Star Reward Too?

Last night, Renee showed us happily this piece of reward her teacher diana has awarded her :

When asked on what basis was she given this and she replied : "because I've got 5 stars, so teacher diana gave me this". I probed further : "Oh, how and what did you get the star(s) for?" and she said "for being a good girl". Awww, ain't that nice... To further encourage her, I complimented her for the good work and that papa and mommy are very proud of her, she smiled, :).

*I guess I've never expected this extra 'act' from the teacher 'cos teacher diana has appeared 'busy' with handling the children. This, I must say, is very good as children grow/prosper well under the care of loving teachers.

The PoliceGirl!

Yes Mommy, I like the New School

Earlier, under the impression that another branch's better, I had contemplated switching Renee over, especially when she hadn't seem very enthusiastic about going to the current one initially.

However, the Principal of the current CC has been rather pro-active and from the changes they've catered for Renee, even if they were very minor changes, we appreciate the thought and effort. On Wednesday, Mrs Teoh has called and even followed up with me on Renee's progress and asked if we are to confirm pulling Renee out. I told her then that I've yet to look into the matter and will revert to her by today. Upon our 2nd visit to the other branch, it appeared that it didn't have much difference afterall(the 'changes' that we've seen and liked during our 1st visit didn't warrant the switch enough) and that the staff do not carry the 'personal touch'. Perhaps, those whom I get to chat with already knew the details, :).

This morning, Mrs Teoh waited for us personally at the door and discussed further with me on Renee's progress(including meal, nap, activity times) in the centre and I really appreciated that as it gave me a better insight of what Renee has actually 'learnt'/'done' in the 'school'. She even suggested to let me bring back the worksheets, arts/activity work she's done so far to gauge(which the chinese lang. teacher really did show me when I went to pick Renee, but I felt there's no need for me to bring back so I just glanced 'thru. Lao Shi even futher updated me with her observations). We told her that we've actually decided to let her continue for the time being and just now, I learnt from Renee that she's been allowed to participate in the year end school concert performance(they actually felt sad that Renee had wanted to participate but they didn't let her 'cos thinking that today would be her last day).

Earlier, Renee had mixed feelings about the other branch but she ultimately chose to return to the current one which suits me equally fine, :).

The Hand Over(mommy's car) II

The buyer had phoned daddy around 3pm yesterday and requested for the hand over at 5pm but later on, more delay cropped up with his car dealer(he's got a car dealer to handle his documentations) and yesterday's hand over was postponed.

This morning, his car dealer phoned daddy and informed him that we'd need to pay him 1.5% for their service. WHAT? This company is obviously trying to pull tricks with us and daddy told them off. There's no such practice in the market(we've even double-checked on this with a couple other dealers to ensure that the market practice has not changed over the last yr) and we didn't even engage their service. Daddy then informed the buyer about this nonsense and told him that this company is not an honest one and suggest to him to talk to them. If need be, we could even recommend him a reliable dealer. The buyer said he'll speak to them but we waited a while without his reply and thus, daddy gave him an ultimatum - deal off after 5pm today. Minutes later, he phoned back to say that everything's settled and will meet us for the handover at 1pm.

We got to the dealer's office at 1pm and as the buyer's late, we went for our lunch. By the time he arrived, we've already wasted an hour. The 2nd half of today was totally wasted, no thanks to this dealer, whose ignorance of the standard paperwork requirement further delayed all proceedings til 4:30pm! During such time, we were made to turn back(having asked them to get the matter sorted out before we would hand over the car, we were already on our way back to the office) and there were quite abit of haggling on documentations for they did not want to give us the letter of release when the bank loan has been approved, on Wednesday and WILL BE SETTLED to them, including our balance payment by next Tuesday! In this case, how can we release our car over?! Geez. To think that they're 'CaseTrust' stamped, OMG! I mean, if they can't trust the bank to deliver payment, who are they to expect us, who don't know them at all, to trust them on the payment?

By the time we've finally handed over our car to the buyer(crossing our fingers that this dealer will really release the balance amount to us within 2 weeks - which is already a ridiculous arrangement since the bank loan is already approved and will be settled by next Tues the most), the 3 of us were totally exhausted, all from the frustrations we've got from the dealer - if only the buyer would just take our suggestion and go to the one we've recommended and save us all the trouble.

*The details of what had taken place during those irritating hours would make one's blood boils, so I'll spare the info. Can u imagine, up til the time we've handed over the car, each time daddy's mobile rang, he'll go "oh no, what is it again this time". Yes, it is that bad...

Daddy's client had phoned him about his arrival earlier today and that meant no family dinner outing for us this evening. And now that I don't have a car, daddy has to send us home for our dinner... This shall be the way-daddy sending and fetching us, for the time being and I'm ok with it except that after hving driven for ~1 yr 4 mths, I'm beginning to be dependable on its convenience, hahaha. Well, as long as it's just going to the office and home, then it's still fine and in fact, suits me more than fine(reason as cited in earlier post, heee) but going to my personal 'treats' on my own like facial and whatsoever, would deem errrm, un-'appealing', kekeke.

The Hand Over(mommy's car) I

Last evening, we were informed by the buyer that his loan application has been approved and that we could hand over my car over to him after the documentations, so whilst Renee's in the shower, I quickly went down to unload my stuffs from the car(so as to avoid lugging the stuffs to & fro today).

