Frog Prince

We went to watch "The Tale of the Frog Prince" yday. It was Lil Isaac's 1st musical. Aunty H and Booboo caught it earlier and commented that there were a lot more dialogues than the "3 Little Pig" and may be a little tough for the little ones. I was worried. The tickets aren't cheap and each little one need a ticket. It would be so sad if I had to miss the show with Lil Isaac if he asked to leave.

We caught it with ah yee as Daddy Lim was at still work. Ah yee was shocked to hear that the tickets cost so much and yet the theatre was full. Singaporean parents are too rich. 

I had been preparing Lil Isaac for the musical, telling him the story of the frog prince before the musical. The kids were excited. I even brought along his tiger, so that his tiger can "protect him" in the theater. 

We waited 30 mins for the cab and was just in time for the show. It turned out very well. Lil Shauna totally enjoyed herself. Lil Isaac didn't quite understand the storyline but was captivated by the colorful characters and lighting. He almost fell asleep towards the end though. Lol. Ah yee commented that the little girl behind us fell asleep 10mins into the show. It was definitely an expensive nap for her parents.

Little Red Riding Hood is coming at the end of the year. Maybe we will catch that too. 

Mummy Lim

My Birthday Too!

I went to buy ER's bday present on Saturday morning while jiejie was in her Chinese enrichment class. Lil Isaac was with me as per all Saturday mornings.

He was excited to go to Kiddy Palace, a "dangerous" place that I would usually avoid bcos we seldom come out of that place empty-handed. That morning, I didn't have a choice and we came out with 2 presents, as expected. 

I told Lil Isaac that it was ER's bday and the boy insisted that it was his too. We bought 2 car sets and Lil Isaac was all smiles.

Well, it isn't that expensive, definitely much, much cheaper than Daddy Lim's car set. Lol.

Mummy Lim

My Little Gym

Daddy Lim always says that Lil Isaac got it worse in terms of enrichment classes. I felt bad and had been wanting to bring him back to the gym classes. After like forever, I finally signed him up for My Little Gym class.

He wasn't as excited as I thought he would be before the class. However, when he entered the class, he went "wow" when he saw the colourful obstacles and started running around and challenged the various obstacles. Amazingly, he was also good in observing instructions when the class starts.

He was really brave and attempted all the difficult stuff like walking independently on the high beam. He looked like he had a blast. 

He was so relunctant to leave at the end of his class. Naturally, we signed him up for a term. That means $415 poorer. I almost signed up without a thought and I wonder why I thought so long and hard when I had to buy a LV wallet for myself that isn't much more expensive. Lol.

This is the start. Soon, we will have to start him on phonics classes. Phew, not easy on the pockets to have kids.

Mummy Lim

Success

Lil Isaac wet himself 3x in school on Monday. I thought he was embarrassed when we asked him what happened and he said that he doesn't want to tell teacher when he needs to go. We kept encouraging him to tell his teacher and roped in jiejie to show him how it should be done.

He didnt wet himself for the next few days. Hehe. It is either he started telling his teacher or his teacher managed to

read his timing. Either way, it is good with us. 

I am now more concerned that there would be occasions that he forgot to go to the toilet and ended up having to hold too long. Popo said that on Friday, he was really urgent when he came off the bus and peed a lot. He probably held it for a long time. This reminds me of myself when I was in Primary One when I didn't dare to ask for permission to visit the toilet. I think I turned green trying to hold it until recess. Lol.

I really didnt have such worries with Lil Shauna. Or maybe my goldfish memory couldn't remember that well. Hehe.

Mummy Lim

The iPad

The iPad is alive. 
None, we didn't repair it and it didn't come alive on its own either. We bought a new one. Hahaha. Another big hole to our pockets.

We thought about repairing it and brought it to some ah bengshop that quoted us $180 to repair the screen. We all know that such repairs don't come with warranty. The iPad is already 2-year old and even if we revive the screen, some other electronic components may fail on us soon. Moreover, a new iPad2 is about 3 times the repair price and comes with 1-year warranty. The choice was pretty clear and we bought a new iPad 2.

