胡家庄

Milk Strike!

2012-01-26T21:16:00.002+08:00

For the past 2 weeks, Tyra has not been drinking well again. :( She doesn't finished her milk, usually drinks half of it or totally rejects the bottle. This happens especially in the morning and most recently she is pursing her lips, shaking her head and doesn't want to drink milk before bed. How? How? How? What should we do? :(((

This is so unlike the last time when she doesn't drink well and eat well when she was teething. This time it is only milk strike. She still eats her porridge. Is it really teething or she totally doesn't like milk anymore? Oh gosh! What cam we do? Trisha never gave us this problem before. We are going to change her milk powder and try again. She is really an obstinate girl. She's going to childcare center next week. I have a feeling the milk strike will get worse! :(

Gosh! I really hope this strike ends....TOMORROW! :(

新年快乐！

2012-01-23T23:31:00.006+08:00

大年初一

大年初二

Reunion Dinner

2012-01-15T23:08:00.006+08:00

This evening we had reunion dinner with Mummy's side of family at this place which used to be Mummy's Primary School. Now it had become like a community center-like place.

Anyway, to be honest, food isn't that great but the company was!

With Aunty Jac and Uncle Sylvester

Why is my food not here yet!?? *angry* hehehe

二姑婆 and family

The other elders

The youngsters

Lo hei loh!

Let's start!

Huat ah!

Huat Huat ah!

HUAT HUAT HUAT AH!!!

Playing Doctor

2012-01-14T23:26:00.003+08:00

One of Trisha's favourite pretend playtime!

Nurse Tyra helping carry the doctor's bag

Doctor Daddy checking on Patient Trisha

Checking heartbeat

Nurse giving a helping hand...hahahha

Potty Training Again

2012-01-14T22:49:00.000+08:00

Still enjoying her time on the potty

I don't want to sit on it already!

Get me out!

CNY Chinatown Excursion - 13 Jan 2012

2012-01-13T22:45:00.001+08:00

Today, Trisha went on an excursion to Chinatown for Chinese New Year! It was a pretty hot day but it was fun!

The children gets to see the Chinese New Year decorations, the shops selling all sorts of new year goodies and they get to buy and pay for new year decorations! =)

Click on the picture below to see what we saw and learned in Chinatown!

Trisha Turns Five!!!!

2012-01-11T23:30:00.003+08:00

School Celebrations!
Click on the picture below to see more pictures!

Presents Galore!

2012-01-11T23:10:00.000+08:00

Firstly, we will like to thank everyone who has come to the party and given Trisha such lovely presents! She loves them all!

So many presents!

Card from Jing Ting

Stormy Seas from Isaac, Hello Kitty beads from Ruth and colour markers for Tyra from Kaira!

Mummy's, Daddy's and Tyra's present for Trisha!

From Wai Yee

Tyra also wants to try it out!

Hair colouring set from Charlotte 姐姐

Bear and Bathrobe from Junliang

Scrabble from Ryan

Ice-cream Jenga from Kaira

Not sure who gave this Monopoly Junior...=p

Thank you Aunty Sue for the Princess and Tinkerbell book!

Dora Bag and hairband/hairclips from Jieren.

Another bear from someone unknown...=p

Bathtowel and tissue storage box! Cute but not sure who to thank! =p

Spot the difference!
By who? Don't know! =p

Thanks Meredith!

HAMA beads from Estelle. =)

Tyra's Vaccination Update

2012-01-11T23:07:00.002+08:00

Today we brought Tyra to her vaccination jabs. The 2nd last ones and she'll be certified as fully vaccinated! =)

We really didn't like to go for vaccination, not because she will cry or after the jabs, she could have fever (actually we didn't like the fever...) but because of the long wait even though we called and made appointment. What a lousy inefficient doctor we went to.

Anyway, today we waited for 1 hour before we get to go for the vaccination and we were overtaken by 1-2 patients and was given a stupid reason by the nurse. Luckily Tyra was a good girl and didn't make a fuss while waiting.

Due to the pneumoccocal jab, she may have fever and indeed, she's having one now at 37.8C. Dutifully given her doses of panadol and hope it will go away tomorrow. Recover soon, my darling. Mummy and Daddy don't like to see you or Trisha 姐姐 being sick and uncomfortable. =(

PS: Tyra's 10.7 kg according to the doctor's scale.

5th Birthday Party Videos

2012-01-08T23:31:00.000+08:00

Starting the party with a bang!

Warming up

Obstacle course!

On the gym cart

Flying fox

Birthday song

Trisha's 5th Birthday Party!!

2012-01-08T23:30:00.000+08:00

We had started planning a surprise birthday party for Trisha's 5th birthday since end Nov. We managed to keep it under wraps from her but there were signs that she knew something was going on. Because we left the invitation cards in her classmates' communication book and her friends showed it to her! We had to bluff her that's for her school celebration...heheh and luckily she accepted that reason. Phew!

As the day drew nearer, we had no choice but to tell her on the day before else she will be asking where we are bringing her and why are we bringing the cake, goodie bags and all...hehhehe. We told her we are going to a kids gym and there will be a party. When we told her it's her party, she didn't exactly look surprised or extremely excited..hhhmm...maybe she didn't really know what to expect...hahah. So this Mummy was a tad bit disappointed that she wasn't that surprised or excited. But nonetheless, we hope she will enjoy herself. And boy! I'm sure she did! =)

Photos as evidence!

Birthday decorations at JWT Kids Gym!

A Princess Theme...

Guests arriving....

Happy Birthday, Princess Trisha!

Starting the fun! Errmm...Tyra, it's not your birthday, you know!

Obstacle course

Tyra having a go at it too!

Tyra making friends with Charlotte!

Playing limbo rock!

Next up, pushing with the gym cart...Difficult!

Going for the Skyride (flying fox!)
Videos in another post

Princess cake

With Wai Yee and Weng Sing

With Jing Ting, Neilson, Meredith and Wayhan

With Junliang, Jieren and Shiloh

Bubbles Time!

Snowball fight with the parents!

Goodie bag time!

THANKS FOR COMING AND HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYED THEMSELVES!!!

Potty Time For Tyra

2012-01-07T23:23:00.003+08:00

Today, Tyra didn't poop for the whole day till evening time. She was farting the whole day and passing smelly gas....really smelly ones. So we knew she most likely will poop in the evening. So after dinner, I decided to let her sit on the potty and she really pooped in it!

But guess what? When she saw her own poop, she was scared. Actually I stood her up after she's done with her business, showed her the "product" and attempted to sit her down on the potty to try to see if she still had somemore to go. But she immediately started crying with her hands to her face and wanted me to 抱抱 and get her up from the potty. She turned around and pointed and patted her chest indicating she's 怕怕....Hahhaha...she's scared of her poop! I guess she didn't understand where it came from or maybe she's scared why something like that came from her? Anyway, it was a pretty funny moment. =)

Sisters Drawing Together

2012-01-01T23:31:00.001+08:00

Some photos of the sisters enjoying drawing together...

And I must say that Tyra holds the pen/pencil VERY WELL! *proud mummy* =)

We love to draw together!

This is how I hold the pen

This is how I draw

This is how I pose for photo...=p

Back to drawing...

Yoga position for drawing...hehehe

Trisha teaching Tyra =)

End Of Another School Year....

2011-12-30T15:36:00.001+08:00

Here's her report book and year book for Nursery. =)

Report book:

Yearbook:

Party Goodie Bag

2011-12-29T22:38:00.002+08:00

In preparation for Trisha's 5th birthday party! Hope the kids enjoy the goodie bags!

Suncatcher keychains, 小馒头, honey sweet, marshmallow and pocky sticks!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T22:23:00.002+08:00

Met up with Mummy's best friend, Aunty Guoyi and family tonight for dinner. Aunty is almost due for her baby girl, Caelyn and in fact she was already in the midst of the labour (having slight show in the morning and contractions) but she didn't even realised it! Luckily her water bag didn't burst during our dinner! She had the fastest delivery, almost within 30 mins of reaching the hospital! Hahha...very dramatic!

Trisha's Christmas present from Aunty Guoyi. =) She loves it! Thanks!

And Tyra with her present. =)

Picnic In The House

2011-12-25T22:38:00.002+08:00

Tyra's latest favourite toys....cooking food! So we decided to have a picnic in the house!

