A Homey Christmas

Our Christmas tree

The culmination of chasing blazing trails of Christmas trees and fairy lights, of exuberant anticipation, of a laid-back holiday mood spanning 1.5 months is finally here. This is the best time of the year. And the most uplifting season of all.

We spent a very rainy Christmas Eve in a most quiet and peaceful mien, befitting its synonym of "Silent Night". Plenty of bonding with the Bees, with a profusion of cuddling and tranquil reading, as well as informal singing of Christmas carols with lyrics found online. Big Bee managed to memorise 2 full Christmas songs - "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer".

Christmas Day was spent with friends over a cheery lunch gathering at our place. PF, Eliz and LP came with the kids, arms full of presents for every kid. The present exchange at the end of the party was every kid's favourite moment. All their eyes lighted up like the twinkly lights on Christmas trees. Something about colourfully wrapped up presents imbued a certain exhilaration and pure excitement in kids...even adults! The mystery and enthrallment of what lies beneath those thin wrapping papers.

We had the usual delectable potluck - PF brought a succulent roast turkey, LP lugged 2 big boxes of mouth-watering and divine chicken pies, Eliz cooked a whole tub of juicy fish nuggets and I simply contributed practical fried rice to fill our stomachs and a dessert wine to awaken our senses! A gathering of close friends is never complete without huddling around the dining table, gossiping and chatting over scrumptious food and sweet wine!

The kids had a funner time catching up, chasing each other, playing quietly alongside each other over toys and Wii games.

All the kids hanging out together, entranced by Wii...


...except for foodie Little Bee who sat apart from them, tending to her bowl of grapes!


LP's boys jostling over Big Bee's scooter during outdoor play

After the party had dispersed, the Bees busied themselves unwrapping all the presents. Big Bee was highly expressive, exclaiming over every single present and declaring "Christmas is WONDERFUL!". She was ecstatic that she received 2 presents from Santa Claus, whereas Little Bee only had 1 present from him, claiming Santa was probably frowning on Little Bee's Terrible Twos' tantrums, with difficulty in learning to share. Little Bee had started showing signs of understanding the beautiful concept of presents, and busied her little tender hands tearing open her presents and examining with a furrowed brow every present in full detail right after opening it.

Very busy Bees in a sea of wrapping paper and presents!

Merry Christmas to all :)

Christmas Presents

This entry was written by Big Bee :)

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Today, I made a snow globe each for Mummy and Papa as their Christmas presents. First, I took two containers and a small bear and dog. Then, I put super glue on the animals and stuck them on the containers' covers. And then I poured water and sprinkled glitter powder into the containers. After that, I put the covers back into the containers. I like making snow globes. Papa and Mummy felt very happy because I made them Christmas presents.

Toilet Trained!

Erm, self congratulatory grin?

Little Bee had succeeded in toilet training herself completely for a whole week! Here's to fewer diapers for us and helping to save the earth!

She can now go diaper-less throughout her waking hours, and whenever she needs to answer nature's calls, she will look at us cheekily with a mischievous expression and a twinkle in her eyes, clutching her crotch, saying "Sh-Sh!" (for pee pee) or "Ng ng!" (for poo poo). She does not use the potty though. Instead, she prefers the child toilet seat on our adult toilet bowl and would always lower her head to stare at her stream of yellow goodness whenever she is in the loo! Then she would insist on taking the toilet paper and wiping herself. Which, in times of her big business, you can imagine how messy that could be!

She is such a brave girl today. Jie Jie was playing a board game with her Gong Gong, with the door closed in her room. When I came back and carried Little Bee into Jie Jie's room, Big Bee shouted loudly at Little Bee to get out because she was messing up those small board pieces. Poor Little Bee was so hurt, I could see it in her eyes. Her whole little nose turned red, her eyes welled up with tears simmering at the perimeters, her miniscule mouth downturned sadly. Yet, when I carried her up and offered to "sayang" her, she swept my hand away, visibly swallowing her tears and putting on a brave, uncrying front, remaining glum instead of bawling. What resilience and fortitude for such a little one!

