Reflections of 2008

Momma was walking along the corridor when she overheard a student saying "My 2008 is full of regrets. I want my 2009 to have fewer regrets".

As 2009 is just half a day away, Momma decided to reflect upon 2008.

1. Her 2 precious darlings, Rui and Yan, continue to grow and blossom into little girls full of personality. Rui no longer cries when being dropped off at school and is confident enough to attend enrichment classes on her own! She is also almost toilet trained at night (and that's good savings from diapers). Yan got toilet trained at young age of 19 months. That's quite a feat considering most kids only accomplish that at 2years old. Yan also started childcare recently and her spate of crying has eased off tremendously. Three cheers to 2 girls!

2. Momma had a fallout with a good friend in 2008. Luckily, both have patched up and are friends again. However, the fallout period was a stressful time for Momma.

3. Papa started running regularly and being active has paid off. He falls sick less often (though he is still more sickly than the rest) and Momma is glad. He completed his first marathon in Dec 2008 and Momma did her first 5km run. Here's to good health!

4. Work wise, Momma is enjoying her teaching career. She hopes to continue in this line and to remain passionate for as long as she can.

5. The economic downturn took a toll on Momma's investments. Damned. Momma's mantra for 2009 will be"What goes down must come up, what goes down must come up.."

In summary, 2008 has been a relatively uneventful year, the way Momma likes it. Hopefully 2009 will be smooth sailing as well.

Here's wishing all a blessed 2009.

Mushroom Head

Yan got a new haircut (courtesy of Auntie Narti). She was fidgeting so much Auntie Narti kept snipping off the fringe until it is too SHORT! Rui calls Yan "Mushroom Head" and the name has stuck. Momma calls Yan 蘑菇头, affectionately of cos!

Yan Yan the copycat

Yan Yan loves to imitate her sis Rui these days. She will copy Rui in her speech, her actions and even when Rui is having her dance class at school. Here's proof.

Yi Yi bought a drummer set for the girls, at the request of Momma and Papa. Momma and Papa have secret ambitions to play the drum but have never had the chance to learn. Therefore, it is our hope that our girls will learn to play the drums and be rock chicks!

The girls were enthusiastic at first (as with all new toys). They were making a din banging away. Momma got worried that neighbours may start to complain. The enthusiasm is dying down though...Looks like the chan girls aren't going to be rock chicks afterall...

Yan's first days at childcare centre

Yan started her half-day program at Rui's childcare centre on Monday. Momma has spent the last couple of days accompanying her at the centre to help her settle down. Yan is clingy most of the time as she is not familiar with the new environment. However, her curiosity and friendliness got the better of her sometimes and she would wonder off to explore the set-ups in the classroom or to play and mingle with her friends while Momma watched from nearby. At lunch, Yan could also feed herself some of her food though she was taking too long and had to be fed at the end. Today Momma attempted to leave her alone for a while. Yan brawled. When Momma returned, she found out that after she had left,Yan had cried for jie jie and so Rui had to hang around her to soothe her. Rui is a source of comfort. All in all, Momma thinks Yan will slowly learn to like school, without Momma around. It will mean frequent bouts of crying in the beginning, but, like Rui, she will learn to appreciate the joys of learning and socialising in school.

We are proud of Papa

Papa completed his first marathon last Sunday, at a good time of 5hrs 48 min. (well, good enough for us at least!)

Papa had trained hard for this. He has been running at least 3 times per week, sometimes even getting up early in the morning, before sunrise, so that he can clock sufficient mileage. We are so proud of his achievement, hip hip hurray!

We (Momma, Rui, Yan, Narti and grandma) supported him by turning up at the carnival. Gu Jie even took part in the half marathon alongside Papa.

I can do Math!

Due to HFMD outbreak in Rui's childcare centre, she has been kept home for the last 5 days. To keep her occupied, Momma set her some "homework" to do. Such homework includes writing chinese characters that she learnt in school, drawing and recently, doing some addition problems!

