"Discover" - The Story Making Centre

28 July 2009

Shean Wenn & I made our way to the appointed DLR station to meet with the organiser & other moms as this is a day-out organised by the Local Surestart Centre (government-funded centre for kids's welfare & activities, every borough has a few centres for the convenience of parents). We had to take the DLR (again) to get to the last station which is Stratford, walk for 15mins before reaching the destination - DISCOVER, "the story making centre".

Just the day before as i was casually informing Meng that I'd be bringing SW out to Stratford for a "Discovery Trip", he asked me what was it about? I scratched my head & didn't know how to answer him because frankly, they didn't say much on the itinery. I replied him, "It'll be fun!! Furthermore, Jessica (my friend & her daughter & another kid) will be there".

And what a perfect day it has been! The day exceeded all my expectation, in terms of "fun" factor & also, SW's behaviour - she was SO well behaved the whole day being her chirpy self. I was so impressed. I definitely had alot of fun bringing her out although I was knackered by the time we came home (and had to cook, not forgetting!).

Discover Centre is like a mini-playground attraction for kids, indoors & outdoors, there are alot of funt hings to be dicovered by kids - ageing from 1YO to probably 7YO.

Let the photos speak for itself. (Click on photos to see the full version)

(This photo is taken off their website, and it shows the downstairs where they converted it into a "Pirate" land. Story telling area is on the "ship deck" while the kids can also explore the surrounding "Island" with nooks and corners where they also can find treasures)

Upstairs, the fun begins!

Downstairs in "Pirate" Land/Ship. Shean Wenn is Pirate "Yellow Bandanadee" for the day :) Look at the yellow bandana & blue scarf that mummy put on her, thereby transforming her into the Pirate of the Day. Later on, they proceeded to next door where they could paint their own flags. They provided an apron for her and lots of colours & brushes. While the paint were left to dry & fixed to a rattan, we had snack time and also face-painting. Sadly I didnt allow SW to do face-painitng because frankly, I just didn't wanna wash off the paint from her face. And also I remember MIL telling me last year not to let her do face-painting because of her eczema.. Maybe when she is older she can do that.

It was almost 3.30pm when we were done. We then went upstairs again where the kids played. This is a "ship" area and look how enthusiastic SW is at having a go at the, umm.. what do you call the ship steering thing? Well,.. yeah, you know what I mean.


Waving their flags around - SW LOVED THIS!!! She couldn't stop waving her flag. She found this action very fun! I guess it is pretty fun looking at how the flag waves... (Photos below show Shean Wenn with friends Xin Yi & Matthew)

(Inside the room upstairs where more toys await them).

Just before going home, Jessica & I brought the kids outside to play at their playground. It isn't a very big playground but it's got loads of fun equipments for them to tire them out.

There was this slide which is REALLY high (photo below) and without any hesitation, SW climbed it without me knowing! How I realised was when she called me from the top ("Ha-know mummy!!" - Hello mummy) before proceeding to slide down! Oh my, what a brave little girl. The slide looks like a green monster. Shean Wenn on top of the "green monster" slide!

March = Spring = March

SPRING

(Shean Wenn @ 8 Months 4 Weeks old)

Spring is the start of something new. And some regard the first day of March as springtime, hence March is also a time of change.

For me, March has been a thoroughly busy month, eventhough I'm just halfway there. Made a leap into the unknown and slowly learning to thread in the new territory. For the past 2 weeks, I have been learning new things, and developments - some have been fast, some just so slow. Many a times, I see myself (not literally, thankfully) bumping into a brick wall. But thankfully, there's a good partner to balance it out. She - fast and furious, trying to "steamroll" and move things along (it's a good thing usually!). Me, slow and steady and weighing the pros and cons, and ups and downs, many times. Scenarios playing in my head - should it be done like this, what if we do it this way instead? Would the outcome be more favourable? I do not know. There are no answers yet! Well, they say Rome ain't built in a day. And to succeed, we need to really research and find out.

Although scary and challenging, it's also been really (and I use this word loosely)exciting!

And the past week, with Meng working late and only reaching home at 11pm, it also means dinner and my bath being scheduled around SW. I have dinner at odd hours, sometimes after her bedtime (830pm). After baby's tucked into bed and I finished up the household chores (washing up, cleaning the house), I have had more time to "think" and plan better. But still, the effects of waking up early - Shean Wenn "demands" to be let out and be given her milk at 730am, no later - usually takes its toll at midnight. So my days have been 7am-12midnight, taking care of Shean Wenn, the house. I'm past tired now.