She seemed to be losing interest in doodling whilst picking up interest in reading. Or more like asking me to read to her. Her favourite books are the plethora of pop-up fairy tales and those kiddy touch-and-feel books so she can explore and feel her way through every page.

The picture below was her last masterpiece exactly a month ago. Big Bee and I deduced that Little Bee drew a sun. I can't really tell actually. Since then, she had not touched the poor doodling board at all! Hmph.

Battle Of Nature

This was a queer sign we saw beside an enormous green field. Big Bee was fascinated by it, especially since we were trudging around the same field a little while ago.

And while we were passing by this sign, we saw a giant eagle gliding and swirling around the field. We stopped the car, all 4 of us with gaping mouths and bated breaths, waiting to see if the eagle had spotted the cobra and was zero-ing into its target. The eagle swooped down so low that it was on the same level as us in the car, just a couple of metres from our vehicle, its size gigantic and majestic. Out of the blue, a gargantuan pitch-black raven plunged towards the fearsome eagle with ferocious speed, and they embarked on a graceful dance of battle, making invisible mid-air fortresses in twirling circles, with the eagle fiercely protecting its unseen prey and the raven soaring away in disappointed defeat after moments of watchful warfare.

And ironically, this morning when I woke up, Rosilyn my helper told me she discovered a long thin black snake coiled comfortably just at the threshold of our main door, fast asleep no doubt! Brave her managed to take a stick and shooed it away..wondered where it slithered to! Although we were aptly terrified (because this thin snake can easily slither underneath our main door and enter our house!), I was thinking that manytimes, humans are frightened because we find these animals unfamiliar, thereby killing to eradicate our fears. When sometimes, these animals just want a warm habitat to rest, moving on if they are not disturbed...

The beauties of nature seen so upclose. In this age and time. And at such close proximity in our modern world. Wondrous indeed.

Cloud Nine

We went on an extended family holiday from 1-3 December to "Cloud Top", a literal translation from the Chinese name of Genting Highlands. My in-laws, mom and helper all came along, and I must give full credit to my mom-in-law for organising everything! This is the first trip we had taken with such a big family, and naturally, the Bees were thrilled to have such great company.

We took a comfy coach there (those with reclining massage seats and a TV set/game console for every seat, very restful!), and the Bees were surprisingly very well behaved in the 6 to 7 hours journey there and back! Big Bee was busy entertaining herself with the game console (I realised she was pretty adroit at arcade fighting games, hm!) and Little Bee slept through 1/3 of the journey to and fro.


All ready to set off on an early Monday morning!


This was taken on the journey back..Big Bee engrossed in the games console, Little Bee looked on, wanting to play but don't know how! And yes, Little Bee was supposed to be sitting on my lap but she happily inched me off the seat when sleeping and awake, leaving Mummy with no proper seat throughout both journeys, tsk tsk!

Nothing beats our closest family around us on a holiday, so, even though this was a short holiday just to neighbouring Malaysia, I found that this had been such an enjoyable break with plenty of relaxation, bonding and getting re-acquainted with our parents again! I am sure our parents found it a pleasure to be close to us, sharing the joy of our children with us as well.


Happy paternal grandparents with their beloved grand-daughters


Maternal granny, helper and the Bees striking a pose beside a pretty Christmas tree. It was Christmas wonderland there!

The weather's cooling, the theme parks are within walking distance, all we did was eat, relax, play and sleep! I told my mom that we should all come for an annual holiday here from now on!


Food galore!


Little Bee was thrilled by the outdoor park's clowns and looked on excitedly as her jie-jie went for a "Rodeo Rider" thrill ride...yee-haaah!


An ecstatic Big Bee on the Flying Dumbo...high up in the sky!

Mass Birthday Party!

Everyone's heard of mass weddings, but I bet mass birthday celebrations might be rarer. On Sunday, Little Bee was lucky enough to enjoy a group birthday party together with 6 other toddlers all turning 2 in December! It had been a really busy birthday weekend for her indeed!

