Eleven Little Toddlers

This afternoon, I brought Little Bee for a gathering with the December 2006 mummies from the forum. The last time I met up with the babies was last October, and boy, had all the toddlers grown up! Total toddler turn-out: 11! We drew a fair bit of amused glances from the diners at Globetrotters!

There was minimal shyness amongst all the cute 11 toddlers. They were all very well behaved initially, sitting nicely in their nice chairs, all chomping one unified food - CHEERIOS! They all love it! Towards the last 30 minutes, we put them down on the floor and there was just a slight mayhem. It was really delightful to see them interacting with each other - waving, blowing kisses, shaking hands, giggling, squealing, patting. All their manners were very impressive!

Little Bee was amazed by the number of balloons in Globetrotter's, especially the adjacent party room. So, she used her charms, smiled and pointed at one blue balloon so pitifully that she beguiled one kind lady to bring out one balloon for her! That was rather hilarious to me!

Most of all, it was wonderful to see how these babies who used to be tiny bundles in our arms, nursing our bosoms non-stop, developing into sociable, curious and adorable toddlers approaching their 2 years in this world!

Here are some photos:

Beaming with Jovey behind her

Choosing between 2 handsome boys - Tim and Pin Heng
Happily standing by Pin Heng

Trying to be friendly with pretty Regina

Travel Memoirs: Train Travel

The romance of train travel had always been written and filmed by intrepid travellers, and I couldn't agree more.

This morning, I was on a train from Hangzhou to Shanghai for a work trip, coming back home. I spent a good portion of the 1.5 hour trip entranced by the scenary outside. We passed by lots of emerald-green farms with hardworking farmers bent double over their crops, pretty pine trees, meandering streams, duck farms with numerous white ducks spilling from their land abode to the river, ubiquitous lilies growing gorgeously in still ponds. Living off the produce of nature is simply wonderful. I felt refreshed and revitalised.

Still, it is even more marvelous to be back home with my family tonight.

Escape!

We decided to take a little break and escaped to Bintan with Big Bee. Poor Little Bee cannot go because she does not have a passport yet, and this trip was planned like a day in advance.

When I told Big Bee we are bringing her to Bintan, she could not believe her ears and kept asking.."is it true?" umpteenth times. She whooped with joy and skipped around with non-stop utterings of "I am going for holiday" in a sing-song rhythm whole day long!

It was glorious reprieve in Bintan. I love the wide expanse of ocean with the infinite horizon of nothingness, the dramatically sweeping curve of the bay that we chilled out at, the wild blossom of verdant forest at the end of the bay.

Big Bee in her full holiday garb!

Big Bee revelled throughout these 2 days, snacking on her favourite ice-creams and brownies, trying all sorts of new activities with us, grinning and beaming whole day long, waking us up real early to enjoy the crisp morning air. Some of the things I relish about this little getaway of ours:

1) Big Bee bouncing about the relaxation area in our hotel room, pretending to be a singer, performing gaily for the 2 laughing parents.

2) Jolting on an all-terrain four-wheeled motorbike through the forests of Bintan, with Big Bee and Hubby in a dune buggy behind me. It was a truly bumpy and muddy ride, zipping through dirt trails and muddy potholes filled with rainwater. We ended our little adventure with a finale, being caught in a heavy downpour for the last 10 minutes of our ride! I love the closeness to nature, but my maternal instincts ached for my poor darling Big Bee who was drenched to the core. Surprisingly, she simply loved this ride, and even grumbled I drove too slowly in front of her. I am so happy at this little adventurous streak of hers. I can see us trekking and climbing up mountains already...

3) Seeing the frown of utter focus and concentration on Big Bee's face as she tried her very best to beat her Papa at billiard (which she finally did in the end!) Though I wonder if her Papa lost on purpose. Still, she was an elated little girl hopping around at the end of the game.

4) Exploring the beautiful soft white sands of Bintan at evening's low tide, hand in hand with Big Bee and Hubby, traipsing on the seabed with the tide receding, and the sky slowly turning into resplendent lavender. The world just looks so expansive and free!

Big Bee chasing Papa around the whole expanse of beach at very low tide

5) Enjoying a succulent dinner of wonderful grilled fish and steak, and seeing Big Bee enjoying her food is ever so satisfying.

Eating her favourite brownie with strawberry ice-cream. Yum!

6) Building sandcastles - a grand medieval castle with a little township, really - in the sharp cool morning air, and observing oppressively large and ominously grey cumulus nimbus clouds approaching the sun in the rising wind, obliterating the cheery sunlight. Showing Big Bee the wonders of nature, the omniscient hand that pervades our entire existence.

A short, nearby getaway like this can be so very enjoyable simply because we can chill out with our family. It just doesn't matter where we are, so long as our closest ones are with us. I wish Little Bee is enjoying with us, but I am sure there will be plenty of occasions in future :)

Date Night

Every Monday night is our date for hubby and me. I thank my lucky stars that I have a supportive and capable mum who helps me so much with the kids that I can spare one night a week to spend quiet, quality and sometimes romantic time with hubby.

