Tweety Bird

Slept late(again) last night and felt super tired when I woke up at 7am+ to wait for the cleaner. Couldn't take it and told her that I needed to go lie down for a while, when she started to iron the clothes. However, not long later, our dear princess woke up and there goes my rest.

We went to Takashimaya(daddy wanted) and I guess probably due to the new Tweety Bird counter at the children's department, they have a real-size Tweety walking around. Some took pictures of their kid(s) with Tweety and when we were near them, they were walking away.

However, when we came back to the counter, there were people taking pics again and before I even thought about giving it a try, I heard the guy saying "ok, last one" and he signalled to one family, so I just directed Renee to the other way... Just then, a lady called after us "excuse me, would you like to have your pic taken?". Renee nodded yes and as I didn't have my camera with me, I had to make do with my hp's. Surprisingly Renee wasn't afraid at all!!! A nice pic indeed...

Saturday!

Nothing much but a little shopping at Vivo('cos daddy came back only after 5pm...but I finally got to utilise my vouchers!) and when back home, managed to get Renee to re-do her dance(though she didn't do it as enthusiastically so u can see the dance 'breaking' shortly, hahaha) so I can video just the 'lower body version' for your view! lolz :

TGIF - Teacher's day celebration

Last night, I suddenly recalled the reason why I've been having this thought for the whole evening that I should call Eileen and ask if she'd like to change her marketing to another day - Daddy's going golfing early in the morning and there will be no one home to watch over Renee!!! To bring her along would mean waking her up earlier which I do not wish to since she doesn't take afternoon naps these days... So, I had to wake up EVEN EARLIER, at 7am, to phone her to tell her(I could have just sent an sms but I was afraid that she might not read it on time and it won't be very responsible of me to do that anyway)... arrrrggghhh.

The school hall was surprisingly quiet when we arrived and I had thought that my effort in bringing her there on time was wasted but I was told that the assembly will only begin at 11:30am today,*phew*. Many parents, thinking that there won't be any assembly, left after bidding the Principal farewell...

It was raining and so I had to leave the bag of pressies in the car and return to get them after bringing Renee in. Her classmates crowded around her when I brought the bag to her in the class and she was sooo caught up in the 'mess' that she didn't wish the teacher "Happy Teacher's Day"(anyway, I didn't bother to teach her also) but she told me later after school that she did present the gifts to Mrs A. Tan, Zhou laoshi and the new aunty and they thanked her lolz(but as there was no big hoo ha made about this celebration in the school, we didn't give out the rest of the gifts prepared, 'cos it might seem too 'loud' if we were to do that).

The Principal was finally 'alone' and I managed to speak to her and gave her my well wishes. From our conversation, I got to understand abit more of the situation and apparently, the vice-principal will not be just 'acting' but the management will still be monitoring her for a while before confirming if she's capable to run the school.

Mommy Janice(whom usually sends her son there ard 12pm even though she also drives and stays nearby lolz. - she wanted to feed him first...) came early and didn't know about the 'celebration', she thought that she was not given the notice but fact is, there was no notice given - probably because the school did not want to 'pressurise' the parents to buy gifts for the teacher(s). In fact, the teachers even performed for the children instead!!! lolz - that's very nice, not 'demanding' to be 'entertained' lolz..
I knew about the celebration because I asked and luckily I did, 'cos I got to capture some nice shots and even a video of the school song(aiyoh, why mandarin version again hahaha) and our dearies performing a song - 'Hao Bao Bao'! So cute!!! 'cos they were the only pre-n students in the late morning session.

During the perfomance, Renee got 'distracted' at the music chorus and was just clapping her hands when her friends were doing the 'excercise act'. However, she 'miraculously' returned her gaze to the teacher when the singing resumed(even she knew it herself, 'cos when we were watching the video, she told her papa : "later when my friends doing excercise, Renee dreaming" hahaha). As commented by the school's music teacher(in their Progress Portfolio given by end of each term), she enjoys the music classes and can be shy at times - that's her and she proved it during the performance too! Those whom knew/had seen her dance will know what I mean(if u get to watch the video), lolz.

*I've tried many times to upload the videos but failed, perhaps they're too big to be processed here :(*

Went for a little snacking with mommy Janice after the performance and we had a nice chat :). Renee & I then went for our usual snack after school and I bought her this new stationary holder since the earlier one isn't able to hold up all her pencils, markers, crayons, colour pencils anymore:

And these books - gotta go back for book 1 next week, haiz...

The 'handbag' charm I've clipped to my carkey was damaged and the replacement 'piglet' charm's too heavy that its hook got crooked after a few days, haha, I bought these 2 when I happened to see them today :

Teachers' Day Gifts

The kid goes to pre-school but the mommy gotta do all the pressie work? Oh man! hahaha. Anyway, here are the gifts that Renee has selected for her teachers(we got the 'flowers' a couple of weeks ago hee):

Co-incidentally, we had both picked the same colours!!!

Even the colour that we 'appointed' to each recipient were also the same!(I did that according to their 'style' as observed so far and am surprised that Renee shared the same thoughts!)

Pink - Zhou laoshi, Orange - Mrs Anna Tan, Purple - Mdm Sok Huay

This is how they will be presented tomorrow...

Noticed one flower lesser? That's for Mdm Sok Huay but she's hospitalised now(so will keep it aside til she returns)

The blue checked wrapped gifts? Those are standbys, for the administrator, etc, haiz...

A relaxing facial

This is by far, the most relaxing facial(tried/was recommended a different treatment today) I've had since I've first commenced my package with Leonard Drake(or was it due to the 'mad rush' earlier when I had to cook her meal to school? lolz). Perhaps can go for the same treatment the next time heee.

Many must have read the notice yesterday 'cos I saw some 'mommies' conversing with the Principal but as there were simply tooo many cars, I couldn't spare the time to and went to fetch my girl home(before the class was even being led out, no choice, else will have a super hard time getting out of the compound 'cos I've to park in a corner). Hopefully will get to speak to her(it's quite a pity that she's leaving 'cos she's approachable and pretty flexible) tomorrow - another frantic day, with it being the marketing day and the school celebrating Teacher's day.

