How do you know your baby girl has grown up?

1. She finds herself a best friend, the little girl from next door. They look for one another the moment they wake up and every day nat asks if she can have her friend over to play. They both love princesses and dress-up and she yearns to have a sleepover next door.

2. I used to have a great fear that nat would comment loudly on how fat someone is, especially since she has done so before. This can be really embarrassing when the person is within hearing distance. The last time she did it, I told her to just whisper it to me, because if the person heard what she said he/she would be very sad and angry. Just yesterday, we were in a lift together with a fat auntie. Interestingly, after we go out of the lift, she whispered to me " I think that auntie could be having a baby or is she fat?" Haha, thank god she remembered what I said and voice her thoughts out loud in the lift.

3. She voluntarily takes a cloth to clean the floor when her brother accidentally pees on the floor, without any prompting from me. She really is mummy's little helper.

What have we been up to these holidays? Seems like not much, but every day, I am totally wiped out and fall asleep 5 minutes into lying on the bed, it never ceases to amaze gary how fast i sleep.

So far, we have been to Sentosa (for our staycation), Zoo (had fun participating in the face painting), numerous trips to the library (do you know they have really good DVDs for loan?). I also signed up Luke for Sky Gym at Turf City. He had a blast, although the kids have been going to play gyms, these real gyms with trampolines and equipments are a new experience for him. Not something I am likely to sign up for in the long run but not too bad as holiday enrichment. As for nat, we tried out something new these holidays, signed up for a cartoon drawing class at the community centre. Cheap and good! Next week, she is going for some plasticine modelling and cookery thingey. Something to keep her amused.

Lucas has entered full fledge into his terrible twos. He screams whenever he does not get his way. Recently, I have introduced the time-out corner to him. When he screams, I immediate whisk him to the corner to face the sofa until he stops crying. I can't say for sure whether it is working just yet, let's hope so. I don't want my baby boy to grow up to be a brat!

For nat, I have observed that she has a very competitive streak in her. She wants to win in everything and if she doesn't, she loses her temper. When I teach her Mandarin, she will get angry if I repeat to her words she already knows but sometimes even when you correct her wrong pronounciation, she will lose her temper. Again, this is something I am trying to influence.

With the 2 older siblings at home all the time, I haven't spent that much time with Sam. Hopefully, when the kids go back to school, I'll get back into my routine of walks and talks with my baby girl.
As I was lamenting to my good friend, it is scary how your children are so heavily influenced by you. If you choose to respond in a certain way, they could grow up with undesirable traits, so you must always be conscious of how they are growing and changing.

Haha, no wonder that I am wiped out at the end of the day. It sure is hard being mum to a brood of 3. Hard but no regrets :)

Do my girls really look alike? I searched through my archives to look for pictures taken at a similar age. This is the closest I could find. I can't vouch for their similarity in features, but they both sure can pout. Unfortunately, haha, I think that comes from me.

We recently had a short stay at Rasa Sentosa, a quick getaway and a needed family bonding and break time for all. With mei mei being so young, logistics is a big issue - she hasn't got a passport yet and I'm still breastfeeding her. So, Sentosa seemed to be a good option. It turned out quite nice and the kids enjoyed themselves immensely. Lugging 2 maids in tow, Gary and I even managed to stow away for some spa and couple time, nice! Here's a rare shot of the darling trio that I managed to get during the holiday.

Some updates on the kids:

Nat
Her reading abilities have certainly improved tremendously, something I am very proud of. Often, when the rest of us are wiped out and having an afternoon nap, this baby girl will curl up in bed, legs under the duvet covers and start reading for hours. Recently, she has also been asking me words that she doesn't know. Sigh, believe me, it's quite hard to explain what "peasant" and "shack" mean to a 4-year old (I think the words came from this story she was listening to on the ipad about a peasant fisherman asking a magic golden fish for wealth). She loves doing art and craft and was thrilled when we brought her to make a sock puppet during our stay at Sentosa. Every holiday, there is a storytelling event there, with interactive segments where the children can do art and craft. Last time round, we caught the story on the Gingerbread Man, this time round, we caught Jack and the Beanstalk. Here's a picture of Nat and "Jack" and the "Giantess".

Lucas

He's my little darling, as his speech abilities have become better, it is easier to communicate with him and understand his wants.

Yet, he is also getting increasingly naughty, throwing tantrums, fighting with his big sister and plopping down and refusing to walk whenever he is tired. Well, this is the terrible twos stage after all. It's so interesting watching him to talk to himself and rationalising things out. When we were swimming at the hotel pool, he showed fear in walking to the deeper end of the children's pool, although he could still stand. So he would venture off from the shallow end, walk towards the deeper end, walk mid-way through, mumble to himself "It's not all right, too far, too deep" and walk right back to the shallow end. I had a fine chuckle watching him repeat this numerous times.

 Although he is often bullied by his big sister, he really adores her. He still loves doing jigsaws and currently it's the only activity that can keep him occupied for at least half an hour.

Samantha

My youngest sweet little baby. I am so enjoying the experience of managing a newborn. As I was telling Gary, after having 3 kids, we have finally got the hang of it. When Sam cries, we generally knows what she wants. And unlike in the past when we would be so worried when she refuses to suckle, we are more relaxed now, knowing that she will do so when she is hungry. Sam loves "dancing" with daddy, who enjoys rocking her to sleep whenever he is free. We just bought a CD with lovely songs such as this and Sam falls asleep in daddy's arms with the songs playing in the background. Good exercise for Gary too, haha!

Her biggest fan is her sister who can't help hovering around, wanting to pick up meimei or planting kisses on her face. Even her rough big brother becomes a gentle giant when he is around her.