My J Babies

Bringing Your Kids Overseas – The Survival Kit

2010-03-13T08:30:00.000+08:00

Bringing kids on overseas trips can be very enjoyable or turn out to be a nightmare. And that most depends on how well-prepared you are for the trip. I’ve only brought my kids on 3 or 4 overseas trips before, so I’m no expert at this. But, so far the trips have been very fun and fuss-free, so I must have done something right! =D

I’ll be bringing my kids with me to Malaysia next week for a three-day leaders’ retreat, so I’m starting my packing again!

See, I’m so nice to share with you what I pack in my bags. =)

BRINGING YOUR KIDS OVERSEAS – THE SURVIVAL KIT

1. Necessities

1st and foremost, the kids’ necessities have to be brought, of course. If you have a baby like me, I have to make sure I brought along sufficient milk powder, diapers, pacifier, milk bottles etc.

Other necessities include the security blanket your kid sleeps with, small pillow or bolster that will help make their sleep experience in foreign land as comfortable as possible. Basically, you want to simulate a familiar setting for sleep-time, especially, so that both the kids and the adults get a good rest.

2. Toys

I cannot emphasize enough on this. If you think (wishfully) that your kid will sit still and stay put throughout your 3-hour coach ride or 5-hour plane ride, you’re heading for disappointments. Kids do not, I repeat, they do not sit still. In order to maintain your sanity and composure (not burst into vulgarities at your kid), you got to bring along things to entertain them.

Bring along several sets of toys and rotate them for your kids during the entire trip. The toys will occupy their attention and give them something to do during the travelling and in the hotel room when there’s nothing else to do.

3. Coloring Materials

I am a firm believer of coloring therapy. If your kids are old enough to do coloring, just bring along a thick coloring book and color pencils for them. It can be a great activity for you to do together with them. This is a fun thing to do either during traveling or when they reach the foreign land.

4. Food

Food is the most important thing to bring along. All kids love to eat. So, make sure you bring along lots of their favorite snacks, fruits, biscuits, cakes etc. When they’re eating, they’re usually not up to any mischief, which is good.

If you’re planning to cook for your kids, you will also have to bring along rice, vacuum-packed vegetables (can keep them in ice-boxes), dried ikan bilis or scallops, etc.

5. Inflatable bath tub

This is oh so important especially if you are not sure if your hotel room has a bath tub. If there’s only a standing shower head, your kids may not enjoy the bathing experience. Imagine you’re a kid and standing at 1 meter tall with this shower head forcefully splashing water at you from a high place. It’s quite scary, you know? Your kids can even have a mini pool party in the toilet.. It’s after all a holiday trip!

6. Kids Toilet Bowl Seat

This is not a must-have, but rather something nice to bring along. Your toddler will appreciate it beyond measure. They can do their business in comfort and not fear of dropping into the toilet bowl. =)

7. Portable DVD Player

This, again, is a luxury item and would be good if you can bring it along. I think this is the single most entertainment item for kids and you can bring along as many DVDs as you like as they are not heavy.

There you have it, in my opinion, this is my survival kit and I feel quite safe when I have all those things above with me. =) My luggage’s gonna be huge, but anything for a good trip with the kids!

Women Are Born Good Communicators

2010-03-12T08:30:00.000+08:00

The little baby in my house is beginning to show vivid signs that she’s going to take after her sister and become another… yes, you’ve guessed it – DRAMA QUEEN.

I can’t believe my good fortune – Both my girls take after me.

It might not be a bad thing afterall, because it means she’s becoming more and more aware of her surroundings and able to articulate what she feels and wants better now.

It used to be that I can count with one hand, the number of facial expressions she has. Now it’s become uncountable. She especially likes to squeeze her eyes so tight until they become one slit, and give the broadest smile ever along with it. It’s a ridiculously cute expression which I shall attempt to capture on camera one day to show you.

Motherhood usually gets more interesting at this point when baby starts communicating more. Their gestures and body language speak a lot more now than when they were infants. It’s actually fun to talk to them now because they seemed to know what we are trying to say. =D

There is also this ‘stone’ expression that she has which is incredibly adorable. Check out her pouted lips. =P

Now when she’s happy, she no longer just waves her hands and legs and giggle. She’s mastered the art of clapping and she does it ever so often now. =)

Now all I need to do is to train her to do triple somersaults while clapping her hands and sucking her toe so that I can bring her round the world performing to earn our keep.

Just kidding. :)

The Nursery Is A Happy Place

2010-03-11T08:30:00.000+08:00

I believe the biggest wish of every parent is not that their kids will become the most successful person on earth or have the biggest fortune, but to be the happiest person they can be.

It thrills me every time I step into the office nursery and see that Baby Jayne’s having a great time with her friends. =)

Alone is no good.

It’s a lot more fun when there’re friends around!!!

That’s Noah & Nadine! They’re the big brother and big sister in the office nursery now!

It’s great to see different kids with different personality all living together in harmony. :)

I’m sure you can tell that one is a cheeky fellow, and the other is just very sweet and gentle. BUT, they’re good friends nevertheless. How nice.

Told you yesterday that Baby Jayne loves standing now, right? It’s the same in the nursery - She spends a lot of her time standing by this table everyday.

It’s strange she doesn’t tired or bored cos she can do this all day long.

By the time she can walk, she’ll be having loads of fun with the rest of the kids!

Oh by the way, her 1st tooth at the lower gum is inching out soon! It’s not out yet, but you can spot the whitish tooth embedded in the gum waiting to come out! How exciting. =D

Baby Jayne Is Growing Up!

2010-03-10T08:30:00.000+08:00

But that’s only expected right? =D

It’s just that I cannot accept the fact that my little baby has become this big and will soon walk right out of my house to conquer the world. Oh well, maybe not that fast, but still.

Babies have a special kind of smell and you can’t get that kind of smell no matter what concoction you mix together. It’s a lovely scent made up of their body smell, milk and saliva. It’s like the most amazing smell of the world.