This group of lovely tods were from the Singapore Motherhood Dec 06 babies forum, and it was so heartwarming to see all the little kids singing their very own birthday song and blowing their candles together!

Happy birthday to us!

The party was held in Gymboree and the tods went through an hour of fun games before settling down with some scrumptious cupcakes baked by one of the mothers. So sweet, right?

Food connoisseur Little Bee could not resist a good cupcake!

All the kids were elated, frowning with concentration when they tackled the gym structures, jumping up and down non-stop while dancing to the music, squealing when playing with bubbles or other thrilling, exhilarating games.

Bubbles and excited kids galore!


Little Bee loves the monkey bar...future gymnast!?

What was most endearing for me was to see Big Bee playing alongside Little Bee, guiding her, watching over her, mentoring her! It certainly moved my heart with the knowledge that Little Bee will always have a strong jie-jie protecting her, helping her outside the home, despite all the aggressive cat fights happening within the home these days!
Hardworking Big Bee busy looking after her darling sister

Kei, one of the mummies, wrote a first-class account of the party in her own blog here. Happy reading!


The birthday stars!

Birthday Bash For A Little One

We celebrated Little Bee's 2nd birthday with a little bash in my estate's function room. Our closest friends and family came by to lend joy and cheer to this sunny girl's 2nd year on earth. It was a party overflowing with curious toddlers checking each other out and boisterous big kids yelling, screaming and chasing each other around the room. It was a perfect setting for old friends to catch up and acquaintances to touch base again.

Our youngest princess was decked in white lace but was not her usual gregarious self. She was rather clingy and kept wanting us to "bao bao" (carry) her. Perhaps she was overwhelmed by the number of guests coming to her party. For I had read that the ideal number of party guests in a toddler's birthday party should be consistent with their age. Which, in her case, will be 2 kiddy guests, compared to a raucous 25 kids fiesta today!

Grand entrance...!

The jie-jie was more excited than her, dashing around the room with her best pals, Eugene and Claire, and making some new friends along the way - Josh, Dylan and Nate.

I prepared for this party sometime in advance, renting a small bouncer with slide, a role-play kitchen and a playhouse to entertain her little friends. We also brought along Big Bee's jolly yellow electric car which proved to be a hit with the kids, creating scenes of jostle and hustle amongst them. The big kids conquered the bouncer like there is no tomorrow, and the little toddlers were fans of the kitchen set, tinkering away with the utensils.

Little Bee elated with her cake and gamely singing her own birthday song!

We gave out goodie bags consisting of plush toy characters from Pooh and 2 bottles of Playdoh for the little guests, and different sets of craftwork and chocolates for the big kids. And every kid also got to choose his or her balloon. We also spent the night before decking the room with pink and grey balloons and birthday banners. And I must give credit to Papa who manually pumped all the balloons in the party! It was certainly fantastic to organise your own party rather than outsourcing to others, though it can be a tad tiring.

Little Bee's joy at receiving presents!

For me, my heart was warmed by the fact that friends and family took the effort to come by and spent time to look for presents for Little Bee. Thank you, all of you who came by!

Some of the friends and family who were here...

Kiddy Telephone Conversation

Big Bee's best friend, Rachael, always calls her almost every night. They will then giggle together, whispering secrets to each other. One night last week, Big Bee gleefully passed me a second handset to let me into her little world of friends. I was elated that she was so willing to share the gossips with her friends with Mummy, and listened on excitedly. Here's what they spoke about, to my amazement!

Part 1
R: Do you think K likes me? (K is one of the boys in their class, purportedly Big Bee's one-time boyfriend as well. His parents called me and Hubby the "in-laws" *faint*)
Big Bee: I think he likes Elizabeth more!
R: No, I think he likes me the most because I spend the most time with him alone.
Big Bee: How many times did he kiss you?
R: I cannot remember. I think he kissed me a few times. (!!!???)

