School Bus

It was indicated that the school bus timing will be allocated to us around the 25th of December but when we called up, they told us that they havn't got the schedule ready yet.

Today, I received a sms from the organisation informing us the bus schedule for Renee as : pick-up - 6:30am , back - 2pm(school ends at 1:30pm on most days).  The bus numbers for pickup/return/cca are all different.

I suppose things will be different again when we move...

School Shoes

Don't remember there had been any mention of the type of school shoes allowed, so I called up the school to check.  Was told that as long as the shoes are white, it is allowed(I rem track shoes are not allowed, during our days...).

This is her pair :

HairCut for the New School Year

Supposed to go for a viewing this evening after Renee's lesson but the appointment was cancelled last minute, thus we decided to bring Renee to have her haircut instead.

I've been the one whom cut Renee's hair since birth til she's about 4-5 yrs old when she got too impatient during the cut and it's became a chore for a non-trained person to do the job nicely(even trained hairstylists also gotta keep telling her to stay still, hahaha)

Finally, her hair's short again and she does look nice in this concave bob look(I always like concave cut) - However, I was abit too late to tell her cousin not to cut a 'slope' bob, but I managed to stop her before the 'slope' got 'deeper', :D

Now, she's ready for P1(in terms of appearance lah, hahaha).

*At the salon, aunty Ellen passed Irene's X'mas present to Renee when she came to fetch Louise home and Renee's very happy when she saw what they are when we got home, :)

The Promised Luge & SkyRide

As Papa had promised Renee another Luge & SkyRide at the Sentosa should she get an 'A', they went today.  There had been a little fuss earlier due to the rainfall but it soon cleared as the weather did too.

Meimei had caught a cold(from jiejie?) and since I won't be enjoying the rides nor the wait whilst they do so, I decided to stay home.  It was cosy to be home alone with the baby,  :) - it's like reliving the time with baby Renee...

A Simple X'mas Gathering

It's the Christmas!

Earlier on, I had planned to bring my mom over 'cos she wanted to visit our current home before we relocate, :).  So, just nice that Vicky said to meet us today for the gift exchange and thus, we arranged for mom to come over as well.

Have recommended Vicky the restaurant downstairs my mom's home a long time ago but til date, she's yet to give it a try.  Today, she's finally got a chance to taste their food, :).  Picking mom up, hubby went to 'tapao' food from the restaurant and went to fetch Vicky as well since they stay very near each other.  Renee had gone along, :).

At home, Rachel had fallen asleep on the exersaucer whilst waiting and she woke up when they got back.  Woken up to a stranger's face(juz nice my mom walked into our room), she cried big time, hahahahahaha.(after a while, she's ok liao...)

We just sat and chat around after the dinner but none was able to stomach even a tiny slice of the log cake and thus, it became Toh family's supper, heee.

The balance un-opened pressies

The weather has been really good the past few days and today's extremely cooling/windy that we even let Rachel put on the santarina dress at home without having to switch the air-conditioner on! Should have taken pic of mom with bb santarina!  Perhaps that's what she wanted 'cos she kept reminding us that jie jie(engrossed with the games on Vic's iPhone) hasn't put on hers, aiyah!

Quiet X'mas Eve

It's the eve but we hvn't the mood nor plans to go anywhere(don't wanna squeeze in the crowd nor wait in long que)... And so, instead of dining out, we decided to go pack some simple food(wanted KFC initially) back for a simple, nice cozy dinner at home.

Renee had mentioned a few times earlier, that she hasn't gotten presents for the both of us and since she hasn't got much dollar coins left, I told her it's ok and it's her well-being and good behaviour that we wanted but she insisted(esp. after I've given her, her present this morning, hahaha).

We were on the way out to Bukit Timah Plaza when Renee asked if we could bring her to AMK hub for her to have a quick grab at the things she wanna get for us and Papa, the ever 'spoiling' one, obliged her, :D.

At AMK hub, we headed straight to the store(MiniToons) and she chose a couple of items she wanted to get for Papa, then, urging me to go get my groceries, Papa and her went to look for mine, :D.

