Orientation Day and First Week of School

Orientation Day, 28th December 2012
We gathered in one of the classrooms for a speech and briefing by the principal and teachers. The briefing lasted more than half an hour and the boy was getting restless on his seat, doing nothing and not really understanding what was being said. After that, we adjourned to his classroom to get the forms to be filled and passed up on that day. There are only 2 classes, with about 30 students in each class. He was very clingy to me. Don’t even want to sit on his own. Kept squeezing to share my seat. And you know little kids’ chairs aren’t very big. He kept telling me he's very bored. And when it was time to go home, he didn’t even want to look at his teacher to say goodbye. Sigh... good luck to his teachers. hahaha

First Day, 2nd January 2013

~ new trolley bag for didi while jie jie's using her old one ~

Both kids are in the morning session. They have to wake up at 6am. Although they’ve been waking up very late during the holidays, it was fuss-free waking them up. *phew* And I hope it’ll continue to be so. :-) This week, PaPa will be the driver. Their school start at the same time, so we dropped jie jie first. I stayed with her today, just to make sure it’s safe enough, being 20 minutes early in school. There are quite many students already. So I think from tomorrow onwards, I don’t have to accompany her anymore. This absent-minded girl of mine, I asked her to pack her bag yesterday but she forgot to bring the writing books. She only brought the texts and workbooks. *shake head*

As for didi, PaPa hung around while they were having assembly. After didi has gone into the classroom, he came to fetch me to the school. When we reached, the teacher was showing them the way to the canteen, which is quite far away. Then back to the classroom and it was about time for recess. At the canteen, I had to remind him to wash his hands before and after eating. After he’s done, I asked him to show me the way back to his class. And he just walked off, without taking his water bottle and snack box. :-| He’s still not familiar with the place, got lost trying to get back to class. hehehe We went home after he’s gone back to the class. Traffic was super crazy when we wanted to fetch the kids back. I guess it’s already expected on the first week of school. Hopefully it’ll be much better next week when I take over driver duty.

It’s just the first day of school, he’s already had a minor mishap. He slipped and fell, right after assembly. Made his school shoes and pants very dirty. The floor was slippery, a bit wet with algae patches, it wasn’t because he ran or something.

Second Day, 3rd January 2013
We just left jie jie at the gate and she walked into school herself. We stayed with didi till he went into his classroom. Checked on him during recess time. They were out a little early so we went to look for him in the canteen. He was sitting down, eating his snacks. Thankfully he wasn’t one of those kids running around, playing there. That place is quite dangerous as it’s hilly and uneven. We left after he’s gone back to class. Picking them up after school was uneventful, except for the horrible traffic. It’s quite difficult to find a place to stop, so can forget about parking the car. Looks like I’ll have to bring Kakak along every time I fetch them to and fro school.

Third Day, 4th January 2013
Traffic was much better. I guess most parents didn’t have to send or stay with their kids anymore. Didi is now in a different class. Apparently they had a mini test yesterday, which he didn’t mention at all when we asked him about school. I don’t know what is the criteria for streaming. Will find out if I get the chance to speak to his teachers.

PaPa went to check on him during recess time. He remembered to take his snack box back after eating but didn’t even bring out his water tumbler. *aiyo* And he requested to call me from the public phone. The public phone really fascinates him.

My driver duty has started as PaPa had something to attend to at work. Friday’s traffic is much better than usual as the afternoon sessions will come in much later. I managed to find parking at both schools. The only killer is the weather. It’s scorching hot!

Didi hasn’t gotten his text books yet. Fees also not collected. I don’t think they do anything much in school. From the minimal information I got from him, the test they did the day before was on alphabets and maths. He said he can answer them (don’t know how true loh). As for jie jie, she’s got homework since Day 1. So she’s very envious of her “very free” didi. hahaha

School Events

Since I have not been updating the kids’ activities for the past few months, here are some event highlights, from recent to old, for my record. :-)
 
CE : Annual Concert & Graduation Night, 4 Nov 2012
This is our 6th year attending the kindergarten’s concert (3 for jie jie and 3 for didi). And it’s our last year… till our grandchildren’s turn, I guess. hahaha This year’s theme was “People of Asia”. Didi participated in the percussion (playing the castanets) and a dance.

~ percussion performance by the 5- and 6-year-olds ~

~ receiving his graduation certificate from the Director ~

~ Mongolian Chopstick Dance ~

He received a prize for getting 2nd in the colouring contest. It’s a Zebra double wall mug, which he started using the next morning. :-)

~ 2nd prize for colouring contest ~

~ singing the finale songs with the teachers ~

XY : Hari Anugerah Kecemerlangan, 9 Nov 2012
On the last day of school, she attended the morning session as it was Awards Day. She received a certificate and RM20 cash voucher (from a bookstore) for getting 2nd in class.

~ a proud moment ~

XY : Ceriaton 2012, 22 Sept 2012
XY’s school organised Program Ceriaton to increase school funds. She was given a booklet to collect donation. She has anti-social parents so she only managed to fill up less than half a page (with names of close family members only :p). In conjuction with that programme, the students had a performance. XY and her schoolmates sang a Chinese song, with actions -- 幸福的脸 (xing fu de lian).