Of course you can’t expect the lovely smell to last forever. It basically dissipates by the time the baby hits 5 or 6 months, and all you are left with is the smell of sweat. +:+

Baby Jayne is 9 months old now and she’s growing up so fast that it’s making me depressed. I’m torn between wanting her to grow up faster so that I can regain back some of my freedom and wanting the growing to slow down so that I can enjoy every moment of babyhood.

She’s already at the stage where she’ll crawl towards something, hold on to it and pull herself up to standing position.

It’s a really cute stage because the moment you put her onto the floor, you can see that she has only one goal in her head – To crawl to somewhere and stand up! Very focused.

She’s not exactly walking along as she holds on yet, but that would be the next inevitable step. She would have to do that well before she will even take her first step unassisted. =) I can’t wait, such a critical milestone in her life!!!!

Sisters Are For Life

2010-03-09T08:30:00.000+08:00

I envy my girls sometimes.

Because all I ever had was a little brother and I’ve always wanted a sister when I was growing up. Not that my brother was detestable, but I’ve always thought that having a sister meant we could buy pretty clothes and share, go shopping, gossip, do manicure together. You know, awesome girly stuffs.

So whenever I see how my girls ‘talk’ to each other and have fun playing together, I can’t help but go ‘awwwwwww’. It is such a sweet thing to have a sister! IT IS!!!!

I really shouldn’t be harping on this sisterly-sisterly thing between the girls, since I’ve also mentioned it n times in my blog before. You’re probably sick of hearing it. But I can’t help myself.

And why?? Because I didn’t have a sister myself! I am so deprived of sisterly love, can you see???

These were taken when Joey first saw her sister.

You know, I actually remember how it was like when I first saw my little brother. Interestingly, I had no memories of my mum being pregnant. I only remembered one scene where I was brought to the hospital by my dad, and I tiptoed to see a little baby sleeping in the cot, and I was told he was my little brother. =) It happened when I was 4 years old and although Joey had her experience when she was barely 3 years old, I was hoping she will have memories of it. This blog might help! =D

Just recently when I made a trip to Malaysia to visit my relatives during the Chinese New Year, I again witnessed how close my mum and her sister are. Throughout my growing-up years, my mum will always tell me how her sister took good care of her and always let her have the good food and good toys first. My aunt was a very selfless sister who loved her sister lots. My mum always acted like a little sister when she’s with her elder sister. It was weird for me to see my mum behaving like that, but it reinforces the notion that sisters are for life.

And I’m glad my girls have each other as companion for life. They will go through life’s ups and downs, sweetness and bitterness together, and have each other’s love and support forever. How sweet. =)

City Harvest Church New Building

2010-03-08T08:30:00.000+08:00

This is such a wonderfully touching moment that I HAVE to blog it here even though it’s not related to my girls!

Finally, after year of praying and seeking, God has heard our cries. After going through 26 different plots of land, my church has gotten our land finally!

Through it all, some principles became crystal clear to me:

1) God answers prayers.

2) God does exceedingly above all that we can ever imagine or ask for.

3) When God gives, He gives THE BEST!

Quite frankly, there were many speculations about where our land is. Many people guessed that it could the Indoor Stadium, Marina South, Sports Hub etc. My own guess was one of those as well! Who would have guessed that God would give us a land that is RIGHT SMACK in the centre of town with lots of good food, shops, shopping, and a place that could house a 12000-seater auditorium?! If you have not heard it yet, City Harvest Church will be at SUNTEC CITY from March 2011 onwards and we are co-owners of Suntec City!

This is our land.

What makes it even more exciting is that this is going to the church where my girls grow up in!

I have no doubt that the Children Church area is going to be massive with lots of inflatables, play gyms, toy cars & bicycles, etc. I’m sure church will be such a fun and spiritual time for my girls! It’s so exciting! =D

2 or 3?

2010-03-06T08:30:00.000+08:00

Many people have asked me before whether I want a 3rd kid.

Frankly speaking, I love kids and I think children are really gifts from God. But if you have kids yourself, you know how busy they keep you. As a mother, I have to make sacrifices to my personal time, interests and likes. I may have to do things I hate to do, simply because it’s in the interest of my kids. I may have to make extra effort and money to ensure my kids get the best coaching. And I haven’t even gone into the time spent on them and of course the frustrations that come along with the cuteness when they refuse to listen.

Actually when I was still young and unmarried, I always thought I would like to have 3 kids. Having just 1 was never an option because I’ve heard enough about how lonely an only child would be. Now that I have 2 kids, the natural question would be whether I want to have the 3rd one.

I have friends who used to have strong convictions about having the same number of children as a soccer team. Most of them have changed their minds by now. 2 is enough, they would say. Because the dad and mum each goes after 1, just right!

Of course, if you have a maid, you are entitled to an extra pair of hands, thus you can go for the 3rd one. =)

But that’s not the point.

Currently with 2 kids, I feel that the balance is very good. Of course, baby smells and giggles always make me melt, and nothing beats the satisfaction of cuddling a newborn baby who just entered the world out from your body. And I always think that a big family is fun. But… I am hesitated to step out of my comfort zone now. =P Already as it is, when Joey and Jayne takes turn to fall sick, I feel so overwhelmed. I cannot imagine having to deal with 3. The thought is very daunting.

But of course, I also have friends who have 3 or 4 children, and they say it’s a piece of cake. I never fail to be amazed at their level of patience, capacity and ability to juggle. They are just plain amazing.

We’ll see. =)

Her Fashion Sense…… :

2010-03-05T08:30:00.000+08:00

While I know I ought to give my kids ample room to develop her creativity, it’s getting harder nowadays, believe me.

Her obsession with the Disney Princesses is getting on my nerves, slowly but surely. Every book she wants me to read to her involves one of the princesses (usually Snow White); Every DVD she watches involves one of the princesses too (Cinderella or Snow White), and now she even insists on wearing this everyday. And I mean, EVERYDAY. EVERY SINGLE DAY.

