Negaraku

A few days ago, Hubby was asking me if I still remember how to sing the Negaraku. I thought I've memorized that by heart, but when I tried to sing our national anthem, I realized I had forgotten a few words here and there. We both laughed about it, giving ourselves the excuse that it had been years since we're asked to sing it every week in school last time.

Now, one day after picking SY from school, she started to sing the Negaraku. I was a bit shocked because I never expected her to know it by heart. Now, that brings back my memory of the those missing lyrics.... thanks to my little girl!

Ah Kong

SY has been talking about her Ah Kong lately. She would tell me her Ah Kong loved her very much, took her to play at the robot station (I have no idea where she got these new words robot station from), bought stickers for her, etc.

One day, she was telling me that she got new stickers that day. I asked her, was it from her friends? Her friends at school love to give her stickers.

She said, "No, this one my Ah Kong gave me one".

Then, later she told me it's lost. I replied, "Ask your Ah Kong to buy you a new one la".

Here's her reply, "Cannot. My Ah Kong die already la".

And it happened that night was the first day of the 7th month in Chinese Calendar, which was the Ghost Festival.

When a Child Speaks...

As my little girl is growing up, I was rather taken aback when I heard her expressions at times. Here are some of the things that took me by surprise - I wonder where she learnt all this!

Scenario 1:
One day, Sze Yi was trying to piece her alphabets and numbers on her drawing board. Halfway thru, I asked her to brush her teeth so that I could prepare her for bed. She followed me to the bathroom after much persuasion. That time, Sze Juin was eagerly trying to have her hands on the alphabets too. So when she saw her sister went away, she quickly went there to play with the alphabets. Sze Yi quickly rushed over, trying to prevent SJ from messing her stuffs. She succeeded, and then I heard her say, "Phew, that is close!"


Scenario 2:
SY was reciting the 三字经 with Daddy last night. They went until very far, even Daddy was very impressed. Of course being a banana, Mommy didn't know what's going on. Then I heard her said, "Daddy, let's stop for a while. My mouth want to rest now." LOL! Daddy was speechless!


Scenario 3:
Hubby was showing SY our wedding photo presentations that I did last time. She was very excited and kept asking a lot of questions, "Why Mommy and Daddy posed like that ler, etc. " Then, she told Hubby, "Daddy, I want to marry you too!" I was wondering to myself if she knew that marriage is between a girl and a boy - is that why she told Hubby that she wanted to marry him and not me? Well, that very night, when I was getting her ready to brush her teeth, she said to me, "Mommy, I want to marry you!" I told her that I would have to be her prince in order to marry her, but I'm not a man. She didn't want to listen, so I guess she didn't know the significance of that yet. Later, she continued on, "Mommy, you have to wait until I grow up first, ok? After I'm this tall, then I'll marry you. "

Can Jesus Talk?

One day, Sze Yi couldn't sleep. I suggested a few things to her, but she had a lot of excuses. Then, I ran out of things to say, so I told her to pray to Jesus. I was trying to put Sze Juin to sleep, but with Sze Yi kept talking, it's difficult. Guess what's her reply?

"Mommy, Jesus can't talk one. No point I pray to Him. You see, I pray now. Jesus, pls let me sleep faster. He didn't answer me also!"

I didn't know what to say, so I told her a story about how Jesus actually sent help to a man who kept praying but didn't listen properly. It went something like this...

Once upon a time, there's a flood in a small village. Everyone was rushing to pack and find somewhere safe to go. Except for one man, who refused to budge since he believed that God will help him. He just sat there and prayed. A friend of his came by, and offerred him his boat. But he refused, saying God will help him. Then, when the water level was getting higher up to his waist, another police boat came by. But he refused to join them. Finally, when the water level raise to his nose level, a helicopter came. But he was still very stubborn and he said he had faith in God. Finally, this man died and when he saw God, he asked him. "Lord, I had so much faith in you, how come you didn't come to save me?" God answered, "I tried to save you 3 times, but you refused to listen."

Well, after this story ended, she didn't say anything. I doubted she understand it yet. A few days later, she was praying out loud.

"Jesus, please let Amah be a young lady again. Pls let 2nd Chik Chik be a young lady again". I corrected her, man, not lady. Then she continued, "Please let Poh Poh be a young lady again. Please let Gong Gong be a young ... Mommy, young what?" I told her young man. Then she said, "Oh, young man. Amen".

And when she's done, she said, "Mommy, Jesus can't talk one hor?"

Not Scared Anymore!

Yay, I'm now no longer scared of washing my hair like a big girl - at home. Before that, I only let the aunties or teachers washed for me in school, but I wouldn't let Mommy do it. She had to carry me like a baby in order to wash my hair.

