The children had fun

This afternoon, went to my colleague's house warming party. Caleb was warmed up straight away when we arrived at the house, though it was his first time there. We entered and Caleb started climbing up the stairs to the second floor, entered the kids' room and started playing with korkor and his trains!





Danielle was also interacting with the other kids and 'walking' around to strangers so much so that there was this guy who eventually carried Danielle for quite a while.



In the evening, we went to Jumbo Seafood Restaurant for dinner. Went to the Kallang Branch which I suggested as the ambience is nice and there is a huge space for the kids to run around.





We ordered quite a number of dishes for just the 3 of us! Caleb didnt eat much as he was probably more attracted to the surroundings that he'd rather play than to eat.



Danielle sat down quite obediently and ate some food as well. But eventually, she also couldnt sit still and needed to get out to walk about.


We ordered fried rice with salted fish, crispy chicken skin with seafood paste..


Spinach beancurd dish with mushrooms...


and Spiced salt crab


We also had a complimentary dish from Jumbo since I am a member, which was scallops topped with pear with some mayo tasting sauce on it. Quite yummy.


Danielle and Caleb made some friends during dinner as Caleb was running around with the older girls and boys.

Children can really be a bridge for the parents to start interacting and talking despite not knowing each other beforehand. How interesting!

What has both of my children been up to?

Though one year apart, there is still a gap between Caleb and Danielle as Danielle still doesnt know how to play the toys Caleb plays. But I appreciate the moments when they actually spend time together doing other things.

This is where music unites the hearts.



They like to dance together to the music on TV as well. This happened on one of the evenings after dinner as they danced to the music of "Dont Forget the Lyrics" shown on Channel 8.


They also hop on the trolley together and go for a spin.


Usually they sleep separate rooms but sometimes Vicky seemed to have the ability to put both to sleep in the same room, which I am quite amazed as it is not easy putting Danielle to sleep as she cries alot, let alone both kids!


These are some of the things, that though seem so trivial, but I do appreciate it and am thankful that they have these moments together. I do not want to take this for granted.

What has Caleb been up to?

My students are already having their school holidays. As for me, I had been busy with 'O' Levels Invigilation. It was quite enjoyable to be down for invigilation as I could stay at home on days I was not on duty. So I could sleep in and spend more time with the children.

When CT goes to work early in the morning, I would transfer Caleb from his bed to my bed to sleep together with me as we can then share one fan and its easier to tend to his needs if he wakes up and cries.

He usually wakes up at about 730 or 8am. And the next naptime would be at 2pm. Its rather easy to put him to sleep now that he is older. I would read a story book to him before he sleeps and when I tell him to sleep, he would lie down and soon after, he would doze off. But of course, at times when I tell him to sleep, he would start monkeying around, doing his somersaults on my bed (Yes, he has learnt how to do that already!) but when he sees that I am stern in wanting him to sleep, he would obey.


The times when he is not sleeping and when Danielle is sleeping, I would quickly do some handicraft work with him. Reason is because of we do it with Danielle around, she would start messing up or eating up the play dough or crayons.



Here's Caleb doing his first masterpiece paint work!




Whenever you do such art work with a 2 year old, be prepared for mess! It is troublesome to clean up after that but I have to keep telling myself that it is worth it. (By the way, Caleb ended up spilling the dirty water while stirring too hard. Sigh. So the water was all over his painting that I had to throw it away. So I couldnt take the end product of his masterpiece)

Anyway, if you are interesting to do some activities with your child as well, go search in the internet. There are a lot of ideas and resources available!

Many faces of Danielle

Danielle has really been growing and developing fast-physically and cognitively. She is quite aware of the surroundings and at times, she seemed to know what I mean as she would do exactly what I say.



She is as curious as Caleb...She would touch and play with anything she sees interesting and put almost anything in her mouth to explore..


For example, if I ask her to give something to korkor, she would do that. If I ask her to kiss me, she would pout her lips a little and lean towards me. When I ask her to stick out her tongue as I stick out mine to show her, she would do the same etc etc.