The school principal has resigned...

I was just about to leave the school when Mrs Tan rushed out to pass me my order of Scholastic books(which got me busy wrapping again lolz):

And this afternoon, checking on the volumn of water Renee's drunk, I noted a 'letter' in the TPC(Teacher-Parent communication) book and upon reading it at home, it's a notice given by the Principlal, announcing her resignation which will be effective end this month...oh man! No wonder she had appeared to 'want to talk' to me when I was leaving the school...

When I told daddy about it, his thoughts were : "well, that's life"...

Actually, he has a point. In fact, when I gave this matter some thoughts, I recalled the short 1/2 yr period we(Renee & I) had with Growing Up Gifted, there were quite a few rounds of change of teachers and am wondering if that had made Renee more adapted to changes(anyway, there's no guarantee that this won't happen in other schools, nor even the Pri/Sec schs).

Decided to cook dinner today and this(despite my fever temperature of 38.2degrees) was it :

I even hand-mopped the kitchen floor and clean up the stove! Tough, maybe some may say, but hey, it got my temp down to 37.7 without medication! :D

However, it was a good thing daddy helped to shower Renee...

As I will be going for my facial tomorrow morning, I was fretting about Renee's 'mini meal' after school when I suddenly remembered that it's 'chicken rice' on the school menu for tomorrow! That means, I would have to prepare her meal to bring there - this, solved the problem...

Artwork(drawing) Display

These are the drawings she did today :

This is done at school(if I recall correctly, this seems to be e 1st time they're allowed to brign their work back home on the same day. not sure if it's due to my telling the teachers that Renee is disappointed that she didn't get to do alot of 'hands-on' work, hahaha) - 'Monkey in a rocket':

Swimming, looks like it huh?

A boy throwing a ball into a net and the 'arrows'(dun even know she can draw arrows!!!), according to her, are to indicate where the ball had bounced to, haha:

Rainbow(the top one, obviously lolz) and the drawing below, she said it's the school gate:

Writing some alphabets all on her own again...

New shoes, etc!

Renee told daddy this morning : "daddy(now she prefers to call him daddy than papa), you have to bring me to school so mommy can stay at home, because mommy is not feeling well" and when I told her that I can still bring her there, she said : "why? but you're sick ar". Arrrh, soooo sweet of her...

The Principal approached me in the hall and though I was 'shocked' initially, I was told that there will be a performance by some students from China and we're invited to stay and watch. So, since I needed to pass the time before I can go collect my spree merchandises(the spree organiser said I'm to go ard 12pm :<), I stayed to watch for a while. To welcome them, the children were asked to sing their Kinderland school song(the mandarin version though) and this gave me the opportunity to 'listen' to its tune for the very first time. Hey, pretty nice :D

However, the performances were not what I would go for and just as I was prepared to leave, a boy began to perform with his violin and at that moment, I noticed Renee 'raised' herself up for a clearer view :D - she even told me about it after school.

Oh yes, Renee had also finished the food I prepared for her to eat in school('cos it's chicken macaroni for today).

The long waited stuffs, yeah!!! And although they're mostly still kinda 'too big'(except the 2 pairs of socks and the denim skort which has inner adjustable bands!!!) for her to wear now, I must say that these items are my 'best' buys soo far 'cos I really like the cut/design/material of the items!:

I simply love ankle socks!!!

The 1 with the hearts embroidery's(bought frm Gymboree looong time ago) still too big haha

With our old tv finally being transported to my FIL, we now have our original space back in the study/play room, and our hall is also free of Renee's car hahaha. And since the room has alittle more space now(cos the space is just being 'freed' a little as the car's also not very small), I can perhaps bring out the 'larger' game/acitivity set for her to play with...

Parent & Teacher Meeting Day

After getting Renee's lunch ready, I rushed off to the school for the meeting whilst she's eating it(daddy stayed home til I come back) and by the time I came back, Renee told me that she didn't finish her lunch(expected, since daddy wldn't be really 'watching' over her and she's watching the tv, haiz).

I guess my session with the teachers is one of the shortest, and I wondered why I even bothered to rush over lolz. Mrs Anna Tan, the English language teacher told me that Renee's performing well in these areas :

• Language
• Physical
• Social

Whereas the Chinese language teacher, Zhou laoshi added that she's very imaginative and could often think of 'stories' to play-out by herself.

Food-wise, Mrs Tan said that Renee doesn't like spaghetti - yes, she still doesn't like cooked food that are 'sweet' and tomato sauce somehow belongs to the 'sweet' side. However, this to me is already a big improvement for her as she really didn't even bother to try any of the food the school served her when she first started school early this year.

Both teachers confirmed that phonics and writing skills will only be taught from the Nursery level(they must have thought that I'm another KS mom 'cos I didn't tell them the reason I ask was becos Renee's been writing some at home).

Forgotten note - to check/double confirm on the temperature of the air-conditioner they would normally have during lesson.

Anyway, got home, changed Renee and we both went to the mall for a little 'walk' :) and went to 'exchange' the scissors we've got(forgot about the ones I've ordered for her from USA). Last Friday, when we were at the store, I got her to ask the sales ladies on whatever we were looking for. First, the sticker album :

Mommy : "Renee, go ask the aunty where can we find the sticker book"

Renee : "huh?... ok", "excuse me aunty, where can I find sticker book?"

Sales Lady1 : "what? sticker album you mean, ok, here..."(directing us to the correct section)

Renee : "thank you..."

Then, she wanted me to buy a pair of scissors for her and I told her to find out where are the children's:

Renee : "excuse me aunty, where can I find children scissors?"

Sales Lady2(was initially surprised, but later grinned at her): "oh, over here..."

Renee : "thank you"

Felt my throat beginning to sore when we got home and I started coughing with its irritation last night, arrrghhh! Too much cookies!