Knocks And Bruises

2011-12-25T22:26:00.003+08:00

Tyra is very prone to knocks n bruises ever since she can walk. She will run whenever she is excited or when she thought we are "chasing" her. Hence she trips and falls flat easily and hurt herself. Today was one of the more serious times. She fell and bit her own upper lip. There's a fair amount of blood n crying. Now her lip seemed swollen. Hope it won't affect her milk drinking or mealtimes tomorrow! :(

Lies From Trisha

2011-12-25T21:59:00.002+08:00

I am very sad n disappointed. Today I caught Trisha telling a lie. This is the 2nd time.

The first time happened a month or so back. She opened Tyra's water bottle and spilled water on the floor. She came running to me saying she didn't know how it happened and that she didn't open the bottle. Of course I knew she was lying. And I know she's afraid I will scold her hence she said she didn't know how it happened. I didn't scold her. I cleared up the puddle n told her to be careful in future. However In the car when going over to the grandparent's place, I asked her again. I told her it is wrong to tell lies and I will not scold her if she tells the truth even if she did something wrong. I asked her if she is afraid I will scold her hence her lying. She said yes. So I told her again as long as she tells the truth when she did wrong, I won't scold her. So case closed.

Today she poured milk away and told me she finished and didn't know there's a little bit left and it spilled into the sink when she put the cup in the sink. Somehow I knew she is lying because I knew she didn't want to finish the milk. So again I told her it is wrong to lie and it makes Mummy and Daddy sad. If she has a reason not to finish the milk, she can tell me. And that is when she told me "Mummy, I'm full that's why I didn't finished the milk and poured it away. Just now I forgot this had happen that's why I said I finished the milk."

Is Trisha turning into a liar? I feel sad whenever I think of her lies. Am I scolding too much that she is so scared of me that she has to tell lies? This time I had to punish her otherwise she might think it is alright to lie. Parenting is really tough! :(( And I still have a long way to go!

Canvas Art

2011-12-24T22:15:00.003+08:00

Her friend from school gave this to her.

Getting ready to do art again.

This is how it looks without colour...

Trisha hard at work

The final product, of course with Mummy's help to touch up...=p

Jing Ting's 5th Birthday Party

2011-12-18T15:59:00.005+08:00

First of all, we want to thank Jing Ting for inviting Trisha to her 5th birthday party! =)

Mummy is actually flying off to Guangzhou for work today and luckily there's the birthday party to distract Trisha so that she won't be too sad about Mummy going away for 5 days.

Here's some photos taken by Daddy to show how much fun Trisha had!

With the birthday girl. =)

Wheeeeee...

See how sweaty Trisha is

Angry Bird cakes and cupcakes

First Yamaha Concert - End Of Term

2011-12-18T15:00:00.010+08:00

After 6 months of learning keyboard at Yamaha, today is the end of term concert where Trisha has to play a few songs together with her classmates, sing with her classmates and play solo on Teacher Vera's piano. =) I must say she certainly did VERY well. =)

Tyra is there to show her support!

Performing a song with her classmates.

Videos:

Singing the song "Colourful Cats"

Playing solo. Song-Cuckoo Clock

Singing solfege (Do, Re, Mi) with her friends

Playing on keyboard. Song-See You Tomorrow

Playing "I'm A Shoemaker"

Tyra Wants To Play Piano

2011-12-17T23:21:00.001+08:00

2011 Parent Teacher Conference

2011-12-17T16:44:00.003+08:00

This conference took place on 10 Dec. Didn't have a chance to update till now.

Trisha's doing GREAT in school. She loves school, she loves her teachers, she loves her friends. She's learning well and very independent in school (but lazy at home!). Teachers do not have much to "complain" about her. =p We are still working on improvement her EQ, that is to throw less tantrums and know how to control her feelings/emotions. We are happy that she is improving in that area too. =)

Teachers have commented that she is very creative and daring with her colouring and think this is an area she has done well.

I like this school because the teachers will do a scrapbook for each and every one of the children and I'll post the photos up soon. =p

Next year in K1, she's going to have more fun! Thankfully, Ms Amanda is going to K1 with Trisha even though we'll miss 张老师. She has really taught Trisha well in Chinese and in turn, Trisha loves Chinese which help to set a good foundation! Thanks a million! We'll looking forward to having 宋老师 in K1 too! Another great teacher who can instill fun into learning Chinese! =)

Hoping that 2012 will be full of excitement for Trisha and of course Tyra too who will be starting her own educational journey in Feb!

Invitations Are Out!

2011-12-17T16:40:00.006+08:00

Planning a surprise 5th birthday party for Trisha and it's all fun for the kids! Hope she loves it cos the next big celebration will probably be many more years down the road...hehehe.

If you not invited, don't be sad because it is not that we do not want you to celebrate with us but there are limited spaces and really, unless you are a kid, you will most probably be bored at this party! Hehehe. Stay tuned!

Foam Art - Tractor

2011-12-17T16:13:00.002+08:00

Did this all by herself. =) A good way for her to "play" on her own. =)

2011 Christmas Party In School!

2011-12-16T16:08:00.011+08:00

Let the pictures do the talking!

Santa Isaac getting ready

Tyra is playing with Santa's sister, Charlotte

What a spread!

With Meredith

Cupcakes from one of her classmates

Gingerbread snowman from Cherelle! =)

The "REAL" Santa is here! Are all of you good children???

Handy Tyra!

Gift Exchange time!

Thank you Meredith!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! =)

That Terrible Molar

2011-12-12T16:07:00.002+08:00

Finally, we saw it. The culprit for more than a month's torture for Tyra and us....

Her right bottom molar is out!

Tyra's Food Strike Is Over!

2011-12-11T21:59:00.002+08:00

We are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel! Tyra has improved on her food n milk intake since Friday!

During this weekend, she started asking for food again with her "ah ah" mouth wide open when she sees food. We were so happy to see that! And she finished the usual amount of food that she ate before the food strike! :)

She seemed to be sleeping better too. Waking only once in a night.

The reason for the change? Her molar is out! Yippee! :) Finally our worrying can stop.

Trisha & Her Nagging

2011-12-11T21:55:00.003+08:00

On the way to Vivocity, Trisha caught Daddy digging his nose while driving. Guess what she said?

Daddy! Concentrate on driving! Stop digging your nose!

Hahaha. I sure had a good laugh!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

2011-12-07T21:22:00.006+08:00

On 18 Mar 2009, she learned to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

Today, on 7 Dec 2011, she knows how to play it on the piano! =)

Good job Trisha!

Finally after 5 years, the piano is back HOME...heheh. Hope Trisha will be more interested in learning music now.

Tyra On Pseudo Food Strike =(

2011-12-03T23:05:00.002+08:00

Half a month back, I was complaining about Tyra not sleeping and eating well....it is still the same....

But we think she doesn't like the porridge texture anymore. When we gave her the chicken, pork only, she eats it willingly. So maybe she likes to chew her food now. So we're going to start her on rice now. Hope she will like it and stop her food strike.

And if it is really her teeth giving her problems...TEETH! please come out soon!!! =(

She Wants To Go "Gai-Gai"

2011-12-03T23:01:00.002+08:00

Shoes + shopping bag...

Foam Art By Trisha

2011-12-03T22:53:00.006+08:00

Bought 4 of these foam art from a bulk purchase online. Trisha spent one hour plus diligently doing this piece of art fun!

Getting ready...

It's empty now...

Almost complete!

There! She did it....all on her own!

Playing a fool with the remnant stickers....

The completed work - displayed in the cabinet. =)

Dancing And Singing Princess Tyra

2011-12-03T22:51:00.003+08:00

Tyra dancing to Trisha's Yamaha song

Tyra singing along (or more like screaming along) to Trisha's Yamaha song - Frogs in the groove

Guess What She Is Saying...

2011-12-01T23:01:00.004+08:00

Answer: Arigatou gozaimasu (Thank you in Japanese)

Interactive Tyra

2011-11-29T21:43:00.004+08:00

At 17 months old, she can "communicate" with us and understand simple instructions to hand us things, "tell" us what she wants, eg pointing to water bottle and saying 水 , "tell" us where she is hurt by saying "pain, pain".

So much more fun "talking" to her cos she responds to it...hahah...