See the air of confidence in her when she’s wearing her fav dress?

This is just a very simple one-piece pink dress with all the princesses printed on it. Incase you do not know, they are Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Jasmine and Ariel!

Don’t misunderstand me – I didn’t buy this dress because I like it. In fact, I thought it’s hideous. Any attire with cartoon characters on it is hideous. But what to do when my kid loves it so??! We were walking in the market (Yes, market!) and passed by this shop that sells all kinds of cartoon character tees and dresses. Ekkks! Since it only costs $7, I bought it for her seeing she liked it so much.

From that day onwards, she’s insisted on wearing that dress every moment when she’s at home, and even when she’s sleeping! My MIL had no choice but to wash it and dry it everyday so that when she comes back from school everyday, she can wear it. =.= By the way, it used to be this Dora T-shirt that Gerald & Kristie bought for her.

She’s moved on since.

Now, if she wears it at home and she likes it, there’s no problem about it at all. The problem comes when she wants to wear that dress to church!

You should see Papa Isaiah’s expression when he heard that.

Haha! He immediately marched Joey into her room, made her take the dress off and put on something decent for church. Funny!

Thank God Papa Isaiah doesn’t like it too, because I cannot imagine bringing her to church in that dress. Too hideous for me. I won’t know where to hide.

In her opinion, however, the dress is GORGEOUS & BEAUTIFUL. And she feels like a princess wearing all the princesses on her. Oh well.

As long as she doesn’t step out of the house in that, I’m cool.

P/S: Now Joey girl, when you read this post in 18 years’ time, remember to thank your mum and dad for saving you from a potential fashion disaster. You’re most welcome. :)

“Mummy, I Want To Buy This!”

2010-03-04T08:30:00.000+08:00

The time has come for my retribution, I tell you.

I remember when I was a kid, every time my parents brought me to a shopping centre, I would bug them to buy me something, without fail. It can be anything – a toy, a pretty dress, a pair of shoes,a coloring book, whatever. As long as I get to buy something new. You know how irritating kids can be sometimes. Their rational’s kinda warped. =P

My parents must have felt incessantly irritated by my behavior, especially in a public place. Now it’s my turn to suffer.

We all know we cannot punish publicly, but alas, this has also become a loophole because our kids are so smart that they know how to take advantage of it. My Joey repeats her requests at least 10 times even though I’ve said ‘No’ the equal number of times. She knew that if I was embarrassed enough by her persistence, I would relent. I mean, I’m not exactly projecting a very good image if I am a mother who heartlessly rejects every of her kid’s request, especially when the kid is persuading with all her might and looked like she would die without buying it. =.=

As the days pass by, thankfully, my skin has gotten thicker and thicker. It used to be that I would be unable to tolerate Joey’s persuasion and just buy her something she wanted out of sheer embarrassment and attempt to just end the whining. Now, I have already attained the highest power level of saying a firm ‘NO’ without so much of a bat of an eyelid or a twitch of my facial muscle.

As a veteran therefore, I am pleased to announce that the most effective and best way to handle such situations is to WALK AWAY.

I mean, the first few times you try it, it might not work as well because your kids won’t really believe you will leave them there and walk away. But trust me, persevere on and do not give up. Every time you attempt the walking-away, make sure you really walk away. Do not turn back and look at them >> The moment you do that, BAM! you lost it. Your kiddo will come running after you in under 10 seconds.

At times, you might leave behind a train of ‘Nooooooooo!! Mummmmmyyyy!! I WANT TO BUY THIS!!!!!!!” but believe me, it’s well worth the effort. In any case, you’re walking away from that embarrassing situation, so yeh, it’s all good.

This, by the way, is the LATEST thing that Joey has been bugging me to buy for her:

She’s been ~~forcing~~ asking our neighbour’s son to let her play with his scooter everyday, and I tell you, watching her play makes my heart jump out! It’s so scary and if she’s not careful, she may hurt herself when she falls down. Should I even agree to buy her such an accident-prone toy??!

Well, it all depends on who gives in first! =D

She’s Born Photogenic

2010-03-03T08:30:00.000+08:00

Plus she kinda enjoys taking photos.

You know how hard it is to take good photographs of kids right? They fidget so much and are always on the move that usually only 50% of all shots taken can be used. I once shared 8 tips on how to take great photos of kids here.

Thankfully I am blessed with a baby who always seem to know that I am trying to take her photographs and is willing to cooperate 90% of the time. The result is that almost every photo I took looks good and I can ~~show off~~ show them to you here on this blog. :)

I think she is one very photogenic baby (but maybe I’m biased, I don’t know!). And a friend once commented before that she actually freezes in front of the camera for several seconds just for me to snap a clear shot. Oh well.

I’m now going to bombard you with tons of photos just to prove my point.

Gosh, she has such an angelic face that’s always smiling. Haha!

This is my favorite of the lot! Her expression is so funny! Eyebrows raised, mouth pursed. Haha!

Towards the end, she got so bored her leg came up on the table. Haha!

Oh man, I can overdose on her cuteness. =D

Too sad that I am still using an average digital camera and I often thought that with my skills *ah hem*, I would do so well with a professional SLR. If you feel you have money to spare, you are most welcome to bless me with one. =P

Give Your Kids Personal Time

2010-03-02T08:30:00.000+08:00

I cannot stress enough on this. It’s important to set aside personal time for each of your kids, and give them undivided attention during those times. It does a lot of good to their love tank. :)

Yesterday was my off day and since my MIL was at home, I decided to take Joey out with me for a swim. It’ll be a good chance to have some alone time with her. I totally enjoyed myself! Joey is such great and fun company!

She was so excited that Mummy’s bringing her swimming!

We waited quite long for our bus… We wanted to go Causeway Point to get a float for her first, and get a cup of bubble tea!