But recently, after I've switched to Full Day, my teacher taught me a way to brave the storm. Everyday, when Mommy picked me up, I would proudly tell her without fail that I didn't cry when I washed my hair. But I wouldn't let her do the same thing at home. Until today, which is about 2 weeks after I switched to Full Day, I am ready. I used my hands to cover my face, bent my face downwards and told Mommy to pour the water on my head. And this time, she could do it for as long as she liked, I wouldn't scream or cry anymore. Both Daddy and Mommy are really proud of me :)

So, I can now say bye bye to all those techniques which was not successful anyway - they have suggested using goggles, or my Doraemon plastic cap, which could prevent the water from touching my eyes. But hey, I really have to salute Mei Mei, she let Mommy wash her hair this way too - looks like she's a brave girl, ya?

First Spelling Test!

I had my first spelling test last Monday! It's just 3 words - ARM, AXE and ANT! Mommy couldn't make me spell them correctly during the weekends, so she gave up on me. But when Daddy took over, within minutes, I could spell them all correctly! Ah, but too bad I had to write them out. I'm never good in writing, so Daddy made me write out those alphabets until I got them correct.

Come Monday, I was all set. When Mommy came to fetch me back that day, she asked my teacher how was it? She said OK. So when I reached home and Daddy asked me, I told him OK too. They still haven't got to see it yet, but for now they presume I got it all right.

But... I haven't finished yet. Last night, I was playing school with Mommy. She's the teacher, I was the student. When she asked me to spell a certain word, I told her, "Mommy, why no dotted lines one?" And then, Mommy was surprised and asked me, "Why, your spelling test got dotted lines one ar?" I chose not to answer her...

I guess she'll only know when she got back my test paper.

The Buttons Frenzy

Recently, SY was crazy with buttons. Or rather shirt with buttons. She kept requesting to wear clothes with buttons and loved to unbutton as well as to button up on her own. And when she had difficulty trying to get it done, I asked her if she needed any help. She would say, "No, thanks". And she added, "It's so easy. Why is it so easy one??". Puzzled, I looked at her, and found her fighting with the buttons! It looked like she's either confused with the word easy, or she's trying to convince herself that it's actually an easy task :)

One day, as she's gettting more expert with the buttons, she asked me, "Mommy, why my school uniform didn't have buttons one?" I then told her to ask her principal to design something with buttons on. But, she still didn't understand that, and requested me to buy uniforms with buttons instead!

Now, I'll have to go hunting for more PJs or shirt with buttons...

Our Little Navigator

We're walking back from the babysitter's place one day after fetching SJ (yes, our sitter came back finally!) and Jie Jie didn't want to get down from the stroller. I took the stroller along so that I didn't need to carry Mei Mei later. Unfortunately, it turned out that Mei Mei didn't want to sit in it but preferred to walk.

Ok, I let her, but little did I knew what she's up to! Yes, she didn't want to let me hold her hand either, but preferred to walk on her own. She led the way, and to my amazement, she even knew the direction home! Yes, she's walking in front, while I pulled along the heavy stroller with its overweight load, trying to catch up with the little toddler.

Guess I won't have to worry next time if she'll get lost when she walked home from the babysitter's place. Now, I'll just need to make sure that she knows how to get there so that next time I didn't even need to drop her there! Lazy Mommy :)

George Town Heritage Celebration

During the World Heritage celebration in George Town on the weekend of 25-26th of July, we wanted to try our luck at the free boat ride at Lim Jetty, Weld Quay on Saturday 9am-2pm. However, when we reached there at 11am, we're told that it's "finished". They only took the first 300 passengers on board. So, we made our way to the Fort Cornwallis instead.

What did we find there? Yes! Lots of swings. But too bad there's only 1 swing with the baby-friendly type. And unfortunately, Jie Jie wouldn't let me sit in it!

So, after awhile, I went off to explore around...

Of course with Daddy and Mommy! Even though I wouldn't allow them to hold my hands at times now, I wouldn't dare to explore on my own. More posing with Daddy and Mommy...

And all these while, Jie Jie was still swinging there, refused to join us. Finally, Mommy accompanied her (with me, of course) while Daddy and Amah went for the famous ice kacang at the Malay stall nearby. We played the slides, see-saw, etc for awhile before Mommy managed to convince Jie Jie to go try the ice-kacang. However, when we arrived there, Jie Jie didn't want to eat, so Daddy and Mommy switched role.

The next day, we went to have a look at the Chingay Competition. Mommy forgot to bring the camera so there's no pictures to share. I couldn't understand why they wanted to throw and catch the big flag, but whenever they successfully catched the flag, everyone would clap. Later, since both of us were groggy, we went home.