Rye Li's memoirs

Singing in chinese

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:25:00 +0000

I have been learning Chinese at kindy since last year but that was like for half an hour a day. This year, I have been in full Chinese medium classes and I have improved a whole lot, although papa thinks I need more coaching as I speak Chinese with a funny accent.

Below is a video clip of me singing in Chinese. I only let mummy record this as she was busily recording my mei-mei before this and I wanted a video of myself too. So this is the first video of me singing in Chinese. Enjoy!

My 5th Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 04:04:00 +0000

We celebrated my 5th birthday a day earlier at Aunty Ng's as we were heading up Cameron Highlands for a short trip. As usual, we had my birthday cake there and this time I chose a Barbie doll chocolate birthday cake to share with my friends at the daycare. No party packs this round as I am told that from now onwards, there will only be party packs distributed if I have a birthday party.

my Barbie doll birthday cake

posing with my cake

my 5 year old candle on the cake!

another display of the cake before we gathered my friends to sing for me

this time round, i got a few presents (one from Aunty Ng, one from Aunty Alice and another from my Aunty Mei)

trying to get a picture of us 3 - my cousin Shane and my mei-mei but as you can tell, it's quite tough!

Shane is fascinated by the cake

another pose with the cake

my mei-mei's turn to be fascinated with the cake

as you can tell, she is one cranky pot (somehow she doesn't like bday cakes and songs being sung)

admiring my own cake - i wanna be a princess like her!

mei-mei still a cranky pot

everyone gathered to sing my bday song and you can see that my mei-mei got upset!

the birthday song sung and this round I'm not that shy anymore like my previous birthdays there

cake cutting time!

We left for Camerons after that and we got to celebrate New Year's eve there too. Will save that story for another day. As for now, I'm dreaming about my 6th birthday party as mummy has promised me one this round (she has been telling me that I will only have real parties when I'm 1, 6, 12 and 16 years old!).

In memory of kong-kong; his 70th birthday celebration - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:17:00 +0000

We celebrated my late kong-kong's 70th birthday end of July last year (2010). On his actual birthday, 23rd July, all of us had dinner with him at a Chinese Restaurant at Plaza Damas before going to Perhentian Island for a family getaway the very next day.

We booked the whole room (with an attached toilet) to ourselves and we also had entertainment, the karaoke! My first time with the karaoke session except that I was too shy to sing (only mummy tried to entertain us but failed miserably!)

We totally had fun that night and I will let the pics do the talking and will end with the birthday song video of my kong-kong. Seeing this video makes me sad too but happy at the same as he looks so happy then. I still miss you kong-kong (and I always tell papa and mummy about this!)

A picture of por-por and kong-kong and my cousin, Shane

I was asked to join in and didn't want to smile (my mei-mei totally refused to)

Shane enjoying the lights above that changes colour!

my mei-mei was only interested in this (did I tell you that I love wine too! but mummy says that we kids only get to drink alcohol when we're 21 years old and above!)

we love the mirror in the room (so that i can admire myself! mummy thinks double trouble though!)

oh no, double mei-mei too!

we were obsessed about the tv that played karaoke songs but none of us (except mummy) dared to touch the microphone! {take note that my kong-kong was taking our pic at the background and mummy just found the following picture from his camera - he doesn't download his pictures often and these were the last few he took of us when he was alive}

my grandparents, happily being entertained by me (chatting away!)

i helped blew the candle for kong-kong (took me a few attempts!)

supposed to be a picture with the grandkids but the younger ones were not cooperating

a group pic of the real Lims! :D

Enjoy the video!

Mummy's entry - Dealing with Death

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 04:13:00 +0000

We had been busy over a month ago, work and personal. The girls' Ah Kong (paternal grandfather) was in the hospital in Penang for just over a month before his body gave way and we lost him on 23rd November 2010.

It was our first time (the girls and I) that we were in Penang 3 times within a month (and for hubby, many more times). The first 2 times were to visit him and shortly after our 2nd time, he passed away and we were back again for a week for his funeral.

It was a shocker to us all as we really thought he was recovering from his quadruple bypass operation he had 3 weeks before. Nonetheless, looking back now, he had lead a wonderful life of 70 years and we got to celebrate with him in July (when I have the time, I will post on the celebrations). We are glad that he got to see his 3 young grandchildren and that he got to travel a lot in the last 4 years (we knew of his heart problem then but he chose not to have the operation and to live his life to the fullest).

This is Rye Li's 3rd time dealing with death. The first was her maternal great grandfather (my grandpa) when she was 1 and a half years old. That was when she knew of heaven and all but the impact was minimal. After a year later, when she was nearly 3 years old, her maternal great grandmother (my grandma) passed away and this is where she has learnt the most about death and heaven. To her, heaven is where people go to when they die. Since then till now, she had asked many questions on death and to one point, she got scared and cried that she doesn't want to die. I'm guessing that she is afraid of losing us and when she does bring this up, I will reassure her that it's a very long time more that any of us will leave this world. She knows that the olders one will leave us first and at times, the sickly young ones will leave.

She knew that her Ah Kong was sick and is in the hospital and she did ask whether he was going to heaven and I told her not yet as we are trying to get his heart fixed. The night when we knew he had left us, I wasn't sure how to tell her the news. I was contemplating whether to tell her that night itself or the next day when we had to leave for Penang. But in the end, I did tell her that night and for the first 5 minutes, her reaction was to ask many questions :-

"How did kong-kong go to heaven?"

"Who took him to heaven?"

"He die already ah?"

After all the questionings and when it finally hit her, she went "I miss kong-kong" and cried. The very next morning, the moment she got up, she told me "Mummy, I dream (t) of kong-kong last night". And when I asked further, she said that he was at the hospital and he was sitting up, smiling at her while she was sitting on his lap (ever since he had his bypass, he had been lying down and his body was still at the hospital that night, they only removed his body to the funeral parlour the next morning). I don't know whether you believe of such things but I did "thank" FIL when we reached the funeral parlour to let her "see" him happily as Rye Li refused to see his body inside the coffin and we did not force her at all.