Part 2
R: Let's pretend me and K are getting married.
Big Bee: (giggles) OK!
R: Rachael, do you take Kai as your husband and promise not to fight with each other?
R: (in squeaky voice) Yes!
R: K, do you take R as your wife?
R: (in deep, baritone voice) Yes!
R: Now you may kiss the bride (ended off with rapid smooching sounds)
R to Big Bee: Now's your turn to tell the wedding story!
Big Bee: OK! (and the story continues, but with more giggling from the more innocent Big Bee)

My my. These days, kids do start off BGR relationships early! Tsk tsk! I am happy that Big Bee was so enthusiastic to open up her little social world to me now. And wonder when she will start hiding in her room, shutting out Mummy from her gossips with friends. I hope that day never comes :(

Just Like Old Times

How time stretches when we have fun. Especially when a group of old pals get together and catch up on old times. Which was what happened on Monday afternoon. My longest and best buddies of 22 years gathered at BK's (aka Eliz) house and yakked the afternoon away - YM, BK, Loon and me! The good old 1F clique :)

Old pals from more than 2 decades ago! Am putting this photo real small because I am sure they will protest ;)

It was just like old times when we frequented her house as teenaged guests. From young girls with lots of dreams about romantic love, we are now mothers nurturing ideals in our children. Topics about boys in school morphed into discussions on the best primary schools for our kids!

I guessed what had changed the most was BK's culinary skills! From someone who nearly failed Home Economics Cooking (with me as the lousy partner!), she baked a sweet cheesecake and scrumptious scones for our afternoon tea! How wonderful!

Our kids played very well together, with Big Bee and Aurelius running about, having fun, and Little Bee and Sophie tinkering about in their little toddlers' curiosity!

Big Bee and Aurelius played all kinds of games


Little Bee and Sophie were simply enchanted by the slide!

After BK's place, I even had the chance to bring the Bees to Auntie Loon's big penthouse apartment. Big Bee was enthralled with her pets, Cookie, the enthusiastic Golden Retriever and Hugo, the royal Persian Cat! We took a walk with endearing Cookie around Loon's estate in the approaching dusk, basking in the receding golden sunrays and letting our hair caressed by the gentle sighing breeze.

What a great day!

Graduation Party

One of the parents from Big Bee's class decided to throw a graduation party, and enlisted the help of their 2 teachers to plan games for their grand finale in a chain of K2 graduating activities.

Last Saturday, we gathered at Kai's house for the party and the kids had a blast, jesting with each other, teasing the teachers, clique-ing with their favourite pals. Big Bee exhibited a rare side of her - probably common in school - that I had never seen before. She was bold, energetic, gregarious, independent and outspoken in front of her teachers, where normally with me, she can be clingy, whiny and sulky (shhh...!).

The kids and teachers played party games and the camaraderie was so dense...I could finally understand why Big Bee started loving school so much this year! There were prizes to be won. In fact, Big Bee won the very first game. When the competition boiled down to the 2 finalists, the whole room was resonant with Big Bee's close friends and supporters cheering and chanting her name! As Hubby said, that was a moment he felt so proud as a parent, to see your child so well accepted by her peers. And when she finally won, all her friends came over and hugged her!

Little Bee was kept busy at the party with food and cooking toys, her favourites!

The party ended off with an exchange of farewell gifts and our contact numbers. Let's hope she will have indelible memories of her kindergarten life.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

I took some time off from work on Monday and spent a lazy, relaxing afternoon at YM's place with Sophie. The Bees were entertained to the maximum the whole afternoon! Big Bee was amazed at YM's big fat cat Huskie, although I can tell she was pretty intimidated by the size of Huskie at first! Little Bee was happily playing with Sophie's many fun toys...but she was MOST satisfied when chef YM baked us a deliciously fresh loaf of moist apple bread! Yum! I loved it! The moment she saw YM preparing her dining table to set down the bread, she dropped all toys, abandoned her other 2 playmates, and stuck to my arms, patiently and unyieldingly waiting for YM to hand her that scrumptious slice of bread.

Little Bee with Sophie, both pretending to be crawling babies!

Big Bee and Sophie share a common interest - they are both not very interested in food! So, when Little Bee was busy munching away with YM and me, Big Bee and Sophie were busy playing with each other in the room, chasing each other in circles, Big Bee pushing Sophie in her toy pram, lying on the bed together (this was what Big Bee accounted to me, so cute!)

