A Happy Family

I was blessed to have such an understanding husband who always tries to make my wishes come true. Even though he’s not a Catholic, he made every effort to go to Church with me during special occasions. This year was no exception. He fulfilled my dreams to attend the Feast of the Holy Family together as a family – with the kids too of course.

This feast means a lot to me, as it signifies the unity of a happy family. I especially love these phrases, which were extracted from Col 3:12-21:

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

Can you see us receiving the Holy Communion out there? Well, Sze Yi wanted to receive It so badly, even though I've told her that she's not big enough yet. She went back to her seat angry, with both arms folded when she didn't get anything. Poor child, I hope she'll understand things soon.

The kids loved the Christmas Crib so much, and kept requesting to have a look at it everytime we passed by...

Well, we left right after communion as the kids didn't behave, but that's more than I could ask for. It's always nice to be able to attend Mass as a family. And it was a special day because we could ask for special blessings for our children and also a happy marriage on this feast day. Well, that would be my wish for the coming new year, and I sure hope yours will be fulfilled too. Happy 2010, everyone!

Christmas 2009

This Christmas we went back to my parents house in Ipoh. I was contemplating whether to bring them to the midnight Mass or the morning Mass. In the end, I decided to bring them to the midnight Mass since SJ has quite a long afternoon nap. However SY didn't sleep at all in the afternoon, but I decided to take a risk since she hardly slept in the afternoon at times, and could still stayed up till quite late.

Furthermore, my mother's choir team would be performing that night, they would sing a few Christmas songs for about half an hour before Mass started.

The church in Ipoh that we went to was rather strict with children. They would not tolerate children that made noises, so they had a special room for children - they call it The Cry Room. So, you could imagine that all the kids would be there, but it's actually quite small to fit that many people. Anyway, when the church's choir sang the Christmas songs during the Pre-Mass, the kids were very excited and joined along. Sze Yi learnt a few Christmas songs from school, some of which I didn't even know. So, when she sang along with the choir that night, everyone including the parents could feel the Christmas atmosphere. It was so jolly, especially when you hear the children's voice trailing along. Even SJ didn't want to be left out and wanted to sit on the top of the pews like her Jie Jie and the other girl.

Little Carollers in action

However, I didn't get to really concentrate in Mass that night since the kids were not behaving. I used biscuits to distract them, but in no time, SY had finished distributing them to the kids and they asked for more. In no more than 10 minutes, things got noisy again. After awhile, SJ kept wanting to go out for milk (I didn't want to breastfeed her in there, since I didn't bring my coverall, and SJ would still pull it up anyway) while SY got sleepy and lay down on Daddy's lap. So we left after Holy Communion, but since our car was blocked by another car, we waited in the car until Mass finished. At least they were more manageable in there.

How did we celebrated Christmas this year? Well, we spent most of the time at home, or dining outside. My father was not very well, so we had to be selective on the food we ate. Anyway, we had a great family time all the same, especially the kids. Other than tormenting their Aunty and Uncle, they enjoyed feeding the fish and playing in the garden.

My father enjoyed gardening so he planted some vegetables and fruits in his little garden.

A simple lanscaping in my dad's garden

A small vegetable plot with some fruit trees and other plants

Apart from that, Sze Yi also enjoyed feeding her Mei Mei...

 

She's such a little busybody, she created so much mess for me. And, surprisingly SJ preferred being fed by her Jie Jie rather than me. When I wanted to feed her, she would resist and prefer to eat on her own!

We went back on boxing day, and let them opened their other presents that night (of course, they had opened & played with the presents from my family earlier in Ipoh).

Sze Yi enjoying the unwrapping most of the time, while SJ didn't really bother.

She's more interested in her lu lu chia

 All in all, we sure had a merry time, and a great get-together with my family too!

My Potty Story

I'm now considered potty trained during day time, even when we're outside or when I'm having my afternoon nap. During the Christmas holiday, Mommy took me out without diapers, and I went to the toilet with Jie Jie like a big girl!

