A Little Piece of Heaven

New Beginning, Same Old Habits

2012-01-03T21:45:00.001+08:00

it's the start to the NEW School Calendar!

lil missy is in Kindergarten ONE already - whoo... how time flies!
she's in the afternoon session and since there are a few of her classmates from N2 and childcare are in the same class this year, i didn't quite bother taking half day off work just to see her attend her new day.

and boy oh boy, it was a mistake - coz even as she grew OLDER, she is still the TIMID little girl she was when she first joined childcare!

and i heard from her teacher at childcare that she is one and ONLY one that CRIED in the class when the new teacher came in and introduced herself and asked how the children are.

what can i say, it's part and parcel of her growing up phase.
and i won't say she will outgrow this little habit when she goes to primary one.
most probably she will still CRY on her first day there too, and that is 2 years down the road!

just gotta keep my fingers crossed that she will only TEAR and not CRY loudly.
how embarrasing will that be, just thinking about it.

bonding over milk

2011-12-03T16:54:00.000+08:00

See the similarity?
the pillows and their 'babies' aka tiger and lion next to them.
oh ya, another new member to Lil Missy's collection recently, the purple Bear.

bonding activity

2011-11-29T22:34:00.000+08:00

usually i will prepare some materials on friday afternoons (while at work) to bring home for the kids - so that the weekend (and my ears!) will not be filled with their whinings, repeated irritations and cries of boredom.

so after dinner tonite, i made them do some coloring.
(thank goodness Lil Missy didn't ASK for the notebook coz usually i let them watch Starfall on friday nites)

her masterpiece - much better than her previous works.

his half done work - but can't wait to show off victoriously. heh!

and tonite, i let them have a go at the LeapFrog LeapPad i bought many, many moons ago.

they obviously had a fun time listening to the stories and poking on the books.
oh, did i mention there was much tussle over WHO should be the Master of the Felt Pen?
Argh... at this age, i have to get 2 of everything to avoid commotion!

claypot rice... without the claypot

2011-11-26T15:31:00.001+08:00

i tried making claypot rice today, in the rice cooker instead of the claypot (coz i don't have one).
it turned out pretty ok.

well, at least the kids love eating it - anything sweet is a treat!

food and play, what else?

2011-11-20T22:12:00.000+08:00

with 2 active kids, weekends are basically all about food and play.

and we went to Ikea, since i wanted to look at some furniture as well after seeing their latest catalogue in the mail; just couldn't resist heading down there to see the REAL thing especially during this christmas season!

the cafeteria... super crowded! hence we went opposite to Anchor Point/Fish & Co for lunch instead. less crowd means less waiting time and more space for kids to run about and STILL within our visibility!

Food, food, food!

Happy with her kid's meal. But ended up not eating almost half of it - and they went into MY stomach (no wonder i can't lose weight!)

Happy to get to PLAY with the plastic fork... and showing me his Victorious Sign again. -_-

And again...

And she joined in too!

He likes to play 'masak-masak'.... i don't mind that. :)

and away we rocked on the reindeer... and looking forward to the coming of Christmas!

Graduation Ceremony Cum Year End Concert 2011

2011-11-19T23:36:00.000+08:00

Lil Missy participated in her childcare/kindergarten's year end concert, the opening number to their theme : The Sea Journey.

Prior to the concert, the kids need to get all dolled up - see the works of it, in progress!

With their teachers, Ms Gwen and 刘老师

The Adorables!

Some of the performers.... how much cuteness can there be?!

One for remembrance... my lovely girl!

This is his classic "Tap Em Em" expression...which to-date, I have yet to understand what he meant by "Tap Em Em" with a slanted twitch to his mouth! This boy ah....

And the best part of the whole event (it was almost 3.5 hours) for the girls... rocking on the horse and enjoying the outdoor fresh air!

2 more years to their graduation... hopefully by then, i can still take a picture of these 2 BFFs looking as happy as they were today!

lil missy is turning 4

2011-11-11T23:53:00.000+08:00

she's been asking me the same old questions a couple of months back.
"mamii, my birthday already?"

and each time i will have to tell her not yet, when she starts hearing christmas jingles and seeing christmas decorations, her birthday will be near... which is in mid-November.

so a week prior to her planned birthday celebration in childcare, we went to the local bakery to order her PRINCESS cake; she wanted it for so long and kept showing me photos from the magazine! and she got what she wanted. wish granted! :)

so without further a-due, here are some snippets of lil missy's 4th birthday celebration in childcare.

The Cake! isn't it so adorable... looked like a wedding gown, rite? lovely!

lil man just woke up from his afternoon nap and we rushed him over to the childcare, to celebrate jiejie's birthday together.

with her BFF - Ferlyn, the one with the curly hair

the kids can't WAIT to see the cake and all choose the best seats to be near the cake! haha...

her class teacher, Gwen, helping to lit up the candle (there's a joke on this one, later!)

look at the seriousness of her face... gently cutting her birthday cake, or rather, princess barbie's gown!

happy with the cake... coz it's chocolate flavoured!

passing out the goodie bags to her friends. she helped packed a few of those goodies for me; it was a total of 42 packs! grrr.....

with a few of her buddies since nursery class: Ferly, Vaishai, Lil Missy, Joeelle

And the rest of her classmates who were there to celebrate with her today:
Bo Han, Lingesh, Fraser, Vaishali, Lil Missy, Ferlyn, Shao Yu, Joeelle

Mammy wishes you a Happy & Blessed Birthday, my darling.
May you always be happy & cheerful and stay healthy too!

Charades Nite - Kids' Version

2011-11-10T22:52:00.001+08:00

this just happened out of the blue when i was left with the kids on a friday nite.

they were hogging my andriod, as usual and were watching a spelling game when the lil man had this Brilliant Light Bulb popping up out of nowhere and started doing his version of Charades

well, okay... he didn't know what he was actually doing but it sure made the lil missy very amused. and it made me felt a LOT better being left with them alone yet again. (not that i mind spending time with my babies but sometimes, i also need ME time)

so here are a few vids which i took of the two - and this is worth remembering; especially when they are much older and would one day be able to play the REAL version of Charades with me/their friends.

note: do excuse the irritating lightings in the house; well, my digicam kinda sucks taking vids under flourescent lights... but enjoy the contents!

So how was the start of your weekend?

Peace Out

2011-11-03T22:49:00.001+08:00

usually before bed time when i get the kids ready for bed, they will be making their noisy mess around the room while i set up their pillows/blankies/soft toys, etc.

sometimes, in order for them to calm down (which is necessary before bed time, especially for the lil man coz he ALWAYS have bad dreams!), i had to whip out the digicam and get them to pose for me. they are always game for it, coz after each click, they will run over asking to see the pictures, every single time!

so tonite, it was pretty obvious that the kids are in a pretty good mood with similar poses; their current STANDARD pose, to be exact. of course, the little one will imitate the elder one... "monkey see, monkey do" stage; no doubt.

lil missy; never forgetting to bring along her baby - tigger!

lil man and his copycat pose.... which he has yet to master the skill of placing his V sign NEXT to his face, instead of in front of him.

so there... my darlings bidding you all a very good nite and PEACE OUT!

You've Reached All Your "Three"s for 2011

2011-10-09T22:09:00.000+08:00

This is just a little self-reminder on how time flies and how fast this little Active bundle of Joy has grown over the short period of time... 30 months, to be exact.

As i took time to dig through his photos and came up with this little diddly-doo collages, i realized how much i have missed, how often i have forgotten what he looked like in his first years (while i was ALWAYS occupied with Chloe, i left him very much to the care of the helper... which i now REALLY, TRULY regret!)

Anyways, before i find myself procrastinate any further... here's the final project that will keep reminding me of how time FLIES and how FAST he grows up.

In the early days/months and still the BABY of the family...

Moving onwards inot his toddler-hood... and of course, the Terrible Two stage :p

And last but not least, finally turning 30 months in Sep 2011...

I am looking forward to your many more THREEs!

Sunday's a fun day...

2011-06-26T22:51:00.001+08:00

weather was good and we're suppose to go play water at the indoor playground at IMM but...

it was closed for maintenance! what luck... but all is not lost coz we just headed just a few steps over to the playground next to it... along with a whole bunch of other kids, and it was not even 10AM on a Sunday morning!

playground, playground, here we come!

taking turns... helping to push jiejie...

now it's my turn! and when i'm done, i'll tell mamii... "Inish"! (missing the F!)

the wheels that gets us spinning around and round...

climbing up the tunnel and goes to the highest slide... by myself!

"Roar...."

down the slides we go, taking turns...

trying out 'assisted' rock climbing... daddy, don't touch my buttock!

after fun, comes food...

and after food, comes fun again... fruit slicing time!

yes... sunday's a FUN day!

her love for reading makes me happy!

2011-06-24T17:47:00.003+08:00

"happy" is an understatement - i've Excited, Amazed and Ecstatic over it! :)

it happened since early this week when she dug out the loads of Joy Reader books which i've read to her (only a few of Level 1) when she around 2 years old. and since she found out how 'easy' it was to read as she knows a few of the words, she kept going and going and going...

and she loves reading them out loud and will only stop at words which she is unfamiliar with, and waiting for me to read it out for her. for some of the higher level books, she will ask me to read them for her. usually she'll say : "Ok mamii, you read this, i quiet".

i hope her love for reading is not only a 'phase' they go through at this age... hopefully she will continue to love reading, be it for academic purpose or otherwise.

meanwhile, i'll just continue to indulge in this little new-found happiness! :)

puzzling good times

2011-06-16T22:04:00.002+08:00

the last time the kids played their loot of puzzles was many, many, MANY moons ago.
that's why when chloe suddenly asked me to bring out the box of puzzles, i was both surprised and happy that she still remembers this activity which she loved so much previously.

this time round, gaby tries his hands on them... but still unable to understand which parts of the puzzles goes where. and soon was out of patience and decided to 'destroy' all those that chloe had completed. oh boys...

happy to play with her puzzles again... look at that face!

gimme some time okie... i'll eventually know how to do it!

trying to rebuild the puzzles by NOT looking at the picture on the cover... as if that's possible! :)

our little conversation while she played her puzzle, where she negotiated for her bday pressies!

maids in waiting... as if!

