The Be-Spectacled Girls

We were shopping with my mum for her new specs some time back last month, and I thought the girls would look adorable in specs. Indeed they do!!!!

But of course, I’m going to try my best to keep them off spectacles for as long as I can, knowing how perfect vision is already a rare commodity nowadays.

Pardon me, these were taken on my trusty Blackberry which can do everything except take good shots. =)

It made me recall how I started wearing specs as a kid. I was a self-made myopic. I thought wearing specs was cool and hip, and makes me very pretty. I have no idea where I got that warped thinking from, but you know kids – They think up the weirdest theory and believe with all their hearts it’s true. Like some alien was hiding under the bed, for instance.

And so, when I was in Primary Three, I went all out to harm my eyesight. I read my books by lying on the bed with dim lights. I watched the TV by sitting right in front of the screen. I refused to look at green trees and grass or eat red dates because those were supposedly good for my eyes. Silly me!

And so, I succeeded in making my eyesight fail and I started wearing spectacles (much to my delight) when I was in Primary Four. And I’ve been stuck with myopia for all my life since! I pray my kids won’t suffer the same fate as me!!!

@-@
~

Just How Different Were They?

In the last two weeks, the same question kept popping up from our friends, and it got me thinking about it as well, ‘How different were the girls from each other?’

Most people who have only seen the girls briefly and do not know them that well would likely conclude that Joey is a hyperactive, cannot-keep-still and very eloquent girl, whereas Jayne is demure, quiet and very smiley.

The truth is yes, Joey is indeed hyperactive, cannot-keep-still and very eloquent, but Jayne sometimes surpasses her in all that. Hard to believe? I know. On the surface, she looks like she can sit quietly for hours without making a fuss and doesn’t make that much noise. But in reality, she’s super hyperactive and curious, and she is constantly on the move.

The two may look like each other physically, but they have quite different personalities and characters, which is expected anyway. Every individual is created uniquely and special. In fact, after having Jayne, I started to appreciate what an easy baby Joey was! =P But of course, even though it was tougher taking care of Jayne, I love them both with all my heart. Both are my sweethearts no less!

As their mother, I thought of how different they are, and here was what I derived:

1) Joey could sit in the pram/stroller for hours without fussing but Jayne gets irritable after barely 15 minutes.

Those who have been following this blog since the beginning of times would remember that I pushed Joey in a stroller to the MRT station every morning and evening back home. The journey was long, yet Joey sat obediently in her stroller everyday and it lasted for more than 2 years! I could bring her shopping anywhere I want and she’d sit in her stroller for hours. Baby Jayne? Virtually impossible. She screams and struggles to get out of it in no time at all.

2) Joey falls asleep the moment we go on a car journey. Jayne hates car journeys and almost always whines and cries in the car.

Joey sleeps super well in the car as a baby. The rocking and soft motor sounds are all lullabies to her. If we have difficulties getting Joey to fall asleep, we take her on a car ride for a sure-win! Strangely though, this doesn’t work for Jayne! In fact, she gets all restless and irritable whenever we are caught in a long car ride. I usually get all exhausted and worn out after entertaining her after a long car journey. :(

3) Joey loves to bathe but is scared of shooting water while Jayne hates bathing but runs excitedly towards big jets of water!

Joey can soak and bathe in her bath tub for hours if we let her! And she enjoys going to water playground and the swimming pool, but she’s so super scared of the shooting jets of water that she’d not even go within 10 metres from the water! I’ve yet to fathom why this is so, because the water playground always looks so fun! Jayne, on the other hand, would run towards the large jets of water and if we don’t restrain her, she might get hit by the jets of water anytime! Not that she minds though, she laughs happily even after getting shot!

4) Joey tears when she poos. Jayne doesn’t even tell me when she poos.

