Captain Carlos in action

Kids can be rather creative, no doubt about it.

As usual, after giving me a thousand and one reasons why she needed a break from doing her work (when she hasnt even started doing any), Nicole got Auntie Rose to tie her smelly nappy over her neck. Then, she put on a duckling hat and tried very hard to squeeze her big feet and hands into the tiny red packets, imagining they were gloves and boots. She wanted to be Captain Carlos! One of her favourite cartoon characters!

Monkey see monkey do....

Nicole was throwing tantrum again..crying and crying. Ethan heard her crying and quickly crawled close to her and started pointing his pointer at her while saying "da-da" in Mandarin. (meaning you will be punished)...oh oh...that triggered off a louder cry...OMG!!.....It sounded like a stormy thunder!

Ethan is learning fast. He knows that everytime Nicole throws a tantrum, I will bring the cane out and she will be punished!

"Papa and his cousin? wife? or sister?"

Nicole and I were reading a book titled "The people in my family". Other than the thinking questions asked, the book was just one of many around. The questions were :

Me " Nicole, who is married to daddy?"

Nic " Mommy"

Me" Who did grandpa marry?"

Nic "Grandma"

Me "How are daddy and grandpa related?"
( I needed to rephrase the question to "How would daddy address grandpa?")

Nic "papa"

Me "So, who is daddy to grandpa?"

Nic " hmm....his child"

I think it got on to Nicole's nerve when I continued to ask.

Me " so how are daddy and "ah ma" -ie, grandma, related?"

Nic " I dont know"

Me"Think, you know. Who is ah ma to papa?"

Nic " cousin?

Me "No...hahaha"

Nic "wife? ha"

Me "No no..try again...hahaha"

Nic "sister"

I decided to stop at that before Nicole came up with more creative relationship!

Up and up!

I really need to keep my eyes on Ethan every single moment! He was already 4 steps up the stairs just when I turned around to grab a book. We are not able to fix a gate to keep him out of his mischief as we have a spiral staircase!

Feeling restless and unsettled....

I have been feeling rather unsettled. Something is bothering me but I dont know what. Waiting in anticipation of God's plan for me is the biggest trial! I thought I have learnt to surrender to Him entirely until this restless feeling set in. I could sense that changes and choices are coming my way but I dont know what exactly. Is God preparing me for something yet to come? Or is it already here?

Please pray for me. Pray for clear direction from the Almighty!

Please here, please there!

Undeniably, the job market for tax positions is still rather vibrant despite the slow down in economy. As such, to-date, head-hunters are still knocking on my door. Well, it has nothing to do with my "popularity" but simply a reflection of a shortage of tax folks in the market :)

Nicole overheard my tele-conversation with a couple of head-hunters and it triggered her curiousity. She was smart enough to pick up a few key words here and there.

Nic " Mommy, who called you? Are you going to work?"
Me " Well, not exactly but if you keep on throwing tantrum, I will consider this option seriously"

The next thing I heard was "woo waa woo waa". Nicole broke into tears! Subsequently, she was very well behaved and this morning, she was exceptionally well behaved. She greeted me when she woke up and asked me for her milk super politely, with "please here" and "please there".

Well, I hope she would keep up with the "please here" and "please there"!

Button Impossible!

Ethan is learning to walk and a boy is a boy! He will reach out for the impossible and start pressing the buttons! My fan, my handphone, my TV remote control, my laptop keyboard etc etc...anything which comes with buttons will not be able to escape his claws!

Ethan & his "nana"

Ethan is simply sold to food. He embarked on a chasing mode at the mere sight of me holding a banana. The moment I disappeared into the kitchen, he started crying "nana, nana". When I reappeared with his bowl and banana, he smiled contentedly and there he was, half lying on the playmat, chewing his favourite banana :)

2 Black Bats

Look at the 2 of them. Nicole cheekily put that $25 charity halloween hair band (2 black bats)onto Ethan's head and Ethan happily wore it, not knowing how to retaliate! Not for long I suppose.....:)

No lesson! Hurray!

Shanon and Nicole put a boycott on their weekly enrichment class :( Nicole was exhausted as she did not have her afternoon nap and Shanon was in a "playing mood".

They had a good time playing together. They pretended they were taking their sickly dogs to the hospital in a taxi. The stair was the taxi.

After the hospital trip, they took a plane to Korea and somehow they knew they needed to fly there! (instead of taking a taxi :)

LOL :)

It Takes Time!

Nicole has this strange habbit of visiting the loo for big business whenever we are out. We were at Raffles City yesterday and as usual, she asked to go to the loo. She was sitting comfortably on the toilet seat while I had to squat and hold on to her in case she fell into the toilet bowl, which happened once :( LOL!

I was hurrying her as we had overseas friends waiting for us.

Me " Nicole, hurry up, get your business over and done with quickly. It is suffocating!"
Nic " Mommy, IT TAKES TIME. Dont rush me. Just cover your nose!"

OMG!!.....super smelly!

Little Emma

It was an exciting Sunday! We met little Emma for the very first time since she was born 18 months ago.

Little Emma was born in Taiwan to Paul and Lisa. Both Paul and Lisa are good pals of Lawrence.

Emma is indeed a little genius. She is able to express herself very well. Not only can she speak in English, she is equally well versed in Mandarin and Hokkien too! What a fantastic achievement for a little toddler! I would credit Emma's achievement largely to Lisa who has also recently given up her highly sought after profession to be a full time mom!

Do you really think I can read?

Ethan certainly thinks very highly of his "che-che". He picked a book and "asked" Nicole to read it to him while Nicole showed him an irritated look :- (Do you really think I can read?? Stop disturbing me! :(

hahaha!

