Learning best through play

Thank goodness in spite of her bout of fever in Singapore, Rosabelle still pretty much enjoyed exploring new surroundings and playing with my family members. She was at first very sticky to me in the first few days, bawling when my mum wanted to help me bathe her, and immediately stopping her wails the moment my mum stepped out of the bathroom. So naughty - especially when it was dear Popo who helped bathe her in the first 5 months of her life in Singapore. Strangely enough, she let my brother-in-law carry her, and was fine letting me out of her sight and being alone with him... could it be a case of mistaken identity where she mistook tall men for her Papa dearest? Haha!

At least the moments I could let her out of my arms, she enjoyed the expanse of space in crawling around, and laying her little fingers on things to explore. As there are many sharp edges and glass furniture around my mum's place, we really had to keep a watch on her at all times.Every little item was new and interesting to her, and playing with people around her made the experience all the more fun.

She especially liked this Dora the Explorer doll, which was supposed to dance, but had run out of battery, so she would clap and dance happily whenever I shook the doll around. She would put her arms up in the air and shake herself when in a sitting position, even pulling Dora close to her to 'love, love' it, kissing/biting its hair and patting its body.

My Dad made a paper crown for her, and successfully thought her the concept of up and down, so that she will now raise her arms whenever we say 'up'.

In this instance, she was dwarfed by the big, blue elephant buoy, much like David & Goliath, huh?

My sister specially took this shot of Rosabelle in the below photo, to compare with Simon at 7 months in the above photo. She thinks that Rosabelle's side profile at times looks like Simon's when he was younger. I think the Xiaowanzi alarm clock has withstood the test of time and severe manhandling by the kids...

My sis also had fun at Rosabelle's expense by putting my mum's curlers on her... she wasn't exactly pleased with her perm, especially when she was still having her fever and feeling cranky from the medication...

That's me trying my scissor-twist skill on my own daughter...

Every evening, we will go down for a quick walk downstairs, and at one time kicked a ball around with Simon and Marianne.

We also visited the playground, and luckily Riza helped me to carry her (or my arms would seriously give way).

My sis loves to play around with her dear Rosie alot - don't their mouths look similar in the picture on the right?

This shot, with its awkward angle and upper-heads-lopped-off frame, was taken by Simon, who loves to practise his photography skills.

Though most of the time, even at play, Rosabelle pretty much just wanted to be an extension of me and cling to me like a koala bear...aiyo!