And she's a copy cat! Whatever Trisha is doing, she wants to do it too. Eg, when Trisha is drinking water, Tyra will hurry to where her bottle is and start drinking too...hahha...super cute. =)

When we carry her to sleep, she will automatically say "du-du" which means pacifier. =p I recall there was this period of time that she doesn't want Daddy to carry her to sleep and she'll cry and cry and try to get out of Daddy's arms to crawl to me. And when I'm carrying her, she waved bye bye to Daddy. It was such a funny moment...she's saying bye bye to Daddy so that he will leave and not carry her to sleep. Really a classic moment. =)

Nowadays she's not sleeping well at night and wakes up at least 2 times crying. We think it's teething and hope it is teething and this phase will pass soon. She actually woke up last Sat morning and pointed to her mouth and says "pain pain".....hhmmm.....must be teething.

She doesn't want to eat porridge too...will eat half a bowl and start having to distract her with spoon/bowl etc. She's unlike Trisha who can still be easily distracted with TV but for Tyra, if she doesn't want, she'll purse her lips tight...super tight! =(

We are also trying to train her to hold her own milk bottle but she will hold for 1-2 sec then take it out and ask for things to play with and we'll have to hold the bottle for her. Arrrgggghhh! Trisha can hold her own bottle at 13 mths old! Tyra definitely has more "bad" habits than Trisha! =(

Anyway, our darling Tyra is really growing up....too fast!

Trisha Can Read "Peter and Jane"

2011-11-28T22:13:00.005+08:00

Since beginning of this year, we have started Trisha on reading the Peter and Jane series but we were never really disciplined in reading with her. In the last few months, we started again and to keep her interest, we tried to only read a few pages a night. Now with the teachers in school teaching blending words, she seems more interested to read and able to "blend" simple words together to read. Now we are on to Book 3a. =)

Water Play At The Zoo!

2011-11-28T21:50:00.000+08:00

Childcare center was closed for a day so brought the girls to the zoo at discounted zoo tickets from my company. Weather was good - sunny!

We set off at 9am and reached about 9.30am. Mummy prepared porridge and fried rice for them so that we do not have to feed them junk food (KFC) later. =p What a great Mummy! =) Anyway, the highlight of the trip was to bring Trisha for water play. And boy, did she enjoy herself! Luckily she didn't throw a tantrum when it's time to go. =)

As for Tyra, being cooped in the stroller isn't much fun. =( Don't worry, darling, we'll be back definitely when you can start playing on such things with Trisha! =)

Backdated Posts For Nov

2011-11-28T21:42:00.005+08:00

Was going through my handphone pictures and had to do a few backdated posts for Nov. =)

Trisha's Artwork
Trisha Wrote Her Chinese Name!
Tyra's Recent Haircut
Bitten By Something

Funny Conversation With Trisha

2011-11-27T22:07:00.002+08:00

Mummy bought a set of girl's toy jewellery (necklace, bracelet and ring) for Trisha but didn't want to tell Trisha it's for her. The little girl saw the package and ask who is it for. She thinks it's for her but Mummy bluffed her that it's for Mummy to wear cos Mummy doesn't have necklace and bracelet. Trisha looks a bit disappointed but after 1-2 sec, she looked at Mummy expectantly and said....

Trisha: Mummy, you share with me right?

Both of us burst out laughing....

Slacked In Blogging

2011-11-26T22:27:00.006+08:00

I have been slacking on the blogging. =( As can be seen from the number of post in Nov compared to other months.

Why?

First reason - I was away on a work trip for a week.
Second reason - We always go to 婆婆's house for dinner and usually don't bring camera over hence the lack of photos = lack of blogging...nothing interesting to blog.
Third reason - I'm getting lazy...hehehe...been watching TVB serials instead of blogging. =p
Fourth reason - I'm getting senile, sometimes I can't remember what happened the day before....signs of old age...=((

Anyway, will try to catch up in Dec! More festivals and I will be diligent in capturing their daily life in photos!

Happy 17 months to Tyra! You are super cute! Just like your sister! How I really wish I can stay home and spend it with you, just like I did with Trisha. I was thinking about it so much that I even dreamt that Daddy got an overseas assignment again that I don't have to work anymore for 1-2 years again. The best part, he's posted to a nearer country that I can still stay in Singapore and not move at all but I can also stay home and not have to work! Best of both worlds...heheh...but alas...it is ALL A DREAM....sob...sob...=p

Tea Party Time!

2011-11-20T22:21:00.004+08:00

Making tea and food for everyone!

Let's make tea...

Stir...stir..stir...

Let me try to see how it taste...

Oooohh.....nice tea. See how I'm enjoying it....with eyes closed...

Trisha & Playdoh

2011-11-19T22:13:00.003+08:00

I never like Trisha to play with Playdoh cos she always make a mess and play in such a way that there are millions of Playdoh flakes to clear up.

So when she requested to play that today, I was hesitant. But after promising she will play it "properly", I relented. I also got Daddy to "supervise" and play with her while I try to get Tyra to nap. =)

And guess what they made using the moulds provided? Great job Daddy and Trisha! Seems like both of you had fun without Tyra and I. =)

Squeezing with all her might!

Can you tell what these are?

Bitten By Something

2011-11-17T22:10:00.003+08:00

Not sure how she got this insect bite but it was swollen and reddish. =( It went away after a day of anti septic cream being administered on the area...phew...

I hope the bed bug didn't get into her bed from Trisha's bed! We have already changed Trisha's mattress. So far so good for Trisha but it seems to be Tyra's turn now. =(

Tyra's Recent Haircut

2011-11-16T22:04:00.004+08:00

Tyra's hair is getting longer and thicker...time for a trim!

BEFORE

So long I need to tie up the fringe!

AFTER

Neater and fresher looking!

Mummy says I have a helmet on my head...hehehe

What Is Wrong With Tyra?

2011-11-15T16:18:00.002+08:00

Eversince we came back from Taipei, she has gotten into the BAD habit of waking up a few times at night! =((

At first we thought it was teething time again but no, that was not it. We sure hope it was! =p What's worse is that in the last week that I was on business trip, Tyra started to drink and eat less. And no, it is not because she misses me cos she still drinks less and eat less now. Her milk feeds are about 150 ml and she will usually drink up to 100ml and that's it. And she doesn't hold her own bottle (so UNLIKE Trisha...sigh..). She has to have a toy in her hands to play with and we have to hold her bottle for her, else she won't drink her milk...AT ALL!!! =(

Then she seems to dislike eating porridge now. She'll only manage to finish half a bowl. Why? Why? Why? She's already quite small size and short and she want to play food strike! Ok, not exactly food strike but she is not interested in food anymore! Oh no! And we used to think she'll be easier to feed than Trisha! She's very stubborn too! No means no and she'll purse her lips and shake her head vigorously! Trisha at least 比较好骗, just give her TV and she'll eat but this doesn't work on Tyra. Sigh.....

When will she stop waking up so many times at night and get back to a good eating habit!!!!!?????

Sometimes I really wish I'm not a working mum and can stay home to sort all these out and train Tyra and spend lots of time teaching her just like I did for Trisha. Why can't I be VERY rich that I do not have to work? Sigh....guess I just have to keep dreaming...hehehehhe....

Trisha Wrote Her Chinese Name!

2011-11-06T21:55:00.003+08:00

We are so, so proud of Trisha. She has mastered how to write her own Chinese name - 胡颖翎.

It was easy teaching her since she already knew how to write the surname "胡" (thanks to 张老师). I just broke up the characters part by part to teach her how to write 颖 and 翎. This is my method:

For "颖", the top left is 七 without the tail, bottom left is 木 with a slanted hat, the right side is 人 wearing a helmet...hahha...Did a similar way with "翎" and coupled with 张老师's teaching on which 笔画 comes first, she got it right after a few tries!

Then we also taught her how to write Tyra's name since only one character is different...next time, it's up to her to teach Tyra! =p

Sisterly Love

2011-11-05T16:13:00.005+08:00

Tyra really loves Trisha a lot or I should say Trisha is Tyra's favourite person in the family.

Everytime, we ask Tyra to hug us or kiss us, she usually doesn't do it but whenever Trisha gets near her, Tyra ALWAYS wants to hug her. When Tyra wakes up in the morning, we'll ask her to "kiss kiss" but she only will kiss her sister. It is just so so sweet to see them so loving. =)

Hug Hug

Loves to see them hug!

Kiss Kiss =)

Having fun together!