How to get young children to drink water?

I believe when young children are down with virus or bacterial infections, the most challenging task of the parents is to get them to drink water, as much fluid as possible.

Thankfully, I was able to convince Nicole to drink plenty of water when she was down with stomach flu 2 days ago. I had to get creative in telling her stories on how the bad virus was playing up in her tummy. I told her she needed to drown the virus with warm water every half an hour and she needed to drink some soup to give her the energy to fight the virus. As silly as the stories could get, it was effective in gushing fluid down into her body to help flush out the virus speedily :)

Well, if your kids have problems taking plain water, you could think of your own silly little stories to convince them too!

Private Eye

The fever has subsided and the diarrhea is clear. After one full day of rest, Nicole is up and running again. Thank God.

I went out for dinner with a male friend last night and Nicole perpetually called me every half an hour all the way till I got home, just to "update" me on what was going on at home. I was not sure if it was "instigated" byLawrence or she simply missed me :) That said, it felt good to hear her sweet little voice :)

A quiet day at home

Nicole has been rather quiet today, unlike her usual chatty self. The stomach flu virus is still in her. She did her drawing and was playing with her toys most of the time. Toys which she has not touched for months, the long forgotten magnetic board and her Dora chess game. Despite the frequent bowel movement causing her much discomfort, she is still rather spirited. Thank God!

Poor Nicole down with stomach flu

Nicole did not go to school this morning. She started to show symptoms of stomach flu. She is usually strong enough to fight the virus without much medication, thank God for her strong immunity and to-date, she has not taken a single dose of antibiotics!! So, we are resting her at home now and she is happily doodling on her art paper again :)

Her masterpiece to be posted...stay tuned :)

Ethan

You just have no idea how rough and persistent Ethan can be. He squeezed himself through that narrow gap just to get hold of that camera pouch! As a result, he tends to have a lot of "bungalows" on his head!

Cheeky Nicole & her trick

Another one of Nicole's surprises to me! Look at the sum. Can you see something not quite consistent? Look again and look harder.

In an exceptionally good mood, Nicole initiated a Maths session. We did both additions and subtractions. Out of the blue, Nicole wanted a bottle of milk. So, I scribbled a sum on the whiteboard and went to the kitchen. I told her she was to complete the sum as soon as her milk was prepared.

Truely, she completed her task within the allocated time. I was absolutely delighted and was going to reward her for her good effort but when I looked again, I noticed something not quite right. It wasn't the sum which I had written earlier! Nicole altered the sum from subtraction to addition! OMG :( See the + sign in red ink? Nicole was smart enough to realise that there was no way she could complete a subtraction sum before I was done with her milk, as it was still something quite new to her!

Gosh, I really need to to be on my toes every single minute! Isn't this more stressful than corporate work? :)(

Ethan & his trampoline

Ethan was having a good time bouncing on his "trampoline"! He climbed into his bouncing net, thinking that no one was watching and started rocking the "boat" :)

Papa, I need you!

Lawrence was in his study doing some work while Nicole was in the bathroom upstairs and I was in Nicole's bedroom. I overheard this entertaining dialog, at least to my ears :)

Nic " papa, papa, I need you. Hurry!"
Lawrence " yes. what now?" ( a little impatient, being interrupted)
Nic " I have diarrhea and I need you to clean my buttock!"

Well, I i didn't get to witness Lawrence's reaction but I could imagine it wasn't a pleasant one for sure :)

Nicole & her "micro-waved" artwork

Nicole always has surprises for me, good or bad, and this masterpiece of hers was another one of many.

As usual, after lunch, Nicole tried to wriggle out of doing any form of work which requires much effort. She is good at sweet-talking, trust me! So, she won herself a piece of blank art paper and some color markers. Within a span of several minutes, she proudly presented her art work to me which brought me great pleasure, putting aside the less than "respectful" message!

The "rare species"

Out of the blue today, I thought of Aiqin, one of my insurance agents.

She reminded me of an innocent 18-year-old who has yet to be exposed to this complicated world. Well, not exactly her appearance but her approach, so sincere and untainted.

Aiqin is one "rare species" in the insurance industry if you would. She does not hard sell nor does she impose. Her approach is to share and to provide advice professionally. Selling is not her top most priority though it is her rice bowl.

Well, if you ever need any financial advice, you may consider contacting her at 65 8223 2123 or liuaiqin@aia.com.sg

God in heaven vs God in temple?

I was casually chatting with a little girl whom I shall not name. Let's just call her Alice.

Alice " I have a grandmother. She is my father's mother"
Me "oh, so where is your grandmother? do you live with her?"
Alice " No, because we pray to a different god"
Me" huh? so which god do you pray to? "
Alice " The one in heaven"
Me " Oic, what about your grandma?"
Alice "The one in the temple"

It just got me thinking on how observant and perceptive our little ones can be on such minute and subtle difference.

Sentimental Nicole

Nicole went to the library with Auntie Rose and she picked a few books, one of which was titled "Granny".

We were reading the book together and it caught Nicole's attention when we read about the "tok tok cheng" Chinese opera. She was so inqusitive and asked many questions. When we finally finished reading the book which ended with a sad closure, Nicole's mood was very much affected. As cheeky as she can be, there is still this soft spot in her. I was rather touched by Nicole's strong sentiment and remark.

