Ding Ding Ding - Bring in the Festive Cheer

The past week was filled with parties and packing the kids schedule with last minute activities before the school reopens next week. The pictures below shall tell the story of what the Tays had been up to...

Xmas Party at my office

Tenting Christmas

Christmas came a little early for the kids - I had Kyla and Lezane decorating the Xmas tree at the end of Nov 09 and also had Kyla to do some craft works related to Xmas. She had made a sock, a xmas tree, a snow man (which the head was cut off) and many others. A couple of days ago, Weikai gave them their first pressie - a tent,which they had happily bunked themselves with pillows, bolsters and toys. Our house is becoming a mini play house for kids.

Farmer, Fox, Bird with Tick Tack Tock by Act 3

The last play Kyla attended was with Mildred at Alliance Francaise. The boys were left at home then. Yesterday, Ivy and I tried our luck in bringing the entire troop out on ourselves without our hubbies. We brought the kids for a 40 min play which the kids enjoyed, except for Randall. It was a free seating play on the floor at the Recital Studio, which I think is very suitable for kids as compared to theatres with chairs. It has lots of room for kids to stretch and run about. To my pleasant surprise, my super active Lezane can sit throughout the play without fuss. I had expected him to run amok in the studio. Also we bought books and had it autographed by the unknown author (at least to me). Overall, it was a great day with the kids. Hope to bring them to more plays in the future.

Sorting game - Shapes

On the very rare occasions that we are home during weekends, I try to engage the kids in arts and crafts and some 'brain food' games if possible. Last weekend, I took out a set of the Montessori sorting game, which Huilin gave to Kyla when she was a year plus for Lezane to try. I thought it would not catch his attention but to my surprise, it kept him engaged for quite a while. I must say he is pretty good for a first attempt. I must keep the momentum going and learn how to use the Logico sets soon.

December - Month of Rekindling Friendship and Kinship

December 2009 had been a month of meeting up with old friends and gatherings with relatives to celebrate the festive season and catching up with one another on each other lifes.

To date ,

1. We met up with an old friend who was back from US with his wife for Xmas hols and had a hearty chat and lunch at a german restaurant at Leban Rd.

2. Had a quick meet up with my cousin, Lili from KL at grandma's place. (but we did not manage to have any photos with her thou)

3. Jiesi and Serene, the mothers club from uni class came over to my place for a chit chat session.See how cute bb Sophie is.

4. Attended Weikai's paternal side X'mas party, whereby Kyla and Lezane were the happiest- beneficiaries of gifts from the aunties and uncles.
5. The annual X'mas party at Huilin's place (coming up).

6. Xmas and New Year's party in office (coming up).

7. JC outing (To be confirmed)

Celebrating Early X'mas with Barney

I did it again! Squeezing with the crowds just to catch a free 20 min Barney Show at United Square. It seems to be a yearly affair for Kyla to watch at least one Barney show. Last year, we caught the show at Lot 1. It is much better as it was near home and she managed to take a photo with Barney without much queuing.

After the Barney show, we spent the evening with a short and breezy stroll at Botanical Gardens to view the 100 Christmas Trees Lightup. When Lezane first entered the garden, he exclaimed "wowh..." He was intrigued by the beautiful sparkling lights in the dark but after a while, he got bored and wanted to be a koala bear again. Kyla and Mildred went around as little photo journalists snapping at each Xmas tree they passed by. I must say they looked really pro in taking the photos. But as for the quality of the photos, you can judge it below.

Witchy business

Kyla: Mummy I am Princess. Papa is Prince
Me: No, papa is King. Didi is Prince
Weikai: No mama is Dowager.
Kyla: What is Dowager? (she thinks for a while). Mummy is Witch.[weikai starts to burst out laughing and kyla starts to giggle]

This shows that I have been disciplining her too much and becoming an old naggy witch.

Balls and Cookies!

Cheryl and Clare had been trying for weeks (infact only two weeks) to arrange for a date with the kids (Mil,Kyla,Randall and Lezane) and finally we got to meet up at their place for some cookie art session for the girls and stairs climbing for the boys. I must say it was a cake tasting evening- we had brandy fruit cake, decadent heavenly chocolate muffins, peanut butter cookies, mango cake and butter cookies. That evening was a 'heavy caloric' one. The girls had a blastful time with decorating the cookies while the boys were simply sweating out by running around. Also, the evening was spent celebrating my three Dec born cousins, Cheryl, Mark and Clare's bday. It seemed that the cake cutting session was meant more for the kids rather than these big kiddoes.

