Monday, 14 June 2010

For those dear friends who are feeling blue, here's my little rapper girl nat, with an old 80's song, to cheer you up and chase away those Monday blues. It sure perked me up :)

Sunday, 13 June 2010

The week-long intensive tennis camp for nat ended on Friday. Both of us enjoyed it and what made it even nicer was that Gary managed to take Friday morning off to attend the last day of the camp with her. I had been sending him pics on the iphone all week, but even he agrees that it is different being there with her.

It's been a good holiday programme, nat definitely has ball sense and enjoys the game. I've picked up some coaching tips and games to play on the courts. We will definitely be playing tennis more often and will probably sign her up for another holiday programme in December. I am so proud of my little girl, she has focused well during the lesson and can hit a mean backstroke. While sitting by the sidelines watching her, I reminisced on the times when my mum taught me tennis, at a young age too. Doesn't seem like that long ago in my mind, but it's actually been more than 2 decades.

In the weekend, we went to the zoo and caught Dora and Diego on stage. Along the way, nat also got herself a little butterfly tatoo, which she was positively mesmerised with. The zoo was totally crowded, I couldn't believe the long queue of cars still incoming as we made our way out. It was a super hot and humid day and we were wiped just after an hour or so at the zoo. Check out didi's cool star wars storm trooper shirt, courtesy of daddy the star wars fan (You do realise that our kids are named after actors/actresses/characters in the show. Hmm ... does Yoda have a nice ring to it or Anakin, maybe? I personally like Leia)

Oh yes, while shopping at the mall yesterday, we chanced upon a Barbie fashion show thingey and stood around watching heavily made-up Barbie look-alike kids dancing on stage. That took like all of 3 minutes, before I got bored and herded the brood back to the car. When we got home, nat told me in all seriousness ,that she wanted to be Barbie and even showed me a few nifty moves that she had learnt from watching the dancers on stage. Then she went on to sing "I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world ..." Oh man, she's too young to be into this. So, instead of encouraging her fascination with Barbie, I distracted her with a baseball bat and ball instead. Phew ... she took the bait!

Tuesday, 8 June 2010

Since Monday, baby girl and I have been spending the mornings on the tennis courts at a week-long tennis camp for tots. Not too many tots in the class, so nat has almost exclusive attention most of the time. I'm really glad to see her enjoying herself during class and pleased that she loves the game as much as me. Every morning, she will ask if she is going for baby tennis and when I tell her we are, she gets very excited.

I don't think I have the time to bring her for regular lessons when school starts, but I thought it was a great idea to join the camp during the June and December holidays. The coach is great and she gets along really well with him. I sit in during the class and give her encouragement. Whenever she hits a nice shot, she will look at me for support. This little miss is really a bundle of energy, just looking at her running and jumping all over the tennis courts makes me tired. Check out the cool forehand, backhand and volley.

It's been exhausting for me though, having to go to work in the afternoon, while nat sleeps off the morning excitement. But just seeing the smile on her face makes everything worth it.

Sunday, 6 June 2010

Today's post is mainly devoted to nat and didi's fave preschool band in the world - The Wiggles. When I first saw how happy the kids were when they were watching and dancing along with the very first Wiggles DVD I bought, I told myself that I would bring them to the concert if it ever came to Singapore. And to Singapore they came. On Saturday, we found ourselves at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, together with an army of other fervent 2-5 year old fans. It was a very different kind of concert, so interactive, so full of energy that even the parents felt like getting up to dance as well. Kids were not confined to their seats but allowed to roam towards the aisles to dance and jive.

When the characters first came out, I could actually hear nat screaming in excitement (listen out for her screams in the video), it was quite funny. Although we paid an arm and a leg to get front row seat tickets to the concert, no regrets.

My kids, including Lucas, thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Throughout the concert, nat was right at the front, either staring in awe at her favourite Wiggles character or dancing the night away. You can see for yourselves, from the videos, she is that little dynamo bopping up and down. Didi lucas is a bit young to roam, but he too had fun bouncing on our legs. He was so fascinated with all the lights and sounds, he kept repeating the word Wiggles. It's interesting how 4 grown men can get preschoolers so excited, sometimes I wonder if it's the energetic songs, the multi-colours or just their funny personality.