Nic "I don't want to read this book anymore, It is so sad "

(her eyes were red and she ran away to pick a "happy" book - Ariel the mermaid!:))

Coincidentally, there was a Chinese opera staged not far from our place last night and Nicole insisted on watching it. And guess what, with no understanding of the play whatsoever, (it was in teowchew if I was not mistaken), she sat and watched for a good half hour :). She was the youngest audience amongst all the grandmothers and grandfathers! I certainly felt a little out of place :)

From Career Woman to Full Time Mom

The title of one of the articles in today's paper - From Career Woman to Full Time Mom

It just got me to reflect on my or rather our joint decision in becoming a full time mom. Frankly, I have no regrets in assuming this god-gifted role. It has been much more rewarding in many ways, putting aside the financial sacrifices which I was prepared to let go.

I am very thankful to be privileged to this uncompromising role which requires heaps of patience and perseverance, the lacking of either may be disastrous! Facing the kids 24 7 can be over- whelming if one is not prepared for it. That said, in my opinion, the joy which comes along is far greater than the stress they create!

Many career women out there are still clinging on to their jobs for fear of loss of financial freedom inspite of the fact that they dearly miss their kids at home. There is no right or wrong answer to it but a mere priority to be jointly decided upon though historically and biblically, women have had a more prominent domestic role. That said, it is undeniable that times may have changed thus requiring dual income in many families in order to sustain the high cost of living in many countries but I tend to believe that the professionals are able to manage comfortably even with a single income.

I am not suggesting that all women should quit their jobs and be stay-at-home moms but I am of the opinion that women, career women in particular should consider dedicating more time to their little ones during their pre-school years which would have a life-long impact on their well-being. As a chinese saying goes " your future is already determined by the age of 3".

Well, something to ponder over? Have a happy working day!

2 Junior Impostors

2 junior impostors - loan sharks! You reckon they have the potential? :)

Arthur Andersen (1) - the one big family

I wrote a farewell message to Winnie on Andersen Alumni's webpage yesterday. Winnie was our Head of Tax at Arthur Andersen and she is due to retire next month.

I was recruited from Melbourne where I was completing my fourth year Honours degree. It just dawned on me how long I have been in Singapore when I was writing that message.

We were all once part of the Andersen big family and we are all so proud of it, no doubt about it! I think Arthur Andersen did such a wonderful job in creating this strong sense of belonging which in my opinion, no other big 4s have managed to do so.

I just want to express my gratitude towards Winnie who has been such a wonderful leader throughout the Andersen history. We will continue to miss her and will constantly remind ourselves of the good work which she has done in nurturing the powerful Andersen spirit!

Sunday Enrichment Class

We missed the previous sunday's enrichment class because Shanon was overly exhausted after her other gatherings. We resumed our lesson yesterday. The girls did very well!

First, we did some revision on skip-counting. Shanon was exceptionally good. She did her skip-counting (from 2 to 20) within the span of just a couple of minutes. Nicole was a little moody. She refused to do the same. Instead, she wanted to skip count the 3 series. After much persuasion, she completed hers too.

Then we moved on to some basic maths. Shanon was a fast learner. She got the hang of it after just a couple of examples using the 3 little self-created steps (see previous post for details). Nicole again wasn't cooperative. She wanted something different again. So, she went on to do her subtraction which I taught her last week. I taught her 5 simple steps to tackle subtraction which requires "borrowing".

1) if the number is > 10, then transform the equation into a vertical format,

2) cover the left hand column,

3)check the right hand column, and if the bottom number is bigger than the number above it,

4) then borrow 1 from the neigbour, (draw a bridge and minus 1 off from the neighbour),

5) then she can do her subtraction column by column

The most interesting part of the lesson was none other than their tea-break. The kids had a glass of orange juice each and some smarties. They had so much fun and were so looking forward to the tea break that they completed their maths quickly.

Finally, we read a new poem and learnt 2 spellings (sunday and saturday). I think they both love to write on the whiteboards which I purchased on line (see previous post) and this helps in learning the spellings speedily. They just couldn't wait to write on the handy whiteboards :)

Does anyone have an easier method to tackle subtractions? Would appreciate it if you could drop a line or two in the comment box. Happy coaching!

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

Sometimes I really wonder if the "vanity" gene can be passed down too. I caught Ethan self-admiring in front of Nicole's toy mirror this morning. I couldnt help taking a picture of him and his magic mirror :)


(mirror mirror on the wall, who is the most handsome of all?") :)

Our second cell group gathering

I mentioned about this fun little 2 year old boy, Evan in my earlier post (Invitation to a cell group dated 4 July 2008). The moment we stepped into the house, Evan recognised Nicole and instantly started "chasing" after her again. Evan simply wanted to stay near to Nicole, wherever she went. It was really an entertaining sight!

Soon, the gathering transitted from a casual to a serious mode. We discussed and shared our joyous experiences with the Lord.

As the subject matter wasn't exactly meant for a 4 year old, Nicole began to fidget as she became restless soon after we kick started the forum. Out of boredom, she surprised me with her request!. She whispered her wish to sing a song to everyone and wanted me to announce and ask the cell group members to welcome her and to clap! Gosh, wasn't that rude? Afterall, it wasn't a singing audition!.....I made the request and thankfully the other group members were very kind and accommodative. They said they needed a commercial break anyway :) So, there she was, singing her chinese melody "wo de hao ma ma" (My good mother). That kept her still for at least a couple of minutes!!

How to cultivate interest in reading (2)?

Further to my earlier post dated 9 July 2008 on above subject matter, a reader has shared her frustration in getting her daughter to even sit and listen for a minute. I have some suggestions which perhaps could get the little ones to at least sit and listen for a minute before they run away to something more interesting :-)

1) The reading environment should be quiet with as little distraction as possible (keep all toys away, anything which will distract them. If you have a helper, get her to sit in to help "control" the kids)

2) Most kids (assuming aged between 2 to 6), would enjoy role-playing. Before you start reading a book, perhaps you could tell them that you are pretending to be her school teacher, Ms.XXX. They tend to be more attentive :)

3) If the book describes a dog, you could imitate the sound of a dog "whoof whoof" and make them laugh. Try to be more interactive and involve them in your story telling. I know most of us are not trained in this area and it will be an uphill task for us too :) but it is worth a try!