Last Monday, hubby brought me to a gorgeous marina for dinner. We reached there at 6.30pm, amidst ubiquitous yachts glowing in the golden rays of a departing sun. The golden orange sheen on the sparkling harbour casted a spell of enchantment over the whole establishment. There were prosperous yacht owners sauntering to their boats to retire for the evening and random groups of passers-by ambling around, admiring the majestic and peaceful yachts.

One of my favourite parts of the day approached slowly - the darkening twilight, brightened by the gradual twinkling of lights sparking up condominiums just across the bay. Soon, the world was awashed in fairy twinkly lights - magical, bewitching, wonderful.

We strolled around the bay after dinner, immersed in this little enclave of Singapore with no remnants of the typical ratrace.

Her First Day

Little Bee went to school for the first time today. She is merely attending Saturday morning classes but I thought it will be a good induction for her going into nursery one next year. I find Little Bee's initiation into preschool a challenge as she is a year-end baby, and true enough, she seemed like a baby compared to the strapping 2 year old toddlers in her class!

I am proud of her. Albeit scared and unsure on the first day, she merely had on her familiar pinched and worried expression and clung a bit tighter to me. But she did not cry. Oh, save for a 2-second melodiously loud wail when the teachers switched off the lights for a rendition of "Twinkle Little Star". Her bawl subsided with immediate effect once I picked her up for a snuggle.

She started warming up after an hour, which coincided with the Mandarin section of class (or maybe it could be that she has more affinity to Mandarin, as evident from the fact that she is starting to say 1-2-3 and many other phases in Chinese first rather than English, much thanks to my Mum!) She smiled shyly at the Mandarin story-telling and was contented to stroll around by herself. She was really excited when it came to singing "Row Row Row The Boat" because it meant that she can do her very favourite rowing action, but she was perturbed by the very different and unfamiliar lyrics in Chinese.

Her favourite activity was snack time (need I say more for my little foodie?) but she also enjoyed her playground time tremendously, squirrelling in those large toy houses and slide stations. She truly warmed up during the mass singing session at the end, and danced a fair bit with me.

I kind of learned from Big Bee's experience some years back to truly take cues from the kid's actions and preferences, and not force them into activities they do not want to do. Hence, I do think Little Bee kind of settled down nicely today. It is also tremendously nice for me to spend some private time with Little Bee as I almost never have enough opportunities to spend time alone with her. It's great bonding, I must say!

Close To Nature

Last Saturday morning, we went to Labrador Park for a jaunt. The view of the sea just beside the long walkway of Labrador Park was breathtaking. The sun was out cheerily - the weather was balmy with swaying, happy trees. The stinging smell of sea salt was invigorating, although it did make me and Big Bee sneeze a couple of times. Perfect.

We sauntered under the hot noon sun to the long lingering jetty, enjoying the warmth of the sunshine on our faces, waving to the abundant shoals of small fishes in the emerald waters. We even saw a pair of barracudas! Well, I am no fish expert, but at least they look like barracudas!

Big Bee was skipping all around, tiring herself out, sweating profusely. She enjoyed looking at the fishes a lot. Little Bee was trotting along beside us, stopping every 5 metres to oooh and aaah at any tiny crawling insect or leaf or anything she found interesting. She was very attached to her pink hat, kept adjusting it herself, trying to look pretty for the camera.

We decided to walk up the boardwalk into the shady cool of the forest. Respite from the heat of the sun! Hubby had to carry Little Bee, and Big Bee kept telling us how lucky Little Bee was. Well, there is absolutely no way any one of us can carry 24 kg Big Bee up the boardwalk steps!! So, walk she must.

The almost virgin forest is a gorgeous canvas for all the things we cannot find in our daily city life. Long trails of ants marching along an elongated branch, to Big Bee's fascination. Funny creepy crawlies never seen before. Fluttering butterflies with gorgeous patterns on their wings. We pointed all these natural miracles for the Bees to understand and appreciate Mother Nature.

And as Labrador Park used to be a fort during the World War 2, the forest was dotted with gun embankments (or whatever the term is). We even stopped by an old fort gun, climbing up the gun, pretending to blast at the dreaded Japanese enemy, much to Big Bee's excitement. She was climbing up and down the gun station, turning wheels here and there. Little Bee, however, was terrified of the gun, strangely. The moment we chanced upon the gun, her expression changed to one of worry and fear, her body turned rigid, her legs hugging my waist tightly, and her hands patted her chest fretfully.

We also had a little refreshment break at the resident restaurant, which is a nice breezy alfresco cafe perched beside the famed Labrador tunnels. The coke, which Big Bee and me devoured, never tasted more invigorating!