Of course, being the crazed fans they are, my kids we went home with plenty of Wiggles paraphernalia.

The next day, the dynamic duo woke up, refreshed and ready to take on the world. So off we went to the Marina Barrage to fly kites. Weather was ok, although it got a bit hot towards the afternoon.


One of the greatest joys in life is to see the siblings enjoying themselves together and having fun. Haven't been feeling too happy recently and it is scenes like these that lifts up your spirits.

That night, nat was still obsessed with The Wiggles, so she entertained us with the groovy dance moves she learnt.

Thursday, 3 June 2010

It's been a relatively nice week. I managed to steal some time away to have a quick lunch with gary near his office earlier in the week. The lunchtime crowd in the CBD is amazing, the hustle and bustle, the noise, the long queues everywhere you look. Frankly, I am glad I don't have to brave through that every day, it would surely give me a perpetual headache.

Yesterday, gary also managed to take half a day off and bring our brood to the Singapore Art Museum. There is a Children's play area known as the Art Garden. I love it, it's so nice and creative and cheery. Note that this one's not free though. Basically, you explore the four different levels, which have varying themes.

First level is meant for small kids, as there is a height restriction. It's got some bunny theme and the kids are free to hop around the artificial grass and throw the green beanbags around. Little Miss busied herself building a castle.

At the second level, she did some colouring and craft. There was a big jiejie sitting beside her who did the colouring very nicely. Nat just scrawled and made a mess before attempting to cut up her art work into shreds.

Level 3, one of my favourites, for its sheer creativity. It is called the Enchanted Jungle or something like that. Some talented artist must have spent a long time drawing the murals in this room. There are all kinds of animals, hidden in the jungle, just waiting to be uncovered. Monkeys, tapirs, tigers, birds. panda bears ... and in line with the Singapore theme ... the Merlion. Here is nat, attempting to climb up the tree, we had to grab her before she actually did. There is also a table at the corner for kids to colour butterflies and when completed, you can even hang your butterfly in the Enchanted Forest. Didi, who was sleeping through the first 2 levels, woke up just in time, to colour his very own butterfly, and he was mighty proud of it.

Level 4, another favourite, truly a digital wonderland for kids. The firefly garden above is designed to be interactive. When you attempt to catch the butterflies, they fly just out of reach. The waterfall splashes to make beautiful patterns when you sit in its path. Stand perfectly still in the garden and a tree will sprout out from the area you are standing. It's truly amazing! Nat is also at an age when she adores big jiejies. She was following a little girl all around the room and quite willingly did everything the jiejie asked. Didi stood in awe at the firefly garden but got distracted by a nearby exhibit, the flower garden. As you walk through the garden, the flowers disappear but reappear as you walk away from the spot, forming a trail behind you.

We spent about 2 hrs at the museum, after which we had a nice cool drink at the cafe before returning home. What a fun but exhausting day. We all slept early and everyone, including didi lucas slept through the night. Gary still thinks I chiong too much and longs for his "nice and relaxing" off-day. Haha, dream on, baby!

Tuesday, 1 June 2010

This is the first week of the school hols. I'm planning to bring the kids to interesting attractions or places at least once a week. Today, we went to the zoo. Although we have been to the zoo so many times, it amazes me how we always find something new to marvel at. The star attraction for the kids was the giraffe feeding session. Both were so thrilled to feed carrots to the tall, graceful animals with their long curling tongue.

When we got back to my mum's place, they were still a bundle of energy, so we hung out in the garden, playing kiddy tennis and golf. I love it that my mum has a big garden for the kids to run around in, it's so therapeutic just sitting there watching them, whacking the ball around the garden, checking out the nearby drain, spraying water from the hose or even snooping around the crevices looking for creepy crawlies.

