First Day at School

Ai Ai has been asking to go to school cos her little friends (neighbours' kids) all go to school.
So we've decided to enrol her for a 1.5h daily playgroup session. within walking distance from our home.

At the door of the school, she couldn't wait to take off her shoes and queue up to get into the classroom.
She seemed alright when we left, but teacher said she cried after a short while, but was OK after a teaching assistant picked her up.

When we left the school, I asked her if she enjoyed school and she said yes, and that "Sophie cried".

Hope the coming days will be better!

Ai Ai posing in her school uniform

I've never seen her so eager to get dressed!

Ai Ai in class with teaching assistant

A very anxious Mommy who could not sleep last night
Actually Daddy couldn't sleep either :)

Ai Ai wondering "Why do I need to leave so soon?"

New students leave after 1 hour for the first 5 days.

Yellow Boots from her favourite auntie

She got this pair of boots from Auntie C... it's actually Sara's which she has outgrown.
They're still in great condition, and she loves splashing around in the puddles after a rain.

Zoo!

The last time we went to the zoo, we didn't know there was this playground and didn't bring any swimsuits or change of clothes.
This time, we're well-prepared... even R :)

A day at the beach

R's on leave for 2 weeks... today we went to Sentosa.
Ai Ai enjoyed herself thoroughly :)

But food is crap on weekdays... heard Coastes is really good for breakfast, but they do not open for breakfast on weekdays, so we just had kopi and kaya bun at the food court.

My "kok tau" babies :)

I did my OSCAR test last Thursday at NUH, and this is how the baby looks like... same "kok tau" forehead as Ai Ai and R :)

A simple dinner

Made a quick and simple dinner today... the kind that you do not need to spend too much time in the kitchen preparing. Hope the new maid will be able to do something similar in future :)

Old Cucumber Soup for Ai Ai the Soup Queen

Baked Cajun Chicken with Avocado, steamed broccoli and rice

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

I bought some blueberries for the Ai Ai, but this time, she didn't seem keen on eating them.
Instead she kept feeding them to me.
Then I realised why - they're sour!

So I did a google and found this recipe for To Die For Blueberry Muffins
This is how my version turned out. I really shouldn't have followed the recipe exactly and filled it to the brim as they started to spill over when baking.
Still, they were really yummy. The inside is soft and cake-like but not too sweet, whereas the top crumble is sweet and crusty :)

At night, when we put the Ai Ai to bed, I asked her to say her own prayer and this was what she said:

Dear Dod, pea help Anthel tor tor tay healthy... Anthel tor tor hold Sophie hand, walk

Tsk Tsk, not a word of thanks for her mommy who slaved over her all this while?!

If you're wondering who "Anthel tor tor" is, he is C's 7-yr-old son, Ansel, who is really good-looking. He looks like a younger and new-improved version of the kungfu star Jet Li.
I think Ai Ai is infatuated with him. When she is with him, she'll just look at him coyly :)

My Catwoman

May's mommy (our neighbour from next block) gave this to Ai Ai cos May has 2 of this exact same costume.

A Day to Celebrate!

Today is a really special day.
We went to see Dr. Francis Wong for Ai Ai's 2-yr-old review for her hip, and...
Her left hip is totally stable now! :)
She no longer needs to go back for anymore reviews from now on!
Only thing Dr. Wong said to watch out for is that her collagen level could be a little low, and therefore may bruise easily.
Kids with extremely low levels of collagen break their bones very easily, but since Ai Ai has not broken any bones by now, she should be OK.

Since R was home today, I had the time to prepare something different for our lunch - an all-day breakfast.
The 2 lumps of brown stuff looks a little disgusting, but they're quite yummy *thick-skinned*
They're fried mushrooms and homemade corned beef (more like minced beef).

Here's the Ai Ai with her almost fully-eaten lunch.

The Little Safecracker

I came out from the bathroom and found a safecracker!
Good thing there are no real valuables in there, just our passports and some angbao money which we have not deposited into the bank.

I must have forgotten to unscramble the numbers when I last closed it, and she somehow managed to find the key, slotted it in, and turned it open.