Well, try it out and let me know if it works and gradually they would enjoy more of your story telling and they would voluntarily sit and wait for you :) (hopefully) :)

Happy Reading!

Nicole's good friend - Serena

Though Nicole is not exactly a super friendly child by nature, she does have a wide network of friends :-). One of her many overseas friends, Serena is really an amazing kid. Nicole met her for the first time on her trip to Australia back in March 2008. Both of them got on really well with each other. They even watched Dora together, squeezing so comfortably next to each other right in front of a tiny laptop. Serena is simply so amiable and lovely with her beautiful long hair which she has kept since birth. How amazing!

Shopper vs "Hommer"?

I was trying to explain to Nicole the meaning of the word "shopper".

Me " A shopper is someone who is shopping at a mall, or even a supermarket"
Nic " Oh, so I am a "hommer""
Me " Huh? what is a "hommer"?"
Nic " I am staying at home now...so I am a "hommer""
Me " No no no....."

How creative of Nicole !

Good On-line Children's Books

I recently chanced upon this interesting blog - on line children's books. It has a great selection of children's books, Sesame Street, Dora, Thomas the train, just to name a few, all being sold at a good discount relative to those retailed in Singapore.

One of many which attracted my attention was the light and handy whiteboard. The size is just perfect. (please see my previous post for an image of the whiteboard - "how to get kids interested in Maths? dated 11 July 2008") I can carry it around with ease. Nicole loves to write on it and that is one way of getting her to do some real work!

Check it out, and you can surely find some good bargains!

Practice makes perfect?

There is always a steep learning curve to all new things that we are exposed to. This theory is more so applicable in the context of kids' learning. Imagine teaching a 4-year-old some abstract concepts like, why does an apple fall from a tree? My own observation is that the little person would probably not understand the concept of gravity but if we could explain it in a more child friendly manner, perhaps he/she could grasp 10% of the concept of gravity??

I wrote about my 3 little steps in tackling additions in my previous post which is proven effective with Nicole. I was trying to put Ethan to bed last night and in order to stop Nicole from coming into the bedroom, I gave Nicole 3 sums to tackle and told her to complete them while I was putting Ethan to sleep. I estimated I would need some 8 to 10minutes to get Ethan to sleep and that would be about the time Nicole would require in completing her sums.

To my surprise, Nicole came dashing and knocking at my bedroom door in just under 4 minutes! (I had my handphone next to me and I was checking the time). Well, I wasnt quite pleased that she disrupted Ethan's sleep but I was absolutely delighted to see her good work! She insisted that I upload her good work into my blog :)

Does anyone have any experiences in teaching subtraction which requires "borrowing"? I will have to figure a way out....stay tuned!

Is being No.2 a privilege?

I used to have this unfounded notion that being No.2 in the family would mean that you would always get hand-me-down and nothing else. However, I have a totally different perspective after observing my 2 kids at play.

I see other privileges of being No.2. Ethan is exposed to a lot more "sophisticated" toys at a much younger age. Ethan joined in the fun when Nicole was running Thomas. It was fun to Ethan but disruption to Nicole :)(

Helpless Me!

Nicole was having a blocked nose last night and so we didnt use the air-cond. We turned in at about 11pm and as I was slowly getting into a deep sleep, some pungent smell woke me. It was nothing but the cigarette smoke again! I checked the time and it was 2am. OMG!!

I was really agitated and did what I could within the legal boundaries. I watered my plant again at 2am!! Just with plain water but I can't be sure if my plant would need some liquid fertiliser the next time I need to nurture them!

Help!!

An "ugly" place?

If you have read some recent articles in the papers describing Singaporeans as an "ugly batch", (paying for one serving of drinks but topping up 4 full bottles, eating unpaid fruits at supermarket) you would note that such behaviours are rather commonly exhibited in our society unfortunately.

One way to stop this "disease" from spreading is to start educating our little ones from a young age. It is only through proper education and reinforcement that our society may hope to see more grace in the near future. This would create a more pleasant and cultured environment for our next generation. As parents, we have an important task to groom our little ones. Together we can make this a better place !

What is your view on this?

Electric Motor Bike

To add to the list of kiddie gadgets, Lawrence actually air-freighted this bulky electric motor bike back from one of his business trips. Nicole was absolutely thrilled when she received this super big parcel but the excitement faded sooner than expected :(

Nicole's cat basket

When I first showed my blog to Nicole, she was absolutely over the moon to see her art work being posted. And now, she insists that all her art work be displayed. Here comes the cat basket!

Connection between confinement diet & child's diet?

It is usually an uphill task getting Nicole to eat her dinner which is most certainly rice. She simply hates it and I think I have a part to play in this too.

During my confinement month (the 1st month after giving birth to Nicole), I literally abstained from rice as I was trying to lose the extra kilos which I succeeded in shedding in barely 2.5months :) As a result, perhaps my milk did not have much of a "rice" taste, thus causing Nicole's strong resistance towards rice thereafter :(

Nicole did such a wonderful job in finishing her dinner last night and I rewarded her with Haagen Dazs ice-cream and she licked the dessert bowl sparkling clean :)

Electric Toothbrush

As parents, we tend to spoil our kids with material belongings intentionally or not, though I would try to make a conscious effort not to do so. Given Lawrence's busy work schedule, he doesnt have very much time with the kids and he definitely tries to make it up by splurging on kiddie gadgets. One such of many is the Braun electric toothbrush. It even has Disney Princesses on it - OMG!

