Going outdoors...

...is going to be a problem soon cos of swine flu :( Her childcare has suspended outdoor activities so we try to bring her out when we can.

Cheering for Mama So at East Coast Park during the interschool aquathlon. Such a beautiful beach~ (Mama So got swept away by the current during the swim :S and got 6th)

First trip to the zoo!

"We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo, how about you, you, you, you can come too, too, too, we're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo~~"

VERY VERY VERY HOT. Started out happy, ended up spanking and crying. I thought she started her "terrible twos" half a year ago, but it's getting worse. She throws the things that she doesn't want and will demand (i.e. scream and cry) to eat something that has fallen to the ground. Doesn't help that didi is starting to be curious and touches everything, therefore intruding into jiejie's territory and resulting in her screaming "Ah didi don't touch jiejie book! Mommy you see didi! Naughty boy! Ahhhhhhhhh~~~~~~~!!!!!"

Sigh.

No regrets though :) Still think she's cute.

My 'cultured' daughter

Xuan gets in touch with her roots... (the paper turns black when there's water and goes back to normal when dried)

And her 'international-ism'.

Guess who bought her this dress? (Not me!)

Baby ate my homework

You know the excuse we used to laugh at in jokes...it's true!! See the remnants of my homework... :(:(

And the culprit...he puts everything his hand could lay on in his mouth now

Semi solids

Chern is starting on his Nestle cereal :) He's adjusting well to the spoon, probably because of the pacifier? His care givers at infant care insist that the cereal box says "for 6months and above" so he only started cereal at infant care on 25th April, past his 6months birth date. When Xuan was about 5months old, she ate hard boil egg yolk, drank boiled pear water, suckled on fruits like dates, but Chern? No one has time for him so he spend most of his time watching the sky and drinking milk only. Sigh, poor second born. 没有人理我，呜呜……

Melody and her Melody Rabbit

Every girl's must-have? :)

Maybe didi is hoping to get a ride...

Realized that I seldom buy her toys that are just "toys"...Anyway she seem to be more entertained now by drawing on a piece of paper and a pen. Her childcare teacher says that she's not the kind who enjoy toys too much. She's more bookish. Brought her to watch a play "Bear and Chicken Goes Camping" by Little Company and she managed to sit throughout, though she did complain that it's a little dark :P

Xuan doing her sister-ly duties. Sometimes, when she's in the mood, she is actually quite generous with Chern.

A tribute to the baby cot

The baby cot was assembled when I was 30.5 weeks pregnant with Xuan...And it has shared many of her moments...

Spinning around at 2 months...

Lying on her tummy at 6 months...

Pulling herself up at 8 months ...

More standing at 10 months...

It was never taken down even when she moved to our bed at 11months, cos Mama was planning for another baby soon. And he did sleep on it...

Raising his arms at 3 months (so short his arms!!! Thats why babies are so cute!! :D:D)

Smiling at Mama so happily at 3 months :):)

Tummy time at 4 months...

He sleeps with me now on the bed, cos xuan sleeps with papa in the master bedroom, and the cot cannot go into the other bedroom (we tried to sleep together in the same room but it gets too noisy and restless at night). So...

*Trumpet music in the background*

Notice someone in the foreground trying to crawl but ended up going backwards and ended up halfway on the ground.

The baby cot retires at the So residence and will be serving another baby somewhere else...Til the 3rd baby comes (if there's ever another one), bye bye cot!!

小毛驴

Dr Melody

Checking for Hand Foot Mouth...

小和尚

Before:

"You're bringing me to do what?"

After:

"Haha, it wasn't too bad!"


小和尚即使吃着奶嘴，也可以把手指/抓起衣服塞进嘴巴里……

:):):)

Busy Mama

I used to be able to mark with xuan on my lap, even in the bus.

But my son is not that coorperative...