On Saturday, Weikai and I brought the kids to the over hyped Polliwogs at East Coast. It was a small indoor playground but good enough for the kids. However, I was not overly impressed by it. Maybe when we were there, it was crowded for a moment with two parties going on [thankfully, most of the kids all proceeded to the party rooms, leaving much space for us to explore]. Of all the playgrounds i have brought my kids, my first choice would still be Fidgets. It has all the space for the kids and the play areas are catered to all age groups. Overall, I would describe this weekend as A Colourful Weekend of Balls and Cookies...

A Sign of Independence Soon!

Lezane has been 'suffering' recently. He had a bad cough again and had high fever last week, along with 5 tooth cutting thru' his gums. Ouch.. it really took a toll on him. He was super grouchy for many days, refused food for several days and his milk intake was minimal as well. However, this week he was feeling better and last evening, he was on his best behavior.

For the first time, he played with Kyla in the playroom for a good 30-40 min, while i was cleaning up the house after I returned from work. Only once, he came out of the room to look for me, smiled and trodded back to the room. He closed the door behind him as a matter of fact and continued to play. On a usual day, he would need me to carry him or play along side with him. I must be within 1 m radius. The moment he could sense that I would leave his radar for even a second, he would panick and run towards me. This is how sticky he is to me and also to his grandma. Although it was only a brief 30 min duration, I am elated as it is the first time Lezane can do some independent play. This is very much anticipated milestone as I need time for chores and at times for myself too.

O Weekians 281109

It has been a much awaited outing for the Oweekians. It has been postponed several times due to many last minutes hiccups. This outing had a good turn out - with 12 adults and two babies, Cayden and Lucas. We had lunch at 莆田, which I thought was so-so for the price we paid at $240++. It wasnt cheap. We proceeded for ice cream at Azubo, which we played 'nasty' customers. There was a 1-1 promo from 3pm-6pm but we were there at 2pm. Hence we told the waiter to take our orders only at 3pm. We practically sat there and chill out till 3pm. We were really horrible customers I thought to do so.

Cayden added alot of laughter to the group. He was such a cheery and happy baby. He could sit down in his bb chair for about 2 hrs (I think for Lezane to sit in the chair for 2 hrs, he would have screamed his lungs out) and would self entertain himself with his stars puff. Very good boy indeed. Lucas on the other hand, still small, lulled himself to sleep half way and was in a blurried stage most of the time.

It was a very enjoyable meet up. Like what Gerald said, we must go for crooning for our next outing. :-)

Busy Weekend

This weekend was wonderful and activity filled...We had a birthday celebration for Jason at Huilin's home and visited the zoo on the beautiful, windy sunday. Huilin is a superb mom- she homeschools her kids, manages the household very well and every kid's party is carefully thought off and well-planned. Each party is different. This time round, she bought a candy floss machine, much to the kids' delight.

On Sunday evening, I received some good news over sms, which made my day. That pretty much summarises what I did over the weekend.

Kyla's First Graduation!

Kyla has GRADUATED from playgroup! She has attended one year of school. To me, this is a big milestone as it indicates the start of her independence and social network of friends. Over this past year, she has grown from not being able to speak audible words to complete logical sentences. Her linguistic abilities improved by leaps and bounds. She is able to count competently too. She is able to memorise the 2 times table very well. Credit goes to my mother in law. She is also toilet trained since 2 yrs and 3 mths.

People say when they reach 2, it is the Terrible two stage. But for me, it was a TERRIFIC 2 for Kyla. She has also grown to have the unique nature to be a child jester. Every little action/words from her seemed to have this funny spell in them, which tickles anyone. It just comes very natural for her. Although she has a fair share of tantrums, she is a beauty who is well-mannered, good natured, funny, sweet and a strict disciplinarian (towards her brother) and loves going to school for play (not study). She is also our friendly mascot of the Tay family. She says 'hi' to anyone and everyone (thou at times, she would show some attitude.) Her teachers loved her. My girl has definitely grown.. How I wish time would freeze at this moment. I SIMPLY ADORE THIS GIRL OF MINE>>>

Corporate Highlights 2009

The past week had been crazy for me and my colleague Pauline. We were busy preparing for our filming of our annual Corporate Highlights Video, which showcase our achievements of our students and staff. One student was asking us who is the producer and guess we are the ones- getting talents for the shoot, preparing the logistics, getting approvals, etc etc. at times, we backuped as makeup artists, co-director and kopi auntie. It was tiring but was fun. I've got to know many people from the Colleges and learn new things each day. The most enjoyable shoot was the scene at the Geriatric lab. The filming crew had lots of fun playing with the mockup patients. We too had a enjoyable time looking at what the crew did to the 'patients'. Overall, was great fun and hope the video turned out well.

