Straw

After procrastinating for a few weeks now(she's started drinking from a cup 1st), I've finally let Rachel try drinking from a straw this evening and she could!   That means I'd soon have to get her a straw cup soon.  I hope she'd be as receptive when it comes to weaning her off BF...

Bath Time

It was a few months ago when Rachel's started to grab the sides of the supporting net in her bathtub, to bring herself to upright sitting position and if we've laid her further downwards, she'd use her feet to kick-push herself to the upper part of the tub to a more comfortable position for her legs, hahaha, I've been enjoying watching her whilst in the bath.

Recently, again, without any coaching, she'd let go of the toys she's playing with(at times she wldn't give them up though, then she'd find it difficult to perform the task, hahaha), grab the sides of the net, slowly let herself down into lying position, when I tell her to 'lie down'...  I was surprised when she did it the 1st time I tried and have never tire of watching the process even since... 'cos to me, it's just simply sooo cute! hahaha

After a few weeks of 'enjoyment', I remembered last week and told hubby about it on the day he'd give her a bath(Sundays now) and he too, found it simply irresistably cute, hehehe.

Japanese Rice & Guests

Thinking that Renee will soon be getting sick of home-made sandwiches and those breads bought from the bakeries, I've been thinking of packing rice + 'something' for her on some days for a change.

She was happy with the suggestion, 'cos since the day we stopped her from buying the chicken rice, burger, etc etc from school, she's taking a longer time to decide on the choice of recess' snacks. 

However, fearing that the food flask might be a little too heavy to be added to her already heavy bag and the lighter one we have is not tight enough for her to handle, I asked around and heard from my Japanese SIL that she always prepare Japanese rice balls for her girl.  This is because Japanese rice still taste nice when it's cooled.  I've given it some thought and after discussing it with hubby, we decided to give it a try.

Yesterday, whilst sipping our bubble tea(mine's milk shake, heeee, seems like I MUST hv it every Sunday, hahaha), I brought this up again and thus, after our little shopping at Plaza Sin, we drove over to Bukit Timah Plaza, hoping to get a pack of the rice.

It's a good thing we had gone to this branch 'cos not only we saw this authentic Japanese rice on the rack, we were greeted with a few other choices too.  However, remembering my SIL's 'warning' that those made in USA and Vietnam won't taste nice, I avoided those from Australia and even Korea too(though she said Korea's not bad).  This pack of rice, 2kg, cost S$20.

Did a trial on the cooking of the rice this afternoon and by the evening's mealtime, I can roughly gauge on its cooking timing and quantity.  The portion cooked for her lunch was too little and it's a little too much for her dinner, but she said she must finish it 'cos it's expensive, awww...  I guess, with a couple more test runs, I should be able to get it right for the maid to prepare it in the morning - must make sure she REMEMBERS how to do it!

This afternoon, midway through practice, Papa informed that his clients are coming up to our home for a viewing as 1 of them is intending to buy another home from one of the blocks here.  When they arrived(which was super soon), Renee happily stopped her practice and even Rachel was happy to see the guests at our place, oh no, another 'please come to my place and play with me' girl? hahaha

Papa Chauffeur...

Renee had rejected strongly when we suggested that she be chauffered to school by her father but after he's driven her to school last Friday, she began to enjoy and treasure the privilege, hahaha.

Yesterday, as we knew that we might be home abit later, Papa suggested to Renee that he would send her to school probably, every Monday and Friday and he'd pick her up from school on Wednesdays.(luckily, 'cos she has time to complete part of her theory HW at least last night)  She was delighted of 'cos!  We would still keep the school bus service(to and fro) on, to standby on days when hubby needs to travel and so, for the time being, this is the best solution...

Haiku

Last night, with papa sleeping in her room(since last week), Renee came to sleep with me.  Then, as with last week, she did her homework in our room til soooo late that I told her that she is not to sleep in our room whenever papa is golfing the next day - he would have to sleep in her room, with her, I don't care if he can't sleep well, I don't want her to take her own sweet time to dilly dally over her work(actually, she just like to write, erase, write again, I can't stand it, it's just such a waste of time!).

There were some parts of her homework that she had needed a little bit of help and writing a Haiku is one of them.  Initially, at lunch, she'd asked me "mummy, what is Haiku?".  Thinking that she's heard this word from a friend, I replied "Haiku? Oh, tortoise" and she said "No...".  She then to explain it to me but I couldn't comprehend, hahaha til she showed me her homework instruction when she asked how she could do it, only then I got it.

Draw a festival they like and compose 3 Haikus before choosing one

She'd followed the instructions strictly and we chose this over the other 2.

This was done mostly by herself, I've helped her with the other 2 & the last line of this

The work children have to do these days...