It was a tough choice between the iPad 2 and the mini. The iPad2 eventually won on the account that the kids would be sharing it most of the time and they need a big screen for sharing. We now have new games on the iPad since we have to re-download the apps and the kids are thrilled. My only complaint is theYouTube app - the old one was so much better and easier to use.

The kids, especially Lil Isaac, have been warned to handle the new iPad with care. They were well-entertained during the school holidays. Even the tab, that is deemed to be less friendly, was put to good use by jiejie. With the school re-opening, mummy started hiding the iPad and the Tab again. These are really addiction and I rather they be couch potato than iPad/ Tab addicts.

So, what do we do with the old iPad? Throw it into the bin?

Mummy Lim

Another Bigger and Much More Expensive One

It is that time again. If I remembered correctly, Jazzy lasted us about 3 years. However, she went through several cosmetic surgeries along the way to please her boss. Still, she was regarded as “not good” and “not big” enough. Poor Jazzy.

Then we have Tiggy, which is a much bigger, taller and powerful. We are afterall not the usual, small and normal family. We are really lucky to buy Tiggy right before the COE went crazy. In comparison to the car prices now, Tiggy is considered as a very good buy. She is big, tall and sturdy. I supposed Daddy Lim like Tiggy pretty much and she is able to keep him happy for a good while, almost 4 years. Throughout these 4 years, Daddy Lim didn't force Tiggy under the knife, he was generally very please with her performance. 

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and she’s a little tempemental for our liking. Unlike Jazzy who never gave us problems, also bcos she was a very simple car, Tiggy was towed 2x and some of her electronic functions (non-critical) have failed but we have learnt to live with it. Sometimes, especially when we are on road trips to Malaysia, I secretly feared that Tiggy will decide to throw a tantrum on us.

I like Tiggy. I like her height and her big strong doors. I like how she kept Daddy Lim happy. My only concern was her reliability. However, like most women, a car is a car. It is a mode of transportation that brings us from point A to B. It doesn't matter that Tiggy has aged over the years, so long as it can continue to serve her purpose of transporting us, I am contented. This is especially in the midst of crazy COE prices. Unfortunately, Daddy Lim doesn't share my views.

Daddy Lim had been complaining about Tiggy recently. I can tell that he is getting unhappy with her. Every now and then, he will tell me about some sexy car and I will wake him up from his dreams with the nightmarish COE prices. It is sad, but it is crazy to throw such good $$ away with the new 50% down-payment and 5-year loan repayment ruling. Silently, I am hoping that Tiggy will last us for as long as possible.

Then the COE structure has to be tweaked at this time and the newspaper started carrying big advertisements on car sales. In my perspective, the cars are still expensive after the s-called price slash, especially the ones that Daddy Lim are eyeing. Car is also a status symbol, a bragging right. To the men, their car can only grow bigger and more expensive. After much bugging, we went car shopping over the weekend. Daddy Lim was clearly disappointed when I had to say “no” to that car that he so wanted after much calculation and consideration. We could afford it but it just didn't make sense to do so. We left the show room without buying the car even though I was indeed wowed by the safety and advance features of the car. My logical mind tells me that that $$ can be put to better use.

I predicted that I will give in at the end of the day. I always. He always gets to buy what he wants at the end of the day, maybe delayed but he always get it. Lol. So, he flew down to make a booking fee for the car on Monday evening. He promised that he would drive the car for the next 10 years and will not give me funny ideas. He also promised not to buy big ticket item and saved all the coming bonuses. Most importantly, he also agreed that he would try to quit smoking by his bday.

So, we will have a new car soon. An even bigger, more powerful and expensive one. The kids will continue to eat in the car.Muahahahaha.

Mummy Lim

Learning His ABCs

Mummy is feeling really proud of Lil Isaac. A few months back, I was really worried that he is behind his peers. He doesn'trecognize his A, B and C or his numbers then. I didn't have this issue with Lil Shauna. I remembered how she could sing the entire ABC song when she was 19 months and how she suddenly read numbers off the carpark lots one day. When she was 3 and went for the phonics assessment, she could recognize most of the alphabets, both upper and lower case, less the tricky ones. She could even sound some of them. I could safely say that she’s more advance than her peers in her English. We just went for JEI maths assessment on Saturday and the trainer says that she’s quite good for her age.

