Toddler E is 2!

I can't believe it. My baby boy is 2 years old.

Elmo cake from Sensational Cakes Online

I decided to order an Elmo cake since it's one of toddler E's favourite Sesame Street characters. He recognized Elmo straight away and loved the cake!

Decor by toddler E's grand-uncle 

Toddler E's grand-uncle made his birthday decorations by hand. We ordered food from our usual caterer Kigi Catering and had friends over (and some family).

Present from auntie SL & uncle KS

With his tricycle that features a 2-faced bear on top of the handles. Freaky

Happy Birthday, my baby boy!

Mama Take Photo

'Mama, take photo!'

I look down and this is what I see.

Cheese!!(??)

Fingers crossed this doesn't become his default smile for future family photos!

Cloth Diapers

I LOVE cloth diapers.

But when I was doing research while pregnant with baby E, there were so many different terms (AIO, AI2, pocket diapers, prefolds etc) that my head was spinning.

Plus I could not get over my hangup about touching poop, even if it was newborn breastfed baby poop which was supposed to be easily washed away and not very stinky. So we used disposables until baby E was about 8 or 9 months old before I took the plunge and bought some Bumwear diapers.

I'm busy, mom (periwinkle bee print)

Maroon turtle print

Green dino print *rawr*

White with black trim

Love the batik inspired patterns that Bumwear prints on their diaper covers. Baby E's bum has never looked cuter.

I then set about building my diaper stash because I knew I would need the extra diapers (and maaaaybe part of the reason is that there are so many cute diaper prints out there!). He now goes through 4 - 5 diapers a day, I change him often because he's gotten a rash before from being in a pee-soaked diaper for too long (was an overnight diaper, have not been able to resolve the issue so he sleeps in disposables to keep his bum dry and happy).

So now his diaper stash includes Bumwear, SgBum (also local Singaporean brand), Charlie Banana (bought from Takashimaya during their introductory promotion), SunBaby (China brand, bought direct off their website) and Bumkins (US brand, bought through a local seller on FB). 

We still use disposables when out and about for most of the day for ease of use and disposal. If it's a short trip to the supermarket then I leave him in a cloth diaper because I know we'll be home in time to change him. 

Baby E also had some diaper rash issues and I racked my brain to figure out what was happening, stripped his diapers several times, changed the amount of detergent used, tried baking soda etc. I finally realised that all I had to do was add an additional insert when stuffing his pocket diapers because he was peeing so much as he grew bigger!

The best part is cost savings. I'm not under pressure to potty train baby E as the cloth diapers will last him another year or so (maybe even longer) and he can start whenever he's ready. A friend of mine was bemoaning the cost of the XXL sized diapers for her son (1 year older than baby E) and she was trying to get her son potty trained ASAP so that she can stop spending on his diapers. 

Almost 2

We're 2 months away from baby E's 2nd birthday. 

Found a couple photos of him in the rocking chair, I can't believe how much he's grown. I have mixed feelings about this. 

1 month

3 months

Giving mommy the stink eye at 18 months

I feel relief that we've made it this far as a family, pride in my happy-go-lucky baby (now toddler) and some wistfulness at how fast he seems to be growing. 

The first year seemed like it would never end with all the non-sleeping, crying (both baby E and me!) and worrying. But the second year has gone by quicker than I expected and he is nearly 2 years old!

Judging by the last photo, his personality is really starting to shine through. 

And here I thought attitude didn't start until the tween years??

Palawan Beach, Sentosa

I've been wanting to bring baby E to the beach again since the last time he went. So in May we took him to Palawan Beach at Sentosa since it's a family-friendly place. 

I didn't get any pictures of baby E playing on the beach or in the water but there were a few good shots of him running around.

Let's see, where to run to first?

Wiggly foot

And he's off!

Enjoying the view

That's all she wrote!

Punggol Waterway Park

We took baby E to the water play area at Punggol Waterway Park a few months ago. He was wary at first but really seemed to get into it at the end. 

Since then we've taken him to a few other places that have a water play area like Sentosa's Palawan Beach, the roof area of Lot 1 Shopper's Mall and most recently, the pool area at Festive Hotel in RWS.

Look mama!

Water!

Just havin' a looksee...

What does this button do?

Favourite photo of my two boys!

Pointy finger

My other favourite shot of that day

Art Garden 2012, SAM at 8Q

So we took baby E to the Art Garden 2012 exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum a few weeks ago and he had a blast running around touching stuff. I'm on the lookout for more events like this because he had so much fun, it was a chance for him to play and explore without me or the hubby hovering over him and telling him 'no!' all the time. 

Colouring!

Does standing count?

Posing like a pro

Great exhibit for grabby lil' hands

Oops, sign says 'no climbing'

Baby E seems to have nice memories about our visit to the museum. He still tells me about the young couple who shared the table with us and coloured with him. He says 'draw' and 'koko' which means 'big brother' referring to the guy who drew a spiderman rabbit for him.

There was also an exhibit with a microphone hooked up to a sensor and computer that generates images onto a projection screen. The size of the images depends on how loud a person talks (or shouts) into the microphone. This is another of baby E's favourite memories, judging by how often he's told me about it now. He'll mimic holding a microphone and go 'baaaaah!' then point at the wall / pretend projection screen.

I think we all had a really nice time that day. A change from both the hubby and I feeling frazzled and worn out by trying to keep baby E entertained or in-check on our usual outings.