All changed and ready for her swim. Her last swim was very long ago! The float was what she held on to the entire time. If you’ve been following this blog, you’d know that Joey is rather fearful of water even though she enjoys swimming very much.

It took her 10 minutes to believe that she will not sink with the float. She held so tightly to it, and insisted that I hold on to the float as well. But after she realized that there was little chance she would fall into the water because of the float, she told me not to touch her anymore! =.=

Look, she was having so much fun in the training pool, which was 1 metre deep. She just floated around in the pool and I could see that her phobia of water was decreasing! =D

It was sooooooo tough to get her to leave the pool to bathe! She simply refused to budge! Thankfully, after we swam for an hour, it started raining! She only agreed to come out of the pool then!

I was glad we went for a swim together and had time to just chit chat with her. There is never one dull moment with Joey around. She will talk about the weather, the people around, the dogs and cats… It was wonderful just spending time with her, and enjoying a fun swim with her. I know she enjoyed herself very much because when we reached home, she told me that she wants me to bring her swimming again and even gave me her favorite stickers to ‘thank’ me for the excursion. =P

While your kids still want to go out with you, do it. =) When they become teenagers, they might think going out with their friends is more cool. Haha… But I will endeavor to become a cool mum too, so that my kids love going out with me! =D

She Cried. We Laughed.

2010-03-01T08:30:00.000+08:00

Did you think a nine-month-old baby doesn’t have much feelings?

I think not. I believe all babies are born with the ability to feel hurt or happy. But they only start to be able to express it better as they grow older.

Isaiah did an experiment 2 days ago with Baby Jayne. He wanted to test whether she would be scared if he scolds her. I know, it sounds kind of cruel to subject a baby to such extremities, but trust me, measures were taken to ensure no babies were harmed in the experiment. (I’m so sorry that there were no photos taken because it was all very ad-hoc)

So Baby Jayne was rolling on our bed and she reached out to touch my laptop. Isaiah said in a louder voice than usual, “Jayne Jayne.” She stopped, took a look at Isaiah with eyes full of questions, then continued in her pursuit. Isaiah went again and repeated, this time in a stern voice. Baby Jayne looked at him with scared eyes, then pouted and buried her whole face into a pile of blanket and started sobbing!!!

I’m sorry, but it was really quite amusing. Especially the burying-her-head-in-the-blanket.

I quickly tried to soothe her emotions by hugging her. She regained her composure as I put her back onto my bed.

Round 2.

Isaiah repeated everything again with a really stern face, and Baby Jayne sulked, pouted her mouth and sobbed again! This time, even faster than the first round!

It seemed that she did think that Isaiah was scolding her and she sobbed because she was sad!

You see, the result of our experiment showed either of the following conclusions:

1) Papa Isaiah has a really stern face.

2) Papa Isaiah can act really well.

3) Baby Jayne is too princessy and is afraid of loud sounds.

4) Baby Jayne is a drama queen just like her sister.

5) Baby Jayne knew that she was being scolded and sobbed.

Wahahahahaha! We actually redid the experiment several times just to entertain ourselves. The findings were similar at every attempt. Wonderful.

Try it on your baby too!!!! (It’s fun. :D)

An Off Day Is Needed

2010-02-28T08:30:00.000+08:00

You know, ever since I started this religious regime of blogging everyday, I’ve not disappointed my readers much. There were only one or two occasions when I could not blog because my kids were sick, and I was late for once because I couldn’t connect to internet and the entry got posted only at 9am. Still, 95% of the time, I managed to keep to my promise to blog at 830am every morning.

And I’m glad I decided to do something like that because it motivated me to take more interest in my kids and in everything that do – big or small. I have to think of something to write about them everyday, and because my blog is a photo-intensive blog, I also have to be disciplined to take photographs as much as I can, so that I have materials to publish.

I have to admit, there were days I didn’t know what to write about. There were days when I was so exhausted from a day’s work, and was about to head towards the bedroom when I realized I had forgotten to write the next day’s blog. And usually that happens after 12 midnight. Still, I managed to persevere most of the time!

I love blogging because in writing, I become clearer about my thoughts, and sometimes I get revelations out of my own thought and feelings! Some things I wrote just came out naturally and I was at times shocked at why I wrote certain things. Haha!

Having said that though, I’ve decided to give myself an off day once a week and that’d be SUNDAY! :)

A big thank-you to all of you who read my blog everyday and follow me on this amazing journey of raising 2 genius beauties! It’s been a joy to share my life with you! =D

I Brought Baby Jayne To Her School

2010-02-27T08:30:00.000+08:00

Before you gasp and think I would be so kiasu to send Baby Jayne to a school at 9 months, you’re jumping ahead of yourself! haha!

One of the days last week, I brought Baby Jayne to Joey’s school, and this is going to be her school as well in 2 years’ time and she will be schoolmates with her sister for a year. =)

Baby Jayne likes the school very much, I can tell.

The reason why I went was because I wanted to peek at Joey’s music appreciation class. I signed her up for the class with Kindermusik (which has an affiliation with the school and sends teachers to the school once a week to teach the kids), and was told that it is a very reputable music school. I wanted to see if she enjoys the class and whether it’s worthwhile to continue the class. Joey seemed to have a talent in the musical arena, which was the reason why we signed her up for it.

Knowing my daughter, I dare not step into the classroom and let her see me, so all I did was peek in from one of the windows blocked by the displays, allowing only a small hole for me to see.

There she was!

The teacher knew I was spying outside, so she made several attempts to make Joey play the drums facing me so that I can get good shots. Haha, it was too difficult carrying Baby Jayne in one hand, and holding the camera in the other!

Quite frankly, the music class looked very boring to me. The teacher spent 10 minutes demonstrating that drums make sound when hit and waited for the kids to go ‘wow’' – Oh please, our kids are smarter than that.

Abrupt jump to another topic.