Rui surprised by being able to do simple addition problems. A mathematician in the making?

To the Zoo!

Papa brought Yan and Rui to the zoo. There is this Rainforest Kids going on in the Zoo. Heard that it is really fun for the kids. Momma couldn't make it due to work commitments : (. Feedback from the girls (just Rui la) was that they had loads of fun. The pictures tell the same tale too!

Getting into lots of trouble

Yan Yan is approaching 2 years old and because she is more mobile and more curious these days, she is also getting into lots of trouble.

Two days ago, she was playing with the door and accidentally locked herself in Rui's room. She cried buckets when she realised she couldn't open the door. Auntie Narti panicked and had to call Papa to find out where the spare keys are. And even after finding them, Auntie Narti took a while to unlock as there were quite a few keys. Yan yan was terrifed by the experience and was clingy to Narti the entire day. The good side of this is that she has learnt her lesson and Momma didn't see her play with the door at all yesterday (something which she loved to do in the past).

And then just yesterday, Narti was busy preparing dinner and Yan was busy playing next to her, except she was playing with chilli! By the time Narti realised, Yan's lips and nose were burning from the spiciness and was brawling away. Narti had a hard time pacifying her as all she could do was wait for the spiciness to go away on its own.

It seems funny when we think back now but we have to be more careful now that she is so mobile and curious. She could get into more serious trouble.

Bad Day

Momma had a dramatic (and bad) start to today.

First, she found out that a friend has been hospitalised. Though discharged now, her condition is only stable for now.

Then, she heard from Papa that Yan had locked herself in Rui's room and was brawling when she found out she couldn't get herself out. Auntie Narti panicked and had to call Papa for help to find the spare keys.

Finally, she accused some people of a mistake that they didn't make. And Momma is feeling really bad about it.

Momma hopes the rest of the day will not be too bad.

All I want for Xmas...

Xmas is fast approaching. Papa received, in the mail, a gift catalogue from Takashimaya. There were loads of interesting toys featured in the catalogue. Rui saw them and was intrigued. She asked Papa if she could get a couple for xmas but was turned down each time as those she selected were all too expensive!

Undaunted, she started on a mission to win us over (we think).

So yesterday, while Yan was napping and we were just lazing around, Rui started cleaning up the house. She wiped the tables and chairs, arranged the toys neatly, and packed her school bag.

Although she did not mention that she was doing it in order to win over some good xmas gifts, we suspected it is so. Nevertheless, we were happy that she helped out with the household chores, on her own accord no less!

And we were indeed won over. We are now contemplating getting her one of those expensive gifts she wanted...

傀儡戏

隔壁邻居给了昕蕊和昕妍各一个手握布傀儡。 妈妈于是用它们演了一场傀儡戏。妈妈用床褥作舞台,演了一场小熊找食物的戏. 昕蕊和昕妍看了,也有样学样.非常滑稽!

Rui's concert video III

Rui's concert video II

Rui's concert video I

Rui's year end concert

Last Sat was Rui's annual yer end concert. We brought yan and auntie narti along cos narti would be leaving us next year and this is her last chance watching Rui perform.

We looked forward to the concert eagerly and Rui didn't disappoint!

She danced in 3 items - Butterfly, Love Potion no. 9 and Lao Shu Ai Da Mi. She was standing in a prominent position for 2 of the dances, indicating that she was a relatively better dancer and had to lead (sorry if I sound show-offey : )) )

She was spot on in every move and her shakes were rigorous! Momma also noticed she was counting away in 2 of the dances. Later on, when I asked her, she told me her teachers had asked her to count aloud for the other children. We were proud that she had been entrusted with such an important task and had performed well.

We are already looking forward to next year's. No less because Yan will be performing too. Let's see what mischief this precocious little girl will be up to then.

