Her Little Quirk

Little Bee has a strange, cute little quirk.

At bedtime, she will ask for her favourite small bolster, and will insist on us pulling out the drawstrings at the 2 ends of the bolster. And then, her face will settle into a very satisfied, Cheshire Cat expression. She will then sink into her pillow, pulling one of the string towards her face and then using the fluffy ends of the string to tickle her nostrils, her nose, her eyelids (she closed her eyes in an ecstatic expression when doing this!!), her cheeks and finally the insides of her ears.

And then, full cycle starting from the nostrils again! All the while harbouring such a delirious, rhapsodic expression. This helps her drift to dreamland very fast.

I really wonder where she learnt to pick up this queer little idiosyncracy from! But it is lovable for sure...

Saltwater

In my entry below, I talked about Big Bee's assembly where she sang Saltwater, one of my favourite songs. Here're the lyrics below, and Big Bee, if you are reading this when you are older, you sang this song when you were 6 :)

Saltwater by Julian Lennon

We are a rock revolving
Around a golden sun
We are a billion children rolled into one
So when I hear about the hole in the sky
Saltwater wells in my eyes

We climb the highest mountain
We'll make the desert bloom
We're so ingenious we can walk on the moon
But when I hear of how the forests have died
Saltwater wells in my eyes

I have lived for love
But now that's not enough
For the world I love is dying
And now I'm crying
And time is not a friend (no friend of mine)
As friends we're out of time
And it's slowly passing by ....right before our eyes

We light the deepest ocean
Send photographs of Mars
We're so enchanted by how clever we are
Why should one baby feel so hungry she cries
Saltwater wells in my eyes

I have lived for love
But now that's not enough
For the world I love is dying
And now I'm crying
And time is not a friend (no friend of mine)
As friends we're out of time
And it's slowly passing by ....right before our eyes

We are a rock revolving
Around a golden sun
We are a billion children rolled into one
What will I think of me the day that I die
Saltwater wells in my eyes

Pop Culture

Last term, Big Bee and her class sang Julian Lennon's "Saltwater" in their assembly performance. I was highly impressed and moved, and so was their teacher, who emphasised to the parents that the kids only learnt the entire song in one week. They were all so cute, swaying left and right to the rhythm of the music, holding a sheet of lyrics in their hands, singing feebly, hesitantly at first...and then their chorus of sweet, angelic voices magnifying to immense sweetness, glorifying the theme of that term, "Environment".

The melody stuck in my mind, and back home, I tried singing together with Big Bee, and explained the meaning of the lyrics to her.

In this world of tempestuous changes and global damage, I hope my kids can be aware of the true beauty of our planet, and not be apathetic to what really matters in our world...

Secret Hideout

Last Sunday, we went to a desolate hideaway near Holland Road for dinner. Secret Recipe was there, nestled amongst a row of homely closed shops under some walk-up apartments. Tall, capacious raintrees sheltered the open-air carpark, and emanated a sense of serene tranquillity in the slowly descending dusk. The last remnants of sunlight lingered beautifully, reluctant to leave the violet skies.

Dinner was delicious, with Big Bee finishing off one Caribbean fillet all by herself. Little Bee, as her typical self, kept begging for food like a forlorn adorable pup. After dinner, we even had the luxury of savouring 2 huge slices of Chocolate Banana and Blackforest cakes, much to Big Bee's delight.

After dinner, we strolled in the thin darkness that is synonymous with early evenings, alongside the closed shops, glancing into the merry orange lights of the walk-up abodes above us. Peace, quiet, serenity - together as a family. This is what life should really be about.

My Two Angels

Last night before falling asleep, I stared hard at Big Bee on my right as she was sleeping, her eyes closed, her long lashes grazing the top of her cheeks, her mouth slightly open. And then I turned my head to my left and gazed at Little Bee who was also deep in sleep, her little chest rising up and down with every breath, long lashes sweeping her chubby cheeks, mouth shaped in a cute circle.

And realization dawned on me: Oh my god, they both looked exactly the same when sleeping!

So there I was, grinning foolishly, mesmerised by my two little identical angels right in the middle of their dark cosy bedroom...

Alfresco Dining

Check out the huge array of food!

Last Saturday evening, the whole gang of maternal aunts and cousins, together with all our kids, settled on a patch of lush verdant grass in Botanic Gardens for a scrumptious picnic! Food abounded - fried rice, curry chicken with french loaf, mcnuggets, fried popiah, roast pork - how lucky can we be!?

This picnic was organised by Irene, Fiona and myself, and all the mummies were really happy as it reminded them of old times! Big Bee was busy churning out big bubbles from a bubble gun, attracting a little crowd of children like bees to honey. Little Bee was highly adventurous, sauntering around the large meadow with a toy racket and ball, inviting herself to pairs of much older children playing badminton.

We gathered at 5.45pm and left only at 7.45pm - the descending mauve twilight beautifully enveloping the entire grounds with quiet and cooling serenity. Little twinkly lights lit up different parts of the gardens magically, and all of us were so charmed by this bewitching panoramic view. We left the gardens in the dark, hand in hand, with soft sounds of crickets in the darkening adjacent forests beckoning to us...