That day I was just thinking to myself that I ought to make more effort at being amazed at Baby Jayne’s milestone-conquering journey. I think it’s a pitfall of all parents with multiple children. We were all very super amazed and excited when our FIRST kid flipped or started to crawl forward. It was always, “OH MY GOODNESS! SHE JUST FLIPPED!!! DEAR!! SHE JUST FLIPPED OVER!!!!!! DID YOU SEE THAT?? DID YOU??? OH MY!!!!”

When it comes to the 2nd or 3rd child, we go, “Oh look, she just flipped. Great. Oh yes, dear, what’re we having for dinner tonight?”

You get my point.

So the 2nd kid onwards gets a lousy deal, I must say. Conquering a milestone is major in their development and definitely deserves more recognition and praise. Therefore, I am proud to say that I have managed to captured the important moment of…

BABY JAYNE’S 1ST RIDE IN THE SUPERMARKET TROLLEY!!!!

Way to go, Jayne! Jie Jie’s got your back covered. Literally. :)

Favoritism Is Destructive

2010-02-26T08:30:00.000+08:00

Ever since Baby Jayne was born, I had been very aware of the thing called favoritism.

Babies are cute and adorable and inevitably attract lots of attention, and kids are especially sensitive when it comes to stuffs like these. Joey used to be the only child in the family, doted upon by everyone. But when Baby Jayne came along, the attention and focus naturally got shared. It was no short of a miracle that Joey still adores Baby Jayne so much.

But Joey’s adoration for Baby Jayne cannot be taken for granted. It does not thus mean that she will let her little sister have everything. She guards her identity as the elder sister fiercely, and we have to tread carefully in order not to make her feel that her position is threatened.

For example, when Isaiah comes home from work and carries Baby Jayne first, she will go, ‘Why you never carry me first?’ and sulk. To her, she is the first child and the elder sister and therefore should enjoy all the benefits. So now, Isaiah will make a conscious effort to always greet and carry Joey first when he comes home.

It is scary how sensitive kids are nowadays. Seriously, we were nothing like that when we were kids. All I cared about were my Barbie dolls.

Just last weekend when I brought my kids home to visit my parents, my father saw Baby Jayne at the door and immediately called her lovingly, ‘Yixin ah……’ and went on to carry her with a huge grin without looking once at Joey. Joey, saw everything, and just stepped into the house mumbling something. There and then, my heart almost broke. I quickly went to carry Joey and entertain her so that she won’t dwell on the issue. I could almost feel her disappointment – Before Baby Jayne came along, my dad would do the same kind of welcome for her! Now, it’s only for mei mei! =X

I can’t blame my dad of course.. Baby Jayne is really adorable and super smiley. She doesn’t scream for attention and as long as you’re carrying her, she’ll be obedient and still. Joey, on the other hand, is at the age where she’s very attention-seeking, loud and hyperactive. He is from the older generation and has almost no awareness of this thing called ‘playing favoritism’ although he has subtly started showing it.

Later when Joey wasn’t looking, I told my dad how Joey reacted and he was amused! He seriously didn’t think children would be so sensitive. The truth is, even though they may not say it out, they have lots of thoughts within them. And most of the time, their understanding is very superficial – It’s determined simply by what they see. Then I made my dad promise me that he will always greet Joey first in future. It’s important to me!! I want my kids to grow up feeling secure and loved, not worrying that they will lose the love of their family to anything in this world!

So my friends, if you’re reading this and guilty of paying attention only to Baby Jayne and neglects Joey’s presence, PLEASE STOP IT. In my eyes, both are equally adorable, smart and beautiful! Both of them deserves the best. =)

She Loves Cars (No, She’s Not A Tomboy)

2010-02-25T08:30:00.000+08:00

I remembered when Joey was about 2 years old, there was a period of time I got a little concerned over her preference for cars over dolls. Things have since taken a change for the better after repeated brainwashing by yours truly that cars are for boys and as a girl, she should love dolls instead. I also felt better when I heard from my colleague that his son loves dolls and pink stuffs. Haha! It made me feel that mine was a less severe case.

Yet, the love for cars in her never died. It just got buried. And so whenever some kid whips out a car collection, she can’t help herself. She drools over them and looks upon each one with such great interest, it’s amazing.

Last Sunday in church, Joey met Julian and had a great time playing his cars with him. And trust me, he has ALOT of cars. He probably brought only 1/100 of his collection to church.

A pile of cars. Cool.

You might be able to tell that Julian was not 100% willing to share with Joey. Haha!

After service, we brought Joey to the Changi Airport and was thrilled to find that they converted one part of its Basement Carpark in Terminal 3 into some kind of racing tracks for kiddo rides. Joey loves cars, doesn’t she? She HAD to get into one.

Check out our kitty car!

The cars were going S-U-P-E-R slow though. I got bored after the 3rd round.

Still, to Joey, it’s fun!

CNY 2010 Special Edition: Our Last Day In KL

2010-02-24T08:30:00.000+08:00

We cramped many, many programs into our last day in KL. Early in the morning, we visited my mum’s mother’s grave, visited 3 aunties and went to the Malaysian Zoo! It was a full & packed day!

My kids have never met my Grandmother. She passed away about 6 years ago.

We cleared the weeds, put in fresh flowers and got my girls to greet my Grandma. She was such a wonderful lady.

Then we went to my mum’s eldest sister’s place to visit her. I brought the kids’ swimsuits along, but too bad we didn’t have time for them to swim.

Adjourned to my Dad’s sister’s house and we had lots of fun there because she had a mini fruit plantation in the big field behind her house! She planted papayas, pineapples, passion fruits, sugar canes and lots of flowers. For the lunch she cooked for us, she used papayas in one of her dishes and made us real cooling passion fruit drink! How nice to have a personal garden full of goodies!

This is chili padi before it’s ripe.

It was like a botanical lesson for Joey!

Pineapples!

Sugar canes!

This is the Aunt… she even cut down a sugar cane for us to bring back home! =)

We also had fresh pineapples! Really sweet!