2011-06-14T17:32:00.004+08:00

believe it or not... 730 days can zoom you by just as fast as the weekend!
well... maybe NOT the weekend but it sure seemed like it was just a couple of moons ago!
and now i'm back to my search for Teban's NEXT TOP Helper.... keekeekee...

but it's really NO laughing matter... this searching thingy...

times have changed.
rules have changed.
the playing/searching field have changed.

it's not that easy to find a filipino FDW with experience.
their expectation have changed quite a bit, even those who have only worked for a year or 2 in Spore (i'm not even convinced of their working experienced back in their home country)
they are more demanding in terms of starting pay and off days and handphones and so on and so forth...

but i digress.

yes, my search for my replacement has been slow to fruition and time is not on my side.
those that i had shortlisted - 90% of them are unable to commence work. majority are faced with passport validity issue (need to have at least 30 months validity), while those that are available, are keen to work for expats or overseas. obviously spore is NOT such a condusive working environment for them as compared to HK, Taiwan, US or EU.

i still limit my search to filipino FDW as the comments i read from the forums about maids from other nationality... just doesn't fit my requirement. and because of this limitation, the list of potential candidates also got shortened. for example:

*NEW direct hire - they takes at least 2 months, which we do not have that luxury of time to wait for processing, etc and there's no guarantee they can come.

*Transfer maids - i've tried but so far no LUCK. (i believe on hindsight, this could be a blessing!)

so yes, i have only myself to blame.... at least for now... until i get one confirmed before my current FDW flies off to smaland...

i surely hope GOD is listening to my plight...

if only we are like children...

2011-06-13T14:54:00.005+08:00

while the kids were busy hogging our Andriods last nite, i sneaked away quietly and decided to go online and watch my long overdue korean dramady (daddy hogged the sports channel on tv!).

i was only halfway through the FIRST Episode when Gaby came over.
he climbed onto my lap and said he wants 'star star'... watching his favourite 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' on youtube lah. i told him later he can watch, after i finished my show. he obliged and sat on my lap, watching the show with me.

less than 10mins later - chloe came over and wanted to get up onto my lap as well but was pushed aside by gaby, who now has sole OWNERSHIP of both my laps since he was FIRST to conquer them. and before they both end up fighting over my lap, i had to stop the girl from climbing and this made her upset.

in between getting upset with me and his brother, she blurted out "I Don't Like You" and hit me on my arm. Wah piangz... i gave her the EVIL STARE for a good few seconds and then sternly questioned her action. Before she could answer her daddy called her over to the living room area. Lucky for her, else she'd get a BIG piece of my mind! Grrr...

and less than 5 minutes later, chloe came back again.
by then gaby was somewhere in the kitchen with the helper, hence she just decided to climb upto my lap without any hesitation.

the following was our conversation:
M : You don't like me, rite? Why still want to climb on my lap?
C : Just now I don't like you. Now I like mamii.
M : Why just now don't like me? And beat my hand some more hor?
C : Just now you naughty. Now you not naughty. I like mamii so much! (continue to manuveure her butt onto my lap)
M : Why mamii naughty?
C : ok, stop talking. we watch starfall ok?
M : -.-

so at the end of my short-lived ME time with my korean dramedy, both of them got to watch youtube and starfall while i ended up logging on to FB via my Andriod. sigh!

******************
children are fast in reacting to their emotions, and it shows on their faces and actions.
but they are equally fast at forgiving, or should i say, forgetting about the previous incidents and moved on to the next activities without bearing further grudges.

sometimes we too should act like children... and surely we can all STOP sweating over the small stuffs and be happy with the 'moment'.

if only we can learn to be like them more often...

FUN.SHION

2011-06-11T23:20:00.001+08:00

heard about this site 2 weeks back from the group of obasan in my office...
finally went to surf it, check it out, downloaded it and watch FREE dramas from it...

WOOHOO.... (BLISS)

don't sweat the zitty stuff...

2011-05-29T22:13:00.001+08:00

when the kids are younger, i wished they would grow up faster, learn to talk earlier and learn to LOVE to walk by themselves sooner too.

chloe was kinda 'slow' in her physical developments, grew her 1st incisor after 12 months and only started to walk when she was almost 14months!

but God is fair... HE let her have the gift of the gab much earlier.
she blabbered a LOT when she was 7 months and never stopped blabbering, whether it was something we understood, or not.

anyway... zoom to current day/date.
she is STILL blabbering and some of the things that she blurted out just amazes me... in the sense that i seriously DO NOT know whether to LAUGH or to CRY...

scenario 1
we were playing in the bedroom, just before time for bed (our usual ritual) and at one point we started talking pictures using my handphone.
at one point, i let her took pictures of me and then we looked at them together.
C: ahahhaa.... mamii, you see... you close your eyes again
M: ya, then take another one, this one not nice. delete it.

C started taking another shot and we looked at it again.
M: ok, let me see... let me see nice or not.
C: oh my goodness... mamii you look like "auntie". hahahhaa...
M: >.<

*******************************
scenario 2

yesterday (being a saturday, we all slept in late) morning after she woke up, she came over to me and woke me.
C: mamii... wake up... yesterday i saw you leh
M: huh? yesterday you saw me? where?
C: yesterday when i sleep lor. i saw you leh.
M: oh. you mean last nite when you slept, is it? you saw me in your dreams ah?
C: yes, you have 2 dots dots on your face. you see... (pointing to my forehead), your dot dot so big.
M: >.< (she was referring to my 2 BIG zits on my forehead...)

yup...

that.is.my.girl...

she never fails to crack me up.
and reminded me to just not SWEAT the small stuffs, zits and all.

another great morning at the pool

2011-05-28T14:33:00.001+08:00

'Nuff said.

we are Andriod Fans

2011-05-25T22:27:00.002+08:00

who say we must all love "FRUIT"?

**bad english... i know... but it has more "ooomphh" being written like that! :p

long overdue waterplay!

2011-05-22T21:47:00.001+08:00

it had been a 'swimming' outing for most weekends and even during the recent public holiday that we decided to let the kids enjoy a little bit of waterplay this weekend instead.

so it's BACK to IMM's kids playground.

it was super hot afternoon that day... thank goodness for sunblock.
and thank goodness we didn't go to the pool... or i'd probably get sunburnt in that kind of sunlight, even with sunblock!

:: heng ah... ::

::welcome to MY bookclub::

2011-05-22T20:19:00.001+08:00

membership is OPEN to those who meet this criteria:
1) must understand my language
2) must understand gaby's language (you can hear him in the background)
3) must read the books we pass to you; IF you fail both 1) and 2).

so.... wanna join in? :)

it's getting more interesting to go swimming now

2011-05-21T17:41:00.000+08:00

because chloe has finally conquered her fear of using the float and decided to venture forth with swimming on her own, with the help of the float, of course.

and she is also more willing to listen to us and try to do more kicking on her own instead of squating down and walk like a duck underwater and proclaimed that she's SWIMMING!

from the looks on their faces, you know they're enjoying it a little more now.

time to get into the float!

daddy splashing gaby endlessly! grrr....

charlie chaplin wannabe?

2 little ducklings squatting in the pool... one with a float and one with a bowl!

ahh... now there's some kicking

happy camper! :)

getting a lift from daddy doing the 'superman' swooosh in water

lips almost turned black already but STILL do not want to get out of the pool!

finally one shot where we ALL looked at the camera! hahahhaa...

hope you all had a good weekend as well!

how did you spent your Vesak Day holiday?

2011-05-17T21:17:00.000+08:00

we brought the kids swimming today - it was a sunny and bright morning and it was just the right weather to let the kids splash in the pool for a little bit longer than usual.

and we were lucky, there were NO other people around when we got to the pool... it was like our own private pool this morning!

hope you had an equally splashing good time on Vesak Day too!

go play when it's windy

2011-05-15T23:49:00.000+08:00

the weather was so humid and there was NO natural wind circulation at home - even the air from the fan felt stuffy! so we decided it was better off for ALL of us to get some fresh air outside instead - and we ended up at west coast park.

it was a windy late afternoon and there were so many kites being flown when we got there.

it was a HAPPENING place!

(err...somehow this comment sounded like we don't get OUT much....)

if you're happy and you know it, POKE your dimples! Nah.... :D

barefooted dude in the red fire engine

gaby couldn't contained his excitement... kept pointing to the sky and said KITE!

one of the biggest "咸蛋" we saw this month...

you only get them running to you like this when you yelled out : 'LET's GO MACDONALDS!"

Anyway, we had a good time enjoying the wind/breeze... should have brought along a mat or something, so that i can enjoy sitting on the grass while i snap pictures of them! :D

the kids had a jolly good time playing at the kids playground and watching the kites.
and we went to macdonalds for dinner since it was the MONOPOLY food outlet in the ENTIRE west coast park - another bonus for the kids coz they get to eat JUNK food and drink COKE.

at the end of the day, the kids were happy...

we were happy...

it was a good afternoon/evening spent!

Gaby at 25 Months

2011-05-09T22:50:00.000+08:00

Gaby is 25 months old today.

Based on his 2 year old assessment 2 weeks back at the polyclinic:
* wt gain in the 25 percentile, currently at 11.4kg
* height is in the 75 percentile, 89cm
*physical and mental development is slightly above agerage - no wonder he's so ACTIVE (which i thought he was just being so....."Naughty" at this stage!)

and despite him not being able to communicate as well as his sister at this age, he is surely learning fast. i have to give credit to the DVDs which i got him hooked, and along the way, learn to read and verbalize quite a number of the single words.

what he has learnt and able to pronounce/communicate:
1) Alphabet - he can recognize and read out ALL the letters and point them out correct.
2) Numbers - recognize 1 to 10, able to recite them out as well, except for "SEVEN", which he pronounced as "FA FAA". He can also say "Twleve", "Thirtheen" and "Fourteen".
3) Shapes - Circle, Triangle, Square, Octagon, Oval, Star
4) Colors - Black, White, Blue, Red, Green, Orange, Red, Pink, Yellow, Purple
5) Bodyparts - hair, head, face, nose, eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, teeth, neck, shoulders, knees, legs, fingers, toes, bellybutton, tummy, buttock.

His often-said phrase which starts with 'i wan...'
1) fo fon (he wants either mine or daddy's handphone)
2) star star (he wants to watch Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on Youtube)
3) ABBC (he wants to watch the PreSchool Prep DVDs)
4) WOW (one of the nursery rhymes/karaoke DVD collection)
5) shoo shoo gai gai (wear shoes and go out of the house)
6) dee dee (take the ez-link card and tap on it when we board the bus)
7) eat/bes (biscuits)/dwink (drink)/ah gu (yakult)/ah ter (water)

*he is loving, loves to smile/laugh but equally loves to seek attention.
*this usually led to a lot of unhappiness as he tends to 'bully' his way to get noticed, especially by pushing chloe or pulling her hair (till a few strains came off! No Joke!)
*his pain threshold is strong - he's not scared of getting corporal punishment, either physical or use of the rotan. but often i will use my hand/palm and whack him on his hands (esp when he beat, scratch, push or pull hair) or thighs/legs (if he purposely step or jump on the ground when he's pissed with something). Usually i am the one who felt the after-pain while all he does is just keep quiet. sigh...
*makes funny faces and roll his eyes, thinks everything is FUNNY when it's not (end up kena scolding/whacked again!)
*and of course, his other Number ONE catch-phrase : "NO".

