Wednesday, 30 December 2009

As the year draws to a close, I am bogged down by troubling thoughts that have been bothering me throughout the year. Freedom to spend 24/7 with my kids or financial stability? I guess deep in my heart, I know that someday I will need to devote more time to my kids, nuturing and loving them. Yet, is the time now or later? While work committments are not super stressful, they do tend to eat into the time I spend with my kids. When this happens, I get really mad! However, it really is not easy to find a job that allows you the flexibility to work part-time. Well, whatever the decision I make, I just know that the kids will always be my priority.

Tuesday, 29 December 2009

Daddy, you're the best! Chilling out on your back is one of my favourite past times :)

Friday, 25 December 2009

Have a blessed Christmas, from Gary, Wei, Nat and Lucas :)

Sunday, 20 December 2009

It's been another whirlwind weekend. On Thursday, we went to the airport to admire the much raved about red musical ball. It was kinda nice and the kids all stared in awe as the ball opened up to reveal many smaller balls within, they also started dancing to the Christmas tunes. However, I did not really think it was worth the drive there.

On Friday, brought the kids to the Science Centre. I feel that it's not really a super fun place for kids their age, nat kinda learned a bit about the concept of echos and enjoyed playing in the space/galaxies section but otherwise, it wasn't too exciting for them. Didi was more interested in riding in the push buggy that one could rent for free at the counter. I was quite impressed and surprised that things come free in this day and age.

That night, gary and I snuck out for a midnite movie, Avatar in 3D, our first since lucas was born. A really good movie! Even grouchy o'le me (who does not stay up late just for movies) managed to sit through the whole show, haha, it helped that we booked the director seats.

In the weekend, we had breakfast with the kids at the Robertson Quay area. It's quite nice, al-fresco American breakfast, space for the children to run/cycle (although we forgot to bring the bike) and a balmy breeze, won't mind going back again soon.

We had initially wanted to bring the kids to the park but the weather was erratic, so we went to Royce Gym at Daimaru instead. Nat and didi lucas went wild, probably because they haven't been there in a while. I think their favourite play equipment is the slides and my adventurous little man even attempted to dive down headfirst, much to my horror! Nat also impressed me with her determination, as she attempted to scale the play equipment. I wanted to help her but she said to me firmly, mummy, you just look ok, I can do this by myself. After a few attempts, she really did manage to do it, and I was filled with pride.

In the late afternoon, nat fell asleep and didi refused to, having slept in the car on the way home. Gary and I decided to bring didi out to United Square. He really enjoyed the one-on-one time with us, squealing and chuckling at everything. I was just telling Gary that I had forgotten how simple and relaxing it is to shop with just one kid.

I love spending time with my kids :) It is nice having conversations with nat now, as she knows exactly what I am talking about and she shares her feelings with me, telling me which part of the day she likes most. Didi is getting more coherent in his verbal skills and from his twinkling eyes, you can see that he knows exactly what you are talking about, especially if you are admonishing him for a naughty deed.

Wanted to end off this entry with a funny story, nat was in the car with me and being extremely fidgety. I told gary, if she is so restless, put her in the car seat "lor"! (in our typical Singlish slang). Immediately, our cheeky babe picked up on that phrase and she has been parroting me the whole day, ending her sentence with "lor" and breaking into giggles after that. Sigh, she really does pick up things very fast, and I must be careful what I say in front of her, who knows what else she will pick up next.

Wednesday, 16 December 2009

Like a typical boy, didi lucas isn't naturally as affectionate as his sister. My baby girl never rejects a kiss from mummy, and is always ever ready to offer mummy a big hug. But when didi lucas is in a good mood, he plants wet slobbery kisses on your cheek and ends it off with a huge chuckle, manages to melt my heart every time.

Sunday, 13 December 2009

Inspired by a friend, we attempted to bake a gingerbread man on Friday. The result: A blob of hard cookie like thingey, which did not look anything like the cute little gingerbread boy I had in mind. Oh well, who cares, the kids had lots of fun in the process, kneading the dough and generally making a mess of the kitchen.

You know, when you hear of teenagers screaming when they see their latest pop idols appear on stage, you scoff over such silly behaviour that they indulge in. Who would believe that it happens, even when they are at the grand old age of two :) When Barney and friends came on stage, nat screamed ... I wrote it off as a coincidence. When Hi-5 came on stage, nat screamed and waved her arms ... oh man ... I have a teenager wanna be on my hands. She danced and grooved with Hi-5, while poor mummy had to carry her for all of half an hour. Even didi enjoyed himself, struggling to stand on the floor and dance. But I must say, the Hi-5 group is truly an energetic bunch and even I enjoyed the half an hour of song and dance. What next? Hmm ... maybe Mickey @ VivoCity or Sesame Street @ Centrepoint, we'll see.