When she was at my grandma's funeral over 2 years ago, she kept asking to see my grandma in her coffin. I'm assuming it has got to do with age too (since her mei-mei and younger cousin always ask to see him throughout the wake).

Rye Li did not cry at the wake or on the actual funeral day but when we were not at the funeral parlour, she would go "I miss kong-kong" and would show a very sad face. At the wake, she participated mostly during the chants and we were proud of her. She did show fear when we asked her to pray with the joss sticks and only when we told her that she will not see her Ah Kong's body, she would do it. Hubby and I decided not to force her to see as we wanted her to remember her Ah Kong when he was alive.

On the day when we collected his bones after the cremation, we were surprise that she willingly took a piece of his bones (each family member had to take a piece from the container into a small clothed bag before they assisted to put all of them into the bag). FIL had always wanted his remains to be thrown into the sea and we gave him that wish.

Rest in peace Ah Kong!....we will always love you and thank you for care and love especially when you were staying with us.

The following are some pics of his final days with the girls as well as during his wake :-

the girls with Ah Kong at the hospital late October 2010, before his bypass. rye li not so lady-like!

the girls busy playing games while waiting at the hospital, their 2nd trip and also they could not hang out on Ah Kong's bed since it's after his bypass

rye li during the chantings at nights

Rye Li got to mix around with her second cousins (who came from KL and Ipoh)

Rye Li and her mei-mei

The below were taken after the funeral at the crematorium :-

Ah Kong's only 3 young grandchildren

Rye Li and her second cousins from Ah Kong's side

Mummy's update - HFMD

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:54:00 +0000

3 weeks back, Rye Li had Hands, Foot, Mouth disease (HFMD). There was a girl at Aunty Ng's (daycare), who is also her classmate at kindy had it first over the weekend and we were warned by Aunty to watch out signs on Rye Li.

On Wednesday itself, we noticed one red dot on her left thumb (the one that she sucks on) and didn't think anything of it. The next day, that night itself, she complaint of pain in her mouth and when we looked inside her mouth, we noticed some white spots already and knew that she also had it. So the next day, both her and her mei-mei, stayed at home with their paternal grandparents who were both down from Penang.

Both hubby and I expected her to whine and moan about her condition since this girl cannot stand pain (compared to her mei-mei who had this in July). But surprisingly, as much as she complaint it was painful to eat and drink, she would eat and that's mainly due to us threatening her that if she doesn't eat, she will have to go to the hospital and that she will need drips. This worked since she is so terrified of needles. I guess it's easier when they're older enough to understand to reasoning.

So she skipped school for several days and I wanted to send her back to both school and daycare the following Wednesday or Thursday (since she has recovered by then) when on Monday night itself, Haye Li also had it (poor Haye Li, had it the second time within 3 months!). So the remaining days of that week, they were put up at their maternal grandparents' since Ah Kong and Ah Por had to go back to Penang. Rye Li had so much fun there and she was really happy especially since she gets to eat ice cream everyday!

The other highlight of her being sick is that finally, she can now miss school officially because she is sick. Usually her friends, skipped school when they were sick and she would compare herself to them especially her classmates who also go to the daycare as they would hang out at the daycare. She had tried numerous times with me when she was coughing or had the flu as to why she cannot just stay at Aunty Ng's like her friends when they were sick. I've always managed to reason with her till now. So, she's really happy that she got to miss school! LOL!

As for her thumb-sucking, the little dot on her thumb became a big blister as she was sucking on it in the first few days she had HFMD. So I told her not to as it would hurt. I didn't really expect her to listen to me as she can be one stubborn girl and also old habits are tough to get rid off. But she has not sucked her thumb since then till now! The first few nights I knew it was tough on her as she could not fall asleep without her thumb so I told her to think of happy things to dream off, etc. She was still touching the fabric of her little bolster's cover, another habit of hers while sucking thumb and she used both hands this time round.

I was praising her after over a week of not sucking her thumb and told her that if she manages not to suck her thumb at all till her birthday year end, on top of what I will get her for her birthday present, she will also get to chose another BIG present. So we shall just see if she manages this or not! :D

Kota Bahru & Perhentian Island - Raya 2009*

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 10:06:00 +0000

*another very backdated post!

Remember this post where mummy missed me when I went for a holiday with papa last September during Raya time? You see, papa had a wedding to attend at Kota Bahru and since there were some friends of his that came from overseas, he thought of extending that trip as well into a holiday at Perhentian island. So he brought me along while mummy and my mei-mei stayed back in KL.

We left very early that morning while it was like very dark outside. I was well prepared ahead about my holidays that I had no problems waking up and also for the very long journey ahead. We were not alone, we had Uncle Tony from China and Kasmin cher-cher to accompany us in the car ride. I slept again in the car ride till we stopped for our breakfast.

very excited about my holidays!

had first class seat, next to papa!

also had first class treatment, got to be entertained throughout the car ride to Kota Bahru

When we reached Kota Bahru, we had some time to chill out at the apartment before the wedding dinner. We spent only a night there.

since mummy's not with us, papa is tasked to tie my hair, something he hardly does as this is mummy's job.

At the wedding dinner, as you can tell, i was very clingy to papa. I wasn't feeling too well halfway and we left early while the rest stayed behind. Papa thought I was sick since I complaint of a tummy ache, but when we got back to the apartment, I was my usual self and didn't even want to sleep.

The next morning, we left Kota Bahru to Kuala Besut for the speedboat ride to Perhentian island at our regular spot, Bubbles resort.

a picture with uncle tony, still getting warm up to him. he tries to take pics with me or of me throughout the trip.

on the speedboat, clinging on to papa

We spent 3 nights at the island and those 3 days were really a chilling out session for me as I was at the beach the whole day, I got to eat my junkfood and ice cream! The following are pictures of me that were mostly taken my uncle Tony's camera. Papa was busy relaxing to take pictures of me.

this little boy, who was also a guest at the resort, was my playmate most of the time

Was being looked after by the bride (yes, the bride and groom came along with us right after their wedding dinner, how cool is that!) when the rest went for diving.

