The Surgery

For a while now, Renee has quite forgotten about this surgery.  I've scheduled it today without knowing her violin master/studio classes and exam dates and luckily, they were all just before its date, phew...

It is obvious that Renee has been feeling nervous about it since last night but she put on a brave front all the way, from home til she was being led to the OT room.  Even the surgeon, whom was most skeptical about her to be operated only on local anaethesia, came out with all praise on her bravery, :).

Few months back, during our consulation/discussion on this mater, the surgeon had initially wanted her to go on GA but being so young, I really wish they would not use that on her('cos no one is sure if that would cause side-effect like 'poor memory' thereafter) and luckily for us, her dental docter highly recommended that local anesthetic should suffice as she felt that Renee's a 'good girl' whom would co-operate.  She also informed us that she'd take this opportunity(where that area is being numbed) to extract her 2 front lower primary teeth(to make room for the fully grown adult ones).

Within just a short period of an hour(the surgery itself took less than that of cos), we were already on our way home and now, it's just recovery time...

Kissing Grandma

On a lighter note, my mom and my sisters were all surprised that Rachel's able to call 'mama, papa, che che' and mutter 'mum mum'(although lately she's stopped calling 'mama' and say 'mum mum' :(

When the rest have gone to buy dinner, I stayed back and whilst my mom was talking to me/playing with Rachel, I carried Rachel standing on my lap and asked her to give me a kiss.  My mom asked "huh, she can do that?" and to answer to that, Rachel leaned forward and gave me a kiss, hahaha.  My mom was very excited and asked her "give ah mah a kiss", and to my surprise, she leaned forward and kiss grandma!  Good job, baby, u've made your granny happy, hahaha

The Exam

Finally, it is her Nafa GYV internal exam today!

Although Renee's afraid that she might not get to continue with the course(in order to make her work harder, we'd told her that if she doesn't get a full As result from this exam, we'll not let her continue with the course), she's still rather slack with her practices.  Although this 'threat' had not exactly yield the result we wanted - she's still lazy, but she's shown that she would really like to continue - the thing that puzzles me is, why then wouldn't she work harder?.....

She's done rather well for her 2nd Masterclass and had played pretty nicely yesterday during her Studio-class.  However, she didn't do as well today.  Why?  Wanting to catch her theory teacher for her exam papers, I'd told Papa that we'd go on time(we'll leave at 1:30pm since the exam starts at 1:45pm) but it was a mistake, 'cos not only didn't I manage to catch the teacher(y/day and today), but being early, she met her friends and her mind was full of 'play'.  What's worse was, standing outside the examination room, she saw 1 of her friends playing with the violin, she attempted to follow suit.  We stopped her on time and told her "No, the exam's inside this room, you will disturb them". Although she did listen initially, but, when the teacher came out, trying to stop the person whom was causing the din, she still tried to 'copy' her friend.  That coursemate of hers was smart enough to hand the violin quickly over to the parent but our silly Renee, had to insist on taking over the violin from her Papa, whom had been holding her violin for her all this while!  Seeing that she was the one holding the violin, her teacher told her not to play it - Such silly misbehaviour of her had caused her to take the blame!  Needless to say, this upset the both of us, so we reprimanded her and not knowing the actual situation(some were not ard us when it happened), many have thought that we're stressing her on the exam and someone had even deliberately commented loudly to his child "nevermind, don't stress, just play/treat it like your normal practice" -  geez, this is what we've always told Renee too, haiz...  We're angry with her 'cos her unacceptable behaviour had gotten her into 'trouble'(it's good to 'teach' her now as she'd be attending pri sch soon and she's bound to meet more of such people).  With us scolding her and feeling unhappy that she's unable to play with her friends, she didn't perform as well.

Actually, we do not really need her to score As 'cos we're already very happy with what her teachers had told us so far, but we needed her to understand the importance of working hard as talent/gift is merely a fraction to the success of mastering the instrument.

