The End Of An Era

Today is THE DAY. The day that Big Bee, her teachers and her classmates slogged for months. The day that she will cross the threshold of her current chapter into another brand new one. The day that will signify the end of her pre-school era.

Yes, today is Big Bee's graduation night. The mega graduation concert that will display the culmination of 4 years of nurturing, the metamorphosis of our preschool children from the shy and clingy Nursery One toddlers to that of confident, eloquent and independent Kindergardeners.

And indeed, the concert is a glowing spectacle - of the K2 kids' strong, articulate selves, of their confident, on-stage presence, of their bold, ringing voices.

The opening act, The Amazing Earth. All the kids are different types of animals in a forest.

Big Bee had a significant speaking role in the opening act. Mithalina and her were the narrators of the play, and it was amazing at the amount of script that they can sprout out effortlessly. She also introduced the closing act, and our parental hearts swelled with pride, seeing our daughter, who used to be somewhat shy and reserved, speaking with a lucid voice and gestulating with fearless courage in front of 380 parents.

Big Bee and Mithalina, the forest fairies, also the narrators of the play

Her form teacher called me just days before the concert, telling me that she highly depended on Big Bee to replace any of the young actors, as she managed to memorise everyone's scripts as well! And amazingly, she told me that Big Bee volunteered herself for the protagonist role of narrator, with the majority of the lines in the play.

I was dumbfounded. For my girl used to be a timid, bashful toddler who was well known in her pre-school for crying due to immense separation anxiety. Now, she had blossomed into a "responsible leader", in her teacher's own words, a student whom the teachers rely on, who never think twice of volunteering to help the teachers or her peers, who is outspoken and at ease with public speaking.

Which is why I will see Big Bee's exit from her pre-school with bittersweet heartache. For the teachers there played a fundamental role in helping her shape her personality in these crucial early years. With their warmth and nurturing, each of her teachers in the 4 years she had been there had contributed significantly to who she is right now. And I am so thankful to them. And looking forward to more of their transformative education in Little Bee.

Selena, Big Bee's form teacher. She is a sprightly, humorous and charismatic woman!

Zhang Lao Shi, Big Bee's Chinese teacher, who is highly dramatic and never failed to drill the love of Chinese culture into the kids.

More photos below. I don't usually feature so many photos, but I think Big Bee will be happy to see so many photos of her friends on her special night.

Guest of honour Little Bee striding in to watch her jie-jie perform!

With Mithalina, her 2nd best friend.

With Rachael, her 1st best friend

With Wen Li, her ex-best friend (because she went to a different session)

With her biggest fans, the grannies!

Another Year Older

Birthdays are a lot more meaningful not with expensive presents or indulgent meals, but with simple, straight-from-the-heart and self-made creations like what Big Bee gave as her birthday present for me :)

And also my first present at 12.15am last night - a warm angpow from Mum who told me "35 years ago, I was in terrible labour giving birth to you!" Her statement reminded me that motherhood is a lifelong process of remembering the trials we went through - no matter how grown-up our children are. We will be forever the little bawling infant to our parents.

Big Bee slogged through this morning making the card after realising she has not enough money to buy Mummy any present!

I was also very touched by Hubby's efforts to make my birthday a special one. A nice dinner in an alfresco setting with a magnificent red sunset. A beautiful bouquet of lilies as a surprise in the office. And an adorable cake selected by Big Bee and Hubby last week.

When I asked Big Bee last week where Papa and her went to, she looked guilty and blurted out "I cannot tell you what type of cake I chose for you!" Papa nearly fainted as the cake was meant as a surprise. Kids are so innocent!

Plus the look of sweet delight on Little Bee's face, singing the birthday song loudly, clapping her hands zealously and blowing at my (many) candles with her jie-jie and me furiously.

I am so looking forward to 364 days later :)

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Hubby and I have a new bedtime companion in the form of an Afghan man - Khaled Hosseini. We are both enraptured and bewitched by his 2 books. Hubby is now enthralled with The Kite Runner, while I had just completed A Thousand Splendid Suns, a magnificant tale of the plight of women in Afghanistan, a novel of strong wills, powerful emotions and courageous resilience. It made me weep 3 times, the highest number of times a book can make me cry other than my singular sniffling while reading Angela's Ashes.