Deepa-Raya Celebrations

2011-11-05T15:36:00.004+08:00

No, we are not Indians nor Malays but our estate held a Deepa-Raya Celebration party and we joined in the fun too! There was a colouring contest which Trisha joined. But we didn't know if she won cos the winner was only announced at 10pm and she's fast asleep. =p Guest of honour was the MP for Jurong GRC and since it was a celebration of the Indian and Malay festival, the buffet dinner was typical Indian food. =( Didn't really enjoy that since we don't really like Indian food. In the end, Daddy has to drive out to buy KFC for Trisha. Sigh....but anyway, it was good to join in the celebrations with our neighbours. =)

At the colouring contest

Guest of Honour

Trisha concentrating on her colouring

Ta-daa! Her masterpiece...very creative colouring...the boy and girl are "sunburnt"!

Trisha's Artwork

2011-11-04T21:40:00.005+08:00

She did this in school today. =)

The teacher drew the ship and sun for her. She did the colouring and added in the shark and fishes.

She told me that the shark is eating the smaller fish and the 2 fishes on the right are escaping hence jumping out of the water. =) She's really very good in her colouring. So proud of her. Her art skills are definitely from me!

Tyra Talks

2011-11-01T15:25:00.001+08:00

Tyra calling "公公和婆婆"

Tyra saying "please"

Little Drummer Girl

2011-10-30T15:53:00.001+08:00

Following in the footsteps of her sister.....

姐妹装

2011-10-29T15:49:00.002+08:00

Introducing their first ever 姐妹装!

Bottoms bought from Taipei

I have a few more other 姐妹装 sets! Will let them wear at Trisha's 5th birthday! =)

Making Train Tracks

2011-10-29T15:45:00.001+08:00

We bought this train toy in Taiwan and Trisha insisted on having train tracks so we did our own! With colourful ice cream sticks!

Dancing Queen

2011-10-28T22:24:00.003+08:00

Tyra is definitely more musically inclined than Trisha at this age. She'll put her arms up high and turn round and round when there's music. =) I can't right the video...=(

Report Card At 16 Months

2011-10-26T22:49:00.004+08:00

Today, Tyra is 16 months old.

Report card for her:

1. Vital Stats: She is a SHORTIE! At least compared to her sister who is already 80cm tall at 15 months. Tyra is a miserable 76cm! =( It's ok, as long as she's growing well. She hasn't put on much weight too though, been stagnant at 9.6-10kg while Trisha is about 10-10.5kg at the same age. Hmmm....is the milk powder in Holland better? Better, stronger cows in Holland? Maybe the fresher air in Holland helps...but I think Tyra's hyper-activeness and can't seem to stop walking resulted in her "slim" and "trim" figure.

2. Speech: She's picking up words and some of the clearer ones are of course calling papa, mama, por por, baby, yiyi, 怕怕, bye bye. Some not so clear ones are 姐姐, apple (she says per per), bananas (nana to her), book (she says pook). Now she knows how to use the phone and pretends to make phone calls and will "talk" on the phone...SUPER funny.

3. Character: BAD temper...or at least she only displayed it when we or Trisha take something away from her (of course with good reason to remove the object from her!). She'll cry or scrunch up her face in displeasure. She's very playful and cheery. Not scared of strangers at all! Will smile and wave bye bye and sometimes, give them flying kisses!

4. Physical: Walks a lot, sometimes she runs! And she is so unstable and she wants to run....sigh....daring girl. Now she's learning to climb up the sofa.

Trying to inculcate good reading habits with Tyra so has been borrowing books from the library whenever we go to Yamaha for Trisha's lessons. So far, she has developed an interest and will like to get the books and "read" on her own. =)

As a working mum, I can't spend as much time with Tyra, teaching her the way I have done with Trisha. I feel very sad whenever I think about this. Sigh....anyway, that's life, I shall live with this and make do with what I have!

If Only.....

2011-10-26T22:45:00.000+08:00

If only Tyra really can hold her bottle and finishes it all on her own without our help....

She only holds her bottle when she just started drinking but after a while she wanted to play and we'll have to hold it for her so she can play with toys in her hands! =(

Taipei Holiday Fun - Day 6

2011-10-25T23:15:00.000+08:00

Today marks the last day of our holiday in Taipei. Decided to just sleep in and then shop around the hotel area before going to another hotel, Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport Hotel at around 3pm. We are also meeting 姨姨 for lunch cos she is also here for holiday but with her friend! =)

It was drizzling so we can't go to outdoor shopping in 西门町. Instead, 姨姨 brought us across the road to this bakery 顺成蛋糕 to buy award winning 冠军凤梨酥. Indeed, it tastes quite nice.

Then on to shopping at K-Mall, something similar to Funan Center, a digital IT mall. Since it was nearing lunch time, we sat down to rest and eat at this 茶餐厅. Finally food we like!

Look at the spread!

In K-mall

After lunch, we wanted to get this recommend 肉粽 behind the shopping mall but when Daddy went to buy it, he found out it has moved. Hmmm...what a pity. =(

So back to hotel to rest and wait for the hotel transfer and boy were we glad for this 1 hour car ride to the other hotel cos the 2 girls had their nap! Yipee!

The hotel we stayed in for 5 nights

When we reached the airport hotel, it was already 4pm+. We picked this hotel cos it provides shuttle bus from hotel to airport in just 5 mins and the hotel is the ultra modern type. GREAT location, GREAT service, GREAT facilities, GREAT room, really wish we stayed in something like that the whole holiday! =) This is good as we need to depart Taipei at 7.40am the next day.

Hallway into the room

Table and TV area

Bed area. They actually provided another cot in the grandparents' room too.

Bathroom. Trisha is playing with new fishing toy in the bathtub provided by hotel. Such good service. =)

We all had a quick bath then we took the shuttle bus to the airport food court for dinner.

婆婆's Pork Belly with Rice

Cod Fish with Spaghetti, Soup and a drink - shared with Mummy but there's lots of bones! =(

公公's black pepper pork chop...looks and taste quite yummy!

We saw Coldstone Creamy again and decided to give it another try but this time the flavour we picked was not so nice...too sweet! Anyway, busy eating so didn't take picture...heheh...

Since there's nothing to shop at the airport, we called it a day and went back to sleep in the nice comfortable hotel room so that we can all wake up bright and early at...... 5AM! Luckily both girls didn't grumble much when we woke them! Phew! I can't imaging having to carry Tyra, push Trisha in the stroller, push 2 big luggage, carry one big hand luggage....

So that's the end of our Taipei Holiday Fun! Hope you had fun reading too!

Taipei Holiday Fun - Day 5

2011-10-24T15:39:00.001+08:00

The weather was SUNNY, SUNNY, SUNNY! Yippee! We originally planned to visit 乌来, one of the aboriginal village but we abandoned the idea and went to 小人国 instead. Why?

1. We don't think we'll be able to find anything for Trisha to eat. So far, these few days she has been surviving on tamago sushi take-out with a little bit of rice from Mummy's meals, biscuit, muffin from breakfast, etc. So going to a less developed area is not going to help. =(

2. Secondly, we are not sure what kind of bus ride it will be and how long the journey will be.

3. We have to change hotel tomorrow as we have an early flight the day after and if we were to really go to 小人国 tomorrow as orginally planned, we won't have much time in the attraction as it closes at 5pm.

So here we are, waiting for the bus to 小人国, under the super hot sun! We took the MRT to 景安 and waited for the EGO coach service that will bring us to the doorstep of the attraction. It took about 50-60 mins to get there. So the only thing to do is sleep......that is Tyra had a good nap. =)

The sun heat is unbearable so out came the BIG umbrella!

On the coach, very comfortable.

We had to stop at the coach's ticketing office about 45 mins into the journey to pay for the coach service and the tickets to 小人国. If you take the coach to go to the attraction, there is a bundle price with discount, so we only paid NT$760 for 2 way transfer and entrance ticket for adults (NT$610 for Trisha).

Soon we reached the theme park. Mummy has been here 20+ years ago when she was in Primary School and she remembered coming here. That is how old the park has been! And it does look like it stayed in the 80s! =p As it was already 11am when we reached, we need to satisfy Tyra's hunger pangs before we explore the park. Anyway, it's really hot to go out!

We first explored the miniatures in the land of Taiwan.

Presidential Office in Taipei

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hal

Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall

The old airport

石门水库

We ended the tour of Taiwan with a GOOOOONNNNGGGGG!!!!