It’s super easy to know whenever Joey poos. Large tear drops come down her cheeks. That’s why Joey almost never has bad diaper rash problem. We detect the poo-ing like instantaneously. Jayne does not have a single expression when she poos. When she was even smaller, it was worse. Now that she could express herself better, she sometimes bothers to tell me that she has poo-ed, or her sister’s sharp nose would pick up the smell and tell me. Otherwise, most of the time, it goes undetected for a while.

5) Joey lets me change her diapers peacefully. Jayne struggles like I was going to murder her.

When my parents used to tell me that they have difficulties changing their kids’ diapers, I cannot fully understand what they mean. Joey has never given me any problems before. She just lies there quietly for me to get the job done and she’s ready to go. Plus, I have quite the reputation of being a lightning speed diaper changer. It makes things that much easier. When it came to Jayne though, I realised that my lightning speed was not fast enough, and I’ve had my fair share of having poo fly through the sky and end up on my bedsheet or the floor, or having her tiny hand grab a handful of her poo goodness before I could stop her. She either struggles and shakes right and left, or uses both her hands to grab the soiled diaper. Either case, it makes the whole diaper-changing process a very traumatic one for me.

Notice I’m only talking about behavioural part of the differences and not the personality part of the differences yet. They’re after all still such young kids, and nobody really knows what their personalities are yet! But can you see even in terms of behaviour, they are already vastly different??!

I say, motherhood is a new learning process every single day!

BTW, aren’t my girls adorable??? =D

“I Want To Try…”

You know, sometimes we adults try too hard to put the kids into a a fixed frame. We have been conditioned by how this world and society works and there’re laws and rules that have been subconsciously imprinted into our minds that sometimes, we rule out possibilities on an auto-pilot basis. Kids, on the other hand, do not carry such unnecessary burdens.

My household recently had a new addition and this new addition has been the main source of entertainment for everyone in the household – My husband, me, my 2 kids and my mum-in-law. You’ve guessed it, it’s the IPAD.

You can imagine how much we need to ration the precious toy because everyone has a favourite app on it. We basically have to do it on a rotation basis so that everyone has a chance to play on it the whole day. We even categorise the apps to different pages so that the hubby’s apps are all on one page, mine on another and the kids’ on yet another.

So I’m sure you can imagine my impatience when Joey overruns her usage time and keeps jumping in and out of different apps that she doesn’t know how to use. Every time I download a new app, and she notices a new icon ON MY PAGE OF APPS, she wants to click on it and fiddle with it even though she definitely doesn’t know how to play those games. I kept nagging at her, ‘Joey! You won’t know how to play this game! This game is not for your age!’ or ‘Joey… can you play don’t click on Mummy’s games? Those are for adults, not children!!!’

Yesterday afternoon, Joey blurted out, ‘But Mummy, I want to try.’

It was a casual remark, but it stumped me for a while. Maybe I should have made room for her to to try and experiment? Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on her to keep to what’s socially acceptable for her age? Maybe I should encourage her instead of pulling her back every time she wants to try something that will expand her capacity? Her willingness to learn and try new things should be praised, isn’t it??

So I adjusted my attitude, and started teaching her to play one of the games I’ve been playing but definitely not a game she’d understand. It took me quite a while to explain to her how it works. She seemed to understand, but not really. After a while, she skipped to another game. The point is, she may not have really understood how the game is played, but she sure demonstrated effort and the willingness to want to learn. For that, I give her full marks.

I say, my kids teach me a million different things everyday. God may have put me in their lives to nurture and teach her, but they too teach me in more ways than one. :)

She’s Got Guts!

Warning: This is done under strict supervision. Do not imitate at any cost.

I’ve got a gutsy girl at home, that’s for sure.

I’ve thought of many ways to stop her from repeating this act, because even though she’s pretty skilled at it, there might be a chance she will slip and fall one day. But apart from throwing away the sofa, I’ve not managed to figure out a better solution. Help, anyone?