It made me count my blessings as a woman born in Singapore. It made me proud that I am a woman, a gender genetically infused with paramount resilience, stalwart tenacity, tender grace and boundless love. It made me gaze at my daughters with fierce devotion, silently thanking whoever that determined their destinies so that they are born into this society and not into any societies that belittle the powerful influence of women. For without women, without our warm wombs and gentle nurturing, there can never be men in this world. Yet, in many countries, women are not given the respect that we so deserve.

Hosseini writes with searing intelligence using words that are resonant with intense emotions, rich with texture. It is almost as if we are standing right in the scenes of action, staring at everything in live-action brilliance. His words, enveloped and wrapped in vivacity, made my mind stagger with overwhelming amazement. A must-read for everyone, women or men!

Gastronomical Experiences

This long weekend was really superb - plenty of quality bonding albeit infused with lots of energy-draining activities with the 2 hyper girls.

Inspired by some blogging mothers who make gorgeous bento sets, I tried making the usual boring breakfast bread more exciting by cutting the bread into shapes and alphabets. The Bees love them! It was a big hit with them, especially Little Bee, who gobbled up 2 buttered slices of bread shaped in a flower and various alphabets, with her gleefully naming the alphabets before she opened her little mouth to devour them up! Big Bee, who usually needs more encouragement to eat (unlike her insatiable sister), ate up the carrot-shaped bread in record time!

This weekend was a plethora of dining experiences, ranging from a cosy dinner in the courtyard of a charming Italian restaurant where the kids can watch the chefs making pizzas, to a lazy breakfast with my friends in an intimate alfresco setting and also a trip to a sweltering hawker centre. I am slowly introducing the Bees to hawker centres, so they will not be too princessy and mind the heat and the dirtier-than-restaurant conditions. This time, Big Bee wolfed down a whole bowl of Mee Soto and many sticks of satay! She is usually very squeamish about hawker centres but that night, she loved it. Little Bee was oblivious to the heat and houseflies so long as there was food of any kind around her.

Here's my little conversational exchange with Big Bee as we were walking back to the car after dinner that I found so amusing:

Big Bee: "Mummy, you mean that was my dinner??"

Mummy: "Yes, why?"

Big Bee: "It's so YUMMY! It's like eating snacks!"

Mummy: "What's your favourite food just now?"

Big Bee: "I LURRRVVED the mee soto, especially the SOUP! Mmmm..."

Mummy: "I told you hawker food is delicious..."

Big Bee: "And Mummy, Mummy, I had dinner in a hawker centre. There's no air con, and it's not even HOT!"

Mummy: "So now you like hawker centres?"

Big Bee: "YES! The food is so YUMMY!"

It was a big milestone for Big Bee because in the past, we literally had to struggle with princess her just to go to cleaner kopitiams. I am glad she shed off her princessy inhibitions now :)

Fellowship Of Big Kids

Little Bee has finally been indoctrinated into the privileged ring of big kids. The "weekend gang" of Big Bee, Eugene and Claire had gradually accepted her into their tight circle of alliance. For the past 21 months of her life, she was pointedly ignored by the trio of them whenever we meet, sitting on my lap, carried by me, or in a baby chair beside me. This month, I saw a grudging and curious attention awarded to her, with her joining them in their active after-dinner frolics, laughing with them, interacting with them. Truly in their league!

Little Bee overwhelmed by all the attention on her, especially Claire who is extremely attached to her! Big Bee and Eugene look somewhat like parents here huh?!

This evening, after dinner at Pepperoni's, she joined them with minimal supervision from Hubby and me, playfully jesting about with them, much to Big Bee's amusement.

After dinner, while watching a B-grade action flick "Dragon Wars" with the adults and Eugene at our place (Big Bee and Claire were holed up in the bedroom playing girlie games), she gamely sat near Eugene nearest to the screen watching snarling dragons snapping up human heads. It was a thrilling movie with sudden appearances of ravenous dragons. I tried removing her from the living room for fear of nightmares, but stubborn her simply refused to, preferring to stare at dragon-slayers rather than play with the girls. I told her to cover her eyes if she was frightened and true enough, during some gruesome parts, she really covered her eyes with one little hand! Looked really cute and hilarious! Eventually, she allowed me to carry her into the bedroom, into the safe and cosy sanctuary with Big Bee and Claire dressing up a giant unicorn soft toy.