On to tour the land of China.

Architecture in Suzhou

Panda!

See the next picture

Forbidden City

A celebration?

Great Wall of China

That is the end of our tour of the miniatureland.....nothing much has changed from 20 year ago....hhmmm...quite rundown. Nothing great compared to Maduradam in Holland. Anyway, the park actually has expanded to include this new Children's theme park which we need to take a kiddy train ride over. Now it is all about fun fun fun for Trisha. =)

Oh, they actually constructed a miniature Europe

Trisha at Stonehenge

Tyra at the Pantheon in Rome

Acropolis in Athens, Greece

St Basil's Cathedral in Red Square, Moscow

Paris Opera House, France

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy

Windmills of The Netherlands!

Now is the time for Trisha to have fun!

Kiddy + Carousel Rides

Tyra released from stroller for some fun too!

Catching a clown show....quite funny

Catching another show - OPEN 小将!

On to some other amusement rides....

少林寺

Before we left the park, we ventured into miniature Asia!

A Korean Temple - The Bulguksa Temple

Himeji Castle, Japan

Seven Storied Pagoda in Nara, Japan

Osaka Castle

What a long fun day we had! We managed to get on the 5.15pm bus and reached back 景安 at about 6.15pm. We all had a good rest in the coach. =)

Then it is dinnertime at the Japanese restaurant in Caesar Park Mall again before we went shopping for souvenirs in the shopping mall next door. More yummy 太阳冰河凤梨酥！

Taipei Holiday Fun - Day 4 Pt 3

2011-10-23T22:35:00.000+08:00

So we took the shuttle bus from The Living Mall to 忠孝复兴 Station and then on to 国父纪念馆 Station to meet up with 公公和婆婆 who came back from 九份.

We walked for 5mins and we reached. Oh boy, it sure was crowded! There was some activity going on and it seems this is the place to chill out with families on a Sunday for the Taiwanese.

Oh my! Look at how Trisha terrorises Tyra! =(

Taipei 101 is just nearby!

孙中山

Saw this on our way walking towards Taipei 101

After walking for a good 15-20 mins, we finally reached Taipei 101. Had our dinner at the food court and first time trying Coldstone Creamery ice cream! Yummilicious! =) Daddy wanted to go up to the observatory after dinner but the queue was super long. So in the end, decided to call it a day as we need to wake up early to visit 小人国 tomorrow! There is a shuttle bus that brings us to 市政府 Station, about 5 mins drive away and from there, we took the train back to our hotel. Actually, it really is very convenient to get around Taipei!

In the end, it was still early and we shopped around the underground mall again, to walk off the ice cream. =p

Taipei Holiday Fun - Day 4 Pt 2

2011-10-23T22:00:00.000+08:00

Where did we stop? Oh yes, she completed her firefighter work and now on to being an Emergency Response medic. What attracted her to this was she gets to sit in an ambulance with the siren going on. =)

All dressed up as an ER medic

Listening intently...

I get to help put the splint on later!

Yippee! Time to save someone!

Waiting while everyone gets seated.

Oh no! Someone is hurt!

Let's clean the wound....

Then out some plaster

My turn to help! =)

Yeah, we helped him!

And it's time to get off work and have lunch! =) Tyra didn't sleep the whole morning and while Daddy went to buy lunch, she fell asleep! But when I made a loud noise during lunch, she woke up again....after only 30mins of nap. =( That didn't make Daddy and Mummy very happy.

Anyway, she's up and running like 一条龙 now! Walking everywhere and making friends too...or trying to cos the little girl "ignored" Tyra...hehehe

Hello! Can I be your friend?

It's ok, I know you are shy.

Running off somewhere again....

Tyra acts cute BUT she IS cute! =)

So while Tyra is playing and running around, what is Trisha doing? What is her 5th occupation?

姐姐在那里？

She's here! Learning to be a manicurist in the Beauty Salon!

She had a job to paint the nails of the models for the Talent Show.

Showing off her painted nails

This occupation took quite long and we can't really see what she is doing behind the stage. =( So not much photos.

Anyway, on to the 6th and last occupation. She wanted to work as a nurse in the Baby Nursery! =)

My last workplace

I'm very experienced, ok!

Changing diapers...

Yeah! Baby is clean and sleeping!

拿我的血汗钱 =p

Ok, 我真的下班了！ Time to spend my hard earned money! Before that, let's take a picture with the BabyBoss ATM machine...the children can go to the BabyBoss Bank, get a ATM card, then deposit the BabyBucks using the ATM machine. Next time when they come back, they can draw money out just like what the adults do in the real world! Cool, right?

After this stop, something unpleasant happened. =((( We lost the 职业卡 that Trisha gets from each occupation station after completion of her work. =((( It must have dropped out from the lanyard she has around her neck when we went to the toilet. Mummy was so upset with herself for not keeping it safe for Trisha. She went back in 2 times to look around and ask the BabyBoss personnel if they can re-issue but they say that cannot be done. =((( Super, super sad. Luckily Trisha is not as attached to the cards as Mummy and with the promise of a present, she didn't cry...heheh...

The most important thing is that Trisha had loads of fun here and we shouldn't get too upset with the loss of those cards. We have photos to show her when she grows up. =)

It is already 4pm by the time we left the mall and we met up with 公公和婆婆 at Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall MRT station to visit the 国父纪念馆. And that will be in Part 3! Keep reading!

Taipei Holiday Fun - Day 4 Pt 1

2011-10-23T21:43:00.001+08:00

Today is the DAY for Trisha. I think she has the most fun today.

We brought her to BabyBoss. All thanks to our friend Keng Fai who brought his girl there before and we read his blog! Hehehe!

BabyBoss is located in ths shopping mall, The Living Mall, which is about 15 mins walk from Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall Station 国父纪念馆, Exit 5. Alternatively, one can stop at 忠孝復兴 and take a shuttle bus to the mall. They call the shuttle bus as 接驳车.

This is the place where Trisha gets to experience different kind of occupations. She will collect BabyBucks as her salary after learning about the task in this occupation and completing the tasks set out for the children. She can then "buy" things from the store with this BabyBucks. This teaches her the concept of working to earn money. =) This term, she is learning about occupations in school, so this is the perfect place to spend the day! =) There's a choice of morning (10am-3pm) or afternoon (3-8pm)or whole day (10am-8pm) session for the weekend. Not sure if she will be too tired and we wanted to visit some other places, so we signed up for the morning session. Oh, by the way, 公公和婆婆去九份约会...heheheh...else they will be so bored running around with us. =p

We reached on the dot and there were already loads of children! But we didn't have to wait long to get in. =)

Ready to start my adventure!

Cute decorations

Funny Daddy and Trisha

We were given a list of the occupations and the time to queue for each occupation. So our first stop was the "GAS STATION, 加油站" as that was the shortest queue.

Let's get all "pumped" up before we go around this wonderful world of BabyBoss! =)

Listening intently to 姐姐 explaining about their jobs.

Awaiting for the car (cute car, right?)

Trisha "working" as petrol kiosk attendant...hehehe

Giving the car a wipe.

Parents are allowed to take photo with the children after the children has completed the task.

2nd stop: 警察局 to be a police girl of course! She changed into her police uniform and was given instructions, a photo and shoe prints to look for a 坏人. The process is interactive and it's not just about listening to the 姐姐和哥哥 talk about what the occupation does but the children get to try it out! Super cute and fun! Daddy and I were giggling away while following Trisha around on her police patrol rounds...hahahha...

In her smart police uniform

Poor Tyra, can't join in the fun and was more or less stuck in the stroller while we followed Trisha around. We promise you we'll be back when you are older!

Listening to instructions on how to look for 坏人

They were taught to say this to people on the street:

你好，我们是警察，我们在办案。
请你把脚拿起来？（to check against shoe print)
请问你有见过这个人吗？如果看到，请打110通知警方
谢谢你的合作
Then they are supposed to salute. Super cute! And I'm proud to say Trisha did very well, knowing her shy nature. =) Thumbs up!

Asking passerby if they saw the 坏人

Doesn't she look patriotic? Hahaha

下班了！又赚了十块钱！

3rd occupation she wanted to try: Firefighter at 消防局

Their very own BabyBoss fire engine!

All geared up but why have to wait so long?

Trying the pole....blur...

Going to the 火烧现场

Ready, go! With siren no less!