We do plan to send him to nursery soon - so that he will have a wider opportunity to interact with other children, to learn to be more disciplined (in that kind of group environment) and have more than just ONE care-giver giving him the proper guidance.

Soon... soon... soon...

dirt can be fun too!

2011-05-08T21:13:00.000+08:00

brought the kids to the reservoir for a late afternoon walk and we ended up at the sand pit the longest, as they found fun in getting down and dirty with sand play!

there was another indian boy playing alone in the sand pit, with his dad sitting nearby and he left a pile of sand building tools at another spot. being kids, mine just saw opportunity for PLAY and went ahead and took over those tools and played on. the indian dadday was kind enough to give us his silent consent by nodding to us.

hence the 2 kids played for almost 45 mins digging, shoving, piling, pouring, filling, etc... basically just getting all dirty and yet to their hearts' content!

and you might ask why the other indian boy who was playing alone didn't come over to join us?
well... after a few minutes of observation, it was cleared that this older boy (i think about 11 years old) is special - his mental development may be slightly delayed (among his peers) but he sure has a BIG heart and a BIG smile!

PS: you can see a tiny shot of that indian boy in picture #4, just behind chloe in the background.

check!

2011-05-05T22:52:00.000+08:00

this is the new buzzword chloe learnt from either nursery or childcare... CHECK!

i only notice it when she repeated said that word and did the action of checking.
after playing with gaby (before bed), i asked them to keep their toys away and get ready for bed.
she took initiative to start clearning up and even sang the 'keep your toys' song, and gaby follow suit - not singing but helping to keep the toys away.

then when it was almost all cleared/cleaned up, she started to flip the pillows, bolster and blanket to look for missing pieces/toys and said CHECK! CHECK! CHECK!

it was rather cute to see imitating her teacher.
hopefully this little "CHECKing" action will stick with her for a long while!

i am not a ... (fill in the blanks!)

2011-05-05T14:48:00.004+08:00

i'm not sure when it started but chloe has blurted out the most unexpected yet genuinely silly remarks out of nowhere and it just makes me laugh inside whenever i hear her say this...

"i am not a __________ Ah !!!"

this is usually in response to gaby's physical intrusion into her 'space', whether on purpose (most of the time) or by accident.

just last nite, before bedtime.... the 2 of them are trying to 'sleep' next to me before i called "Lights Out". chloe was already lying next to me but gaby, the little fighting bullock, will squeeze his way in between us and then using his bare hands (and sometimes legs, when there is sufficient room for him to stretch!) to PUSH/ROLL his sister away.

so there he was, pushing with all his little might (he is strong, for the record) and the irritated sister was getting pissed retorted back in a very stern and loud voice...

"ahahhHHHHHHHH............. NO......... I am not a Mattress AH!! Don't PUSH me AH!!!"

it was comical to see them in that situation, although at the end, we have to split BOTH of them away from each other to ensure HARMONY and PEACE (and QUIET) in our bedroom (and the neighbourhood!).

as far as i can recall, she has made similar remarks in various situations and they are really rather funny. (in no specific orders as i had forgotten when it all started...)

"I am NOT a ____________ AH!"

1) chair (when gaby refused to sit on his own CHAIR and on her instead)
2) chicken (when gaby playfully bite her toes while we were playing)
3) drum (when gaby used the xylophone's drumming stick on her)
4) mommy (when gaby accidentally calls 'mommy' in her direction)
5) floor (when gaby stepped on her feet)
6) pillow (when gaby lied down on her tummy)

there are so many other times when the words that came out from her mouth made my day.
i guess these are times when they are really at their cutest... even if the words are not necessarily the nicest! :D

when you teach, you win some, you lose some

2011-05-02T22:09:00.001+08:00

chloe has mastered the art of 'drag and click'.

the mouse is now HER best friend.
gaby is now HER best companion.
the notebook, sadly, is now HER possession...

me and my umbrella...ella...ella...ella...

2011-05-02T15:37:00.000+08:00

err... actualy it is daddy's umbrella...
i just help him to drag it back home nia...

Look Who's TWO

2011-04-08T22:42:00.002+08:00

Hi - i am GABRIEL BENEDICT GOH and I have just turned TWO.

It's a BIG deal when you turn TWO.

Coz I get to do the things that NOBODY else can when I turned TWO on my BIRTHDAY.

Here's a snippet of what i got to DO when i turned TWO.

1) Go to a NIGHTCLUB for Happy Hour drinks. See, i've bottomed up so many glasses liao...

2) Got NOTICED by all the pretty GURLS...
(regardless of them being 'over-aged' or 'under-aged' hee!)

3) Get the pretty maids in waiting to FEED me and keep me HAPPY

4) And i continue to DRINK myself silly till i can't differentiate the spout from the cover!

5) And i can eat (or DON't eat) whatever i like... and YOU cannot stop me!

6) And i can PLAY games on the handphone when everyone is suppose to be EATING... and YOU cannot stop me!

7) And i can also make funny faces at everyone else at the table... and YOU cannot stop me!

8) And i get the pretty GURLS to give me a big BLOW on my candles when i'm TOO lazy to do it myself... and YOU cannot stop me!

9) And of course, I get to take the biggest piece of my birthday cake... and YOU surely will not stop me!

10) And i get to wobble it all up all by myself... and yes, YOU cannot stop me!

12) last but not least, get the whole clan to attend my party and i don't even bother going to theirs! muahahhaa....

Ohhhh yes... it was a blast when i turned TWO

::So what did YOU do when you turned TWO?::

YOU - mammi dearest lah... coz she sat next to me and wanna 'control' ALL my moves! sheeze... this woman ah!
NIGHTCLUB - restaurant with dimmed lights lah... you think what?!

kids are kids... they are not PUPPETS!

2011-04-05T12:32:00.007+08:00

= the original post has been removed =

just don't forget - you reap what you sow!

bonding over food... or was it the SUGAR?

2011-03-27T15:44:00.000+08:00

it's not always easy to take pictures of them doing the same thing at the same place and at the same time. but this morning, it was the mega-power of the PRATA that brought them BOTH together... munching away.... nom nom nom....

and what exactly is the mega-power... definitely not just the prata...

SUGAR lah... what else?

i wish for more... but for now, these will do!

2011-03-26T21:39:00.001+08:00

like i mentioned earlier, when we do not have specific plans for the weekends, we bring the kids to the nearby playground.

sometimes i wish there are more places that is within walking distance for the kids to roam/play that doesn't come with a price tag... but in Spore, there are hardly any nearby my place. but i digress...

so here we are again, at their familiar playground. this time round, the girl seems to be a little more adventurous to climb up the ladder bar by herself!

and doing her little happy dance once she got onto the platform herself!

she loves the slide...

and we ventured a little further to find another area where there are some sort of instruments for the kids to play...

and once we're back home, the girl decided to help her little brother take off his shoes.

awwww..............

a little bit of splashin' and a lotta SUNshine...

2011-03-19T21:39:00.001+08:00

clear waters... blue blue sky....

ah... sounds like paradize.... but it's actually at the swimming pool on a HOT morning!

but for the kids, FUN comes first... they couldn't careless about getting sunburnt (mommy usually will apply lots of sunblock for them prior to getting into the water!).

let the photos do the talking...

these last few pictures of daddy and little girl... no matter how hard we try to caloje her, she just WON'T dip herself all the way down into the pool... she'd rather squat like an AH PEK and move like a duck in the water while proclaiming loudly that she's SWIMMING!

sigh... water phobia!

so, where's mommy?

behind the camera and already very 'chow tar' (badly sunburnt) liao lor... kekekekee...

quiet times....

2011-03-12T22:34:00.002+08:00

it would be simply heaven if my kids can have these 'quiet times' daily...

20mins is ALL i would pray ask for.

and it's even better if they do constructive activities during these QUIET times, such as... READING!

Woahhhh.... so many books at a time?! BRAVO little one...

(*pinch myself to reality!*)

this girl loves her quiet time... err... more like 'READING ALOUD' time.... but i'm very OK with that. coz it shows that she loves READING!

and she can read it by herself too.... (mommy's SUPER DUPER Proud of ya!)

in case you're wondering, she's reading Eric Carle's book - Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?

i LONG for quiet times for myself too...
but for now, it's usually limited to about 5mins when i'm in the loo.
S.i.g.h...

what's itching ya?

2011-03-06T23:26:00.000+08:00

he just started to do this little action this week... rather cute! :)

what's not to love.... such simplicity, such pleasure...

2011-03-06T15:02:00.001+08:00

when we have no plans on weekends (especially Saturday mornings), the kids gets to go roam, play, run, shout, swing, jump, climb, etc etc etc in the playground opposite our place.

they have lots of fun... by themselves and sometimes with other kids around their age who also gathers there on Saturday mornings for some outdoor fun.

it's always a pleasure to see the smiles on their faces... and the hearty laughters and sometimes, their daring (mostly Gaby's) adventures while they run/climb/play about. then again, boys are just simply more adventurous in their play! :)

playground... here we COME! Chiong ah....

G: jiejie, faster, faster, faster climb!!!

2 steps up and that's it... i wana get DOWN!

1 little monkey hanging on the bar...

swinging here and swinging there!

run, run, as fast as you can... you can't catch me!

ah... i like the look on his face. he's really enjoying outdoor fun!

快乐就好。。。孩子的世界就是那么的简单。

run, run, as fast as you can...

2011-03-05T22:27:00.003+08:00

it was the much awaited day for chloe as THE DAY finally arrived. mommy's taking her to watch "The Gingerbread Man" at Alliance Francaise De Singapour.

we reached there a little earlier and there was a mini book fair where most of the Hans Christian Andersen books were on sale. chloe was very excited when she saw those books and couldn't take her eyes off them!

and then it was time for the show... it was both interesting and interactive, especially for the little kids who were more participative. as it was chloe's 1st time at a 'live' theatre, she wasn't sure how to react, hence she was rather quiet when the other kids were shouting out answers to the casts! but i'm sure she will warm up to the situation when there is a Next opportunity for another great show! :)

here are some photos before the show... see how excited she is! :)

seated on a booster and trying to get comfy...

finally showed me her 'couldn't wait to see "Gingerbread Man" smile'.

the set... with a cookie moon! so cute!

looking at the program brouchure...

yes, yes... The Gingerbread Man, I'm gonna chase after you shortly! :)

overall, it was a great start for her to be exposed to live theatre. hopefully next time there will be ample opportunities!

psst... guess where we went this weekend?

