Oh oh, heavier school bag now

With each child being distributed a set of the following today, their school bags are surely going to weigh abit more now than last year's(even for those whom have to put in spare diapers/clothes for change last yr), especially for Wednesdays:

Renee was sooo excited when she saw the books and wanted to 'read' them when I took them out of the school's pack. However, as I've to wrap them up first, she was disappointed but later cheered up when I told her that she'll get to do that in school, :D.

Oh yes, more books-wrapping for me again...

School Time!

Yes, it's back to school again after a 6 weeks holiday break !

Woke up early today 'cos I've promised Renee that I'd tie 2 french plaits for her on her 1st day of school and as it's been awhile since I've done that, I reckoned(from the trials done this couple of wkends) that I might need a little more time. It wasn't just me whom had woken up earlier, even dear Renee did too! hahaha. She woke up not long after me and the 1st thing she did when she came to me was : "Good morning mommy, is it today I go back to school? Are you going to tie my hair for me?". However, we were both ready to go well before time and as I've also kinda lost touch with the 'correct timing' and had left home slightly too early, I had to try and drive abit slower(of 'cos only when there weren't cars behind me) but still, the school's packed with sooo many cars when we got there at 11:05am.

This year, Renee would be having her classes at 1 of the rooms upstairs(which were initially meant for K1 students) and she was amongst the 1st few to arrive. Not long later, her friends (mostly not in the correct uniform, still in the tees+shorts attire) began to fill in and she soon forgot about me haha. Many kids(especially the Pre-Ns) cried, even 1 boy from her class last year, whom used to cry each time he returned to school after the holidays, also did. I had thought to stay back to watch awhile but since Renee hadn't needed me on her very first day of Pre-N, I guess it might not be necessary now, so I left for my pedicure appointment.

Renee was coughing a little this morning, so I decided to give her some cough syrup after her late 'after school' lunch(she told me that she's only had 2 small bowls of fried mee tai mak in sch), and the effects of the medication kicked-in alot faster than I've expected. It was kinda funny when it did though, hahaha. She was practicing her violin and after some rounds of repetition, she got cranky and then when she's done, I told her to sit down on her sofa and 'listen' to my bowing for the rhythm(I guess it's the lethargy that caused her to lose abit of the momentum) and as I bowed, I saw her slowly 'dream' away and when I asked if she's sleepy, she replied "yes...", hahaha.

I had wanted to start her on the 'new notes' today but she's already so tired that she couldn't even remember all the earlier ones, I decided to put it on hold first as I do not wish to push her too much.

I was feeling very sleepy and tired myself but at that hour(4pm), I can no longer go for my nap as I'd need to prepare her dinner. An hour later, Renee threw tantrums when I woke her up and just when I've calmed her, daddy's back... :D

I had given Renee her cup of milk at around 9:15pm and when she came to me(in the room) at 5 mins to 10pm, I was angry to learn that she's still not finished her milk! By the time I came out of the room at 10pm, she's already placed the empty cup on the kitchen top but as I was upset(more with daddy actually, for not keeping tab on the timing), she cried and apologised for taking a long time to finish up her milk. Daddy then told her to get ready for bed and he'd accompany her but as she's just had her milk, I told them to wait a while.

Finally, at close to 10:30pm, after I've brushed her teeth and she's gone to the toilet, she went to bed... :)

A Mini Feast

Daddy went to the temple @ Jurong early this morning and since I've re-scheduled with Vicky to meet up for our X'mas gift exchange(yeah, X'mas'! hahaha) after her trip, so I slept in til 10am with Renee, :D.

Renee's bowing on the new notes/tempo has improved alot today and she seemed to be able to focus on 'reading' and understanding the note - I hope it's really so 'cos Ms Mok mentioned that it's not easy especially for a young kid like her.

Renee had requested for an outing and though daddy had agreed, I had felt kinda 'sian' as not sure where to go to, so when he came back with alot of food, we ended up(after some 'planning' of the food distribution) giving some to Sis, Eileen and brought the rest to Li's place(although so last minute, Sis and Elsie went too) and we had a mini feast there with these roasted duck, chicken, crabs and the penang food she's got from her friend's mom(I even packed some penang food home myself hahaha).

Had planned to let Renee resume her sleep early at 10pm from tonight onwards(she's been dragging her bedtime til 11pm lately, esp. these last couple of weeks) but today was a 'failure' as we had only came home @ around 10:15pm 'cos daddy was playing mahjong and so by the time I've cleaned her up and she's had her milk, it was almost 10:40pm already. Waited for daddy to tuck her in as promised but seeing her yawned twice at 11:15pm, I decided to get her teeth brushed and tuck her in myself - told daddy that he's not to come in(for his shower) til she's fallen asleep, so as not to distract her but she had fallen asleep in less than 5 mins, :D.

Good bye, MotorCar

Yes, we've sold the car - Renee's...

Been tidying up our home and as we've always find the motorised car abit bulky, I joked to daddy last week, about selling it off and to my surprise, he had agreed! So, I put it up for sale at a forum. Many haggled with us on the asking price even though we've lowered it to a 50%, so I thought to myself that probably we should just keep it if the offer's anything lower(also I'm quite 'bu she de' to let it go), esp. since it's still in such good condition and not been 'used' yet.

Finally, a post on its specifications today drew a genuine buyer and we sealed our deal in less than half a day's time, with the item collected this afternoon before we left for my mom's place, :).

Li had thought that Renee would be unwilling to part with the motorcar and I'm surprised myself, though also glad that she's not sad to part with it(she's actually looking forward to a rocking horse replacement, which I hope time might let her forget about, hahaha), maybe 'cos she's never really had the thrill of a real ride on it so it's easier for her to let it go - daddy had procrastinated too many times to bring it down for her to ride at the 'open garden' downstairs, so...