A Cousin's Friend

School ends earlier on Wednesdays(1pm) and Fridays(12:30pm).  As she gets to come home earlier today and luckily, with not as much homework, she managed to finish them and her practice earlier too!  With the unexpected time allowance, good behaviour(I had earlier told her that I'd bring her down for a walk if she can finish her hw & practice early and she didn't throw tanthrums when the sky showed signs of rain) and good weather, I decided to bring them down for Renee to have a swim.  The latter was of cos elated, hahaha and kept asking why I changed my mind to letting her do so, haiz... ^ ~ ^

Since Renee's still unable to actually swim, she could only go to the playground pool and when 2 girls came over from the adult pool, I heard 1 of them calling the other 'Nadia', and instantly, I was reminded of what Renee's cousin had told me "my friend Nadia stays there too, she's Spanish and my best friend! If you know her, can you please tell me?".  With that in mind, I asked Renee to confirm with the girl if she's the one but she refused.  Although I could have done that with ease myself but as this could be her cousin's friend, I thought it would be nice if she could talk to her.  She has no problem at all in approaching strangers and had done so with many adult sales staff with her enquiries, so I see no decent reason for her to reject this request except that she's simply unwilling to do so.  I was about to let it go til she started to throw tanthrums and that made me determined for her to do it.

Finally, she relented and we got the answer - she is the one, and a friendly girl too!  This turn-out, also helped me to show Renee, that she can't always 'run away' from something that she doesn't like(esp. not by throwing tanthrums) and at times, things might just turned out to be just fine/nice.

With Renee completing the task, I allowed her extra funtime at the pool, whilst Rachel looking around earnestly, hahaha, :D.

Hidden Toys...

Usually, Rachel would wake up from her sleep/nap making noises(so we know she's awake) but recently, if I'd let her sleep in her cot with some of her toys in it, she'd wake up quietly and then I'd find her sitting by the end with the toys 'gone'.  What had happened to the toys on these occasions?...:

For example, I'd put these toys at the bottom of her cot

And this is what she'd do with them... :) 

I Want "Ma Ma". Oh No...

After Renee's theory class, we went to the mall instead of heading home(since not taking up the swimming lesson yet) as we needed to get new bath towels for the kids.

Whilst Rachel and I were at Mothercare, passing by the feeding bottles and pacifiers section, I turned to her, pointing to the bottles and teats, I asked "you want 'juk juk'?",  she protested loudly with an "arrhhh!" and then she said "ma ma!" - I think she meant she still want to be b-fed, oh man!

No Swimming Lesson?

As we both sat-in during Renee's lesson today(I had to go out with Rachel before papa arrived so she's left alone for quite awhile again, ^_^"), the teacher requested to speak to us without the pressence of Renee when it ended.

Her teacher expressed deep concern for Renee's recent slow-ed progress and wanted to discuss with us on how we could work together to help her.  He reminded us that it'd be a great waste of her talent should we let go and she slack on her own.  Like all the other teachers, he said that most children are like that and we have to try our best to pull her back on track, for at least, the next 2 years.  He's also mindful that either of us is musically trained but he cited that it'd be soon even if not now, that we will not be able to catch up with what she's learning(something of our concern too 'cos e pieces and techniques r getting tougher already!) but he said, a hold on her would still do her good.  He's also suggested that  we do what some other parents had been doing - put up a video camera on tripod during each lesson, so that she could watch back before/during practices(whether she'd really bother to tune to it later is another matter).  Again, he reminded us that the learning at Nafa itself is fast-paced, let alone the 'goal' she's currently working towards and once she slacks, she's going to lose out, no matter how talented the child is and if we allow that to happen to Renee, it would be a big waste.  Oh man, so stressful...

We are extremely grateful of his concern for Renee and honestly, deep down, I would really love to be able to guide her with her practices like I did in the past, but the care of Rachel and time forbids me to do so.  I'm going to have to try my best...

On the other hand, Renee's school seems to be giving her alot of drawing and colouring work(she said they like her work...) which I feel is not elevant to her academic learning at all.  Her teacher had said "do your homework first, the rest later", but are these extra drawings work necessary to her learning?  I don't see it... and given her comment, I suppose she(in fact many people do too) feels that academic achievements are much more important, we agree, but her current commitment to her music learning is not of the usual leisure form and whether she gets the ultimate result or not, we have to let her try, as 'the goal' is afterall, something of a very rare opportunity... Many had suggested that I speak to the school about it but I do not want to seem 'proud' or anything, so I'll just monitor the situation from now, before deciding whether we should speak to the school about it...

Meantime, with such load(including violin practices and theory homework), I've told Renee that until she's able to manage her own schedule, her swimming lessons will have to wait, :(.