For now, I am very thankful that she is healthy and happy.

Exploring with food

A while back, my sister-in-law, Ally gave me a packet of frog from Indonesia and the interesting thing to me was how the feet were still attached. So I put one on a plate and let him explore by his own.



Usually the frogs that I buy from markets, have their feet already chopped off. But not this one. So I thought this was a good time for Caleb to see how frog looks like.



I love it when I can teach my kids through all these everyday life examples, nature, food etc as kids at this age are just so curious about anything and everything!



A willing learner = a willing and happy teacher!

Love company

Both Caleb and Danielle loves company. As long as they see other kids, they are happy as they have playmates.



They would also enjoy going to the gate and look out for passer-bys to smile at. There was once when the family was taking the lift down as we were going out. Once the lift door opened and when Caleb walked out, he greeted "Hello" and waved at every stranger that was walking past him. I told CT that he seemed like some MP doing his rounds in the neighbourhood.



Thankfully, Caleb has been a good brother and has not really fought with Danielle yet. *crossing my fingers* They do enjoy each other's company and play together.
But at their age, its quite difficult to find something similar which both will enjoy playing. So most of the times, they still play on their own.


Here's at the recent 2-year old birthday party of my god son, Asher! Their house is like a mini toy shop! You can practically find anything and everything!





Too bad I didnt take a picture of the playroom as its really full of toys! Whole shelves of toys! Makes me feel how much I have been depriving my children! :)

So you can imagine what a blast of time the kids have at god ma's place until they refused to leave the place.

Small gathering

Today, I invited over a couple of my colleagues for dinner. The main reason was because one of my colleagues planned to go Korea for holiday and wanted to borrow some winter clothings from me and CT. So instead of just coming over my place to collect the clothes, I thought,"why not just stay for dinner?"

So anyway, all of us felt, 3 couples would be nice to just gather round the table for dinner. Caleb immediately got comfortable with our guests and started playing with them.

Here's what Vicky prepared for dinner. A very simple meal. Not too fanciful.

Pan fried garlic chicken thighs,


steamed sea bass

as well as chinese chye sim.


Also prepared papaya chicken soup with peanuts.


It was actually quite nice to have a small gathering and company for the night. Hoped the men enjoyed themselves too. Hehe..Guess they did since Caleb preferred the men's company as he amused them.

Piano lessons?

I know how most parents would enrol their children for piano lessons every Saturday so as to get their basics in music. Right at this moment, I have no idea whether I should or not.

I would like to...BUT the thought of what I went through when I was in primary one to five, going through those examinations in a cold room alone with a very strict examiner with butterflies in my stomach as I play those memorised pieces, really sap out any joy I have about music at that time....I really do not want my children to go through all that.



Any advise for me? Should I or should I not?

Japanese mood

Recently my friend gave me a packet of Japanese curry rice and toppings to add to your Jap rice. So I decided that one of the days during this week, I would prepare a Japanese meal.

So here's what I used to prepare for my meal.


Prepared a salmon fish miso soup with silken beancurd- spring onions & seaweed as garnish.


Then there's the Jap curry which my friend gave me. Added diced chicken meat and potato cubes into it.


Also got unagi (Jap eel) as it was on offer in Giant hypermart.


And then the rice, which definitely looked so much more tasty with the toppings and looked nice aesthetically as well which seems to psycho part of your brain that it tastes good already even before you try it.


Also had the Jap sweet beancurd skin to stuff with rice and top with some sweet brown pickles and unagi


And like every meal, we must have veggies as I love them as well as Caleb. So I was thinking quite hard what kind of veggies is considered Japanese..In the end, I gave up and decided that I shall just make do with a non-Chinese dish. Everything doesnt need to be perfect. :)


Here's Caleb trying to steal some food as we were laying out the dishes.


By the way, he loves picking on rice or veggies before meals.

Had a satisfying dinner!

