Brunch Date

After a nice meetup with mummy JH, we finally managed to arrange another with mummy Gillian and this time round, it's a '1 stone hit 2 birds' meet-up becos we've meant to pass Gil our 1/8th violin for her Emily before their custom made one is ready.

We had our brunch at 'Food for Thoughts' @ Botanical Garden and with each family ordering pancakes for the kiddos, we were caught with lotsa pancake leftovers, hahaha(Ems shared hers with Renee, so JH and I packed ours and I was glad that I did, 'cos Renee took 1 for her tea-break and said it's still yummy, :>).

Again, a short but nice meet-up and we hope to arrange another, hopefully at one of our homes, preferably....

We didn't want to go home after the meet-up and thus we were sooo tired after Renee's lesson that we decided to go home for dinner straight away, lolz.

Glitter Pens

Renee came home in a half crying and half angry state today.  Why?  Because, 1 of her favourite classmates had 'taken back her words' on lending her some of her glitter pens home  :(.

Being upset, she had raised her voice whilst trying to explain the 'scenario' to me and, whilst trying to calm myself(which is pretty hard for me lately), I said to her : "you don't have to shout at mummy, I'm not the one who upset you"

Renee : "but she promised me that she would ask her mummy yesterday and her mummy had said ok, then she didn't want to lend to me, my work cannot be completed!"

Me     : "still, you cannot shout at me, all you have to do is just to tell me that you're very worried abt not being able to complete your work properly since you have started off with the glitter pens and you don't have them to finish off.   Mummy will surely help you find a way"

Renee : "but I don't have glitter pens!"

Me      : "you forgot we've got lots of glitters left?"

Renee : "but they are different!"

Me      : "don't worry, mummy will help you with it ok?"

Renee  : ".............." (sulking away)

Me       : "this should also teach you not to start any work with anything that doesn't belong to you or something that you don't have"

Renee  : "but she said she'd lend the pens to me after asking her mummy and her mummy had said ok!"

Me       :  "even though she's said she'd lend it to you, but there are times when people might change their mind last minute, you should never depend on others"

Actually, Renee has been asking for a glitter pen(she didn't even ask for a few... :< ) after seeing her friends using them at school.  I didn't see any need of her using it/them at school and I don't want her to develop the habit of asking for everything she see that her friend(s) has, so I got her the notebook(re earlier post) and had told her then, that I'd get her not just one but a full pack of glitter pens + anything else she'd like to have(within a given budget - to be set...) if she does well for her violin.  She hasn't asked for the pen since(after she's jotted down in a list what she'd like to hv)...  But now, I feel rather sad for what she had gone through because of this(and it's not like it's of something we can't afford...) and what makes me feel even worse is that she's actually asked her friend to lend the pens to her yesterday! Had I known earlier that she will need them today.........   :*(

*In fact, I've already wanted to get her some of these pens/markers when she was younger, so she's definitely going to get them the next time we get to the mall, she sooo deserved them!  :* )

A Nice Catch Up

I've kept my gf, Vicky's visit a surprise to Renee til the very last minute but she was very happy.  Again, Vick's got Renee a belated birthday present and it's a super lovely My Melody lunch box, the original version too, aiyoh it looks sooo nice!  I told Renee that she's not to use it til she's stopped losing her stuffs at school,(usually it's the bottle strap that's came loose and she's not aware though managed to get bk so far, or the tiny little stuffs like pen, pencils, erasers, etc) hahaha.

Rachel, on the other hand, cried again, hahahahahahaha.  But as usual, she soon got over it and wanted to be carried by her, which was the case the whole evening literally, :).

I've 'postponed' the visit to an hour later 'cos I wanted Renee to have at least an hour of practice and although Vicky had stayed til past 11pm, we still didn't seem to have enough time for a proper chat - not forgetting the time we dined out and shopped at Bukit Panjang Plaza where, remembering these chairs Renee had wanted me to buy for Rachel before we moved over to this region(papa said not to buy any more things before we move), we bought 2 of them this evening, hahaha :

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...

A Gift For A Friend

Knowing that my friend would be dropping by to pass Renee's key chain/charm back to us, I quickly went to buy the little carebear toy(not sure if I've got the correct size, based on my 'getting worse' memory but I do rem that she wanted a purple one)I've promised her younger one.   When Renee heard that I'm getting Ethel something, she said she wanted to get a gift for Emma too, with her own pocket money!  At the store, she couldn't decide on which set to get for her friend and had wanted to get 2 sets, hahaha but I reminded her of her 'drying up' coin bank but she was still ok with it.  In the end, as we were rushing and she didn't have the extra time to look for another, she had to settle with buying only 1 set.