2011-02-27T23:13:00.000+08:00

the kids love weekends... even more so when there's a new place for them to explore! and this week, we went to Singapore Discovery Center - it's daddy's company's family day venue.

to be frank, the kids are a little to young to appreciate most of the attractions here but it's a good start - especially when it's also the FIRST time mommy went to this place!

are you all ready? let's board the choo-choo ride to SDC!

the boyz...

the gurlz....

what a start to an event... with lollies???

more lollies????

and it's only because of the Lollies that Chloe is DARING enough to be in such close contact with a costumed-figure!

with my lovelies... hugging them close before they went about to play!

this daring little one roamed into the crowd (though he was constantly within mommy's RADAR!) and thought he'd have a good time by himself!

the girl stayed close by, enjoying some of the activities for kids.

sand art... (mostly completed by mommy)

and next, it was all about bubbles... blowin' blowin' blowin' them bubbles!

and more bubble-blowing by herself... oh dear, look at those puffy cheeks! :D

and some very TENSED and SERIOUS blowing going on here...

next up, we ventured indoors to check out what's in store... the kids' fav place, BIG blocks in 4 vibrant colors for them to stack!

looking at the pictures and wondering where THEIR picture is?! :)

Spore's own Robot? hahaha... another copycat design lah...

and this sums it all up... a long & hot day out and once they're home, it's power nap time!

both of them completely zonked out! hahahhaa....

love.love.love

2011-02-20T21:04:00.000+08:00

chloe's new LOVE - the lion... she carries him everywhere, even to nursery class!

gaby's love... all his cars/trains/etc...

and MY love... can't imagine my life without them!

what's your 'LOVE' this year?

welcome to the world... Miss E

2011-02-09T11:24:00.003+08:00

meet chloe and gaby's new little cousin, Emily.

this little Golden Rabbit came into the world on 8 Feb morning.

Happy BIRTHday to you again (since today is 人日) and we hope to see you in person soon!

And of course, congrats to Brian & Amy for another beautiful baby girl!

i'm benedict gabriel goh...

2011-02-06T16:50:00.000+08:00

my baby boy finally got baptised in Christ today at Church of St Mary's of the Angels.

since it was still CNY season, the church was decorated in those auspicious colors of Red and Yellow and with bunches of blooming pussy willows too!

the boyz... all decked in white!

ah... pretend to flip the hymn books... almost tore a page off it!

a family shot with my godfather behind me and grand-uncle henry, mommy's dear old friend.

being annointed with the holy crism - symbolizing the shield that will keep me safe!

the young priest who presided over our baptismal mass

blessing of the holy water

my turn to be blessed with the holy water... as my godfather looked on.

another shot - immediately after the blessing, with my godfather and jiejie's godma.

godpa passing me the baptismal candle

yeah... i'm baptised in the Lord!

another shot for remembrance...

mamii wants to thank all the dearests friends who made it to gaby's baptism.

thank you for sharing this wonderful day with us.

lollies and yu sheng... wat's not to love?

2011-02-05T22:52:00.002+08:00

what is CNY without lou hei and goodies.

and CNY visitation to friends' place and meet ups and catching ups... this year, the little one finally can have his LOLLIES all by himself, no need to share with his sister! :)

you can't even see the lollies an he's all PROTECTIVE of his goodies! :)

love of my lives... and sadly, such an obvious POKE mark on my face coz of my inexperienced cooking done on CNY day 1 ~ sigh, i shall NOT try to be "hero" next year and order PIZZA instead!

yes, yes, yes... the wonderful yu sheng all ready for lou hei!

chloe learning to use chopstick... so that she can eat her favourite keropok... heeheehee...

and one BIG mouthful of veggies and sweet sauce for the little one! glad that he loves it... must be the sweet SAUCE lor...

hope you had lots of hou hei this year too!

GongXi Fa Cai 兔年行大运

2011-02-03T22:51:00.003+08:00

Happy 兔 Year to ALL! chloe woke up feeling happy... she knows it is going to be a long HOLIDAY (no school, yippeee!!)

and she got to wear her new PJ with pretty birds and a garden too. showing off her toothy grin and dancing to the beat of 'letterland'

changed into their CNY costumes and ready to greet us with their 柑。。。

simple fare at home, all done by mommy & helper... ooh, what a busy, busy day it was!

and finally, just wana show that gaby CAN eat... only when he's in a good mood.

bowl's UP...

no visitation today, just stay at home and chill... (coz in-laws & family all went back to Malacca, except FIL who came over to join us for lunch).

see what i mean about my monkeys?

2011-02-02T21:49:00.000+08:00

it's day 2 ... for the new table and to be exact, less than 12hrs since it was set up by daddy.

and see how my kids are treating it with their TLC?

sigh...

what's in the box?

2011-02-01T23:37:00.002+08:00

the old glass coffee table finally gave way... lucky it was still standing and the tapered glass still intact, even after months of physical abuse by my 2 ~~monkeys~~ kids climbing on top of it, etc...

and for the sake of simplicity and durability (and most importantly, cost effective!), i got an ikea table... and that's what is IN the Box which the Girl sat On.

oh yes, even before it BEGAN it's lifecycle as a table, my ~~monkeys~~ kids cant WAIT to start abuse it!

side note to table - May the FORCE be with you.... :p

the red packets came early...

2011-01-26T22:23:00.001+08:00

and the kids are super happy... to jump and pose for mommy with these ang paos from relatives in KL/Malacca. on what bliss to be so contented with just a few red envelopes but unsure of what to do with the contents! mommy had better enjoy this moment now before these kids know what they wana do with the contents! heh!

but for now, you wabbity-kids go ahead and enjoy 'holding on' to your ang paos...

and after you're done doing all you hoppity-hop and skippity-skip on mommy's bed, come down and get to the table for our steamboat reunion dinner all prepared by 奶奶。

steamboat always tasted so good when surrounded by the warmth & love of family!

先提早恭祝大家新年快乐

兔年行大运

poor talking tom...

2011-01-25T23:16:00.000+08:00

he just got poked, poked and poked by the kids. and chloe's not shy to even shout at this poor little tom-cat!

*and this is the only clips you'll hear gaby talking... IF you can make out what he's trying to say...

i have dots, dots, dots...

2011-01-22T21:52:00.000+08:00

chloe had a bad attack of red patchy spots/dots on the face for almost 2 weeks and it keep getting worst despite the medication. the doctor can't tell us the exact cause, only suspecting "might be sensitive skin due to dust, pollen, etc etc etc"... what can we say, we're not doctors so all we can do was to apply the medication and W.A.I.T for the red patches to subside, permanently!

lucky for mommy, chloe took it as just another phase like a cough or runny nose and simply told her teachers and friends that she has dots, dots, dots on her face and then they all went hopping off to play.

how mommy wished some adults can also be just like kids, accept it and move on... instead of poking their busy noses and asking more silly questions. maybe they thought that by asking the obvious, they can magically CURE the spots and make chloe's face all clean and clear again? oh come on...

any-doodly-hoot-hoot-ways, just for today, i'm just going to let it go. coz i too, should think like my gal and her little friends - those are just spots on her face and the condition will get better, in time.

so here's to my gal and her bo-chap attitude... for once, i'm OKAY with her behaving that way! :)

hello... 要看就看个够吧！

1st waterplay in 2011

2011-01-16T12:34:00.000+08:00

the kids love waterplay... and gaby knew what was in store when he saw IMM building as we turned in! they learn very f.a.s.t when it comes to FUN!

anyway, it's photos galore on these 2 having loads of watery fun!

i'm sure there will be more waterplays in 2011 and hopefully more trips to the pool as well.

gaby at 21 months

2011-01-09T23:26:00.000+08:00

he's growing up handsomely... finding his independance as an individual and making his presence known, either by his actions or temperance.

it's not easy raising a boy... but i'm thankful for this experience thus far.
my only hope is for gaby to grow up happy, strong and healthy and hopefully, outgrow his current fiery temper.

love your smile, your cheekiness and at times, your tenderness. but most of all, mommy's waiting for you to learn to verbalize your wants/needs and feelings.

mommy will be p.a.t.i.e.n.t...

foamy buns or buns of foam?

2011-01-08T14:32:00.000+08:00

doesn't really matter... so long this little bunny-wanabe gets to play with bubbly foam during bath time!

all lined up and waiting to be...

2011-01-04T16:19:00.001+08:00

pushed off the edge of the coffee-table... sometimes from the sofa and sometimes from the bed! that's the way gaby likes to see all his favourite four-wheels living dangerously on the edge! and he likes hearing the noisy cling-clang-clong-wham-ka-boom that follows after the cars drop onto the floor... probably his way of learning about cause-and-effect in 3D! (can touch, see and hear mah...)

daddy was a little worry about gaby playing with chloe's girly toys initially - the dolls, pushing the baby in the pram, playing masak-masak (pretend cooking) or getting all jumpy and excited when watching all the princess-related dvds with chloe...

but boys WILL be boys... just look at how he plays with his toys and his temper, it's 101% confirmed that this BOY will be quite a tough cookie when he grows up... err... i mean, tough hunk! :)

little hunk lining up his cars while snacking on cereal.

and after this... the four-wheelies are going for a nose-dive again... oh dear!

what do you do on a rainy new year and a bunch of apples?

2011-01-01T22:57:00.001+08:00

stay in and bake cake! :)

and did i also mention that we have company over the eve/new year visiting us and spending some time with the kids? oh yes we do... and oh my, was mommy glad to have another adult in the house to ~~help~~ chat with!

with some adult help, we managed to bake this wonderful apple cinnamon cake - mommy's first try and it came out pretty well too!

the cinnamon taste was just right, not too much and it went well with a scoop of ice-cream

the kids loved it - especially the ice-cream......

do come and visit soon, auntie eileen!

Guess Who's hoppin by?

2011-01-01T09:20:00.000+08:00

oh my oh my... how time flies and bunnies hops!
it's already 2011 and in about a month's time, we'll be ushering in the year of the

Golden Rabbit!

let's all hope for a better and happier 2011 and most of all, good health, harmony and peace!

Happy New Year 2011

to my other half...

2010-12-28T16:53:00.000+08:00

'nuff said.

it's the time of the year...

2010-12-24T22:58:00.001+08:00

chloe's childcare will be closing at its current premise by Jan 2011 and this will be the last time they have their annual year-end Christmas party for all the kids from toddlers to kindergarten classes. it was a very last minute invite from her teacher and i had to rush all the way there but it was all so worth it.

my darling chloe seated with her classmates waiting for their turn to perform.
she's wearing princess Arielle costume - her favourite!