Putting out (fake) fire with REAL water

Courageous firefighter

Another part of the work of a firefighter. Keeping crowds away.

What a day at work!

又是下班了！领薪水时间到！=）

Part 2 coming up in another post! Stay tuned!

Taipei Holiday Fun - Day 3

2011-10-22T22:28:00.018+08:00

Saturday 22 Oct - Day 3 of our Taipei holiday. The sun is OUT! Yeah! Actually it was even better. Cloudy with no signs of rain. Yippee! And the weather forecast for the rest of our holiday is great too! =)

Tyra is all set to go!

Anyway, back to Day 3 highlights. Since we didn't have anything planned till lunch time, we made the trip to 龙山寺 which we skipped yesterday due to rain. This temple has a long history and is at least a 100 years old. According to Daddy, this is the temple which is featured every Chinese New Year where loads of people will be squeezed outside the gate, waiting for the door to open at the struck of midnight, rushing in to put in the FIRST joss stick for the new year. How did we get there? Of course by MRT again, we got off at 龙山寺 Station (Blue line towards 永宁) and followed the signs in the station.

There were a lot of people inside this temple today too.

Photos at 龙山寺:

Family shot in front of the temple

Majestic looking gate

A man made waterfall inside the temple grounds

Praying to the gods. Tyra has been well trained by 公公.

Look at the smoke and all those people!

Lots of devotees

It was nearing lunchtime so we continued with our Day 3 itinerary and that is to have Shanghainese Dim Sum at 点水楼 at SOGO 忠孝复兴 then to 五分埔 for shopping. Guidebooks recommend that 点水楼 is an alternative to the long queues at 鼎泰丰. Singapore has 鼎泰丰 so we wanted to try 点水楼 instead. However we had a heavy breakfast and we'll need to settle Trisha's and Tyra's lunch somewhere else first. It turns out that SOGO has a 美食街 = Food Court in Singapore. Thank goodness Trisha ate her chicken rice.=)

As we were going up each floor to window shop before the restaurant on the 11th floor, we saw this man-made Japanese house and garden on the 9th floor.

Didn't get what she wants and CRY!!!!

Our yummy spread!

Funny tasting dessert

Didn't have enough of dessert...Food Court Ice Kachang....eerr...not to our liking too

After a full meal + dessert, it is time to walk off some of the fats! Took the train to 后山埤 and walked about 10-15 mins to 五分埔. This is the wholesale market and there's lots of stalls/boutiques in this area. Too bad, a lot of the clothes are catered for the fall/winter season and not suitable for Singapore's hot weather. Most of the children's clothes shop also do not do retail business. They do mainly wholesale distribution and do not entertain tourists like us. Hence in the end we only bought a few pieces of clothes. Quite disappointing. =(

After failing in our mission to stock up our clothes, we made our way back to the hotel's basement for dinner. We had dinner at Papa Ritchie which serves Asian food. =) A good way to end a day!

Act cute!

Taipei Holiday Fun - Day 2

2011-10-21T15:40:00.017+08:00

Day 2 - Weather wasn't that good. It was drizzling when we set out for the day. =(

View from 公公's hotel room, we are just across the Taipei Rail Station

We had our breakfast at the hotel (breakfast is included in the room rate) and made our way to the MRT station after that. Daddy bought the EasyCard (similar to our Easylink Card, why are they all called the same?) for the adults and it's free for me cos I'm below 115cm. =p The EasyCard has a deposit of NT$100 and it can be refunded when you return the card to the station. This is exactly the same as what we do in Singapore too!
We then took the MRT to visit the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall (中正纪念堂). This attraction is located near to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall Station, out by Exit 5. the MRT in Taipei is very accessible and with signs that tells us how to go to the attractions. I must say it is indeed tourist friendly!

Photos at 中正纪念堂:

Took the 淡水 line to 中正纪念堂.

Trisha seldom took the MRT in Singapore but in Taipei, we were on it everyday! Our main mode of transportation! =) One thing we noted is that the trains are bigger, more spacious and the stations and trains are very disabled and stroller friendly with lifts around. In fact, the people are very considerate and gracious too cos they immediately gave up their (non priority) seats to us when they see us with children. =)

Clean and spacious.

We have reached!

自由广场

With the Memorial Hall at the background

Hello, President Chiang
(Change of guards!)

Original plan was to visit 龙山寺 but as it was near lunchtime and drizzling, we decided to skip that and go straigt to 西门町 to look for food! =) 西门町 is known for shopping for the young and trendy. We are neither young and trendy so it was more a sightseeing and window shopping for us. =)

Photos at 西门町:

We went looking for good food around the area and found 阿宗面線. Mummy didn't really like the pig intestine taste and it was very salty. The pig intestine wasn't really well cooked and was a bit hard. I guess the locals like it that way...很有口干 according to Daddy.

Recommended in guide books

Tyra eyeing the mee sua....

Doing what the locals do....eating by the road!

又是一个老字号

Late lunch at Pasta Bar....not very nice....

Tyra trying 冻奶茶

婆婆，走了，回房间睡觉了！

On the way back to the hotel for the kids' afternoon nap, Tyra having skipped her morning nap, fell asleep in the stroller, so we shopped at the MRT station underground mall for a while then went back to bath and freshen up before we go for the evening jaunt at 士林夜市. =) Instead of stopping at 士林 Station, it is much nearer to get off at 剑谭 Station, Exit 1.

Photos at 士林夜市:

This is the place to come to taste all the local food. We had our dinner here and luckily Trisha ate the 鲁肉饭 after much persuasion (she didn't seem to have a good appetite ever since we reached Taipei...wonder why).

This is the food market.

Daddy queued quite long for this and it is not yummy at all! =(

What is 大饼包小饼? It is popiah skin wrappred around a flattened fried pastry filled with different kind of fillings we can choose from. We chose yam, pork floss and sesame.

这就是大饼包小饼。好干！不好吃！

On the table is fried carrot cake (not bad), bee hoon (normal) and 鲁肉饭

Another popular dish (saw a lot of pple eating) - 猪排

臭豆腐！

Not that smelly, maybe toned down for tourist but when put near to nose to take a bite, oh my gosh! It's like I'm eating rubbish! =p

Long queue for this. Daddy bought the "imitation" from the other stall.

Not really fantastic chicken, it's just a really really big piece of chicken.

Conclusion: Cheap, VERY cheap food. Edible, not fantastically yummy. =p

After our dinner, wanted to shop around more but due to the very princessy Trisha who refused to use the squat toilet cubicle, we had to go to the MRT station toilet and hence decided to call it a day cos Trisha is not cooperating and my mood is spoiled by her tantrum. >=

So that's all for Day 2. =) Stay tuned to Day 3...the holiday is getting more and more fun!

Taipei Holiday Fun - Day 1

2011-10-20T22:20:00.005+08:00

Yes! We are back from Taipei! Flew over for a holiday from 20-26 Oct. It was quite a rushed plan. Actually intended to go at end of Sept without realising it was the typhoon season then. Luckily we haven't book anything concrete! Phew! So the plans were shelved for a while until some work schedule was changed and the plans were put on priority once again! Made a mad rush to do more research on hotels, airlines availability and prices, where to go, etc and we nearly missed the SQ offer! But all turns out well....=)

We spent 5 full days in Taipei and here's how we spent our days!

Day 1:
Departed Singapore at around noon and reached Taipei at 5pm. We then took the pre-arranged ride into Taipei from Taoyuan. Costs us NT$300 more cos Tyra puked out all her dinner porridge.....=( It was quite a bumpy ride due to the road conditions and the start-stop traffic jam. =( So from NT$1200 to NT$1500 for the driver to wash his car interior. =((

Checked into Caesar Park Hotel in Taipei. Super good location as we are just above the metro at Taipei Main Station, the interchange that goes everywhere! The hotel was not bad. Rooms were clean and big. Though the interior design is not very modern, it is liveable. So we went down to the hotel's basement (Caesar Park Mall) where there are a few restaurants and we had Japanese cuisine. Hahaha...come al the way to Taiwan to eat Japanese food...heheh...What to do, all for the sake of Trisha. But she had very bad ear ache from the airplane landing and was grounchy, tired and full of whines and discomfort the whole evening and night. Trisha kept waking up crying, whining every 2-3 hours that in the end, we didn't get much sleep. Luckily Tyra more or less slept through Trisha's whinings!