This morning I drove Renee to the CC again(this time, not needed only for the purpose of handing over the veh.) but when daddy met me at the office carpark, he told me the buyer mentioned there's been some hiccups and he'll inform us again when to hand over, aiyoh, I've unloaded literally everything from the car already! Waste my time lah. I really don't enjoy driving home from the office as the traffic is always super heavy with big trucks and the cars are usually either moving very fast or slow that makes lane changing tough(though still manageable la 'cos I'm not completely new, heee). Worser when it's after 6pm, JAM! However, it had been a challenge to me and although it's brought on a little 'stress' for not so experience driver, it's given me an opportunity to drive in 'mad traffic'(comparable to driving along Little India during peak hours) more often, hahaha.

I had been sooo happy that I could finally just relax in daddy's car from this evening onwards but with this piece of news, haiz. Daddy, on the other hand, cited 'regret' again last evening that the car's to be handed over, hahaha. He had liked this car as well and he said that perhaps we could find another of the same model but one with the new facade, hahaha. Ya, I don't mind 'cos I like its features and outlook too, but I hope we'll only get it(if this is really sold) when Renee's resumed schooling with the Preschool! I don't want him to get me another, after going through the trouble of selling this off, just for the sake of HIS convenience! It would be a waste of $ as I see it to have it parked at the carpark most of the time OR in order not to have it parked there, made me drive 'un-necessarily' when we usually come/go and to/fom the same place, right?

How's Renee's reaction to this sale? She said "Haiyah, I don't want other people to buy mommy's car! Oh mommy, you must remember to take out the CD ok!". Then "papa, you must buy another car for mommy ok, buy one with the arrow arrow(she's referring to the Citroen's logo)", hahaha.

Cow Jump Over the Moon

This is what they've done during their Speech & Drama class last Tuesday :

This week's - today's? Nothing, lolz...

New Site For 'Mommy's' Work

It was pouring yesterday morning but with daddy driving, we still manage to reach the CC by 9:33am even though we've left the home only at around 9:10am.

I've been looking for a suitable web builder for some time now(well, I've actually kinda stopped looking since the birth of Renee though, heee) and recently, taking the cue from my mentor, I thought, why don't I simply shift it to a blog as well! So I guess, for now I'd be busy with this other blog of mine for a while, lolz...

On A Lighter Note

Ok ok, after my earlier post, I think I should touch on something 'lighter'...

Renee had started another new piece today and citing its higher complexity, Ms Mok said that this will also take a longer time, 2-3 weeks of practice at least, especially when Renee, being young, need to start it on legato(normal/smooth bowing) play first and go on the 'actual playing' from the next lesson. As prompted by Ms Mok last week, we had arrived about 20mins earlier today. However, she did not end our lesson earlier but instead, stretched our lesson all the way til 12pm(supposedly to be frm 11:30 to 12pm). It was very nice of her. She passed me a current copy of the ABRSM selected violin exam pieces and told me to make copies for Renee's practice. Again, I told her that I'd hope for Renee to go for the later one or if she really thinks she's ready, perhaps can even skip grade but she said 'don't worry'. Anyway, if we've got time, I'd TRY and let her play the songs, for practice purposes and see how things go(not sure if even got time or not hahahahaha).

When daddy came home with our dinner, he told me that the intended buyer has requested to view our car again. Good thing he's nearby this time and so daddy went over after dinner. His whole family had came down to view the car(probably very excited about the car and it holding a 2 digit no plate, kekeke - and yes, selling the car with the no plate, 'cos first of all, it'll be very troublesome to retain it, secondly, it's not my choice of no. hahaha) instead of just his wife, which he's mentioned earlier, lolz.

The next few weeks would be tough(for me) on the home cleaning area as firstly, PX has to skip the next Sunday to go for her NDP parade dance rehearsal and then she'd be going for a short holiday break thereafter. No choice, just have to do the cleaning and ironing myself lor, arrrgggghhh...

A Little Scare...

Hmmm, now that I thought about it again, I felt a little 'shaken' though it might just be a scare over nothing, but still... Anyway, here's what happened : We both went to the mall after Renee's violin lesson as daddy's out for golf and PX won't be here till 2-3pm, so I thought to have our meals there.

After a little shopping here and there for almost 2 hours, I decided it was time to go home and we went back to the fireman's lift area. Why did we go there? It was because I've parked my car at a lot neither here nor there, no where near any passenger lifts or escalators and I've seen a few people whom had parked near mine, gone to the mall via 'that door' which was the nearest. I had hesitated initially when I got there but decided to just take the elevator anyhow. However, although I hadn't 'felt good' about having to go through there, I went back the same way, as I didn't want Renee to complain of the looong walk to the car using the 'proper lift channel'. Whilst waiting for the lift, 2 men came in and 1 smiled at Renee. He was also holding folded newspaper. I know I know, I shouldn't judge, but it sure didn't feel right at that moment and when Renee told me about something, I quickly took the opportunity and asked if she'd like to go back and get some more but she, of cos unknowing of the situation, said NO. Then, the lift arrived at our level and "Amitābha", a lady was inside - she had wanted to come out but went back in again, so I quickly went in with Renee(preparing to go out should this lady really goes out) and as this lady was fumbling inside her bag, I quickly pressed the 'close' button and hit onto my level button. The 2 men did not follow in... Now, that sure seemed funny right?

With this experience, I told myself that should I go there again, or even to anywhere for that matter, no short cut route, safety first! I took the opportunity to brief Renee again about not taking the elevator with strangers.

Aqua Doodle

Both Renee and I woke up abit later today at almost 10am, as we're not going to the office, hurray! Daddy did not confirm if we'd be going out today, so I made a last minute appointment with my hairstylist to do something to my hair and I quickly rushed out after getting Renee's lunch ready.