On the other hand, Lil Isaac is approaching 3 and displayed none of jiejie’s talent. The child development PD said that Lil Isaac is very much on track, if not advance (especially on his motor, understanding and reasoning skills), much to my disbelief. She said that children below 3 aren’t expected to know their A, B, C. I didn't challenge her, she isn’t a Singaporean (I think). In Singapore, it is a different story. Mummy J wrote in her blog some time back that ER knows all 26 of them both upper and lower case a long time ago. I bet ER is the norm, Lil Isaac is not. Haha.

A few months back, I decided that I will start teaching Lil Isaac his alphabets. From his workbooks, I saw that his school is already teaching him but I am not sure why he isn’t learning.The progress was really slow. I was lazy and forgot to revise/ teach him new letters at times. Jiejie’s phonics revision also took up most of my time. I realized that he couldn't really remember the letters and tried associating the letters with something to help him better remember, like how the A looks like a triangle, the B is like 2 circles, M with Mac Donalds and Q is O with a little tail. I am not sure if this is the right way to help him learn but it works.

These few weeks, he actually made good progress. Lil Isaac now recognizes A, B, C, I, M, O, Q, S, T and X now. We just introduced L to him 3 days back and taught him U yday. I know he is still a long way off and there is lower case too but now that he is starting to get the hang of things, maybe we can be a little more adventurous and speed things up a little bit. Oh, I hate the dreadful B, D, P, R, b, d, p, q. Even jiejie gets confused with them sometimes.

Mummy Lim

Another Milestone

Lil Isaac is toilet-trained. He is diaper-free at home and outside except for night and in school. At home, he would go to the potty when he needs to go. However, he has the bad habit to let go a little before realizing that he really needs to go. Or he simply tries to hold even after releasing a little. He is basically diaper free when we are outside now, even when we bring him to the movies or theme park. When we are outside, we have to keep asking him and making him go to the toilet. It is uncommon for him to ask to go to the toilet. We still have accidents once in a while but I think he is good for a 35 months.We started toilet training him when he was 30 months old.

I spoke to Popo and thought that we have given him enough training for him to go diaperless to school. We had been putting him on diapers to save the school the trouble to clean up just in case he had an accident. But I think he is ready to go. Popo agreed and thought that we would start him after the school holiday, which is today.

We have an interesting illustration at home. Lil Isaac calls himself a Superman korkor when he is in his underwear but he is automatically transforms to a Superman baby in the night when he puts on his diaper. Last night, I asked if he is Ok to be a Superman korkor in school.

ML: Zaky, can you be a Superman kokor in school tomorrow and wears your underwear to school?
LI: No (smiles shyly). 
ML: Why? Then what do you want to wear to school?
LI: Shorts!
ML: Hahaha. Ok, ok, shorts but with underwear and not diaper, ok?
LI: OK.

I told Popo to let Lil Isaac goes in his underwear (and shorts) today and that I will call the school to inform. Popo called me this morning that Lil Isaac refused his diaper this morning and I have also called the school to ask the teachers to give him more attention. We may have accidents in school but I think it would help Lil Isaac to understand better. Oh gosh, I don't remember feeling so jittery when we were trying to toilet train jiejie.

So, can this joker boy not wet his pants today?

Mummy Lim

Applejack

This is Applejack. Her job is to use her hind legs to kick against the apple tree, so that the apples will fall off and into her basket. Hmmm, I wonder what kind of job is that.

She has an apple on her backside, it is called a "cutie mark". 

Lil Shauna was educating me about My Little Pony. I wonder what I will learn next time.

Mummy Lim

Small Ah Beng

Daddy Lim says that Lil Isaac looks as if he got into a fight.

He didnt. He fell at the playground last night and suffered a big barugu. He got the cut on his chin from one of the cycling adventures, along with the many blue-blacks on his legs. I am so glad that the school holiday is almost over and Popo need not go into overdrive and keep bringing the kids out for too much adventure.

