A-Hunting We Will Go...

We went on a morning trek in the MacRitchie Trails last Sunday, and had a fantastic time hiking through the nature reserve's picturesque trails. There were peaceful segments of the trails where Big Bee commented "There's no one around but us!" where we feel at one with nature, listening to the calls of cicadas, the shrill chirpings of myriad birds and the gentle rustling of leaves and bushes around us.

Big Bee loved to stop beside little streams, pointing out tiny fishes darting about in the murky waters, purposely highlighting brown speckled butterflies to me (because Mummy has this ridiculous phobia of butterflies!) and wondering with curiosity at what lies beyond our well-trodden trail, amidst the thick dense forest. "There are no lions or tigers living inside, right?" she asked.

Little Bee was a little timid initially, but halfway through our verdant odyssey, she clambered down from our arms, grabbed a random short branch from the soiled ground and trundled alongside us slowly but steadily, using the branch as a hiking stick! But her pace was so slow on her short little legs that we had to carry her intermittently, much to her indignance.


Happily walking through the sun-dappled trail


Emerging from the dim recesses of the forest

We walked past a slim, long tree snake at close proximity, and watched with bated breath as the snake slithered from a dilapidated fence into the overhanging leaves of a gargantuan tree. The girls watched with fascinated curiosity, with Big Bee venturing too close to the dextorous snake at times.


We also chanced upon a group of monkeys having a family lunch on the branches of a magnificant bamboo thicket.

Spot the monkey?

What a wonderful way to showcase the miniscule remains of the wild in Singapore to the kids!

The merry rangers

Consternation Part 2

As I was giving Big Bee her nightly massage tonight, she suddenly asked me, "Mummy, the night before my injection day, if I have consternation, can you read me a book?"

I thought I heard wrongly, so I asked her to repeat the sentence, which she did. Then I smiled and asked her, "Did you learn 'consternation' from our blog?"

Big Bee smiled bashfully and nodded. She is regular reader (and strong critic!) of our blog, and was very enthralled by the Consternation entry.

Talk about picking up words from parents!

Toddlers' Lunch Date

From left: Mandy, Natalie, Regina and Little Bee. Natalie and Little Bee were using the backdrop to "teach" each other alphabets!

Last Friday, I brought Little Bee to a lunch date at New York, New York with 3 little girls, 1 little boy and 1 baby boy! Yes, it was with some of the forum mummies as one of them came back from Panama for a little while, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Check out the variety of hand-holding permutations!

As the toddlers are now all-knowing little adults, they were interacting and chatting in ways that were so cute and charming:

1) Like how Little Bee and Mandy chatted "without talking" in Kei's words - nodding at each other knowingly, like they were sharing some deep secrets.

2) And how Regina, Natalie and Little Bee started the peer pressure rolling by grabbing the adults' cameras and shooting all the adults, with Regina taking the lead.

3) Like how Little Bee tried holding Ewan's hand, but he was too shy to hold her hand, which ended up with Little Bee in a rueful, broken-hearted expression.

4) Or how Mandy proudly showed off her cute baby brother Barry to Little Bee who stared with fascination at him in the pram.

'Twas a good afternoon break and we mummies do enjoy having another set of echo-ing yakking tods alongside our own chats!

Little Bee loved her friends, proudly boasted about "mei mei's fwens" to Big Bee after the playdate!

Lipstick Jungle

I just spent the last 2 nights watching the entire first season of Lipstick Jungle, after the Bees slept. Though it was not as thrilling nor as exhilarating as Sex And The City when it first launched, it was as entertaining and engaged me all the same.

The show highlights the perennial problems of 3 powerful women juggling between work, family and personal lives in the harsh, still-sexist domain of the capitalist society which we women are all too familiar with. That we tried to live up and be better than our male counterparts at work, trying so hard to dispel the age-old myth that men are more superior in intelligence than women, that we try even harder at home to provide the very best for our children to make up for that lost time at work, and yet, that we still try (sometimes unsuccessfully!) to still retain some private, me-time in our social lives.

