Sunday, 18 July 2010

I have not been updating my blog regularly, not too sure why, uninspired, tired, bored? Life goes on day after day. While walking around Funan mall today, I just remembered how Gary and I used to come to this mall a lot, before we were married, just to check out the new tech stuff on the market. Life seemed a lot more carefree then, no kids, no responsibilities, it was just about having fun. Fast forward, it's just been less than a decade, still the same place but there we were, with our two kids. No more checking out the cool tech stuff at our own leisurely pace, with nat running all over the place and lucas doing the same. They are at this age, when they are superbly mobile and perpetually fighting. Just take your eye away for a second and the duo will be off in a flash.

It's great being parents, but I guess sometimes, one just needs to take a breather. After all, no matter how frustrated you feel now, it all melts away when your baby plants a baby fresh kiss on your face, after you fell asleep on the couch, watching Little Einstein with them for like the hundredth time.

Saturday, 10 July 2010

Just the other evening, we caught sight of a beautiful rainbow in the sky. Every stared in awe at it, then nat turned to me and said " Mummy, why is there a rainbow?". Uh-oh! I was like totally blank for a minute, I know the answer right, or do I? Something about light and water and uh light ... haha ... at the moment, the only answer I could think of was "Uh, baby, did you know you can find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?" Phew, it worked and she was distracted.

Later, I googled to find an explanation for how a rainbow is formed. Basically, sunlight shines onto water droplets in the sky, forming a beautiful spectrum of colours through refraction. Hehe, for the record, when I did explain to nat, I kind of left out the word refraction. Hey, give this poor mum a break, it's the end of the work week and I am tired ... and I sure ain't got an explanation of the word "refraction".

Thursday, 8 July 2010

A little treasure that I found in my archives. What a difference 3 years make!

Wednesday, 7 July 2010

I have been missing in action for a bit, busy running around doing stuff, every day I am so wiped out that I totally knock off in bed.

Some updates on the kids: They are officially best of friends and enemies as well. One moment they are hugging and loving each other, another moment, Lucas comes along and whacks Nat on the head while Nat responds by shoving him away. This goes on till one of us comes along to break up the fight. Leave them alone in the backseat, and you will see Lucas struggling out of his car seat to poke Nat while Nat screams at him. Gary gets very kan cheong when he sees this, as for me, I am already used to it, told him to take it easy, just leave them be.

Time passes so quickly. The other day, I was kinda feeling broody moody, and thinking back on the times when I was much younger and used to sleep with Mum during bedtime. We watched TV, read and chatted till we fell asleep. At that moment, it seemed like growing up took forever. Yet, looking back now, that time has just flown by and I do miss it. It's kinda different now, being someone's wife, and mum to two. No more being mummy's gal, no more squeezing onto her bed, no more long walks at the park together (although I still try to do this once in a while). While I do enjoy motherhood, I realise the responsibility is great and I do miss being on the other side of the spectrum.

Didi Lucas is growing increasingly talkative. He can finally say his own name, after much "tuition" from his big sister. Just like his sister, he loves to dance and sway to music. This boy is growing more and more like his dad. When he first wakes up, he will look around and continue lazing in bed. Then, he will gather his towel (just like nat), take a sniff at it and trot out of the room. Next destination, my loungy chair. Again, he will clamber on, relax and chill out on the chair, and even prop his legs up on the swivel chair beside him. Super relaxed, man, he sure knows how to enjoy life!

There are just some things that only Daddies do, like play Chicken Invaders (nat scoffs when I ask her if mummy can play), catch a butterfly (he really is quite an expert), teach them to fly a kite (mine never lifts off the ground, keeps nose-diving), go down the water slides at the theme park (ok, so I am a scaredy cat), do the airplane with them (comprises some acrobatic moves that includes balancing them on your feet, it never fails to get them squealing). Of course, there is so much more, and the kids know it. You just have to look at how excited they get when gary comes home from work and everyone stops what they are doing to rush out to the front door to give daddy a big hug.


Happy Father's Day!

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!