Will upload the videos later. They take a while and are of grainy quality. Sorry but our cam is only 2-meg. (hint hint for a xmas present for the family? )

Yan Yan the Genius?

Last night we brought Yan and Rui to J8 for a walk after dinner.

As we were going up the escalator, Yan pointed a number sign 3 and shouted out "Three!"

Momma was surprised. I have never taught her how to recognise numbers and at age 1+, it is near impossible that Yan can do that! So I jokingly asked Ben "Do we have a genius in our hands?"

To test if it is pure coincidence, we tested Yan again by pointing out at number "3" once more. She got it right second time round! But when we pointed at number "6" Yan still went "Three!" Ben and I had a good laugh. Yan is no genius. She is just a chubby little toddler who so happens to like number 3 and loves the sound of it.

I thought about this in the car. Do I really want my girls to be geniuses, or child prodigies? No doubt, being really clever has its good sides, e.g. quicker advancements in school, honour and glory for being outstanding etc. However, I have heard and read about many cases where children who are too outstanding fail to adjust to the societal norms. They are often unable to make friends and are unable to fit into the rest of the society.

I choose to have normal happy kids. I would rather my girls be average and happy than astoundingly clever but unhappy.

Rui Rui and the TV

Rui Rui is a TV junkie. She can watch TV whole day if she gets her way.

Being responsible parents, we have had to set restrictions for her. E.g.
(1) No TV before 11am on weekends
(2) limited TV watching to 2 hours a day
(3) No unsuitable programs like violence, sex etc.

Last Sunday, I was alone at home with the kids and maid. Ben had to work. I asked Rui if she wanted to go playground with me and Yan. To my surprise, she replied "No, I don't want to go. Come back must wash hands and legs". I thought she was busy drawing and colouring and was having too much fun so I didn't press her to follow. I went down with Yan alone.

We were at the playground for barely 5 min when Yan told me she needed to pee. So I had to rush home with Yan.

At the door, I called out to Rui. At that instant, I saw a fluster of action happening infront of the TV. I couldn't see exactly what happened cos the TV console was blocking my view, but I knew it was Rui rui frantically off-ing the TV when she heard my voice! She then ran out, still clutching the remote control and sheepishly called out to me. It was a funny sight. I knew then that she had cheekily on the TV while we were away, thinking we will not be back for a long while!

Later, Auntie Narti recounted that immediately after we left, Rui had asked Narti to on the TV. Narti refused but Rui continued to pester and Narti had no choice but to oblige. Both wore a guilty face when they realised we were back.

I had to laugh. At their sneakiness and at their frantic attempts to cover up their actions. I told Rui that she shouldn't do this in the future. But I obliged by letting her finish her Barbie cartoon anyway...

Halloween Celebration

Rui's childcare celebrated Halloween last Thu. We were asked to dress the kids up.

I decided to dress her up as bunny girl! I improvised by using:

1. Auntie Connie's hen's night bunny ears
2. Rui's ballet top
3. White tights bought from a kids wear shop
4. Cotton wool rolled up in a ball as tail
5. Face paint to complete the look
6. Rui even brought along her toy carrot to pretend it was bunny's food!

Here's the product.

I heard from the teacher that she was a cute bunny. Rui also told me they had a good time collecting goodies and playing games.

Some of the other kids came as batman, superman, fairies and even a pumpkin headed ghost! But there was only one cute bunny and it was Rui!

Yan Yan's sleeping buddies Part 2

Oops I forgot to mention Yan's favourite "tu-tu". She can't go to sleep without it. As she approaches 2, I am trying to wean her off. I pretended to throw it away, but with little success. I am hoping going to school will help.

Yan Yan's sleeping buddies

People have commented that Yan Yan and Rui Rui look very different. In fact, the 2 of them have different personalities and likes and dislikes too.

Rui rui has never had any strong attachments to any soft toys or bolsters or security blankets. She doesn't even need a pillow to sleep most of the time.

