Baby no more. Kit turns two!

A birthday treat: Holding a pen while drinking milk on the morning of his birthday.

[I wrote a letter to Kai when he turned two. Here's one for Kit on his birthday.]

Dear Kit,

We knew what we were expected to do the day you were born. What we weren't sure of, is what you'd be like as a baby. Your big brother was a difficult baby; would you be the same?

You are a happy baby, who loves to giggle. We marveled at how easy it was to take care of you. Then you became a toddler and we found out how fiery and fierce you can get, but yet you continued to make us laugh. You love holding two objects, one in each hand. You chew up fruits, and spits them back out. (You don't anymore, which is why we have reintroduced apples to your diet.)

And what I really, really, really love about you is your smile. It lights up my heart every single day. And every night you say good night to me by wrapping your arms around me and snuggling your little head on my shoulders.

Your temper tantrums and passion for getting into fights really drive me up the wall. But for you, and for Kai, I'll willingly take both the good and the bad.

Happy second birthday, Kit. We love you.

Nature's scrapbook

The 'tree' that I created, with Kai's help, using bark rubbing, leaves, and photographs as my backdrop.

Last month, I blogged about a project that I would be doing for Canon PIXMAtown, and I am so pleased to say that my little craft work has gone live on the site!

Basically, I was tasked to create a scrapbook using the Canon PIXMA MG8270 All-In-One Photo Printer and write a step-by-step how-to guide. I was half scared to death when I got the brief because scrapbooking is serious business, and this would be my first attempt at scrapbooking. I remembered visiting a scrapbook supplies store before and was overwhelmed by the equipment, the tools, and the prettiness of everything that's sold in the store. How would my DIY scrapbook compare?!

But everything just fell in place after I did some research and thought about the theme for my scrapbook. It also helped that Canon has a great creative resource for scrapbookers online. And I was impressed by the quality of the print. I wanted the backdrop of my scrapbook to stand out, so I took photographs of the sky and of a nice patch of grass. This explains why I have been staring at the sky lately. And thanks to the prints, my photographs really did stand out.

Kai cut part of the 'grass' for the background.

The best part is that Kai had fun helping with the scrapbook, and I was surprised at his cutting skills. I wasn't sure if he could create a convincing silhouette of the grass, but he did! (I helped by drawing the lines for him.)

Read my how-to guide for this Nature's Scrapbook here.

Hot, hot, hot!

People make small talk by talking about the weather. I hope this doesn't come across as a meaningless post that has nothing to do with our life here in the sunny city state just because I am talking about the weather. But the weather has been just impossibly HOT. I step out of the house fresh in the morning to send the boys to school, but I'd be perspiring by the time I strap Kit into his car seat.

I have been staring quite a bit at the sky lately. Not day dreaming. Just looking for a nice patch of sky to snap a picture of for my Canon PIXMAtown project, and just wishing that the weather isn't so darn hot.

Hello Charlie Bucket!

"Charlie!" cried Mr Wonka. "Well, well, well! So there you are!"


And so began Charlie Bucket's (and Kai's) adventure in Mr Willy Wonka's Factory...


...as told in this delightful pop-up book version of Roald Dahl's classic, which I found at Littered with Books. I can't wait to read it with Kai over the weekend.

Have a great weekend everyone!