It is amazing at how the so-called "weaker sex" had made strides to being the "stronger gender's" equals. From women who are uneducated and hundred-percent dependent on their spouses just a few decades ago to equals sitting aside and even leading men in the corporate world. Yet, we are blessed with deep-seated instincts to care wholly for our children. Cheers to us indeed.

Sadly, in some parts of society, women remained incarcerated in the deep recesses of history's cruel sexist fists, unable to escape the clutches of the gender power game.

Beach Babes

The Bees are very fond of the beach. They love to romp around on the sand and can spend hours crouching, squatting and digging the sand into cute little sandcastles. Whenever I asked Little Bee, "Do you want to go to the beach or zoo?" She will always say "YAY" real loudly and uttered "Beeeaaccccchhhh!" Big Bee is smarter - she will say zoo, because she knows we usually spend a longer time in the zoo!

2 Sundays ago, we brought them to Sentosa's Siloso Beach in the morning. The sunrays were warm and inviting on our faces, the palm trees whispered with a soft breeze through their fronds and the sea was calm like a brilliant azure sheet. The girls had a fantastic time splashing in the sea, getting their feet wet and sticky and frolicking in the sand, digging holes, creating hill mounds.

Sun, sand & surf!

I wish everyday is a Sunday :)

Random Chitter Chatter

Here are some excerpts of conversations with the Bees that were indelible in my mind which always make me smile...

Big Bee: Mummy, can you and Papa don't stay and look at me during assembly? Not even a peep!

Me (in mock dismay): Why?

Big Bee: Because I feel like crying when I see both of you walking away.

Me: Why do you feel like crying?

Big Bee: Because I am sad to see you leave me...(awwww....sob!)

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Me: Little Bee, who do you like more? Shey or Ni Lao Shi? (her teachers from her weekend playschool)

Little Bee (after a long pause and much considering, with a bashful smile): Ni Lao Shi

Me: Then who do you love more? Mummy or Papa?

Little Bee (without hesitation): PAPA!!!!

*Groan* Toddlers are such honest angels - to the brink of brutal honesty! She is truly a Daddy's girl indeed...

Striding Towards Independence...

Speeding on her favourite scooter

We had settled down into a comfortable and contented school routine with Big Bee. A couple of evenings in the first week of school, I remember asking Big Bee "How's your school?" the moment I stepped through the door. One night, she snapped at me grouchily and said "Why must you know everything about my school?" and refused to tell me what went on in school that day.

My heart was pierced with inexplicable hurt. Is my little girl shutting me out so soon in her life? Am I becoming an obsolete, typical mother whom she cannot relate to? My heart was clutched in the throes of dejected agony the whole night until my Mum gave me the best advice that only a mother can give: "Give her some space."

I was tremendously grateful for Mum's words. That was how she brought both my brother and I up - by giving us immense love and lots of space...whenever we asked for either.

So, at bedtime, I chatted with Big Bee and she bared her feelings. She felt utterly sorry for hurting Mummy, but requested: "Can you not ask me about school the moment you are home?" The exact reflections of my Mum! She is the wisest of mothers indeed!

A month down the road, and here we are - cheery, happy, with Big Bee sharing everything about her school with me everyday. Her friends. The funny incidents she encountered in school. The conflicts. Her deepest worries. We laughed, we gossiped, we brainstormed on tactics to ward off girls who are naughty to her. More importantly, I listen and empathise...without criticism, without judgement, without too much "I know it all" attitude.

It works well. Every night these days, at 8.30pm, she will drag me to her bed and giggled:"Mummy, let's have our chit-chat time now!" And she will tell me all her little secrets.

Motherhood is a learning odyssey indeed.

My poor attempts at bento breakfasts for Big Bee. I usually pack shaped bread with butter for her, who is a fussy eater. The marshmellows are mainly for her friends, who always fight to grab a piece!

