I totally enjoyed my break and feel that every single day was fabulously spent. I did not travel overseas. Yet I'm contented as I went to places I've never been, tried food I've never tried and done things I never did or have not done for a long long time. Here are some pictures to share.
Now that she is learning to walk, we got her a pair of shoes (size 2) for practice!
The one and only Fish and Chips store that was open on Xmas Day near Philip Island. The food tasted extremely yummy! Maybe because we were extremely famished.
When Sean shouted "A red Koala"! Someone (can't remember who) replied "where" and realised that he was just kidding! Haha!!
Group photo!
Another group photo taken at Phillip Island.
A boardwalk at Phillip Island.
Lots of prezzies. We are very thankful for the wonderful gifts from friends and family!
We each chose 2 of our favourite chocolates each and finished them all right outside the shop!
Shannyn kept wanting to snatch the chocolate from us. She now wants to eat our food rather than her own baby food!
Luxury Lunch.. enjoyed our King Tempura Prawn at the Best Vineyard 2007 (results for 2008 not out yet..). Nice open scenry. We let Shannyn 'run' on the green grass patch just in front of us!
She always does that at home, crawl under the dining table, our chairs while we are eating. Even when outside, she does the same too!
This dessert at Sunny Ridge Strawberry Farm is my favourite.. it's called "Temptation"!
Our temporary photographer took a fantastic shot of us! But where's Shannyn.. she was sleeping in the car then!
Above are some of my no-brainer clicks. Turned out pretty good??
Dinner at a the Walrus Chinese restaurant. The fish was really fresh. I've never fancied abalones but the ones here were truly delicious!
31st Dec 2008: My outing with Shannyn
I had planned an outing with Shannyn. It's been some time since I spent time along outside with Shannyn. I wanted to gain some 'experience' with handling baby alone outside all by myself. At the same time, I wanted to catch up with some friends too along with their babies. It'll be a fun Mother's day out (with babies)! But too bad, everyone was busy and poor D had fever. I decided to go ahead as planned and brought Shannyn to the nearby shopping centre.
Waking up at 9am and by the time we had breakfast, a bathe and ready to set off, it was 11.30am already. When I reached the shopping centre, it was time for my lunch! Got myself a chicken burrito.. shared some with Shannyn as she was eyeing my food and 'asking' for some food tasting.
I wanted to get her into shopping mood so I kept talking to her. By picking some clothes and asking her which colour she prefers, I tried to involve her. There wasn't much vocal response though, only body languages (by snatching the one she prefers). At one point in time, strangers might even be thinking that I'm mad as it seemed as though I was mumbling to myself. I would say things like ' Should we get some trackpants?'.. no response.. 'Maybe we should be looking at shorts as it will get warmer'.. no response 'This pair of jeans is nice but it hasn't got elastic bands'.. no response...'Oh, you have pink jeans already , let's look at white ones instead'.. no response. Shannyn didn't seem the least interested in shopping. After 1h or so, she started to get cranky.. so we went to Parent's Room and I fed her with some food. Remembered that I wanted to send a postcard so I went to the post office thereafter. Not much Q as it was lunch time. After having her lunch, Shannyn was dozing off in her pram and I lowered the back support and used my sweater to cover the pram to block out the bright lights at the shopping centre. This provided some 'privacy' too. Imagine everyone starting at you when you are sleeping.. not so comfy. She fell asleep shortly after.
I felt bored when she was sleeping so I went grocery shopping and bought some vegetables, Lipton tea, Milo etc.. Things which were straight forward and don't require much selection. Not long after, Sean came and met us after work and Shannyn woke up at the same time. So, we decided to feed her dinner (and apply custard for dessert) so that we can have a 'peaceful dinner'. Fully-fed baby = Happy baby. We headed off to Glen Waverly for some Chinese food. Surprisingly, Shannyn was still able to eat 2 dumplings (after her dinner + dessert) out of the 15 dumplings. Reached home at 8pm and Shannyn slept almost immediately when we arrived home. Managed to stay up till midnight and watched some fireworks before calling it a day.