I've thought to maintain the current length and thus, the option to soft straighten my hair to tame the natural wave so as to tidy the look. I had forgotten that it's the weekend and was surprised at the fee I was charged, geez! I better watch my spendings from now on, heee.

Anyway, as I was almost done at the salon, Daddy sms-ed me to check on the time I'd be back - why? 'Cos we've placed an advertisement on my car and there's an intended buyer who wanted to view it. Due to hurrying back home, I've not enough time to check out on the item which Elsie wanted. But good news - the car's sold and now it's just waiting for the buyer to revert if his loan with the bank would be approved.

Now that my car's finally 'sold', I'm actually having mixed feelings. First of all, kinda 'un'-bear to let it go 'cos I like its features and it being my first vehicle(in fact, I learnt later that it's not just me, even daddy felt abit 'wasted' to let it go, hahaha) but on the other hand, besides cutting the wastage of having an extra vehicle when we usually travel in daddy's these days(else he'll arrange to go golfing and make me bring Renee to the CC and to the office myself 'cos he can't stand the idea that my car's idle at the carpark - he seemed to have forgotten the times when 1 of HIS was also parked idle and I took cab with Renee!), it is also a form of relief to me as I can be relieved from the route stress for now, hahaha. In any case, with its sale, we'd have to monitor on how things are going to be and unless if there's a need to, we shall stick to 1 vehicle for the time being.

Daddy had to drive my car to the buyer's for his view and whilst he's out, Renee requested for me to play with her again but feeling abit tired, I asked if she'd like to exchange her 20 stars for a new 'toy' instead of waiting indefinitely for the princess crown set(well, it's a rule breaking act 'cos I've told her earlier that her toy exchange cannot exceed the amount of S$10, heee). Initially she had said no but when I told her that it'd be something fun, she agreed. She even went "oh thank you thank you, mommy" when she saw the item(something which I've bought for her long ago, but havn't got the chance to let her use it):

The Rainbow AquaDoodle

In the evening, we thought to go check out the new ION shopping mall since we'd have to go to the Tonkichi restaurant to collect our card and vouchers, but it was so jam pack in town and by the time we got out of the traffic jam, we only managed to get a table @ the restuarant at almost 8:30pm, so we have to go straight home(oops, forgot to get the item for Elsie again...well, we did stop by Orchard Hotel-where we parked the car, 'cos Renee wanted to 'go to hotel', hahaha).

Breakouts!

Facial to the rescue!

It was only 2 wks ago that I've had my long postponed facial treatment but last week, since I've started helping out at daddy's office, I began to experience breakouts! It could be due to the stress from the rush and not having enough rest/sleep(actually I should say, even lesser hrs of sleep, heee). So, although I've already fixed the next appointment on the week of my birthday and the home prepared masques are just not strong enough for such 'outbreaks', thus, I'm going for another today(of cos after checking with daddy if he'd be needing me at the office) since my skin badly needed remedy. Well, the best remedy would of cos be to have enough rest, sleep, but this is quite impossible, so...Daddy's seen the 'effects' of the 'stress' on me and thus, he said to go ahead.

I'm glad I went and today's therapist was someone whom had attended to me during my earlier visits. Not sure if it was because she was pretty new then but I was surprised to enjoy a very detailed service from her today! Very happy, :).

Our 'home coming' timing seem to fit perfectly today as Daddy and Renee had just arrived when I was just about to leave the carpark and so, it's early family dinner time :) which is good as we need to have our dinner early(or rather, Renee had to, so she could have more time for practice, rest/play before bedtime).

Half Day

Daddy would be going to the office late today so, it's me again, to bring Renee to the CC myself. It was raining cats and dogs this morning and that slow-ed down the traffic. As such, we got to the CCC only at 9:45am(daddy could have got there earlier, heee).

As we have a seminar this evening, we decided to bring Renee back home earlier, instead of the original plan of bringing her to Eileen's direct from the CCC. With this arrangement, we need not let the teacher shower her so there goes the washing of hair every Wednesday, :). This, however, was protested by Renee, I guess she had enjoyed the play time with her friends whilst waiting for her shower at the centre, lolz. However, knowing how much time the teacher would have on each child on such activity, we would rather do it ourselves, thus the new arrangement(as long as our schedule permits) - esp. after Renee told me how fast each of their shower(including those who opt for full shower which incl. hair washing) was, at the centre.

On our way home after my lunch with daddy, I, with the imfamous route direction blur-ness, took the wrong turn again, hahahahaha and the GPS is certainly not really helping! Daddy gave up and directed me over the mobile phone, heeeee.

Renee had fallen asleep in the car but when we came to the end of KPE and I asked if she'd like to check on the new stock of the princess crown set(just to wake her up, heee) and she said yes, obviously, :). With that, I got to get some groceries and by the time we got home, it was already close to 3pm. Told her to go nap first whilst I hurried over the chores and getting the ingredients of her dinner ready. Then, at 3:40pm, I tried to take a quick nap but was woken up at 4pm by loud knocks on our door. It was the 'mosquito inspector', hahaha. Anyhow, I needed to cook her dinner, so I gave up trying to resume my nap and not long later, daddy came back, waking Renee up.

After our seminar, I even managed to tuck Renee in by 10:15pm today, :).

Mac Delivery!

I'm here at the office alone again today. Daddy has happily gone for his golf game and I took Renee to the CC myself today, which made her very happy of cos as she said that she prefers to take my car - why? 'cos I've got a CD filled with many nice pop songs which she's learnt to like, hahaha.