Delightful Mornings

Waking up before the first light of morning is wondrous indeed. I used to languish on bed in the mornings, hating to wake up and go to work. These days, I prance eagerly out of bed at 6am everyday, looking forward to that 10-minute walk with Big Bee to school, followed by the brief bonding session with Little Bee before I head off to work! Makes the whole morning so fruitful.

The most gratifying thing is to be able to take a leisurely morning stroll with Hubby after we drop Big Bee in school, amidst the morning traffic bustle...and head towards a scrumptious breakfast, spending some refreshing couple time at daybreak. This morning, we took a 25-minute walk to eat our favourite local noodles before hopping on a bus back home to find Little Bee awake and waiting for us to play, and then heading to work!

Sure makes my day :)

Yoga Nights

The Bees were kind of addicted to yoga these days. I bought 2 kids yoga DVDs last year, and started re-introducing to them last week after some violent bouts of sibling conflicts, hoping to quell their anger. And I think it kind of worked, especially for Big Bee!

For almost every night last week, Big Bee would ask me "Can we do yoga tonight?". And Little Bee would overhear and echo "Yoga! YOGAAAA!"

Big Bee would then be diligently doing every pose of the 30-minute videos, whereas Little Bee would follow whatever her sister was doing for a few poses, then wandered away, and sauntered back in for some of the cuter poses.

One evening, my parents happened to be at my place and they even chipped in to do some poses with the Bees! It was really hilarious.

Big Bee diligently performing the one-legged dog pose

Little Bee loves the easy cobra pose

I find the yoga routine to be pretty calming and soothing for my active Bees. They usually do it right before their bedtime, and I find that it is a wonderful shutdown routine for them, winding them down, getting them ready for bed. And they always slept much faster after these sessions, which was a huge bonus for me!

Chitter Chatter

Beaming with joy over 3 french fries at Claire's birthday party last month

I realised very little had been written about Little Bee's progress, so here goes. Little Bee is now communicating with us effortlessly, though my Mum told me only Big Bee or me could understand her gabblings! She is still not very articulate, but her cheery, ubiquitous yaks filled the house incessantly. She mixes English with Mandarin, so it takes a sharp ear to decipher what she says!

This morning, as she was drinking milk on her bed, I went in to say bye before I went to work. She clambered up, stretched out her arms and uttered "hug hug!" My heart melted and I went to hug her with the fullest of hearts.

On Monday morning, after I came back from walking Big Bee to school, she woke up and told me "Little Bee (sic) wake up. School bell." I asked her "Oh, you mean the school bell woke you up?" She then did her signature grin and nodded while uttering her trademark "uhhh".

She likes to refer to small things as "Baby...", eg "Baby ball" for a small ball or "Baby am" for a small ant (yes, that's how she pronounce "ant" now!). A few months back, she used to refer to bigger things as "Papa...", eg "Papa ball" or "Papa am", thanks to Hubby's teaching. Now, she refers to them as "Big big ball". And she usually uses this term when bargaining for bigger morsels of food, eg "I want big bread!" or "I want big apple!"

Her favourite fruit is dragonfruit. She adores chewing thoughtfully on the seeds. At dinnertime just now, I asked her "Do you want to eat apple?". She shook her head forcefully. Then I asked "Do you want dragonfruit?" A flash of her wide toothy grin and she started chasing me through the whole house asking for "dragfruit! dragfruiiiiiitttt! Peaaasee!!"

This week, her favourite terms are "Go away!" and "Throw away!" Hmph, sounds pretty rude!

Sharing a private joke with her teacher in school!

And she never understands why we can leave food on the table without wanting to eat them. So, her favourite activity every mealtime is to usher us in urgent tones to quickly sit down and eat. Like she will urge her Papa impatiently "PAPA!!! EAAATTTT! COME!" Then she will run to him and fuss around him like a little mother, gesturing non-stop towards the dining table, saying "Sit! COME! EAAATTTT!"