Remembering her teacher's reminders, we quickly went and bought tickets to the Nafa YT concert, last minute, after her exam.  Not wanting Rachel to disturb the others(in case she cries), I decided to give it a miss and waited for them at my mom's.  Later, Papa told me that they've met her teacher at the concert hall and was told that she didn't do so well at the exam as compared to yesterday's Studioclass, but ..........  Anyway, it'll be a good 2 weeks til we get her official results and til then, we'll have to decide if she should continue with this learning...

The Approach of the Half Yearly Exam

It's been 2 weeks now, after the 2nd Masterclass and Renee's still not working hard enough for her coming internal exam.  With her violin being out of tune yesterday, she happily took a rest and she's already been 'resting' quite a bit since the MC, haiz...

Shall see how she performs that fateful day...

New School Bag Search

The children these days are carrying big and heavy schoolbags and I've heard that an ergonomic one would do the kid's back good, and I've been on the lookout for such bags whenever we were out.

 

So far, we've only seen 1 shop at Marina Square and another at United Square, selling such bags but none of their designs appealed to me/us.

 

On a recent trip down to U/Sq, I popped into the shop again and was informed about their promotion and I asked papa to go take a look today, but what we wanted do not have the discount we wanted, nor the right colour(we're alr giving up on the design, hahaha) and since they'd be extending the promotional period, we decided to take the opportunity to look at other bags.  Hope we'll find a right one...

Baking Class & a Caricature

Renee's been looking to the muffins decorating class and she's finally attending it today!

After a short rest/wash up back home after the school orientation, papa took us to a quick lunch at Orchard Central(he kept thinking that this is the mall where Renee's supposed to be attending the class, hahaha) before we rushed over to 313@Somerset. Papa left us there to attend to some work but as he couldn't join us immediately after the session, I took them(the 2 kids) back over to Orchard Central for some photo taking, heee. Then we went for a little shopping at Centrepoint where Renee's given a free caricature of herself(she missed the sculpted balloon giveaway today :D).

 

A very busy and extremely tiring day for me but Renee's happy, :)

Primary School Orientation

The Toh family was up at 7am this morning(no diff for me though, hahaha), getting ready for Renee's primary school orientation.

Fortunately, we arrived at the school late, at around 8:20am 'cos then we need not have to wait in the hall for the Principal to begin her speech at around 8:30am(we read the agenda and decided not to leave home too early, as Rachel may not stand the wait for so long and it's gonna be a long day out for her today).

We've no prior experience(with other schools that is) but comparing to what we've encountered at the other school where we were made to ballot for a placing, this school is way more organised.  And, if they could deliver what that's been cited, then this is indeed, as commented by parents in a few forums, a good school, just overshadowed by the more popular ones around the region.  (but then again, we can only tell more after she's started school with them...)

The minute I arrived(papa went to park the vehicle) at the school hall, a teacher approached me immediately and seeing that I'm carrying Rachel, offered to bring Renee to the 'students' section where a different programme has been drawn up for them - with a tour around the school of 'cos.  After our snacks(provided by the school for the children and even the parents), the form and mother tongue teachers(we were led to our kid's respective classroom) briefed us through on what and how they would be educating our children and the types of materials that will be used.  However, I didn't manage to capture all that's been presented as Rachel, being sleepy, had fussed a little and in order not to disturb the others, I had to get up and try to rock her sleep.  But I guess I could still try and read up most part of it since they've given us some print-ups for home reading.

At the start, they've urged parents whom had come in pairs, to try and split ourselves, so that 1 could attend the briefing whilst the other attends to the acquiring of textbooks, school uniforms and the arrangement of school bus services.  Most of us did that but for uniforms, I told papa that it'd be better for Renee to try them out in person.  Unlike our time, we now have to purchase socks with the school's name printed on them, which I find is a very good idea so that there's a complete standard, uniformity in the students' school attire(not sure if this school socks thingy is the same as with other schools) .

As everything's properly organised, we need not have to wait too long or even extend our stay at the school past the scheduled timing stated in the agenda and we managed to head home for a little rest before we head out again.

Renee has already made a few friends(from the same class) today and she said she would like to attend this school, :).  Well, will she say the same should she has a little argument with her friends in the near future? hahaha.  Oh ya, when we got home, she told me that she saw an ex classmate from her Lorna Whiston S & D classes at the school(at a different class though) but that girl didn't recognise her...