Finally, the shoes/hat/socks that I've ordered via 2 sprees are ready for collection tomorrow, hurray! As the place's not very far, I decided to 'venture' out to collect them instead of waiting til the weekend to meet the organiser at punggol plaza. From my friend, Karen's lot, I guess the sizes of the shoes I've ordered might again be too big for Renee but I'm nevertheless, still very excited to see them, hee.

In the afternoon, Renee said that she didn't want the milk when I offered it to her but she fell asleep whilst drinking it hahaha.

Daddy came back not long after and the 3 of us napped together, til 6:30pm! I woke up in 'shock' 'cos even though I've told daddy that I don't feel like going out today, it's still very late already, for our dinner! I rushed to cook Renee's dinner(luckily the ingredients were ready) and chased daddy out to get chilli crabs(and he bought fried oyster egg also) heee.

With the long nap of more than an hour, I'm super awake now and am trying my best to get Renee to go to sleep. Daddy need no help at all, at 10:30pm, he declared he's sleepy and had gone to bed, geez, he can really sleep man!

It's a good thing that there's no school for the little one tomorrow but I'm not sure if I'd be zombie(even though my slot is set at noon) since I'd have to be there for the PTM lolz...

Hair

Vickz, as promised, the pics are for u!
For fun, I had pinned up my hair couple of days ago but as I did it in super speed and wasn't going out, so the result was ok only and the pins are visible:

And yesterday, tried it out again with the pins hidden(hands aching due to the effort as I've to place my hands over my head lolz). Took a slightly longer time - about 15mins and here's the result(no hairspray used to hold):

Renee took the pic, lolz

A gift from heart

Saturday

We celebrated my mom's birthday(in advance) today and we had it at Siam Kitchen. As usual, we were the noisy lot, being the largest group there :D

I find children making their own cards for their elders a very nice and heartwarming gesture, and wanting Renee to pick up this 'habit', I had initially requested daddy to guide her on a card for my birthday but he wasn't keen, so the easier way out for him would be to just bring her to get a cake...

However, I would be able to guide her myself this time round and so this morning, I managed to find a blank card(luckily, else would have to take her out to get one or perhaps some cardpaper) and got Renee to 'decorate' it up with her drawings. She's pasted alot of her new stickers on it too(I should have taken a pic of it!) - it's so nice to see her willing to 'share/give' her stuffs away. I'm glad that I've asked her to do it 'cos my mom was very happy when Renee presented it to her and wished her "Shen Ri Kuai Le" - something coming from her tiny heart... :)

(we later got my mom a cake from the mall - cost to be shared amongst with the 'younger' cousins including Renee)

Elsie and Li came over to our place after the dinner and Renee slept late tonight at past 11pm...

TGIF!

Friday, hurray!

Surprised to see there's still assembly at the school hall today, hmmm.

Brought Renee to Compass Point 'cos I needed to get some stuffs for her and this time round, when I passed by the music school, I decided to go in and check with them if they've got any 'toy violin' lolz. Managed to get a miniature one but they told me to get a real one(S$100+ but would need to order a smaller size for her) instead since the price of the miniature piece is already a quarter of the price... Nevermind, she doesn't know how to play, so better not get a real one and kill our ears with the horrid sound she'd be drawing from the instrument! hahaha.

I was happy for nothing(very short happiness hahaha) when I had thought that I've found a music school so near home but they told me that it is very 'technical' and complex to learn to play the violin and they've learnt from experience that even at the age of 4, most of them aren't able to stay focus enough/grasp the teaching as it's more complicated - so, Renee's age is way out for them hahaha(now they only take in 6 yrs old and above...). Anyway, haven't decided whether to let her go for it or not later, so for fun, I bought the miniature, cute rite?(just a tad small for her) and I got a 20% discount even - hmmm, was it because she made them laughed? lolz:

And here're pics of her 'playing' it :

Here's her 'playing' and singing a birthday song for her grandma(this is the w/out face version hahaha):

Noticed from above attachments that she's holding the violin on the right side? Actually, she had intially held it on the left but I got confused myself(dunno about the instrument lor) when I saw the chin rest and mistaken that it should be held on the right, heee. She later changed it back herself, as if she knew it wasn't correct hahaha.

It was nice of her for not asking for the 'violin' then and there, so I took her to get her sticker album(but think we'll need to get another one, 'cos this one is kinda small) and to 'reward' her, I bought 2 large stickers for her too :)

And... as she didn't wake up early voluntarily(by me actually, when I went to pull her shirt down to cover her tummy lolz), she was abit grouchy and had forgotten about her telling me that she wanted to drink her milk from a straw. So, she had her milk in a bottle this morning lolz. But, she stucked to having it with a straw, for her afternoon and night feeds though :D

Back to School

So, it's back to school today and the co-incidental timing(s) allowed the few of us mommies to have a little chat.

Something 'cute' happened this morning when we were on our way to the school. We were in the elevator when it stopped at a lower floor, for a mother and son(from his size, he must have been only a little younger than Renee) and Renee kept smiling at the boy. Then, she bent over to look at him face-to-face and went to 'gili gili'(like we adults normally do when tickling a baby on the chin) him with her finger! The boy, though younger and slightly shorter than her, he's still 'bigger' in build, so this gesture really tickled all those in the lift and everyone grinned, lolz.

In the school, as we approached the classroom, her classmates(being curious as they are) all turned to 'see who' and when they saw her, quite a few of them grinned and waved happily to her! This scene brought on wonderful feeling - that she's well-liked by her friends in school and that's a real comfort... :)

After our dinner, I reminded Renee that we'd be celebrating her grandma's birthday this saturday and she said she want to buy grandma a present... awww, sooo sweet. So I suggested to her to make a card and daddy told her to write 'ahmah' on it, she said : "but I don't know how to write, mommy you teach me how to, can?" and went on to say that she want to draw a cake on it hahaha.