The Christmas mood is in the air and we have been taking the kids around to soak in the festivities...we should have a Part II to this post by the weekend...

8 December 2009

These days, nat is into make-up, haha! Yes, you heard right. Ask if she would like some lipstick and immediately she will purse her lips. And if you offer to powder her nose, her eyes light up. She prances around the house in her pretty dress and her little tote bag :) I have a theory, the less of a vainpot the mum is, the more vain the daughter will be. No worries though, nat will have more than enough make-up tips from popo and mummy's friends i.e when she is ready to wear make-up in ... hmm ... 20 year's time.

She is also into dancing. At my cousin's wedding recently, after the wedding couple had their first dance, my little girl decided to have a go at it too. Looking around, she didn't see anyone she fancied to dance with (at this age, little girls prefer to dance with their dads), she decided to dance by herself, and, she sure did have fun!

Looking at the pic below, I realise that the kids have added more wrinkles and stress lines to my face, but you know, at the end of the day, it's all worth it. And I guess, that's the joy of motherhood.

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

It's been a while since I blogged, no inspiration? I have recently begun my night walks again, realised that I haven't been exercising, getting fat. The walks are also a good time to chit chat with the kids on a one-to-one basis. I bring along one kid each night, Mondays with nat, Tuesdays with lucas and so on. It's nice, with a slight breeze, zooming cars, twinkling lights, we spot the stars and the moon in the sky, look for the noisy frogs ribbiting in the bushes, sing silly songs. Didi was particularly thrilled at the supermarket, where he wandered around, touching all manner of vegetables.

Just the other night, I was pushing nat home in the pram when she suddenly said "I need to ssh shh (pee)." I asked if she could hold it as we were almost home, just needed to go up the slope and walk a small stretch. I told her I would push faster. She said ok. After the slope, which really wiped me out, I was pushing her along when turned around and said "Faster, mummy, no more slope." Haha the ungrateful brat, here I was catching my breath and there she was telling me to go faster.

Last week, we brought the kids to the zoo, always a fave activity. There, didi experienced his first time on a carousel. Boys and girls have such different reactions to new adventures. While Lucas was scared initially, he still held on, although he did look like he was going to cry. For nat, if something scares her, she will struggle to get out and just bury her face in your neck.

We also brought nat to buy her first uniform. She is starting school (pre-nursery) next year. Looking at her in her cute little school uniform, I can't help but sigh at how fast time flies.

I love Christmas. I love bringing the kids out, enjoying the Christmas music and lights and the concerts at the malls. Nat was scared of the big plush figurines walking around last year, let's see if she has become braver over the year.

Sunday, 22 November 2009

On Friday, didi lucas had his end-of-year party at Julia Gabriels. We dressed him up for the occasion, complete with long-sleeved shirt and gel hair, just like daddy. What fun he had, tromping around, gnawing at his chicken wing and being amazed at how big and red Santa was. It sure is fun to be a kid!

On Saturday, blessed with good weather, off we went to the Bird Park. As it was not nat's first time at the bird park, she was not overly-excited. Didi lucas, who had never seen such big birds up close, was totally mesmerised by the birds and kept babbling away, keeping up a constant stream of conversation, although the only word I could make out was "bi..rd". Check out their expressions on seeing the birds, it is priceless!

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

I realise that I have not posted videos on my blog for a long time, so here goes, enjoy!

Nat enjoys piecing her jigsaws together, keeps her occupied for hours. These days, I just sit by her and accompany her, she can do most of it on her own as she is quite familiar with it.

Didi Lucas doesn't seem to dance as much in Julia Gabriel class as Nat used to. This is one of the rare times I managed to capture him dancing in class. That said, he loves dancing at home. In fact, when nat sings in the car, didi will sway and dance to her song.

Just before bedtime, nat and I were doing some chinese flash cards. Nat and Lucas have both been watching Chinese flashcards on DVD, these index cards are just duplicates of the terms found in the DVD. I think repetition really works for kids. Nat seems to be able to recognise the Chinese terms for squirrel, snake and worm. There are no pictures on my cards, so I guess she is basing it on memory and not by visual association. In this video, she is trying to teach the baby frog Chinese using the flash cards, it's quite cute to watch her.

