We decided to pop by the zoo, to see if the renovations were done yet. So while waiting for the zoo to open, we pottered around at home, shot some hoops, did some drawing...
And Ignatius did a really funny thing. He managed to get hold of a cup, those plastic kind that kaya normally comes in, white with the transparent cover. And in his other hand, he was hold his orange basketball (small one). I will never know how he made the connection, but he put the orange ball on top of the cup, and proudly proclaimed ICE CREAM and started pretend licking the ball. We were shocked! Ignatius is milk intolerant, and has never had an ice cream cone. I don't think he has watched many shows where children eat ice cream cones either... I hope no one has been feeding him ice cream on the sly!
So when we got to the zoo, the first thing we did was to make his ice cream real...in the form of a sorbet from Ben & Jerry's!
It was a lovely day at the zoo. 
Ignatius actually had fun spotting and naming the animals, and walking around by himself. He shouted at the flamingoes, watched the giraffe video, tried to feed the lioness a stalk of grass through the viewing glass, roared at the jaguar, tried to tell other kiddos where the monkeys were, was fascinated and terrified at the same time when the butterflies tried to land on him, obediently shushed himself when we didn't want to frighten the deer crossing our path, explored the "science garden" where they grew his favourite long beans, screamed excitedly and jumped up and down at the mudskipper through the totally glass aquarium, watched the ducks he loved so much... and so much more! 
I think it's our most interactive zoo trip yet. He seemed to totally enjoy it. Usually it's us pointing animals out to him, and carrying him around. 2.5hours flew by without us even knowing it.
We came home for a nap, and it was off to Marsen's for the new term. Daddy was really pleased with him. He did all the activities perfectly. The crocodile jump, the monkey arms, the run and jump, the independent swim... We were glad we decided to continue rather than stop last term.
We couldn't help noticing that Ignatius seemed to be more sociable and confident around other kids lately as well. Especially slightly older children. He would call them Kor Kor or Chjie Chjie and follow them around. Sometimes, he would even try and hug them. And he is better at playing by himself. He doesn't always insist we play with him.
We don't know if this is simply part of growing up, or is due to being at childcare. But we sure are glad it's happening! Another thing that we seem to notice him trying to do lately, is speak like us, and string words together to make sentences. It takes some time for his brain to dig out the required words, and while the brain processor works, he stutters in a really cute way! The word that he is stuck at is repeated until he manages to dig up the next word. The expression on his face looks quite pained as well, as he struggles to speak. We try to have a normal expression on our faces, lest he thinks we're jeering his speech, and wait very patiently till his sentence is complete, and then proceed to answer/respond to him.
The stars must be all aligned for a lovely day today. Just as there are great days, there are also bad days. But right now, all I can think of is how lovely and wonderful this stubborn headstrong willful boy is. =)
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Although we have been to the zoo countless times, each time seems so different. and each visit is always the best visit. Not that the zoo is any different, just that it is great to see how the kids have grown and how they react to each of the exhibit.
YX has also been calling bigger boys/gals as gor gor/jie jie.. wonder how they differentiate whether it is gor gor or jie jie.