~ performing a Chinese song ~

CE : Sports Day, 15 Jul 2012
CE is in the red house. His kindy organises Sports Day once every two years. Previously, he was in the blue house. His event is called Hopping Ducks. It involved carrying a ball in between the legs and hopping in a sack. His team was last so he got a bronze medal. There were only 3 teams in the games so everyone got a medal. :-)

XY : Sports Day, 30 Jun 2012
Standard 1 to 3 students played games instead of participating in track events. XY’s class event involved moving the ball with a hula hoop and walking with the bean bag on the head. Her team got 3rd place.

10 minus 1

My little girl is no longer very little anymore. She celebrated her 9th birthday 2 days ago. One year short of being a decade old. haha As usual, we had a simple celebration at home. We have a (slightly) bigger group this time because Yeh Yeh and Mah Mah are here. Food was all bought except fried noodles. We had Subway sandwiches, Kenny Rogers roasters, cocktail sausages and satay. 7 adults and 3 kids couldn't finish all these food.

food to feed an army? :D

Subway platter - bought 3 foot-long, free 1 foot-long

After the kids have finished their meal, they played Wii games. I didn’t prepare any special activities for them, so what else is there for them to do? I didn't pump any balloons so no decorations and no balloons to play with. At least they won’t run around and make too much noise. :-)

XY chose pandan layer cake with dessicated coconut

sing-song session

After eating the cake, XY opened her presents. We bought an ambulance Lego set for her, which she chose herself. CH and family gave her a tutu while Yeh Yeh and Mah Mah gave her an angpow. Po Po and Zi Mai Po also gave her angpows which I took back from Penang in June. She even got a present (stickers and stationeries) from her piano teacher when she came for lesson yesterday. So sweet and thoughtful of her.

big princess and little princess

Her Four-Eyed Journey Has Started

We finally brought XY for a refraction test on 12th May (yes, this is a very backdated post :p). I know she is shortsighted (she can't see the whiteboard in class clearly) but didn't realise it has become quite serious. She now needs glasses as her power is 175 for the right eye and 200 for the left. She has slight astigmatism in both eyes too.

The next day, we brought her to an optical shop to make a pair of spectacles. There aren't many choices of plastic frames and half-frames for children so we chose a metal frame for her. As for the lenses, we used the Myopia Control lenses, as suggested by the optometrist we saw in ISEC.

'sei ngan mui'

Since 20th May, she has officially joined the four-eyed gang in the family. After collecting the glasses, I asked her to start wearing them, to get used to it. For the lenses to be effective in reducing her shortsightedness, she's advised to wear them frequently. She seems to be very excited about wearing glasses. Keep comparing her vision with and without glasses. One moment she'll say "I can't see this/that" and then the next moment, "Now I can see already" as she lifts them up and then put them back on. *mommy shakes head*

She’s been wearing glasses for a month already. And she seems to have gotten used to it. There are still incidents where she got squashed in the face when playing (rough) with didi and the nose piece got bent. Just got to keep reminding them not to play like that with her spectacles on.

The Temporary Kakak

Before I continue with my post, here's wishing all mothers out there :

Happy Mother's Day!

I wonder if the kids can keep their promise of being extremely well-behaved just for the day.
:-)

The kids' exams are over... phew, what a relief. Luckily CE's exam was 1 week before XY's so I had time to coach them individually. Revision with CE was quite a breeze as his syllabus wasn't a lot. As for XY, although this was the mid-year exam where all the subjects were tested (8 altogether), I didn't spend that much time revising with her. We totally left out Moral (books not given back by teacher) and just browsed through PJK (only 1 writing book to look through). Anyway, these subjects are not calculated in the overall marks so I concentrated more on the 4 major subjects. :p

There's another reason why I didn't spend much time doing revision with XY. I was busy being the temporary Kakak. We gave Kakak a 2-week holiday back to her kampung as she wanted to attend her BIL's wedding. She's been with us for 4 years already and this is the third time she's gone back. Actually house chores are not difficult work, they are just time consuming. But I've got plenty of help. XY helped with sweeping and mopping the floor, using the magic mop. She also helped to hang the clothes sometimes. I only needed to iron the kids' school uniform coz hubby ironed his own working clothes. I rarely cooked, just a few times of simple noodle soup for lunch. We ate out during weekends and for dinner on weekdays, we "catered" from SIL. :D She was so kind to offer to cook for us. We ate at their house most of the time (I don't even have to clean up after that as she's got a helper) and packed food home for hubby (he's usually back from work quite late). When Kakak came back last Saturday (5th May), I happily passed all the work back to her. Ahhh... back to my blissful life.

Oh yes, while the kids were digging for stationeries for their exam, they found some "treasure" in the drawer. I've kept them there and forgot all about it. They are brand new, box unopened. Hubby won them in a credit card contest last year. I'm putting them up for sale. It's great as a gift for your little ones. XY likes to listen to it. She's learning a new Mandarin song (还是要幸福) by Hebe. I've printed out the hanyu pinyin lyrics, together with the Chinese characters, to help her pick up the language. Anyone interested to be their new owners?