Not far from the house, we spotted a playground, and it was Joey’s first time seeing a see-saw!!

I was super excited to see a see-saw too because many of the new playgrounds in Singapore no longer has it! And this one was made from a whole wooden plank!

So fun, you know?!! =D

I had so much fun, I refused to let her get down. Haha…

Thank God many people helped me carry Baby Jayne here and there. This is another of my dad’s sister! :)

After a heartwarming home-cooked lunch, we left for the zoo! You must be wondering what we were thinking about, visiting the zoo under a 38 degrees scorching hot weather?? The thing is because my cousin runs the mini-tram and titbit store business within the zoo, and she could bring us all into the zoo free of charge and bring us around. Malaysia’s zoo is MASSIVE.

Every visitor must wear a band around the wrist as their entrance ticket.

We made it for the 3pm animal show and Joey was immediately treated to ice-cream & soft drinks (Don’t forget my cousin is the boss of all the shops in the zoo!).

After the animal show, my cousin came driving a mini-tram and drove us around the zoo wherever we wanted to go! Seriously, I felt like I was the owner of the zoo! Everywhere we went, we were chauffeured in a private mini-tram and every shop we passed by, we could just pick up any drink or titbit we wanted without paying! Haha!

Joey had so much fun!! =D Me too!

CNY 2010 Special Edition: A Trip Down Memory Lane

2010-02-23T08:30:00.000+08:00

I remembered as a kid, the thing that thrilled me the most about driving back to Malaysia for the Chinese New Year was the fact that we would buy lots and lots of fire crackers midway to KL and we’ll play them when we reach my dad’s hometown. Don’t imagine the traditional red ones. The ones we play with come in all kinds of designs, sounds, colors and patterns! Those of you who have lived in Singapore all your life will prob not know what I’m talking about, because such firecrackers were banned in Singapore eons ago. Haha! But because I’m so nice, I tried to google a photo, just to show you what I mean.

This is what I am referring to. My favorites have got to be the hopping frog, which was a tiny little frog which will hop forward and make funny sounds when we light its buttocks! My dad would spend hundreds on all kinds of firecrackers and we’ll spend one whole evening just lighting up every single one of them. Awesome.

Anyway, I was really looking forward to going back to my dad’s hometown, which is a Hakka Village (Yes, everyone in the village is a Hakka and speaks Hakka). You can’t find such a place in modern Singapore!

My dad’s house! Yes, it’s wholly made up of wooden planks and comes with a zinc roof. My dad’s family was very poor (as were most families in that village) and he had to work in a rubber plantation when he was only 11 years old! I’m so glad I had the chance to go around and snap photos of this lovely place, because the wooden house will be demolished in a couple of month’s time – It’s infested with white ants. :( My uncle who still lives in this house had already applied for government assistance to build him a new house – a concrete one. This house holds special meaning to me too because I lived one year of my life there! My grandma took care of me when I was 2 years old. =)

This is just outside the house. You can see that the house opposite has already been rebuilt and is now a bungalow. I heard it’s because that neighbour struck lottery! Haha!

My Uncle’s motorcycle, and the main type of transportation here.

The wooden doors.. Ah.. nostalgic!

The inside of the house..

The courtyard & kitchen..

The house has a well right smack in the centre of the courtyard! I have fond memories of Grandma drawing water from the well before. By the way, the ones behind are the toilet and bathroom. The flush toilet was built about 5 years ago. Before that, you can imagine how the sanitation was like. I dare not even go into details. =P

To Joey, this is definitely something new!

Joey looked so out of place here! Haha!

This is the wooden cupboard we kept all the utensils and cutleries. It’s so retro isn’t it??

Lunar calendar, which has become less and less common now in Singapore..

We were so happy to meet the mobile ice-cream man outside the house! The weather was scorching hot!

This costs us only RM1, which is 40 cents!??

Baby Jayne was probably wondering why this place looked so weird!

Joey would probably have a very different childhood if she lived here! She would play with sand all day long!

And since we don’t come here all the time, I decided we should leave some marks. Haha!

What I love about this place is how everyone knows everyone in the village. There’re 300 over households in this village but my dad says he knows everyone. There is only one Primary School in the village so every kid goes to the same school. When we were having dinner at one of the restaurants, one of my dad’s primary school classmate came to talk to him! *gulp* It was more than 45 years ago, for goodness’ sake. It was even scarier when some very old grandmas came by and greeted my dad and told me they remembered me as a little girl! Gosh….

Ooooh… how i love this place! =D

CNY 2010 Special Edition: The Buffet

2010-02-22T08:30:00.000+08:00

On the 2nd day in KL, my aunt brought us all to have lunch at a Japanese buffet restaurant. I was totally amazed at the scale of the buffet line. They had everything imaginable: Mini steamboat, teppanyakki, grilled items, fried items, sushi, sashimi, raw oysters, pizza, spaghetti, chinese cuisine, salads, lots and lots of cakes and pastries, ice cream, waffles… I was really amazed.

The restaurant.

The restaurant had such a detailed pricing policy that I could not understand why they have to make life so difficult for themselves. They even made Joey stand at a chart to see how tall she is, so that they can charge accordingly.

According to the chart, she’s slightly more than 1 metre tall! And so, we must pay RM20 for her. How expensive…

The first station we went to was the Thai coconut station where we had to prick a hole in the coconuts ourselves. Super thirst-quenching!

My aunt with Baby Jayne!

Crab. One whole crab barbecued and delivered to our table. Brilliant colors.

Baby Jayne munching on some pizza bread. =) You can see, I’m really quite relaxed about what my baby eats.

It’s the only sure way to keep her seated in the high chair so that we can eat in peace. :)

Somewhere along the biting, she got upset because she dropped the pizza bread..

So I gave her a slice of white bread instead..

Happy again. =)

Joey, on the other hand, was busy monkeying around and taking photos…

Throughout the lunch, she was just ‘stuck’ to this cousin of mine (which is her uncle). It’s obvious she adores him!