Learning from Grandma

Grandma brought a pomelo to our place, and taught Ai Ai to touch, smell, peel and eat it.
Ai Ai likes it :)

Ai Ai's Prayer

Dear Dod, pea help Eba tay...

She meant:
Dear God, please help Eva stay...

This was what she prayed for when I asked her to say her goodnight prayer herself tonight.
Eva is her little Korean friend who is about 5 months her junior.
Eva and her parents stay next door to us, and the 2 tods have played a few times together.
Recently Eva's door has always been closed, and even their shoe rack could no longer be seen at the doorway.
We thought they had moved due to some tenancy agreement problems and I said a little prayer a few days ago hoping that they would stay longer.
Only after dropping a little note at their door did we find out from Eva's daddy that they haven't moved, but that Eva and her mommy have gone back to Korea for a month.
Whew! :)

Our new designated cameraman :)

We spent the morning at Grandma's place. Roy's brother, Ian, took some really great pictures.

Junk food for lunch?

Mum had a medical appointment today so I watched Ai Ai by myself.

After close to 2 weeks of drowsiness due to medication from my itching hives, she seemed really happy and secure that Grandma wasn't here and that I am looking after her all by myself again.

She didn't even bug me to bring her downstairs for a walk, but was just happy rolling in bed with me, fetching me books to read to her.

Finally I had to drag ourselves downstairs for some fresh air and sun.

I then decided to give her a little treat of her favourite hash browns instead of the usual boring porridge.

To make this junk food lunch a little healthier, I made a spinach omelette for her.

She really enjoyed the lunch, finishing the whole omelette and 1.5 hash browns, washing it down with some soy milk.

Good thing Grandma, being more Westernised, didn't think this lunch as being junk :)

Getting my Act together

I've finally gotten my act together and will start updating my blog... so you'll probably see lots of backdated entries :)

Beginning of 2009 hasn't been so good to me so far.
I've been falling ill quite often... flu and migraine over Xmas '08, the New Year and then again during Chinese New Year.
Living in our apartment was practically like living in Siberia during Singapore's "winter" season.
It's so cold that I had to wear slippers around the flat, and the sounds of the winds is just like the waves by the seaside.
Is this global warming or simply me aging?

And now I am stricken with a bout of horrid hives (Chinese call it "feng mo") and taking Polaramine (antihistamine) which makes me drowsy almost all the time.
Thanks so much to Mum for staying with us during these few weeks to help out with Sophie!

Anyway, we've decided to get a helper so that I can spend more quality time with Soph.
Our Indonesian helper should be here in April as we'll need to get lots of paperwork done.
In the meantime, I really should start picking up some Bahasa Indonesia.

Ai Ai's 2nd Birthday

We had a simple birthday party for Ai Ai at our home, cos I wasn't feeling too well and simply had no energy to organize a big do.
Her actual birthday on the 8th falls on the eve of yuan xiao jie, and my mum and Amy would not be able to make it, so we decided to celebrate on the 7th.

Here's everyone tucking into the yummy food from Guan Hoe Soon.

I love this shot... thanks to Ian!

Reminds of of those mommies pinning veils for their daughters on their wedding day.

Ai Ai dancing in her tutu.


Grandpa with Ai Ai.

Ai Ai chose her birthday cake... she wanted Harold!

A very generous Ai Ai allowing Chung Chung to blow the candles.

Picking on the chocolate chips and cream!

Little Aurick developing his balance.

My Little Artist

Here's my little artist at work again.
R loves her work so much that he pastes them all over the walls in the apartment!

Chinese New Year

Here's Ai Ai in her ao dai on the first day of Chinese New Year.
My good friend L bought her this from one of her trips to Vietnam... isn't it lovely?
It's sooooo lovely that it drew lots of ooohs and aaaaahs from the relatives!
Lots of relatives even asked me where I bought it from!
L, maybe you can do an import business?

"Bear Bear" Cake

Annette's (Kel's newborn) is 1 month old!
Ai Ai loves the full-month cake box which has a pink bear on it, and calls the cake inside "bear bear cake".
This is Ai Ai enjoying her "bear bear cake".

Trip to the Zoo

Here's how R looks after a morning of backpacking Ai Ai at the zoo.

And here is me, taking a turn with my "sack of rice" :)