How to encourage babies to talk?

One good way I discover is to help your baby "vocalise his babbles". For example, if you hear him saying "ple" while looking at an apple, you could reinforce it by saying "apple"! Try it...

Ethan & his "bao"

Ethan is one happy baby. He truely enjoys life to the fullest. At the bare sight of a mere loaf of bread, he would be exhilarated and would start screaming "bao" (meaning "mien bao" or bread). When he is done with his "bao" and if the portion is sufficient, he would say "done" and start to self-entertain with the cutlery and plate but not otherwise :(

Are you sure you are going to the food court?

Lawrence and I wanted to go for a quick bite just on our own, without the kids. As usual, we cordially invited Nicole to come along.

Me " Nicole, do you want to come with us? We are going to the food court" (based on past experiences, the answer would be negative as Nicole hates going to food court because it is not air-conditioned)

Nic " Yes, I am going." ( Oops...it is not working!)

Me " Are you sure? The food court is very crowded at this hour and it will be very hot"

Nic " Are you sure you are going to the food court? Why do you need to change? Cant you just wear your home clothes?" (Oh Oh, she noticed that I changed....)

Lawrence " Nicole, it is ok. You can call mommy, you know her handphone number, right?"

Nic " Oh yes, ok...bye, remember to get me a soya bean drink "

Phew!.. but Nicole called me 5 times just to check where I was.....:(

Ethan & "Elma"

Both of my kids are Elmo fans somehow. Ethan has a peculiar attraction to red objects. He loves Elmo and ladybirds. Whenever he sees Elmo, he would shout "Elma, Elma" while shaking his body and giving us a cheeky smile :)

Saturday Outing - Choosy Nicole

We went for a kiddie gathering at Dempsey Road this morning. It was a long overdue get together amongst a few good friends. Our first stop was at Ben & Jerry's and we moved on to Bambini thereafter. We then had a banquet styled lunch at Tanglin Mall - (we needed to combine 3 tables in order to accommodate all of us :)

While the kids played at the gym, we adults had some snacks at Bambini Cafe and Auntie Chukky very kindly offered Nicole a little bit of ice-cream out of her Rootbeer Float. At the sight of that tiny little bit of ice-cream, Nicole declined with a bitter look on her face as though it was an insult, " No, I dont want THIS KIND of ice-cream. I want Ben & Jerry's." (Gosh, how demanding and choosy...)

How to get kids interested in Maths?

After getting Nicole interested in using my laptop to play some kiddie math games, she is now much more adept in doing some basic maths. I taught her 3 basic steps in tackling additions.

1) if the numbers > 10, then

2) transform the equation to a vertical format, then

3) cover the left hand columns, and start adding

I wrote the equation (14 + 28) and she did the transformation on her own including drawing that big fat arrow :)

The above self invented steps seem to work. Try it out on your kids too. Happy coaching!

Do Home-Ministers need upkeeping?

For those of you who know me whether from work or school, you would know that I am one big vain pot and I think my little Cat Girl takes after me :) Eventhough I am now a stay at home mom, I would still ensure that I upkeep myself. I certainly do not want to be known as "yellow face":(

Fundamentally, I would invest in good skin care products and I certainly enjoy unique scents. I know of a boutique at Milenia Walk, Senteurs which is one good place to pick up such must have products. The operator is a very down to earth and genuine lady. Check out her store and you would surely be able to find something interesting either for yourself or your family.

My Little Cat Girl

At times I wonder if I would truely enjoy being a stay at home mom without Rose. Look at the mess my little Cat Girl and Chubby create at home everyday. :(

Young reader

There is always the one point which we need to cross before we get comfortable with what we think we can do. This applies to learning too. Not long ago, it was really a chore to getting Nicole to even set her eyes on any words. She simply refused to read and chose to rely on her elephant memory instead.

After getting through that one point, she is now much more ready to read a book with me. We read "Jill's Magic Window" 2 nights ago and I was so pleased that she could read at least 80% of the book on her own. I got her interested in wanting to know the story and the rest was a breeze.

How to cultivate interest in reading?

You will note that in recent literature, there are those who advocate using flash cards to stimulate the development of the babies' brains and there are those who simply advocate plain reading and many other more school of thoughts.

Personally, based on experiences with my 2 little ones, I feel that there is no one best method. Each child is so unique in his/her own way and that is how God has made everyone of us. Therefore, for those mommies who are stressed out just because their babies are not responding to flash cards, take it easy and try other methods.
Both of my kids are rather easy-going. They are open to almost any kind of educational material, predominantly different types of books and flashcards. I personally subsribe to taking the Q from the kid instead of imposing on the poor kid what has been written and published as "The one best" method. There are no hard and fast rules in teaching young children. Do what they like best.

For the first time today, I asked Ethan for the various shapes described in a book and he got all the shapes right. I asked for star, circle, triangle and rectangle. It was indeed a pleasant surprise :)

Nursing

Gone were the days when I had to wake every 3 hours to nurse. Looking back, it wasnt such a bad experience afterall. It was a good bonding time for me and both of my of kids. Unfortunately, not all women are able to sustain the stressful "trial period". Imagine going through interrupted sleep consecutively for at least 6 months before many babies would sleep through the night.

I read in another mommy's blog about the various tested ways to getting the best out of breastfeeding. Check it out for those who are expecting and want to learn more about the various techniques.

What would you do if you were me?