I tried to rush 'cos she would be having her Speech & Drama enrichment today and Teacher Diana has told me yesterday that the children would be getting ready for it at around 9:30am. We arrived at 9:30am, :). Upon reaching the classroom which is upstairs, Renee's new found 'good' friend, Li Ling came to hold her hand, aiyoh sooo sweeeet...

I've noticed yesterday that the bottle holder has been removed and I heard from Renee earlier that the girl named Rachel(one whom had been giving sweets to friends in the CC) had pulled it off, haiz.

I had wanted to stay and look at how the S&D would be conducted but it's not an out-sourced class(by 1 of the centre's teachers), so I didn't. I personally would prefer enrichments to be conducted by external sources. Nevermind, it's only temporary, so just let her try out and see if she's enjoyed it, :).

I had only had half a cup of decafe-d coffee + a slice of plain milk bread at home and since daddy won't be in the office til 3pm+(I don't feel like driving out for lunch alone myself, the places here quite unlike town's) and suddenly remembering Macdonald's delivery, I ordered their breakfast set with a M latte and extra sides! Usually I couldn't even finish the whole set, but today, I ate up all, geez! lolz. Sure to put on weight man, what with going around in a vehicle, eating so much and no physical work at the office? Hmmm, talk about 'vehicle', I think perhaps I should speed daddy up on the sale of mine man, so he'd have no excuse to keep golfing and made me go to the office myself! :D.

Back To CC

Renee woke up ok today though she's woken up once in the 'night'(perhaps, wanting some comfort from me) and so I decided against cooking her meal(anyway, not enough time also, hahaha).

Spoken to Mrs Teoh and cited that there're some sick children in the K1 and K2 levels. Confirming that they do nap in the aircon room(the kids would be sleeping in the aircon room with fan! but they would still be all sweaty again after shower) and unable to have it off, Mrs Teoh suggested that perhaps what they could do was to try and place Renee away from the aircon duct(have they been putting her near it? Haiz).

This could just be a transitional thing but we'll monitor the situation for the time being.

Standby

It could be due to waking up early for the past few days, Renee had woken up early again today. I had made the mistake of sleeping late last night, thinking that I could perhaps sleep til 10am since PX would be coming only at 10:30am. The chatter of Renee and daddy caused me unable to resume my sleep, so I also got up when they've both left for breakfast.

PX was a little late and arrived when we were about to leave for Renee's violin lesson. Ms Mok must have anticipated quite abit of mistakes today(as she's also aware of Renee would be going to the childcare this week and that we both wouldn't have as much time to practice), 'cos she seemed surprised when she complimented her and even asked me how she get to practice, hahaha. Well, the fact is, Renee only started with the CC on Wednesday, thus there was Monday and Tuesday available, hee(but Fri and Sat totally no practice, :<).

She's got another new student today and they came right on time at 12pm, so we had to leave on the dot. Ms Mok's very nice I would say, 'cos she told me to bring Renee over earlier next week(perhaps cos she tends to waste time by displaying unwillingness to co-operate immediately).

Renee's fever had subsided for now but her phelgm's still there which means her body is still heaty. In this case, perhaps I'd better be on the standby to cook her meals for the next few days, in case her fever returns(NO PLEASE !)*double crossing fingers*, then at least she could have her meal when we bring her to the office.

Many Questions?

Being excited that she could finally wear her dresses today(we told her that it's better for her to wear shorts set in the CC) and she woke up earlier than us today, even before my alarm went off! She appeared better and we went to the office.

It was probably due to the medication(bal ones on standby) I've given her, she slept on the way there. She had wanted to resume her sleep on my lap but later decided to get up and boss-ed/played around the office, :).

We didn't stay long at the office today as we wanted to bring her to the doctor. We've not decided earlier as to which clinic to bring her to and seeing that she seemed to be a little better, we went to the GP. Although she appeared to be recovering but from the phlegm she's spat out, it's obvious that her body's still heaty. I must remember to boil barley water for her tomorrow.

When we got home, all 3 of us had a nap(well, obviously I had the shortest as I had to handle some chores - only 1/2 hr nap, heee) and we headed to my mom's after her dinner's cooked/packed. On the way there, I told her not to play too wildly and try not to talk so much since her throat's not well and she said "can you tell aunty lili?", hahaha. I asked why I would have to do that and she said "cos aunty lili will say 'tickle tickle'(that's their little game 'cos she kept asking why and she'd normally 'shout' from fear of being tickled) and I told her I'd do so. Daddy however, told her that she should in this case, stop asking why and before I even told him that he shouldn't input this to her, she replied him "but I have many questions, that's why", hahaha.

She's not practiced much this week and had not done any for the past 2 days, so hopefully she could still get her pass from her teacher tomorrow...

3rd Day - Fever

It's my turn to take Renee to the centre this morning as daddy's got an appointment nearer to our home. It took me a little longer to get Renee up from bed today and because of the delay, I have to ask daddy to help me change her and tie up her hair, :).

We managed to reach the CC by 9:30am and they were just getting ready for the playground which is within its own vacinity. Teacher Diana passed me the list depicting the amended time-table before I left and on my way down/out, I glanced up to have a last look. Renee, as usual, had looked 'fragile' amongst the other kids.

Oh ya, just when she was led to the classroom, she was told to put her bag outside and not sure if it was before or after teacher Diana's asked me if she's taken her breakfast, she went to bring her bread box out hahaha. We told her there's no time unless she's hungry but she said she's not...

