Faye turns Two: An Ice-Cream Party

For all the time we spent together, I am kind of expecting our mother and daughter relationship to be as sturdy as an oak tree. Even when 30 years pass us by. Yet, I am also concern about how things might be if I raised you in a manner that you do not approve. From what I gather, I doubt you can withstand an authoritative and regimental parent-and-child environment. You've got a mind of your own and when you set your mind to something, it is very hard to negotiate a way out. To put it bluntly, you are as stubborn as a mule. In a positive light, I know you will be that go-getter in the corporate world.

Your little heart is full of love for me. Every single night when daddy or 哥哥 asks to sleep with you, you will adamantly announce, "No! I want mommy." I am not going to lie. Sometimes, I do wish you will embrace daddy's longing to pat you to sleep [Oh wait. You do not like to be patted] because mommy hasn't tuck 哥哥 in bed for the longest time. Other times, I would strain my eyes in the dark searching for your face and wonder, "How long more is she going to need me like that?" Sleeping times are warm and fuzzy. You say the sweetest things like, "Mommy Hug", "Kiss" [you like to return a kiss on the lips] and "I Love You". You are addicted to my presence. I secretly enjoyed this privilege.

The car seat is your biggest pet peeve. It seems to annoy you to the core and we have no other choice but to force you into it. You bawl your eyes out every single time. You stiffen your body and refuse to be strapped in. I began to worry if you'd ever grow out of it. You finally sat in your car seat without a fight at 22 months of age! It is finally over. Imagine 22 months of struggle - both you and us. I almost wanted to hold a party for it Faye! I really wanted to because at 22 months old, we succeeded weaning you from nursing as well [Read]. We spend so much time together that I will not accept anything less than regular hugs from the teenage you. They say love is unconditional but really, I wish for some kind of return for all the love I've showered you with. I wish for you to love me back at the very most.

Your second birthday fell on a Tuesday this year and I had been planning for it since January. The theme was easy. Ice-Cream! I started my research early and googled everything for this DIY ice-cream birthday party. We didn't invite anybody else outside our immediate family unit so our guest list was confined only to your grandparents, Uncle Eugene and family.

The party almost had to be cancelled because everyone was busy with work. Daddy had to fly to Jakarta for an impromptu meeting and he made an urgent return for dinner with you on your birthday. 爷爷 had an important project in Penang to oversee that same week but pushed it to a day later just so he can be present for you. He knows how much you love him and he is reciprocating his love for you with his presence Faye. Pat Pat had to fly to Bangkok on your birthday as well but she talked her boss out of it and requested for the Bangkok meeting to be re-scheduled. 妳的面子真大!

Pat Pat and 公公 took the day off work to prepare for your birthday dinner. When I arrived at their house at 0830 hours to setup the playroom with your ice-cream theme, they were already out at the market buying the freshest ingredients to cook up a storm for the night.

On arrival, the little cousins were treated to fruits in ice-cream bowls, pony and rainbow macarons that tasted so heavenly [Loving Creations 4 You] and lots of toys to play with! When you saw Callum 哥哥, Cayla and Cayley 姐姐 walking through the front door, you got all excited and didn't even attempt to stifle your squeals. Even Ewan was scrambling like an over-stimulated mouse when he saw his cousins arriving at 公公's house. You were both evidently overjoyed and I know the presence of your cousins is enough to make your birthdays a very memorable one.

You have to know that all those fights with your brother are necessary to forge a deeper relationship between you both. I have to diffuse arguments every day but I also witness sweetness in the both of you. You always have 哥哥's interests at heart. Whenever you receive a gummy, you would ask for another for him. Whenever you reach out for a bottle of Yakult, you are sure to get him a bottle as well. He doesn't always display his affection towards you but his love language is written all over his hugs and kisses. He never wants to leave you behind when we are to go on an outing. He insists on dropping you in class every morning before himself. Your brother hugged you throughout the birthday song when we celebrated your birthday in school with your classmates. That was the most heartwarming sight between a pair of siblings.

You have to watch each other's back for always and all worries will be dissolved for as long as you are there for one another. That is why, "Hakuna Matata" [by Urban Li'l] is made just for you both:

"No Worries For The Rest Of Your Days Because
No One Gets Left Behind"

A lot of effort had been put into the styling because mommy enjoys doing it. It doesn't matter that we only have nine guests on the list. Here is the at-a-glance party setup:

While many were borrowed, gifted and bought at a discount, there are four DIY props in this setup that is worth the share.