Apple iPod Shuffle 2GB (4th generation) - BLUE
Price : RM109 (retail price : RM169)

Apple iPod Shuffle 2GB (3rd generation) - BLACK
Price : RM99

Long Disappearance

*cough cough cough* Gosh, so much dust and cobwebs in here. Some of you might have thought I've abandoned this blog or retired from blogging... or something. :-) Well, I don't want to bore you with the excuses. So let's just have some updates. Hmmm... where should I start? Okay, in some sort of chronological order :

CNY 2012
The journey back to our hometowns were rather smooth and uneventful, thankfully. As usual, it's feasting non-stop and gathering with family, friends and relatives during the festive season.

We attended the CNY potluck party in CE's kindy. I brought sausages and nuggets (too lazy to prepare anything creative :p). Every year, they have lion dance, which never fail to fascinate the kids. The lions were very playful. So when CE put his hand near its mouth to feed it oranges, it "bit" him. I think his hand was pulled a bit too hard till it hurt so the silly boy cried a little. hahaha

~ CE got "bitten" by the lion ~

St. John Ambulance
XY was assigned to join St. John Ambulance and Maths & Science Club for her co-curricular (Ko-K) activities. If we don't agree, we can ask the teacher for a change but I think it's good to learn some first aid knowledge in St. John. I had a hard time looking for her uniform. The smallest sized t-shirt they have is so big on her. The smallest sized pants were too loose. I bought them anyway and the pants had to be altered. Even the belt was too long and I had to cut it myself. She has Ko-K once a week and it alternates between uniform units and clubs.

Valentine's Day
Received a bouquet of flowers from hubby. It didn't turn out to be a surprise coz when hubby called around noon, I didn't mention anything so he had to ask me about it. They haven't delivered it, although they said it'll be delivered in the morning. So hubby had to call them to check. Turned out they can't find my place and a taxi guy actually delivered the flowers at 4+pm. Apparently the delivery fella sub-contracted the job to him. o.O

~ a dozen of red roses ~

Slithering visitor
SIL's maid saw a little snake, about 1 foot long, in my kitchen. It must have entered through the small opening underneath the door. She quickly grabbed the broom and whacked it. It was hurt but still alive, squirming on the spot. Both the maids were scared, so I continued to whack it till it stopped moving. I was totally freaked out (thus forgot about snapping pictures :p) but someone had to do it, right? Hubby was out running errands and when he came back, he got the honour to scoop the "dead body" into a plastic bag. Afraid that the mommy snake was nearby, I called the Fire Department to lodge a report. They came in their big red truck, all ready with the snake catching tools. When we told them the snake is dead, they took the plastic bag and wanted to leave. We had to ask them to check the compound to make sure there were no snakes hiding around. One of the men said that the little snake must have been catching a rat and followed it to the house. o.O Later in the day, I bought sulphur powder and sprinkled it around the backyard.

Surprise for mom
In early March, I went back to my hometown alone for my mom's birthday, without telling her in advance. I called my brother that morning itself, to pick me up from the airport. Didn't want to tell my brothers earlier, in case they accidentally leaked my plan. hehehe And it worked! She was VERY surprised when she saw me. Mom's birthday fell on a Sat this year. I actually bought AA's tickets in May last year during their sales. I only spent 1 night at home but it was really great to spend quality time with her as when I'm back with the kids, I'm usually distracted by occupied with them.

Kids' health
Didi had fever on the Thursday before the 1-week school holiday. He was coughing badly. Paediatrician said it's lung infection. He was feverish for almost a week. Luckily it was during the school holiday, so he had a good rest at home.

2 weeks later, it was jie jie's turn. She started having fever on Mon (26/3). It started with runny nose, then cough. Her fever lasted for 5 days. During that time, I brought her to the clinic 3 times. The first antibiotics didn't work and had to be changed before completion, to the same type as didi's. So I guess they were attacked by the same bacteria (lung infection), although 2 weeks apart. She was absent from school for a week. She also missed her first school outing (a full day outing to Pusat Sains Negara, chocolate factory and don't-know-where-else) on Saturday. She was really disappointed.

Last Wednesday, it's back to didi's turn. :( He's got ear infection, both ears. Complained of ear pain on Wed night. PaPa came home at 11+pm and brought him to the hospital (most clinics were closed already) coz we don't have any medicine at home. He was still in pain after putting the ear drop so I gave him paracetamol. The next morning, brought him to our regular paediatrician coz I don't really trust the doctor at the A&E. Although he didn't have any fever, the doctor started him on antibiotics coz he's usually more aggressive when it comes to ear infection. Luckily he didn't complain of pain after that.

Photobook
I've just received my second photobook. I bought 2 vouchers in Sept 2010. After procrastinating for more than a year, I completed didi's book in Jan and got it just before the CNY break. I was busy slowwwwwly working on jie jie's book last month. Finally it was done and uploaded for printing just before the expiry date (end of Mac). :p

~ from birth till 3 years old ~

~ from birth till 4 years old ~

~ inside XY's photobook ~

Back To School

Just into the 2nd week of school, didi had to skip class due to health reason. Sigh... He was the stronger one during the school holidays. Apart from having mild running nose, he was overall quite healthy. On the other hand, jie jie got sick (with fever) twice in December. But last Thursday, his eyes were swollen when I picked him up from kindy. Brought him to see the paediatrician in the evening as his condition got worse. Doctor suspected that he was bitten by some insect and was having some kind of allergy reaction. So I let him skip school the next day to rest at home as he was also having running nose and cough. Then red patches/dots (non-bulging) started to appear on his ears, hands and neck, then body and legs. But the funny thing is, the patches/dots will appear, then disappear a few hours later. And reappear again. The cycle kept repeating. It was like that throughout the weekend. When the swelling around the eyes subsided a bit, it was replaced with big red circles. He looked like he was punched in the eyes.