Big Bee and Sophie chilling out on the bed

The playdate ended on a happy note at 5.30pm...and we could still have time after dinner to start on our trail of catching twinkling Christmas trees in the glorious Singapore downtown that is bejeweled with fairy lights!

Santa Claus Is Here!

Sleepy Santa..Zzzz...

Christmas came early this year. We attended a term-end Christmas party at Little Bee's weekend school and Santa sneaked in to give presents to all the little toddlers! The whole class had to ring little bells to welcome Mr Ho Ho Ho in. The jolly sounds of numerous tinkling bells were so cheery and uplifting! Unfortunately, many of the toddlers cried at the sight of grand old Father Christmas, as many of them set eyes on him only for the first time. Luckily, Little Bee only gazed at him in wide-eyed shock, and she was brave enough to walk to him to collect her present.

As it was a party, I can bring Big Bee along. The kids were all supposed to dress up as animals so I dressed both of them up as little kitty cats. Big Bee had her Marie Cat ears, and Little Bee strapped on a furry cat's tail that brought much laughter from the teachers and parents!

It was a fun party with lots of song and dance, and it was truly heartwarming to see Big Bee guiding and mentoring Little Bee during craft time!

Big Bee teaching Little Bee how to make a fox hat!

The Bee's favourite part of the party - FOOD! Both of them are munching on Mrs Field's mini cup cookies that I brought to the party. Yum!

Kiddie Carnival

Have you ever been squashed in the midst of hundreds of toddlers and kids? Waited in line with patient children for manicure, games and food? Sweated loads, but amazed at how kids seemed oblivious to heat despite their wet brows? Well, welcome to a carnival catered specially for kids. This is an annual Mardi Gras of sorts for kids in Big Bee's school, and I had braved the above elements for 4 years.


Big Bee and her preschool successor, Little Bee, who was initially VERY overwhelmed by the gargantuan crowds and probably feeling glum that she has to start school next year!

This year, it was the easiest for me as Big Bee is a big girl now with all her independent, big-kid buddies. So, they roamed about the entire carnival grounds in a tight clique all by themselves, loving each other and totally not needing the parents anymore! Her friends' parents told me they felt left-out and unneeded! Hm, I am beginning to have a taste of how it feels like to have independent teenaged kids.

And Little Bee can walk about by herself, unlike last year when I had to carry her and pulled along a shyer Big Bee. SO - all's well this year.


Friends Galore (clockwise from top left): (1) Gabrielle in her enchanting painted face, (2) cutesy Natasha and sweet Rie, (3) Charming Kai (aka Big Bee's on-off "boyfriend" who recently cornered her in the school toilet for a kiss on the lips!), savvy Elizabeth, Big Bee and other friends went crazy on the bouncy castle, (4) Elizabeth and Rie again.


After some rounds of carnival games, Little Bee quickly settled for her first love - food food food! She ate cupcakes, bee hoon, nasi lemak and plenty of other junk food! Kept asking for more, more, more! Tsk tsk!

We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly the whole morning, and I am glad that I will have another four years of fiesta because of Little Bee :)

Met up with Viv, her hubby and cute chubby Dylan there too, and she wrote a fabulous account of the carnival here.

Last Day Of Kindergarten

Big Bee's last official school day was on Wednesday. I met up with her form and Chinese teachers, and was elated to receive feedback that she had been a strong leader in school, both liked by peers and teachers. They advised me to continue her interest in public speaking, performance and drama. This transformation is no less due to the wonderful teachers in her kindergarten, especially in K2, and I seriously hope that she can receive the same personal nurturing that had led to her metamorphosis.

She brought back her K2 works and yearbook, and I flipped through her works with bittersweet emotions welling up in my heart. No more reading her daily story books from kindergarten with her. No more corresponding freely and informally with her teachers through the communications book. No more light-hearted treatment of her homework and spelling. For I traverse on the road to primary one with much trepidation. My poor Big Bee would have to start the relentless drill of Singapore's harsh academic system that had jaded most of us.