By the way, she learnt that from Joey. =.= I’ve since barred Joey from attempting other dangerous acts in front of her baby sister, who imitates every move of her sister nowadays.

This Is My Family

Took this beautiful shot at our church’s Anniversary service at Indoor Stadium a few months back.

I get goose bumps every time I see this photo. Nope, contrary to popular beliefs, I didn’t get goose bumps because the people were too good-looking (But of course they are). I get goose bumps simply because this is my family.

I might be a hopeless romantic, but every time I think about how I met my husband, fell in love with him, married him and now have our two kids, I feel all warm and blissful inside of me. =)

I always think that kids are the most romantic thing that can happen to a couple. The children are gifts from God and they are representation of the love between the couple in human form. Such an amazing feeling, don’t you think? :)

Plus, where else can you find four such good-looking people all in one photograph? =P

Witty? I Hope So..

My Joey sometimes does things that takes us all by surprise. I don’t know how her little brain works, or how it can generate funny ideas all the time, but it just does. I am constantly amazed by the things she does and says on a daily basis. She’s on witty kid, I dare say.

I’m being very random here because the funny things happened too fast and too frequently that I cannot keep up with the recording. These are just what I can recall off-hand.

* * *

Instance 1:

We were travelling in the car and Joey, in her usual self, has been talking and talking non-stop for 30 minutes. We badly needed some peace and quiet, so Papa Isaiah told her sternly, “Joey, I need you to keep quiet and not talk at all from now on.”

Joey was silent for about 1 minute before she couldn’t control herself and asked me in a whisper, “Mummy, can I talk please? Please, Mummy? I need to talk. Otherwise…. otherwise…. Otherwise I can’t breathe!”

It took all of my energy to stop myself from bursting into laughter there and then.

Instance 2:

Joey was playing a game on her grandmother’s iphone before bedtime and she was told by her grandma that she has to sleep after playing one last game. She was playing halfway when she suddenly said to her grandma, “Nai Nai, you got to try this game for yourself! It’s fun!” The grandma took over her iphone and tried playing the game that Joey was playing, and obviously, it was game over almost immediately since she doesn’t know how to play. Joey quickly said, “Oh, you caused me to lose the game. I’d have to play another game cos I was not the one who lost that game.”

Obviously, the grandma got cheated to take over a game that was almost ending…

Instance 3:

We were in a shopping mall taking an escalator to the carpark level. I was a few steps infront and standing between Joey and me on the escalator was a tall model-lookalike lady. Joey was standing on the escalator with her grandmother and she turned to her and commented, “This auntie infront is so tall. SIGH…. Mummy is really very short hor?”

I nearly flipped when I heard it.

* * *

Joey’s vocabulary has also been steadily improving, though they are mostly ‘meaningless’ vocabulary. I’m pretty sure she picked up those words from her schoolmates at pre-school. Those words are mostly exclaimation words such as, ‘Shucks!’, ‘Oh gosh..’ and ‘Oh man…’ Yes, I know. I shake my head too when I hear her say such things. Arrgggghhh…

Baby Jayne Along The Corridor

This post, as its name suggests, is really all about Baby Jayne along the corridor. =P

I have a lovely corridor, I feel. It’s lovely because it’s clean, shiny and has this long endless feel to it. It’s clean because my mother-in-law who’s a cleanliness freak splashes water on it religiously several times a day. It’s so clean the kids can safely walk barefooted on it and play in the area.

I remember my mum and dad used to tell me all about how they lived their childhood running around in the village, playing outside their wooden-planked house with their neighbours, etc. Village life seemed like fun, but for many of us who grew up in the city, the corridor is our kind of childhood fun. We all grew up playing along the corridor, didn’t we?

I suppose that’s the reason why Baby Jayne is always excited about getting outdoors to the corridor and just hanging around there, even though she may be alone by herself.