Daddy's suggestion must have came 'big' due to my telling him that Renee's writing the following, all on her own(school hasn't taught yet and I didn't guide her on this) :

Oh, it's marketing day tomorrow! Hurray and oh no... why? First, I get new/fresh foodstock again and oh no, I have to wake up much earlier! lolz

Bottle Weaning Update

Remember how I'd abandoned this 'training' some time ago for fear that she might reject milk as a result? On Monday, when I fetched Renee home, I gave her milk in the milk bottle and she finally came to terms that it is not as comfortable to drink milk that way in the car, s0 she told me to give it to her in a straw in the future. So, it is so this afternoon and she seemed to enjoy it.

Earlier, for her night feed, she again, asked for it to be given to her with a straw and I took the opportunity to ask her if she'd like that for all her milk feeds from now on and she replied yes... Well, shall see how, tomorrow morning hahaha.

*Hmmm, I wonder if the loss of my purchase of the 2 bottle nipples(which I had a hard time finding lately) a sign of the weaning? hahaha

As Renee's been fussing about wanting to go to school, I have no choice but to bring her out and not wanting to go where she wanted to - Compass Point, hahaha, I told her that we'd be going to aunty pc's home.

Daddy wanted to use my car, so he dropped us there and Renee was sooo happy playing with her cousin Wayne gor gor til he decided to return to his computer games and Renee requested aunty pc to let her play the piano(acted like real lolz).

She drank quite abit of water today as well, 'cos we've told her that if she doesn't do that, we'll not let her go back to school. And just now, she went to bed on her own too, cheerfully even, on the same pretext, hahaha.

Since daddy had given the 'ok' light for Renee to resume school and as he'd be going for a solo golf game tomorrow, I asked him to re-confirm his decision... His final conclusion : yes

For her phlegm

Have given her the 2nd 'correct' type of cough powder(Eu Yan San's) tonight and shall see if the S$61/tube one really works better tomorrow. If it doesn't, I'm not going to spend another couple hundred of dollars on the powder and shall just have to go through the trouble to bring her back to the physician.

Meanwhile, since so many people are telling me to avoid giving her eggs(which is unlikely 'cos the school knows that she's allergic and have also earlier confirmed by the 'kitchen' that there's no egg in their food preparation) and chicken, I might begin to prepare food for her to consume in school on days when 'chicken rice', 'chicken soup macaroni' are on the menu, to help monitor what's causing her phlegm to come back ever so often when back to school.

No school day 2

Although daddy had said that it's ok for her to return to school today, I still let her stay home(despite her making noise abt wanting to go there) since she's still got some phlegm.

Earlier, she was crying from a dream about a particular scene(Pocoyo) she's watched on tv - when I went to check on her, she was still in dreamland hahaha. As related by her, it was a scene when Pocoyo fought with his ducky friend and were not on talking terms, separated by a wall and missing each other, they both looked at each other's photo sadly, till another elephant friend came to break the wall...This shows how emotional she is! lolz

Called the school this morning and here's what the administrator told me :

1. The concerned child(a girl from nursery level) developed fever on Friday night
2. Spots appeared on hands on Saturday(can't remember if her feet had them) but no ulcers
3. When the mother called the school on Monday, the spots were already subsiding, so they concluded that it's a mild case
4. Has been sanitising the school area(including the toilet), even before the HMFD case

I've given her the 'safari' sticker artwork earlier but she's remembered that we did one('cos I've got a few sets of each type) during one of our 'holidays', she said "mommy, why we do this again? It's the same one! At the holiday 'house', I drink milk milk, then do this" hahaha, she even remembered the details.

Here're some videos of her doing artwork this afternoon(running occasionally to show/talk to me on what she's done, making sure that I don't 'neglect' her totally :>) :

Singing happily whilst doing her artwork lolz

No school day

Without having to bring Renee to school today, I told daddy that I'd like to go have breakfast with him(so he could help me carry the groceries back heee - heavy stuffs today mah, toilet paper, powder detergent, etc. He knew my intention, 'cos he asked "U need to buy things har?" hahaha). And as I've complained about the noise the car make when I need fast acceleration for over taking cars/change lane, he'd be bringing it for re-fix. For that, I've to rush over to Compass Pt to get the 3 of Eu Yan San's cough powder changed to which that is for 'hot cold'(as I found out that her phlegm's of slight yellow colour) and they got me to buy the 'liu wei tang'(think it's good for digestive system) ingredients to boil with soup(cooking now :>).

Daddy dropped me at the carpark where Renee and I 'switched' car lolz and I took the opportunity to buy some more vegetables. At Cold Storage, I chanced upon a mommy with a girl wearing Kinderland's uniform and from the look of it, she would be from Nursery level onwards, so I approached the mommy to check if she's heard of any HMFD case in the morning session(at that timing, they must have came back from sch already). A nice lady but she appeared shocked that we're letting Renee stay home and the way she put it : "serangoon branch right? only 1 case now and just 1 case, the school wouldn't be closed. Anyway, the school and Mrs Teo(the principal) have always been most diligent, so there shouldn't be any worry unless your child is very weak". I told her : "ya, my hubby's quite worried about it and my girl hasn't been best of health, so we decided to stop for a while" and she gave me a look like it says 'oh u ppl so kiasu' and said "in that case, why not let her take Vit C?". With daddy's waiting at home, I couldn't talk more with the lady so, I thanked her and rushed off.

I guess the lady's right to a certain degree 'cos last night, I text a mommy of Renee's ex GUG playmates as her girl(wae shuen)'s attending Chiltern House and to my surprise, she told me that CH has had many cases since May but under control, 2-3 only until lask week when there were 10 and she's only brought shuen back after the school got in the professional to do a thorough fogging and sanitisation. So, I guess in this area, the Kinderland Renee's attending does seem diligent('cos they even sanitised the school even when there wasn't any case dur the last outbreak in most schools) but since there's a case now, the exposure's there and I'll have to monitor the situation and decide later when to let her resume school - most likely next Tuesday, after our teacher/parent meeting, though some parents are bringing their children back this Thursday...