Sunday, 15 November 2009


Remember nat's terrible twos phase? It did descend upon us at about 2 years of age. My baby boy, all of 14 months old, is reaching that stage. He cries and screams when he is unhappy, likes ultimate freedom to roam around and wants to be entertained constantly. He hates to be restricted, especially in his car seat. Everytime he has his temper outbursts, his sister will chide him in her grown-up voice, asking him not to be naughty and to behave so well, just like her. Amidst the noise, it is quite fun to watch them together. Lucas still adores his sister, always poking his nose into her business, especially when she is doing her jigsaws. However, I am proud to say my baby girl loves her brother too.

Just the other day, we were at one of those kiddy rides. I had only a dollar and the ride was meant for a solo driver. I explained to nat that didi wanted to ride on it, so could he have the ride on his own. Reluctantly, she agreed and without fuss.

Tantrums aside, my baby boy's personality is blossoming ever so nicely. He loves to dance and his favourite activity is dancing with his sister. He can dance to all tunes, especially nursery rhymes and will stand up and shake his butt. I really have to capture it in video some day. He now understands the concept of being praised and when I say "Clever Boy", he will clap his hands and look at me. He loves the song itsy bitsy spider, and especially loves the part when the poor little spider is washed out and he will splash his hands around in glee.

Over the weekend, we went about our outdoor adventures, the zoo, botanic and also a short trip to Orchard to enjoy the Christmas lights. The kids and even my maid had a blast. Normally, I do not "celebrate" Christmas in a big way, with a tree and all. However, this year, I wanted to do something different and make the experience more enjoyable for the kids, so I got us a tree from Giant (cheap and nice). My maid was rather excited, I think in Philippines, they celebrate Christmas in style, and she misses that, as she has been in Singapore for a few years already. Will take some nice pics when the house is all done up, with Christmas stockings and all.

At Botanic Gardens, we met my aunties who are frequent visitors to the park and the kids got the opportunity to play with Astro Boy. Nat used to have no fear of dogs when she was younger, just like lucas is now. However, at this age, she is a bit more scaredy, but she did like patting Astro. Thankfully, my kids are unlike me, who had an irrational fear of dogs when I was young.


Oh yes, please do check out nat's lovely skirt in the picture. I mentioned in previous posts that she is obsessed with having a tutu. We managed to dig out this skirt from her collection of clothes and told her it was a tutu. She loves it to bits and refuses to let us take it off. Interestingly, when I showed her a real tutu, you know the frilly kind, she politely thanked me and said she already had one.

Wednesday, 11 November 2009

The frustration at work melts away when I am with my kids. I refuse to let any negative energy affect my happy time with them.

As parents, we also celebrate the small achievements of our kids. I was truly proud of nat today when I walked into the living room and lo and behold, she had done a 30-piece jigsaw puzzle by herself. For this particular puzzle, she usually needs my help as the colours are quite close in terms of shade and I always guide her. She shone with pride as I heaped lots of praises on her. Didi also surprises me every day, we were watching a cartoon which was showing a tiger, and I kept repeating the word to him. Suddenly, a small little voice said "tiger", softly but clearly. Although, he did not repeat it again, I am quite sure he said it. What a clever little man!

Today, I brought my kids to Botanic Gardens for a walk. Instead of our usual route near the Visitor Centre, we went to the other end, nearer to Jacob Ballas. My mum had brought them there before and they enjoyed themselves feeding the birds.

My conclusion: I don't like birds, not in a big group anyway. My kids and maid were totally unfazed by the hoards of birds, pigeons, swans and all manners of birds flying towards us, in search of the bread in our hands. This scaredy mum quickly gathered her brood and made a quick getaway to feed the fish and turtles instead. At least fish can't jump out of the water, or, can they?

Sunday, 8 November 2009

After nat's flu, which she is still recovering from, I realise she has become potty trained 90% of the time. I'm not sure what the stimulus was , maybe during her diarrhoea sessions at the peak of her flu, she realised how uncomfortable it is to live with soiled diapers. Even during night time, she does not want to wear diapers anymore. Sometimes she will wake up in the night to pee, somedays she will sleep right through without wetting the bed and pee the next morning. I'm so proud of my baby girl.

Today, my maid had her day off. I was telling her to go out and have a good break, since she has been looking after our cranky kids 24/7. It's really quite stressful and I was glad that when she came back, she seemed more relaxed and happier. I had quite an easy time convincing nat to sleep today but didi was not sleepy. Gary kept an eye on him, while I caught a few winks. Thereafter, I entertained didi who was rather cranky. In the end, I did manage to lull him to bed, after rocking and singing to him.