2 January 2009: A special date
We have planned for this day since Nov 2008.. a day out for just the two of us! It has been more than a year since we spent time alone with each other. We brought Shannyn to childcare in the morning and went for breakfast at Hungry Jacks. Thereafter we watched the movie 'Australia' at the theatres. It was a long 3h movie but it was worth it. .. with tears imminent at numerous scenarios. Glad we chose to watch this movie rather than 3D Bolt. Besides, we signed up for free movie membership at the counter and a $16.50 movie ticket unexpectedly turned out to be $9 only! Total savings of $14! We were prepared to pay $33 for the show. Yes, and we were complaining the pricey movie tickets in Singapore, the fees are unbelievably high here.
At first, Shannyn cried and wouldn't let us go. But the food distracted her and even waved Goodbye to us happily while enjoying her biscuit with cheese! Sitting at the 'chairperson' side of the table and having her biscuit non-chalently, she looks like a 'Da Jie Da' (Big Sister)! Oh and I have to share what happened when we went to pick her up. She saw Sean and started to crawl towards him. But the highlight was when she saw me. She was extremely delighted, changed her course and crawled towards me instead! It was really worth it.... Although the childcare was open during non-holiday days, we didn't leave her there and I spent all my offdays with her (except this particular day but for only half a day).
Happily enjoying my SME (Sausage Muffin with Egg) + Latte! I'm sure it tasted better than Shannyn's biscuit. Ha!
Sean's first visit in the Cinema here in Melbourne.
Above: Went to an old town called 'Olinda'.. very authentic place with lots of antique and country stuff
4 Jan 2009: Shannyn's First Swim
We brought Shannyn for a swim .. her first taste of swimming pool water literally! There was a wave pool and she drank a lot of water when the huge waves came non-stop... we actually felt 'underdressed' as a lot of the people actually wore T-shirts and shorts/pants and jumped into the pool. They actually allowed that here!! Over in Singapore, the life guards would have driven them out of the pool! Now, the next time we visit the pool, we'll be dressing up more.. so we don't look so 'out'! In fact, it seemed as though a lot of people were staring at us...as if we were some aliens.. yes, we were very much underdressed!
7 comments:
Wow, what an eventful holiday break for your family. BTW,so happy to see both of you seems to have gain some weight atlas...is there? But, face seems rounder :) Shannyn's so cute...She seems to enjoy her crawling under the chair so much...lolx. Did she enjoy the swim? Did she cry? Great to see the beautiful scenery at Philip Island. My friends were telling me it is a beautiful place. But, no pic. :( Now, I get to see it. Thanks for uploading. More more next time. Haha. When you are free to do so. Cheers -jel
Haha... our NY resolution as well... to gain some weight! Guess we lost quite abit trying to take care of Shannyn and balancing the work-life here. Hopefully will put on some 'meat' this year! :D
And oh well... Shannyn was actually not enjoying herself at the pool! She clinged on to me most of the time. Haha! Will try to get the better of it next time.
- SY
Wow! So long de post. I like the pic where Shannyn was trying to snatch chocolate! Funny...haha!
wah! indeed a holiday well spent!
chi sing
took some time for me to finish reading, nice post! No response also can continue talking, maybe she understands just dunno how to answer back. HAHA!
Your holiday looks fun! Melbourne is a great place to be in! :)
Btw, I thought Shannyn looks more and more like Sean! Are you planning her sibling soon? :p
Bro: Yes, I also presume that she understands but don't know how to talk back.
Karen: Yes, Shannyn looks very much like Sean. Yesterday Sean wanted to buy nappy for Shannyn and the sales girl kept giving him the blue (for boy) packet rather than the pink (for girl). Now, I've decided to let her hair grow (no more cutting) so I can tie it up for her..and perhaps look more girlish.
Jel: Well, she didn't cry. Just frown a lot as it was rather cold that day.
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