With dinner packed and a log cake bought, we quickly headed home and watched tv whilst we munched on, :).

Simple dinner of Korean and Taiwan fried chicken(didn't know that Renee has chosen fried chicken so I bought the Korean one!), Okonomiyaki, Korean Sausage(yummy! and I'm one who doesn't like sausages) and meat balls



Feeding Mei Mei

I have been very very very busy these few days and today, seeing that I needed to rush over some chores, Renee offered to feed mei mei again(this is her 2nd time doing so).  Although she didn't exactly do a perfect job out of it, but still, it's of good help to me(even if it's for that short while before I took over), :)

Home Lunch

We had a western + chinese style lunch today.  For Renee and myself, we had saltish rice with stir fried pork + vege + carrot and it's soup(ribs + sweetcorn + kabocha + bittergourd).  This is hubby's :

Enjoying The Toy

Rachel looking on whilst jie jie played with her X'mas pressie.

(But when the doggy moved nearer to her, she's afraid, hahaha)

Days Without the Maid

The maid's gone for about 3 days and I've lost about 1kg already!(but no worries, at the rate I'm eating, I'd soon put it back on, heee)

Yesterday, the 1st full day without the maid and with the husband being away golfing, was the worst.  A little bit better today though, with some of the earlier chores taken care of and hubby's around to watch over Rachel, at least Renee got to do her practice abit whilst I busied about.

It was busy washing, cleaning, sterislising, preparing and cooking lunch for all(including bb's) in the morning, then it's laundry and ironing which I had to stop midway as hubby came back and told us that we needed to go home viewing...

Another unit at Hillview Green but it seems like the condition of the homes at this place is rather bad(so far, the few we've seen are of about the same condition) and though I quite like the unit at Hazel Park, but what we would be paying for, are more for the facilities which we would most likely be not using., so we're still looking around...

The Weaning Trial & Errors

I don't remember hving to wean Renee off so many 'stuffs' but with Rachel, it's a total different story.

First of all, it's the breastfeeding.  This is something which I think I'd face with most difficulties but as I'm still bf-ing her, I shall talk about it in due course.  Both Renee and Rachel had started on bottle feeding(Expressed Breast Milk-EBM), but for Rachel, heeding advices, I've succumbed to direct latching and have continued bf longer than Renee, so I guess, it'll definitely be harder to wean Rachel off.

Had I not taken the heed of mommies, to latch Rachel more often, perhaps I may not to deal with this 'problem'.  Since the time I took on the advice, soon she began to reject the bottles and numerous times of changing the bottle size and brands of teats didn't help.  She did drink water from the bottle a couple of months ago though but it's also short-lived...  Recently, having read about someone succeeded in weaning after using a soft type of teat, I decided to give it another try.  However, instead of trying the brand that the mommy had used, I chanced upon a Korean brand one and she seems to like it enough to drink water from it(not sure how long this will last but I sure hope it would...).  I hope this would help me to wean her off bf when the time comes...

Pacifier is another thing.  I've never quite like the idea of babies taking the pacifier, simple reason - usually hard to wean off and it may then cause dental problem.  Renee had not taken to sucking a soother, nor has Rachel.  However, the latter had almost taken to it but then, when she showed signs of rejection, I stoppped giving it to her after some tries.  This rejection's a good sign, to someone whom doesn't buy the idea of giving the soother to the baby but when the baby wants suckling to sleep, this would be most handy.  My baby Rachel is one such example! but she just simply wouldn't take the pacifier even when I've given in to giving it to her.

Not just on bottles and teats, we've also spent quite abit on soothers, trying on a few brands/types - Nuk(her milk bottle brand), Tommy Tippee... but she'd simply pull them out and cried non-stop for Moi!  Today, even though I'm dead tired after a whole day of preparing lunch/washing/cleaning/packing myself, we still went out when hubby woke up from his nap after his golf game.  I was contemplating between the Mothercare, Mam and Avent brand of soother and finally settled for the Avent's.