Sunday, 30 May 2010

It's been a month or so since I started teaching nat Mandarin more intensively. For nat, when she is in the mood, she can pick up the words or phrases quite fast. If she is not in the mood, don't bother. At this stage, I am teaching her sanzijing, I find that comics are a great way of getting the kids interested in the language. She looks at each picture curiously and urges me to tell her the story, so I usually ask her to remember the poem before telling the story.

Also bought didi a new toy, a ladybug ride-on, which he loves to bits. It is quite good for building up his leg muscles and I'm glad to see that he seems sturdier now.

Something interesting we discovered about the little miss over the weekend, is that she has a good memory. She has been playing with my iphone for quite a while now and her fave app is a storybook app that reads out stories. One of the stories she loves listening to is The Princess and the Pea. This weekend, she suddenly decided to do a recital for us, and we were totally amazed that she can recite it to us, verbatim. It's quite funny, she has even got the accent down pat :) haha! Turn up the volume because she gets a bit shy halfway through and it becomes a whisper. Oh yes, watch out for the ending, it's hilarious.

Thursday, 27 May 2010

Yesterday was the last day of school and it surely was a "dotty" day. The children were encouraged to dress up in anything dotty.

And here's what the little miss turned up to school in.

Didi Lucas was in school as well for his swim class, he loves exploring the school grounds, hopefully it means we will have no separation anxiety problems when he starts school here next year. Sigh ... how fast my babies grow up.

Sunday, 23 May 2010

I have recently been spending a lot of time focusing on nat's mandarin. I am glad to say that the effort has paid off somewhat and she is definitely more comfortable listening and talking in mandarin. One day, I will write a longer post about it. For today, just wanted to share this interesting anecdote.

Over the weekend, I bought this book from Popular. It teaches good morals and values through chinese idioms and phrases. Nat is at an age when she is easily influenced and I think it is a good time to start teaching her such values. What I like about this book is that it is in the form of comic strips and nat adores comics. So we go though a few values a day. We don't actually memorise the idioms, instead, we just enjoy the comic together.

One particular comic strip she likes comes from this value. The comic strip shows a mum mopping the floor, she requests for help from her daughter, who keeps telling her that she will do it later. Nat can totally relate to this because these days, whenever I ask her anything, like how was her day at school, her answer will be ... later. She would rather be snacking or listening to nursery rhymes on the car radio. If you can see the picture, the comic strip mum dramatically faints in exhaustion, which sets nat off, chuckling away. I think I have repeated this story to her like 20 times since Saturday. Today, she gave the story a new twist. She told me that she had a new story and requested for me to go through the comic strip with her again. We started off with the mum requesting for help. Then when it came to the girl's answer, she actually said ok, instead of later. Maybe it has finally dawned on her that, as the chinese idiom reads, When requested to do something by our parents, do it quickly without lethargy . Good job, baby girl, keep it up!

Friday, 21 May 2010

My little man, all of 20 months old, in summary.

1. Fave phrase: Oh No!

2. Fave food: Vitagen

3. Fave cartoon character: Little Einstein, Leo (affectionately called leo-leo)

4. Fave move: Running at full speed and banging against the sofa, then exclaiming Oh No

5. Mummy's fave: Getting a big affectionate kiss from him

6. Fave person: Nat Nat

7. Fave male: Dah-ddy

8. Fave sport: Swimming

9. Fave animal: Birds

10. Fave pose: Covering his eyes when he sees scary things (like dinosaurs) and burrowing his head in the pillow when mummy is angry, after he has done something naughty

11. Best assets: His eyes, twinkly and expressive

Wednesday, 19 May 2010

It's been more than a month since nat started ballet lessons. My heart fills with pride when I see her improving and being so focused during the lesson. Today, they learnt how to do "splits". Not easy, will post a video of her her when she finally manages to do it. Meanwhile, here's her superman pose. Enjoy!