As much as we all like to be good neighbours, I feel that there would be a triggering point whereby you would just ignore all the unwritten rules of being a good neighbour and act in the best interest of your family instead.

The unit right below ours is a smoker unit. They perpetually smoke around the clock. It would be none of my business if the smoke doesnt get into my unit. The best part is, they like to smoke standing right next to their bedroom window, leaving the ash tray in the planter and common sense would tell you that the smoke would get into my bedroom right above it. The super best part is, they even smoke past mid night, sometimes as late as 1am.

I maintained my cool and actually went down with a tray of fruits trying to explain our predicament, being a non-smoking family with 2 young children, constantly inhaling second hand smoke. They accepted the tray of fruits and promised to reduce the smoking frequency.

However, there seems to be little improvement thereafter. Two nights ago, they smoked again at 1230am and I could take it no more. I watered my plant at 1230am too, though I have yet to get any green in. The water trickled down to their planter where the ash tray was lying comfortably enjoying the cool night breeze......

What would you do if you were me?

Sharp and fierce

I still remember very vividly, that one conversation Nicole had with our now ex-neighbour, Mark when she was barely 20 months old. Nicole was running about in the house holding a pack of wet wipe in her hands and she heard footsteps at the door. Uncle Mark was standing at the doorway and he tried to strike a conversation with her.

Mark " Hello Nicole, what are you holding in your hands?"
Nic " Wet wipe"
Mark " Oh i see, to clean your buttock after you poo poo right?"
Nic " Ya and my private part too"

I saw Mark's face turning red upon hearing Nicole's heart piercing response and he quickly waved good-bye and went into his own house......so much for trying to chat with a little toddler...:)

Little vain pot

Nicole is one little vain pot now. For the past few days, she has been insisting that her toe nails be varnished before she goes to school. All just because her friends are doing the same. She even asked if I could add some butterflies or ladybirds on her nails just so that she stands out amongst her friends.

I was thinking to myself " I dont even have time to go for my once rountined pedicure and there you are demanding your toes to be painted with butterflies and ladybirds???"

Piano lesson or talking lesson?

Nicole recently started taking piano lessons. She is one talkative girl and she certainly talks more than her teacher, Mr Liang. Mr Liang was introducing some music notes to Nicole.

Teacher " this one is 4 counts and this one is 4 counts too"
Nic " Do you know what 4 plus 4 is? I know, it is 8.."

Then Mr Liang held her fingers to press on the correct key,

Teacher " ok, put your fingers here"
Nic " your fingers are so cold"
Teacher " yes, i feel cold, now put your fingers next to each other"
Nic " my fingers are good friends, they stick to one another"

I don't know about Mr Liang but I was simply rolling my eyes.....

Small baby Big poo

Thank God, the stomach flu virus is gradually clearing in the household but as always, there was the most unexpected.

Nicole was seated on the sofa with Ethan on the high chair, right next to her. Both pairs of eyes were glued to the TV watching Mickey Mouse. I was surfing the net for some car advertisements for a friend. Rose was busy in the kitchen. Out of the blue, Nicole was screaming at the top of her voice.

Nic " Auntie rose, hurry up, come and help to change Ethan, He passed motion"

Rose " Are you sure? Can you smell it?"

Nic " Yes, and I can see it too"

Rose and I almost fainted when we saw this. Hope it did not just spoil your lunch appetite.....

Ethan & my laptop

Ethan is at the stage whereby he loves to imitate. He simply loves my keyboard. I think in no time I would need a new keyboard at the rate he is tormenting it :( Ethan is updating my blog for me :) :)

He can differentiate a real laptop from a toy laptop. Whenever I give him his toy laptop, he wont even lay his eyes on it for more than 2 minutes, so much for hi-tech toys supposedly to stimulate the brains :(

A tiring day

It was the first sign of a stomach flu, following Ethan's super big business yesterday. Thereafter, his poo became even more watery and it actually leaked onto me as he was seated on my lap watching me updating my blog about him :( He also threw up on me twice and we brought him to the Pd immediately. Poor Rose had a tough time cleaning up :(

The virus has gotten into me as well and as a result, I had to get Nicole to sleep upstairs with Lawrence while I looked after Ethan last night. Lawrence brought Nicole upstairs as soon as she got home from her Art class and she was not happy about the arrangement. But thank god, she still obliged knowing that I was not well.


She was so happy to see me this morning when I went up to check on her. The first thing she did was to show me her masterpiece. She kept it next to her all night long and she said she wanted to show it to me last night but she couldnt. It is indeed a beautiful piece of work :)

"Hua"

When Ethan was about 11 months old, I discovered that he is rather "bilingual" (hmm hmm). I pointed to a flower and told him as such. Then he stared at me and to my surprise, he uttered "hua" (flower in Mandarin) :)

Big business

I changed Ethan's diaper just now.

I saw Ethan's facial expression getting tensed up and I knew he was doing a big business. After some 5 minutes of silence, I asked him if he was done and he said " Done".

So, i went to get a fresh diaper and put him onto the playmat and holly s*it!....It was a super big business...the poo oozed out from the back of the diaper and got onto the playmat,,,not just 1 piece but spread over 4 pieces of the playmats and onto the floor as he wriggled about......I used up a pack of travelling wet wipes and more than 20 pieces of tissue just to clean him up... :(

Will you keep them for me please?

Nicole came into my room when I was getting myself ready to out shopping with them.