Walking up and down the corridor is enough to thrill her at this point. I’m sure you can see the glee on her face. :)

She plays make-believe games with herself, and even talks to herself at times. It’s heart-warming to see how a little girl can entertain herself with simple things like these. No need for fancy toys!

Sometimes, I tease her by locking the gates. It makes me laugh when I see her expressions. =P

What’s The Hardest About Motherhood?

It’s completely a personal opinion of mine.

I love being a mum and the perks that come along with it. I don’t mind the looking-like-a-clumsy-ball for 10 months or the 25-hour-long labour. I don’t even mind the sleepless nights during the 1st few months or the seemingly unending cycle of feeding, burping and changing diapers.

To me, the hardest is when my kids fall sick.

It didn’t used to be that hard when I only had 1 kid. I could focus all my energy on her and worry about her and her alone. But when I had 2 kids and both fall sick at the same time, it’s really tough. Even when only 1 kid is down, I also have to expend all my energy on keeping the two apart so that it doesn’t develop into a worse kind of evil where both are sick at the same time.

And it seems that my younger daughter has a lower immunity and she’s been falling sick a lot more than Joey, from what I could recall. Even though Joey was a C-section baby who was formula-fed all the way, she was quite a strong and tough kid who doesn’t fall sick that often as a baby. Baby Jayne, on the other hand, has been falling sick almost every other week!

Quite frankly, it drives me nuts.

I hate it when my kids fall sick. Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Period.

I can’t do my work properly. I keep having to take leave from work and I can’t concentrate on what I need to do. It’s totally irritating!!!! This is a usual rant of a working mum and in times like these, I really wished I was a SAHM. Sigh..

God, make my kids strong and healthy please! No more falling sick, please!!!!

Lanterns & Kids

Quite  frankly, mid-autumn festival has evolved to nothing more than a yearly affair of eating mooncakes and kids playing with lanterns now. I know it probably begun with a significant and meaningful story, but all the kids care about now are how pretty the lanterns are. =)

My Cell Group gathered at Woodlands Waterfront Park for our own mid-autumn festival celebration last Friday. Our coordinator was Yifei and we were amazed by his meticulousness! He prepared so much stuffs for the kids to play! =D

There were bubble bottles, sparklers of all sorts, luminous light sticks, light rods, etc.. I think Yifei is a big kid at heart! He knows what the kids love! =P

And we bought battery-operated lanterns for all the kids as well as paper lanterns to decorate the place. Paper lanterns are still the best, I say! They are pretty and brings out the mood!

We decorated a little tree near where we were seated. How pretty! =)

It was a great time of fellowship with the cell group friends, even though it started drizzling halfway through the evening. =P We shifted to a sheltered area and laid out our mats for the babies to sit on. :) The older kids just ran everywhere playing with the bubbles and sparklers! And the adults? Ate the refreshments and chit-chatted!

Happy Festival, Everyone! =D

Project STICKER CLUB!!!!

There’s this not-so-typical chain letter circulating among my mummy & daddy friends and colleagues called the Sticker Club and I’ve caught the bug and passed it on!!!

The friend who passed the bug to me wanted to make sure that I don’t chuck that email away and really be serious about passing the bug on, so she called me to prep-talk me before she actually emailed me. Haha! I was won over by the whole significance behind this chain letter project that I followed every instruction strictly!

Instead of me trying to explain to you what the Sticker Club is all about, let me just show you what’s in the letter I received:

* * *

Dear Joey,

Welcome to the Sticker Club!

Please send a packet of stickers to the person listed as number ONE on the list below. Then move my name to the first spot and place your name on the second spot.

Then send a copy of this letter to SIX of your friends.

If you cannot do this within six days please let my mum know because it is not fair to those who have already participated. Within two weeks you should receive thirty-six packets of stickers.

It is a lot of fun and exciting to see where the stickers come from. It is always fun to get mail from the postman too!

Good Luck and thanks for joining the sticker club.

