Hello 2018!

We are already halfway into January 2018! I suppose the most exciting that happened this month is that little Helene is now officially a school-goer!

But let me detract a bit and blog about what we did during New Year's. So it has usually been the custom for us to check into a hotel or Airbnb to celebrate New Year's with our friends, and this year it was no different. We booked an Airbnb (our friend refers to it as "someone else's house" lol) at 68PG Sunrise Gurney which was a duplex apartment with 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms, kitchen and living. It was quite nice, I must say.

We had dinner at Gurney Paragon but we didn't stay for the countdown as the place was quite crowded. So we walked back to the apartment and at the stroke of midnight, we could see the fireworks from Straits Quay. However nothing beat the spectacular fireworks show we witnessed 2 years ago when we stayed at the Maritime Hotel.

Come the first week of January, it was back to school for the girls. Hannah is in Standard 3 this year and Heidi is in her last year of kindy. So Helene and Heidi can go to school together, just for this year. Helene was definitely very excited on her first day, despite months of protest that she didn't want to go to school.

I was expecting a lot of tears, as she is quite attached to me, but surprisingly she was fine, and still seems to be fine even now. On her first week, she even told me that she told another child (her classmate) not to cry. Okkaayy :)

She wasn't too happy however when I took her to take a photo for school as requested by her teacher. It took a lot of promises and negotiation (not bribery lol) for us to finally get this photo. She wanted Kinderjoy, which I bought for her as she co-operated to give us an acceptable photo haha. At least there was a hint of a smile :)

So my littlest baby is finally going to school. I posted on my social media that it was so exciting and so sad at the same time! I'm going to enjoy the last few years of her childhood while I still can :)

Happy new year!

Okay, so I'm a little late, seeing that it's already the 18th day of the year, but better late than never! It was a busy start to the year, with 2 kids starting school, but 2 weeks into the school year, we are happy to report that we are more or less in a routine, and everyone is settling in well.

So just to rewind a bit, we ushered in 2016 at Maritime Waterfront Hotel with some close friends. The room was really very nice (it was a duplex suite) and the kids had lots of fun playing with each other.

Best of all, the hotel is located at Karpal Singh Drive, so we had the best view of the fireworks from the hotel window without having to push through the crowds downstairs, where they were having the countdown. Only Helene missed it as she was already fast asleep.

The following week, it was time for school! Hannah started primary one and we were allowed to visit before and after school, and during recess time. We did not cater from the school canteen for her, so she takes packed food from home everyday. There was an incident that her exercise books got mixed up with her classmate's so I had to buy another set for her, but other than that, everything is going well. Some of the mummies of her classmates have set up a WhatsApp group chat, so we can keep each other informed about things that happen in school, and homework updates, thanks to the advancements of technology!

Heidi on the other hand, started 2 days later as it was orientation week at her kindergarten. We were quite concerned about how she would fit in as she can be quite a non-conformist and likes to do things her own way. We were also expecting some tears, but surprisingly, there were none! She also likes to sleep in and it can be quite hard to wake her up in the morning, but the 2nd day of kindy, she woke up herself and said "Mummy, faster, I want to go to school!" So it was good that she adapted really well.

Today is the beginning of the 3rd week, and she can now walk in herself to her classroom without us having to follow her in.

Our early morning routine is now as such. Hubby will wake up early and get Hannah ready for school. I usually also wake up around the same time, so to help him get her ready and give her breakfast etc. Then they leave the house by 6.45 and she gets to school by 7.20. He then goes to office to get some work done.

I get myself ready first before Helene wakes up (but usually she is awake once I am awake), and then wake Heidi up and get her ready and give her breakfast. I then leave the house around 7.45 am, drop off Helene at aunty's house, then go to pick Hubby from office before we drop Heidi to school. Then we go for breakfast, and I drop him back at office before going to work.

This has been working quite well, so we'll see how it goes. Another 2 years and Helene will also be going to school. All the girls are growing up so fast!

Here's wishing everyone a very happy belated 2016! Cheers!