Nic " Mom, what are you using?"
Me" Lip balm"
Nic " hmm..it smells so good. Will you keep it for me when i grow up?"
Me" Sure"
Nic " Then what about this house?"
Me " What?"
Nic " Will you keep this house for me too?"
Me " Err...sure. since you like it"
Nic "How about Ethan?"
Me " Oh...then I will keep the other house for him"
Nic " You mean the new one?"
Me "Ya"
Nic " But which one is bigger?"
Me "This one of course" ( My jaws have already dropped down....)
Nic " Ok" (Then she ran out of the bedroom, chirping away, happy with what she has "chooped")
I think I will be left with nothing soon at the rate Nicole is "chooping" my belongings :(

Nicole was barely 3.5 years old then.

A prayer is needed

I have been thinking about a close relative of mine since many nights ago. We used to be very close and we share alot of things including family disagreement, you know those never ending tales? The last I heard of her was that she has recently gotten into the company of some friends whom we may not necessarily approve of but then again, we are not in the best position to judge her friends. Ever since, we have drifted apart. I have been praying and will continue to pray for her well being. I want her to know that we all love her very much and no matter what, we will always welcome her back with open arms. All that is needed now is for her to turn back.

Please take a couple of minutes to pray for my close relative if you are a Christian too! God bless :)

Getting old with few teeth left?

As usual, Nicole and I were chatting casually and it dawned upon me that age is catching up as I often have lower backache due to the weight of chubby Ethan. By the way, Ethan is at least 12kg now if not more. He is barely 13 months old.

Me " Nicole, mommy is getting old"
Nic " Oh, then you will be like ("tai ma" - great grandma) with only a few teeth left"
Me " ya, when i get old, will you still love me and look after me?"
Nic " Of course, I will feed you but i wont give you rice because it is too hard. I will feed you with porridge"

Well, as much as Nicole is a tremendously challenging kid, there is a soft part of her too. I almost broke into tears :)

Prisoners?

We had our little enrichment session today. The girls learnt 2 poems and some maths. I taught them times table without them knowing it. The girls were asked to skip-count and they both could write them down correctly. When I told them to pose for a photo, Shanon suggested that they were prisoners holding their numbers up. Arent they cute? :)

My helper

Lawrence was very upset with one of the resident in our condo as he has the habit of parking his car along the drive way causing inconvenience to others. So, he wrote a note and asked Rose to put it on the window screen of the "illegally" parked car. But guess what, Rose hand delivered the note to the culprit....oh oh....:(

Victoria's birthday party

Nicole and Ethan were invited to Victoria's 2nd birthday party at The Safra yesterday. They both had a good time. There were good entertainment and fun activities for the children. Victoria's grandmother is really a gem. She made all the cupcakes as well as the spectacular birthday cake and 90% of the food served.

Petty Ethan

Ethan was really petty. I was pretending to fight with him using two little swords ( mine was bigger than his...) and of course mine made more noise and looked much more over powering than his. Then, when I offered him my sword, I was expecting him to grab it and let go of his own, but no, he grabbed mine and threw it away while holding tight to his own. Meanwhile. he looked composed and cool. No smile at all, as though we were really fighting and I was his biggest enemy..... :)

Ethan was 9 months old then.

Petty Goat

We went up to Nicole's room rather late last night, at about 10 plus and so I said we were not going to read any more books. Then she got agitated and refused to talk to me and turned her face facing the wall.

Nic " i am not going to be your best friend ever and i am not going to sleep with you ever"

me " Nicole, why? It is late and you have to sleep because you have to go to school tomorrow" (no response from her...)

me " Nicole, why are you behaving like a petty goat?"

Nic " I am not going to talk to you ever"

me " Why? (no response till i went over to her bed and asked again)

Nic " Because you said i am a petty goat"

me" ya...that is because you behaved like one"

Nic" no"

me "Ok,.. so you dont like me to address you as petty goat?"

Nic " yes....because it is a kind of goat"

..... ?????a kind of goat?? She is certainly very humorous:)

Nicole was 3.5 years old then.

Chocolates

I told Nicole to do maths. Guess her reply in response to my instruction.

Nicole " I am not going to be your friend ever again if you ask me to do maths, or to spell chocolate but you can ask me to eat chocolate"

Nicole was 3.5 years old then.

Kwinana Hotel?

Nicole was so cute. She saw me packing and she went to pack her own bag.

Nic " I am taking this book with me for my holidays in Australia....so that i can read it in the hotel"

(My auntie and I were like ??err? eer? hotel?
Did we tell her we are going to stay in a hotel?....She just assumed from her previous experiences of holidays....)

me " Nicole, do you know which hotel we are going to stay in?
nic " ya...the Australia hotel"
me " oic, why dont you ask "yee poh" for the name of the hotel please?"
nic " yee poh, which hotel are we staying in?"
my auntie " Kwinana Hotel " ( Kwinana is the road leading to her house in Melbourne)
nic " Kwinana Hotel? There is big bath tub right? Mommy will let me play in the big bath tub and iIwill bring this dress to change when I am done"

(Hmmm...I am not too sure about that though....I am not going to clean up after her splish and splash.,,I wont even let her use my bath tub at home when I have Rose to help out with the housework...heehee..)

Koalas? Real or toy?

Nicole was on the phone with my aunt from Melbourne and my aunt asked if I took her to the zoo to see the koala since we didnt get to visit the Melbourne Zoo last week.

Nicole responded " No, mummy said I can see them in the shops. and I saw many koalas today. All in the shop sitting on the shelves...."

Well, I didnt mean to bring her only to the malls but it so happens that koalas are everywhere in Australia....duty free shops, malls, stalls etc etc :)

Honey Bee

We took Nicole and Ethan to the Wild Life Park in Sydney and there were lots of bees and hives amongst other creatures like koalas , kangaroos etc etc..and I pointed the words " honey bee" to Nicole.

