Little fishie

My little fish swimming freely in the pool!

Nicole has become much more confident in swimming within the past few weeks. She is able to do free style and breaststroke with ease. She would insist that I take her to the pool every weekend to stretch out! I must confess that she is a better swimmer than me now :(

Unicorn?

A unicorn looking creature! :)

Great Fashion Sense

I was getting Nicole ready for the bicycle ride at east coast park. I pulled out her pink trousers and her yellow Dora top. Immediately, she yelled!

Nic “ No mummy. Yellow doesn't match well with Pink. I don’t want the Dora shirt. Get another white shirt. That one, the Esprit white shirt. That’s my favourite! ”

My eyes just rolled and rolled!!

We brought along the kid’s bike and scooter but they ended up being ferried in the first class seat and they refused to get off when we were about to go for lunch.

The adults had huge bowls of Taiwanese beef noodles and gigantic glasses of bubble tea thereafter as we were dog tired, while the kids had a small serving of minced pork tofu and some cheese buns.

Porcupine?

Another masterpiece from Nicole. Though I don't really know what Nicole had drawn, I think they look great somehow!

What do they look like to you?

Sorry Buttock!

E was running about in the mall and he tripped and fell on his bump. Rose quickly hurried over.

Rose " Ethan, are you all right?"
E " Yes. Auntie Rose"

E got up quickly and patted his own buttocks while making this remark " Sorry Buttock!"

We stood in astonishment and had a good laugh at his cute little expression!

Hand in hand

E sleeps holding hands with me. That's his requirement.

While still in his dreamland at 7am, I caught him catching the wrong hand in bed. As soon as he realised that it was N's hand, he quickly dropped it and continued snoozing away :)

Watching them sleep is the sweetest moment of all. They are simply so angelic!

Jurassic Park

Nicole's creation - Jurassic Park

Her Dino looks very mild and sweet though, a total opposite from the image being portrayed in the show :)

A relaxing evening

Out of the blue, Nicole wanted to play “buy and sell” with me. So, we each set up our store and we had full discretion of what we wanted to trade. Nicole was all engrossed in decorating her “shop” and picking the right merchandise in preparation for the “Grand opening”. Meanwhile, I was just watching over Ethan. The next thing I heard was :

Nic “ Mummy! Where is your shop? And what are you selling? I don’t see anything on display!”
Me “ oh Oh… Here! My shop is right here. And I am selling….. err.. a pig and a monkey!”

Nic “ No! I am so angry! You are selling Ethan and me! Can you sell something else?”

Me “ Hahaha. I am selling a pig and a monkey and I didn’t say I was selling Ethan and you. Where did you get the idea from? ” ( Indeed, that was my trick but I didn’t expect N to pick it up so quickly. Both E and N were born in the year of pig and monkey respectively : )

Nic “ I just know it!”

Then, I got my act together to set up a shop and I had many things on display. I patronized nic’s premise and I bought the chess set and here goes the bargaining.

Me “ Ok, I would like to get that chess set. How much is it?”
Nic “ Oh, it is very expensive but I can give you a good price. Hmm…$20 for you”

Me “ Done. I have all these notes here, you need to come and pick $20 from me, Just $20” ( I had a combination of 2s, 3s, 5s, 1s and 4s for her to pick)

Nic “ Sure. $20….err….ok, I will take 2 and 3, 2 and 3, 2 and 3 and 2 and 3. Thanks!”

Wow, I was certainly impressed that she came up with the $ combination within split seconds all by herself! We went on and on and soon Ethan joined us. All he did was holding a few notes and flashing them at me “ Mummy, money! So much money!”. Then he crushed them all and was prepared to drop them into the bin :(. It was a fun evening with the kids after a tiring day in the office.

Once a year gathering!

Our yearly gathering with Auntie Celine and Chloe.

Chloe and Nicole turned 5 on the same day and they met each other within days from birth in the hospital!

Once a year, we would meet up and exchange presents. We had great Japanese cuisine for afternoon tea and that was followed by a movie - G Force! Nic had never had the luxury of such a huge box of popcorn! She really had a pig out on the poppies!

Soon, it was time to bid goodbye. Nicole and I did not get to finish watching the movie because we were heading for a house viewing on that same evening. What a pity!

Temporary separation

It has been quite a while since I made such a long business trip. I left on Monday morning and I returned on Friday.

On Sunday evening, I could see that Nicole was moody and so was I. To me, travelling for work is not a privilege, though it may be quite a luxury to many. I have done my dues during the earlier years of my career.

Nicole was sitting quietly at the table, working on something while I was packing my luggage. When she was done, she presented this to me. It brought tears to me upon reading what she had written (all by herself).

N cried herself to sleep for 2 nights. Surely I missed her too and that explained the many pressies she received when I returned. :)

I am 5 "again"

The 3rd celebration of Nicole's 5th birthday!

First, it was celebrated at her church, then came MacDonald's and last but not least, another round at her school.

Getting the cakes alone kept me very busy! I am glad that the kids enjoyed the cakes and had fun together!

"I am 5"

The most important day of the year for Nicole, none other than her birthday! This was the second celebration for her, the first being held at her church. E didnt really participate much in the activities. He was clingy to me most time, perhaps afraid of the noisy crowd.

Overall, it was a fun occassion for the kids to get together and the adults to catch up. The kids attend each other's parties and this keeps me very busy. It means, very likely we will be attending some 15 to 20 parties in the next 12months - more than 1 every month on average!

The 2 played throughout the day, skipping their usual afternoon nap. Their batteries were fully exhausted by 7pm. It was all quiet and peaceful by 7pm :)

Eat and Play

After a good meal of Japanese BBQ beef, the kids were roaming happily and freely in the mall. Their all time favourite leisure spot!

The kids did not forget to invest some gold coins in their choice car before we called it a day!

Animals' Farm

Nicole's collection of animals - 1 baby squirrel and 1 mummy squirrel separated by a supposedly ferocious tiger :) (though the tiger looks kind of aged to me :) and a timid mummy elephant :)

Too much ice cream!

Both E and N had a great time enjoying every bit of their cream and cookie ice cream. As we strolled home, E wanted me to carry him and I willingly lifted my baby up though this baby is easily 16kg in weight!. Not long after, my palms felt wet and sticky. I suspected something and Rose confirmed my horror! E poo-ed loose stool in his diaper and it overflowed! I could only blame it on the ice cream! :(