~ look terrible hor? picture taken on Thursday, 5:21pm ~

Then yesterday evening, he developed fever after we came back from lunch. Luckily it subsided after a dose of paracetamol. That's why I let him attend school today. The red patches/dots are gone. I'm praying hard the kids will recover fully for CNY. Yup, jie jie's also having a flu. :-( With all the "nice" food and travelling, it's going to be tough if they're not in tip-top condition.

As for the back-to-school routine, didi adjusted to it very well. He didn't have any problems waking up in the mornings. Anyway, he rarely had such problems previously. On the first day of school, I brought him to the gate, waved him goodbye and he walked in himself. This is his 3rd year in that kindy and I would expect him to be independent. When I picked him up, his teacher said he was well-behaved. She was worried at first as his cousin brother (who was his companion there last year) has graduated from kindy.

As for jie jie, I find that her honeymoon years are over. Now that she's in Std 3, there are more homework, but I'm sure nothing compared to those from Chinese schools. I was so surprised when she got her timetable on the first day of school. I remember they took about 2 weeks to give out the timetable when she was in Std 1.

She's been selected to be a prefect. I think they are on probation now before they officially become one next year. She'll still wear the same uniform but will be given a badge and tie. Some of her duties are to "take care" of the students in the classroom during the teacher's absence and before school starts, when they line up to go to their respective classes. She'll have an earlier break coz she has duties when the others are having their break. That means she'll have less time to finish up her work in school and I hope she won't miss any lessons.

CNY is just around the corner. Here's wishing you a prosperous, healthy and happy Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai and happy holidays! If you're travelling during the festive season, have a safe journey!

Goodbye 2011

How time flies! 2011 zoomed by so fast without us realising it. I wonder why time seemed to crawl slower when we're younger. Is it because we can't wait to grow up but we seriously don't look forward to grow old? hehehe I'm very thankful it's been a good year for us. As long as nothing bad happened and everything's smooth sailing, it's indeed a good year. I hope we'll be blessed with another good year in 2012 and thereafter.

~ the kids with MV's Christmas decoration ~

Here are some updates for the month of December :

4th (Sunday) ~ Went to watch Puss In Boots in 3D. This time, CE was okay wearing the 3D glasses. And I think he enjoyed the show as much as the popcorn. Coz he didn't come and disturb me after he's finished his popcorn. :D

After we reached home, XY complained of stomachache in the evening. It got worse the next day. She also had fever, diarrhea and vomiting. Brought her to see the paediatrician and he suspected viral infection, not food poisoning. Since she couldn't really take solid food and she's been vomiting, I made the Oral Dehydration Salts water for her. And she really hated it, both the original and orange flavour. I tried a packet myself, it tasted fine. It was really difficult to get her to finish a cup (in a day) and I had to bribe and force. Luckily she got much better after a day and her appetite was back to normal 2 days later.

8th (Thursday) ~ I won 2 tickets to watch Jacky Cheung's concert via an sms contest. SIL was very kind to offer to babysit the kids so hubby and I can go. This is the 2nd time we went for his concert. The 1st was more than 10 years ago, I think. I took the train to meet up with hubby at the stadium. It was an awesome performance with great dance moves. Jacky can dance and sing fast songs 2 to 3 songs continuously. Very good stamina (for his age hehehe). I sat next to 2 ladies (in late 20s or early 30s) and we acted like teenagers -- shouted his name out loud and moved the blinking wands to the rhythm of his songs. *giggle giggle* He sang for 3 hours with minimal rest in between. The concert ended before 11:30pm. We were stuck in traffic for quite some time after exiting the parking lot and it was already past 12 midnight when we picked the kids up. Many thanks to SIL for the opportunity to go 'pak thor' with hubby. Ever since XY's arrival, we've not been on a proper date.

~ inside the stadium ~

11th (Sunday) ~ We finally decided to get a second-hand piano for XY. As we do not know how long her interest will last, we didn't want to invest heavily on a new one. She chose the piano herself. She prefer Kawai over Yamaha, maybe because she's been playing on a Kawai (CH's) all this while. We got her a Kawai BL-31, about 32 years old. It was delivered on the 13th. Her teacher was asking if we'd like to register her for the Grade 1 practical exam next year (between June and August). After getting her teacher's feedback on her progress, I've decided to let her take the next one in March 2013. By then, she would've learnt for 2 years. There's no rush, better give her more time, less stress for her (and me).

21st (Wednesday) ~ After the pest control service, we went to Tesco for sundry shopping. Then lunch at McD and the kids played at the indoor playground. Since Giant is just nearby, we continued 'shopping' again as I couldn't get all the things I wanted from Tesco.