1. ICE-CREAM BUNTING [Free Printable Link]
What better way to get a bunting up than doing it yourself at no cost. Well, printing and labour cost at the very least but how do you tag a price to it? I say, "FREE!" This activity is so simple that the children can easily be involved in the making process.

What You Will Need
- 1 Hole-Puncher
- 1 Pair of Scissors
- 1 Roll of String or Yarn

2. ICE-CREAM PROP [Step-By-Step]
I trawled the world wide web for inspiring ice-cream ideas to deck up her party setup and made a mood board of what I'd like it to look like. To duplicate the hanging ice-cream props, I discussed the set-by-step with Hanzhi from The Joy Troopers and tapping on her craft experience on hacks to simplify the making.

What You Will Need [makes 4]
- 1 Pair of Scissors
- 1 Glue Gun
- 1 Pair of Needle and Thread
- 1 Piece of Fancy Paper
- 1 Metre-Long Ribbon
- 1 Brown Crayon
- 3 Half-Metre Cotton Cloths
- 4 Styrofoam Balls
- 4 Rubber Bands

All materials were bought from Spotlight and after dividing the cost into four ice-cream props, one costs S$5.

To get started, cover the styrofoam balls adequately with the pastel cloths and secure them with a rubber band. I've used loose ribbons instead because I ran out of them in the kitchen. Whatever works to give the ice-cream its "flavour" and do not worry about how it looks at the bottom because they will be hidden in the cone.

Next, cut the cones out [one piece of fancy paper can cater to four cones] and use a crayon or marker to give it a wafer look.

Cut fabric into strips using pinking shears [if you have] and sew down the middle of the strips with needle and thread. Otherwise, you can manually cut zig-zags down the fabric to give it texture.

Using the hot glue gun, smother the edge of the cone and stick the covered styrofoam inside. Then hot glue the ruffles around the top of the cone, covering both the paper and the styrofoam ball. To finish, hot glue the middle part of the ruffles and stick them together.

Add the ribbons if you want to hang them or simply use them as hand-held props!

3. COLOURED SAND BOWL
Cupplets baked 20 ice-cream cake pops for Faye as birthday gift! We are so grateful for friendships like these. Not sponsored and with no strings attached. Just full of love from creative people in the industry. We've been supporting Cupplets since 2014. They put out Faye's First Month Party dessert table, baked her the grandest First Birthday Cake in 2015, commemorated many milestones in our family with their bakes and now, these super adorable ice-cream cake pops to memorialise Faye's Second Birthday. They don't look like anything but they were really really yummy! I am sorry to disappoint but for now, they are not looking to bake any ice-cream cake pops for sale.

The presentation of her birthday cake. How should I display them? I thought about it for a night and came up with this grand idea of layering coloured sand.

What You Will Need
- 1 Clear Bowl
- 1 Small Bowl
- Bags of Coloured Sand

I found a bowl from Daiso with a mouth wide enough to fit many ice-cream cake pops. To fill it to the brim, you might need 3 kg of coloured sand. I wanted to save some money so I bought 2 kg of sand and placed a small bowl in the centre before layering the colours. Thanks to a fellow mom blogger, Mabel from Amazingly Still, who gave me this idea to save that 1 kg of sand!

4. ICE-CREAM CART
This cart was made from cardboard. With a lot of love from Hanzhi. She is the lady behind The Joy Troopers and a friend I made back in 2010 when we both shaved for Hair For Hope. I told her my plans to make a cardboard ice-cream cart for Faye's birthday and before I know it, I've got this delivered to me before they left for their big honeymoon adventure! Oh yes! She just got married!

I must have done something good to deserve so much support from friends. I insisted we did the cart together initially because I wanted to do something for Faye, in the capacity of her mother. Yet, Hanzhi went out of the way to make a life-size ice-cream cart for our little girl as a birthday gift instead. Favours I will have to return when an opportunity arrives. Did you know she was part of Faye's First Birthday Party too? Hanzhi made those animal masks and matching tails for our little friends who came for the birthday brunch!

What You Will Need
- 1 Hot Glue Gun
- 1 Paintbrush
- Paint
- Cardboard

There are so many people to thank. Text messages for their well-wishes and presents to bless you with. I have thanked each one of them personally for their thoughtfulness and I will keep Faye reminded about being grateful.

Happy 2nd Birthday to our not-always-happy daughter.

Read Faye's other Birthday Celebrations:
- First Birthday, 2015
- Third Birthday, 2017
- Fourth Birthday, 2018

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A stay at home mum, blogging to widen her social life. 
We want to echo the sound of love through our lives to inspire other mothers alike.