All the kids lined up to sing "Jingle Bells"

and a video of her (non) performance... many funny things happened during that short period of time... see for yourself! hahaha...

After the performance... sign of Victory (and relief! :D)

getting her gift from teacher koshala

all smiles with her present from her class teacher

lining up prior to a group shot after getting their pressies...

except for the 2 kids to the left of chloe, the rest are in her class/batch. so you can imagine how TALL chloe is amongst her classmates!

*posing in a way a mermaid should be sitting but... she still needs practice! hahahaha...
and her 3 teachers, Jennet, Bhrava and Koshala. (hope i got their names right!)

the kids were then told to close their eyes for a surprise! (apparently only 4 of them were listening! hahahaa...)

the surprise?

snow! snow! snow! (chloe's busy brushing the foam off, she's little miss CLEAN!)

the princess & fairies - thanks to Paris' mom for bringing the costumes!

L-R: Paris, Vaishali, Jing Xin & Chloe
I'm now sure JX's birth date but the others are all YOUNGER than Chloe but look at their Height!

the much talked-about mr congeniality in her class, he can click with ANYONE, the chinese-speaking/english-speaking girls and the boys!

*yes, this is THE BOY whom chloe told me she LIKES...

and the 2 escaping the mommy-paparazzi... by covering their eyes! :D

and the year-end celebration ended with all the kids/teachers/parent(s) watching "The "Grinch" together...

this will be the very last time these kids enjoyed their christmas year-end party here.
come next Feb, they will all be joining another kindergarten (housed in 3 locations in adjacent blocks) which is opposite our place - and i just can't WAIT for that day to arrive!

Merry Christmas to all teachers & children.
Stay happy, be merry & see ya all next year!

seasons greetings to all

2010-12-22T17:45:00.002+08:00

can you believe it?
christmas is TWO.DAYS.AWAY.
and i'm still doing my christmas shopping!
argh...

before i got too busy with the festive hustling and bustling, just want to wish all of you a very Blessed and Merry Christmas.

see green, get wet

2010-12-19T22:53:00.000+08:00

off to Vivocity to watch Shrek - movie & Shrek himself... then followed by waterplay for the kids. i'll let the photos do the 'talking' as am running short of time, still have more presents yet to be wrapped up!

decor at the samsung flagstore, the choir just finished their little xmas tune.

gaby couldn't stop looking at Shrek...

Chloe... climbing up daddy like a scared tiny kitten!
(pic here)

waterplay time!

food - food - food ... all hungry after waterplay! and finally gaby self-feeding (or playing with his food? i can't tell coz he eats 2-3 spoonfuls for his meals! sigh...)

and the girl just finished her bowl of rice & noodle and claimed VICTORY to be first to finish her food!

at toys'rus where the girl went straight for everything PINK... the boy was off running about pushing a pink baby pram like a mad driver! hahaha...

more xmas gift shopping done here and then it's time to head back home!

hooked on games!

2010-12-17T23:10:00.000+08:00

oh no... the kids are hoarding our phones!!!

and totally hooked on the krazy go cart games even when they dun even know how to play/manuveure... the graphics and techno music catches their attention like bees to honey!

and here's the culprit who introduced them to this crazy 'i-just-can't-stand-the-loud-music' gaming thingy! sigh... bad influence!!

where is the 3rd little elves?

2010-12-11T22:46:00.000+08:00

i read this little story of the elves and the shoe-maker to chloe some time back and when i found out they are having this little performance at JP, i knew that i have to bring her to watch it.

unfortunately, she was not familiar with the precious moments characters and was a little confused at first, hoping to see a pair of old shoemakers and 3 little elves but she saw these big-headed children characters instead. but being children, watching any live shows is better than following mommy around on her window shopping sprees! :)

waiting for the show to start... seated at the LAST row!

here comes the little children and thus the story begins

a little dance performance by the precious moments characters (they are huge!)

the elves! the elves!

gaby enjoying the dancing... yes, he IS enjoying despite his 'bored-to-death' expression. :D

after the show, chloe kept saying what show was that and when i reminded her that it was the elves blah blah blah...

chloe : mamii... where is one more elf?

me : err... he went to buy more leather for the shoes.

chloe : can make more shoes hor...

me : yes, more shoes for the children for christmas.

lucky for me, she didn't probe further and was distracted by the balloon sculptures and candy floss booth nearby.

another festive season live-show chasing episode done... not sure which one will we be catching next... stay tuned!

is your tee-dee bird as cute as mine?

2010-12-08T22:44:00.000+08:00

chloe came back reciting this little medley over and over again and no matter how i correct her, she would say that she is RIGHT and oh NOOOOooooooooo, YOU (aka yours truly) is WRONG.
argh... it was a tough day at work and then i have to face another 'challenger' at home?!

double ARGH...

anyway, after her few renditions/gigs.... i decided i couldn't be anymore upset with such a cute face so i let her be (well, at least for now, until i see her teacher and get HER to correct little miss righteous on her pronunciation... *evil grin*)

anyways, go ahead and enjoy this little vid... just dun get 'sea-sick'... :D

so, did you also had similar moments before?

loving it even when she mis-pronounced the words, etc, etc, etc... coz they grow up SO FAST!

and hopefully you have one of those cute little tee-dee birds to cheer you up too!

for the love of the purple dinosaur...

2010-12-03T22:43:00.005+08:00

chloe has been asking if we could go watch barney christmas surprise liveshow since she saw the tv advertisement few weeks ago - her wish was granted today as we happen to be heading down to KKH for gaby's orthopeadic check-up.

we were a little late when we got to United Square and there was already a snaking queue moving into the seating arena. we quickly headed down and join in and was lucky enough to make it in and was seated about 4th row from the back - the place was jam-packed on a friday afternoon show!

chloe enjoyed the show quite a bit as she was standing up and interacting with some dancing and gesturing all the way (luckily for her petite size, she was not blocking the other kids at the back!) while gaby's attention span was a little short - and he redirected his attention at me; asking to be carried, stood on my thighs, biting my hair (he has a fetish for my hair... O.o), asking for water/biscuit/toy, etc but he will stop and watch/dance when the theme song was performed. but overall, the kids had their share of fun and enjoyment during that 25mins performance and i'm even thankful that they didn't ask for any of the merchandize when we passed by that area. Phew! :)

waiting for the show to start... faking her 'look at the camera' smile... :)

the restless boy prior to the start of the show - he was probably overwhelmed by the crowd!

and here comes the star of the show - the kids all went screaming!!!

unbelievable... but he was acting as if he was in a rock concert, waving his hands up in the air when the theme song was performed! so adorable!

more dinosaurs join in the fun... BJ & Baby Bop (not sure if i named them correctly coz i'm not a fan)

almost towards the end of the show - chloe was not responding to HUMAN instructions anymore (asked her to look at the digicam and she completely IGNORE us!) while gaby was about to start nibbling at his shirt - he's a bit bored already. hahaha...

after a short tea-break, we all headed to KKH for gaby's consultation.
i was relieved after the senior consultant gave the green light and said everything was OK for gaby, he just needs a little bit more time and practice to make his walking/striding skill better.

and we also found out about the constant mid-nite cryings and complaints that chloe has been experiencing for the past couple of weeks about her legs - there really is such a thing called "growing pains". at least now we know how to help her ease her pain and not over-worry or frustrated about her mid-nite cryfest episodes anymore.

ah... parenthood - it really is a life long learning experience!

green-roaming is all i wana do

2010-11-28T22:07:00.000+08:00

despite living in an ulu place; i think i should still count my lucky stars to have a small green plot of empty field just right next to my block. it's also a place where crickety action abuzz every weekend afternoons.

and it's here that (sometimes) my son gets all his energy released... and he is one daring little tot that doesn't squirm at running about in the bushy grass. then again, he's a BOY so i should not expect him to be too 'sissy'! hahaha...

i love how he enjoys his exploration without any prompting and dares to try using his senses - of course i would stop him from tasting the bugs or the soil... which i'm sure he will DARE to taste if not for my timely jerk away from them!

so here's my little explorer enjoying nature...

what's with the berry long queue?

2010-11-20T23:27:00.003+08:00

i think i have to get out more - to shopping malls and department stores - especially during the SALE or Festive Seasons! this weekend had been a really LONG one; not time-specific but the snaking Queue that we have to endure to get ourselves (me and chloe, to be specific) 'happy'.

first off we went to the much awaited mini princess year-end sale. it was a crazy sight as by the time we reached there, an hour later from their official opening hours, there was already a snaking queue for the cashier while the tiny shop was filled with moms and daughters and lots of merchandise scattered all over floor or at the wrong place. but never mind that - the 50% store-wide discounts for that 3-hour is enough reason to ignore all these mess.

and yes, after almost 2hrs of digging, grabbing, sweeping, deciding and blah blah blah, i managed to get quite a few stuffs that i chloe would love... and kudos to daddy for Q-ing up while we shopped! and here's our loot of the day!

the lovely ballet dress was a gift from godma to chloe, who also joined us for the shopping spree!

after lunch (thank goodness there was a very short Q) we rushed back to yew tee point for the fruitilicious christmas show - strawberry shortcake berry bubblelicious show. it was chloe's first close encounter and she was apprehensive at first but slowly warmed up to the show.

waiting eagerly for the show to start but not sure what to expect!

gaby seems to be the only boy seated around our area but he didn't care coz he was so... happy to see so many kids around him!

the warming up part - but chloe was not participating as she didn't know what was going on as the kids around her was shouting, etc.

finally she got up on her feet to join in when all the 'berries' were in sight and dancing!

gaby was so mesmerized by the whole dancing on stage that he didn't even noticed the bubbles around him! he sure had fun!

and last but not least, chloe managed to have her picture taken with the strawberry-land characters - she was so.... scared but managed to smile at daddy while this picture was taken.

it was all about having TIME on hand to queue, wait and enjoy that very short-lived (15mins or less?) performance. tiring for the adults for sure but for the kids, it was something they will remember for a long time to come!

conclusion - berry tired but berry glad we did it for our kids' sake!

another splashily-fun-filled afternoon

2010-11-17T21:04:00.001+08:00

went to IMM again today with the kids to let them have some fun - at the children's playground on level 3 where they can enjoy both dry & wet play! and best part; it's free!

chloe requested to sit on one of this kiddie rides - i was surprised as previously she was scared of these moving 'animals' but now; she wants to sit on them! she has chosen the rhino; which she thought was a lion coz of the color and mane :D

warming up... testing the water temperature with their feet.

