Toddlerhood!

After 6 months of comfortable cruising, our little infant has finally graduated to toddlerhood!!! Credit needs to be given to the ducks around our block - she loves to gaze at the ducks and when she is entranced, she forgets to hold onto my hand and ends up standing for a minute or more on her own. And after that, she gradually gained enough confidence to walk while holding onto our hand(s), and then on her own - again, getting to see the ducks was an incentive for her. Now, she's toddling around the house more and more to get from toy to toy or place to place. It's endearingly amusing how she toddles around while carrying Miffy in her left hand and sucking her right thumb. I suppose they offer her security while she's mastering a new skill!

Ma ma's little girl

After 1 whole week of 'ba ba' (daddy) to everything, baby launched into her 'ma ma' (mummy week =) That's so endearing and something I've been waiting so long to hear!!! Now, everything and anything could be 'ma ma' - 'Mummy, pick me up from my crib', 'Mummy, I'm hungry', 'Mummy, I don't want to eat anymore' ......

She's also getting more used to sleeping on her own in her crib, so it takes a whole lot less time now to put her to sleep and I sleep better at night too. Phew!

Savannah / Hilton Head Airport (SAV)

After having mum and dad here for 6 days, it's time to say goodbye. It's been a full 6 days - shopping, sightseeing the historic downtown, visiting golf courses, day trip to Charleston, factory outlet shopping at Hilton Head, lunching and dining out and at home too. It's really comfortable and homely to have them over for a visit (makes me feel like a baby!), and it's good to see baby at ease with them (except for a couple of days in the middle of the week when she suddenly changed her mind and heart and decided that she preferred to stick close to her mum and dad). I'm also happy that all my driving practices have paid off and I could chauffeur my parents around Savannah - and I absolutely love the zippy little red Chrysler PT Crusier that we rented =) It's such an exciting and cheery car to go around in. Hee hee.

Charleston

Blazing hot in downtown Charleston:

Boone's Hall Plantation is reported to be America's oldest working plantation and this was where the old TV serial 'North and South' was filmed. Hubby loved this Avenue of Oaks, with its old oak trees draped with Spanish moss, so he took many, many photos of it from varying angles:
On the porch of the main house... is baby thinking Grandma rocks?

A very happy baby after being nourished by yummy milk, and a very happy daddy carrying his precious daughter (that's Eeyore squashed between them) (P.S. It's the last time we're bringing out fresh milk for her; it's extremely inconvenient and time-consuming to heat it up to her desired temperature.) :
Family photo - notice baby's beloved Miffy bunny beanie? They are inseparable now and go to sleep together every nap time and every night; baby also lugs her around by the ears when she's playing or when we go out. Good thing we spotted a bigger Miffy in the Charleston flea market so her Grandma bought that for her - as a spare in case her little Miffy suffers from some accident. She loved the bigger Miffy and chuckled when she first set her eyes on it! It's her temporary favourite!

Downtown Savannah

Baby took to my mummy and daddy quite soon. After spending half a day with them, she was comfortable being in their company when I wasn't around. See her enjoying snacking on pears in her grandma's lap while we were touring historic downtown in a trolley bus.

All dressed up for fine dining at The Olde Pinke House at Reynolds Square. It's a conserved old house with period interior decoration. The little baby was an angel, finger-feeding herself bits of food, and only clamouring to be 'let loose' from the highchair after she's done with her dinner.

Family photo along the riverfront at sunset. The little baby has been saying 'ba ba' (which is what she calls her daddy) and 'bao bao' (hug hug / carry me) the whole week. Naturally, that makes her daddy very happy =)

Our Little Gourmet

Baby is getting really dexterous at picking up pieces of food with her fingers and feeding herself. When we go out to eat in restaurants, she can feed herself small chunks of bread, soft vegetables and even slivers of chicken. When we are at home, we mostly still scoop up food for her in her spoon and then let her bring the spoon to her mouth herself. (But the little gourmet won't feed herself food that she doesn't like - we'll have to spoonfeed her on those occasions.) These days, besides lunching together, we're also trying to make it a point to dine together as a family.

Here's baby trying to feed herself cereal:

After a strawberry feast (sans clothes, heh heh), baby looks like she is promoting a new type of lipstain:

Moving House

We spent 2 days moving house - Friday 12th and Sat 13th - and a further day unpacking most of the things. The whole process was quite efficient. Hubby did most of the moving while I was unpacking in the new apartment, and whoever was with the baby in the old apartment packed and cleaned there. So, the whole apartment looked somewhat decent for my parents' arrival.

The new apartment is really bright and cheery. It gets lots of sun, especially during 9-11am, and the view of trees from the window and the patio is very soothing. As we're further from the pool, it's a lot quieter here, and the neighbours seem nice thus far =)

Here's baby trying to help unpack the toiletries rather than play with her toys:

Hmm.. what's in the box?

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Our cherubic baby trying to make some music to entertain mummy and daddy:

Pre-Mothers' Day 'Gift'

Baby said 'ma ma' a couple of times on Monday 8th =) (And only on that day. By the end of the week, she was back to muttering her favourite 'zi zi' and 'za za' and 'je je' sounds. Sigh*)

She also walked 2-3 steps into my arms on Friday 12th =) Another milestone!

Happy 1st Hatch Day!