As Renee hasn't fully recovered from her diarrhoea(we havn't brought her to the ch doc), PLUS I hadn't recuperated enough sleep, what with Rachel waking every 2.5hrs to nurse(not sure if it's due to her jabs, but then again, she's also been waking up earlier the past few nights, to nurse... could it be growth spurt too? Almost dozed off at her 1st nite feed demand, luckily didn't man, else I might have dropped her!), I had thought to stay home today but suddenly remembering that we would need to get her a pair of black shoes for her kindy graduation photo session, we went to Vivo City. 

Papa has to attend a dinner tonight and since we'd be heading home early,  I told Karen that they could come over.  They were alittle later than expected and though Renee was a abit impatient whilst waiting, she didn't want to, when I told her that we could perhaps arrange to meet up with them next week, hahaha.

Karen brought her 2 Es(hey, mine also 2 of the same beginning alphabet, 2 Rs, :D) up and their nice papa waited patiently at the carpark while the girls played a while... It's too short though, so hopefully we could invite them over again some other day...

September '11 PlayDate I

It's the start of the September school holidays and knowing how busy my mommy friends are during such periods, I'd quickly text them last week to 'book' them, hahaha.  For today, we've arranged to meet up with Sharmaine, Shuen and her sister Lyn and Renee had woken up early excitedly this morning.  She even showed me the card she's made for aunty Sharmaine, I was surprised...(and she's gg to make another for another of my mommy friend tmrw, and was even more excited abt it just now after hearing aunty Sharmaine's comments, perhaps she felt appreciated, :>).

However, instead of heading to Sharmaine's house straight, we met up at United Square first, which is good, 'cos I needed to buy the Bellamy's organic baby's rice...(we went to the one at paragon on Sat but it's alr OOS...)

We've all arrived at the mall at about the same timing but as Sharmaine wanted to buy some clothes for her kids, I went in search of the cereal.  Then when I got back, I have to nurse Rachel and when I'm done with that, their friends came, alamak, ended up, I didn't get to chat with Sharmaine much 'cos soon it was time for hubby to come pick us up.  Luckily, we were all heading back to Sharmaine's house where I'm to pick up some of their baby stuffs.

Renee has had a good time running around their big yard and was reluctant to leave(we daren't impose on them for too long, plus we needed to get to J8 for dinner)...  Hopefully we'd have another chance to go over to their place again.

*Even Rachel was excited today, she couldn't sleep the whole while and when she finally KO, we were about to leave the mall already and she slpt all the way til we got home, how nice!

*Guess what, Renee's more excited about the baby stuffs and has already aimed at a couple of them, claiming that she'd wanna play wif them 1st hahaha.

Oh, what's that, OUCH!

Brought baby Rachel for her 3rd month immunisation* today.

She was still smiling/chuckling happily when the PD played with her(probably very happy 'cos she had just been fed whilst waiting for her turn, hahaha), not knowing what she's in for, heeeee.

The big 'surprise' came when the PD gave her the 1st jab and the shock she experienced was rather great(> than the 1st mth's jab) 'cos she literally 'jumped'!  That caused the 'wound' to bleed alittle, poor thing... And as if that wasn't enough, she was given the 2nd one, oh man, her face was soooo uptight that it turned red.

Jie Jie on the other hand, as with Rachel's 1st mth's injection, said she didn't want to watch the process and asked to go outside.  But Papa told her to just simply turn her head away and so she went to hide in a corner, hahaha.  Thereafter, she decided that she still, would rather be outside and so I let her..., but she came in immediately when she heard her mei mei's cries and sayang-ed her, lolz...

Luckily, meimei fell asleep soon after and we quickly went over to Paragon(where we parked the car) for a quick lunch at the Big O before heading to the playground for Renee to have some fun(made new friends again, lolz) whilst I grabbed whatever I needed in the fastest timing I could achieve, :).

Renee was supposed to go for her last PRE-school lesson at the Enopi today but as papa was feeling tired(it shld be me resting!), we changed it to tomorrow.  I was supposed to meet up with her friend's mommy today when we sent both of them to the class but since I'd need to be with Rachel and she's got her jab today, we decided to change it.  However, that means the 2 girls didn't get to meet up at all this June holidays('cos they've also changed their lessons for the past 2 weeks to another day due to their other playdate arrangement), :(.

*It's not juz ouch to her thighs, but it's also ouch to her parents' pocket, hahaha.  It's sooooo Expensive for a baby to hv the compulsory jabs these days.  Just for the 1st year's immunisation package(the required ones go beyond one year, for those whom are not aware), it cost us S$1,009 and it's not inclusive of GST and the PD's consulation fees on each visit!  I wonder why we have to pay GST for medical...  So in all, we paid about S$1,200 today(and blurr me, never had the privilege of using a CDA account before, didn't know that the CDA acc needs PIN no. for withdrawal, so there it goes, we didn't get to use it today! :<)

Mommy, Did You Enjoy Yourself?