Meantime, I took the opportunity to wash up the other pair of her sneakers :)

Like most mommies, I would love the 2 hours+ of 'freedom' when she attends school but I'm equally fine with her being home as she's rather independant, as in not bothering me too much and could play on her own or does her artwork(like right now) most of the time. Although she can get on my nerves at times(well, which kid wouldn't?) hahaha but I can't simply 'push' her to school just because I wanted 'my time' right? Anyway, I can always bring her out - which she simply enjoys! :D

Remembering us telling her that she won't be going to school, Renee told us she wanted to, when she woke up. And when she saw the girl at Cold Storage, it reminded her and she requested again, more insistent this time, so I told her to ask her papa. She did, the minute she saw him when we got home and given the way she asked him, he softened, *aiyoh* and told her : "ok, you finish up your bottle of water, u can go to school tomorrow". I went : "huh? u sure or not? tomorrow?" and not looking at me('cos he was the one who INSISTED that Renee should not go back to school for a while!) and replied : "then how?" Men!...

HMFD II

Since daddy won't be home late tonight, I decided to prepare a simple dinner for both of us. Renee's was separately cooked and she had wanted to partake ours but we didn't let her as ours were mostly 'pre-prepared' food like - charsiew, roast pork and I've cooked our vege with prawns.

As predicted, daddy's reaction to the news of the 1 case of HMFD at the school was "Oh, better don't let her go to school then!"... So, now I've to monitor the situation and go to the teacher & parent meeting next Monday myself and see if we'd like her to continue the last week of the current term or just let her stop til the next term...On that, I felt like stopping her totally for pre-n(although that would mean a wastage of about S$400 sch fees!) and think of something else, til she reaches the age of K1.

Finally managed to speak to mommy choolin on this matter just now and though she wasn't aware of it, she had noticed a little 'going on' in that studio earlier today lolz. It's a good thing I've given them my email address for such information updates!(pity she doesn't have the contacting numbers of the other mommies, else we could hv informed them too, guess they'll have to wait til tomorrow to be informed by the school then). She will phone the school tomorrow, hope she'll remember to update me...

Earlier, when I was telling Renee that she won't be going to school for the time-being, she had asked why and said "wait my friends wait for me how?"(this is what her papa likes to say to her when she dily-dally whenever I rushed her to put on her shoes for school).

BIG headache!

HMFD!

Never had I expected today to be another 'merchandising' day! With the last few birthday month discount vouchers on hand, I decided to grab some last minute buys - which amounts to almost S$500(including a few boxes of Eu Yan San's well known cough powder, 1 of which is S$61 - one very small tube, for one taking)! And when I got home, my 3rd skincare parcel arrived. Daddy asked why I bought so many things heee - but since half of my recent purchases are for the home, he didn't fuss :D

The water filter distributor came to check on our spa water and filtered water dispenser but it turned out that it was a false alarm - normal operation, chey... And just as I've sorted out the ingredients for our dinner and taking a break now, I read an email from the school on the report of one case of HMFD at studio 2(Renee's at studio 4)! Geez, am I supposed to be KS and let Renee stay home? If so, til when? Oh no... gotta wait for daddy's return and check with him on this...

Daddy only came home at 5pm('cos he took my car for some 'fix' and now the car is, according to him, alot smoother and 'powerful'-I'll know tomorrow :>). We finally found our additional shoe racks at Ikea Tampines and we proceeded to T3 for our dinner. Hmmm, T3 isn't quite what we've expected though.

Was contemplating if to get the Ikea's 'Mammut' table for Renee but she seems not to stay put at one place when doing her artwork, so I told daddy that perhaps we should hold on further, since it's not like she lack the use of table now...

And now, with our dear princess sleeping in the bedroom with her daddy(whom's super tired from waking up at 5am for his golf game), so it's 'peace' for me :)

A lazy morning

Yeah, a lazy one indeed! Well, it is so at least for the morning :D I've switched my alarm off and with the princess darlingly slept through til later, I managed to catch my sleep from 2am to 10:30am!!! Hurrray! lolz

We've just had our lunch and we're now waiting for daddy to be home so we could decide where to go to later...

Saturday II

Daddy had mentioned last night that I might have to go to my mom's myself and I had thought, since my sis stays so near me(Ellen), perhaps, I should ask if she'd like to take my car and be my guide at the same time. However, before we could confirm on this arrangement, co-incidentally, she called me and said that her car needs 'servicing'. So when daddy text to inform me that he'd meet me at my mom's, I decided to go over earlier.

Good thing I still remember the route 'cos the one my sis' familiar with, wasn't the one which I'd take and she'd missed telling me to make the turn(her usual route) and I stucked to mine hahaha.

Renee's finally got her activity book from aunty PC today and she was very happy and although she couldn't wait to 'start' on it, she still obeyed my telling her to wait til we've got home...

My mom wanted to give us a treat for striking a small fortune and we went to the nearest 'zhi char' stall(I wouldn't mind the thai rest downstairs though...) and ironically, when I'm prepared to go home a little later tonight, my sisters all decided to go back when the clock striked 9pm! hahaha... and, I left my mobile... Nevermind, hope daddy will remember to help me retrieve it on his way back home tomorrow.

Daddy's going for his golf game again tomorrow morning and will be takng my car with him... Hmmm, perhaps I shouldn't have 'agreed' on that 'cos I just remembered that the cleaner's already here for the week and thus, I would be free to take Renee out! Ahhh, nvm, the car needs a wash anyway and I could do with a 'wake up later' sleep(if the princess 'allows' me that, that is lolz). The outing can wait til the next time the cleaner comes on a Friday again...

The dental check-up

Saturday

*Phew*, I'm finally able to sit down for a little break(and decided to do a quick blog update) before my shower.

Saw the Colgate roadshow @ Compass pt a few days ago and decided to bring Renee for their free dental checkup. I've told her and she said she would be ok during the check.

Even though she's slept very late last night, she had woken up at 8am+ this morning. Daddy was nice to buy an extra pack of the famous Nasi Lemak when he went to pick Eileen up from Kovan but I've already got my chicken pao steamed up, so he ate 2 packets hahaha.