Yan Yan on the other hand, needs her many many soft toys to go to sleep with. At last count, there were 6 of them (bolster aka "friend", pink bear - from Tessa, brown bear, Barney, Winnie the Pooh and CJ7).

Her fave are the "friend" and the pink bear. There was once, she dropped the "friend" from the window onto void deck downstairs. When it was nap time, Auntie Narti frantically searched for it as Yan couldn't sleep without it. But Narti hadn't known that Yan had dropped it from the window. Yan was bawling her eyes out as she couldn't communicate verbally yet. Yan was finally appeased and went to nap without a hitch after Narti realised where the bolster was and retrieved it for her.

Rui the gymnast

Rui is a gym class drop-out. She last attended gym when she was around 3 and hated it (actually she hated being separated from us as it was an independent class). It didn't help that the gym teachers failed to establish rapport with her. But that doesn't stop her from turning our bedroom into her personal gym!

Fashion Show

When you have 2 little girls at home, your blog entries tend to be about fashion.

The other day, the 2 girls decided they want to dress up in winter fashion.

So they donned a top, a cardigan, tights and boots each.

Quite obviously, Rui was the one who started it and Yan decided she wanted to be like Jie Jie.

There will be more of such fashion parades as they grow up.

My Day

Yan Yan has found a new past time - reading!

Her fave book is "My Day", one of those old styled ladybird books that has no fanciful "lift the flap" feature, or pop-up pictures. Just plain simple text and illustration.

But Yan loves it very much still. Goes to show, old style will always be good stuff ?

Speech and Drama

Today's Rae's third attempt at speech and drama. The last 2 times she froze and couldn't deliver her lines. This time round, she was excellent! The story today is about 2 elves , Timmy and Tommy. Rae is the witch who turned the elves into giants and back to elves again. She delivered her lines a tad bit too softly. If you can hear her, she was actually saying "Why do you want to be tall?" in the first clip and then "Now you are sorry?" in the second clip. Most importantly, I think she had lots of fun acting.

Auntie Narti's Good Helper

Here's Yan trying her best to help out with household chores. And ending it with a pose no less!

Self Feeding

Here's a clip showing Yan Yan feeding herself. She is doing a good job!

Look Ma, same outfit!

I remember that when I was little, my mum used to dress me and my elder sis up in the same outfit for CNY. I hated it.

Now that I am a mum myself, with 2 little girls, I am doing the same to them!

But Rui and Yan seemed to enjoy it, no?

Fighting Back!

For the last 3 days, Rui has been staying at home as she is down with cousin virus of HFMD. This is the 3rd time rui has gotten it. Momma is glad it was very mild this time round, with just a few mouth ulcers and low grade fever that lasted 2 days.

Anyway, because of her presence at home (she will be in child care otherwise), she and Yan have had lots of chance to play and fight together. Yan is the tougher (and more mischievious) of the 2 and she will hit her sis for no rhyme or reason, just to watch her sister's reaction. Rui, being very very gu-niang, will only retaliate by complaining to Momma that Yan has hit her, once again. This happened so many times and Momma got sick of settling their "fights". So at the advice of Aunt V (who is also stranded at home because her kid also kena HFMD cousin), Momma told Rui "Stop complaining to me. Fight back."

So Rui did just that, though hesitantly at first. She first gave Yan a feeble shove. Yan, surprised at the different reaction from her sis, then hit back. Rui shoved her again, this time slightly harder and bolder. Yan, even more surprised now, retaliated by hitting back again. This went on three times till Rui sternly said to Yan "Yan Yan, say sorry". Now that's the reaction Yan was anticipating and she willingly said "Sorrgee". The two girls then reconciled and hugged together.

Momma was watching from one corner and could not help but laugh. Pity Momma's slow reaction meant all that wasn't recorded. But since such incidents occurred througout the day countless times, momma will get her chance again later.