Tatoo Artist

I know that most children enjoy drawing all over the place, including the body and since I became a mum, I dread this day would happen as its a big headache.

At about a year back, Caleb has already started drawing on our walls, it has also drawn on our sofa with crayons (hope this serves as a warning to parents with young children who are deciding to get expensive furniture).

Today, he started drawing on himself with the marker. He drew his shirt, his legs and even his stomach. Sigh..



Danielle was intrigued by it, including his belly button. I have no idea why both my children loves to touch belly buttons



Now I am dreading the day Danielle does the same too by drawing everywhere...I am mentally prepared.

Party @ Newton Suites

Today, I attended a first month baby party at Newton Suites Condominium, along Newton Road, near United Square. It is 36-storey, modern and exclusive Condo.

When we first arrived, Caleb looked really tired and moody as you can see from this picture.



The party area was at the 6th floor, where the swimming pool was. A very nice place for party but kind of dangerous for young kids if left unattended as the kid can easily jump into the water without realising the depth and danger of it.



We had a tough time feeding him. So Vicky did try to put him to sleep but eventually, he didnt sleep and instead, he became so happy and active as he was playing with the water.


Danielle, too, couldnt resist it when she saw Caleb playing in the water. So we sat her down on the wading pool and she was having so much fun.


Glad I have two kids who enjoy playing with water. I hope they will grow up loving the waters and feeling comfortable and confident in it.

Who's copying who?

I feel at times that I have twins at home. Not only they look quite alike (proven by the fact when I show Caleb his baby photos and ask him who is this? He would reply, "Meimei") but they also imitate each other.


Many people mentioned that the second child would develop faster because he/she would follow the elder one to do whatever they do. I feel its quite true to a certain extent because Danielle really copies what Caleb does and so far, she has developed much faster. She has been eating rice and skipping the porridge stage.


And now at 10 months, she has already learnt to walk by herself. Check it out!

I do not expect much from my 2 kids, but each time, they never fail to amaze me with a new word or a new skill learnt. I am thankful to the one who created Caleb and Danielle and given me and CT the responsibility to look after them.

Graduation 'Nite'

Today, my school had their annual graduation ceremony as it marks the end of school for the Sec 4 and 5 as they go on a study break, in preparation for their O levels.

It is quite enjoyable to be taking a back seat as I am only a subject teacher of the graduating classes and not the form teacher as the form teacher had to go up on stage to announce the names of each student in the class for them to go up on stage to collect their certificate.

So, I went to the hall just when it was about to start and I plopped myself right at the back of the hall together with other subject teachers. Just as the Sec 4E1 class was about to go collect their certificates on stage, my vice principal made an announcement for all subject teachers teaching the class, to go up on stage to shake hands with the students as well...I thought, "shucks, I cant slack now.."

While on stage as I was shaking hand with each and every student, I told the rest of the teachers on stage that it feels just like the end of a wedding dinner. So I actually joked to one student whom I was shaking hands with and said," Thanks for coming to my wedding."

Here are some shots taken with my students from 4E1




From 5N1, who happens to be in the same church as me.


and my ex-students whom I taught before when they were in Sec 1!



I do wish them all the best for the O Levels and that they have learnt something positive from me during my time with them and also values from sharing with them personal life experiences, motivational/inspirational stories, videos, quotes etc. They can forget me but hopefully, not the life lessons.

All the best!!!

2 kids and still not used to it...

Who says having more kids means we are used to changing their smelly diapers?

At times, don't like means don't like. It doesnt matter how many kids we have or how many million times we change their diapers...the smell still remains unbearable for CT.

Even Caleb 'fainted' at the smell of Danielle's poo!



On the other hand, the one thing I can get used to is probably when the kids get presents! I feel like a kid once again, though its not for me!

Recently, my church celebrated children's day for the kids above 2 years old and they had a party for the kids. This was what Caleb received- a heart-shaped balloon, 2 playdoughs, 1 box of koko krunch and a story book.




I was probably more excited than Caleb when we saw the presents. Oh well...