Hannah's homework

Hannah had homework to do for the first time yesterday - writing "1, 2, 3" in Chinese characters. She seemed quite into it and was happy to do her homework, hopefully this positive attitude will last long! :)

Overall, she enjoys going to school and asks us to fetch her to school everyday, even Saturday! She is also looking forward to going for a school excursion next week and told me to make sure to send her to school on that day!

Heidi is much better now after her hospital ordeal, and is back to her happy self. She only hates the inhaler which she still needs to have once a day for another month before her next Dr's appointment. She was dancing around in her playpen the other day and laughing away.

She was a miserable little one in the hospital so I'm glad to have my happy baby back! Thanks to all who sent their prayers and well wishes :)

Updates on Hannah and Heidi

The first month of 2013 has gone by really quickly, and it is already February - which means Chinese New Year is coming soon! :) Heidi will be 10 months old in another week and Hannah just turned 3 years and 8 months.

Heidi can now babble away in baby talk, and it's quite amusing at times! She can also now crawl on her knees instead of wriggling on her tummy and pull herself up on furniture. She loves to stand and "cruise" around, and is happiest when she is holding on and walking around our round coffee table at home. She will take the TV remote controls and aim it at the TV, imitating what she has seen her jie-jie and other people do :)

She is still a pretty routine baby, eating and sleeping times are a must, otherwise she will get cranky. Other than that, she is a happy little baby, never running out of smiles.

She can also recognise people and will look at the person when we ask her "Where is Ah Mah/Ah Gong/Hannah/Mummy/Daddy" She can also point to where she wants to go when we are carrying her and despite her smiles, she can also throw quite a tantrum when she doesn't get what she wants! I suppose she can express herself better now that she is bigger.

Hannah and Heidi can now also play together (sort of), but I guess it's what we call "parallel play", playing side by side but not really together.

Hannah generally gives in to her little sister, but not when it comes to her favourite toys or when Heidi is pulling her hair - something she likes to do very often! But of course, Heidi's (and Hannah's!) favourite play time is with Daddy! He never fails to make them laugh :)

Hannah is adjusting well to kindy, and she enjoys going every morning with no fuss or tears, except when it comes to choosing her clothes! This morning in the car she told me "Mummy, 'ular' is snake, elephant is 'gajah' and 'zirafah' is giraffe!" So at least I know she's learning something ;) Also when I pick her up from school on most days, she will give a daily report on what she ate, who cried in school that day etc.

We took her the other day to Gurney Paragon because she really likes to look at the dancing water fountain there and also the small fountains surrounding it. She even posed and asked her Daddy to take pictures of her :)

Our little princesses are sure growing up!

New year, new beginnings

2012 was an eventful year for us with the arrival of little Heidi and amidst all the busyness, the year has just whizzed by. It's already 2013 and Hannah has started kindy! I never thought this day would come and it has indeed. Yesterday was her first day and we had started prepping her for it months in advance so that she would not be afraid. The night before, I packed her little backpack and water bottle all ready for the next morning.

The backpack was a gift for her birthday this year from Sue and I actually got the water bottle almost two years ago in Singapore. I thought it was pretty cute and there was no need to stick her name anywhere on the bottle since it already has her name on it :) Recently I saw that they were also selling it in Borders bookshop at Queensbay Mall, and it can be custom made in the event that they did not have your name.

The next morning, I was awake at 6 am (I think I was more excited than Hannah) and I made her favourite cheese toast for her breakfast. Both Hubby and me had the day off, so after dropping Heidi at my in-law's place, we headed to school. Hannah adapted very well as soon as she entered the classroom and we did not see any signs of teary eyes, so after a while, we told her we were leaving but would be back to pick her up when school ended. She waved goodbye to us and continued with whatever she was doing.

After running some errands, we were back to pick her and she seemed quite happy. She did not tell us much about what happened in school, but after some prompting (I had a lot of questions!), she started telling us about her morning.