Filming on Set

Behind the scenes

What has Lezane been Up to>>>

I realised that there are several posts on Kyla and too little on Lezane. However, that does not mean that Lezane is the neglected one in the family. In fact, he 'consumes' much of our energy level and attention everyday.

Ever since Lezane has gained his mobility, he has been on the move 24/7- like an energizer bunny. He is always roaming around to find something to touch and throw on the floor. Recently, he has gotten into the habit of grabbing a pen/pencil and start to doodle on the walls and on the floor, which is very much to Weikai's and my exasperation. We have to constantly remind him to draw/write on the paper but he just doesn't get it most of the time, he simply wants to do things the "Lezane's Way".

So what is Lezane's Way? Lezane is a very stubborn boy - he will have to insist on his way most of the time, otherwise he will throw into tantrum fits. For example, he hates wearing shoes when seated and so he will rub both his soles to remove his shoes and gets really frustrated when the shoes refused to 'drop out' just like that. Also, he hates to hold on to his milk bottle (very lazy boy). When we refused to hold for him, he will take the bottle and throw the bottle away, spilling milk on the bed and floor. He loves to shower and play with water but he adhors to the fact that he needs to be dried after playing. He will scream, shout, arch his back, kick and all sorts of rebellious acts follow after the moment he is taken out of the bathroom. These few egs show very evidently how naughty he is. Well, Lezane has his very sweet moments too. He loves giving kisses on the lips and cheeks. He will also wake up with the widest and sweetest smile when he is awake in the morning. He has a very cheeky look when he sticks out his tongue. When he sees Kyla getting a hug from Weikai, he will also go towards Weikai to get a hug too. He is at the stage of mimicing whatever Kyla does now and it gets very cute when we see the both of them trying to mimic what each other does. For eg, Kyla will rinse her mouth with her cup after brushing and he follows suit but for him he will end up swallowing the water and spit out his saliva instead of water.

Lezane does not love books. To him books are toys. He gets them out from the shelves and off it goes on the floor and back to the shelves and so on and so forth. Many a times, I tried to read to him a pg or two, he will start to take the book from me and throw it away. So I got the hint and went to paste pictures/words on the wall hoping he wants to look at them. Again, I failed. Guess he is just not ready for study yet. haha...He must be thinking- I am a baby mummy why stress me out so early.

I must say my boy has got rhythm in him. He grooves when there is music and loves playing with musical instruments. Sometimes, he hums along with the music too. It is an area which I think I will further develop him when he is older. But one thing for sure, I do not want him to be a dancer (hahah I am setting some expectations here already).

As for now, I just hope he will pass the current phase of throwing things and screaming his head off and running wild in malls like a very undisciplined child. And may my 'relax' phase for him will start soon.

Going marketing talk

I brought Kyla to the supermarket and we were on the way home with a heavy trolley and my hand full of groceries. She offered to pull the trolley and I agreed. Our conversation during our walk back home from the carpark is:

Kyla: Mummy, I want to pull.
Me: Ok. Hold on like me and look in front. (she follows suit and trodded along)
Me: Kyla, walk on.. walk... walk faster. (I was carrying a very heavy bag and wanted her to walk faster)
Kyla: Mummy, see...I am WALKING (getting frustrated with me and spoke in a very resolute tone)
M: My hands are breaking (emphasising the need for her to walk briskly)
Kyla: Let me see your hand. (inspecting my hand and said) No mummy, your hand no break.

How to answer her back... she made me laugh all the way home...

Life of a Domestic Engineer

My mother-in-law is away for hols and I have taken over her role as my children main care giver for a week. This time round, I have not planned anything for the week as Kyla was still schooling. Any outings or shopping was adhoc and slotted in as and when we have the time.

Every morning is a routine. I have to wake up at 7.30am to prepare Kyla and Lezane breakfast and get both of them ready for Kyla's school at 9am. For breakfast, I have tried to replace Kyla's daily biscuits with more nutritious meal such as sandwiches, buns, etc. However, she is still not eating much of it. I hope as the days goes by, I can change her mindset to eating healthier and hence getting less chubbier (which may be much to the dismay of my in-laws).

Before Kyla goes off into her class, she will remind me constantly for me to wait outside for her when the time arrives for me to pick her up. After sending Kyla to school, I will spend that two hours with Lezane before Kyla is back from school. Usually, we will take a stroll in his stroller (with him eating his breakfast) around the neighbourhood, going to coffeeshop to get breakfast, buy things from the provision shop etc. We will then end up in Ivy's house to get him more food and play with Randall.