Me " Nicole , look, "honey bee" can you see it? Remember we read the words in the book yesterday?"

Nic " mom, I dont want to see the words, I have enough of words. I want to see the real bee" (while giving me that impatient and irritated look) :(

I was like err??? What an interesting response...

Invitation to a cell group

We were invited to attend a cell group last night. We only brought Nicole along as Ethan was fast asleep by then. As usual, Nicole was kind of "shy" when meeting with new faces before she warmed up. There was this little 2 year old boy, Evan who laid his eyes on Nicole the moment we stepped into the house. He started chasing Nicole all over the house to to the point whereby she was going to break into tears. It was really an "entertaining" sight to us adults.

As the night deepened, Nicole got herself really comfortable and started running around with Evan and playing with other older children, 2 of which used to be our neighbours.

The highlight of the night for Nicole was when our ex-neighbour, Mark urged Nicole to do what she loves best - ie. reciting chinese poems in front of a group of audience provided I would announce for 100% attention from the audience and make everyone listen and clap. Indeed, she recited all her favourite poems e.g. jing ye si, you zi yin, hui xiang ou shu, ren zhi chu, etc etc The night ended with lots of cheers and compliments for Nicole's "performance" and of course Nicole was the happiest of all. :)

Professional doc or not?

Nicole and I were role playing doctor and patient....

me " Doctor Hong, I have a fever and cough"
nic " Let me check on you. yes, for cough you take this bottle of medicineand for fever, i need to give you an injection"
me " Oh,,,that would be very painful"
nic " No, i will ask the nurse to rub some cream for you, then you wontfeel the pain"
me "really? ok"
nic " Ok, now, close your eyes, i will give you the injection now"
me " Ouch, it is very painful, i need a plaster"
nic " I dont have any plaster, you just have to bear with it "......

(at this point, i just couldnt control my laughter any more, she was really serious about her role as doctor)

Spell?

I asked nicole to spell the word "spell"......
and she asked " spell? you want me to spell "spell"? so that i can spell? or is it a witch's spell? "

gosh...isn't this girl asking too many questions....??

Ethan's first kiss

I was sitting on the playmat with Ethan some 2 feet away from me. Out of the blue, he crawled towards me and tried to get up by holding on to my hands and shoulder. As soon as he was standing straight up facing me, he put his tender lips on mine and gave me the sweetest kiss ever....(with saliva drooling all over my face though).....then he looked at me and smiled....my heart melted instantly...it was the least expected of him...really...:) That was the sweetest moment of motherhood :)

Baby Ethan just turned 1 then.

Hyper vs dizzy?

We attended the birthday party of Nicole's classmate at macdonalds. As usual, she got a goodie bag full of sweets and chocolates. I made a deal with nicole. I promised to let her have 2 pieces of tiny chocolates when we got home and she had to take her nap thereafter.

Lawrence " you should give it to her after her nap, else she will get hyper"
Instantly, Nicole defended " no, if you give it to me after my nap, i will get dizzy now"

What else can I say? gosh...full of mischief

What do you think?

I met with Nicole's teacher and chatted with her. She said she was "impressed" by what she said when she chatted casually with her. She was kinda speechless....

teacher " Nicole, what is your brother eating now?"
nic " Teacher Sabrina, WHAT DO YOU THINK?"
teacher " Errrr.....well, different bbs eat different things, i dont know. perhaps cereal?"
nic " ya. Ethan eats more than that. He eats poridge, apples, biscuits...and i like his biscuits too"

Testing my limits....

Our neighbour called to ask if nicole wanted to visit the library with them and nicole declined because i wasnt going with her. Then she ran about in the house and started spilling her soup all over and it really got onto my nerves :

me : nicole, you are really testing my patience every day,,, every single day
nic : No, somedays only (and continued running about)
me :nicole, sit and eat your dinner properly (smoke coming out of my ears already)
nic : i think i changed my mind, i want to go to the library now
me : No, auntie terry has driven out of the carpark and she is already on the way to the library.
nic : i want to go, i want to go, (started hawling and whining and crying)....

gosh... i really whacked her hard this time.....

Dangerous car ride?

A friend of mine suggested to nicole that I could drive her for a treat at macdonalds since I have recently converted my malaysian driving licence to the local driving licience. and guess what she asked me ??

nic: mom, have you taken your driving lessons yet?
me : No, I am so busy with you and ethan and I have no time to take the refresher lessons
nic : then I wont take a ride in your car. I will ask auntie kelly to take me to macdonald..

my jaws opened wide and dropped.... :)

A tough nut

Nicole and I were in bed and it was time to sleep....during the day, i actually spanked her and i felt bad about it....

me " nicole, i love you"
nic " me too"

me " nicole, do you know that it pains me more when i punish you?"
nic " hmm, i think you are too harsh on me" me " oh....do you know what "harsh" means?" ( i was like err,,,,,arent you supposed to say you are sorry and wont do it again....)

nic" ya, it means you are too serious with me"
me " oh oh...do you know why i need to be serious with you? because i want you to grow up to be a well mannered girl. do you know why i punished you this afternoon?"

nic " ya..because i was naughty " (giggling away)
me " can you tell me what you did which deserved the punishment?"
nic " i think i am sleepy now...good nite mom" ( then she turned away...)

sigh.....what am i to do with her?

Blue eyed boy

Ethan was trailing me into my bedroom and Nicole followed...

nicole " mom, your favourite boy is here..and he is your blue eyed boy"
me " oh..really...."
Lawrence " nicole, so you are my blue eyed girl"
Nicole " no papa, i am the apple of your eye...this is for girls.. haha,,"

Lawrence and I were totally speechless and we just laughed.....