Bye Bye...

The Lion Dance

Good thing I've woken up at 8:10am 'cos Eileen had came earlier than the time she's indicated(@830am) to bring the foodtsuffs over. We chatted for a while and by the time I finished handling the foodstuffs, I even got some 'peaceful' time to myself whilst daddy and Renee were both still asleep.

Then at 5mins to 10am, it suddenly dawned on me that we'd be late for Renee's lesson, so I quickly woke her up. Today, as Ms Mok's satisfied with her bowing on the 'Twinkle Twinkle', she was given not only new theory lesson but she's also to play the notes from the Suzuki Volumn 1 - 1st variations on the E strings. So, here comes the book stand! :D

We headed to Compass Point for our lunch and with the promise of her getting to eat the candy Ms Mok gave her for being rather co-operative today(not entirely, but an improvement on focus), she even ate up almost 1 piece of the fish at Long John Silver fast food restaurant.

There were many 'lions' placed at the lobby and it's funny that she somehow knew that there's gonna be a performance when we passed by it the 2nd time. True enough, the performers began to appear about 15-20mins later and though there was a further delay, we finally get to watch(she insisted) the dance. Anticipating the loudness, I told her to get ready to cover her ears which she did when it finally began. There were many 'poles' placed for the 'Lion' to climb up and all of a sudden, in the middle of their dance, the performers fell! With everyone gasping, they resumed the performance despite the pain and u can sense the tension in the audience as they watched-on... When the fall happened, I had wanted to applaud to boost them up but was afraid to be looked upon as an alien, then someone else started, not once but a few times, to cheer them on, hurray! lolz... Though I'm not a lover of the Lion Dance, such performances are indeed not easy tasks and falls like this can be very painful and even dangerous, so they certainly could do with these encouragements.

Wanted to go for some green pear juice but couldn't find any pears from the Cold Storage, so I took some red apples from our fridge and commence the 'first operation' of our Juicer. Renee loved the apple juice, finally hahaha, but I hope that won't deter her from eating the apple on its own in the future, as that would actually give her better nutrients value.

More Art-y Stuffs?

Daddy had came home early unexpectedly(from his golf game) and after his nap, we went to Takashimaya to get a Juicer as FINALLY, Renee had recently willingly drank orange juice during one of our dinners outside! I remembered once, I'd squeezed alot of oranges and she didn't want to drink it and it was such a waste of efforts. And so this time round, when she expressed her liking to it after that evening, I thought I could introduce other types of fresh fruit juice, like red apple or green pear juice to her and so, a juicer would be required.

After our dinner, we walked over to Paragon to collect the box of 'Easy-to-Paint' tubes that the shop has reserved for me but just as I was making payment, the girl whom had earlier noted my query on the 'paint/shape rollers', recommended me this and said that she felt that this would be a better buy/item though they're of same price. The minute I saw it, I agreed and since I've already got paints from Crayola already, so... :) :

Oh ya, Renee has been writing on her own(as I've mentioned, they don't teach writing at Pre-N or even not til the last term of N), I decided to get her to jot down the recipient's name on the X'mas gift she's made for her violin teacher. She will be hving her make-up lesson tomorrow morning, as Ms Mok's father was hospitalised last week. Here's her writing- though most of it were of the wrong direction strokes but as she's not taught/guided on how, it's inevitable especially since she writes with her left hand(so most of the time she starts frm right to left hahaha). I do not wish to push her too much, so when I saw it, I just told her that it's wrong and guided her on the correct strokes. I guess I'll have to remind her to pay attention to the proper way of writing when in school in future and hope she'll write in the correct strokes in due course...

New Year Resolutions?

I'm sure most of you would have already had people questioning you on this and so I thought it a good topic to to be posted(I've also been asked by quite a few already hahaha).

Resolutions, do you have any? Well, I can't say that I have nor that I don't have any as I'm one who don't quite believe in setting New Year Resolutions. To be practical, don't we often find ourselves wanting to 'correct' some faults/bad habits, etc or even desire to achieve some goals in our lives, from time to time? If that's the case, how do resolutions 'belong' only to the beginning of each new year? :D

Ok enough said... Here's an article worth reading, :D :

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090101/tls-newyear-britain-health-aeafa1b.html

A success to welcome the New Year!

Right at the beginning of the Nov/Dec school holidays, Renee had asked for her milk to be given in a cup(with a straw) one day and I took the opportunity to get her to agree to putting her milk bottle/threw the nipple away. She had agreed immediately then but had occasionally asked if she could have her milk from the bottle during the 1st 2 weeks - all I did was just to tell her that it was her own decision to wean off and she'll say "Ok".

Since then, she's been hving her milk in a cup(without fail) til now and so, I am happy to announce that yes, our dear girl has self-weaned herself from the milk bottle! Well done and keep it up, Renee :).

Happy New Year - 2009!

It's the new year! And for a start, I've got a new face for our blog, :)

Just a few hours ago, we had dined at Dan Ryan's and although we found the bill abit ex for the simple dinner but then again, where else can we have a decent dinner at a cheaper price on this night?... We were late on arrival and it was a good thing I've called up to reserve a table earlier.

We took a stroll nearby after our hearty dinner and managed to capture some shots which we've missed during the Christmas :)

We came home before 10:30pm and by the time, I'm finally able to settle down on the sofa, it was already about time to count down! This year, we have daddy home with us and we waited for the big boom which I had thought might not surfice afterall the talks on the economy downturn but then.... :

Fireworks! At the comfort of our home :D