Well, good thing is, it's Easter long weekend. Weather's going to be crappy though,which usually means we stay in, or spend time indoors.

On Good Friday, the weather looks extremely well despite the weather report saying it's cold and chilly - in the morning, the sun was shining oh-so brightly.. so we decided to go to the park, get some nice fresh air! But the sun played hide-and-seek with us, when we reached Thames Barrier Park, it was cold, gloomy, extremely windy and the wind factor caused me to shiver in my jacket!


Shean Wenn sitting in her new car seat, what a big girl she is now

At the Thames Barrier Park - too cold to walk around so we headed back after walking one round at the park. Brrrrrr!

We then drove off and went to our favourite shopping mall for tea. As you can see, Shean Wenn has really grown. She is a big girl now and chooses to sit on her very own chair (it's leather seat too, good choice, dear!).


Big girl now, she sits on her very own (leather) chair.


Today, the weather continues to be cold, chilly and wet (it even had a mini hailstorm in the evening). We decided to go indoors - to the mall. Bluewater it is.

When we were in Melbourne, she can be quite a handful when going out - always needing to be carried and especially during mealtimes, she will want our attention. I dreaded to bring her out when we return to London. But thankfully she has been pretty well-behaved most of the time. In restaurants, she will sit in her own highchair while we eat, only fussing if the meal has dragged on for more than 45minutes or so. So it is still quite a good 45 minutes of enjoyable dining without needing to carry her. I'm pleased. I guess it's also partly that she enjoys feeling that she is "one of the adults" - having her own chair and sitting at above-table level looking at us enjoying our meals.

Bringing her out is also quite fuss-less. She can sit in her stroller for a good number of time before fussing.

As you can see, she is having alot of fun at Bluewater today.

Out with mommy


While her parents are having drinks at Costa...


Counting her fingers..


Defnitely daddy's girl : "Daddy, please carry me"


After Bluewater, we headed back to nearer home and stopped by at Tesco to grab a few things. We put her on a shopping trolley. The whole time while shopping, she did not fuss!! A far cry from when we put her in her own stroller. As usual, her "inquisitiveness" shows - wanting to touch and pull at everything that comes across her path.


Daddy's girl : "Daddy, please buy this for me, pretty please??"

More on her development this month on my next post!


HAPPY EASTER to those who celebrate!

Easter Weekend

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Originally uploaded by Tsu Lin.

It's a long weekend.. which is great as I get to spend more time with the hubs. As easter falls on Sunday, and no shops will be opened on Easter Sunday, we would probably just relax tomorrow. (Hubs will be cleaning and tidying up the apartment... while I.. I'll just sit down and relax.)

Today, we did a day trip to Cambridge. The weather was lovely - sunny and mild with temperature of about 16degrees celsius. Quite a perfect spring day! We started the journey out of London only at 11am (as I woke up late and took about an hour getting ready). We reached Cambridge at lunch time and since I've done my research way beforehand, we even know where to park (i even found out carpark rates, which is very handy) and it only takes 10mins to walk to the city centre, walking through a huge field filled with people and activities.

We decided to walk around the city centre, heading towards the market square. We soon found ourselves attracted to some off-season designer sale :) Then, rumbling tummies dictated the next agenda - lunch! We both went around to search for authentic pub food and found one not too long later. M ordered their fresh fish and I opted for vongole. The lesson of the day? Should always order pub food in a pub! My vongole was a disappointment but hub's fish lived up to its name (FRESH!).

Since both of us have been to Cambridge, we decided that we'd want a relaxing trip. So, keeping to my pace (which is resting/sitting every half hour and walking at the speed of a turtle!)... we found ourselves on one of the bridges across Cam River. The scenery was picture perfect! Too bad hubs won't allow me to go on a punting cruise.. I really wanted to do that since I missed out on that during my trip here as a student. :(

Meanwhile, back in London, the annual Oxford-Cambridge boat race competition ended with Cambridge claiming victory!

Anyhoo.. we took some pictures around the river and walked back to the city centre where we hitched a ride on their free city-circle bus. Alas, we alight at the stop nearest to the carpark and made our way back - across the fields where nerds chill out ... and that, concluded our day in Cambridge.