26th (Monday) ~ I had a gathering with 3 of my secondary schoolmates. We had dinner at my place. So nice of them to come all the way (1 from Seremban, 2 from KL) to my ulu town. It was really great catching up with old friends over good food. I haven't met L since she left school after Form 5. We had BBQ marmite crabs (*yummy yum yum* which A brought from Seremban), satay and home-cooked fried bihun. XY was very excited that night and kept my friends entertained. Actually, she was over-excited till she got out of control thus getting a good scolding from me the next day. The girls commented that she's totally opposite from me as I'm a very quiet person. The funny thing is, PaPa's also a very quiet person. So where did she get this outgoing trait from? hmmmm...

28th (Wednesday) ~ Brought the kids for a haircut. School will reopen soon and it should still look neat enough for Chinese New Year. XY agreed to cut her hair short (not tie-able anymore). Wanted to get a new school bag (without trolley) for XY as her classroom is located on the 1st floor next year. There wasn't much choice and she didn't like the ones we saw. So didn't manage to get the bag yet. To split the weight, I got her a sling bag too.

XY fell sick (again) the next day -- fever and runny nose. Luckily her fever only lasted a day. Actually, CE and I are also recovering from runny nose. Hopefully everyone will be fully recovered before school starts.

Proud Moments

So fast 2 weeks of school holidays have passed. The kids have been fully occupied so far. They attended a Science Camp organised by CE's kindy last week (for 3 days). Their grandparents were here for a week, just went back on Wednesday. During their visit, the kids have been playing at their cousin's place from morning till night, with a break during naptime.

Now for some backdated events, CE had his Annual Concert cum Graduation Night on 12th Nov. He participated in 2 performances -- percussion and dance. It was a big relief that he didn't play a fool on the stage (remember his teacher's complaint during practice?). In fact, he was very serious with his dance moves -- very serious in shaking his bum bum. hahaha He seemed to be really enjoying himself on stage. It was also CH's (my nephew) graduation night. He was chosen to give a speech in Bahasa Malaysia. And he did it fluently and clearly. *clap clap clap*

* shake shake shake *

On 19th Nov, we went to XY's school for the Excellence Awards Ceremony. She got first in class and also a prize for Best Subject: English. She had to be in school by 7:30am so PaPa sent her to school first. Last year, all of us went at the same time and wasted time waiting for the VIPs to arrive. Then we had to endure the boring speeches. So this time, I thought we could skip all that and reach just before the prize-giving event starts. Unfortunately, they were ahead of schedule. By the time we reached the venue, she was about to go for her second round. I was just in time to take her picture. *phew* Just like last year, she received a certificate and a RM20 cash voucher for each of the award.

~ just in time to capture this ~

Their Favourite Toys

The kids love to draw on the drawing board. I think they use it (almost) everyday. This is the second Fisher-Price (FP) drawing board we bought as the first one was spoilt already -- the eraser got a bit stuck. Jie jie loves to draw on it while didi loves to write alphabets and numbers. Sometimes they take turns to give each other questions like maths and fill in the blanks. We've bought a non-branded one before but the FP one is definitely more durable.

~ setting and answering his own 'fill in the blanks' question ~

Another favourite toy is the alphabets from the alphabets mat. This is one of didi's favourite. He likes to build words with them. If I'm not mistaken, he started having this interest when Word World was first introduced on PHDC. He also likes to use the Jenga blocks (wood block game) to build words. They are just not interested to play Jenga the "right" way.

~ building words with foam alphabets and Jenga blocks ~

When he was still a crawling baby, I arranged them at one corner of the house as his play area. I even used the alphabets to decorate the wall during his birthday this year. 1 toy, so many usage. What a fantastic investment. :-)

~ didi at 13 months old, playing on the colourful mat ~

The push car is also a big favourite. Although they've outgrown it (their legs are too long for the small car), they still like to zoom around the house with it. I redeemed this with Anakku points before didi was born. It was in good condition when jie jie was using it. We kept it in the store room till didi was old enough to ride it. And the "buffalo" broke the steering wheel within days of playing. o.O So it can't control the wheels anymore.

~ so big already but still want to sit on the small car ~

Happy Birthday, Princess!

Today is ah girl's 8th birthday. She's 130.9cm tall, weighing 23.05kg (measured on 6/7). Looks like she'll soon be taller than me. :-) We had a mini celebration yesterday night with a simple dinner at home, together with Po Po and BIL and family. Po Po came to KL to attend a wedding dinner last weekend and she'll be staying till Saturday. The menu was chosen by XY and mostly very unhealthy. hehehe We had KFC, pizza from Pizza Hut, satay and Kakak's fried noodles. As usual, we ordered too much food and had to clear the leftovers today.

~ balloons decoration requested by birthday girl ~

After dinner, she opened her presents. Chik Chik and Sen Sen gave her a Swatch watch and a tiara. My kids are so lucky. Chik Chik and Sen Sen always shower them with very nice gifts. Didi got a blue Swatch for his birthday, now jie jie received a pink one. CH already has an orange one. Wow... we've got a bunch of Swatch kids. :D

As promised, we bought her a bicycle. Brought her to the shop on Saturday to choose. I asked about Raleigh and LeRun. The guy said Raleigh is of better quality. Decided on BMX instead of mountain bike coz I think a higher handle is more suitable. Moreover, it's just for city riding, the mountain bike may be underutilised. There're only 2 colours -- white and blue (don't have pink as there's no market for it) and she chose blue. :-) I also gave her a "surprise" gift. I wrapped up the stamper pen set which I bought in Hong Kong Disneyland 2 years ago. I've kept it aside and almost forgot about it. Luckily the ink hasn't dried up. It's a surprise coz she doesn't remember it at all. She also received angpows from Po Po and Zi Mai Po (Po Po's younger sister).