Looks like I won't have a little one sitting on my lap during these weekend sessions anymore :(

Underwater Theme

By request of Big Bee, I had to feature these 2 doodles of my girls.

The first one was by Little Bee, who doodled diligently by herself, focusing in silent concentration in one corner, before we heard her clapping to herself, saying "yeah" and then proudly showing her masterpiece, not to me, but to her jie-jie first. Proud jie-jie pounced on it like some art collector finding her long-lost antique artpiece, proclaiming excitedly to me that Little Bee drew a stingray and a pufferfish. Hmm, blur Mummy could not exactly see the resemblance, but since Big Bee had named the painting already, I had to agree and cheered Little Bee on boisterously. Little Bee was grinning from cheek to cheek, but I am sure she did not know that she had drawn a stingray and a pufferfish!

"Happy Stingray and Unshaven Pufferfish" by Little Bee (she was trying to draw a nice mouth for poor Pufferfish, hence, the array of lines there)

Inspired by her mei-mei, Big Bee wanted to draw a similar underwater theme. In a wink of an eye, she completed the below drawing of a pleasant underwater scene, full of her favourite sea creatures. And she immediately told me to snap photos of their artwork and post on our blog!

"A Busy Sea" depicted by Big Bee, filled with jellyfishes, unnamed fishes, turtles and a dolphin

I am glad my 2 daughters are showing their potential strengths in teamwork and coordination!

My Little Horse Whisperer

Big Bee is a fervent lover of horses. So, you will find in her toy collection all things horses - from soft toys to little horse models to horse board games to books! Whew!

Which is why her favourite activity is every Sunday's riding class. Being so upclose and personal with some of her favourite horses for almost a year, she had finally progressed to cantering last Sunday, the 3rd of the 4 Horse Gaits. Hubby and I were infused with joy and pride as we see her pacing atop Peanut the pony at medium speed, her face filled with a medley of expressions as Peanut picked up speed - from vacillating, consternation to exhilaration and relief when she did not fall off the horse! She told me "Mummy, I was so frightened because it feels like I am falling off Peanut!"

She is turning browner with all these outdoor exertions, but I want her to grow up, full of life, hair free in the wind, loving the great outdoors, relishing the omnipresent sunshine!

Here are some of her favourite horses:

Big Bee's favourite pure white horse: Jasmine

Peanut, the "power" horse that can canter at top speed at the slightest nudge!

It's Mine!

Little Bee is beginning to acquire a new perspective in life - that certain things (or rather, everything that she so desires) is hers! The perspective of possession.

These days, her favourite mantra is "No, no! Mine!" or "Peeeaaase! ("Please" in toddler language) Miiiinnnnneeee!" followed by a loud squeal, tearless tantrums or a persistent (and I mean seriously unrelenting) grip onto whatever object caught her fancy. I never have the strength or assiduity to take anything from her.

Many parents told me that the 2nd child is always the more assertive, aggressive or guileful one, and I could not agree more. Perhaps the 2nd child grows up seeing one strong competitor in the form of their sibling always around constantly, and that is a threat to their survival (instinctively, that is). SO, it is the primitive "fight or flee" instinct that is guiding them on.

Whenever Little Bee sees her jie-jie having something, she must insist on getting it. Big Bee is usually maganimous enough to pass her whatever she wants. But the moment jie-jie focuses her attention on another activity or thing, Little Bee would want that thing again. I guess it's the age-old sibling rivalry at work!

I had been telling them the concept of sharing. Sometimes, it is heartwarming to see the both of them quietly and contentedly playing side by side, like during our Playdoh sessions or snack time. Though recently, I had been trying to break up quite a fair number of heated catfights, I must say!

The girls sharing a cup of cereals during tea yesterday, though I do feel the bowl is a wee bit closer to Little Bee's lap ;)

It Takes Two To Clap

I had been very under the weather for the past 4 days due to a severe cold and I must thank Hubby for helping out a lot over the weekend. Although I still have to tend to the usual child-caring duties like feeding, bathing and teaching, he was kind enough to cook dinner for us and to put both of them to bed every night, which left me with precious time to recuperate before the night duty strikes again. Till now, Little Bee still wakes up once at night for milk, in between many angst-filled thrashes - no doubt nightmares due to her overly stimulated mind in the day. And Big Bee will enter into her usual sneezing routine at least once in the middle of the night, due to her sensitive nose. So, my nights are usually 5-6 hours of interrupted sleep! But I guess the constant lack of sleep is one of the inevitable yet fulfilling pebbles along the inexorable path of motherhood!