Last Day of Preschool

It's the last day of Renee's preschooling.

Usually, she'd be attending school only on Mondays to Thursdays, Fridays being her Berries lessons day but since it's the last week of school and she's already missed 3 days(2 actually, Tues - Teacher & Parent Meeting, which we didn't attend as well), I asked the Principal if they'd mind if Renee goes in on Friday so that she could have a day more of fun with her friends.  The latter readily agreed and it'd be delightful as they'd be hving a funfare that day for the children!

Although this school does not do what most or infact almost all preschools would, which is a graduation concert, but I'm actually more glad with such arrangements, for I really don't see why we are paying such a high fee(~S$1.5k for a term) for them to get our kid(s) to prepare for the concert instead of learning - preparing them for P1?  I remember seeing K2 children practicing their dance/performance during lesson hours when I sent Renee to her previous Kindy and I was like huh, shouldn't these children be in class learning, getting ready for the next level which is most important? (Since Renee was only in lower presch then, it didn't really bother me but later, this was also 1 of the reasons why I pulled Renee out of their system...)

In any case, Renee had fun today, at the school's funfare, prepared by the teachers.  The children were only asked to make little coupons the day earlier(they just simply wrote the value like 'S$1, S$0.50' etc) out of small pieces of paper which the teachers later stapled up as booklets of coupons for them to make pretend purchases of food at the funfare(this also helps in teaching them to buy food at the school canteen next yr).  They even took turns to tend to the stalls, it had sounded fun when Renee described it to me. Unlike her previous Kindy, everything, including the food the kids would 'buy', were prepared by the school/teachers.  The school even gave them a story book each!  Even though Renee's only been with them for a short 2 terms, I can see that this school has a nice, caring and non-calculative Principal/environment.

Finally got the Green Ambassador Certificate and 'Badge'-Gold
(ya, she's got gold for bugging at me to bring my own shopping bag all the time!)

*Am surprised to receive the deposit refund cheque today - thought we'd have to wait for weeks like with other schools...

Back with Breakfast

As requested, Papa came home this morning with Mac's breakfast for us, :)

Being first to wake up(errm should be baby Rachel, hahaha), I had wanted to wake Renee up but was stopped by hubby whom wanted to give the former a surprise.  She was caught indeed, hahaha, she had even thought that she was woken up by papa in her dreams, hahaha.

Papa's got to attend to some work and after he's collected the baby monitor(they were supposed to deliver!), he came home to take us out.  We have to go to the maid agency to re-select another maid(3rd selection already, why they always can't contact their maids!!!) and hopefully, this shall be the last we have to do so...

More Lovely Stuffs

Bought more socks again today heee...

These were bought earlier, from Mini Princess:

And these were bought today :

Think I'd better stop buying socks for Rachel 'cos I still have some in super good condition or even new ones which I've ordered during Renee's time!

On the other hand, seeing that I'm buying things for mei mei, Renee also wanted something, haiz.  In the end, she chose this over the others :

A Nice Day

We have postponed our meet up to today and after a short chit-chat at home(whilst Renee was fooling around with her practice, haiz...), we headed out to United Square.

With 2 vehicles idly parked at home, I told Vicki to take the V and thus we saved the time on hailing a cab to and fro :).

After our quick dinner(we wanted to go to mouth restaurant but Renee wanted Mac, aiyoh...), we went to Thomson Plaza to get our groceries 'cos we weren't able to find nice vegetables from the Cold Storage.  With the detour, we had to forego our intended drive to Orchard Road to see the Christmas light-up and Renee was unhappy, aiyoh, it's still 1 1/2 mth more to X'mas, we'd have plenty of time to do that!

Back home, she played with Vicki's Ipad again(that makes me feel like getting one, heeee) and kept requesting her to stay later and leave her Ipad behind, hahaha.  In the end, forgetting about the insurance part, we've asked Vicki to take the V back since I've transferred the booster seat back to the other vehicle, so that she could drive it to the airport when she resumes work on Thursday(just nice she's on AM shift and hubby's coming back in the early hours that day, so he said it'd be good if Vicki could take it to the airport for him).   In any case, let's just hope all goes well so we need not worry about the insurance matter...