My holidays went by so fast that I was sad to see it end so soon. We were accompanied in the car ride back to Ipoh and then we went our separate ways as the rest went to Gentings after that while papa and I went back home. I was really well behaved this trip and papa was very proud of me and told me that he doesn't mind taking me alone on trips now. When we got back, mummy was very happy to see me but disappointed that I lost some weight - must be all that play and junkfood which I like!!!

Making sushi

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 06:58:00 +0000

We made sushi 2 weekends back and I had fun attempting it for the first time. All the ingredients and preparation were done by papa and mummy.

First, you need to have a seaweed sheet ready on the bamboo mat. And then you spread out some cooked sushi rice on the seaweed sheet.

Then you put some crabstick

And some ebikko (shrimp eggs) and spread out some Japanese mayonnaise. I refused the rest of the ingredients that were also prepared like cucumbers, avacado, lettuce leaves as I like mine just like this.

And then you start rolling from the bamboo mat. Of course, I got some help from my favourite chef!

All rolled up!

And ready to eat! (of course, i had it cut into smaller pieces for easier eating)

And since I've shown some real interests in cooking lately and have been watching those cooking shows on TV with papa, papa got me the following cooking books for children. I'm really happy with them and I cannot wait to try out some of their recipes!

This came with some cooking utensils too! yippie! :D

My 4th Birthday*

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000

*Yes, this is another very backdated post considering with the fact that I will be 5 in 3 months time. Don't blame me that it took sooo long to do update this. :)

I celebrated my 4th birthday last year on 31st December. First thing I did when I got up was to open my birthday presents. They were actually under our Christmas tree but I had to put these aside to wait for my actual birthday.

I didn't go to Aunty Ng's that morning as I had a date with papa. He took me to One Utama to watch Princess & The Frog. We had McDonald's for brunch and I also had the chance to play at the playground as well as sat on several musical rides (something which I hardly ever get the chance to when mummy is around). I even had popcorn while watching the movie and I was really happy!

Later in the late afternoon, we met mummy at home and I was greeted by my birthday cake that I was to celebrate at Aunty Ng's with all my friends. I personally asked for this type of cake "Diamond Castle Chocolate Cake" and I was soooooo happy seeing it.

We went over to Aunty Ng's in the early evening with my birthday cake and this round, no party packs. Mummy said from now onwards (until I have an actual party), there will no longer be any party packs. So since I brought my leftover popcorn from the movie, I gave some to my friends who wanted them.

waiting for the cake to be ready for the birthday song, with the box of popcorn in my hand

chatting with Darien while the other kids all wait for the candles

candles ready, now waiting for someone to light them

posing for mummy

another pose before the birthday song is sung

all of a sudden, feeling so shy when my friends sang to me

cake-eating time, i ate all the icing stuff and mummy had to finish the rest

all my friends at Aunty Ng's enjoying my birthday cake

posing with my presents from Aunty Ng and Aunty Alice

my friends all curious to see what present i had

it's a barbie doll set (i told Aunty Ng what I wanted for my birthday, she also gave me barbie doll last year)

Later that evening, we celebrated my birthday dinner at Dome's. Mummy actually wanted TGIF but they had a fixed menu to usher in the New Year that night so we all settled for Dome's instead.

chosing my complimentary birthday cake, Chocolate Cake (my birthday cake tasted much better)

walking around the restaurant with my mei-mei

after we had our dinner, i was greeted with my complimentary birthday cake by one of the staff

and then, the rest of them came and sang to me. i felt like a princess, okay a very shy one!

actually, what i really wanted for my birthday was some princess jewelry which my parents said to wait for my prince charming to give them to me one day!

I had another birthday cake, made by Aunty Ng specially for me. A doll jelly cake! She also made one for me for my 3rd birthday

This was how I celebrated my 4th birthday last year....wonder if I will celebrate my 5th birthday this year end (just over 3 months time) with a big bang?!!! :D

Camerons - November 2009*

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 02:37:00 +0000

*another very backdated post (and there will be more to come)

We went back to Camerons in November last year although we were there the month before celebrating my mei-mei's 1st birthday. Mummy had a company's trip cum annual dinner so we all decided to tag along but we stayed at my grandpa's apartment.

Since the previous month, we didn't go to the waterfalls, we decided to stop at the waterfalls this round. Papa and mummy had no choice as I kept asking them about it till they gave in. So here are some of the pictures...

and with any other hoildays, i get to eat my junkfood! :D

had to be mummy's model again

We didn't take much pictures after that as the weather up at Camerons were soooo gloomy as it was raining everyday! I did however go to my regular spot which is at the playground. Sorry no pictures as mummy and my mei-mei didn't go as they were stuck at the apartment. Mei-mei was not feeling very well.

Since the weather was so gloomy, we stayed indoors most of the time. Not a place to visit during rainy season. If you want to see more pics of my mei-mei and her updates during this trip, you can visit her blog at http://haye-li.blogspot.com/.

Christmas 2009*

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 11:42:00 +0000

*The title says it all, a very backdated post indeed. :)

Our Christmas last year was good, we put up our Christmas tree about 3 weeks before Christmas and my mei-mei and I helped papa set it up.

I put up the star!

A pretty pose with our decorated Christmas tree

On Christmas eve, we spent it at my Kai Yeh's (Godfather) parents place. Waiting for our presents, there were so many since all who came are suppose to get all the kids presents. I like this rule! :D

Although it was Christmas eve, I was allowed to open one present and it was from my Kai Yeh and it was a princess jewelry box! I love it!

On Christmas day itself, first thing in the morning, we were allowed to open all the presents I got from everybody else including mummy and papa. There will be more later in the afternoon when we are at Uncle Ivan's place.

this is the barbie doll umbrella that Aunty Ng (my caretaker at the daycare) got me

Later in the afternoon, we went over to Uncle Ivan's place and this was what greeted us....

and of course, the spectacular view too...this is one place you wanna be to see fireworks in town!

A pretty pose!

I went for a swim with my cousins but I only hung out at the baby pool, I didn't dare join them in the big pool, even with the one that has a huge water slide

We came back, got changed just to open our presents!