I also managed to catch some pics of didi tottering outside at the balcony, exploring the area with his handy broom and dustpan. He even poked at the potted plants. I tell you, it took great determination to stop myself from whisking him inside the house the moment he headed for the plants. Sigh, experts say that it's good for kids to explore by touch, but does it have to be in the form of soil and grit under their fingernails?

Friday, 6 November 2009

It's been a rough month, taking care of sick kids. Nat passes the bug to didi, he passes it back to her, she passes it to him again! Sometimes, it seems never ending. When you see them on the road to recovery, playing with their stickers, drawing and colouring, just having fun with smiles on their faces and twinkle in their eyes, it really makes your day!

Over the past few weeks, I have been looking after nat quite dedicatedly, my maid looks after lucas. We figured no point for both of us to handle both kids, which increases the likelihood of cross-infection. When she cries, I'm there. I pat her to sleep, I sing her songs, I comfort her when she wakes up crying. However, since she is finally feeling better today, with less hacking, I figured I should go back to routine i.e having didi with me at night. Nat did not like this, she cried and wailed and it took my maid almost half an hour to comfort her.

Sleepless nights and hacking coughs/runny noses/fevers aside, the kids have progressed wonderfully, and for this I am always grateful and thankful.

Nat's latest obsession is jigsaws and we've accumulated quite a decent number, ranging from 3-4 pieces to about 30 pieces. For the more complicated ones, she will still insist on piecing it on her own, so I usually try to consolidate the similar looking pieces together for her or subtly suggest that this piece may go with that one. It's a great activity and keeps her occupied for quite a long time. Her writing skills are slowly improving and these days, I can just about make out the 'A' that she scrawls on the paper. She can now draw objects with eyes, ears, nose and mouth, this is a vast improvement from the time she would just scrawl rubbish on the paper. She can finally colour within the lines, this achievement must be attributed to popo who helped encourage her.

Her memory never ceases to amaze me. On one of our many visits to the pediatrician, she shared with me the story of Cinderella and Snow White, little tales that my mum had read to her. I could actually follow her storyline, with highlights of the ugly witch and the seven dwarfs. What got me laughing though, was that sometimes she got confused and suddenly in the middle of Cinderella, there was mention of a bowl of porridge on the table (obviously she was confused and had got it mixed up with Goldilocks and the Three Bears).

My darling lucas is now perfectly stable on his feet and just loves tottering everywhere, up and down, left and right, into the kitchen, into the playroom and into the nooks and corners of the living room. I've started flash cards with him and surprisingly, he actually focuses. I've also started reading storybooks to him and he focuses on my reading, peering intently at the pictures in the book. He enjoys it when I am overly-dramatic, with loud and soft tones in my voice. He responds to selective keywords e.g Say the word lion and he pets his chest indicating fear. Recite Jack and Jill to him and he will touch his own head, showing how Jack broke his crown. Even though he is my second child, I still love watching his little progressions into toddlerhood.

Just the other day, I was watching a documentary on new parents attending antenatal classes and I just started to reflect on the earlier days (not so long, in 2006) when Gary and I attended the antenatal classes together. Although tiring, those were great experiences we shared together as a couple and I'm glad we made an effort to enjoy such times together. As busy parents of two young kids now, such times are rare.

Now, if only the kids could recover quickly, I would love to enjoy family time once again in the great outdoors!

Sunday, 1 November 2009

Nat's fever has gone, thankfully. However, her hacking cough still remains. The problem is that whenever my maid feeds her medicine, she will force herself to vomit it out. Recently, I have taken over the job of feeding medicine to her, and over several feedings, I have picked up some tips.

1. Reasoning doesn't really work. Neither does threatening. Praises sometimes work though.
2. Bribing her with toys, or a favourite activity like painting works wonders.
3. The medicine has to be spooned into her mouth. She determines how big or small each spoonful is. Sometimes feeding just 3ml of medicine to her can take up to 10 minutes, as each spoonful is very small.
4. Mixing the medicine in milk works only when she is hungry, if not she leaves a whole lot of milk behind.
5. Comparing her with didi doesn't work, telling her that he is a good boy because he eats his medicine without fuss, just makes her more adamant about not eating her own medicine.

Sigh, I don't blame her, as we all know, cough medicine (the black type) tastes really quite yucky. Well, I'll persist in devising new and creative ways to get my baby girl to eat her medicine, wish me luck!

Friday, 30 October 2009

The kids spent a beautiful evening at the park with popo and their great grandfather. This was the weekend gary and I were away, having a short but romantic holiday in bangkok, when gary declared he had never walked so much in his life. Haha, I made him walk to 5 malls in one day, how's that for efficiency, not bad huh?