Daddy got back to the office at 5pm and minutes later, I quickly went to fetch Renee back to the office first. I was surprised with her asking why I took so long to pick her up, as her mother, I sensed this is not going well and later in the evening, whilst having our dinner at Dian Xiao Er(her favourite) @Vivo City, I felt her already warm body getting warmer... Oh man, not so soon! Just 3 days at the CC and she's falling ill?! Arrrgggghhh. However, she had finished up her food including the soup and even requested that we shop awhile first. We did that, but after I've paid for my stuffs, I felt her body even warmer and we decided against her wish and headed home. As I'm also feeling very tired, I told her that we'll skip practice today and before I began showering her, I hugged her warm body and guess what she asked me? : "mommy, is it now your heart pain pain?"(we've told that our hearts hurt if she gets hurt or falls ill).

I just saw daddy brought her out to the toilet, she had vomitted a little - mainly phlegm. Haiz. We have to go to the office to tend to some work tomorrow and I guess we'll have to take her to the doctor as soon as we're done, poor girl, :(

2nd Day

Was informed by Eileen yesterday that she'd be going to the market today and daddy told me last night that I could go office later and handle the foodstuffs first and he'll take Renee to the CC. Reason being, his client will be here today and he's to meet him and I'd have to tackle many things after picking Renee up.

Renee had slept late last night, not sure if it was due to the nap in the CC, so it's a good thing daddy decided to try to go out in a later timing. I woke her up at 8:05am and got her to drink her milk. She managed to poo today which is good since she didn't do so yesterday, hahaha(gross topic? lolz). I went over to Eileen's after they've left but after I've handled the food, I got sooo sleepy - the irritating mosquito was back again! and since daddy didn't need me there so early today, I told him I'd take a nap first. After about 40mins, I got up, put the rest of the ingredients to the slow cooker(Renee had complained about 'pain' and pointed to her throat y/day so I thought it'd be good to boil some soup for her today) and got myself ready.

Earlier, when I was reaching home from Eileen's, Mrs Teoh phoned to say that since they'd missed me this morning, she's requested the teacher to do up the revised time table and pass me a copy tomorrow and re-assured me that Renee will not miss any lessons after the amendments. I clarified with her that actually it's because there might be some occasions when we would be late or even have to pick her up earlier that I needed to see the adjusted time-table to make sure that I could plan ahead on those days, :).

It was a smooth drive at that hour and I got to the office at 12:30pm but daddy's already left to meeet his client(he had sms-ed me on his way out) so I ate my KFC lunch alone...

With the minimal work required of me at the office, it was a good thing time didnt pass too slowly and daddy got back just before I left to pick Renee up.

Back home alone with her(daddy gotta have dinner with his client) meant I have to do everything on my own - rushing to cook our dinner, shower her. Luckily her practice was pretty good tonight so we managed to save some time - she even asked why it was so short, lolz.

She had appeared alittle tired today and indeed, she didn't protest when I asked her to go to bed at 10pm. However, daddy's untimely return just as I was about to read her the story messed the 'routine' up. Not wanting to deprive her from her fatherly affection, she ran to him but that delayed her bedtime quite abit. Guess she's really tired cos she fell asleep almost immediately after the story reading, which was already close to 11pm already(or was it due to the aircon? lolz).

First Day at the CC

Today is the day - Renee goes to the Kinderland Childcare Kindergarten(Nursery).

I have this silly feeling of unwillingness, maybe it's because I've been taking care of her myself since day 1 of her life(well, almost day 1, hahaha)... I remember the first day she's gone to Kinderland Preschool, she had been more adaptable than me in school, whilst I sat alone, feeling lonely without her pressence at home.

I know, though many has kindly reminded me that it is not because of my want for some free-time that she has to go to the CC and I need not feel bad but I just can't help feeling so...

In any case, we were a little late and they were already half way through the breakfast break when we arrived(luckily Renee's alr had abit of bread at home. not sure if it's due to the rain but simply the morning jam hour, we'll have to try a couple of other timings to minimise wasted time spent on the road). They had been anticipating our arrival, so the minute we arrived, they guided us in. I was led by her class teacher to her classroom and a brief information on her 'belongings' and shower time/procedure were exchanged. Then, Renee hugged me. I have to assure her 'cheerfully' that everything's fine, she'd enjoy herself there, make new friends and most importantly, I'd be back to fetch her home. Then we were led again downstairs for her to take her milk and bread. Teacher Diana decided to let Renee take her breakfast upstairs thinking that the existing group of children at the dining hall might appear overwhelming to her, lolz.

We left the centre for our breakfast as the person in charge, Mrs Teoh was not in yet. I had thought to go back after filling our tummies but daddy wanted to head back to the office straight. We had also decided against going back to check on her after our lunch even, for fear of stirring up her 'sadness'. Anyway, Mrs Teoh had called before noon and informed me that Renee's 'doing well' which I supposed that meant 'no crying' in schools/centres' context, lolz.

Was told to pick her up from 5:30pm onwards to avoid disruption of her lessons but when we went at around 5:20pm, she was already playing with her new friends! She caught sight of us even before I did and came running to me when we got there, :). But guess what she told me? She said "mommy, I didn't think of you today", oh man! Actually, I was comforted when I heard this 'cos it just proved that she's enjoyed herself at the centre/school, :). In fact, she didn't even want to leave when it was time to!

Wanted to pack dinner from Punggol Plaza but thought perhaps Renee might like to have the noodles that she's liked and I don't have to cook back home. However, she didn't like it anymore, saying that it's very saltish but she took to the canned chrysanthenum drink today! Acceptance of more junkfood, hahaha. She also told us that she didnt finish her rice in school but she told me that the fish is yummy - they had to fry her piece of fish plain instead of having it battered before frying, to avoid 'egg' in her meal(from the menu, there'd be quite a number of egg dish served but they'd remove it frm Renee's).