Popo called me at 6.50pm yday to tell me that Lil Isaac fell and knocked his head. I was waiting for Daddy Lim to fetch me and I could hear Lil Isaac crying in the background. Luckily, Daddy Lim was already mins from my office. 

I didn't thought much of the fall since Lil Isaac is always full of knocks and bumps until Popo called me 15 mins later to ask if we were on our way and if she should send Lil Isaac to the doctor. I could still hear Lil Isaac crying in the background. My imagination ran wild and I even asked if Daddy Lim knows how to perform CPR.

Fortunately, the bump is superficial. It was huge but he doesn't need medical attention. He was in pain and refused to let us rub the "mountain" as jiejie calls it. 

The bump looks much better today but he says that it still hurts. He is still climbing and jumping around today. Apparently, lesson not learnt. Haiz.

Mummy Lim

Bruise Lim Again

Popo brought the kids cycling the last 2 days in Centris. They also had fun at the playground.

Just now, I noticed that Lil Isaac has about 8 blue-blacks on his legs. Faint. I wonder if somebody will accuse us of child abuse.

Mummy Lim

Pulse Check

Lil Shauna has been with LCentral for more than 2 years and is due to progress to the 4th level in coming October. I supposed there are better enrichment centers out there but I am pleased with LCentral. Lil Shauna is now able to blend words (though forgetful about her rules at times) and read independently, if she wanted to. Most of the time, she lacks the confident or it is simply much easier if mummy or pappy can do the reading for her.

She is also doing Chinese enrichment with her school and some Chinese enrichment class with Felicia. Truth be told, I do not placed as much emphasize on Chinese. It is definitely not an easy language but sadly, I think Chinese is indeed losing its importance in Singapore. I am very glad that Lil Shauna adores her Chinese enrichment teacher and looks forward to her enrichment class every Saturday morning. I thought her Chinese has improved tremendously as compared to previosuly. She speaks Mandarin to Popo now and doesn't tried to shut me up when I communicate to her in Chinese, like how she used to. She still thinks that she is an English though. LOL.

We have dropped music after struggling for a term and unlikely to pick it back in the near future. We don't see her being gifted in music and it is too painful to struggle in it especially when time is so limited and precious. She has been swimming with Uncle Shawn for over a year and can now do front-crawl continuously for short distant and is learning back stroke now. Progress may be slow but nothing beats taking swimming classes and monkeying with her cousins. She is also taking art classes with her cousins at the CC across Centris, largely to burn time. I tried to check her interest on other fun enrichment like dancing or gym classes but she simply isn’t keen and I see no point in forcing her for those.

Her parents are working hard as well to perform their parental volunteer duties. It has been almost 3 months since we started and we have clocked 7 out of the required 40 hours. I think we shouldn't have problem fulfilling the 40 hours. We aren’t sure if West Grove Primary School is indeed the right school, definitely not the best but I think the neighbourhood schools are all about there.

Mummy is busy searching for Maths enrichment for Lil Shauna currently. She will drop her art classes when we find one. Mummy has been busy reading forum and will be bringing Lil Shauna for assessment (required by most centers) beforedeciding on a suitable one for her. I hope to find one that sheenjoys. I may be greedy but think that learning at their age should be interesting so that we don't kill their interest. WithMaths in place, I think I have completed the picture. 

The 2nd kid always get it worse. That is even when Daddy Lim had been reminding me way before Lil Isaac comes along that he should get to attend similar classes that jiejie attended. Unfortunately, humans are both forgetful and lazy.

Lil Isaac did get to attend 2 terms with My Little Gym and that is almost all. Poor boy. Well, he started swimming with thejiejies and Uncle Shawn a couple of months back and mummy is looking at some gym class that he can start attending again. After jiejie’s scare with music, I am not the most keen to send him to one. Maybe I am believing that the music genes doesn't flow in our blood.

Academically, we will be starting him on phonics with LCentralwhen he turns 3 in October. Lil Isaac doesn't have jiejie’s flare for English. He hasn't even learnt all the 26 uppercase letters and I need not mentioned about lower cases or the sound. We will continue to try to introduce more letters to him but I hopeLCentral could help him in more ways. Popo think that we are wasting $ by sending him so early to phonics classes when he couldn't even speak clearly but I think it will be worth the investment.