Papa's Away

Yes, hubby's gone overseas again...

Although he doesn't travel as much as before(the last being in Feb/March this year) and even though I'm staying home, his beloved girl Renee cried....

Last night, just hours before he left home, I teased her about grabbing the opportunity to snuggle up to him and she teared whilst doing so.  Then, as he bid us all goodbye, she stayed put at the sofa, pretending to concentrate on the tv show 'Xi You Ji'.  The minute I returned to the same spot after sending Papa off at the door, she looked at me sadly and teared, Omigosh!  I wonder what would happen if I had really brought meimei and went along with Papa - though she said she'd want to go to aunty PC's home if that's the case, when I teased her about it, hahaha.

Renee's wanted to sleep with me but as baby has been waking up in the wee hours lately regurgitating milk/phlegm after her feed, I didn't allow her to do so, for fear that her sleep/rest would be disturbed by such incidents.  Of course, she wasn't happy but I promised that she'd be allowed to sleep with me after her theory exam today and she'd also be skipping school for the next few days til Papa's back... 

Baby Monitor

Less than 2 weeks and our new baby monitor has conked out on me!

With hubby's going away tonight, I told him to quickly bring the set down to its repair centre but unable to fix the item on the spot, they loaned us another set - one without the monitoring screen!  I'm upset.  Why do they give us an inferior set when we've paid more for something much better/more useful?  It certainly isn't fair.  We needed the screen to monitor the movement of our baby in the cot whilst we're out of the room, if we had wanted something with just sound monitoring, why do we bother to pay higher for one with the screen.  Even the music produced don't sound as nice and do not play continuously like the set we've bought.  This is sooo irrirtating.

With the added-on frustrations I've got from a recent email exchange with their office told me to think twice about buying their products again in the near future...

'Tummiful' Shopping

Was contemplating if I should forego the discount at a maternity/nursing wear boutique and bring my kids down to the Robinsons' private sales event yesterday but decided to go today instead.  Luckily not, 'cos I didn't get to buy much from the boutique but at Robinsons, we managed to get all that we've gone there for(even spent a good S$40+ on Renee's underwear! hahaha) and Renee's got what she wanted when she said she wanted to go yesterday(when she saw what's stated on the store's invitation card) - meeting Santa Claus, who gave her a lollipop and getting her sculpted balloon, hahaha.

One for mei mei too! :)

Papa went with us this time round and feeling hungry, we had gone for our dinner earlier.  Thinking that we might have a long shopping evening, I ate up a plateful roast duck rice but at the Robinsons, we were served sandwiches, quiches, hazel nut cakes, all of which I took with glasses of fruit juices, hahaha, oh man, I don't wanna put on more weight!

 

Earlier on, knowing that I will not have time for their seminar at the boutique this evening, I did not reserve my placing but just went around shopping.  I was the only one doing so and I did feel kinda weird, hahaha.  Then, suddenly, as I was waiting for the staff to get my stuff, a lady 'photographer' approached me asking for my picture to be taken.  Needless to say, I declined, she pleaded but again, I declined with apology...  But, as I was leaving, there seemed to be flash light at my direction!  I hope I won't see my photograph 'accidentally' at their blog or advertorials!

Baby's 1st Words

Since her 1st 2 murmurs of "ma ma" at 5mths old, Rachel's not utter it the 3rd time, no matter how much we'd(me more lah, of cos, hahaha) love to hear it again.

We've been busy at the homefront lately but recently, I decided to 'teach' Rachel how to 'call' moi again, hehehe. I've been telling her "don't arh arh arh, say "ma ma", like this : "mmm, mmma, mmma" and each time, she'd mimick the mouth movement, without a sound.  Not giving up, I did this over a period of 2-3 days, and finally, she did it again today!  It sounded even clearer this time round and to my surprise, it seems like she's also picked up "mum mum" too, when she wanna feed.  The latter need further confirmation(twice so far), But, if it's correct, then hurray, we now have 2 means of finding out if she wanna feed, :).