Tom boy Yan

Yan Yan is quite a tom boy. Recently, chong chong left behind a toy truck and yan has been playing with it. She will run the toy truck over the sofa, over the wall or over the floor. She will also examine the parts of the truck, just like what a little boy would do. I find it amusing cos Rui on the other hand is very girly. I have never seen Rui play with a toy car at all! So yan yan's tom boy ways are a pleasant surprise. I am so blessed! : )

Birds Galore!

1 Sept 2008, being Teachers' Day was a school closure day for Rui's childcare centre. Momma decided to take the day off to rest and be with the girls.

One of the very few benefits of being employed is the use of corporate passes to places of interest. Momma managed to get hold of one to Jurong Bird Park and therefore the girls get their first outing to the Jurong Bird Park. Hay Hay and Aunt XF came along too as Hay Hay had enjoyed his recent trip to the park.

The party set off at around 10am. We managed to catch the entertaining Bird Show where the birds did stunts such as play basketball, sing songs and fly through hoola hoops! The birds proved to be more skilful and entertaining than some of us human beings (remember Spore Idol?)

The children were excited from the show. Especially Yan who was going "Bird Bird" each time a bird swooped past our heads. Momma was tickled by Yan's hilarious reaction.

After the show, we walked around the park. It is not a big park but with 3 kids in tow, the mummies and auntie narti were starting to feel tired. It was an interesting tour though. We saw eagles, vultures, penguins, casswories and ostriches, to name a few. The most interesting station was the Lory Loft, where you get to feed the lories as they fly among the midst of tourists. Rui rui was beginning to feel tired and hungry though (and so did momma) and so we cut short our tour and headed out for lunch.

In the car, the 2 younger ones (yan and hay) were quiet and dozing off. Rui however suddenly came alive once again and was singing away. Funny, we thought. Guess Rui's interest is not in birds and nature.

As true blue singaporean, momma felt it necessary to do a calculation of the amount of savings as a result of the corporate pass. Total savings = $18X4 = $72!

Three cheers to corporate passes!

Humpty Dumpty Sat on the Wall

Rui and Yan have discovered a new "playground" in our Master Bedroom.

They love to play in the room after dinner. They would jump on the mattress, play hide-and-seek in the room, perform gymnastics stunts etc (after effects of watching too much Olympics).

Another game they love is Humpty Dumpty sat on the Wall. Our headboard serves as the "wall" and the 2 girls are Humpty Dumpties.

They would insist Papa to carry them onto the headboard. After singing the nursery rhyme, both will jump off the headboard onto the mattress or into the arms of Papa or Momma.

It looks fun. Momma would have joined in if not for her age.

Friends from KL

Last weekend, Uncle Sow Liang and family came over from KL for a wedding and they paid us a visit.

It has been more than 4 years since the ex-housemates (Ben and Sow) have met up. Uncle CJ and family (their ex-landlord)also joined us for lunch.

There were altogether 5 little girls in the 3 families. Kiera and Rachel are Uncle CJ's. Megan is Uncle Sow's. And of course Shin Rae and Shin Jen. Uncle Sow had left their 6-month old baby boy at JB. It was a pity as we have been looking forward to meeting little Ryan for the first time.

We had a good lunch at Bishan park, when the men updated one another about their lives. The girls then went over to the playground where they had lots of fun.

Megan, the daughter of Uncle Sow, was initially a little shy as she had not met this bunch of friends before. But kids will be kids. Before long, they girls had warmed up enough to play and eat together.

After the playground session, we all headed back to home for clean-up and ice-cream.

We were all a little sad when our friends had to leave. But Uncle Sow promised to be back in Oct.

Bathing Babes

Same bathtub, same pose. Can you tell which is Rui and which is Yan?

Biasedness

Momma's colleague asked momma if she loves the younger yan more than older rui.

Momma replied "i think i adore the younger more now". Her colleague commented that it is quite obvious.