It really takes two to clap in this parenting routine. One down, the other helps out. Thank you, Papa!

Enchanted

This was what got both my princesses enchanted last Sunday night. Hubby and I were singing merrily along, to songs that we had loved and sang since we were at Big Bee's age. And now, they are sharing the melodious vocals of Julie Andrews, our whole family immersed in a euphonic cocoon of make-believe, happily-ever-afters, endless sweet songs and zestful joy! The two girls, especially Big Bee, who knew some of the songs, were also humming and singing to those beloved tunes.

The two Bees were also captivated by the Disney feel-good musical fairy-tale, Enchanted, both their eyes large and besotted by the happy songs and vibrant dance moves. And whenever I played my favourite scene from Phantom Of The Opera, the scene where Emmy Rossum sang "Think Of Me" as Christine Daae, Big Bee and Little Bee will also sing along with me in their soprano voices! How amusing.

And we, Hubby and I, were utterly charmed by this! Mamma Mia, the movical - or musical turned movie. Those catchy ABBA tunes transported us to another world, another time. I can see people in the audience tapping their feet and hands. And everyone emerging from the cinema thereafter with an added spring in their jaunts and brighter smiles.

Ah! The delightful diversion of movies. Instilling in us the willing suspension of disbelief and cynicism.

The Tooth Fairy Hath Cometh

Right after Little Bee's PD visit, the girls and I had lunch in town and then adjourned to a dentist. Yes! It's Big Bee's first visit to a dentist. I had been fretting over this for days, remembering all the past nightmares of a little screaming Big Bee in front of doctors, worrying if she will cry, if she will act up at the dentist. She had to have her lower tooth extracted because the new tooth is growing out in a slanted fashion.

Really, all these fears were allayed the moment we stepped into the dentist's. Big Bee admitted to me she was very frightened and nervous, but she went about playing with her little sister, in the hopes of distracting herself. Very wise tactic.

Soon, it was her turn to be on the dentist's chair! Dr Elizabeth Tan is an excellent pedadontist. She started chatting with Big Bee who responded to each of her questions like a gallant little soldier. Upon discovering that it was Big Bee's first visit to the dentist, she took out a Barney story book and took her time explaining every single procedure and strange-looking dental equipment in the room. Big Bee cheered up right away.

As Dr Tan went about tinkering through her equipment, she explained each step in kiddy language, so Big Bee could understand her perfectly. As she was putting on the local anaesthetic cream onto Big Bee's lower gum, she told Big Bee that this was a cream that will make her tooth "go to sleep". She also counted all the teeth in Big Bee's mouth (she has 20 teeth in all!), and as she was injecting a HUGE needle into her mouth, she told Big Bee that she was just going to insert a needle and will be counting to ten. Clever way of distracting the kid, because Big Bee told me she only remembered the counting and claimed she did not even notice the gigantic needle!

Finally, after polishing her teeth, she told Big Bee that she was going to perform a "rock and roll" so her loose tooth can come out!

My heart was bursting with pride as I gazed at brave Big Bee, who was gamely nodding and chatting so cheerily with Dr Tan and the nurses. She had indeed come a long way from the hysterical toddler in front of doctors. Dr Tan told me that she was very impressed by Big Bee, especially since this was a first visit. And the nurses kept giving me the thumbs-up and praised Big Bee incessantly after the ordeal.

As for Big Bee, she told me she enjoyed the experience and was not frightened at all, although she did panick slightly when her lower lip became numb after the injection - a totally new sensation to her.

At night, we read a storybook titled "Tooth Fairy", filled with fabulous adventures of a boy and his sister in the land of the Tooth Fairy. Big Bee kept wondering if the Tooth Fairy is a myth or reality. I told her to test the theory by putting her extracted little milk tooth underneath her pillow when she slept.