We arrived at the roadshow @ close to 11am(from 10:30am to 8:30pm) and there were already a short que formed! After a short wait, we went in for the 'talks'... Renee made almost everyone laughed by nodding a "Yes" to the demonstrator's questions of "Do you have this in your teeth?"(when showing the model tooth with decay) and "Do you also have this in your teeth?"(model tooth with plague) and so far, our session is the only one that has laughter lolz... Besides this, here're her answers to the questions given to participating children whereby 'gifts' will be handed to them:

Demonstrator : "Are fruits good for your teeth?"

Renee : "Yes"

Demonstrator : "What's your name?"

Renee : "Renee..."

Demonstrator : "Are sweets good for your teeth?"
Renee : "No"(this was her turn to answer & press the 'button')

Demonstrator : "Do you eat sweets?"

Renee : "No" (ya right... she's just started eating yoghurt mentos which I've stopped giving her due to phlegm)

Demonstator : "Is cheese good for your teeth?"
Renee : "Yes! I eat cheese cubes" *laughter*

After this little demonstration/talk, we have to go thru a mini series of others before we get to have our teeth checked. Seeing the 'bed', she squirmed and decided not to participate anymore. So I've to ask her if I should go first or her and she said "Mommy first!"... But when I carried her onto the 'bed' after I'm done, she teared and no thanks to the Dentist, she offered to her "you let me check your teeth and later u can go have your Mcdonald's big breakfast, ok?" hahaha. However, that didn't do the job and Renee still wouldn't relent and my offer to bring her to the library wasn't good enough to entice her either. In the end, I offered to bring her for her cup of sweet corn and that's when she asked for french fries!!! Having no choice at that moment, I agreed but on the agreement that she'd have to drink alot of water. She behaved very well during the check - Well done!

After we've got our goodie bags, I told her that we'd have to rush home(as we'd be gg to grandma's house) after we've got our stuffs and her french fries. And at Kiddy Palace, I tried to trade a toy for the french fries but she was 'smart' enough to reject the toy she was holding hahaha. Then, in the elevator, she said : "ok, I want chicken wing". Hmmm, not a very good alternative, but what choice do I have? haiz... In the end, we ate at KFC(she insisted that we ate there. why? tastier there? lolz) and when we got home, she told me that she wanted to go to sleep already - she must be very tired, especially when she's had only 8-9hours of sleep..'cos by the time I checked on her after I've handled the foodstuffs(took longer today as I've asked for 1/2kgs of prawns), she was soundly asleep on her bed..... That save me the trouble of cooking her lunch :D

Friday

It seems like they're now doing the extra music session at the hall(with all the children) every Friday and as there weren't that many cars today, I stayed on to watch abit, but it ended in less than 5 mins lolz... That's because we were late! We've only arrived @ the school at 11:20am heee. Mommy Choolin came along when the children were returning to their respective classes and I asked if she would like to join me for a cuppa since we were both free :).

We had a nice little chat over drinks at the mall and proceeded for our lunch before heading back to the school. From our conversation, I got to understand abit more of 'what's happening' in the school since she's been staying around at the school for the past 2 mths(her in-laws were in town lolz) and had also been 'talking' to the other mommies. It appeared to me that most mommies are expecting quite abit and I myself agree with some of the pointers she's brought up - well, afterall, we're not paying higher fees for nothing/average mah... However, I have to bear in mind that I must try not to 'expect' too much. Mommy CL, upon my recommendation of Chiltern House, is suggesting to go for a site view one day.....

Daddy had told me that he'd be back early tonight and so I decided to boil soup for our dinner despite the cleaner being here(Renee might mess up the area with drinking soup) but in the end, he had a last minute dinner to attend and both Renee and I ate up the most part of the dinner :D. Kept some soup and snack for daddy but he came back at 8pm+... and suggested that we go down with him for the offering of incense/stuffs(Usually he'll go down on his own, even before we have Renee) after the 9:30pm news. Met another of our neighbour and her very friendly 17mths old girl kept asking Renee to 'bao bao' her and hugged her many times - Renee likes her too :) and invited her to come to our place hahaha. After about an hour+ later, we came back and our dear princess was totally shacked out(so am I!!!) hahaha. She was pouting and was verrry manja when I asked her to keep up her toys, kept saying that she's very tired..... I teased her that she's already a 'jie jie' and even 'bao bao mei mei', cannot behave like that and she pouted even more hahahahaha.

Finally, she fell asleep on my lap(with daddy's 'permission' as he'd have to carry her to the bed lolz).

Eileen phoned me earlier and said that I'd have to go fetch her from Kovan after her marketing as my BIL's not free...Oh no, I'm supposed to bring Renee for a dental check up at a roadshow early morning! Guess daddy will have to take over the 'duty' then :D

Merchandising & Gai Gai Day!

So much for the healthier living 'talk' hahaha... Due to sleeping earlier the night before, I wasn't tired last night and with the tummy discomfort, I only went to bed at 2am! But the good thing out of it was, I had a nice chat with Karen :)

Oh ya, today's 'gai gai day' for Renee as the cleaner had requested to come over tomorrow. Daddy was sooo tired that he went to bed at 10:30pm and I've asked Renee to go in to her bed as well. As if she really remembered('cos I've told her much earlier that if the cleaner is coming Fri then we'll go gai gai after sch on Thurs) and she asked : "I go to sleep myself, we go gai gai after school?"

Today :
1) 2 out of my 3 skincare order parcels(6 items, another 4 still on the way) arrived just before I left home to pick Renee
2) Went to Hougang Mall for our snacks
3) To the Buddhist Temple where she did her Li Fuo as respect to the Buddha, very nice...
4) To Compass Point(hoping to find an alternative handcarry bag before I commit in my order with the spree org as e bag might be a little too big for her and of not so good quality)
5) Got a Pencil holder as she's still not ready for the multi-layer pencil case her aunts had got for her dur X'mas

6) A 'Pocoyo' VCD - this is now her favourite cartoon lolz
7) Bought 3 'balls' of brocolli to cook for dinner since we'd be having chicken wings(not for Renee though). Luckily I didn't buy the brocolli yesterday(there were worms around the brocolli in the cart) as they were much 'softer' and fresher today

8) Some of her favourite NZ apples which she asked for more after she's eaten a good 3/4 portion!