My cousin, Ro Wyn, distributing the presents

That night, we headed over to our Peh Deh's (papa's brother) place for dinner.

Since I cannot bully Shane, our little cousin, I was disturbing my mei-mei - see how Arnie on TV was so fascinated

the main purpose we were there, to open another present! :D

but my mei-mei and I enjoyed helping Shane opened his instead and also were eyeing on his new toy!

Nice Christmassy cupcakes that looks too good to be eaten!

That's our celebration for Christmas 2009, I'm definitely looking forward to this year's Christmas because not long after that would be my birthday! :D

On swimming

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 07:14:00 +0000

As much as I love playing with water all these while, I still have my fears and will only want to hang out in the baby pool. I will need my floats for comfort and rarely will lift my legs off the floor of the swimming pool. I will never put my face in the water and I will never want to sit on water slides!

Since June this year, papa has been taking us to our pool over the weekends for swimming. Initially, I will always play safe and hung out on my own in my own comfort and will not slide down the wall slide at our pool. But when I saw how comfortable my mei-mei was with the water and her floats, I started gaining confidence but I must always have my floats on.

I even dare to go down like this

And then I dare to lift my legs up after seeing how my mei-mei enjoy this

Lately, I do not need my floats at all while I'm in the baby pool unless I want to float in the water. This is a huge achievement for me.

Now I can go into the deep pool but I need to have my floats on and I will do one round of swimming, of course, with my head always above the water. :)

Mummy's entry - Rye Li's first school photo and report card

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 02:41:00 +0000

This is Rye Li's first formal school's picture that was taken about a month back. This was before I had her hair cut 3 inches shorter. With her long hair, it has been a tussle every morning before she goes to school for me to tie her hair. In the rush, I would simply tie and it was very obvious. :) ...Prior to this shoot, we were informed that there will a photo session that week and I made extra effort to have her looking neat. As you can tell, it wasn't that neat but her teacher noticed at went "Rye Li, you look so pretty today" and she went on to me "Usually her hair very messy hor?!". LOL!

I'm happy that this girl smiled for the camera as you can tell, many of the other kids didn't, not even the other 3 kids from the same daycare. LOL!

Anyhow, back to her hair, it is still long (for me anyway)! Our friend, did a great job my having her front sides seems longer which is why Rye Li wasn't complaining. She knows that she needs trimming for her hair in order for it to grow longer and wasn't aware that I wanted it 3 inches shorter. :)

Below was her first report card after the first semester. Cannot believe that she is good at math, must be all that counting with her head! :D

Making Spring Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:29:00 +0000

Remember my pizza making session? Since I had so much fun with it, papa gave me another opportunity at cooking again. Many months back, I helped papa made some mini spring rolls at home. So here's how we did it:-

Note: ingredients and other stuff were prepared by papa.

First, lay out a layer of spring roll/wan ton skin

Second, put some stuffing (in this case, it's minced pork mixed with some secret recipe of papa's) at one side

Thirdly, start folding from the sides

Fourth, fold again till you come to the end

Fifth, line the edges with egg stuff so the skin can be stucked to the body of the spring roll

Sixth, smile for the camera! :D and do everything again till you finish

Ta daaaa! The wan tons were rolled up by papa. Pssst, mummy said I rolled the spring rolls, better than she does.

After they have been fried!

Yummy!

When can we cook again papa?!!! Oh, we made some ice cream too some time back but sorry, no pics of that so no updates. Maybe the next time we make ice cream ya!

Mummy's entry - Thumb sucking

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 01:31:00 +0000

It’s been a while that I posted on this topic and no, Rye Li has yet to kick the habit. I’ve given up the fact that I would try to stop it for her and just pray that she will not suck her thumb when she’s in her teens or worst, to adulthood. :)

Anyway, I’ve been wanting to post up the photos of her thumb sucking moments when we went to US for our holiday in 2007 as I found them hilarious but never got around to it. So why now? Well, there are still funny moments as well that I caught her sucking her thumb and I want to keep these for memories’ sake. I know she will kill me one day for posting these up but I will tell her then that these are memories worth keeping as she’s too cute sucking her thumb (still is and I know as she grows older, she won’t look cute anymore sucking her thumb!).

I’ll let you all see for yourselves on how cute she is….

The above were taken in the plane on our way there, she got this habit while sucking her left thumb, her right hand has to feel something. Initially, it started with her bolster's casing or her pillows at home and also the bedsheet. And then it went to her baby sling. From this trip, I got to know she can also hold on to anything that soothes her. The following pictures will explain this.

The above were taken in Las Vegas. On the way there in the car journey, since she had nothing to hold on to while sucking her thumb, she used the cloth of her pants. In the hotel room, she used the bed covers as well.

The above shows us that she was desperate enough to even hold on to our clothes.

LOL!...she also used the furniture's material

The above left picture was of her holding on to her aunt's leather bag - a sign that she may be into leathers later?!! :D The upper right was when we were lining up for our boat ride in San Francisco, she was holding on the stroller's material. And the lower right was really funny, we were at Targets (I think) to buy chocolates and all, and this girl got herself a bag of tootsie rolls just so she could have her 'fix'! She was really getting desperate with this one! LOL!

The above were taken in the restaurant (all 3 different ones). I would be able to understand if it was the table cloth but I could not understand why the papers as well?!!! Rye Li, Rye Li! You're too cute and full of surprises!

The above with papa and the one on the left is with her beloved sling. When I was pregnant with Haye Li, I've stopped using the sling on her and kept it away. Luckily, she never asked for it and when I brought it out again once Haye Li was out, she seems to have forgotten what it meant to her. Phew!

I've not seen her sucking her thumb that much with different 'materials' (not in KL anyway) and I was assuming due to all the changes from the holiday, she stucked to one thing that gives her the most comfort and that was her thumb!

All the above were taken when she was 1 year and 10 months old. Now, fast forward to over 2 and a half years later, she still sucks her thumb although she's back to her bolsters, pillow cases and bedsheets. And so this was what I thought...