We were totally soaked in the Lunar New Year mood of feasting and more feasting! And it’s only Day 2 in KL!

CNY 2010 Special Edition: The Road Trip to KL & Day 1

2010-02-21T08:30:00.000+08:00

It can be a nightmare lugging 2 young kids on a road trip, especially when your husband (who is the main disciplinarian) is not on the trip with you. Thankfully, I survived the trip to KL and back in one piece. And I must say, I am so proud of my girls! They behaved and endured the whole journey (the trip to KL took us 6 hours because of a massive traffic jam caused by a 7-car collision on the expressway!).

I have to first flood you with beautiful photos of nothing but the blue sky and the green trees along the expressway we travelled on. It was like a beautiful painting. Absolutely perfect.

One very crucial ingredient we had to keep Baby Jayne entertained on the roads was this:

Cucumber sticks

We figured since her gums are super itchy, she might as well bite on something nutritious and hygienic. She has no teeth yet, so the cucumbers won’t break and there’s no danger of choking. If she swallows the juice, it’s good for her too. =) Carrots work just as well too.

She was kept entertained for the longest time possible. The rest of the time, she took naps. Bliss. :)

After a 6-hour drive, we reached my aunt’s (mum’s sister) house where we were going to stay for 4 days. Dinner was at my mum’s cousin’s place!

The girls were not exhausted from the drive at all!

Many of the relatives saw Joey and looked genuinely surprised that she’s grown so pretty and absolutely Jap-looking.. hmm, i seriously don’t remember her being ugly as a baby! She was so cute lor! =P

It’s the first time Baby Jayne’s meeting everyone, so many people took turns to carry her around the house. It’s amazing she’s totally not scared of strangers and can even flash a smile immediately to people she has not met before. That’s how she stole the hearts of my relatives. Haha!

My mum was one proud Grandma… carrying her everywhere to show off to the relatives. =P

Joey, especially, played SOOOOO much. And it was only Day 1. She had a blasting time with my cousins. Thank God for patient cousins. God bless them.

Yes, you’ve guessed it. She made them play hide-and-seek with her! She was the youngest among the rest of the children there, but she was commanding everyone to follow her instructions! I am getting more and more certain she might become a police inspector when she grows up. =P

My cousins were amazed by her limitless energy. Haha! They ain’t seen nothing yet!

She even made this cousin of mine piggy-back her everywhere!!!

The highlight was meeting many, many relatives! I haven’t met many of them before. Haha! It’s just heartwarming to be in a house full of people who are related to you. =)

The old folks..

The only lady in the photo below is my mum’s 2nd sister, the one whose house we stayed in. She is such an amazingly strong woman who’s good at running business and taking care of kids! I love our long chit chat sessions every night with my dad and mum. =)

The younger generation

We had such an awesome heartwarming family gathering!! =D

CNY 2010 Special Edition: At Grandma’s Place

2010-02-20T08:30:00.000+08:00

Traditionally on the 1st day of the Lunar New Year, we will gather at Isaiah’s grandma’s house at Johor Bahru to celebrate the New Year together. And I’ve been doing that since I was Isaiah’s girlfriend about 11 years ago. Can’t believe it’s been that long!

Now with the girls, we still make the yearly trip back and it’s always a day of great feasting and fellowship. It is especially memorable this year because it’s going to the last year we will gather in this old house before they shift to a new house in a few months’ time.

Dressed my girls in new clothes for the New Year!

Super sunny day!

The girls are amazingly well behaved on long car journeys. Thank God for that! :)

Check out the old house that Grandma lives in!

This 上海 wordings was actually the signboard of Grandpa’s shop long, long ago!

To Papa Isaiah, this house has heartwarming memories. :)

There’re a lot of antiques in this house. Isaiah’s uncle keeps a lot of very treasured old stuffs. I even found a very retro old radio which he converted into a CD rack!

Love the greens.. =)

Baby Jayne sitting on a mini wooden chair handmade by her Great Grandpa many years ago before he passed away.

I love mandarin oranges!!!

Here’s the front porch of the house… a dog kennel and lots of bonzai greenery..

Stone table & stools.. Very old feel, don’t you think? :)

Only very old houses have this kind of bathrooms – A tiled tub to hold water!

Rattan chair!

Some horseshoe bell..

The kids’ Great Grandma giving ang pow! =D Gong xi Gong xi, may this year be prosperous & smooth!

Tomorrow’s edition will be on my trip to Kuala Lumpur!

I’m Back from the Land of The Hibiscus!

2010-02-19T08:30:00.000+08:00

I had an awesome time with my parents and the kids in Malaysia over the Chinese New Year and I have tons of photos to show you guys!! I probably would need to break it up into several CNY specials, so do watch out for it starting tomorrow! =)

We went to so many different places in the last few days: We went for several family gatherings, visited my dad’s hometown (a Hakka village!), went to the zoo and ate lots of good food!!! Some photos to whet your appetite!

We drove to Kuala Lumpur, so during the entire road trip, i had a great time snapping shots of the skies. It’s really beautiful! But Malaysia was at a record scorching heat of 38 degrees throughout my stay! I almost couldn’t stay on the streets for fear of heat stroke.

At our first family gatherings at a aunt’s place

One of the lunches I had.. it was a Japanese buffet… Super a lot of choices, & the biggest buffet line I’ve ever seen.

Throughout our stay in Malaysia, Baby Jayne was always entertained with little bits of this and that… bread, cucumber, carrots.. :)

Joey with her most favorite uncle during the trip. She adores him sooooo much that she’s always playing with him. When he’s not around, it’s the uncle behind. Heee..

At my dad’s hometown and here’s Joey peering into a well that’s right smack in the centre of the house!

Baby Jayne having a nostalgic moment in the wooden house.

We had a mini extravaganza in my aunt’s mini fruit plantation. There were pineapples, passion fruits, papayas, sugar canes… Joey’s holding a passion fruit!