I know I know, it isn't as nice & sweet as her current backpack but it's easier & slightly lighter for me to carry whenever she complains that her backpack's too heavy :) Anyway, she decided on this against the other one I'm about to order for her, guess she's quite into Mickey/Minnie these days, she even chose a M & M design mylar balloon today when her classmate was giving out as birthday favour(with a goodie bag as its weight)

Today's rice was nicely cooked - very soft and Renee loved it! And she also loved it when I steam/fry the vege cooked separately. She showed it so by 'chasing' to be fed(requested me to feed her haiz...) and wanted more even when her tummy was already super 'big' hahaha - so, here comes the pride of a mommy, again! :D

Oh, this girl is sure beginning to 'ask for things' now... other days aside, just this morning, whilst on the way to the school, she went : "Mommy, I like Elise's bottle, got dora princess, can you buy for me?", geez....

A letter depicting the website for photos order(Kinderland's Sports Day) - quite impressive huh? but don't think we were in it, lolz... however, anyone wish to have a look, let me know and I'll give u the URL and password.

When the new rugs were hung on the poles, I've asked Renee to feel it but she was afraid to touch them even though they've been washed. And today, when she stepped onto one before her shower, she said : "oh nice, mommy, I like this..." hahaha but kept quiet to my : "ya and you didn't want to touch it when I told u to yesterday"

A healthier lifestyle

Renee woke up early this morning and I joined her as I've gone to bed slightly earlier last night...Although I'm not as fully recharged like the other night when I've gone to bed much earlier, still I feel different and I like it :) Must really try try try, to adhere to this healthier sleep routine! :D

Unlike yesterday, today's more relaxing and since I'm bringing Renee to the Physician for a follow-up check, I decided not to go back home(since daddy won't be home doing his work either), and run my long postponed banking errands lolz. However, as there weren't any que at both banks today, I was 'free' from 12pm! With the extra time to kill, I took a slow walk around, had my lunch and even got to Renee's school early :)

Renee's got a little bit of phlegm(again? despite her being well already before the weekend?) and remembering the 'Hou Ning' I've been recommended by some mommies sometime back, I went to check it out. Was told that perhaps the phlegm might be due to the food given by the school(biscuits, eggs-although won't much since she might still be allergic to it, etc...) since it seems like she gets them whenever she comes back from school. Shall monitor further and might give this a try if need be(crossing fingers and hoping that I won't have to do that).

It's mid-week and I've still got quite a bit of foodstuffs available and since daddy would only be back around 8(I'll be starved by then lolz), I decided to cook dinner(steamed rice with steamed vege + Codfish + Threadfin for Renee and Me!) for the both of us.

Ever since she's taken a liking to eating steamed rice, cooking became slightly easier for me and tastier for her(steamed food always tend to taste better/softer, besides being healthy). However, the washing part sure is not appealing as it required more work now.... :( But hey, the beaming look on our girl's face when I tell her that I'm cooking her favourite steamed rice with Cod-fish beats anything! It brings pride to a mommy's heart... :D especially one whom has never cooked a proper dinner/lunch meal in the past...

So, that's all for now, folks, 'cos I must go get the dinner ready so I can feel 'proud' later, lolz.

Daddy was already close to home at around 5:15pm and since he's early, I decided to take a break and get him to pack char siew or chicken rice for me to share with Renee. However, she heard, said she wanted char siew rice and made me phone daddy up so she can tell him so hahaha.

It's sooo 'nice and cool'(a phrase Renee loved to say and I get to use it now! :>) tonight and daddy has gone to bed early, at 10:30pm as he has a golf tournament tomorrow morning. Grabbed the opportunity and told Renee to go to bed since she'd be having papa to sleep in the room with her and she did :D...

HMFD - prevention

The school has resumed the temperature check but as I've been informed in advance(by email) and so I wasn't 'surprised' at the gate :). As with some mommies, I voiced my support to this routine and let's hope they'll just continue with it. Here's the note from the Principal's email(there's a copy of the same in her Teacher/Parent comm book today):

'Dear Parents

HAND FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE

You would have heard or read the tragic news of the death of the 3 year old boy today after contracting HMFD.

The safety and health of your child is of utmost importance to us here at Kinderland. In light of the tragedy, I am resuming temperature taking at the school.
Parents, grandparents and all caregivers will have to remain at the lobby. They are not encouraged to enter the school hall.

Please keep your child at home if he or she is not well. Any child with a fever will be sent home.

On our end, we will continue with our daily cleaning and sanitization of the school’s environment and materials.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Warmest regards
Mrs. Magdalene Teo
Principal'

Today's a rushing day for me - after dropping her off to school, I went to the library(got 2 books, very happy! :D) and the mall - to get her a new pillow(more a cushion, since all the kiddy pillows are simply too soft and dun provide suffifient support). And, finally couldn't stand the sight of the papers laying on the trays, I got a new letter case to replace it, heee. Was sooo tempted to throw the tray rack away but am sure daddy would want it for 'future use', so I chucked it back to the storeroom(way high up so he'll feel troublesome to go get it lolz). Then I've to put the new rugs to soak/wash and prepared the ingredients for Renee's and my lunch... Geez, I was perspiring like mad by the time I'm almost done with these chores 'cos I've get them done in 30mins! lolz

Whilst waiting for her class to end, the staff of Crestar group came down and I was shocked by the lady who approached me, asking for the age of my child. Then she told me that she's too young - they're 'promoting' the 3days camp which involved a visit to the vege farm, etc... Interesting, but are we ready for our kids to go on a 3days camp independantly, at the age of 4?!(it's for children age 4-7 I think...)