Friday, 30 October 2009

I am glad the kids are getting better. Yesterday, nat had diarrohoea and had to visit the loo quite a number of times. My little clean girl cannot bear being dirty and even if her diaper is just slightly stained, she will want to be washed and cleaned. After so many rounds of visiting the loo, we have established a routine. She will sit on her potty, ask for her Archie comic, close the door and chase me out. Occasionally, I get a chance to discuss the stories in the Archie comic with her, during these times, I will introduce to her the characters like Archie, Jughead, Veronica etc. Haha, looks like I got to move my whole Archie collection from my mum's place back home soon. When she is done, she will head towards the shower area and stick out her baby butt to be washed.

Today, I got her to do a bit of alphabet writing. Since she is quite familiar with all the letters of the alphabet already, I thought that it is a good time to get her to sit down to do some writing. One thing I noticed that is at this age, they still do not have good control of the pencil yet. So the alphabets come out looking quite scrawly. The other issue is that concentration is limited, so keep it short, about 10 min. Lastly, lots of motivation and praise does wonders. I was glad that at the end of 10 min, she was able to follow the tracing and scrawl out a few nice looking 'A's on her own.

She is also obsessed with owning a tutu, you know the little puffed up skirt that ballerinas wear. She saw one of the characters wearing it on television, dancing gracefully around on screen and whenever this segment plays, she will ask me where is her tutu.

Didi lucas is really a good boy. These few days, he has been a great sport and when we are busy tending to jiejie, he plays by himself in the cot, only protesting occasionally. Slowly but surely, he is picking up some words like ''berd' (bird) , "ba ba black" (ba ba black sheep) , "cat", "dog", "nana" (banana), "mummy", sometimes "daddy". I have also started doing flash cards with him, like I have done for nat. His favourite game is hide and seek and his favourite activity is playing his drums set.

My two babies love dancing. The Wiggles concert DVD never fails to get them up on their feet and dancing away. There is one segment in particular, where the little boys and girls are dancing onscreen and nat will seek for gary, wherever he may be in the house, and she says to him, "Daddy, dance with me!" I know that gary is secretly pleased and told him to enjoy this feeling, after all daddies and their little girls will always have a special bond between them.

Wednesday, 28 October 2009

It's distressing when the kids fall sick. It first started with nat's fever 2 weeks ago, which subsided and was replaced by a cough. She's been hacking away since, even with medicine from the GP. Then the cough spread to me, then gary, and to didi lucas. Yesterday, we brought the kids to the pediatrician and the cough seemed to subside. Today, she woke up and viola! a fever. It's been going up and down since. She's very clingy and whiney to me, refusing to let me out of her sight. Medicine feeding time is a constant struggle with her vomitting out the medicine half the time. Sometimes, I manage to hide the medicine in her milk without her detecting and sometimes she just throws the half-drunk milk back to me. Amidst all that, I feel constant guilt as I can't care for didi, even though he too is nursing a runny nose and cough. Whenever I carry nat, he looks at me longingly. If I even dare venture towards didi lucas, nat will let out a loud wail and cry with big fat tears rolling down her cheeks. Nights are generally when the fever is at its worse and most of the night is spent sponging her down with cold water. I pray that the kids get well soon.

Friday, 23 October 2009

Today, nat spent some one-one-one time with daddy at botanic gardens, while I brought lucas to class at Julia Gabriel. The girl really adores her daddy, they shared an orange juice, pedalled on her bicycle and fed some fish at the pond. Gary was just relating the story of how he wanted to help her wash her hands after feeding the fish but she refused. She wanted to turn on/off the tap by herself. Even during dinner time, she's so cute. She will scoop a spoonful of rice, use her hand to gingerly place a piece of chicken/meat on top, before putting it in her mouth and finishing the whole spoonful with gusto! When she needs to poo, she will request for her potty and after she is settled onto the potty, she will politely ask you to go away. Then she will read her Archie comic, and will only call you back when she is done. If you even try to venture into the loo, you will be chased out by my little girl.

Didi lucas has been teething this past week, lots of drooling, on/off fever and is a cranky boy. He wakes up at 3am, babbles, gives his infamous loud slobbery kisses, and attempts to get off the bed and trots off to the playroom to play his drums/piano in the still of the night. This tired mummy follows him to the playroom, lounges on the mattress and just watches her little boy, wondering where he gets the energy from.

However, I must say, my 2 babies sure can sleep. Their afternoon naps can sometimes last for up to 3 hours. That's when my maid and I get a breather. One of my favourite activities is just sitting down in the room, staring at my 2 sleeping babies, thankful for such beautiful blessings in my life.