Come back tomorrow!!!!!! =D

Happy Chinese New Year!

2010-02-14T08:30:00.000+08:00

Happy 1st Day of the Chinese New Year!

If you’re not a Chinese, you probably don’t know. Chinese New Year eve is traditionally a day for reunion lunches/dinners and we had an awesome time with both sides of the family – Lunch was with my family, and dinner was with Isaiah’s family!

It was especially meaningful this year because it’s Baby Jayne’s first Chinese New Year. :)

Pretty cheena CNY decorations, but it’s Chinese New Year! We can afford to be super cheena this season!

Gong Xi! Gong Xi!

Off we went to the kids’ grandparents’ place! The weather was AWESOME!!! I couldn’t resist taking photos - the sky was just too beautiful.

Baby Jayne was decked out in red, all ready for CNY!

Joey was busy entertaining herself with the many ‘toys’ in Gonggong & Popo’s house!

One of the ‘things’ Joey will definitely play with every time she comes to Gonggong’s house is to play with her:

What a cute!! :)

Lunch is ready and my mama always makes sure we are fed with palace-style cuisine every reunion meal.

Some fried pork

A combination of prawns, scallops, abalone, asparagus & corn

Curry chicken

Stewed sea cucumbers & mushrooms

After lunch, we went home & I took a nap with Baby Jayne before dinner! No wonder I love CNY so much. Whole day no more than 5 SMSes & emails were sent to me, and I could take a nap without hearing my phone ring a single time! Woooohooo!

Dinner was steamboat and check this out!!! A whole table of food!

There were fried prawns, stewed chicken & sea cucumbers, and this yummy toufu with onions, which was my absolute favorite of the night!

By the way, I almost overdosed on abalone. =P

What an awesome I had just feasting & enjoying time with my family & loved ones, and today is only the 1st day!!!!!!

By the way, I will be going to Kuala Lumpur early morning tomorrow with my parents to visit my relatives in Malaysia, and will likely be back on Thursday. So, there will be no posts until I am back (unless I can get free wireless connection there!). Take care & have a great time!! =)

Hi Everyone, My Name Is Jayne & I Am A Whiner

2010-02-13T08:30:00.000+08:00

Now at 8 months plus, Baby Jayne does the following 3 things BEST. I call it the 3Cs:

1) Chew

2) Crawl

3) Complain

I am convinced that my good parenting days are over. Baby Jayne has put her demure and sweet nature behind her, and embarked on a brand new lifestyle of whining and cannot-keep-still. She complains the very second things don’t go the way she wants or when she doesn’t get what she asks for, like immediately.

She gets more and more mobile as she picks up more motor skills along the way, and I’m sure it’s all too exciting for her. But for me? Not good at all.

For one, she can’t stay too long in a cot or a holding area. Not a tinge of patience can be found in her right now. She needs to get out, no matter what. She needs to get back to the floor to crawl. Needs to.

She puts anything and everything into her mouth, and I can only close one eye sometimes because if I really want to fret over the amount of germs and bacteria she’s swallowing, I might go crazy. I have a relative who religiously cleans every single thing her baby grabs with a dettol anti-bacteria gel, as she follows her baby around. If I do that, I will go crazy too. Can’t win either way.

I had naively thought that perhaps Baby Jayne would have a different personality from Joey. While Joey is active, smart & bubbly, Baby Jayne might turn out to be a demure, quiet and gentle girl who loves reading more than anything else.

All-too-obvious tell-tale signs warn me that she’s heading exactly the same direction as Joey. She’s gonna be the bubbly, cheery and optimistic sort.

In fact, Baby Jayne could very well turn out to be even more hyperactive than her elder sister. Unbelievable, I know. *Stop throwing me those I-pity-you looks!!!*

But experts say that children must and should be active because that’s how they learn and pick up knowledge. I might be raising one or two scientist graduates from Harvard, you know? Then 20 years down the road, I would look back and reminisce on these times I painstakingly endured everything just to raise up 2 geniuses.

It used to be that Baby Jayne has no problems sitting on my lap and just stare into thin air. Those days were long gone that I almost forgot they existed in the first place. Now, the moment I try to sit her on my lap, she gets right into her ‘I-need-to-stand-up-and-jump-now’ mode. Nothing can stop her. If I try to, she just whines and screams as loud as she knows how. It’s a real ~~pain in the ass~~ concern.

Whining has become her newfound hobby, no doubt. She does it so well and oh-too-often.

Thank God she is a girl and I know very well that God has given girls the special privilege to whine. I know that too well :) And so, I am not going to hold it against her.

She Loves Pink

2010-02-12T08:30:00.000+08:00

Great taste Joey’s got, I say. =)

Just like mama. Great minds think alike.

I have always been a pink-lover, and I truthfully had no intention, or have done anything to that effect in any way, influence my kids to like pink as well. Honestly.

After all, color preference is really a personal preference, and it actually changes with time. I know that’s true because my favorite used to be GREEN when I was in Primary School. Somebody told me before that green represents peace, and that I obviously craved for more peace when I was a little girl. =P

In any case, as I grew up, I found myself in a plight where I could not resist the girly colour, pink. It was not something I was ashamed of, obviously. In fact, I think all girls should like pink. Pink, pink, pink. It’s a perfect color, if you ask me.

But it turned out this way. Joey loves PINK, which is just awesome. She didn’t like pink right from the beginning, but she does now. And it’s been like that for quite a while. Every time we need to buy something, she will instruct, ‘Can you buy a pink one for me, please? It’s my favorite color. ’

Just look her favorite pink stuffs at home..

Pink pencil case

Pink water bottle.. (There are 3-4 pink water bottles at home..)

Pink bicycle

Pink school bag

Pink drawers

Pink treasure box

Pink shoes for the New Year!

Pink butterfly ring…. gift from one of the jie jie in the cell group..

Wanna buy a present that will be a sure-hit with her?

Just make sure it’s PINK. =)