With the vege(a whole box of organic baby cai sim had gone to waste as they aren't very 'nice'. wasted my effort in rushing there to get them too!) and meat+fish(though lesser portion than dinner's), I was afraid that her 3/4 bowl-ful of lunch might be too much for her when she told me that she's asked for extra meal serving in school today(they also served rice meal today). However, when I asked if she'd still like to finish her meal, she said yes and really did...

Almost ordered some more crayons for Renee but thought against it after she asked for colour pencils(she seemed to be more into colour pencils even after I've introduced the crayons to her-perhaps colour pencils are 'cleaner' and brighter in effects to her...). She was very happy when she saw the cute, pink colour standing pencil sharpener I've just got for her.

Monday II

At 3pm+, I text daddy and since he's on the way home already, I quickly rushed to cook up Renee's meal(for 'takeaway') and get both of us ready. Unlike yesterday, I managed to wash up the steamer/dishes before we go out. Actually, I have more bowls and utensils to wash when I use this steamer, but what to do... for the sake of our princess and it's my duty to feed her well hahaha.

We finally arrived at 5:30pm and got our tickets for the 6pm ride! Renee was given a free ride 'cos she looks 'small' hahaha... very kind lady. She's asked for her age and although we told her she's past 3yrs old, she decided to waive her fees and even gave her a free activity pack/bag, very nice and good material! Feeling hungry, both of us, we decided to grab a quick bite at Popeye's and good thing Renee was sensible and didn't ask for the fries(though daddy wanted to give her one, geez...).

The ride was 'ok' only to us and there's really nothing much to 'woah' about...

Monday - School Holiday

Hurray, no school today! I've suggested to daddy if we should take Renee for a ride at the Flyer. So now I've to wait for him to confirm if he could spare some time later...

Meanwhile, here're some audios for you to enjoy:

She simply looove to sing this song these days...(I duno wat e 'zo la la' means, dun ask me lolz)

This is one of the telephone conversations she had with aunty Lili recently:

Her school attendance check(duno why e file is still so large when I've only extracted this short part from e video):

After our dinner at Tony Roma's(yes, again, I can alr 'hear' u guys saying this lolz), we were at an apparel shop when the song 'don't you wish your gf was just like me...' came on, Renee went "ah!" in recognition and started dancing hahaha and when she noticed people watching, she continued her dance making monkey faces, aiyoh...

In search of a kiddy golf set as Daddy thought to let her try out on a putting mat at home to see if she's really keen and it seems like she is(or it's simply just the novelty of having a 'new thing' haha), putting away on the 'clubs trial' mat in the store. Unfortunately, we're unable to find one(for her height) in LH use... gotta keep searching.

Back home, I was dressing her after the clean-up and she suddenly said : "next time I big jie jie, I wear earring, keep long hair(almost all little girls like long hair, WHY??? hahaha), I wear high heel shoes and walk properly. I put eye colour(that's very good, 'cos once, she told me about putting on lipstick and I've corrected her that it's putting on lip colour, the 'item' would be called lipstick and I'm very glad she's able to use it accordingly now).

Kids, especially them in this era, can really surprise us by using words or doing things which we would normally not expect them to. Just like yesterday, when daddy was getting Renee ready to go get the cake for me, I heard her using this word "otherwise" correctly, during their conversation....

Sunday

Gone to bed at 2am, but here I am, 'cos the cleaner's here...

Ok, since I'm unable to go enjoy my much needed sleep, I might as well try and upload the better 'proof' of yesterday's wonderful view of the fireworks(the shorter version ones), etc...

*The main one, which has the longest 'footage', can't be uploaded here as it's too 'large' a file*

It was really wonderful, almost like having the 'star-dust' falling onto you! One can really feel the 'atmosphere'!

*Vicky had offered to drop by with breakfast delivery but I've told her not to, as it'd be troubling her but she really showed up with the food @9:45am(she knocked off work at 9am)!!!... Thanks again, Vic!

It's my birthday! :)

Renee woke up this morning, upon my prompting, wished me a happy birthday and gave me a kiss lolz...

Wanting to guide her on the 'value/joy of' giving', I told daddy that we should let her pay for gifts with her own $ and daddy agreed. We're to let her take out some coins from her coinbank and bring her to the bakery to get us a cake on our birthdays and today, daddy brought her there(I've to remind him hahaha). Whilst they were there, I rushed through to get her dinner cooked/packed before getting myself ready. When they came back to pick me up, daddy told me something very funny - Renee decided not to let go of the rest of her S$1 coins, after paying out 10 of them hahaha. It's when he told her that it's not enough, then she said 'oh ok, I count again' and finally paid in full, hahaha. She had dozed off in the carseat when I got down. (I had wanted daddy to help her get something small/simple and wldn't cost too much over S$10, but I guess, being a man, he doesn't know where to...)

The view of the fireworks we had at the restaurant was spectacular!(Will go back there again next year :D) and it was quite an experience having to move our table in and out of the shelter due to the rain lolz... Quite fun actually.

Ok, time for 'proof' to show how good the view was :D :

We arrived at the restaurant @5pm and as u can see from the pic, there were already quite a number of people standing infront, waiting to 'catch the moment'. Good thing we've made our reservation and also, they've fenced up the area to block off the non-diners

This is the menu we had, the special National day sets(no ala-carte)...not cheap-a set dinner for 2, we paidS$185.50(for the taste of food, not value for $ but yes, for the work they have to put in, shifting tables in and out, changing table cloths for some super fussy customers, changing plates, etc after the fireworks-when the remants fell down)

The after-effects of the Fireworks

The birthday cake -From Renee to Mommy...presented with a birthday song :D

(as u can see frm tis pic, princess had lost weight since her return to sch, but mommy hasn't hahaha)

With all the excitement, I guess Renee must be feeling very tired 'cos she's just gone to bed after my declination of her request to sleep on our bed :D

Oh yes, I wanna thank all of you(my friends, nieces, sisters...) whom had sent your kind birthday wishes to me today(I couldn't reply some as due to the heavy 'traffic' of my hp, the battery went flat before I could even do anything lolz)... Thanks, appreciated!