Back home, I quickly rushed over the ingredients and cooked her dinner whilst daddy showered her(he has to notice my getting angry face, before he moved his butt to do it, hahaha) but I took over to dress her up so I could ask her about her shower experience in school.

Then it was a quick practice of violin before I went for my shower whilst she played with daddy. When I got out, it was bedtime for her and as today's story is kinda short, only 2 pages, I told her I'd have a little chat with her. We talked about her day at school and she told me that she found her lessons' timing abit short(as compared to Kinderland Preschool's) and she hoped that they would be longer. Oh geez, I had not expected this from her! Well, at least not from a child who's sooo keen about 'play', hahaha. Hmmm, I'll have to take a look at the the new timetable they've amended for her, to gauge if it's really so...

During our conversation, she still mentioned about Mrs Ong and Ms Quek from the preschool so I told her that if possible, we would let her resume school there and she asked if it'd be the same people she's mentioned. When she was told that it might not be if she resumes in K1 and she said she doesn't want to go back if that's the case, hahaha. I took the opportunity to ask if she'd like to go to another school then and she said ok, lolz... Well, it's still too early to say/do/plan anything right now, better to concentrate on the matters on hand for the time being, :).

The 'Eve'

Stung by a mosquito, I woke up at ~6am and quickly ran to ensure that the dreadful insect won't attack my girl. Daddy even asked why I went to her... Why he was also awoke? Well, he has an early golf game...

Our dear girl couldn't resume her sleep and was afraid that her daddy would be going 'far far away' to work again, hahah and we told her that he's only going for a golf game. Although the idea set in faster this time, she still didn't resume her sleep as fast as I've wanted her to. Eventually, we both finally fell asleep again but due to the disrupted rest, I woke up late at 10am. I had sooo wanted to carry on sleeping(since Renee's still asleep) but couldn't as I've promised to take her to town today.

When I was getting myself ready, she too awoke and we managed to reach Takashimaya S.C. by noon. Took a quick lunch at Macdonald's(haiz, so boring but what to do, this girl's request...) before we proceeded to walk around the store. By the time we got back to the mall's playground, it was 2pm+ and I was surprised to see sooo many kids already there! No school?(maybe nearby schools)

We then headed back to her favourite mall - Compass Point as I needed to change her bank account to the Young Savers account and if I don't do it today, it will be months later before I'll have a chance to do it.

Today's also the last day of the foodfare at the mall and I packed some dinner from the other stalls which we didn't get to try the other day, but not without grabbing another pack of the yummy bbq crackers, heee.

Daddy has got home before us and he napped whilst I got Renee's dinner ready/showered her(told him that he'd have to help out in showering her sometimes, from tmrw onwards and I'll take over fully during the wkends-he usually shower her either Sat or Sun).

Tried out the amended(slight) routine today but I've exceeded the time I've set for Renee's bedtime - which is, 9:30pm. In any case, I had tucked her to bed with a story reading. Not sure if she was also 'anxious' about the new 'school', she had tossed and turned but finally fell asleep before 10:30pm. Hopefully she won't be too tired tomorrow...

Chanced upon these items at Takashimaya dept. store and couldn't help it, heee :

Got these tops as extras in case she might need

more(in CC) for standby, so I got them 1 size bigger

This stamp set would be useful for her future card making, :)

Little Princess' Ways...

The salon phoned last evening to inform me that I could forward my appointment time to 10:30am this morning as they couldn't get hold of the customer. I took it. And after getting Renee's lunch prepared, I headed off with a manja girl pouting at the door, lolz.

Wanted to go for the special eye treatment that I've signed up for earlier but due to the lack of time(have to rush back as daddy needed to go to work), I decided to just go for another type(badly needed it cos havn't been sleeping well lately). Hopefully my next visit(fixed on the even of my birthday) could afford me more time there... So much for the rushing here and there, so was it really pampering? I leave that to you to decide, :) but it's 'better than none' for me, lolz.

I rushed to the library to get another book once I was done and got home with packed lunches, to see cheeky Renee made her daddy feed her her lunch, hahaha. She sure know how to get her way around us(or daddy, for the matter), :).

When daddy was on his way out, this girl went to pout(and even tear-ed)at the door again, hahaha and I've to assure her that daddy's just going to work, not going 'far far away', :P.

Ribs

Renee had been quite co-operative during her violin lesson today but I'm beginning to dread the future practices from this week onwards as I foresee 'difficulties', *crossing fingers*.

We skipped practice today 'cos we needed to go back to Marina Square/Suntec for the exchange of my stuffs(got the wrong colour last week) and Renee, recognising the building(s) from the outside, immediately requested to dine at Tony Roma's. It's been quite a while since we've last ate there('cos we're getting quite sick of it already now, lolz) and with her going to the extent of saying that she'd eat the ribs, we adhered to her request. Indeed, she ate quite abit of the ribs tonight, on top of her favourite french loaf with garlic spread(she only likes Tony Roma's) and baked potato with bacon, :D.

'Manja' At The Airport

Daddy phoned to inform that his flight's delayed(for about 20mins), so I took a slow pace to getting ourselves ready and by the time the teletext indicated its arrival time, I had to rush, lolz. Equipped with my GPS, we reached the airport right on time! and I saw daddy walking into the DFS shop, thinking that I'd really be late(I told him I was only on e way when he phoned to confirm if I was going to pick him up).