And luckily we have planned a relaxing Day 2 of shopping and sightseeing!

On to Day 2 in another post.

Are you carrying a bag, Trisha?

Waiting at the gate

Yeah, we are boarding!

Reached safely!

Dinner....

Vainpot "Curly Hair" Trisha

2011-10-19T22:40:00.000+08:00

Teachers in school tied her hair in plaits and rolled up into a bun for her. When loosened, this is her new look....

面膜 = 燕窝？

2011-10-19T22:15:00.000+08:00

We will be going for a holiday soon and Trisha's teacher, Ms Amanda asked us to help her buy some face masks. Ms Amanda was telling 张老师 about asking me to buy 面膜 but this silly Trisha overheard wrongly and thought Ms Amanda wanted to buy 燕窝!

She happily told me yesterday that Ms Amanda wants us to help her buy 燕窝 and I was like huh?????

Luckily Ms Amanda clarified about the whole thing this morning....hahahah...

大红花 Hairband

2011-10-19T22:02:00.003+08:00

奶奶 just returned from a 3 weeks holiday in USA and came back with this 大红花 hairband for Trisha. As usual, whenever she has something new, she will keep asking for it. So she wore it to school for 3 consecutive days....

Matching with her top! Hahah...

Is it new year yet? So RED!

Tyra's turn to have fun...SO CUTE!

Tyra, The Daring...Not Darling

2011-10-18T22:20:00.003+08:00

Aiyoyo...this little 16 month old is so different from her sister.

She is so much more daring. Always wants to come down to walk...or rather RUN!!! She just chiong whenever her feet touches the ground. Aiyoyo!

Then she started to learn to climb up the sofa. Really have to keep an eye on her now cos she'll just stand up sometimes. There's once, she stood up on the bed and nearly walked off the bed. Luckily I saw her and caught her in time. Phew!

And oh my, she has a temper! Whenever we don't give her something or wanted to take something from her (like she's biting on her toys, etc)...oh gosh! Her face....all scrunched up and she'll hold on to whatever we want to take from her with her dear life! Such a small hand/arm sure packs a lot of strength! Sometime we even have to pry her little fingers away and she'll cry like we are torturing her....hahah...funny yet exasperating cos we can see how she is going to behave next time in school....sigh...hope she doesn't get into fights in future!

T For Trisha, Tyra And TV!

2011-10-16T22:54:00.003+08:00

Now that Tyra mastered the skill of climbing up the sofa, she can sit comfortably beside her sister to watch cartoons. =) However, we have to be extra careful now because unlike her sister, she loves to stand up on the sofa!!! She might just walk off the sofa and fall down....thinking about the consequences sends shudders down my spine!

Hair Cut!

2011-10-15T22:58:00.003+08:00

Brought Trisha for a hair cut today.

So this is how she looks like before (some old photos of her with long hair tied up!) and after...

Looks like Chun Li

Who is this crazy looking girl?

AFTER.....but can't tell the difference....hehhehe

Meow!

See the fringe and hair is much shorter!

Keyboard Practice

2011-10-15T22:46:00.003+08:00

I'm A Shoemaker

Going On A Picnic

Practising on her left hand

Hot Cross Buns

Harmony's Road Do Re Mi

Doodling Tyra

2011-10-08T23:26:00.004+08:00

Started giving her a pencil to doodle. She holds the pencil like she's doing Chinese caligraphy....=p

Daddy Turns 35

2011-10-05T23:32:00.002+08:00

So old.....he is complaining he has more white hair....on his head, on his chin (when he don't shave). =p

After the crisis at his work last week, luckily he can come home early to celebrate his birthday with us. =) HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! You are always young in our hearts!

Cheeky Trisha

Is it Daddy's or her birthday?

I don't want to sit down!

Tyra Loves To Read

2011-10-01T23:44:00.004+08:00

Eversince we started Trisha on music lessons, we have also been visiting the library every Sunday before her lessons. It has become a weekly routine to borrow books for both Trisha and Tyra. Tyra loves those lift-the-flap board books. We'll always leave the books on the TV console so Trisha and Tyra can easily take them to read. Tyra loves to take the books, bring them to Mummy/Daddy and we'll ask her "Do you want Mummy/Daddy to read to you?" and she'll nod her head surely, then she'll walk to the open area between the dining and living room and sit down, waiting for us to read to her......so cute, right? =)

Sitting down, waiting for us...

Reading...

Tyra Throwing Tantrums

2011-09-28T23:15:00.004+08:00

When she doesn't get what she wants. Naughty Tyra!

Is This Tyra Or Trisha?

2011-09-27T23:22:00.002+08:00

Toddling Tyra

2011-09-27T23:17:00.011+08:00

Always want to be on the go. She'll twist and turn whenever we carry her because she wants to come down to walk. Very active. But very cute too! =)

Photos as evidence.

Mummy, what are you doing?

Found my target

Zooming in on it...

Got you! A book!

Finished reading, let's put it back.

Stretching exercises...

Wearing a dress! More like a pinafore now...hahahah

Checking my polaroid

Hello? Are you looking for me?

Happy Birthday, Cousin!

2011-09-24T23:18:00.004+08:00

Mummy's Birthday - Side Stories

2011-09-21T23:05:00.004+08:00

On Monday 19 Sept. On our way home from school.

Trisha: Mummy, I don't want to go to school on Wed. I want to stay home.
Mummy: Why? You didn't go to school the whole of last week. You missed your friends and teachers so why don't you want to go to school on Wed?

Trisha: Because I want to stay at home and go to your birthday party.
Mummy: -_-

On Wed 21 Sept. This is what Ms Amanda told me when I picked Trisha up.

Trisha told all her friends and teachers that it's my birthday today.

Her friend Ryan said: Is Trisha Mummy going to bring a cake to school to celebrate when she picks Trisha up?

Trisha: NO! NO! The party is at home.

Kids really say the cutest thing!

Mummy's Birthday

2011-09-21T22:48:00.011+08:00

Once again, Mummy grows one year older today. =)

We had a simple celebration with Mummy at home after a sumptous dinner cooked by 婆婆.

I insisted on wearing a dress and my new hairband (from 张老师). Since I looked so pretty, Mummy couldn't resist taking photos of me. =)

Then Mummy joined in the fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mummy! I Love You!

How not to doll up our cutie pie Tyra!

And take couple shots with her!

Now into the celebration!

This time, no more cartoon character cakes - it's a chocolate mousse cake!

Happy family!

Mummy said she had a wonderful birthday this year and her birthday wish every year is that everyone in the family will stay healthy always. =)

When Trisha Was Sick....

2011-09-17T22:28:00.009+08:00

Trisha's face started swelling on 11 Sept

Starting to have the sunburnt look on 12 Sept (see closely to the colour difference with Mummy's skin)

Red, rough rashes appearing on 13 Sept.

Watching her favourite cartoon when she's sick...

Skin peeling similar to the aftermath of sunburnt....24 Sept

Trisha Has Scarlet Fever

2011-09-17T21:47:00.002+08:00

Before I begin this post, please know that Trisha has fully recovered. Phew! =) And this is a super long post!

It all started after the Run Carnival at Chinese Garden about a week ago....

After the run, we stayed home the rest of the day and the children napped while we rested. After Trisha woke up, we noticed some redness and rashes on her face, arms and legs. We thought she ate something that she was allergic too cos it sure looks like an allergic reaction. But for the whole day, she only ate pork floss bun, chicken nuggets, fishballs, drank milo and yakult, had 菜饭 (sweet & sour pork, egg and spinach) for lunch, a 竹笼月饼for teabreak and that's it. She had all these before and no allergic reaction before. So we were really puzzled. Decided to monitor as she also started to have low fever. Fed her a dose of panadol and off to bed early.