~ Raleigh Laguna ~

~ posing with her cake and presents ~

This year, I managed to convince her to get a normal cake, without fancy pictures on them. I really don't like those sugar sheets. I usually remove them before the kids eat the cake. She chose a blueberry cream cake (one of our favourites) and requested for a number "8" candle. Easy peasy.

~ 'tai kar cher' blowing the candles ~

Today is also Slavery Bliss' 4th Blogoversary. Although I've not updated much recently, I hope to keep this blog alive. Through the years, it has given me many great friends. Really appreciate the friendship we have and even though some of us don't blog that often nowadays, I hope to keep in touch in other ways (I probably have to be more active in FB :p). Blogging is really helpful for someone who has a terrible memory like me coz in the near future, I can read back about the kids and my life.

Boring Weekend

Didi was sick (red throat with fever) since Thursday and he's skipped school for 2 days. Then the next day, my throat started feeling "tight". As we have 2 unwell people at home, our food were mainly soupy and a bit bland. So guai-guai stayed home to "recuperate" over the weekend -- no jalan-jalan (shopping) and no makan-makan (feasting). Moreover, the chauffeur's away on business trip. :D

I suppose didi's almost fully recovered. His fever subsided on Friday and he doesn't complain of sore throat during mealtime (except when eating fruits, which I find really weird coz he likes fruits). I'm also feeling much better already.

I brought XY to her school to collect her report card on Saturday morning. She was so shy in front of her teachers -- hiding behind me and just giggle giggle when teacher asked her questions. o.O Haiyo... I really beh tahan when she "acts" timid in front of people she's familiar with. If with strangers, I can understand lah. *shake head*

Her class teacher, who's also her Math teacher commented that she :
* is quiet in class (that's shocking news to me! hahaha).
* is focused during lessons.
* will try to finish up her homework in class.

Her English teacher said "she's good" BUT she "tends to rush through her work", thus making spelling mistakes. She also stresses the need for checking her work before passing them up.

I'm so relieved the teachers didn't have any complaints about her. I'm very happy with her results and behaviour in school. Hopefully she'll keep it up and do just as excellent in the year-end exam. Deep down, I'm very proud of her but I try not to show it too much. Coz I know she'll become big-headed if we praised her too much. Well, there's always room for improvement, right? hehehe But of course, we'll reward her accordingly. She wanted a bicycle so we're planning to get it for her (as a birthday gift as well). I bet if she has another request, PaPa will comply if it's not unreasonable. Have to start planning for her birthday which is in 2 weeks' time. Nothing much to plan actually, just got to decide on the cake and menu for dinner. We usually just have a simple celebration at home with BIL and family.

Her Version

XY wrote a 'story' of her Sports Day and showed it to me this morning. I think she did quite a good job (ahem... syiok sendiri, obviously :D) although there were some spelling and grammatical mistakes.

In case you can't see it clearly (too colourful for your eyes hahaha), here's the original script :
Today was sports day.
Papa sent me to school.
Me and my friends lined up in front of my class.
My class teacher brought us to the field.
We waited till it was finally our turn.
We lined up and walked to the starting line.
We sat on the soft grass as we waited for a while.
After a while, it was time to play.
After the others played, It was time for me and my partner, Vinutana to play.
After the whole class played, it was announced that I was forth.
After that, I went for prize giving. I was fourth but still get medal. He He.
After prize giving, my family was ready to go.
I was tired, but happy.

She even wrote "He He" for laughter. Coz she saw that in the blog. :D Yeah, she likes to read blogs. Will stand next to me when I'm drafting a post or blog-hopping. Hmmm... since I'm quite slack in updating my blog these days, maybe I could "outsource" it to my little writer. hehehe

First Sports Day

XY had her 1st Sports Day (in primary school) today. It's her first because she missed it last year due to a mild case of HFMD. Her class' event is three-legged race. Her team got last. But everyone still got a medal. The weather was quite good, not too hot. Moreover, a big part of the field was shaded by a tall building near the school. I doubt there's any shade in the afternoon. Imagine them being "baked" while having activities on the field (for afternoon sessions). No wonder she's not as fair as before. :-)

~ waiting for her event to start ~

~ jie jie with funny-looking didi ~

Exam Pointers

XY's mid-year exam results are all back except for Art. I'm really satisfied with her results. I try not to make a big deal out of the marks (of coz the higher the better hehehe) but more on how she fared in the subjects. I'm very happy that she showed improvement in terms of careless mistakes. A good gauge is the Maths papers. For Paper 2 (subjective paper), she made 1 mistake and lost marks for 2 questions because she didn't show the complete workings. Definitely a big improvement. And that's truly rewarding for her "tutor". *big smile*