She has a teasing sense of humour since young. When she was 18 months old, when we asked her where's Papa, she will point to the big elephant motif beside her bed, grinning cheekily at us, knowing we will exclaim that Papa is definitely not an elephant. And she will point at Papa after we exclaimed in mock exasperation.

Every night when I hand her the milk bottle, I will ask her "What must you say?" And once she accidentally uttered, in her eagerness to consume her milk, "(Th)Ank you, milk milk". I expressed mock horror at what she said, after which she grinned and said "(Th)Ank you, Mama". So these days, she will pretend to say "(Th)Ank you, milk milk" after she thanked me -just to gauge my shock.

And whenever she hurts Big Bee, I will angrily tell her "What must you say to Jie Jie?" She will utter "Hoary (Sorry), Jie Jie" in a real remorseful but adorable tone with an equally forlorn expression.

That's my chatty and bubbly Little Bee.

Picnic Perfect

Best friends forever, always together: Best pal Claire (in white) and buddy Elsie

Last Saturday, Big Bee's primary school organised a picnic for all the primary one parents. We had a wonderful time getting to know other parents and meeting Big Bee's new pals too! The Bees enjoyed themselves thoroughly. We also sat through a fairly stressful briefing by the principal on the rigours of primary one academic life - the exams she will have to undergo, the assessments she will have to take! Brr...

Anyway, instead of me writing about the picnic, I decided to steal a couple of pages from her diary where she wrote about the picnic. Saves me some writing! It is unedited, so pardon the grammar and syntax mistakes.

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From Big Bee's Diary (she wrote it on Sunday)

Yesterday was my primary 1 picnic. It is at the bamboo courtyard. We played pass the animals and feed the lion games. Our class won 1st prize. Our points for feed the lion was 305 and our points for pass the animals was 20. Pass the animals was quite hard to play.

A bunch of jubilant and victorious little girls!

After that we had the picnic. We were sitting next to my best friends, Claire Khoo and Elsie. Our prize was a small teddy bear for girls in my class. I gave out gingerbread man to all my friends. Secondary school girls gave out stickers to paste on our boats. Elsie and Claire Khoo shared food with me. I also shared food with them. I shared animal biscuits. Then, we went home. My primary 1 picnic was very fun.

Little Bee familiarising herself with her future school...4 years later!

With Claire, Teri and the 2 secondary school jie-jies who were their teamleaders during the picnic

New Addition To The Family

This morning, my Mum spotted a ball of grey fur in our balcony. Upon closer examination, we realised that a hamster, or some rodent-looking animal, had encroached into our balcony! Poor little animal was shivering, and it wasn't walking properly. I suspect it had somewhat injured its 2 hind legs.

Fearing that the owner might be looking for it, my helper brought hammie out to a safe yet conspicuous corner near the lifts. We also sprinkled some hamster food, courtesy of our hamster Galaxy, near this grey rodent. It devoured the food immediately. It must be ravenous, poor little soul! Little Bee was exclaiming non-stop at this cute little furball, but she was too young to understand much.

I went to work, fast forgetting this little episode amidst the flurry of work. After work, I realised that Big Bee, upon hearing news that there was a lost hamster outside her house after school, insisted on keeping this little rodent! And she was yelping angrily at my Mum whenever she prodded at the hamster to see if it was still alive. Guess her protective instincts were pretty strong for hapless little creatures!

So, here we are...with another new hamster...a stray hamster! It is uncanny how I ended up picking up strays. I used to own 2 stray dogs who were real beauties - Vicki, a Shih-Tzu/terrier cross and Boy-Boy, a Pom. They both lived to a ripe old age.

We kept little greyster in a separate cage from Galaxy, the reigning Hamster Empress, whom we suspected killed our previous hamster, her housemate. Big Bee was so excited, telling me the news the moment I stepped into the house. Little Bee just followed whatever her jie jie was doing, prancing around the hamster cage chirpily when I examined the still-quivering creature.

I asked Big Bee what she will name this hamster. She said Pebbles, after our previous dead hamster. What a sweet gesture indeed.