As usual, she's been crying for me after I've cleaned her up but I needed my shower/sterlise her stuffs+ new pacifier/laundry, And... she took the pacifier, only for a while... :(  So I decided to try a different way -  at 10:10pm, I carried her to the room, b/fed her and gave her the pacifier when she'd drifted off to sleep but she woke up the minute the soother touch her mouth and wasn't happy!  She fussed, she pulled it out and cried but since she's fed, it's obvious she just wanna suckle to sleep, so I didn't want to give in.  I struggled with her, 'beat' her thighs(she manja and cried of 'cos), then I played with her abit, with the pacifier and soon, she gave in to fatigue and fell asleep, on our bed, sucking the pacifier, at 10:47pm...

@11:40pm, she woke up in her cot, crying and didn't want the pacifier again.  I put her on our bed, stuff the soother into her mouth and she slept... Arh, this is something I realised recently! - Like Renee, she doesn't quite like to sleep in the cot(and this is a different cot, not the one Renee had used so it shows they really dislike it) and wants to sleep with me.  Oh man, another thing for me to wean off!

An Early Mini X'mas Celebration

Every year, we would hold a small family Christmas celebration on the eve or the actual day.  However, as Elsie and Li are both going on a holiday this year on the eve, we decided last minute to have it earlier, yesterday.

On our way to the airport to send off our maid Yunita, we detoured to Gramercy to pick up the books for Renee.  As both Renee and Rachel had fallen asleep in the car, I didn't follow hubby and Yunita to the terminal when we got there, so I could watch over them.  However, I still got out of the car and wished Yunita the best.  After I've bidded her farewell, she said she wanna say goodbye to Renee and she went to open the car's door...

This year's Christmas gathering was really a simple one but of course, it's not without the usual gift exchange.  Needless to say, Renee's got the most pressies and Rachel's not forgotten, :). 

Actually, Renee had done up some X'mas artwork, intending to pass them to her aunts(and I duno who else), but I guess she had under-estimated the no. of people attending, and had not made enough, thus, she didn't dare to give them at all, poor girl(can't blame her, it's usually hard to tell who is attending our gathering til the last minute...).  However, her cousin Louise saw them and wanted to take them all! for decorating her salon, so in the end, her efforts' still not wasted, :)

Hubby left to join his clients at a dinner and only came back to pick us at around 10pm.  By the time we got home, cleaned up Rachel, do up some chores(my skin's peeling already!), I'm dead beat!  I just have to tackle the rest of the chores tomorrow...(found some stuffs not properly cleaned by the maid...)

It's funny, even though we aren't exactly satisfied with Yunita's work/attitude(with Renee) sometimes, but somehow, we felt abit 'funny' when we got home...  I guess in a way, she's become 'part of the family' or we're too sentimental?...

The Pressies!

The 2 computer gamers, hahaha

*Renee had been nice to help me whilst I cleaned Rachel up.  She helped me to prepare and keep some of the stuffs 'cos she said that she's promised me so, awwwww.....I only wish she'd stop throwing tanthrums - which is something that happens so very often these days, haiz...

Last Minute Shopping

We were supposed to resume Renee's violin practical lessons today(for the holidays) but just as we were leaving home, hubby told me that he hasn't gotten the books from Gramercy!  In this case, there is no point going for the lesson, isn't it?  So, I gave the teacher a call, he confirmed the same and thus, we shall re-arrange another day for the lesson - oh no, he's already mentioned that it might be abit rush if we didn't resume soon but no choice, since we still hvn't got the books...

With no lesson and we were already out, we proceeded to AMK hub to shop for Renee's gifts to her aunts and cousins and me, the gift exchange item.  She had a happy time there with the maid and had forgotten about those times she's 'unhappy' with her.  She even wanted to share her dinner of fish and chips when we were taking her order and sat next to her, aiyoh!  This is a good and bad sign, good - she doesn't hold grudges, bad - get bullied/taken advantage of easily lor next time...