Everyday during the exam, I had to keep reminding her about the pointers we've discussed. Well, I'm no expert, just helping her to score better. :p Do share with us your exam pointers too. Some pointers that I drill into her :
* read the questions carefully.
* check back all your answers after you've finished the paper, as many times as time permits. Or at least 2 rounds.
* in Maths, use different calculations for checking. For example, if the question is an addition, take the answer to do subtraction for checking.
* for fill-in-the-blanks or matching questions, fill/match the answers that you are very sure of first. If you're lucky, whatever's left is the answer for the question you've left out. If there are more than 1, no choice but to make the best guess. :-)
* check your spelling. Although you choose the right answer, you may/will not get any marks for spelling it wrongly.
* check the back of the paper. Some are printed on both sides. Don't miss out any questions.
* for Maths, show the workings (how you get the answer). Otherwise, even though you get the right answer, you won't get full marks for that question. This was how she lost some marks. (Refer to picture below.) That was really tricky. So after this "lesson", I told her to show ALL the workings in future tests/exams, to be on the safe side.

~ so tricky, got the right answer, but no full marks ~

School Holidays With Grandparents

We went back to Penang to visit Po Po in the first week. Then Ye Ye and Mah Mah came to visit in the second week. The kids had lots of fun playing with their cousins. We didn't go out much when we're back in Penang. They spent a big chunk of time playing with PSP and my SIL's handphone. *shake head* Brought them to Youth Park to play at the playground one evening. There's quite a lot of people, although it was a weekday. I haven't been there for many many years already and the place has changed so much. The playgrounds and exercise equipments are well-maintained. Especially love the big trees surrounding the area, providing shades everywhere.

I also had a gathering with my secondary schoolmates. Finally got to meet Olive, SP and sweetie DQ, after a few unsuccessful arrangements. I think we haven't seen each other for 7 years. Had a great time catching up with the gang at McD. Did the right decision to choose a venue with an indoor playground (although that was just a mini one). I brought XY along and left didi at home with SIL. Smart move coz I was able to truly enjoy the food and company. Just needed to keep an eye on her from our table (we sat very near to the play area).

Ye Ye and Mah Mah stayed at BIL's house. The kids are very happy every time they are here coz they get to spend the whole day (except nap time) playing together with their cousins. And they also love the fact that we go out for breakfast often when their grandparents are here.

CE complained of toothache since Sunday (5/6). Brought him to the dentist on Wed (8/6) and was told there was nothing wrong with his teeth. But there's an ulcer on his gum. Glad to hear his set of teeth are in good condition but have to take note that his upper left molar is a bit dirty. Got to make sure we brush and clean it properly. I asked the dentist to clean his teeth and he was very cooperative, considering that was his first dental visit. But he disliked the taste of the toothpaste so he had to gargle very soon after the dentist started the cleaning work. So it was a few rounds of cleaning and gargling, with the chair adjusted up and down, up and down.

Within a week, XY lost 2 teeth. They came out on their own. And she's really cool about them, although there was a bit of blood. Upper right lateral incisor on 5/6 (just dropped out by itself) and upper left lateral incisor on 9/6 (while playing rough with didi). So now she's RM1 richer. Yes, this tooth fairy is quite stingy one. Only 50 sen per tooth. hahaha

Hello Everybody!

Long time no see! Wow... this is the longest break I've taken in the cyber world. Whoosh! 3 months just flew by. Better clear the cobwebs and get back in action before I lose all my blogger friends. hehehe As it is, some have already given me warnings. o.O But seriously, it's really heartwarming to know that there are friends out there (you know who you are) who care and wonder how you're doing when you've been "missing" for some time. Thank you so much for your warm thoughts, girls!

Hmmm, where do I start? Ok, here are some random updates :
* Mother's Day 2011 -- we went back to PaPa's hometown on Saturday to attend his grandma's 80th birthday celebration. We only spent a night there. Didn't even celebrate Mother's Day for MIL as we left after lunch. No celebration for me either. No mood anyway coz CE was sick. I got a card each from the kids.


* CE had his first exam last week. But he has 2 more papers to go because he was sick. Had high fever due to throat infection/gastroenteritis -- diarrhea and stomach cramps.
* Due to his prolonged cough, doctor suggested that CE take Alvesco Inhaler (started on 24 Mac). It's not sprayed directly into the mouth, but used with the AeroChamber. His condition improved after 1 month of usage. He still coughs every now and then, but for a much shorter period compared to last time.
* 19 Mac -- went to the dentist to extract XY's lower right lateral incisor.
* XY started piano lessons in March.
* CE started Mandarin classes in April -- once a week after school hours in his kindy.
* Brought the kids for a haircut in April. Finally snipped off XY's over-the-shoulder-length hair to chin level.
* I went back to Penang for Cheng Beng, alone. It was a good 3D/2N trip away from the kids. :D But too bad I had diarrhea so didn't get to enjoy all the hawker food that I've been craving for. Never mind, will be bringing the kids back again end of May, during the school holidays. Then it's payback time. muahahaha
* Have been watching a lot of tv series -- Hong Kong and Singapore dramas.
* Started eating oats for breakfast (not everyday though) and exercising on the trampoline 2 to 3 times a week to control my cholesterol level. Really hope to keep this up.
* Will be busy preparing XY for her mid-year exam, which will start on 23 May.