I don't have gifted kids. I am not trying to hothouse my kids too.I only hope that by preparing them early and giving them strong foundations, they will be more confident when they enter the academic mad rush. Roooaaarrrr…

Mummy Lim

Trauma

When we fetched the kids yday evening, we were told that Lil Shauna's left earring was stuck in her ear lobe. It probably took place these few days cos I clean her ear on Sunday and her ears were alright. 

On closer inspect, I can hardly see the stud on her left ear lobe. When I tried to push it out, her tears flow like water and she was screaming bloody murder. We decided to bring her to the GP. I supposed some numbing cream would help.

It was almost 8pm and I found an empty clinic in JP and it was probably a wrong choice. When we entered the clinic, there wasn't a single patient. The doctor was sitting at the counter, typing in front of the computer and the clinic nurse sitting at the waiting area watching tv. How weird??!!

In the consultation room, we were told that the doctor had no numbing cream in the clinic and suggested that we headed to the A&E instead. I was clearly reluctant. It was afterall such a small matter. The doctor didn't seem very interested and attempted weakly to ask Lil Shauna if she wanted a jab to numb her ear instead. He was quick to tell us that he couldn't do anything when Lil Shauna rejected the jab. I think he just didn't wanted to handle a crying and uncooperative kid. In the end, he gave us prescription to buy numbing cream from the pharmacy and told us that we should be able to get the stud out after the cream takes effect.

Back home, we waited 50 mins for the cream to take effect before trying again. I don't know if it is bcos the cream didn't work or Lil Shauna had such low threshold for pain but we were unsuccessful. We tried 3 times, each time, she cried and struggled and yelled murder. We decided that it was time to hit the hospital.

We tried West Point Hospital to find that the doctor went out for an emergency case. We couldn't escepe NUH Children A&E at the end of the day and I dread the wait.

Fortunately, we didn't have to wait that long, probably about an hour. At the triage, the nurse told us that they have a numbing cream that may work. Otherwise, they had to sedate her. What? Sedate her for that some tiny earring? Sob.

By God's grace, we didn't have to sedate her. The PD also decided against using the numbing cream, something about it being not safe for ear. She simply checked the earring and forced it out, something that we could have done on our own if it is not the fact that Lil Shauna cried buckets each time we attempted. 

The whole procedure took less than 5 mins. The PD said that the numbing cream probably had worked, she was also more skillful having dealt with numerous similar cases and the parents probably wouldn't be as daring and forceful as her. Lil Shauna didn't cry when the PD was working on her. She looked like she was on the verge but didnt. She also didnt struggle like when we tried. She said that it was more painful than I tried. Really? 

Anyway, we were just so glad that the whole ordeal was over. We were given antiseptic cream and it was almost 11pm when we left the hospital. Lil Shauna decided that she wanted the other earring off too. I have no objections. By the way, the PD is really nice and very pretty. Hehe.

When I was finally tucking her to bed, she asked me if she is going to Centris today. She was very excited to share her battle story and scar with the girls. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Have to Speak Proper English

Lil Isaac woke up from his nap. Daddy Lim was napping in a different room with the door closed. Lil Isaac didn't realise that Pappy was back from work.

ML: Didi, go and call Pappy to wake up (direct translation from mandarin).

Obediently, I saw him lugged his nono and walked to the telephone at home, picked it up and said into the phone, "Pappy, wake up!".

Muahahahahaha. It is my fault. 

Mummy Lim

Poor iPad, Poor Mummy

Our iPad has been with us for about 2 years and it still looked pretty used. The kids used it mainly for watching YouTube and playing games. Mummy used it to watch her Korean drama. 

It has "fallen" multiple times and still served us well until yday. Lil Isaac dropped it for like the 265th time and the screen blacked out and it never came on. Sob.

Mummy tried charging it and connecting it to the computer but nothing happened. The black screen continue to stare back at me. There also don't seem to be any legitimate Apple Service Center in Singapore. Arrgghhh.. Luckily mummy still has her Galaxy Tab to watch her Korean drama.