Next morning, fever was still around 37-38C but her face was swelling up and more rashes. Worst still, she looked sunburnt! It can't be sunburnt during the run yesterday because the weather was great, cloudy and not that sunny...So we went to the doctor. First look - most likely allergic reaction. Given anti-histamine and calamine lotion to help with the itch. Doctor even said the reaction has peaked and won't get worse. He was totally WRONG!!!! Not that we blame him cos Trisha has not exhibited any other symptoms except rashes on Sunday morning. =(

So we stayed home and monitored her temperature like a hawk. It got worse and worse....went up to 39.5C!!! That got Mummy pretty worried and paranoid. Should we or should we not bring her to the hospital? What should the temperature be before we send her to hospital? All these questions bugged Mummy the whole day! Kept sponging Trisha but she didn't like it. I think with the temperature difference - hot + itchy body and the cold towel, it didn't feel that comfortable. Sunday night was one of the worst nights Mummy had. Mummy almost didn't sleep at all, sponging Trisha everywhere as her temperature didn't come down even after panadol and brufen. It was still above 39.5-39.8C. Mummy was supposed to go to work as Daddy will be staying home to care for Trisha but due to the lack of sleep, Mummy took leave too. How to work when Trisha was having such high fever!?

In the end, we did not think it's a mere allergic reaction as we read online, usually allergic reaction doesn't result in fever too, at least not such a high fever. So we went back to the doctor and this time, the doctor suspected Trisha had scarlet fever. She was prescribed with antibotics, a cough syrup as she has started coughing and more panadol (running out of stock at home!). After we brought her home, she was feeling very sick at about 5-6pm, her temperature shot up to 40C! Oh gosh! But as we had just given her the medication and kept sponging her, we decided to wait and see and let her rest. Luckily her temperature did come down slightly and we just had to keep sponging her.

Due to the fact that this was contagious, we had to leave Tyra at 婆婆's house for the night and fully concentrate on taking care of Trisha. Oh, how we miss Tyra. This was really the first night she slept over at 婆婆's house. =( But this was the best decision ever, cos with 2 of us taking turns and not having to worry about Tyra being disturbed at night by Trisha's cries of discomfort when we sponged her, Mummy managed to rest as she really had to go to work the next day.

Anyway, we did read up more on scarlet fever and all symptoms point to Trisha having this illness. She did seem to have the "strawberry tongue" and her rashes really feel like sandpaper texture. She did look like she was sunburnt and now that she has more or less recovered, her skin is starting to peel (just like the after effects of sunburn). So now, we are pretty sure she contracted scarlet fever but the question now is from whom and from where? We will never know the answer. But the important thing is that the doctor managed to give the correct diagnosis and given her antibotics because after we started her on that, she started getting better.

By Thursday, her temperature came down to less than 38C but still hovering around 37.2-37.6C, though her rashes were still red and itchy. Mummy stayed home and worked from home on Wed and Thu (Daddy helped on Thu too) and we brought Tyra home on Wed night. Trisha started to have runny nose and cough when her fever subsided. That's expected since these are the symptoms of scarlet fever too.

On Friday, we thought Trisha will be well enough for school but she still felt warm to touch (37.2-37.4C) and Mummy did bring her to school but in the end, we only picked up the worksheets and came home to rest. Played at the playground for an hour and she managed to perspire which was a good sign. =) By Saturday, her temperature was back to normal and her rashes were healing well, peeling off and not as red and itchy! We really saw a marked improvement on Saturday. We were really glad the ordeal was more or less over. =)

Now, we just hope that her skin on her face, arms, legs, back heal fully and not leave any scars or marks. And what a week this was!

怒发冲冠 Look

2011-09-16T23:48:00.006+08:00

Huh? Time to wake up?

赖床

Still doesn't want to get up.....

So unglam...legs open so wide....

Something caught her eye

*Stare* Don't take my photo...having bad hair day....

Still taking? I'm getting angry...

"Shreky" Tyra

2011-09-10T23:36:00.009+08:00

Hahaha...with her long hair, Mummy can style Tyra's hair. Doesn't she look like a Shreky baby with 2 ponytails like that?

You mean I look like Shrek?

He's an ogre?

How does an ogre look like? Like this?

Huh? Ogres are ugly? I'm not ugly....=(

See? I'm so pretty when I smile, how can I be an ogre?

This is what I call an "ogre" face!

Haha, don't worry, I didn't turn into an ogre!

Hey, I transformed into a Princess (lost the Shreky ears....I mean ponytails =p)

Run Carnival At Chinese Garden

2011-09-10T21:52:00.007+08:00

Mummy's company organised a run carnival at Chinese Garden today. Mummy thought it will be a good idea to get me to do some exercise so she signed me up for the 1.2km Fun Run. =)

Though the carnival started at 7am but the Fun Run only starts at 9am, so we reached there slightly after 8am. Had some breakfast, played some arcade games, collected prizes and off we go for our run. Errr....I can't say I really enjoyed myself cos it's hot and I'm tired....(Mummy says I'm lazy). But I did enjoy playing the arcade games after the run which was more like a walk...hehehe...I collected lots of free stickers which I will share with my friends in school!

But something unfortunate happened after the event and that will be in another post. =(

Anyway, it was still a pretty fun morning! The photos will show that we seemed to be more of a tourist at Chinese Garden viewing the lanterns on display more than running at a Run Carnival! =p

Daddy In Trisha's Eyes

2011-09-09T22:12:00.004+08:00

Great artist signing her drawing

Gave herself so many smiley faces for her drawing...and that is Daddy in a house with many windows and a door.

Window Art At IMM

2011-09-04T22:17:00.008+08:00

Promised Trisha we'll let her do a window art and craft at IMM so here we are today.

While waiting for Trisha....

Always picked something to do with cars.....

Her masterpiece

Another highlight of IMM...hehehe

This time Tyra gets onto one too!

最后一次的天下交流会

2011-09-03T22:31:00.001+08:00

Today is Trisha's last performance at 天下 because we are stopping her enrichment class. Why? Because she is losing interest and it's a chore every Sat to leave her at the classroom! As usual, she didn't want to perform on her own. Sigh....we gave up on that, she's just not the confident type to go up to do a performance....think we may need to send her for something that will build up her confidence!

New Board Game - Bus Stop

2011-09-03T22:28:00.000+08:00

We had many days of fun with this new game as Trisha kept wanting to play it!

Outing At Raffles Marina

2011-09-02T23:06:00.009+08:00

A continuation of our nature morning walk at Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, we decided to visit Raffles Marina near to the Tuas Checkpoint for dinner. Do you know Daddy and Mummy had their wedding shots taken here? =) They brought me here to see the boats and lighthouse at the Marina....so since it is near to water, consider a continuation of nature, right? Hehehhe...

公公：颖彤，这样拿笔，知道吗？

哇！我会拿笔！

画得好看吗？

公公，你买什么给我吃来奖励我？

Jacob Ballas Children's Garden

2011-09-02T16:09:00.006+08:00

Today is Teacher's Day. Many many years ago, Teacher's Day during Daddy's and Mummy's schooling days was on 1 Sept. Now it has been changed to the 1st Friday of Sept. Reason is to give the teachers a long weekend. Great idea! =)

So Daddy and Mummy took leave to spend it with me and Tyra since I do not have school today. We went to the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden (part of the Singapore Botanic Gardens). Eversince we came back in 2009, Mummy always wanted to bring me here but we only managed to visit it today....talk about procrastination! Hahah!

It was really a hot morning but we did enjoy ourselves. So being the typical Singaporean, we retreated indoors to VivoCity for lunch...hahahha...and some cooling! Tyra was so tired having skipped her morning nap that she dozed off while we were walking around after lunch. So cute! =)

Here's the photo log of our fun morning! Click on the picture below.

Trisha, The Linguist

2011-08-30T22:22:00.002+08:00

Just now, when I was reading a "Dora The Explorer" storybook to her and inside the story, Dora was counting from one to five. Trisha stopped me and said "Mummy, I can count in Spanish. Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis!"

I was shocked! Hahahah...this is what she picked up from watching too many "Dora The Explorer" and "Diego The Animal Rescuer" cartoons. Certainly a good way to pick up another language! Children are really like sponges and VERY fast learners....better watch what we say in front of them! =p

West Coast Park....AGAIN!!!!???

2011-08-28T15:35:00.003+08:00

Hahahah...yes...again....after a week. Why? Cos there's a NAC-ExxonMobil Concert In The Park and we thought there's lots of children's activities. Boy, are we disappointed. =( Luckily there is still the trusty children's playground and sand for Trisha to play with. =p

But we did have some fun playing with the BIG BIG bubbles!

Can you let me come down to walk?

While 姐姐 is playing, I'm stuck in the stroller...=(

Another Craft Activity

2011-08-28T15:29:00.003+08:00

Now there's nothing....

Wah! Magic! It's all done!

Heheh...gotcha! I did it, it's not magic....heheh