gaby - enjoying waterplay all by himself, obviously the more adventurous and curious one.

using a dry leaf to cover the sprinkler outlet...

the expressions on their faces - totally priceless! :)

chloe finally venturing further to the big kids area all by herself and trying one of the spraying animals.

the only time i managed to catch both of them standing still for this photograph - they were listening tentatively to the public announcement being broadcast. the loud noise got their attention; definitely not the content. :)

trying out the flying fox with daddy.

happy little girl after a day of outdoor fun!

quitting is never easy

2010-11-15T09:28:00.004+08:00

it's never easy to quit, especially something that has been part of our life for the longest time - and it's a whole new change for a kid who grew up with a pacy almost permanently stuck to her mouth.

but as chloe turned 3, we decided that it was time for her to let go of her pacy-sucking habit; which we have prep her for almost a month (prior to her birthday). and it was the perfect timing last nite - she had not been feeling well, requested for her pacy to self-soothe and before bedtime, had vomitted all over the bed, pillows, herself and the floor (it was messy!).

after the major clean up and finally putting her back to bed, we told her no more pacy as it was so dirty that daddy had to throw it into the washing machine to clean it. she was very reluctant but gave in as she was a little scared of daddy (as daddy had reprimanded her earlier on) and managed to dozed off. but in between, she woke up at least 3 times looking for it, asking me to help look for it but i told her no more pacy. she whined a little but went back to sleep.

it's just the 1st nite without pacy... and we're keeping our fingers crossed for the next few nights where we do expect her to have her cry/whinefest for not having her pacy. but this is just something that we have to do for her, and for this phase of her growing up to pass, even if she has to learn it the hard way.

then again - life is all about learning. and sometimes, un-learning too.

it's your birthday... again!

2010-11-14T22:39:00.000+08:00

chloe finally turned 3 yesterday - but it was a series of birthday celebrations last week.

chloe was looking forward to her birthday for the longest time and when we finally celebrated her birthday(s) three-times over, she got confused and asked: "my birthday, again ah?!" haha... kids are really adorable and say the most unexpected things! but lucky for me, she didn't asked for 3 birthday presents on all occasions. but she got more than she should have over that week that it felt like christmas day, every day! (i didn't give her ALL the presents even though i bought like 6 different items and had given her 3! the rest will be given when she showed good behaviour...)

birthday photos galore... 1st celebration @ home with grandparents. cake courtesy of grandpa from FourLeaf.

chloe loves strawberries and another new love - the almond flakes!

daddy helping her with the cake-cutting ceremony...

gaby couldn't wait - he wants to get his fingers on the icing! :D

2nd celebration in childcare... dancing princess cupcakes from prima deli from mamii.

chloe was so happy to see a PINK princess!

finishing her cupcake to the very last bit - even biting of tiny part of the cupcake paper!

with part of her classmates and their favourite teacher, jennet

final celebration on the actual day with godparents at swensen, with the princesses cake that chloe choose herself.

all the 6 princesses in one cake... she's so... happy!

perfecting her candle-blowing skill... after quite a few practices with a whistle and the previous 2 occasions.

one family photo for remembrance... with all looking at the same direction, finally! :)

and with chloe's godparents, ann & dominic.

a long week of celebrations but the experience and expressiosn of the little girl's face on each ocassion was just priceless... we love you, moncherie dear!

whose afraid of the big bad frog?

2010-11-10T09:42:00.002+08:00

while reading a bedtime story to chloe last nite; she decided to tell me a story (of sort) instead.
here's her own version of the princess and the frog; word for word.

the princess sleep on the bed by herself, papa and mamii go work.
the frog come oredi, the frog sit on the window.
the princess scared (patting her chest).
the frog BITE the princess (cupping her nose/mouth) and the princess cry waaa waaa waaa
the papa and mamii no come; they go work.
the princess cry and cry, she scared the frog.
bad frog. i don't like frog.
mamii i want to sleep with you. i don't want to sleep myself

it was rather hilarious actually... coz i have not told her about the princess and frog fairy tale before. and as with all kids her age, they all have an image of a big MONSTER that they are afraid of and hers just happen to be a FROG. i really have no idea why her monster is a frog!

anyway, i told her not to be afraid and if the frog comes again, she can just pick up a broom and beat beat the frog. and the frog will run away and never come back (typical fairy tale ending, rite?

but i guess she wasn't convinced coz after that she took her pacifier and her beanie pillow and went to sleep; quietly. ahh... her pacy and the pillow - that's her "security blanket".

spooky halloween (not!)

2010-10-31T23:24:00.000+08:00

*i didn't know Chloe has such a LONG tongue until i took this picture - OMG! :D

Happy Halloween!

This pic is just for fun - since we don't really do anything FUN on this day; which is so insignificant in our household. maybe when the kids are a little older, like 2-3 years down the road; we will organize something spookily fun.

but for now, it's just another normal day/night for the kids... and adults.

YaWn....

(almost) disfigured by the b.a.d mozzie!

2010-10-22T12:37:00.003+08:00

who could imagine one tiny mozzie bite can cause such a hideous outcome!

poor chloe was even complaining to her teacher this morning that she cannot see coz of the bulge affecting her sight!

poor girl had to endure the swollen eyelid for at least another couple of days before it subside (eventually)... which reminded me of gaby's same fate last xmas in kuching.

sigh... what a series of unfortunate events; first the bad asthmatic cough, then phlegm, then the horrible haze and now the swollen eyelid. hopefully all this will pass soon... real soon!

every place can be potential playground - the key thing is FUN

2010-10-18T23:14:00.001+08:00

please don't expect an exciting post just because the title is super long. : )
this post will be short with just a couple of photos to boost.

mid-way through dinner, the kids just NEED a break from sitting still at the high chairs and to roam/run about in the restaurant and the foyer outside.

standing at the entrance of the restaurant where we celebrated 爷爷 birthday.

guess what is she doing, besides giving me a smile for the camera ? she would rather stand to PEE than go to the toilet!

the hyperactive boy was wildly roaming and running about, with and without shoes!

back to their seats when we told them it was CAKE-cutting time... chloe having a piece of strawberry cheesecake all to herself.

she loves strawberry... love! love! love!

roaming about after dinner and found this 'baby pangolin' - chloe went ahead to give it a hug. she remembered it from the Roly Poly Pangolin book.

chloe: "mamii... you see! is roly poly....."

the kids had fun roaming about at restaurant, outside the shopping mall and inside the supermarket... the adults had to keep up with them (especially gab, the hyper one!). by the time we left the shopping mall, i think the adults were more exhausted than the kids! it was a good outing and family gathering - and a chance for the kids to see their uncles too.

chloe's A-B-C song

2010-10-17T15:59:00.001+08:00

chloe is finally enjoying childcare and her nursery classes - thanks to the current new teacher that actually teaches her class about alpabets, numbers and nursery rhymes/songs/dances.

so obviously loves singing/dancing as she easily breaks out in songs whenever the feelings hit her - and she would not hesitate to let us know her talent. but to be frank, she is a little tone-deaf. but that's another story.

one of her favourite now is the A-B-C song with some additional version which she learnt at nursery (bear with me while i try to upload the vid from my phone).

chloe also loves to sing her own 'rendition' of non-sensical rhymes / songs / opera/blabberings whenever she felt the need to express herself. and while i encourage her to let her creativity 'talent' flow, it does give me (and everyone else at home, i'm sure) quite a bit of an ear-ache. and her loud expression of tone-deaf rendition can be hard to digest, especially when you're tired and down with a bad flu and need PLENTY of rest (peace and quiet).

but as with all parents, it is our duty to encourage our brood to expand their creativities, talents, etc while we secretly and silently endure the aches (ears, eyes, neck, throat, etc) behind closed doors.

so sit back and enjoy her A-B-C song performance.
and dun forget to clap after she finishes, ok? :D

thank you... thank you...

spend time with the kids and get a reward

2010-10-16T22:39:00.000+08:00

the title sounded like 'forced-parenting'... where the parent(s) forced themselves to spend time with ~~rowdy screaming creatures~~ children of their own (of course!) during the weekends.

it's called family bonding... during family time... on a weekend where parent(s) are off from work. but i know deep down inside a lot of parent(s) wished that they can just lie in bed and sleep till the cow comes home. are you nodding your head now? you are, aren't you? :)

anyway... back to family bonding.

while the other half went out to enjoy throwing his big balls into the lane, i was happily ~~stuck~~ at home spending time with the kids. firstly, we watched okto cartoons during breakfast, educational ones of course... lazytown and Caillou are educational programs, rite?

then after the kids had their bath, we settled down for some more brain-cells damaging puzzles fixing. chloe improved both in quantity and time solving those 12 and 20 pieces puzzles, some of which she did for the first time. i was quite amazed at the speed and also she no longer whines or throw her tantrum when she hits a puzzle-block. instead, she will opt to try other pieces instead.

gaby, on the other hand, helped by messing up all the other puzzle pieces (so that chloe can complete them later on), throwing them onto the floor (so that mommy can exercise while picking them up from under the sofa or table...argh!) and at times, chews on the puzzle pieces before scooting off to do other toys damage.

chloe did about 9 puzzles and then announed to me : "i m tired. i want zud zud (pacy). i want to sleep. where pillow?"

yeah... i think 9 puzzles were quite brain-draining for a 'almost' 3 year old. heck, i can't even complete a soduku level 2 over the entire afternoon! but it was a good thing - the puzzles solving bonding activity... coz chloe ended up sleeping for a solid 2.5hrs thereafter.

afternoon was bonding session with dad - the kids were left to their own device; either playing with their toys, doodling with crayons, throwing balls/toys/books on the floor and fighting with each other over toys - all under their dad's supervision - from behind his newspapers, no less.

after such a tiring day bonding, we all got our reward - mommy didnt have to cook and the kids get to enjoy kiddy rides after eating western ~~junk~~ food at restaurant, instead of fastfood outlet.

oh well... happy kids makes happy parents, junk food or not!

french fries ROCKS!

little missy eating her mini burger with a fork...