She is also reaching a stage where she is asking about everything and anything. The other day, she saw a pool of water droplets outside the car window. I think the air-con within the car was too cold and causing condensation on the window. She turned around and asked me in all seriousness, what's that? Uh, I was silent for a while, kind of forgot all that science stuff. Sigh, looks like it's time to revise some of the o'le general knowledge, don't want to teach baby girl the wrong stuff.

Sunday, 16 May 2010

Whoever came up with the concept of Children's Season at the Museum should give themselves a pat on the back. This is a great programme for kids - child-friendly with lots of fun activities. I remember I first brought my baby nat in 2008, before didi was born. She totally loved it - so kudos to the person who came up with the idea of changing a museum to a place of fun instead of a boring and dreary place.

The idea is, for a limited time period, the organisers transform certain areas of the museum to creative play areas where the kids can enjoy and learn. This year, they focus on using soft sculptures and fabric shapes on a flannel felt board. The kids remove the felt characters from different parts of the flannel and create their own stories.

Nat was particularly taken by the moose with funny hands and legs.

Didi, the typical male preferred the cool looking felt car. There were other activities too.


They had an area set up where the children could make their very own tribal mask. Nat liked this activity as she loves colouring with markers and her mask was particularly bright and cheery.

Didi was a little too young for this activity, so he trooped off with daddy. The pair had fun playing with the shadows cast by the interesting swinging lights. I initially had some reservations about coming to the museum on a weekend, but I did want Gary to join us for this activity. In the past, I usually went on weekdays and he never managed to see the kids enjoying themselves here. It was a good decision, we were early and it was not too crowded. I think this Children's Season run throughs from May to June, so I guess I will be back with the kids soon, probably could arrange to have playdates with friends here as well.

Sunday, 16 May 2010

Had a Parent's Teacher Meeting with nat's teachers, haha, first time experience. That's what I like about this school, they do try their to involve the parents in activities. The teacher had some pics of the kids enjoying their classes in school. They shared with me that as one of the older kids in class, nat is generally quite independent and sociable. She loves story and playground time and is not fearful of Mandarin as she used to be. She has a good memory and can repeat word for word the songs, poems and prayers that they teach in school. Haha something new to me, she can't quite catch a ball. Hmm, let's work on that, little miss.

This weekend, with the kids thankfully feeling better, we were back to nature. And everyone enjoyed it! Botanic Gardens, Hort Park ... all in one day. No wonder gary was wiped out at the end of the day. Haha, he was getting used to the lazy weekends we had been having for the last 2 weeks.

Wednesday, 12 May 2010

Just some pics and video on how we spent the day.


Little man having fun during swim class.


Little miss mummy slings her baby Sally.

Learning phonics @ starfall website

Had an interesting conversation with nat this evening. I was showing the kids this nursery rhymes website, when she suddenly said "I think that's Mona Lisa." I looked at her in amazement and asked her how she knew. Very knowingly and conspiratorially, she said "Because she has long hair." Then she burst out in giggles. I said it before, and I say it again. Kids say the darnest things.

Sunday, 9 May 2010

Didi lucas is a lot more active than nat @ 19 months. He loves to climb everything, up and down the sofa, lounge chair, bed. Once I even watched as he tried to haul himself onto his high chair. One does have to keep an eye on him at all times. Here is a video I managed to capture of him playing with our towel rack and attempting to do pull-ups. Haha ... funny little man.

Here's another video of nat singing. Ever since she started ballet classes, she loves to prance around singing and dancing, and she does enjoy an appreciative audience that claps after her performance.

Oh yes, I was introduced to this activity by a friend, clay dough. Basically, the dough can be bought from Popular, it comes in an original pack of white clay. It is a bit like plasticine, except it feels a little moist when you first knead at it. Using the dough, nat and I made a cooking pot, pau, pizza and a varity of other food items. Thereafter, we left it to dry at the balcony. When it is dried, the clay hardens. Next step, painting. I like this activity because it is kinda like two activities in one, and nat looks forward to the painting. Every so often, she will run to the balcony to look at her clay items and check if it is dry. One thing though, nat hasn't really learnt the art of differentiating paints, she just mixes all the paint together, so the colour ends up a rather yucky brown. Check it out! Well, it's alright, I still appreciate my baby girl's work of art, I think!