Also, I could sleep thru during the afternoon nap without wetting the bed. Mommy has let me slept diaperless at home, and also in Poh Poh and Gong Gong's house while we're back in Ipoh. No accident!

But at night, I'm still with diaper. Mommy's not that brave yet, considering the amount of cleaning up needed. I'll update you when I've fully graduated, ok? Wish me luck!

How Old Am I?

This year my chinese birthday falls on the Feast of the Holy Innocence. However, Mommy didn't take me to church on that day to receive blessings for children.

Amah asked Mommy to cook mee suah (representing 'long life', it is customary to serve a person Mee Sua soup on his or her birthday in Nyonya homes) for me, and prepared a hard-boiled egg for me to peel. So, I got to peel the egg in the morning before I went to school, and shared the egg with Mei Mei as my breakfast. On normal days, I just had milk before I went to school.

I also got ang pows from Amah, Mommy and Daddy on this special day.

So, I'm actually 5 year old now in Chinese calendar. Hmm.. and in 4 more days, I'll be 1 year older soon! How fast time flies. Oh by the way, I had eaten dong zhi last week, and according to Amah, I would be 1 year older after I ate that. So, now I'm really confused. How old am I now???

Dec13 - English Birthday
Dec 22 - Dong zhi (add 1 year old after eaten dong zhi)
Dec 28 -  Chinese Birthday
Jan 1 - Add one year old

So, I'll be 7 years old come this Jan? Scratch head!!!

Counting

I can count from three to twelve already :) Why from three and not one? Because everytime Mommy, Daddy or Jie Jie started with 1, 2, I would continue from 3 to 12 without stopping. Mommy tried to ask me to start from 1, but I didn't want, and would only start counting after I hear 1, 2.

Before that, a few months back, I was doing skip counting. Daddy would say, 1, I would say 2, then he said 3, me 4 and we continued with this until 10.

Well, that was in English. I could also count in Mandarin, though not the complete order too.

Guess it's still an accomplishment although it's not a complete one, yeah? :) One gau (bravo in Hokkien) for me, hehe! :)

A Double Celebration

Dec 13th is a very special day because it's not only Sze Yi's birthday, but it is also my parents wedding anniversary. So I baked a cake to mark this joyous occasion, but I only decorated it as a birthday cake because I didn't know what to write for an anniversary cake :)

I couldn't find any peaches (maybe it's the not the peach season now), so I used kiwi and cherry instead. However, Sze Yi said she wanted a Minnie cake. Here's our conversation the night before:

Sze Yi: I want a Minnie cake, Mommy

Me: But I don't know how to make a Minnie cake...

Sze Yi: Go and buy lar!

(Looks like she thought everything can be bought!)

That actually gave me an idea of using the Minnie sugar paste paper on top, but I didn't know where to get it from, and also time was running out. In the end I told her I couldn't find Minnie and used Kitty instead. She's not very happy. She said she liked Minnie better. But when she saw this, she's very excited all the same...

Peach Marcarpone Cheese Cake without the peaches as deco

She's particularly excited to see the marshmallows and little hearts used to spell her name and her age.

A closer look at the kitty... and my mom's favourite - almond nuts at the sides!

Mothers and daughters - 3-generations apart

Birthday girl waiting to blow the candles

1, 2, 3, blow!

All ready to cut the cake

During the cake cutting

A spontaneous shot taken by my father

The birthday girl enjoying the cake

The cherries collector - she just wanted the cherry!

Jie Jie giving her more cherries!

After that, we had a quick lunch before my parents caught the bus back to Ipoh. Our celebration did not just end there. We took the girls and MIL to watch a movie at GSC Gurney Plaza! Guess what we watched?

