Home visit (2)

One was busy bouncing in the playpen while the other was all sucked into the iphone game!

See? How round my little girl has become! She was having a good swim at the hotel skypool.

We also visited a couple of friends -Janice and Shevin. They were both my primary schoolmates. Janice has 2 lovely boys while Shevin has one handsome prince. This concluded our get-away-trip and we hope to make more such short trips in the coming months.

Home visit

A short get-away trip to visit grandma and grandpa and greatgrandma and a 2 night stay at one of our regular hotels to chill out.

Tasty white coffee and yummy local fried kuayteow! A must have for me! Well, it was definitely oiled with lard but really once in a bluemoon - my excuse for pigging out.

It was also a family reunion of somesort with my relatives all back from NZ and Australia!

After a 3 night stay with grandma and grandpa, we headed for our regular chill out spot! The kids showed tremendous interest watching the hotel attendant assemble Ethan's cot.

L and I decided that we wanted to have a quiet dinner without the kids and so we got them room serviced meal. Seafood pasta, garlic fried rice, roasted chicken wrap, salad and a full basket of freshly baked buns and rolls --all for 2 kids and Rose! The kids and Rose definitely had a good time eating and watching TV without our interference.

When we got back, it was almost 10pm and E was long in dreamland but N was still jumping up and down, full of energy. I was kinda hungry at 11pm and hence, I ordered my fair share of room serviced supper! - Thai styled roast duck salad - delicious though it didnt look too appetising here!

The next day, we had a good hotel buffet breakfast. The food selection and quality were excellent but due to over eating the previous days, I only had a decent healthy portion of oatmeal, egg omellette, udon and fresh juices and fruits!

winter vs summer

Another of Nicole's masterpiece.

Judging from the painting, I would have thought it was winter but the little girl seemed to have a summer look .... :)

Yes I do, No you don't

My little boy really enjoys antagonising his Jie-jie. I overheard a dialogue between the 2.

N " I have a big truck and I am keeping it safely "
E " No, you dont have"
N " Yes, I do. I wont let you see it"
E " No I have 3 trucks here. You dont have"
N " I said I have !! Good bye!" (turning away from him and she ended the conversation).

E " No, you dont" (just wanting to be the last to make a statement)

- I used to think this is an exclusive woman's right? :) :) Not anymore it seems...........

Lend vs borrow vs ownership

I was helping N to assemble her Lego truck, the complexity of which was meant for a 9 y.o while she was at her art class. E came along and spotted the new toy.

E " I want the truck mummy"
Me " Well, this belongs to Jie Jie, you would have to borrow from her"
E " No no, I dont want to borrow."
Me " Why?"
E " No, I dont want to borrow, it is mine!"
Me " Then, you have to ask if she is going to lend it to you "
E " NO NO NO! I don't want her to lend it to me, it is Mine!"

See? E learnt that ownerhip is NOT transferred by borrowing or lending. As such, he would always be at N's mercy as and when she wants it back. Kids do learn at lightning pace :)

PINK

Girls of this age group seem to have a common liking for PINK. Anything, you name it. Pink dress, pink shoes, pink bedsheets, pink bags, pink hair clips, pink wall etc.

As a result of this pink phase, we had to redecorate N's bedroom. Now, miles away, you would be able to smell the "pinkness" of her room. One thing which I did not agree to having it turned pink was the curtain! Imagine that ALL PINK LOOK? *faint*

Well, the blessing is, now N is sleeping in her own PINK room instead of sharing ours. But, I have my doubt how long this "pinkness" can sustain her before she comes knocking on our bedroom door again :)

Sweet little remark

I attended a friend's wedding dinner and I put on my old Vietnamese "Ao dai" (traditional dress). Well, I was glad I still could fit in perfectly as it was an almost forgotten pre-pregnancy item. What was most pleasing was Nicole's remark.

N " Where are you going? You look so pretty in this long dress"
Me " Thanks sweetheart. I am attending a wedding dinner"
N " Oh, then I am sure you will overshadow the bride!"
Me " Ha, thanks for the kind words. I will let you know "

This little girl knows such an interesting word and it was used in the most appropriate context :)

Chinese again

Grandma and Grandpa are fans of Chinese cuisine... so we have had quite a number of chinese meals consecutively.

Ali Baba

I read "Ali Baba and the 40 thieves" to Ethan in the afternoon. Before bedtime, we were just chit chatting in the bedroom. Out of the blue, he lugged his big bolster and leaned it against the wall at almost 90 degrees. Then, he balanced himself carefully onto the bolster and tried to reach out to the "top", screaming " Mummy! Look! I am Ali Baba. I am climbing up the coconut tree and hiding there"

Me " What? What are you doing up the coconut tree?" (laughing away at his funny action)

Ethan " I am going to pick some apples!"