Sunday, 9 May 2010

Today is Mother's Day, a day to thank my mum :) Really appreciate all the things she has done for me, all the support she has given me, especially always being there for me and the kids. It's interesting, I used to be kinda scared of my mum when I was young, as she was rather strict with me. Yet, as I grew older, I feel as if our relationship has evolved and we have definitely grown closer. Some days, I even miss the times when I was in JC/University and we used to go shopping/lunch/walks nearly every day. Nevertheless, these days, even if I don't see my mum, I do try to call her and chit chat with her at least once a day, just to see what she is up to.

Happy Mother's Day!

Thank you, Gary for a wonderful and delicious Mother's Day home-cooked meal of Rock Melon and Parma Ham and Sakura Ebi Pasta. You are the best!

Something interesting to update! Didi lucas has a new bed. He seemed to be getting too tall and long for his cot so we decided to upgrade him to a new bed. Initially, I had wanted to buy something similar to the one we had bought for nat from Spotlight. However, they told me they don't sell it anymore. Well, if you are not intending to spend thousands of dollars on those cool kids' beds from Europe (that come with slides/ladders), the next best bet is Ikea. So one weekday night, Gary and I trooped down there and got a nice blue toddler bed for didi, only 99 bucks. Think he will need some time to get used to getting on and off the bed, so we will be more watchful of him these few days. Already, this adventurous little man enjoys climbing up and down the bed. Well, practice makes perfect! We do place pillows and mats on the floor at night though, just in case he attempts to roll off while we are sleeping. Interestingly, nat has not much interest in the new bed, she associates things that are blue with boys and much prefers her pink Dora bed.

Saturday, 8 May 2010

Nat has the dreaded chicken pox, so we have all been stuck at home this week. Here's a list of how we have managed to entertain ourselves:

1. DVDs
Dora and Little Einstein are staples. I have seen some of the episodes so many times that I can even memorise what happens next. I have also picked up some Spanish, since Dora speaks a mix of Spanish and English.

2. Mandarin and English
I spent about 30 minutes each day doing Mandarin lessons with Nat. She is rather receptive, surprisingly. So far, we have covered the Mandarin strokes heng2, shu4, pie3, na4, dian3. We have also learnt da4 xi1 gua1 , da4 xiang4 and xiao3 cao3 mei2 and xiao3 lao2 shu3. We have progressed slowly but surely in our san1 zi4 jing1. Overall, it's been quite a success. For didi lucas, I have re-organised my flashcards collection and am running through the various flashcards with him on a daily basis.

3. Painting

From painting on paper, we have gone on to painting the balcony floor and even painting the leaves on my precious plants. All for the sake of exploration and creativity.

4. Reading
I have recently discovered these phonics readers from Scholastic and bought the Dora range. The stories are short, colourful and interesting. Give it a try, nat and lucas both love for me to read it to them and we can go through quite a few books at one go. Thereafter, they will take the book from me and pretend to read it on their own.

5. Treasure Hunt

On cold rainy days, when the living room is dark, nat snooped around and found 2 torchlights. My 2 babies became explorers, hunting for hidden treasure. I had a blast watching them. When I tried to switch on the light, nat firmly told me that they were on a mission, and please could I not disturb them.

Saturday, 1 May 2010

My son adores his big sister. For such an active little dude, he can actually keep still and hold his big sister's hand for five whole minutes.



Yesterday, I brought didi lucas for a trial tots tennis class. Besides Julia Gabriel, which focuses more on the singing/music & movement aspect, I wanted to expose him to various sports, and help him to better focus his attention. My baby boy had a wild time. He is so different from his big sis. Once the class started, he just trooped in, cast a glance at me for reassurance and he was off to play! I could see that he enjoyed the class, running up and down, poking his nose into the tennis balls and other equipments at the side of the tennis courts, jumping around with the other tots in the class. The coach was chasing him all around the courts and rescuing him as he attempted to climb over the net. At the end of the class, the coach suggested I wait another few months, let him grow up a bit, and he would probably be able to take instructions better. Will probably sign him up for the class next term. It was no surprise, after the class, he fell asleep the minute he was buckled into his car seat.