It has been hard enough for me to meet up with my good friend, Vicky and more so now, since her husband's posted to India. However, not forgetting our pact(to treat the other to a meal on either's birthday), she contacted me 2 days ago, upon her return from the lastest trip to arrange a lunch date today.

As usual, Renee tagged along and we had a wonderful meal at Paradise Inn @Somerset 313. In order for us to catch-up in 'peace', without Renee bugging us to leave the restaurant, I've packed 2 of the Supermind activity cards and although she finished all 3 tasks very quickly, it was still good enough to keep her occupied(she retried them with different ways a few times each).

We didn't stay to browse the mall and headed straight to Plaza Singapura where we had a really nice time browsing through the stores(though at some point, Renee did urge us to move on to other stores 'cos she's bored there, haha). We both ended up with some buys - not much for me today, mainly what I need - I'm exercising my buying control, heee.

Out since noon, it's not before long we began to feel tired and with Renee complaining about hunger(??? she ate so much at lunch!), we stopped for an early dinner. Hubby came to pick us up at 8pm and oblivious to the 2 older ladies' fatigue, Renee complained "aiyah, why papa come so early to pick us?", kekeke. But once on her carseat, she too, had to try very hard to keep her eyes opened, :) and we have to take turns to tease her to keep her awake. However, after we've dropped Vicky off, she couldn't 'tahan' and fell asleep and in an attempt to wake her up, we had to detour to Punggol Plaza to get some snacks, :).

Whilst showering, Renee asked me "mommy, did you enjoy yourself today?", I replied "Yes, I get to meet my good friend..." and she added "me too, I had a good time!". From the expression she had on her face when waving goodbye to my friend, I know she's telling the truth, :)...

A 'New' Buddy

Some of you might remember reading that since Renee's fall, her classmates had been giving her stickers...and in return, she decided to give them hers too.

However, she's brought the whole booklet to school for a few days straight and 1 day, she came back telling that a girl, named 'C' has been taking away her 'nicer' stickers and when she finally told her to choose other stickers instead, the girl wasn't happy and didn't want to befriend her anymore...

End last week, she told me that her friend 'N' didn't want to befriend her as well 'cos of 'C' was kinda like N's close friend in class. Being a soft-hearted girl, she still phoned N up but that girl didn't want to pick up despite her mom telling her who the caller was(Renee heard it over the phone). Renee was upset, naturally and my heart went to her... Yesterday, she approached N again at school but the latter ignored her, awww... In such situation, I have no choice but told her to just let her friends be, besides, she's got another nice friend M whom she's been pretty close to recently.

She gave M our home number but as I've predicted, she doesn't know how to make a phone call and thus, Renee hadn't got a call from her til now, lolz. However, when Renee asked her about it the next day, she said she'll get someone to teach her, :). Today, M gave her a drawing and she was sooo excited that she wanted to embark on a drawing of her own immediately when she got home, to give in return, :).

M's

Renee's, for her friend

Nice Friends

Apart from the stickers she's got from the dental centre(even the man at e radiology dept. gave her quite a few lolz), she's been receiving more from her friends since she's returned to school on Monday.

Her friends had even 'allowed' her to sayang their little sister/cousin attending the same preschool when they had previously 'protected' from others' touch last time('cos she really loooves those little girls and likes to sayang them and her friends knew). This just went to show that she's got nice friends from this class and it's nice to know they're so kind towards her after learning about her injury, :).

Last Day of Term I

Finally, after sooo many days, it's raining today! Errm, but this is not what this post is about, heee.

The last day of the term is supposed to be tomorrow but this year, instead of the usual PTMs, the school is holding Parents and Teachers gathering(with provision of light refreshments) for term I and III instead, and since I'm not taking part in this event, today shall be it, :).

Some children seemed to be celebrating their birthdays at school today and I've just witnessed a girl crying for not bringing a gift to her friend when my girl appeared, telling me that she's got a goodie bag from her classmate, :).

It's been quite a while since we've last been to Compass Point and as hubby needed us to go to the office tomorrow, I took Renee there to run some errands today. First, we headed to the OCBC bank, where I finally get to have my replacement ATM card which is sooo troublesome, given that the other banks had already posted the new cards(incl. ATM's) to me ages ago. After banking in some of Renee's coins, I casually asked how does a child get the badges and upon checking her bank book, they said, oh it's her 3rd deposit, so she's entitled to a bronze one. Hmmm, if I hadn't asked, will she even get it? Actually, basing on the number of deposits we've made, not even taking into consideration that we've always deposited more than the required S$20(we usually accumulate and deposit in hundreds) each time, she should be getting her Gold one long time ago. I guess we were 'penalised' for changing the type of account! Geez, sooo calculative and how more customer unfriendly can this bank get huh?.