All the time, both hubby and I had this feeling that we had missed something out and it's only when we got home, got a call from the property agent that we realised we've missed the appointment to view some homes!  Guess we'd just have to re-schedule then.

Back home, after our showers, Renee couldn't wait and pestered me to help her wrapped up all her pressies and that's what we did whilst Rachel fussed about, hahaha.

Pre-X'mas PlayDate

Got a sms from Karen yesterday, asking if we'd be free for a meetup today.  Well, we are free(not planning to go out much this week as the maid's leaving this weekend) but unprepared, I hvn't exactly gotten all their pressies ready, so I thought to 'delay' the meetup for a day but Renee didn't want to, :).

So, they came over this afternoon and after a brief play at the room, Renee asked if they could go for a swim and seeing that the weather has turned good again, we agreed.  The girls happily changed into their swimming gear but just before they all got into the wading pool, a contractor told us that the kids are not to swim there as they're going to varnish the floor, OMG!  There hadn't been any notice given to us nor was there any put up at the elevator, which was the case for the previous work done.  In any case, the kids proceeded to the playground and not giving up, we checked with the worker again, as to when they actually need to start the work and if the kids could just have abit of fun first.  He said that as the floor area need to be dry, the kids can only swim at the farther end of the adult pool, which they happily did...  Finally, the kids got to have a little pool/water fun, :).  And lucky us, the rain began just as we were going back home! :D - so much for not allowing us at the wading pool and it turned out that the floor's gonna be all wet after all!

After a quick shower, the girls had snacks of baked chicken wings, fried scallops and chicken nuggets before they continued with their whatever indoor 'fun', :).  When they've had enough, the mommies took over the dishes, hahaha.

Time really flies when one's enjoying the company and soon, it was time for them to go home.  I can tell that Renee's glad to have the girls over and hope that they could come over again, lolz.

Looking longingly at the pool when they were told they cldn't swim...

Couldn't wait to get into the pool after the group shot, hahaha

(poor)Baby Rachel looking on whilst the girls played...

Kissing Grandma II

Remember I wrote about Rachel kissing granny few weeks ago?  Tonight, she did it again but she cried immediately after, so funny, hahahahaha.

X'mas Hat(clip)

Were on our way home from Takashimaya S.C. last weekend and was stopped by a young girl 'selling' these cute X'mas hat clips.

For S$5, we could get this cute clip and do charity at the same time, why not? :)

Oh, the snowman bread doesn't come with it, we just bought it to compliment the mood, hehehe.

Sooo Sleepy...

Her Teeth...

Bought this baby teeth keepsake box couple of years back but haven't got a chance to use it til now.  Actually, what we need is just the box but there wasn't any spree on that then, so no choice...

The Result(Nafa Grade II)

As before, we were informed that the results of the internal exam will be sent to us 2 weeks after the exam but this evening, suddenly reminded, hubby went to retrieve the mails.

I was in the shower when he went and then I heard Renee squealing in delight and hubby saying something like "it's not good enough", then I realised, oh we've got the results!  Shortly, she rushed to the room, stood outside the bathroom and told me her results excitedly : "mommy I've got an A, I've got an A!", and when I came out, I was told that actually she had cried initially, when she saw the 'B' she's gotten for her theory, thinking that she's got a B for her overall results - and that might cause her to lose the opportunity to continue learning the violin, :).

In any case, her overall results and the marking on her practical exam are an 'A-' and this shows that she has not made much/great improvements but since it's an 'A' afterall, she does get to continue...  I only hope she'll buck up soon as according to her teacher, learning is going to be tougher from the next grade onwards and would require lotsa hard work...

Videos of Renee's Playing the Violin

*For those whom had requested an updated view of Renee playing the violin, let me know if U're using facebook, 'cos I'm unable to upload the videos here*

School Bag for P1

After much consideration on the reliability and design, we've finally decided on this(I find it pity tt this doesn't come in pink for S size but fret not, Renee wants it in either blue or this clr, :D) :

German made Deuter Ergonomic School Bag
(how lucky kids these days are...)