Yesterday night, however, I was quite surprised to see her keeping away her own toys after playing. Usually I have to pick up after her, but she kept them away herself yesterday with no fuss. She even asked me politely, "Mummy, can you help me keep the toys?" and thereafter she also asked me to sing the "keeping toys" song. I realised that it was her teacher who had taught them that, so I must say it was quite a successful first day. Hopefully she keeps it up!

Wishing everyone a very happy and blessed 2013 from all 4 of us!

Registration for Kindy (the 2nd time)

I blogged here about registering Hannah for kindergarten some time back. I wanted Heidi to go to the same kindy as well, so I thought I had better register early, since this kindy is very popular and furthermore, many dragon babies born this year is cause for competition! Even for Hannah I registered her for the 4 year old class when she was only 1 1/2 years old and even then, there were only 3 places left.

So, since I am very "kiasu", I asked Hubby to enquire about the registration for Heidi now itself, even though she is barely 3 months old. True enough, when he called, the 3 year old class for 2015 (2015, mind you!) was already full and the 4 year old class for 2016 was full as well. They said we could try to come to the kindy and register, but it did not sound very promising.

I thought of other alternatives, other schools that Heidi could possibly go to, but deep down I knew I really wanted the same school for both my girls. So I decided last night that I should have faith, pray and believe that there would be one more spot for Heidi in our chosen kindy.

This morning, Hubby told me that he would pick me up from work for an early lunch and we would go there to see if we could get Heidi registered. However, I had a feeling that I wanted to go early, before work, since the kindy is nearby my workplace. I was there when the children were all arriving for school and was informed to go to the office to enquire about registration.

As an answered prayer, there was only one more place left for the 4 year old class in 2016. The principal informed us that if we had waited a few hours later, the place may not be there anymore, so I was glad I did not wait until lunch time! It was truly a blessing and Hubby said it was meant to be for our little Heidi. We were very glad and happy that we did not have to be on the waiting list!

Here are a few recent photos taken of little Heidi:

Registration for Kindy

I registered Hannah for kindy today at a kindergarten in Penang. A bit early right, but even as early as this, there were only 2 available places left! And this is for when she is 4 years old, in year 2013! The 3-year-old class was full, but the principal informed that they only take in 10 children for the 3-year-old class, and the kindergarten operates as a "tadika" (kindergarten) and not as "taska" (nursery or pre-school), so that made me feel a little better.

Okay, so rewind a couple of days to know what "inspired" this sudden reaction. when my colleagues were discussing that getting children into kindergarten, let alone schools, these days were pretty competitive. I didn't think much of it, however, as we had only intended to register Hannah for kindy maybe next year or the year after since she is still young, and I had always wanted her to go to this particular kindy. Nevertheless, yesterday evening I had the instinct to call up, but since they were already closed I had to wait for this morning. Upon enquiry, I found out that the 3-year-old class for 2012 was already full (not surprising, since they had only 10 places), and the 4-year-old class for 2013 only had 2 places left.

So after discussing with hubby, we decided to enrol her for the 4-year-old class. The term starts in January so she would be 3 years and 7 months by the time she starts going to kindy. After some thought, that age would probably be better since the year before she would only be 2 years and 7 months - maybe still a little young for school.

I took an early lunch and went over to the school to register her. Very kiasu right? :) But anyway, I managed to speak to the principal and she showed me the books and materials the children would be using. For the 4 to 6-year-olds, the entire school syllabus is based on the Fungates system which looked quite interesting and very comprehensive. They teach the children English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and Mathematics even at 4 years old.

So anyway, I filled in the form and paid the registration fee of RM50.00.Now we just have to wait another 2 years and Hannah will be going to school!

Hannah goes to school

All Hannah's cousins are presently attending kindergarten or school, so very often they come back to their Ah Mah's house carrying their school bags. Seeing them, our little girl also wanted to "go to school".

She found a little back-pack and insisted on putting it on. Her cousins put some books inside and she was ready to go! :)



See the books inside the back-pack.





She may be small still, but time flies very quickly, and before we know it, she will be going to school for real. Sigh...my little baby will be all grown up, much too soon!