That got momma to ponder upon this. Is it really that obvious? Is momma showing biasedness and is it unfair to rui?

Momma thinks that although she loves both girls just as much, she shows greater adoration towards yan now for various reasons.

Firstly, yan is at a really cute age. She doesn't whine much and when she is happy, she displays her happiness in the most babyish and unpretentious way. Rui on the other hand, will whine a lot when she doesn't get her way. The whining can get quite out-of-hand sometimes. Momma has little patience for that.

Secondly, yan is more happy-go-lucky as a baby. She is usually bubbly and happy and seldom in tears. Rui rui throws tantrums more often now as she is older and more aware of her rights.

Of course all these are not good enough reasons to be biased. Momma thinks all parents should remain as loving as possible to all children and there should be minimal favourtism.

But human beings are human beings afterall.

Growing up too quickly

I am a little worried about the exposure the girls (esp Rui) are getting from the TV and the media.

She has become hooked onto programmes like High School Musical. Although these programmes are rated G - as in suitable for children, I am beginning to doubt so.

The actresses in these programmes often wear clothing that are slightly provocative and they sometimes sing and act with a "come-hither " stance, something which unfortunately has been picked up and imitated by Rui.

Rui would often want to dance and dress "like Sharpay" in High School Musical. And she's only 4!

Ben tells me it's only a phase. I certainly hope so. I would not want her to grow up too quickly.

I had better chuck away all the High School Musical DVDs soon.

Why walk when you can run?

Today's post will be about momma. Finally!

Momma recently joined Shape Run with Auntie XF. We did the 5km run on 20 July - Momma's birthday.

Auntie and Momma had tried to train for the run. But laziness and family commitments overcame us many times and training was at best sporadic.

The run itself was great experience, in Momma's opinion. It was adrenalin rush running with huge group of people, with music in the background. Momma didn't feel the distance at all (until several hours after the run).

So now Momma is gunning for the GE run next.

Wish Momma luck.

懂事的昕蕊

学校的老师常常跟我们说昕蕊是一个懂事的孩子。

老师说，有一次，一位男同学欺负另一位同学。那位被欺负的同学哭了。

昕蕊马上骂了男同学一顿。然后她还走过去抱着在哭着的同学，安慰她。

希望可爱的昕蕊永远保存着这种侠义的性格。

Singing Yan

Yan yan singing "old macdonald"...or rather part of it.

Go and stand in the corner!

Recently, Yan has gotten into the habit of screaming whenever she doesn't get what she wants. It was the same with Rui. And the 2 girls have the same high decibel when they scream.

To discipline Yan into not screaming, we decided to put her in the corner whenever she does it.

Unfortunately, Yan thinks it is sort of a game we are playing with her.

Guess we need to find another way of disciplining her soon...

洁僻

Today's post is more about Rae and Jen's good friend Mr Dylan Tan.

On Sunday, the 2 families went to Bishan park to attempt to fly kites.

Dylan refused to step or sit on the grass as he doesn't like to be dirtied by the mud! (Oh no, how is he going to make it through NS next time!)

Momma Vivien has to lay plastic bag on the floor and let him sit on it. He then refused to leave the plastic bag throughout the entire time on the field.

It was a funny sight. We all believe that Dylan takes after his momma in this aspect.

After a few failed attempts with the kites, (only Auntie Grace managed to fly it a bit), we decided to give up and pursue the other Singaporean favourite pastime - eating! We proceeded to have snacks at the restaurant nearby.

In all, it was a fun Sunday morning, with good food, good company and good entertainment (from Dylan).

The kids had fun posing and taking pictures too!

Dancing Queen II

三个臭皮匠胜过一个诸葛亮

Since Hay Hay returned from Denmark, he has come over to our place quite often to play as they live nearby, in fact just 2 blocks away. Rui, yan and hay have become firm friends from all the playing together. Check out the three 臭皮匠!