The minute Renee caught sight of daddy, she kept jumping with joy at the waiting bay(funny how she knew she couldn't rush forward. perhaps she remembered from the last time) and quickly hugged him when he came out, lying on his shoulder, aiyoh sooo manja, hahaha. Wasted, I had wanted to take some photos of this drama scene, but then with so many people there, I didn't dare to, heee.

We headed straight off to Li's place 'cos she's invited us over for a steamboat dinner which as usual, ended with a mahjong session for most, :).

A Day With Aunts

Today's been an 'outings' day, :).

We've both woken up late(yes, again, heee) and I decided to pop over to the school early to pick up her portfolio(the CCC has requested to look at it for her development check/follow up) and since I'm going over earlier, I gave Janice a quick text to meet up with her. It was a last minute decision and so we were a little late but being pre-warned, Janice was already waiting for us outside when we arrived. After I've collected Renee's portfolio from the adminstrator, she asked Renee if she'd like to meet her friends. She then took both of our temperatures and I walked her up to the classroom. It was perhaps not a very good idea to take up this suggestion, but I knew that she had been missing her friends, so I took the risk. She was happy to see them again yet, I can feel her 'sadness' for not being able to return to the same school/class with them. Her friends and her were encouraged to say hello but none, including Renee, had moved forward. Then, some moments later, Elise came over and hugged her! That was sooo sweet...

I beckoned to her 'favourite' friend, Vanessa but she didn't come forward til when we were about to leave. I can see the sadness in Renee's eyes as they were saying their goodbyes. Kinda hurts to see her feeling sad...

We had lunch and a little chat with Janice at Hougang mall whilst Renee played at the playground with a new found friend there, :D. We then headed over to my sis' to pick up the foodstuffs and last minute, Renee made me detoured to Punggol Plaza to peek at Elsie having her eyebrow touched up, :D and also, of cos, to check out the princess crown set that she's set eyes upon and going to exchange her 20stars for. I had thought to get it in advance(and wait til she's finaly accumulated her 20 stars), but unfortunately, it went OOS!(out of stock). However, the shop attendant was kind enough to jot down my number for the new stock. When Elsie was done, she went to pick Li up whilst Renee and I went home first so I can handle the foodstuffs.

Renee had a brief 'play' with her aunts before we proceeded to Compass Point for our dinner and a little shopping. We even came back with quite abit of food from the foodfare held there.

The minute we got back home, Renee quickly got her aunts to play with the new food toy set they've got for her. Her aunts are spoiling her, lolz.

Shortly after they've left, daddy phoned again at about 11pm to speak to her before she went to bed.

* Her aunts had the privilege today to 'watch' her folding and keeping her clothes(which she has been doing on most occasions), :).

Taxi to Flight

Although Renee had gone to bed late last night, she woke up at 6:30am in search of her daddy anxiously. I had heard her waking up and quickly alert myself for standby, in part anticipation of her crying for daddy. Good thing she didn't do that but she did express her sadness "oh, papa is really gone...". I could tell that she had actually wanted to cry and would continue feeling sad, so knowing that daddy must have yet boarded the plane, I dialled his mobile. She was still abit blurry when I passed her the phone but quickly recovered to 'complain' to him when she heard his voice. She 'reprimanded' him for really 'going far far to work', hahaha and said that she's going to miss him...

After she's ended the conversation, I tried to distract her by inviting her to sleep beside me. She tried to for a short while but decided to return to her own 'bed' with daddy's bolster(it was something she used as a replacement for his being next to her when we told her she's to sleep on her own), :).

We didn't go out today and she requested that we dine out after PX's left. I was rather reluctant to adhere 'cos the malls here are usually very packed in the evening and finding a parking lot would be a chore. After some hesitation and the fact that I still have to eat, we headed out 20mins after PX's left at around 7:30pm. Good thing we didn't have to wait very long for a table at the Jack's and despite already has had her dinner at home, Renee ate another 2 slices of bread with thick butter we've requested from the restaurant, a piece of my fish and some fries, geez, her tummy was sooo full! I must remember to boil some barley water for her tomorrow since she's been taking quite abit of heaty food these few days, haiz...

By the time we got home, she wanted to practice her violin again, in want to accumulate her stars faster for the toy exchange, lolz... and I gave her 1 even though it was only for an extra 15mins. And because of that, she's had a super late shower today at 10:15pm, aiyoh, hope this will not happen again!

Route Trial

Daddy had only phoned to inform me yesterday that he'd be going to Vietnam with 1 of his clients for an on-site inspection @ one of his projects.

I had offered to send him to the airport tomorrow morning and so, we decided to take a 'trial' drive there tonight(yeah yeah, what's the GPS for, hahaha). With Renee's packed dinner with soup(good life, lolz), we had our dinner at T3. However, Renee had cried(the 2nd or 3rd time already) on daddy's shoulders on our way to the carpark when she was reminded of her daddy's soon departure and daddy decided that it's best that we don't send him off to the airport, hahaha. First, it would be very early and this poor girl might be grouchy, but most importantly, he couldn't bear to see her cry tomorrow, hahaha. So much for the trial drive...

Renee was given a special pass tonight to turn in late, so that she could spend abit more time with her daddy before he leaves in the morning and she's very happy.

I was hoping that PX would wanna come over next Monday instead(when I've re-scheduled my facial to, again...) so I won't have to waste 2 days staying at home and could bring Renee out to town tomorrow but she couldn't.