Guess what? The next morning, she woke me up excitedly at 7am just to show me ecstatically a package under her pillow. A package with a little pearl bracelet, Pooh badge and 2 golden $1 coins. And her milk tooth? It was nowhere to be found... :)

Little Amazonian At The Doctor's

Yesterday, I brought Little Bee to the pediatrician for her long overdue jabs. She was scheduled to take the usual DPT booster, followed by the final pneumoccocal vaccinations. When it was Little Bee's turn to go in, Big Bee decided to stay outside the doctor's room because she was frightened of the injections!

Little Bee waved and said a soft, shy "hi" to Dr Ee in the room. She sat there nicely while he was doing all the checks on her. This was so different from Big Bee when she was a toddler last time - she would scream and cry the moment she set her eyes on any doctor! But shh, I shan't elaborate more lest Big Bee reads about this ;)

When it was time for the injections, Little Bee laid down happily (because I just stuffed 2 sweets into each hand). The first injection shot straight into her left thigh. A look of surprise filled her face, followed by curiosity at the feeling of the pain, I guess. Both Dr Ee and I were very shocked that not a single cry was uttered, nor were there any signs of tears!

The second injection on her right thigh followed immediately after. This time, she looked stunned, her eyes large and round, probably wondering why was she getting these painful stings one after the other, poor baby! Then, she delivered a loud and irritated "OWWWW", screwed up her little face and started crying - just a wee little bit - until I told her I was going to open the wrapper of her sweet. Immediately, her wide open mouth closed in a snap, her sprinkling of tears withdrew back into her eyes and she looked at the sweet eagerly. After chewing on a small piece of sweet, she grinned and waved at the doctor. Dr Ee was pretty amused at how easily pacified Little Bee could be - with any kind of food!

Yes, that's my Little Bee. A food lover through and through!

Little Bee at lunchtime

Squishy Squashy

This morning, the 3 Powerpuff Girls (starring Mummy as Blossom, Big Bee as Bubbles and Little Bee as Buttercup - all determined by casting director Big Bee) indulged once again in our favourite Playdoh.

We created meals of steaks and vegetables, pizzas and cakes. I made a little birthday cake for Little Bee and the moment she saw the completed 2-tiered creation, she started singing an incomprehensible birthday song, clapping her hands and blowing on the inextinguishable candles persistently! Big Bee and me were tickled.

Little Bee clapping her hands and singing a loud birthday song to herself

1-2-3, blow! Eh, I wonder why the flame does not go off from the candles!?

Little Bee's Playdoh birthday cake

On the other hand, after Big Bee perfected her masterpiece, she immediately turned to me and asked me if she can post a photo of her cake in our blog. Yes, our girl had been reading our (and others'!) blog regularly and today, she requested to post an entry by herself!

So, here it is, written entirely by Big Bee, with only minimal spelling help from Mummy :)

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This morning, I played Playdoh with Mummy and mei-mei. I made this wonderful cake. Mummy helped to make the candles. The Playdoh was soft so it was hard to make the cake. There was a number 7 on the cake because I am going to be 7 years old next year.

Big Bee's confectionary masterpiece!

Proud chef ;)

Scribbling

Every night when I revised Big Bee's school work, Little Bee will be very eager to join us. So, all 3 of us will be huddled at Big Bee's cramped, kid-sized desk, and I will be very busy trying to teach Big Bee while entertaining Little Bee simultaneously.

Little Bee is starting to recognise some letters of the alphabet as well as numbers, though she still can't write anything other than "I" and "O". To my amazement, last night, in the midst of her usual doodling of circles and faces, she scribbled an "A" beside her favourite letter "O"! My mom and I were astounded and rather excited. But I do think it was a fluke case...because after that, no matter how much we cajoled her, she could not replicate another "A", ha!
She is starting to be more imaginative when drawing her favourite faces, adding in hair and eyebrows when we asked her to. Last night, she drew a sad face for the first time, hmph :(

Pursuit of the Powerpuff Girls

Big Bee is so fanatic over the Powerpuff Girls that she constantly requests for all things Powerpuff. Unfortunately, we find it extremely challenging to get our hands on Powerpuff merchandise, other than loads of Powerpuff story and activity books in Popular Bookstores.

