peas in a Pod... or not

Brothers can be either the best of friends or worst of enemies. At this stage of our lives, it's often the latter, and I often wonder if the only reason he's in my life is to compete with me for everything - especially my parents' attention and toy cars. But just sometimes, we kind of find something in common, and that's when I think he's not too bad after all (at least till the next time he wants what's mine)

Same cheeky smile

One of the few times we actually engage in cooperative play. I decided to read one of my favourite story books to Kyan who surprised me when he started to recite some of the words on the page too. Looks like he's been busy listening when Mummy reads this to me at bedtime. I know I have coz I can now read the set of 4 stories in here from start to finish. More stories about cars, buses, trucks and trains please!

Ok, I've been hogging my blog pages so it's time my brother got a bit of airtime.

Presenting Kyan Matthias Loh - the aspiring underwear model... heh heh. That's Daddy's cheeky interpretation of the photos by the way.

Yawn... I'm done posing for the camera.. Even models need naps.. Are we done yet?

The Third Musketeer

The baby in Ku Jie's tummy finally made an appearance on a Tuesday morning, shortly after they came over to my house over the weekend. Baby Benjamin's so very tiny compared to Kyan and me! We went to visit mummy and baby soon after at the hospital, and while Kyan seemed more interested in climbing up and down the sofa in the room, I showed a bit more interest. Check out our reactions to Benjamin below.

Afterward, I got quite upset when I realised that Ku Jie and baby had to stay in the hospital for another day because I didn't like the idea of them being around the doctors and nurses and not

being able to go home.

Look at him sleep! Just thinking of all the mischief we'll be up to in the future brought on the giggles... Heh Heh.

Hmmm, do I smell poo?

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009

This year being my 4th time celebrating Christmas and Chinese New Year and Kyan's 2nd time for both, the novelty of our first experience of both festive occasions has worn off a little. Plus, we're both becoming quite a handful for our parents who are now constantly being kept on their toes dealing with our never-ending antics and boundless energy. Hence, this time, there're just a few photos of us to preserve the memories.

The annual photo-taking on Boxing Day after all the presents have been collected. We get to open them after this picture was taken. Can't wait to find out which of Kyan's toys can be shared with me too! Heh heh.

Photos taken on the first day of Chinese New Year in our new clothes just before we leave for our first visit of the day. Kyan looks impatient though.. I'm better at smiling for the camera anytime!