BT/AT

2010-10-09T16:39:00.000+08:00

nope, this post has nothing to do with the media nor telecommunication.
it's all about HAIR.

this is Chloe - BT (Before "HAIR" Trim)

this is Chloe - AT (After "HAIR" Trim)
>

it's not the best cut but when you consider the hairdresser is without ZERO experience and is her FIRST time trimming both fringe and back of thehair. so, , it's actually not that bad, rite? (pls say yes or i will have ZERO confidence to do it the next time round!)

just so you know, i trimmed it nicely again just recently and her fringe looked less crooked now. lucky for me, my kids are too young to demand a FULL refund for my boo-boo work nor expect salon-styled hair make-over! *Phew*

Gaby @ 18 months

2010-10-09T12:45:00.001+08:00

gaby is now officially a ONE-AND-A-HALF year old toddler!

i have yet to measure his growth (since his last PD visit) but he has visibly grown vertically (but not vertically, albeit/against my wishes) and still the ever-energizing little tot who loves running / climbing / exploring / playing / ~~bullying his sister~~/ laughing / learning about life and (his) limitations - aka house rules.

some updates recently:
* eating less for unknown reasons, drinking even lesser. all 4 of his incisors have sprouted and he has not been sick, except for current phlegmy-cough.
* learn to spin round and round and goes all wobbly and "gong-gong" (dizzy)thereafer; either falling to the ground or knocking into the cabinet/chair and found it very amusing (but we were clearly NOT amused at this little trick)
* another new trick is to do his yoga pose - Down Dog - self-taught obviously.
* sudden interests in board books and kept uttering "ka-kaa" (creepy crawlies) whenever he saw insects/animals/vehicles/etc that amuses him.
* blabbers more but still unable to utter clearly; we could only confirm "mama", "pa", "chay chay", "mum-mum", "ya see", "busy", "lizard", "ka-kaa".
* he will give hugs and wet kisses (complete with his mmmmuak sound) when prompted (only when he's in a good mood)
* he hates high-pitched screams/shrieks coming from chloe and will be so upset that he HAS to take things into his own hands - by whacking her on the face or pulling her hair! argh...

i continue to remind myself that all these are a phase that he will eventually out-grow and improve (for the better, of course!) and that his true sweet and confident nature will shine more when he grows a little more older.

we love ya lots, ya little rascal! : )

dreamin' of a sugar-rush

2010-09-28T17:42:00.004+08:00

chloe had a SWEET dream last nite - coz she woke up around 5AM crying/whining and kicking that she WANTS sweets! and she was pretty specific about it too.

I WANT LOLLIPOP! MOMMY, I WANT LOLLIPOP! WAAAHHHH...

yes, at 5AM this morning mommy woke up to a little girl badly in need of a sugar-rush... and continued her cry/whinefest till her mouth was stucked with her pacy! sigh...

so, did you had a good rest and woke up bright and chirpy this morning?

only kids know how fun BALLS can be!

2010-09-25T23:54:00.003+08:00

this weekend the kids had loads of fun, outside and at home - mainly coz we let them enjoy themselves with lots of free play, sweet treats (which we try to limit as much as we can) and simply spending time with them.

their 1st time in the ballpit... yes, i admit, i am that LATE in letting them enjoy all the fun tumbling around in the colorful ball pit.

the expression on gaby's face says it all.

can't decide his favourite color - purple or magenta?

life is a bed of colorful balls...

gaby tried hard to get OUT of the balls...

Long time ago, my balls used to be THIIISSSS BIG!

and this boy has NO Fear when it comes to having fun/play. His first time down the slide all by himself!

goodie bag with one of her favourite - Barney!

ooohhh.... chocolate treats are awesomeeeeee...

VVvvvRROOOoooommMMMM... i drove so fast you cant see my arms!

chloe's definitely NOT happy sharing the kiddy ride with gaby.

now that's better - just me and Bob on a HotWheel date!

and all these fun were not possible if not for the kind invite from Chloe to her 3rd birthday party. thank you so much for inviting us over!

people watching at vivo...

and yes, we had a really enjoyable day today!

where and when did she learn to pose like that?

2010-09-23T22:23:00.000+08:00

despite my lousy skill (or the lack of it), i love to take pictures of the kids - i'm sure every mom does too. and i usually take candid shots of the kids; where they can just be themselves - silly, naughty, happy or sad.

but when i took photos of them again earlier this evening; chloe started to do all these silly poses. and with each click of the camera, she wanted to see a snapshot of herself!

so here are her 1st 超级爱美五连拍... and last few photos are of gaby. (must be fair, right?)

A picture collage by Smilebox

happy mid autumn festival

2010-09-23T14:00:00.004+08:00

as far as i could recall, my family doesn't really celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival. It was just another normal dinner at home and maybe during that period, we would have moon cakes after dinner. but back then; choice were limited, so was our family finances so mom would usually buy these very traditional type of mooncakes.

and that was about it to commemorate the date, not even a paper lantern.

and it seems that G's childhood was pretty similar, except that they had lots of mooncakes since both his parents worked in the F&B industry. As for lanterns, i didn't ask. but with 3 boys + candles(fire) = accidents are PRONE to happen, rite?

so for my kids; they too do not really know much about this special day. chloe's 1st encounter was when she turned 10 months old. as for gaby - i guess we really didn't bother that much back then (as there were no photos of the kids with lanters OR mooncakes, and i wonder why...)

so this year - i originally wanted to do something special for them. but it turned out to be a post-rainy night; wet floor and very cool weather - hence the kids had to stay in-doors. i lit a paper lantern (very tradition type) with candle and gaby tried to grab the lantern and almost got the whole thing burnt! so that was it - 5 minutes of lantern 'fun' and *poof*, no more fun.

as for chloe; she kinda remembered her old toy lantern her 爷爷 got her. played with it a little while (i didn't put any batteries coz i can't stand the NOISE) and then she wanted to read her story books and left the toy lantern on the floor.

so by 9PM, both kids are asleep (G dozed off too!) and only left dear old me and a plate of moon cakes and slices of polemo.

4 different flavours of snowskin and the traditional (double york, my fav!) moon cakes... yumm!

oh well, maybe next year the kids will start to enjoy it a little bit more.

chloe at 34 months

2010-09-13T23:13:00.000+08:00

photoblog of monchere at 34 months... coz this little missy is no longer camera-shy & can't wait to pose! :)

and the only thing that we need to ensure she WILLINGLY let go by her 3rd birthday - her much-prized possession; the pacy!

(still) addicted to you...

2010-09-12T16:06:00.000+08:00

whenever his favourite girl is on the telly, you can be sure that he'd be completely hooked!

kiddy rides fun (or not)

2010-09-11T21:38:00.000+08:00

whenever we pop over IMM for dinner and weekend grocery shopping, the kids will get super excited over the opportunities to climb up and down the various kiddy ride machines and ~~vandalize~~ play with the buttons & steering wheels, etc.

but with these kiddy rides, i think there is a lesson for me to learn here - these rides often feed the children's needs to be in control; especially to be in the driver's seat and manuvouring the steering wheel while the "co-pilot" can only touch the other buttons but never the steering wheel, even if they are NOT getting anywhere in that stagnant machine.

with the ways my 2 kids fought over control of the steering wheel, it just goes to show how strongly they will fight over for their 'wants' in future, with each other and slowly will be targeting me/hubs (the providers) ! just the thoughts of them have whinefest to get their ways... aiyoh, i will surely flip!

note to self - must instil in them the right values (over materialism) in life early!

Gaby @ 17 months

2010-09-09T22:28:00.000+08:00

gaby's approaching toddlerhood real fast... sometimes i felt that i can't even catch up with him! and we're all gearing ourselves up for the early arrival of his 'terrible-two' stage too! :p

and poor little guy had to endure the painful sprouting of not 1, but 4 cuspids within these 2 months!

there's not very significant changes of his developement versus a month ago but we found ways to let him spent his energy - going to the nearby playground! he loves it... but poor us (especially auntie M, 奶奶, 爷爷) who have to keep watch and chase after him when he goes all wild and happy at the playground! :)

zoo trip

2010-09-05T16:20:00.000+08:00

we had a family outing to the zoo today.

weather was good and the kids were behaving themselves, at least in the initial part, until we had to sit down for the elephant show - gaby got tired watching the elephants after 3 minutes and decided he wanted to go elsewhere.

anyways, overall it was a good trip - the kids enjoyed themselves, especially chloe coz she LOVES watching the elephants!

photos galore... 'nuff said. :D

fun in the sun (playground)

2010-09-01T15:37:00.001+08:00

the children's playground opposite our housing estate went through a major overhaul few months back - it was seriously in need of a revamp and now that it was completed, i HAD to bring the kids there to enjoy it (before it gets all dirty, abused and spoilt!)

it was a really BRIGHT sunny day... the kids enjoyed themselves and sweat all over. so were WE (me & my helper) as we had to keep close eye on them, especially gaby as he can just run amok when he's having too much fun.

see how they enjoyed themselves!

Customize a photo slideshow

and the best part of this short little outing to the nearby playground?
the kids had a long morning nap thereafter.
aahhhh..... bliss for me (and helper too!)

topping the chart for 5 consecutive weeks at home...

2010-08-24T22:49:00.001+08:00

is the title song from the taiwan drama series "爱" - the 'other' ONE song that can get both kids' undivided attention with eyes and ears all glued to the telly; every week day at 7PM without fail!

and chloe can even sing the chorus of "我问天我问天" whenever the song is aired on the telly. wah piangz...

*the other song is YOG's theme song, what else?!

new love

2010-08-22T16:09:00.000+08:00

chloe used to be so.... scared of barney.
the sight of the purple dinosaur will make her cry, really!

but that was when she was 20 month old - we brought her to toys'r'us during xmas for her to choose a toy and her daddy brought a BIG barney that was on display to her and the minute she saw it, the screamed! yup... that was more than a year ago.

now, she's so into the purple dinosaur that she will break into the barney song "i love you, you love me..." yadda yadda yadda... well, you get the point.

and she will not give up any chance to be near barney - but only fake ones that doesn't move; like this kiddie ride.

when i asked if she wants to go to see the BIG Barney show, she happily nodded her head.
and when i told her that there will be lots of songs and dancing and BIG Barney and the other dinosaurs moving around; waving and dancing on stage, she hesitated... and then said she don't want to go.

oh well... i guess it's back to the non-LIVE barney kiddie rides for now.

'What are you doing?'

2010-08-15T23:48:00.000+08:00

this is chloe's new catch-phrase since she came back from childcare today.

since she trails me like a hawk whenever she's back home - i'm the lucky recipient of this new catch-phrase over the weekend; being interrogated asked at least 5 times daily.

and it happened whenever i'm out of her sight (even for a very brief moment) and she found me; and will start asking me : "mamii, what are you doing?"

i welcome this new phase where there is now Q&A instead of just me giving her instructions or asking Her about her day at childcare, etc. we're having some sort of a conversation now, you see. this is where i can explain more things to her and how i deal/handle some of the chores, etc and at the same time, i can also enlist her help to join me in the said chores.

but there are also awkward moments - like when i'm doing my 'personal' business in the bathroom/toilet and she followed me in, checked out what i was doing... yes, she's THAT sticky to me.

anyways... it's another new phase in her life, and mine and i'm glad for this new found bonding!