Me " Hahaha. There are no apples up in the coconut tree. "

Kids are simply so cute in their actions and words, aren't they?

Ethan in school

I took a day off to see the kids to school for the new year. Ethan was pleasantly surprised to see me waiting for him at the door. We chatted at the door, in the presence of the supervisor.

Me " Hi Sweetheart, how did you like sleeping over in school today?"
E " No, I dont want to sleep with J. Tan"
Supervisor " oh! Never mind, I can arrange for you to sleep next to X, how is that?"
E " ok " (giggling away)

By the way, X is a girl from E's class and J. Tan is a boy!.....****

On the way home, E stopped and looked up to me.

E " Mummy, my bag is too heavy for me. Carry for me please"
Me " Alright" (taking over his schoolbag)
E " Mummy, and carry me too. I am too tired to walk"

Ha, how very smart! 16kg + 1kg bag! Gosh! Thank god it was only a short distance from home!

Brutal bite

E has been rather disobedient and rebellious of late. Not only is he not tolerant towards anyone whom he regards as a threat to his toy kingdom, he is also ferociously brutal in treating the intruders! He BITES!

Nicole is one such regular victim ! My poor bb :(. I have no choice but to seriously lecture and discipline him but he doesnt seem to remember the punishment for long :(. I didnt have such a problem with N when she was at this age but with Ethan, it is a totally different experience. This boy is no longer that angelic baby he once was.

Do boys generally behave this way? :(

Fairy land dessert

It was one of the many sunday lunches. We had a 6 course lunch, all individually served. The kids only had a few spoonful of abalone and sharksfin soup as the theme was too matured for them - Exotic seafood! The food was good but Nicole only enjoyed the last dish, as usual - Sesame ice cream with almond paste served in a bowl of dry ice which was the highlight for the kids! The kids were mesmerised by the fairyland dessert!

TaekwonDo

My little girl is so full of energy that I need to find avenue to discharge her batteries. Apart from her usual ballet and swimming classes, she has recently joined a TaekwonDo class. (Barely 3 weeks ago). She really looks very cute in that white set of attire (not sure if there is a proper name for it).

She is probably one of the youngest if not the youngest participant. She was all rosy after a good 20minutes of warm up exercise. As she barely has any tummy muscles (all round and meaty), she could hardly lift her legs and head off the ground when instructed to do so. (when lying flat on the back). Really funny how she tried to sustain that 5 degrees for a mere 5 seconds when the instruction was 45 degrees off the ground for 30 seconds. :)

To my surprise, despite her "roundness", my little clumsy is actually performing rather well. She was asked to partipate in the assessment for promotion next month. We shall see :)

Slimming class

During the December holidays, Nicole got a little restless as she did not have her usual lessons for a good 4 weeks. In place of her regular classes, I enrolled her for various holiday programs, including cartoon and art, acrylic painting, creative science, yummy muffin making and table tennis. That was not sufficient, it seemed. She still complained of boredom and she went to ask Daddy for more.

Nic " papa, can you enrol me for more classes please? I am so bored at home"
L " More?...hmmm,,,let me think. Yes, I have another one for you. It is called a slimming class"
Nic " What is a slimming class? What do I do there?"
L " Ha, you see, you have this round belly here? The teacher will help you get rid of it"
Nic " NO!! NO!! NO......."

Naughty papa made Nicole cry :(. He teased her for her weight gain.

Truthfully, Nic has gained a fair bit of weight over the past 6 months but thankfully, she is very "firm" and "toned". She is preparing for her Bronze medal next month and she is required to swim 16 laps, non-stop. That would be a challenge to me too :)...

Language learning

E has acquired this interesting way of asking me questions. He would go :

E " Water is ?"
Me " Water is "shui" " (shui means water in Mandarin)

E " Cup is ?"
Me " Cup is " bei" (bei means cup in Mandarin)

Conversely, he would go :

E " "Mao" is ?"
Me " "Mao" is cat"

etc etc

At times, he would "annoy" me by giving me the wrong match when I ask him for an answer just the way he has asked me.

Me " Sleeping is ? "
E " Sleeping is me. I want to sleep"

etc etc

It sounds a little odd but I find that this helps him in mastering Mandarin at a quicker pace as he is able to relate a word in both English and Mandarin.

Clumsy girl

Nicole is just one clumsy little girl.

She was running about in the house with Jeremy and all of a sudden, she was found face flat on the floor with Jeremy stacking up on her. This was followed by a loud cry! She sprained her wrist/tendon, according to the doctor.

She had paid a "high price" for her mischief - she had to forgo her hip hop dance lesson which she had been looking forward to. Hopefully, she had learnt her lesson, though the painful way :(