Thursday, 29 April 2010

We had a school excursion yesterday to one of the vegetable farms at Choa Chu Kang. Interesting visit, we saw some fresh and green looking vegetables and even got to bring some home. It was pretty hot though, and soon nat was grouching away, wanting to be carried. I think for her, the highlight of the day was when she got to "harvest" a radish. They actually let her pull it out from the ground. I managed to capture her doing that in full glory :) although she does look a little grumpy in the photograph.

Her other fave moment is probably having a cool crysanthemum drink at the end of the visit. I enjoyed it, got to catch up with nat's classmates parents as well as her teachers. And you know what this forgetful mum did? She promptly forgot that the next day (which is today), nat had no school as there was another excursion for kids from other sessions. We reached the school, realised that she didn't have class today and decided to spend the morning at Borders instead. She badgered me for a Dunkin Donut, Oreos flavour, which she thoroughly enjoyed, although she got her mouth all dirty.

Here's a video of didi Lucas I did not manage to upload in the Bintan entry. He is really his dad's son. Both like to lounge topless by the pool/beach, fiddling with the iPhone. Like father, like son!

Monday, 26 April 2010

We are back, from Bintan! A short trip from Fri-Sun, but rejuvenating for Gary and me and the kids enjoyed themselves.

We had wondered whether it was a good idea to bring our maid, which we did in the end, and thank goodness we did. We were able to sneak off for some couple time, lounging by the adult pool, sipping a cold drink, ah ... that's the life!

It's nice that the kids are getting to an age when they can play together, and have fun! Lucas is constantly running after his sister, poking his nose into what she is doing.

Beach holidays are great because you essentially do nothing! Start off the morning with a leisurely breakfast, then it's beach time. We strolled by the beach and made sand cakes. Interestingly, both kids are scared of the waves so they preferred to chill away from the waves. We had the opportunity to see hermit crabs during low tide ... it was fun ... nat was scared and squealed when they crawled towards her ... lucas, the fearless, tried to swallow it whole, mud and all! We even managed to see some fish in the clear blue sea water. Gary and I tried to have a stroll along the beach, but nat has this intense jealously when she sees us holding hands and she declared she was angry. Sigh ... oh well ... there goes the romantic walk by the beach.

Next stop, swimming pool. The pools at Banyan Tree are nicer for adults, but for the kids, we headed to the Angsana resort just beside it. The pool is heated and they have a kids' wading pool that is just the right height, even for Lucas. Both our water babies loved it and nat was constantly asking us to bring her to the pool.

After the swim tired them out, we whisked them back to the room for 3-hour naps :) This is when Gary and I sneak off to explore and chill. Angsana resort also has a kids' club, a playroom with toys where the kids can hang out, with free water and cookies. It's nice that nat is at an age when she is starting to socialise. She even made friends and was playing puppets with them.

Mosquitoes were a big issue, for gary that is, haha! When you are in a resort like this, mosquitoes are just part and parcel of the environment. My man was constantly catching and killing mosquitoes, despite the fact that we slept in a bed with a mosquito net. The first night, I woke up to find him "on guard", daring any mosquito to cross his path and be smashed to death. Nat became his official assistant and was constantly telling daddy where the mosquitoes were headed. Oh yes, like gary, she too is a mosquito magnet.

Food-wise, I was not too impressed. Surprisingly, the italian food was good and our brood slurped up the spaghetti with relish. From our table at the restaurant, I could see that they had specially set up table for two on the rocks for some romantic couple. I told Gary I wouldn't like to have dinner there, firstly I wouldn't be able to see the food, secondly, would be too freaked out over the swashing waves pounding on the rocks. Haha, I'm not one for romance ... of this kind.

It was a short holiday, but well worth it. Looking forward to the next one, soon?