At 11am, off we go on to the streets again to pick Kyla up from school. She will then start to share what she has done in class and 'show off' her worksheets to me (this must be my trait, i love doing that when I was young. I must say she has many similar traits as me). After 11am, it is time to feed them lunch and get them to nap. However, Kyla refuses to nap and sometimes we will end up going shopping (went to Lot 1 and Jurong Pt) or to the gym (Kidzamaze at Safra, Jurong). The gym had a weekday promotion and it costs only $15 for 3 kids and 2 adults - it is a very cheap way to spend the afternoon and burn-out the kids. We have also gone to Popo house for the weekly Heng gatherings and the kids entertained themselves with arts and crafts and walking around the neighbourhood.

Overall, I had an enjoyable time with the kids. Each morning, they greet me with kisses and broad smiles are all that I need to make me go through each day with energy and thankfulness.

Animal Resort 311009

I am never a fan of animals. Or simply put, i do not like animals at all. However, for the sake of my children, I will try my best to bring them for zoo and farm excursions with the 'help' of Weikai (he will be the one who will carry them around, pet animals, feed the animals, etc and I will be at a distant, playing the role of the camera man).

On Halloween day, the sun was bright but was a very cooling day for a farm visit (due to the heavy rain on the previous night). Kyla being an animal enthusiast (thou she is afraid of some), she cannot wait to visit the Animal Resort at Seletar Farmway. It is a free entry farm with a good collection of animals - one good looking horse, a couple of crown pigeons, chickens, fish, parrots, dogs, rabbits, peacocks and a fiery bunch of geese (which made me freeze with Kyla at the rabbit cage at one point in time). The only payment was for the animal feed. Kyla and Lezane had a fun time feeding the animals, while I can't wait to get out of the place as the geese were free roaming so much so that I have to constantly look out for their existence, just in case I need to make an emergency escape.

After the visit, we have a comfortable brunch at the Jln Kayu Roti Prata shop. It was one of the rare meal that Lezane would sit still for a good period of time to eat and Kyla tucking in happily with her all time favorite prata kosong and ice milo (this is how she gets chubby). It was indeed a pleasant day to start off a weekend.

Getting Kyla and Lezane to Read

Each time I pass by a bookshop or view an online bookshop for children, I will tend to 'overbuy' books for Kyla and Lezane. I have many books at home, but they are seldom read by the kids, especially Lezane. Well, I hope, one day, my kids will automatically pick up a book and enjoy reading. My financial controllers,Weikai and Ivy kept telling me that I have so many books, but why am I still spending money on buying more. But I still cannot help but buy and buy...

Now, I have to prompt Kyla to read and bring a book to Lezane, only to have him flip to the back of the book and throw it away. It really makes me wonder if I too boring in the way I engage and teach my kids, so much so that they are so disinterested in reading or maybe, I am just not meant to teach them, must outsource teaching to the outsiders (an excuse for me to send them for enrichment classes).

Whenever I have time, after finishing all the housework, I will try to get Kyla to read and do some handwriting exercises. However, we always end up doing cutting and pasting activities, which is Kyla's favorite activity to-date. I must try to get her interested in Mathematics and learn simple addition and substraction and words recognition. Some people may think she is is too young to learn the abstract logic of Maths and learning words, but to me, never underestimate a child's capacity to learn. As for Lezane, I am trying my best to fit in very short reading time (ie 2 min) with him in between his play. I think he is an experiential learner, while Kyla is both experiential and listener learner.

With our impending plans to move out and being a kiasu mummy, I am starting to buy & stock up workbooks (English, Chinese), books, music CDs, educational materials and etc, so that I will not run out of ideas and activities to teach the kids. Just today alone, I spent $100 on buying simple Science concept books for them. If Weikai knows about it, he will kill me for sure (I have been spending far too much lately...)

Kyla Speaks Again

I was cradling Lezane in my arms and he had dropped his bread on the floor.

Me: Kyla, can you help Mummy to grab tissue from the box on the table please?
Kyla: Mummy, you are a big girl. You can take the tissue yourself. You can, you know.
[she took the box to me but refused to take the tissue out. Instead, she insisted that I take it out myself and pick up the bread crumbs.]

She always use our words on us.

Did he just say Let's Go?

"Shall we go for a holiday? To LA, Paris, HK or Japan where Disneyland is," Weikai asked. Hmm.. months ago, I was trying to convince him to travel and he was not for it at all. Last Fri, he msged me and say let's go for a trip using our free tickets. But now, I am not really for it as all the destinations are going to cost us a bomb and with Lezane in tow, I think is going to be really a challenging trip for me. Shall discuss further with Weikai tonight...

You think you can SQUEEZE

Lezane loves playing hide and seek. Look at his latest hideout with his sister.