Cutting nails

I have been cutting their nails since Xuan was born...often, I cut their nails when they sleep, but recently xuan lets me cut her nails while she watches TV. Didi is also quite coorperative :):)

The first time I cut her flesh, I cried. The poor thing, a pin-head sized blood appeared on her tiny finger and she stopped crying when I started screaming louder than her. I think I cut both of them twice :P Xuan dropped from the bed twice and never fell again. Didi has fallen thrice so far I think :P:P Not proud of it, but something to be taken into account when we measure their IQ later in their lives? :P:P

Fine motor skills

Papa So bought Russian dolls to see the amazement in our eyes when he open up the doll again and again to reveal yet another doll. There are 10 in total and the tiniest doll is like the size of a barley. Xuan used to say "我要玩doll", now she can open them herself!

Also bought her this "educational toy" which is meant to teach her logic when she's older. Now it's more of a motor skill practice as she push the buttons to match the colours.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She recited her first poem today: 鹅，鹅，鹅，曲项向天歌，白毛浮绿水，红掌拨清波。I was so shocked! I never meant to teach her 唐诗，though I do recite this before meals sometimes:　锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土，谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦。我并没有刻意地教她这首骆宾王的诗，but it's in her hanyu pinyin book (which, again, I'm not teaching her hanyu pinyin, we just look at the pictures inside), and there are alot of kiddy rhymes in it. When I flipped the the "e" page, the one with the 鹅, she just started reciting this poem which is on this page. 真是无心插柳柳成荫！I don't really believe in making kids recite poems. Cos they don't understand what they are saying. And what's the point of learning 窗前明月光 if you don't understand the true "feel" （意境）of the poem? Kids don't understand the sense of nostalgia. I don't see what's the point of her reciting 鹅鹅鹅 as well but it's, like, the elementary poem that a kid from China will learn, so I'm quite excited about it anyway! :):)

Like father like son

Chern looks more and more like daddy each day.

Hahaha, my 2 boys :):)

Happy birthday at childcare!

Today Mama So brought this cake to Xuan's childcare centre:

and sat there among the other kids like a big kid!

We sang birthday song, and we (I) blew the candles!

Mama So haven't had so much fun cutting cake in a looooong time~


Teacher made her give me a cake first. So sweet~


And then we both have a cake to eat together~

Melody sat next to her best friend Aiqi while everyone ate their cake messy-ly. The clean freak in me got a little traumatized...So this is the everyday life of the childcare teachers- cleaning cleaning cleaning...

And these are the party bags that Mama and Papa So prepared the day before. I sneaked out of the centre before she could give the bags out. There's a balloon, star stickers, one jelly, one yougart sweet, Baby Bites biscuit and a small packet of mashmellows in it~~ Hope all the kids like it! I tried to be as healthy and fun as possible~ :):) More cakes to come tmr and next week on Xiang's birthday!

Milk...milk...please...(photos from my handphone)

So cute this romper!!!! :D:D

Little boy's night out with Mama's girl friends. Look how Luke (the dog) is bigger than my boy... -_-"

Little boy held on to Mama's finger all throughout our girlie talk...while looking at Mama rant on and on...So sweet~

Other cute photos~Love the sleeping pose...

How to resist this innocent look?

Happy little boy~~Grow up healthy and contented...muakkk

My girl friend commented that she has never seen him cry or whine. On the other hand, she has never seen Xuan NOT cry or whine...hahaha, well, different personalities I guess...

My little girl has a thing about putting stuff on her head...Like antlers...

and diapers... Clean one of course...

The new Boon Lay extension is up, so Mama took little girl to ride from Pioneer -> Joo Koon -> Pioneer. Her smile is a little scary... :P

We also saw Thomas at Jurong Point! (No that's not us in the picture with Thomas :P )


Funny how someone so small in size has to take up such a big and expensive seat...

Xuan on my right thigh, Chern on my right arm and left thigh, Papa is driving...This is why baby no.3 is not very possible...no more legs haha

So happy family :) Love my phone camera too!

Flipped!

Little Colin has reached one of his first milestones :):) (Notice that I'm not as excited as before...Still, I'm very very happy :) He can flip!)

Siblings getting along...

Xuan has been watching Seseme Street Beginning Together series, Bedtime Stories, Mr Men, 十万个为什么 almost every night now, and notice she has a little companion straining at all odds to watch tv with her... -_-"

One of Mama So's favourite...the serenity of a baby sleeping peacefully... :) I would give everything to keep him at this stage...watch him sleep like that...

I look at Xuan differently when she sleeps now. How fast they grow up...