Your friend,

Julian

* * *

I know this looks like a very normal chain letter, but imagine how thrilled our kids will be when they receive package after package of stickers!!!! Just the thought alone was enough to motivate me to pass it on! The best part was I only need to mail out 1 package and my kid gets to reap 36 PACKAGES!!!! This is really such an awesome idea!

And so, I excited went to buy stickers and mailed it out to the kid I was supposed to mail to! (The kid I was supposed to mail to is a boy, and I had a hard time deciding what stickers are suitable and appealing to BOYS!!! In the end, I thought what I bought were really cool…)

 

And the wait for Joey’s stickers started… and we waited…. and we waited… the weekend came and passed, and still, no stickers came. As the days went by, I was beginning to think that the chain must have been broken somewhere and maybe no stickers will arrive for my kid! =(

But finally, the stickers arrived on Wednesday night!!!!!

Not one, but two packages came together!!! One was from a friend we knew, and the other was from someone we didn’t know! What an interesting feeling! =D

I was so excited to see the packages that I dashed right into Joey’s bedroom (where she was preparing to sleep already), and shouted, “Joey, your stickers have arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” 

You see, a couple of days back, I couldn’t contain my excitement and I told Joey that she will be receiving some surprise stickers in the mail and they would be arriving soon. Since the day I told her, she’s been asking me (several times a day) why her stickers hadn’t arrived. /I almost regretted telling her! If really no stickers arrived in the mail, I was prepared to go buy some for her just to pretend they were mailed to her! =X

Joey looked wide-eyed at the two envelopes I handed to her… They had HER NAME on it!!!! haha…

And inside were stickers of cartoon characters she loved so much!!!!

Thank you for the stickers, my friends! They made my Joey a very happy girl. =)

The Sticker Club ROCKS! =)

FIKA Swedish Experience

A couple of days ago, I brought Baby Jayne with me to celebrate my boss’ birthday and it was at a really lovely Swedish restaurant named FIKA at Beach Road near Arab Street.

Quite frankly, my only Swedish-related experience to-date has got to do with IKEA alone. I love IKEA and every time I’m in IKEA, I feel very happy. So, imagine my delight when I stepped into this restaurant and immediately smelled IKEA! Actually, it was like stepping into an IKEA showroom. The furniture, decorations and lightings all look like they were from IKEA! Think pinewood tables and chairs, simple but sophisticated designs, pretty tableware and wall & shelf decorations.

There were about 40 of us and we booked the entire Level 2 of the restaurant for the celebration. Talking a long flight of wooden steps up to Level 2, this huge spacious room made you feel like you’ve just stepped into a home in Sweden. Seriously, it felt very cosy and comfortable. Parquet flooring, wooden bookshelves, sofas, fireplace. Sounds like a super nice place right? :)

I love the decorations placed all over the place.. 

Near the fireplace was this wooden horse which Baby Jayne enjoyed riding on throughout the night. :)

It was a very heart-warming night. There’s a buffet going on, friends chit-chatting and laughing together, and best of all, a live band playing in the background throughout the night. What a very lovely combi. =) This band was formed by members in our own zone and they really performed beautifully.

There were many occasions when Baby Jayne stood in front of them and danced away! Haha… it was a funny sight how much she enjoys good music.

Check out the food served that night. :) Classic Swedish cuisine.

See the brown balls at the bottom of the picture? Yep, they are meat balls with cranberry sauce on the side! Taste somewhat different from those served at Ikea (I still prefer Ikea’s though!), but these were very meaty and filling. The salads were especially good! =)

I enjoyed myself that night because it was a nice cosy place where the kids could walk here and there, roaming around and yet feeling comfortable and safe. It’s very child-friendly because it feel just like someone’s house! =)

If you’re interested to visit, FIKA is located at 275 Beach Road. :)

Oppps….

Mummy Kless is suffering from serious lack of sleep and will only be back tomorrow with a new post. =P