Yes, the Princess and the Frog

We couldn't make it for the 3.30pm movie, so we watched the 5.30pm one instead. While waiting for the next screening, we took the girls for rides and shopping. So by the time we went into the cinema, Mei Mei was too tired that she dozed off. Jie Jie was still very excited and she enjoyed the movie very much. At least she could follow the storyline better this time. Halfway thru the movie, Mei Mei woke up and she got scared. She wanted me to take her out of the cinema. I tried to offer her milk, but she didn't want. Luckily Jie Jie kept feeding her pop corn, and she got distracted. So in the end, we all managed to watch the whole movie till the end, both kids co-operated! Indeed, I personally felt this is a very nice movie and really suitable for kids, especially girls who love princess.

This year, Sze Yi became so xiao jie like (everything also wants princess - birthday cake, dress, barbie doll, etc). So I thought the movie would be very appropriate for her too. And my guess was right!

A Memorable Weekend

Last weekend, my parents came over to stay with us. Both the kids were very excited, of course! Even SJ sat quietly in the car seat while I drove them to fetch my parents at the bus station (hubby was having a teambuilding event that time). You see, SJ could struggle out of the car seat by herself, unlike her Jie Jie who had never done such thing before. So, it was rather dangerous for me to take them both out alone, because SJ could never sit still.

Nevertheless, things sailed smoothly, and she only struggled out when we're waiting for them at the bus station. By then, my parents had arrived so it's still manageable. Come to think of that, it's been a long time since I had ever enjoyed any weekend as much, and suddenly I just felt as if all the burdens have been lifted off my shoulder. There's nothing like having someone to rely on, to relieve you when you need them most, and to offer advice as well as support when you felt like the whole world is falling onto you. Well, that's exactly how I felt. I'm so glad I have such great and loving parents, and I wish I could be the same for my kids too.

So many things had happened that weekend. For one, SJ could play on her own at the playground. For the first time, I felt that she's ready to explore things on her own. And I let her wander on her own... see how much she enjoyed herself!

SJ discovered a world of her own!

That Friday night, guess where we took them to?

Yes, the recently opened Hark Rock Hotel in Penang. It was our 2nd time there, and we didn't took any pictures the first time we're there. But this time, we're fully equipped (ah yes, we've finally got a new camera!). Initially we've thought of having a hotel stay there since SY's birthday fell on a weekend, and she loved hotel stay soooo much. However, it was fully booked (yes, we're very bad planners, everything waited until the last minute), so our pockets were saved :P


The kids were having a blast of their time, especially SY. See how she danced around to the music. They also loved to laze around on the sofa, enjoying the band's performance. It was such a carefree and easy night - just the right mood to relax and rock away.

While the kids are enjoying themselves, hubby was busy with his new toy.

There's an LCD screen at the lounge area

A Collection of Statues

This is actually a pillar! The make-you-look-slim pillar

At the poolside

Nice beach by the poolside

The rocking statues on the hotel rooftop

Where do you want to go?

Enjoying the night breeze at the beach

Our camera man

Finally the camera man got to be in the picture too!

The hotel night scene

Our rocking princess

She just loved to make funny poses!

Overall, we had an enjoyable night. The kids were tired and slept right away on the journey home. Can't blame them though, they had been rocking away whole night :P

The next day, we went to another beach at the other side of the island.

Nice beach at Balik Pulau

Despite of the hot weather and also inappropriately dressed, the kids had a fun time playing with their new beach toys.
We toured the island, but unfortunately we couldn't find any good durians along the way. Still the nice scenery and fresh air made the trip worthwhile. By the time we reached home, everyone was so tired that we slept thru the evening. Even by night time, we're too lazy to go out for dinner so we ordered Domino Pizzas.

As bedtime was approaching, I changed them into their new pajamas. And to my dismay, they suddenly became super active again. Do you know why the sudden change of mood? Doh! They were excited to be dressed in the same pajamas! Wrong move!

Mei Mei giving Jie Jie a birthday hug on the eve of Jie Jie's birthday

Luckily my parents were around to entertain them, so it's not that tiring for us.

Playing toot toot train with Poh Poh

Ah, nothing lasts forever, yeah. One moment they were playing together, the next they were angry with each other!

Angry!

Luckily, they made peace with each other finally. How nice if we adults can forget and forgive as easily...

Jie Jie putting Mei Mei to sleep