Last November when we were up at Camerons, I found her doing this...

Halfway playing, she must have somehow felt the curtain's material and then her natural instincts came on board. I found too funny and had to take a picture.

And below is the latest one from last weekend. I was getting her ready for bed and made her lie down so I can put on her diapers (yes, still on diapers at nights!), she somehow felt the mattress cover (the mattress was laid against the wall) and she automatically did this.

My Rye Li, my Rye Li, what do I do with you....you really entertain us at home! Funny la you! ;)

My first concert

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 06:34:00 +0000

I had my first concert over the weekend and it went well. Mummy and papa said they were very proud of me although I wasn't smiling throughout the whole 5 mins dance. I'll let the following pictures speak for themselves.

my teacher putting on my 'tiara'

a picture with a couple of my classmates (no close up pic of my whole costume since we were rushing around that day)

At the beginning of the dance, going to my spot to dance

At my spot dancing (notice how tiny I am among my classmates)

halfway through the dance, we went to the front to do our thing!

the end of the dance and noticed how nearly everyone waved goodbye but me. i was scracthing my back, a habit of mine

Below is the video, please excuse the quality of it (and I hope you don't get a headache) as my mummy ain't a pro in video-graphy. :) ....Enjoy!

[* Mummy's note: In the last few weeks, Rye Li has been showing us the dance steps and we expected to see that from her. At the concert, we noticed she was at the background dancing while the steps she shown us were actually the girls in green who were dancing in the front. Later, after the concert, we asked her whether she practiced the dance steps during practice and she said no as she was supposed to do different steps. This girl actually learnt along the other's steps. Although her real fame was like 30 seconds of the whole slot of 5 minutes, when she came to the front, we are still very proud of our princess! Well done Rye Li!]

On Bahasa

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Sat, 29 May 2010 01:39:00 +0000

I've been learning Bahasa Malaysia (BM) in school and was also taught our Rukun Negara. Mummy finds it amusing that I speak BM with a funny accent. I don't exactly know what they mean but I've been learning them anyway and can repeat the Rukun Negara like a broken record.

The below video is of me singing "Burung Kakak Tua" which I have learnt from Aunty Ng's.

I'm becoming more self conscious and do not like Mummy showing people of my videos. She says it's because I'm talented and it is worth showing people how good am I but still. I don't understand what is it with her and the camera. Geez!

Mummy's entry - on giving birth

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Fri, 28 May 2010 05:51:00 +0000

It’s interesting that Rye Li has yet to ask me about the birds and the bees, not that I want her to also. :D

She knows that a baby comes from the mummy’s tummy and that the tummy will grow bigger and bigger and when it is big enough, the baby will come out. She also knows that the baby will either come out from the tummy or from the vagina but she has never thought about it until recently when I told her one of my good friends has just given birth to a baby girl. And she went:-

Rye Li: Baby T came out from Aunty J’s stomach ah?

Mummy: Yes, Baby T came out from the stomach coz her head was facing up inside the tummy and cannot come out from the pot-pot (our home slang for referring to the vagina)

Rye Li: Oh

Mummy: Rye Li and mei-mei came out from mummy’s pot-pot

Rye Li: Eeeeeyuucks! Disgusting!

Mummy: Well, there’s only 2 ways of the baby coming out. It’s either from the tummy where the doctor will cut the tummy and once the baby is out, the doctor will sew the tummy up. Or the baby will come out from the pot-pot.

Immediately she replied “Next time when I have babies, I want my babies to come out from my pot-pot!”

And I thought she would tell me that she’s never having babies. :D

Mummy’s entry – How vain she can be!

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Sat, 15 May 2010 14:08:00 +0000

It seems when Rye Li started kindy in January, she has been practicing for their concert which will be held end of this month. I remembered when she first used the word “kompang” (malay for a traditional musical instrument and can also be termed as a drum), I didn’t exactly make out what she was trying to tell me although she told me that she is playing the kompang at class. It was only when I knew that there will be a concert in May, I put two and two together and realized that she has been telling me that they practice their kompang sessions nearly everyday in school (I’m impressed at how early they prepare the kids for the concert).

So naturally, we are all aware at home that this girl with the rest of her classmates will be playing the kompang for their concert and personally, I am very excited for this as this is my first time experiencing such things as a mom.

I did probe with Rye Li whenever I can whether they had practice that day or not. I also asked what does she do with the kompang and she would show me in actions what her steps are and so on. And then I also asked her about her costume and she told me that it’s pink in colour. More than a week back I asked her how her costume is like and she described it being very sexy with a bare back top and I had this vision in my head already. Then few days later, there was a notice in her bag (her kindy got this exercise book in which it is meant for notices to the parents and they’ll make sure that the parents have read and understood it by signing on it) that she’ll need a pair of white socks and black shoes for her concert.

Since it was kind of vague as to what type of shoes she needed, I thought that I would ask her teacher to confirm the kind of shoes she needs. So I managed to get hold of the principal and asked her about it and she told me that Rye Li would need those dainty black shoes for girls (as opposed to sport shoes – don’t know why sport shoes came into my mind when I first saw the notice!) as she would be wearing a baju kurung (traditional malay costumes for girls). When she mentioned this, I nearly burst out in laughter as it is so opposite to the bare back top I have in my mind. And also silly of me for thinking a sexy costume when I very well know she’s playing the kompang. I did ask Rye Li about it that evening, describing how a baju kurung will look like and she confirmed it as that being her costume. I did tell her that there’s no way anyone would be dressing sexily when playing the kompang and she laughed it off.

Anyway, we also just got to know that there will be a rehearsal next week at school and that the parents were given notices to have the kids attend class in their black shoes and white socks plus some makeup on. The girl was so excited about the makeup part as she has always been pestering me to let her wear makeup (she observes me when I wear my makeup) and I have managed to convince her that she can only wear make when she’s older or that if she’s someone’s flower girl at weddings and she has bought it all this while.