Gaby @ 16 months

2010-08-09T23:57:00.001+08:00

our little guy's 16 months old on Singapore's 45th Birthday!

oh boy, he is indeed a bundle of energy bursting everywhere both physically and vocally.

mobility/physical adeptability

- climbing up and down on our sofas, bed, dinning chairs, coffee table and the little concealed piping ledge near the window without fear

- walking up the stairs with one hand assisting him and both hands when going down

- running about (not brisk walking like his sister) on open field/area

- walks backwards or sideways during his tantrum throwing times

- easily squat down and stand up, climb over the rocking fish and out without help

- will dance a little when he hears his favourite music being played and clap his hands when prompted

- shaking his head is a norm... sometimes too much! and can nod "yes" and "no"

- still learning to drink from a straw and use a tiny spoon to self-feed

- pincer grip has improved and he loves to pick up tiny objects on the floor, very tiny ones!

- able to identify body parts such as eyes, ears, nose, mouth, arms, legs and belly-button

- still balancing his walk though, sometimes will still trip over

- will pat his chest when he coughs and tap on the walls/floor when he sees lizard/ants, etc

vocal development

- able to make several sounds/words and pointing to said objects, eg bus, ball, bear, bird, car, nen nen (milk), shoes, keys, door, book

- making out words like 'you see', 'lizard', 'meow', 'wooo', 'booh' (no more in hokkien), 'chay chay' (sister)

- making other sounds to interact with us and getting frustrated with we don't understand

- loves to sing along to the YOG theme song by just singing 'ahhhh'

emotional/character building

- showing assertiveness in making known his needs and wants

- tantrums galore both vocally and physically - especially when fighting for attention with his sister by pushing, pulling of hair/clothes, screaming and even kicking his way!

- loves to explore and test our limits by continuously 'pushing' us away from tasks at hand and to do what he wants

- stranger anxiety is less apparent when around others but will turn/run to us when being approached

he's still drooling and having a little tough time eating/sleeping due to his molars/teething.

and he's starting to appreciate more solid food like soft rice, pasta and bits of chicken meat.

next up will be finding ways to spend his energy and introduce a variety of food to boost his appetite!

mommy want more of these 'miracles' at home

2010-08-04T14:55:00.004+08:00

last nite while we were having dinner, daddy placed a small piece of veg onto chloe's plate.

she was busy munching and watching Hi5 on tv (yeah, this is NOT a good dinner practice) and so, didn't noticed that extra piece of green.

she scooped it up and put in into her mouth... 1st bite ended with a grimace on her face but she didn't protest, nor spit it out and complaint; which was her usual reaction. she continued biting and eventually swallowed it.

daddy and mommy continue to eat - pretending we didn't her reaction nor make any fuss about her finally eating one piece of GREEN veg. and then she opened her mouth and said: i want one more green please.

first one to react --> our helper and she blurted out : 'Wow, a miracle!'

both daddy and mommy almost blurted out laughing but we tried our very best to make it as NORMAL as possible and daddy even repeated chloe's request; just to be sure.

indeed there was a tiny little miracle that happened during dinner last nite... and one that mommy hope will happen at every meal time - even if it's only one veggie at a time.

one day... she will fall in love with ALL these veggies and roots. (cross fingers & toes!)

ohh, so that is 'ooh-la-laa'

2010-08-02T23:14:00.000+08:00

went shopping with kids and helper last sunday after mass.
while at the shoe shop, chloe would pick up almost every single pair of shoes, flipped them over and made some remarks which usually ended up with : "mamii, mamii...this is nice."

while i was busy looking to my left, she had picked up another pair and then called out loudly to me and said : "mamiii.... see! nice shoes ah... like ooh-la-laa like that..."

i almost bursted out laughing when she said that.
so now i know that 'sexiness' to her is 'ooh-la-laa' :)

indeed... it's a pair of ohh-la-laa shoes!

new ritual with the 'pink lady'

2010-08-01T21:56:00.000+08:00

we have a new ritual going on in the house - but it's only meant for mommy and chloe.
for the past week or so, we started having our after-dinner snacks in the bedroom it usually involves the pink lady.

pink WHO?

i found out that there's a type of apples that was called PINK Lady and they are very much similar to the Fuji Apples that we are familiar with and the type that we preferred over those Red Gala Apples. and it seems that chloe has a sudden love for apples since july - especially those that are PINKish; her favourite color.

we would sit on the mattress (we had one foldable mattress placed on the floor), cozying ourselves at our own special spot and started munching on the juicy slices of apples and sharing little snippets of our days - well, usually it invovles mommy asking chloe about her day at childcare, how she spent it with her friends and what had she learnt/done for the day.

with honey? looks yummy... will try out one day!

sometimes she will tell some funny jokes about her friends; like little ferlyn who would use the lego block to 'kuchi kuchi' (read: scratch) her legs and how vaishali would shout louder than the rest when singing the chorus of the YOG theme song. each time she would cover her mouth with both hands and laugh out loud - oh so adorable!

i'm hoping that this new-found ritual of ours will continue for awhile, be it with the pink lady or otherwise... coz the time spent with my little girl at this stage of her life is oh-so-priceless.

mommy's note : i wish for more...

2010-07-27T12:13:00.001+08:00

last nite was a trying time for my patience with a sick kid and an unreasonable BIG kid.
but i thank God for giving me a heart that is BIG enough to accept the situation and deal with it - despite the fact that it may hurt someone's feelings a little more that i hope it had not - and to get on with life.

and hopefully with each new challenge and experience as a mother and wife, i will slowly but surely learn to increase my level of tolarence and have more patience with situations/things that i cannot change.

and in case you're wondering, i DO give a ~~shit~~ hoot about everything that goes around in the house.

kids down... with HFMD

2010-07-24T23:47:00.000+08:00

aren't we lucky to have BOTH kids down with HFMD this week.

it started early last week when gaby had his fever; which we all concluded it was due to his teething. and later that week, he developed rashes (which was normal post-fever) which turned ugly; with big red spots that looked very much like chicken-pox but without the fuild-filled blisters.

chloe started vomitting early saturday morning but was ok thereafter, continued playing and eating well. but by early afternoon, her fever kicked in and hit a high of 38.2C and was given ibuprofen and rested.

yes, this was how she rested... just look at her towkay neo legs! :p

anyway, her fever continued to climb and she was getting cranky and coughing. we then rushed both kids to KKH for a thorough check and was later diagnosed by the MD as having contracted HFMD.

what puzzled us was the source that infected our stay-at-home son; who later passed on the virus to chloe.

anyway, with both kids down with HFMD, i'm sure the house will be super-rowdy this week. but on a brighter side, gaby will enjoy having his sister around during the day as he gets to ~~disturb~~ play with her instead of just watching tv or play by himself! and for chloe, apart from not being able to see her friends at childcare, she gets her chance to wear her PJs till late morning and play masak-masak with her new kitchen set toys.

so long as you have imagination

2010-07-24T22:56:00.000+08:00

even the plastic milk powder scoops can be a source of endless fun for the kids!

a tiny part of the scoops that mommy had accummulated over the years... reminder of how many cans of milk powder these 2 ~~rascals~~ kids had consumed.

chloe: time to mix, mix, mix a special drink for my guest in waiting...

chloe: nah, try this. drink up!

poor gaby, not choice but to 'drink' up the weird concoction chloe came up with (i put milo, milk, coffee, sugar, soup, vege and meat, okie?)

see the happy face? love it!

that's how they spent their rainy saturday morning - with great fun and imagination.

munchies munchskins

2010-07-16T21:21:00.000+08:00

i never thought that i'd call my kids 'munchskins' - which sounds like a group of ugly hunchback gargoyles to me - but since it rhymes well with munchies... ah, well...

anyway, what i wanted to show is how difficult it was to have both of them in the same photos looking at the same; well, almost the same direction. (all thanks to the telly, what else?!)

so here are the munchskins... enjoying slices of apple and glued to WordWorld. how happy i am to finally watch something that is not Hi-5 related!

*excuse the background lazying folk*

chloe is so in L.O.V.E with apples this week... all she wants is APPLES! (sorry dragonfruit, you're now #2)

what an expression, gaby... potential "ah beng" face.

yes yes yes... we know you have LOTS of teeth dear... and gaps in between too! tee hee...

chloe at 32months

2010-07-13T16:57:00.002+08:00

i love her smiles, the way she coyly tilt her head and give me that sweet, sweet, sweet smiles.
i also missed her chubby cheeks (only kuching kolo mee can do that magic!) and hope for her to gain more weight and grow a little more vertically.

character-wise, it's an explosion of new found identities: independence, assertiveness, stubborness, mood-swings (can they even have ONE at that age?!) and attention-seeking all rolled into one. oh, make that FIVE!

while she would try her very best to remain as the one-and-only BABY in the family by acting out all her baby-ish moments (baby blabbers, baby whines, baby cries, baby temper and baby love), she manages to adapt well as a big sister (sometimes a big bully vocally, until she becomes the victim) and playmate to gaby.

and i'm glad that she enjoys her time in nursery now; often saying names of her classmates and telling me tales about them (XXX is notti, XXX fall and cry, XXX wears pink hairband, XXX wears diaper like chloe, etc). and she loves reading stories (well, usually mommy reads), doddling/coloring, doing simple puzzles, dressing up by herself (she picks what she wants to wear, etc), communicating her needs/wants (and demands). only downside is that she's still lacks patience and tend to give up a little too quickly.

but for now, all is good... well, IF only she is also completely diaper-free; then all would be perfect! (",)

growth updates

2010-07-11T23:49:00.000+08:00

gaby had his 15months MMR jab today - no pictures as they do not allow photography.
he knew it was going to be a nasty jab as the little girl opposite him was crying buckets when she got her shot first.
and he was starting his cry-engine when we're steadying him (holding on firmly to his arms, knees, etc) for the jab and later he cried so loud and angry for at least 5 minutes!

anyways, here are his stats:
Wt : 9.5kg
Ht : 79cm
HC : 45cm (still at 10% growth percentile)

and while we were there, i weighted chloe on the scale and shockingly, her weight is only 10.5kg! i tried to reset it at least 3 times and each time, it showed 10.5kg on the digital scale.
and her ht is still stagnant around 85cm.

and the little girl who got a jab earlier on?
she is about 18months and standing next to her, chloe looked exactly like HER age.
sigh... is my gal not growing? or is she just a petite-sized toddler?
i cross my fingers that she's the latter...