We have decided that we will send it to some "ah beng" hp/ iPad service center and see if it is worth saving. If it cost is an arm, we will see a mini iPad at home soon. Muahahaha. 

Mummy Lim

Happy Teachers' Day

Teachers' Day is on coming Friday, 6 Sep. The kids' school is closed and they are having half day on Thursday. We haven't bought any Teachers' Day presents. My bad. I was procrastinating and it so happened that I have to work late yday and today. So effectively, we have no time to buy present. When Daddy Lim and the kids came to pick me up, I suggested that we head to the petrol kiosk mart to buy some chocolates for the teachers.

ML: Baby, we haven't bought anything for your teachers. Shall we head to the petrol kiosk to buy something?

LS: But I already gave something to my teacher.

ML: Huh? What did you give to your teacher?

LS: The big seashell lor. I gave that to Mrs Neo (form teacher).

ML: Muahahahahaha.

We picked up that seashell when we visited Tanjong Rhu @ Sentosa a few weeks back. I can imagine all the useless stuff that pre-school teachers received on teachers' day. Lol.

Mummy Lim

Her Very First Time

We were in the ABC market and were almost finishing dinner. Daddy Lim was carrying a sleeping Lil Isaac in his arms and asked if jiejie could have to buy him

a coke from the drink stall. It is not child labor lah, we were only one table away. I thought Lil Shauna would reject the request but she gamely took it up.

DL: Baby, can you help pappy buy a coke?

LS: Where?

DL: (Pointing to the drink stall one table away) Just there.

LS: But I duno how to say.

DL: You tell uncle, "Uncle, 我要一罐coke."

LS: Ok (she took the $$ and walked to the stall)

DL: Don't forget to say "thank you" and take the change!

Lil Shauna waited for her turn and returned triumphantly with the coke and the change. While she was ordering, her parents were so touched and closed to tears, busy taking picture while hawking over her to make sure that everything is fine. 

She did great. We are so proud of her.

Mummy Lim

ABC Market

We went to the ABC Hawker Center for dinner just now. It had been a long while since I visited a hawker center. When we dine outside, we usually have our meals at food court, fast food joints or restaurant. Mummy was drooling over the wide selection of food. I saw satay, clay pot rice, indian rojak, fried carrot cake, fried fish bee hoon soup, roti prata... Food that aren't usually available in food court. I was walking around with Lil Shauna looking for food to order. I would be sharing with the kids.

ML: Baby, what would you like to eat?

LS: Fishball noodles.

ML: ...

With all the good food and we ate fishball noodles. -.o" It is not easy being a mummy.

Mummy Lim

Arty-Farty

A friend posted pix of her visit to Art Garden @ Singapore Arts Museum on FB and it looks good. So we brought the kids there yday. We were there with my bro's family and ah yee. Ah yee likes this kind of arty-farty stuff. Muahaha. She was also very keen to visit the Singapore Night Festival that took place in that area in the night.

For our kids, it was their time ever to the museum. You can tell that, other than ah yee, there is no artistic genes in our blood. Lol.

The place is pretty cool. There are a total of 6 theme rooms. However, they are actually more suited for kids 4 and above. There are craft work in 3 of the rooms and jiejie totally enjoyed them. Lil Isaac's idea of craft is mad scribbling. 

After the Art Garden, we went for dinner and continued with the Night Festival without my brother's family. There were a great number of performances but the kids were tired by then and we didn't visit many of them as plenty of walking is required,  from one venue to another and both kids were fighting over the stroller.

I think we would like to do such again next year. By then, the kids are one year older and I think they would enjoy the art more.

Mummy Lim

Play, Play, Play

With the boy back on track, it is again play time again during the weekends! He is still grouchy at times, which is normal with kids post recovery. Otherwise, he's very much up and jumping.

Daddy Lim is on duty today. So we came to the indoor playground, Tickle, to waste the day away. The kids are having a blast with their cousins. We were here since 1.30pm and they are still playing. 

Now that the boy is older, I can simply sit and stone at "rest area". Muahahaha. I have been stoning for the past 3 hours and counting. Haiz, should have downloaded some Korean drama to work. 

Mummy Lim