This picture was taken during CNY this year when I met up with my girlfriends and one of them who brought her 2 elder girls along had lip gloss with them and my Rye Li got so fascinated by it. I allowed her to wear it (actually my friend’s daughter was the one who put on the lip gloss for her and I had a tough time explaining to her why they had lip gloss with them later on – I knew she would ask me this question after that).

So now my story has changed that she can only wear makeup at concerts (she also laughed at the idea that the boys also need to wear makeup and I told her only at concerts). She is so excited about this that she has been telling everyone that she meets at the daycare (including some mothers that picked their kids up) about it. See how vain my little one can be. She even asked Aunty Ng (the daycare owner) to tie her one ponytail by the side and let some hair fall out. Geez!

As much as she is excited about having to wear makeup, I am very excited about seeing my baby performing at a concert. I don’t how she will fare but regardless of the outcome, I will still be very proud of her. I hope I can update on it when the time comes….I know, I’ve been such a bad blogger these days and I’ve missed out on so many good posts of the girl already.

Mummy's entry - On her conversations

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:23:00 +0000

Rye Li being the natural chatterbox that she is never fails to surprise us with what she has to say. At times, she can be really rude as she must always have the last say, of course, with me telling her off for being rude. But still, stubborn as always, she will then give me that “hmmph” look when she knows she can’t answer me as if her actions seem to be louder than her words.

Here are some more of her conversations with us…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One night many months back, while on the bed getting to sleep, her papa got close to her to give her a goodnight kiss but instead smell her and she went :-

Rye Li: Why you smell me? You think I’m McDonalds? You want to eat me ah?

Or while lying down on the floor watching tv and we accidentally brushed against her, she will go :-

Rye Li: You think I’m a chair? You want to sit on me?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She loves to complaint about her little mei-mei whenever Haye Li does something wrong. I know she wants to see my reaction towards her mei-mei and I do scold or correct Haye Li when she is in the wrong too. They’re both at the stage where they will fight over a toy or something and at times mine or their papa’s attention. When one does something, the other will follow. It can be so tiring! For events that I didn’t witness and this girl will come to me and complaint about her mei-mei, depending on my mood, I will tell Haye Li off or at times I will tell Rye Li to stay away from her mei-mei especially if she knows her mei-mei is going to snatch her things.

Last nite, Rye Li came to complain to me that Haye Li stepped on her when she was lying down on the mattress. I didn’t see this and I know Haye Li didn’t purposely want to step on Rye Li and she probably want to get to the other side in which Rye Li was in the way. I just took a different approach this time….

Rye Li: Mummy, just now mei-mei step (ped) on me when I was sleeping on the mattress

Mummy: What do you think I should to her? If mummy scold her, she will probably cry and then she will do it again. So how?

Rye Li: Beat her

Mummy: Yea, but she will just cry and then stop. And probably do it again to you. So how? What should we do to mei-mei so she can learn to behave?

Rye Li: Beat harder!

*Maybe a sign I should stop smacking them when they’re naughty*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Mother's Day over the weekend, we spent the day at my parent's place and Rye Li was hanging out with her two cousins, Ro Wyn and Jo Tien. My mom (their Grandma) was with them at that time and in their conversation, my niece, Ro Wyn mentioned that "Grandma is fat".

Rye Li replied "You're not fat Grandma, you're just nice. My papa is fat!"

This really made her Grandma's day that day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The most interesting of all are her conversations with her papa over the phone when he is away on his business trips. There will always be the duty calls at nights before her bedtime.

A typical conversation will sound like this :-

Rye Li: Papa, where are you now?

Papa: I’m in XXX

Rye Li: You sit aero plane ah?

Papa: Yes

Rye Li: You stay where papa?

Papa: I’m staying at XXX hotel

Rye Li: Oh, you stay with who?

Papa: I’m staying alone

Rye Li: Ok, what are you doing now?

Papa: I’m with my customer having dinner

Rye Li: Your customer what name?

Papa: XXX

Rye Li: Your customer boy or girl?

Papa: Boy

Rye Li: You having your dinner where?

Papa: In a restaurant

Rye Li: What is the restaurant (‘s) name?

Papa: xxx

Rye Li: Papa, what are you eating?

Papa: I’m eating so & so. Ok Rye Li, papa got to go already.

Rye Li: Ok papa. I love you papa. Talk to you tomorrow night. Good night papa (*typical response every time she ends the conversation*)

--------------------
At times, the conversations can also be like this…

Rye Li: Papa, you go there for how many nights?

Papa: 2 nights

Rye Li: So you come back Friday ah?

Papa: Yes, I come back Friday night.

Rye Li: Oh, who is that papa? *upon hearing some voices at the background*

Papa: Papa’s friend and customer

Rye Li: What’s your friend (’s) and customer (‘s) name?

Papa: xxx and xxxx

Rye Li: Boy or girl?

Papa: Boy and girl…Uncle XXX and Aunty XXX

Rye Li: They stay with you in your hotel room ah?

Papa: No, they don’t stay at the hotel

Rye Li: Oh. They stay where then?

Papa: I don’t know Rye Li

* Note: I have not taught her at all to ask these questions to her papa and I myself don’t even ask such things of him. God knows where she has learnt how to interrogate her papa like. She would always ask if her papa is with somebody or not and whether that person is staying with him. I wonder if we women are all born natural at asking these questions. LOL!

Update: Diaper-less at nights mission ABORTED!!!

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:17:00 +0000

Mummy was so gung-ho in training me to go diaper-less at nights over a month go, the thing is, it only last for 2 weeks! She realized that it was going to be super duper tough to break the habit as I pee like 3-4 times in a night and I can even sleep peacefully on my wet soiled pajamas and bed. So I’m back to diapers at nights (hooray!) and she said when I start to have dry diapers (if ever) in the mornings, she would look into this again.

As much as I know I won’t be getting my Barbie dollhouse soon, I’m cool about it as I don’t get disturbed by mummy to wake up and pee. I think mummy is happy too that she doesn’t need to worry about me wetting my bed anymore.

Mummy's entry - "I hate you!"