First Week Of School

Day 1
PaPa played chauffeur, fetching didi to school in the morning and jie jie, in the afternoon. So I got to goyang kaki (relax) at home till my "shift" in the evening (to fetch jie jie back). :-)

He didn't accompany didi, the little boy walked to his classroom by himself. He's just like jie jie when she was in kindy, quite independent. At home, he told me they played dough and games in school.

As for jie jie, PaPa accompanied her to the classroom as he needed to settle the school fees with the teacher. Jie jie cried in the classroom because she didn't manage to get a seat at the front. She was sitting behind and was afraid she can't see the white board. The manja girl needed to be pacified by PaPa before she stopped crying. *shake head*

She received the time-table. I didn't expect that coz last year (in Standard 1), she only got the time-table in the 2nd week. Looks like they are not THAT slack actually. hehehe

Day 2
Jie jie forgot to bring back her Science pack (I prepared individual plastic bags for her to put her books according to subject). Her text book and note book were inside the pack. She claimed she left it under her desk.

Day 3
Couldn't find the books. So when I picked her up from school, I spoke to her class teacher and she said she'll help me look for it the next day.

Jie jie wore her rain coat for the first time. It was raining very heavily. I bought it last November and since then, she's been waiting for the chance to wear it.

Didi wet his pants in the school toilet. He didn't position "it" properly, so ter-sprayed on his pants too.

Day 4
Jie jie found her Science pack. *phew*

After sending jie jie to school, we (didi, Kakak and I) went to Tesco. Had lunch at The Chicken Rice Shop. We shopped till it was time to pick jie jie up = spent 4 hours in Tesco. I've never shopped so long there. You must be wondering if I bought the whole Tesco huh? :p Actually we spent quite some time at the clothes department coz Kakak was looking for some t-shirts.

Day 5
Didi started having runny nose in the morning and woke up with a fever after his nap. :-( First week of school already fallen sick. Haih... Up till now (Day 6, night), he's taken 3 doses of paracetamol. Highest temperature recorded was 38.2ºC. Hope his fever will not come back later.

Jie jie forgot to bring back her water tumbler. Aiyo... so forgetful like an old lady.

Holiday Activities

There're only 2 weeks left of the long school break. How time flies! We didn't plan for any vacation this year end -- no budget and no time (PaPa's very busy). :-( Apart from playing tv games EVERYDAY, doing a lot of colouring and minimal writing, and revising with jie jie (mainly on BM and Maths), these are some of our activities so far.

1) Visited Petrosains StreetSmart Exhibition in KLCC.

2) Did science experiments. (a) Stole the idea from My Little Sprouts! and built balloon jets. (b) Grew dinosaurs in water.

3) Played and had a good workout at Critter Land.

4) Water play at home, in the rarely used 3-ring pool.

5) Had a great time wasting money at Sunway Pyramid's mini amusement park. I think their favourite is the bumper car.

6) Jie jie had her first try at ice-skating. We got her an instructor to coach her for 30 minutes (fee = RM60). She was taught how to balance herself, get up after falling down and of course, to skate. Not much she can learn and master in 30 minutes. At least she's mastered how to walk (on normal floor) with the skates. :-) She really enjoyed herself. Too bad it's quite far for us, if not, I'd let her take lessons. Never mind, we'll try to allocate time for ice-skating whenever we go to Sunway Pyramid. I'd love to try it too.

7) Watched Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale. As usual, didi was there just for the popcorn. He could not concentrate fully on the show. After he's finished his popcorn, he started to disturb me -- asked for more snacks, sat on my lap. Luckily he didn't roam around. I started warning him a few days before the outing. If he wants to follow me to the cinema and eat popcorn, he mustn't walk around or disturb me after he's finished his popcorn. Well, he kept half of his promise, ok lah. :D

Mommy The Dentist

XY's upper right central incisor had been loose for quite awhile already. A few days ago, she showed me her very loose tooth. On Friday afternoon, she came to me crying and there was blood on her finger. She said she knocked her mouth on didi's head and I saw blood at the gum around that loose tooth. While trying to wipe off the blood in her mouth with tissue paper, I just pulled out that tooth, without telling her first. It came out at my second try. She was still crying. I doubt it was due to pain. Must be because she panicked when she saw blood earlier. Then didi started crying and asked me not to pull out jie jie's tooth. hahaha Since when my boy became so "drama" one? Later jie jie told me it just hurt a little when I pulled it out. After that it was not painful anymore. Then I let her bite a gauze to stop the bleeding. 1 gauze was enough.

~ the bloody gauze ~

She was very excited as she knew she'll be getting a little something from the tooth fairy at night. She asked for a plastic bag to keep her little tooth and happily put in under her pillow at bedtime. The "tooth fairy" couldn't find the plastic bag in the dark and didn't want to disturb her sleep. So the "tooth fairy" just left the coin there without taking the tooth. As expected, XY was satisfied with her 50 sen reward. But she asked me how come the tooth fairy didn't take the tooth away. I think I mumbled something like, "Oh really? Never mind lah. Just give it to me." coz I was still sleepy. hahaha

She's been a really brave girl and never gave me any problems when it comes to dental care and dentist encounters. I hope didi will be the same too. Haven't brought him for a check-up before. Maybe I'll start psyching him and bring him before the holiday's over.