All her friends' and teachers' signatures and a recent class photo from her K2 yearbook. Big Bee is at the top row, 2nd from right. She also had to collect farewell comments from all the teachers who had ever taught her in her 4 years of preschool, featured in other pages of her yearbook.

One of her homework essays in early October was on the topic "What do you like about your kindergarten?". I thought it is apt to feature her short essay (which was straight from her heart) here as a striking and moving finale to her unforgettable preschool years. No editing from me, so pardon the funny grammar in some parts.

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What do you like about your kindergarten?

I like my kindergarten because of my teachers and friends. I like my friends because we play together for the past four years. I have many friends in school and they make me very happy. We learn together, we eat together and perform together.

I like my teachers because they teach me and my friends many new things. They are also kind and friendly. I also like my teachers because they go to field trips with me and my friends.

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Her teacher's comments: "Good job! I will really miss you, Miss Y." (Her teacher has a habit of calling her by her surname in jest.)

I pray that primary school will be an extraordinary journey as well.

My Little Miss Sunshine

Little Bee has always been a smiley baby, playful, grinning, beaming constantly. It's only recently that her feisty and obstinate character peeked through, but her facade of a ready chuckle is forever there.

She had been labelled by many as "Miss Sunshine", "Smiliest baby in the world", "Comical", "Smiley". Of course, only Mummy and Papa know the deep dark tantrums of hers, but I must say her temper is short and quick. She is never one to bear grudges.

This will be a long entry about Little Bee, as she approaches her 2nd birthday. At 1 year and 11 months old, she is the livewire of our family, squealing at the doorway and then running around in circles whenever we are back from work, cheering "YAY!" when jie-jie or she completed an important task, and loudly uttering "UH-OH!" with round shocked eyes and mouth when something goes awry.

She is enthralled by adult strangers at close proximity, especially in lifts. She will stare with her big round eyes, unblinking, at them, then she will smile a bashful smile and wave at them. She also likes to wave at strangers in crowded places. She loves fellow toddlers, and will strike up a conversation easily with them, yakking away in gibberish baby language, pointing, gesturing, bending close to the toddler and nodding her head as if in conspiracy to them. However, manytimes, she was met with bewildered toddlers wondering what she was yakking on about!

She loves to eat. If she is angry or fussy, one offering of a food item is enough to appease any stormy tantrum, only to be greeted with a wide beam amidst eyes still teary! She loves to play kitchen toy games, cutting, preparing and cooking a plethora of toy foods, and then pretending to feed everyone, offering her culinary masterpieces to all of us with a hospitable nod of her head, stuffing the food right into our mouths. I suspect she will be a chef in future.

She is a shopping queen! She loves to go out, always squealing and hopping with excitement whenever I say "Let's go out! Wear your shoes!" Then, she will be the first to scurry to the shoe cabinet, take out her shoes, and wait impatiently by the door.

She loves to draw and doodle. She is currently fascinated by the letter "A", aiming to write "A" always - sometimes successfully, sometimes not. She can also write "I" and "O" and she loves to draw simple smiley faces with eyes, nose, mouth (she drew a sad mouth only once!) and recently, eyebrows and messy hair.

Unlike her jie-jie, she cannot sit down at length to read books, probably she idolises her jie-jie, and will always inch towards her to play. But she can recognise and utter the letters A to F, and can say the majority of the letters after me. When I say "1", she will sometimes continue "2", so on and so forth until 6...then I realised she cannot utter 7 at all! Then she will continue with 8, 9...and by 10, the attention-deficit her will flit off like a social butterfly again.

She loves us! Her favourite person is jie-jie, of course, followed by Popo, Papa and erm, Mummy, unlike her jie-jie, whose favourite person is Mummy! She is a true blue Daddy's girl. And she never fails to be expressive. She will hug us when she is happy. Kiss us when we play non-stop with her. And she will put on a doleful sad face when we reprimand her, lying her head on our shoulder, lips trembling, eyes welling up with tears. Aww....

Well, that's my little Miss Sunshine :)