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:07:00 +0000

There’s always first for everything and I have wondered before whether my kids will ever say those three words to me. I have seen on TV and in real life where kids do say these to their parents and I do find them offending. I cannot recall if I have ever said this to my parents before which I guess means that I didn’t as well as I would remember things like this (of course, if I did say these three words to them before I hit my teens, I seriously would not remember).

Rye Li just said “I hate you!” to me just now. When she said it, I was taken aback and immediately I asked her to repeat what she has just said and I could see in her eyes that she knew she was in the wrong and she kept quiet. I forced her to repeat and eventually she said “I forget (forgot) already”

I’m guessing she learnt this from TV as we never say such things to each other at home. So what actually caused her to say such things?

Well, lately, she has been very rebellious. For some time now, she loves answering me back and at times, she will also be physical with me but she will only lightly beat me or throw soft punches at me or show monkey faces at me especially by showing her tongue at me. She never uses her force on me as she is aware of the consequences after that. Although she is also aware of the consequences that she will face for answering me back or showing her faces at me, this girl loves testing my patience (in hubby’s words, she just loves bullying me). I guess she’s smart in that my punishment for her would be me yelling and threatening her. I have started beating her too sometime last year, usually, hard slaps on her thighs or arms or hands. I could see the shock in her eyes when the first time I really gave her that hard whack, nothing to be proud of but I wanted her to know that I mean business when I’m scolding her.

Before that time, I was never a believer in beating my kids although I was brought up with a cane. It was only when words were not working to discipline her that I bought a cane so that I can use it to threaten her. And then I realized by threatening her with it will not work eventually and I used it twice on her before but they were not hard caning. I don’t have the heart to use it on her really. And she is really scared of the cane. So now, I have been using the cane as a threat a lot, so much so that even Haye Li is terrified of it as she has seen numerous times of Rye Li getting really scared. I don’t even have to use it on them to show them that it hurts as I usually will hit the wall or door very hard just to have that loud whipping sound to scare them off.

Anyhow, back to the story. There were many events leading to the girl not being happy and also me having to scold and nag her. So she was already super duper cranky and black faced when she found out I’m only giving her 4oz of milk to drink before her bedtime [I’ve reduced her milk and water intake at nights due to her still peeing on her bed, being diaper-less]. So when the bottle of milk was given to her, she said “I don’t want to drink milk, only 4oz!” and I was in no mood negotiating with her and replied “It’s okay, don’t drink it then!”. She’s also aware that I was in a foul mood and that was when she went “I hate you!”

Now I’m thinking, whether this toddler of 4 years and 4 months actually is aware of these three words or not. She sure knows how to use it to its proper context for a first timer though. I chose to believe that she doesn’t know exactly what it means and that she’s only influenced heavily by TV (and perhaps I need to relook into what kind of shows she watches).

And also, perhaps, I should look into anger management for myself? I do not like the shouting and nagging part of me, so much so that I’ve become and now termed as a MOMSTER. And I notice the MOMSTER appears when I’m extra tired, stressed and especially when hubby is away on business travels.

I’m sorry Rye Li for always nagging and shouting at you. Mummy doesn’t know how to reverse the impression you have on me that you’ve become smarter in knowing how to irritate mummy more. How-la girl? You also have to help mummy to be a better mummy by not provoking me. Gosh, I’m speaking to you as if you’re a teenager already….LOL. Ok, I hope when you ever get to read this, you are a teenager and that you need to know you also need to do your part and teach me how to be a better mummy ok?! ;) But remember this girl and I know you do, that no matter how angry or mad I am at you, I will always love you!

Mummy’s entry – training to be diaper-less at nights

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 14:32:00 +0000

Since weaning Haye Li has been so easy, I thought I might as well trained Rye Li to be diaper-less at nights while I still have a helper. Also, it would save us some money as well.

I have been telling Rye Li for months that she is a big girl already and that she doesn’t need to wear diapers at night especially since she does not wear diapers during daytime for quite some time now. But she refused and I also I was too lazy to force her then.

So lately, I took a different approach and told her that her diapers in a year costs me RM400 and with that money, I can buy her a Barbie Doll’s house (actually, I have no idea how much a Barbie Doll’s house costs and whether there is a such thing too). Her immediate response was “Ok mummy, I don’t want to wear diapers already and I will wee-wee in the potty in my room!” (I told her that a potty will be put in the room for her easy access).

We are into the 7th night already training her and how has it been? It’s been a total failure and my sleep disruption is getting worst with not only Haye Li waking me up through the nights but Rye Li too.

First night – I learnt that this lazy bum will not get up to pee so I had to get up to make her pee. She peed 2 times on the bed and 1 time managed to pee in the potty. Of course, we had to change her pajamas too and her bed sheet in the morning.

Second night – I made sure that I will wake up through the nights to make her pee but I failed the first wake up call and she is to blame as who would have thought she would pee after like 1 hour plus into her sleep from her last pee. But the remaining two times were successful. Her pajamas and bed sheet were again changed.

Third night – Only successful night! And I made sure I praised her like mad and I was pretty sure that this is IT to having her fully trained. I woke up 3 times to make her pee; 1st one at 11 plus pm (yes, I sleep that early now coz I’m so sleep deprived), 2nd one at 2 plus am and 3rd one at 5 plus am. She wakes up at 7am and I also made sure she pees first before taking her milk.

Fourth night – She peed once and that was because I couldn’t wake up on time to make her pee. This was earlier in the night and I also put layers of nappy cloth under her so her bed sheet was totally dried up in the morning.

Fifth night – She peed twice and this time she got serious scolding from me as after the first round of peeing and me having to change her and all; the next round when I woke her up, she refused to pee and went back to sleep. And true enough, shortly after that, she peed again. The bed sheet was changed again.

Sixth night – She peed three times! Partly my fault too as I was too tired to get up on time but I was surprised as to how much pee she has in the potty with her 3 attempts at it too.

I am now thinking of not letting her drink any water at nights anymore and only her milk which is like 7oz at her bedtime. And also probably I will need to set the alarm to have me wake up on time to make her pee.