Which is why Papa decided to be a hero and brought us to a behemoth flea market in China Square where droves of vendors form a myriad of stalls overflowing with all kinds of toys! Not just your everyday kids' toys, but many of the knick knacks are collectors' items like old Star Wars figurines and vintage Transformers! Needless to say, Hubby was super excited. I suspected he had his own private agenda when he brought us here.

Big Bee and Little Bee on a treasure hunt to seek out the Powerpuff Girls!

True enough, it was not easy finding any Powerpuff toy, much to Big Bee's disappointment. BUT, to my elation, I suddenly caught a glimpse of 2 big eyes on an auburn head with a bright red ribbon dangling from a stall. BLOSSOM! It was a Blossom back pack, and it looked wonderful, albeit rather dirty. Big Bee was utterly blissed out and ecstatic, and we bought this darling for a mere $8!

Big Bee's big acquisition...Blossom!

Next...Bubbles and Buttercup!

A Day Dedicated To Children

This Children's Day, the cousins and I brought our children and mothers to Sentosa for an outdoor revelry! The grannies set up a cosy picnic corner underneath a pavilion in Siloso Beach, whilst we cousins and hubbies stayed with our kids on the beach, playing with sand from morning till afternoon! We were all a bit suntanned after this outing, despite the overcast skies! The seabreeze was cooling and soothing, the sun was shy, hiding behind layers of stratus clouds and the beach was really crowded with construction and lots of people from all walks of life!

Big Bee, Little Bee and Val took to the sands immediately upon arrival. Chloe likes strolling around, checking out the beach and people first!


Typical happy grin on Little Bee's face once she saw her cousins! Photo courtesy of Irene :)

Active Big Bee loved the sand and was revelling in it, building hills, sandcastles and digging deep holes to bury her lanky legs inside. Gregarious Little Bee liked the company and the fact that she could go out with her cousins, though she tried her best not to sit on the sand, being still squirmish around sandy beaches! At one stage, we even caught her bending over to Val, whispering into Val's ears for the longest time, nodding and smiling away. I wonder what she was gossiping with Val. Chloe was very gentle, like a little princess, whereas Val was very garang, "swimming" about on the sand!

Val (back facing us), Irene, Chloe, Little Bee and Big Bee making a mountain out of wet messy sand!

We adjourned to the dark, chilly atmosphere of the Underwater World, where Big Bee insisted that we must take the conveyor belt around the aquarium at least 3 times! She loved identifying the fishes, stingrays and sharks. On the contrary, Little Bee was frightened of the dim, mysterious place! She fell asleep on my shoulders during the 2nd round on the revolving belt...out of fear, I am sure!
My girls in front of the gigantic fossil fishes exhibit. Little Bee was scared stiff that I would leave her on the exhibit ledge like a fossil! She was screaming away, hence this expression here, hmph.


Big Bee entranced by the underwater sea life, with a white-spotted eagle ray gliding above her

Both sets of cousins (the big ones and little ones!) had so much fun that we started planning outings for future holidays already :)

No Crying

Yesterday was Papa's first time bringing Little Bee to her weekend school, while I had a great time bringing Big Bee to ballet because I can rest and spend time by myself for a full 1.5 hour in the morning, yippee!

I was anxiously explaining to Papa that Little Bee will usually encounter some anxiety upon first entering into the class and seeing the teachers. To my amazement, when Hubby called at 10.30am (during her snack time), he reported that everything was fine with Little Bee and that she did not shed a single tear when she first stepped into class, unlike the majority of the occasions that I brought her there!

Looks like I should be letting Papa bring Little Bee to school more often then!

Papa Has A New Girlfriend...

...and she has long luscious black hair, slim, attractive and is only 6 years old! Oh, and she looks exactly like Big Bee!

I had been travelling a few days almost every week last month, and Hubby used full use of this opportunity to super bond with our 2 daughters, especially Big Bee. Every night that I was away, he would ask Big Bee to sleep with him in our room, in full air-conditioned glory (I don't really like my Bees to sleep in air condition usually), and Big Bee is so addicted to the cool air (and warm Papa!) that she will even request to sleep with him on days that I was back in town, much to my distress!

In turn, Papa would tell her rambling, made-up stories and played bedtime games. My mum often complained to me that she could hear them giggling and chatting till 11 plus pm! Hmph!