MasterPiece - Colouring

During those holiday weeks when we all went to the office, I had, in search of things for Renee to do there, found the Jungle Sticker Activity Pack and one night, I promised to do some colouring work with her and remembering this piece, we both started to work on it. Daddy saw it and thought it a nice one, told her to do a 'good job' so that he can frame it up and place it in his office. This girl worked hard on it ever since, part by part, for 3 days consecutively... I only helped her coloured 1 of the trees on the 1st 'day' and I guessed, perhaps a tiny bit here and there, but I would, 90% of the work's hers... Nice?:

I even managed to find an old 'before' pic of the artwork, :)

New Top

Today marks the first day of our last week of 'freedom', lolz and I'd be bringing Renee out almost everyday for this week.

Thinking she might need more casual tops now that she's going to childcare centre, I've been on the lookout for some nice ones but they're mostly not in her favourite colour. We found one today, its material is neither too thin nor too thick, design's simple yet with its shimmery print, and for only S$10, it's not bad I would say :D. The design of the print look kinda 'big girl' but hey, this piece is of size 2T!!! and it seemed to fit Renee when I held it against her, hahaha...

Name Books

Last night, as I was doing the accounts, I happened to 'see' these books and I realised that I've forgotten about them! They're name writing practicing books and it seems like I've wasted money on one as Renee had been writing her English name long before the preschool's even taught them how to write their ABCs...

Mommy also Can!

Suddenly remembering that our mom's big birthday is approaching, I sms-ed Renee's violin teacher if she's got the notes on the Happy Birthday song. Meantime, I searched the web but found them more of the 'lower' notes and most of which Renee has not learnt yet and won't be, at least not so soon.

So, instead of waiting, after her practice, I tried to play out the tune and got Renee to jot down the notes, lolz. Guess what, I got it right! Even though there's a note whereby Renee's not taught yet(so obviously I also won't know), and when Ms Mok brought this topic up today, she confirmed that I was indeed correct! :D, heee.

Also, the violins have arrived but Ms Mok has yet to collect them. However, she warned me again that it's gonna be another challenge, in fact, it'll be so, each time Renee changes to a bigger sized violin. It'll take AT LEAST 3 months for her to get used to it...arrrgggghhhh.

She wasn't given a star pass for the piece 'Perpetual Motion' today although Ms Mok said that she's actually ok but prefer to give her another week. However, this is piece is rather long(although it's 5 lines, same as her first song 'Twinkle2 Little Star' but it has many different notes) and from today, she's to play this piece with a faster semi quaver tempo and she wasn't very co-operative during the lesson. I managed to coax her to trial play at least the 1st line and she really did just stop there when Ms Mok tried to 'escape' by guiding her to the 2nd line, so today's lesson's super short(minus the time the teacher spent on writing down the HB song in proper notes for us. Anyway, it's nice of her to do that for us.), lolz, haiz...

Daddy has given me a pile of accounting entries to follow up the other day and I guess I had better start doing them tonight else it'll be jialat for me once I 'begin work at his office' next work, :(.

New Shoes, New Watch

As expected, Renee said that she'd like to wear her new pair of shoes today, :). And, to match the shoes, her top would have to be one of the 'mommy and child' tops and thus, I have to change my top to match hers, hahahahaha. With the shrug, she seemed to be abit 'over-dressed' for just a normal gathering at my mom's, hahaha.

Given this watch by her aunt Elsie :

More Tidying Up

Woke up late this morning and feeling fully energised, we went to the mall for my late lunch and grocery shopping. Back home, I've accidentally 'damaged' Renee's white shoes, a pair which she seldom gets to wear due to its formality and I've to dig up the new mary jane which she loves sooo much that she put it on and walked around home immediately. I took the opportunity whilst she's indulging herself with her new shoes and pack up the wardrobe again(daddy needs another drawer so I'm removing mine from 1 to put his stuffs). I bet she's gonna wear this pair for the future outings, lolz.

SomethingS Nice

Renee's very happy today. First of all, she's woken up to strings of necklaces that I've made for her last night whilst she was doing her colouring...

Although we were both sleepy but during our play, I've got a less than 5 min nap(whilst we had the pretend sleep play, hahaha) and it seemed to do a 'wonder' trick that once PX has left, I got us ready and decided to meet up at Vic's place afterall, to pick up the fragrances I've asked her to purchase for me. This is one of them(in limited edition and come with crystal adhesives freebie) :

We had a super quick late lunch at North Point('cos the aircon repairer was already on the way over to her place) and thereafer, Renee hadn't want to leave Vicky's place! We had actually wanted to go for a swim there but the rain didn't stop even when we were already at her place...(anyway, I've forgotten to pack her stuffs due to last min decision to go over, lolz)

We were sooo near my mom's place and I had thought to have dinner with her at the thai restaurant down her block if not for the soup I've got boiling since morning... So instead, I packed dinner back for the 3 of us and just as the vege I had steaming was getting ready, daddy came home - just on time for us to have a 'family dinner' as Renee was already about to start hers as she couldn't wait anymore, :D.

Oh ya, Janice remembering that I like pinky stuffs now(I begin to love this colour after I've had Renee, :D)had passed me one of her brother's wedding favors, quite cute! What do you describe it? A photo frame bag ring?

A Day of Colours

Having had my eyebrow job touched up on Monday, I had to cancel today's facial(which is looong overdue already actually, haiz) and with nothing else to do, I booked a pedicure session and when done, I went up(a last minute spur) to the salon I've passed by the other day when daddy had his haircut and had my hair extended with highlights, heee. Even after a snack and packing my dinner home, we only spent about 2 hours there, quick huh? lolz.