Tonight is the 7th night and I’m so dead tired and as much as part of me wants to go back to letting her wear her diapers, another part of me is also determined to continue this training. I have been psyching her to get up own self but no such luck yet. There has got to be a better way. I’m so envious of my close friend’s daughter who is 2 weeks apart from Rye Li and has not been wearing diapers since she was 1 year plus (she was having dry diapers in the mornings then which led her mom to just let her go diaperless). Rye Li has never ever gotten a dry diaper at all in the mornings and I’m also wondering whether it’s in the genes since I used to wet my bed until I was like 7-8 years old.

Should I just let her wear diapers till she wears it out herself and stop torturing myself further?!!!!

Mummy's entry - Cheng Meng

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 09:44:00 +0000

This is Rye Li’s first visit to the cemetery. Haye Li and I didn’t go as I feel Haye Li is still too young and also she’s not feeling well.

Actually, I do not know what is the right age for kids to visit the graveyard but as far back as I can remember, I know I visited my ancestors graves when I was really young. I had loads of fun then with our annual ritual, visiting my paternal great grandmother’s grave, and then to my paternal grandfather’s before visiting his other 3 wives’ graves (he had 4 wives and my actual grandmother was the last to leave this world when I was 16 years old).

So as you can tell, my dad’s side of the family is huge which is why we kids had loads of fun literary playing around the graves on top of paying our respects to our ancestors. Of course, the last time I did this for my dad’s side was the year before I got married and that time also, wasn’t as fun as before as my girl cousins (we have more girls than boys) were all married already and it was only my brother and I from our generation that was presented other than my uncles and aunties. Anyhow, I still miss the rituals although we have to get up very early in the morning.

Since I married into the Lim’s family nearly 7 years ago, I only visited hubby’s paternal grandmother’s grave once at Ipoh and I got valid reasons as I got pregnant with Rye Li after that and she was too young to visit the grave in her first year. At that time, I thought I would bring her in her second year when a friend of mine told me that it’s not advisable to bring young kids to the graveyard. Last year, when she was just over 3 years old, I wanted her to follow hubby to Ipoh while I will be at home with Haye Li but somehow she wasn’t feeling well and we scraped the idea.

This year we felt Rye Li has matured enough to travel the distance to Ipoh and that it is a good learning experience for her as well. Also, after explaining what Cheng Meng is about, she wanted to go. She was also happy with the fact that I allowed her to use her Barbie umbrella for the first time ever since she got it as a birthday present last year.

So early this morning at 6am, she followed hubby, his parents and brother to Ipoh. Hubby said that she was alright with the journey and the whole experience altogether. I wasn’t too worried about the long journey as she was so well behaved last September when she followed hubby alone in the car to Kuala Besut (for a holiday at Perhentian Island – another backdated post in which when I have the time).

When they returned just now, she reported that she had fun and when I asked her what she did, she went “I went to pai-pai (pray) la”. She also visited a family friend's vegetable farm after that and had some fun at the farm.

Following are the very few pictures hubby managed to take…

freshly wide awake early in the morning in the car still in pajamas

all geared up after that to make the visit

with her barbie umbrella, very happy to be able to use it to good use since it is banned inside the house

with ah kong and ah por

with the joss-sticks, paying respect to great grandmother

at the vegetable farm

posing with the brinjals (eggplants)

papa had to coax her to pluck the coconuts

Guess this is Rye Li’s first and many more to come. I think I will wait till Haye Li is at least 3 years old before we all go as a family.

More on my conversations

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:13:00 +0000

Some conversations I had with mummy (and also my mei-mei)......

a) Scene 1 ....when I was drinking milk during bedtime

Rye Li: Nah mummy, I (have) finished my milk. *passed half finished bottle to mummy*

Mummy: No, there's still milk in the bottle

Rye Li: That's not milk, it's all bones from the milk

Mummy: Very funny, finish your milk now!

Rye Li: *Giggling*

--------------------------------------

b) Scene 2 ...when I was really grumpy having to wake up so early on a Monday morning for school

Rye Li: Why papa can sleep and I have to wake up

Mummy: Papa can work from home so he doesn't need to wake up early like you. Your school starts early

Rye Li: Why mei-mei also can sleep, (and) I cannot sleep?

Mummy: She will wake up soon when we leave for Aunty Ng's

Rye Li: Mummy, when you (were) 4 years old that time, you also have to wake up early for school ah?

Mummy: Yes

Rye Li: You cry also?

Mummy: Yes, like you la so grumpy in the mornings and grandma has to scold me.

---------------------------------

c) Scene 3...when mummy was angry at me and I noticed she was smiling at mei-mei and not at me

Rye Li: Why you love mei-mei (and) you don't love me?

Mummy: Did I say that?

Rye Li: *Nodded her head*

Mummy: When? When did I say that?

Rye Li: Why you smile(d) at her (and) you don't (didn't) smile at me?

Mummy: How to smile at you when I'm angry at you? I'm angry at you because you were naughty, you didn't listen to mummy. Rye Li, I will always love you whether you're naughty or not. When mummy doesn't smile or talk to you does not mean mummy do not love you. Mummy will always love you. You understand?

Rye Li: *Nodded her head*

--------------------------------------

d) Scene 4...when mei-mei was showing her temper at me

Rye Li: You see, you didn't sleep properly, now you grumpy-grumpy

Haye Li: *whining and kicking*

Rye Li: Cher-cher ask you to sleep, you don't want to listen, now you grumpy-grumpy

Haye Li: *still whining and kicking*

Learning how to read

noreply@blogger.com (ryeli) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:02:00 +0000

I've been learning phonics at Aunty Ng's and now that I have started school, it comes in real handy. This is what I was being taught at school and I had to bring it home as homework for reading.

[Mummy's note: it has not been easy doing her school's reading at home as it definitely takes a whole lot of patience. we have a tougher time with her bahasa when we need to do her sukukata. i don't remember learning how to read in kindergarten my time other than abc's. i only remember learning how to do the sukukata when i was in standard one. so i do feel sorry when she has a tougher time with her sukukata compared to her english phonics as it is confusing to learn both reading at the same time. when i get impatient with her, i had to remind myself that she's only 4 years old]