There're more unpleasant stuffs about them but I shall save this post from them. However, not sure if they were trying to appease my displeassure or was it a norm, they gave Renee a pack of mighty savers' pencil + ruler and a pack of mighty savers' storybook that came with some origami artwork(they cld hv came together, not sure. No pic, 'cos ne has already took them out of the pack juz now, lolz).

Then, remembering the cake that we've forgotten to buy to try the last time when we chanced upon this new cafe(or was it a restaurant?) taking over the old Delifrance rest., we bought it today. We also met 1 of Renee's classmates there, choosing a cake for his mommy and he, thinking that the badge is given free over the counter(Renee's wearing it on her T-shirt uniform with its light blinking), he asked where he could get one, :).

This is just a normal plain one, the rest of the 'celebrative' cakes are lovelier

Again, Renee asked her Papa if she could join the school camp...

Breakfast

Although we've came back earlier by ourselves from sis' last night, hubby had came back at around 10pm and gone out again to the temple til late or should I say, early this morning. On such situation, naturally the duty of sending Renee falls back on me.

Actually, I'd already thought to resume this duty from this week onwards 'cos I've found that the 'going back to sleep' after getting Renee ready for school don't seem to be working very well for me. But, being a late sleeper, I'm not sure if I'd be up to this on a long term basis but I'm going to try...

This morning, after I've sent Renee to school, I drove to H.Mall for some groceries and this time round, I stayed for a Mc's breakfast instead of taking it home since I'd be having it alone anyway even at home(hubby would still be sleeping, which was true, :D).

I was still contemplating if I should wait for hubby to wake up and see if he'd like to pick Renee up but by 10:15am, he was still sleeping soundly and I thought, since I'm not getting any sleep, I might as well go. So, after I've set the soup to boil, I set off again.

Earlier, on my way over to the mall, I've text Nicole's mommy, Vicky but she's misread my sms(she told me so, much later) and asked if we could meet again. I had idea when and am not sure if I'd be up to it tomorrow, but since I couldn't take on her invitation of going over to their house after school tomorrow, I agreed to meet up with her for breakfast.

The Phone Call II

Or should I say the phone calls? These 2 girls have been calling each other for I don't know how many times a day! It had seem adorable at first but the frequency has gotten too often for one's liking.

Today, her friend even phoned her at 7:30am! Renee had woken up the minute she heard the phone rang but I had to tell her a white lie that "it's wrong number" and got her to resume her sleep - I let her go to bed later at 9:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays, so I'd rather she doesn't wake up so early.

Her cough's getting better, except for the balance of some phlegm but she coughs more at night the past few days and so we brought her back to the physician. He was actually expecting us to return to him earlier for follow-up but I wasn't aware plus she's still got a couple of doses left... He said that due to her sensitive-ness, this would occur mainly at night(with her 'condition' appearing normal during the day) and another bottle with added allergy/sensitivity clearing herbs powder is now prescribed.

The minute we got home, Renee wanted to phone her friend again(whom has been calling her whilst we were out - I knew 'cos I've got miss call alert messages sent to my mobile) and this went on for a while til this evening, Renee tried to return her friend's call and heard her crying at the back(she was having her shower) but her friend hasn't called her back tonight. Has her mommy also got annoyed with their phone calls to each other already? not surprising, haha. Actually, I don't mind if they call each other say, once a day, preferably, once a few days, but not a few times everyday! hahaha. I've not expected kids this age can enjoy calling each other sooo much and I'm beginning to worry about her teenage or even primary school years... haha.

The Phone Call

Since Renee's aunts have been calling her(and vice versa), she has really taken to phone conversations and she's asked me quite a few times to get her friend, Vanessa's phone number(she's asked but Van had never given her).

I've been 'seeing' Vanessa and some of her ex-classmates waiting in the hall('cos they took the school bus so they always arrived alot earlier) and earlier this Monday, Vanessa, whom has always been shy, has finally smiled and waved to me! So, on Tuesday, I approached her and told her of Renee's wish to phone her at home and asked if she could obtain her mommy's permission to give her home number to Renee. She nodded but she has forgotten to bring, even til today... However, Renee has surprised me by bringing home Nicole's home number just now! lolz and when I went to take a quick nap whilst she's having her lunch, I woke up to her talking on the phone... to Nicole! hahaha It's really cute to see her talking to her friend over the phone like that and their conversation's really funny as I could also hear her friend's voice sometimes, heee. Right now, as I'm typing this post, her friend has just returned her call(she's just phoned her right after her practice but Nic was having her shower) and this is the 6th time they're chatting away, hahaha. I'm sure there're gonna be more, :).