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!