Animals In The Dark

We brought the brood to Night Safari 2 Saturdays ago, and it was an eye-opener for them. The whole place was dim, with only burning torches and dim spotlights as random references of illumination. The animal show was rather hilarious, and I was delighted to see Big Bee being very enthralled by such shows, laughing aptly at their jokes and scouring around in the dark during moments of put-up suspense. Little Bee was distracted after a while, and started smiling and playing with spectators who hailed from India sitting just beside us. Her little antics brought smiles and chuckles to them, and I had to literally drag her from them to prevent her from distracting them!

My favourite part is the tram ride, and I love that certain parts of the ride were immersed in total darkness, allowing the passengers to relish the cool serenity of a rainforest in nocturnal repose. Big Bee was a brave girl, sitting nearest to the side of the tram, peering at all sorts of nocturnal creatures around us. Little Bee was more timid than I thought, she had on a worried frown throughout the whole ride, clinging on to me or hubby for dear life, before slipping into a deep slumber at the darkest part of the forest - I think it's a form of escapism for her, so funny!

We finally got home - all hot and tired - by 10.30pm. But it was a good brush with the great wilderness for the 2 Bees.

Celebration

Big Bee and Little Bee celebrated National Day in school together! Big Bee was having a special performance for her kindergarten's National Day party in school, and for the first time, I brought Little Bee along! Mum and Hubby were there as well.

When the performance started, it dawned on me that Big Bee had grown so much since her very first teeny weeny performance in N1! The K2 class was simply amazing - they sang a total of 3 Chinese songs, 2 English songs and 1 Malay song (Rasa Sayang!), as well as performed a short skit. All the kids' voices rang loud, clear and melodic. Impressive! Credit goes to their K2 form teacher who is such a sprightly and bubbly woman!

As they sang, my eyes (and video camera!) zoomed into Big Bee, who was dancing very vigorously, with her singing loudly, highly focused and very motivated. As she sang songs of patriotism to celebrate her country's birthday and executed such intricate dance moves with profound lyrics, a lump ascended up my throat, pride scratching at my chest. For my little girl had truly grown up.

Little Bee was somewhat overwhelmed by everything going on around her. When she first arrived at the school, she was very shy...which was surprising, given her gregarious nature. Whenever people tried chatting with her, she will put her head on my shoulder, how sweet! During the performance, she was either staring fixatedly at the animated performers, or she will point excitedly at Big Bee, chattering "Jie jie! Jie jie!".

She warmed up to the environment by the time the assembly was over. Hubby brought her into their classroom, and she was toddling around like a cute little penguin, being fussed over by Big Bee's friends, and I glimpsed a look of soft pride on Big Bee's face.

What a lovely afternoon!

After school, we went to Turf City for a scrumptious dinner at Manis Manis, a yummy Indonesian restaurant. A perfectly palatable ending to a perfect day!

Tens and Ones

Big Bee is now advancing on her Mathematical concepts...learning about tens and ones. Everyday, I will try to alternate between teaching her English grammar, Mathematical concepts or hanyu pinyin. This is the rigorous primary school education that she has to be used to, sigh. So far, she had been enjoying doing her assessments with me, although I find it difficult to explain the mathematical concepts to her. It is truly challenging verbalising maths concepts, I find! Looks like maths tuition will be a regular thing of the future.

Last night, Little Bee doodled "1" and "0" when I asked her to write "one" and "O" (she refers to circles as "O", circle or "round and round"). I was so proud of her and got her to write these 2 characters many times over. She will grin and clap her hands whenever she completed, giving herself such a satisfied and cute little proud look. She is also recognising numbers and alphabets, saying "air" whenever she sees "A" and "theeeee" in her sweet little high-pitched voice whenever she sees "3".

Life Is Beautiful

We had finally gotten a place into the primary school for Big Bee (and Little Bee too!) :) The feeling is exhilarating, jubilant, intoxicating and unbelievable. Years of painful planning had come into fruition. Months of fretful anxiety evaporate into joy. Weeks of stressful worry emerge into colourful splashes of happiness!

As we only registered in phase 2C, vacancies - especially for a much sought-after primary school - are few and far between. By our turn, we were only left with a meagre 37 spaces! Hubby and I did our sums and decided to forge ahead and registered Big Bee on 29 July. We were the 23rd applicant living within 1km as at 10am then. Stress. Anxiety.

The next 2 days consisted of vigilant monitoring and hawk-eyed tracking of the registration numbers. Last evening, the number climbed up to 34 applicants (within 1km). Skepticism. Worry. Albeit tinged with slight relief that the magical number of 37 is not reached yet.

This morning, the registration number inched up to 35. Hubby and I were half elated, half hesitant. Should we speculate? Or celebrate?

Hubby urged me to call the primary school at 3.45pm, 45 minutes before the closure of the 2C phase. 35 still!

We encouraged and updated each other via sms the whole afternoon, counting down to the magic hour of 4.30pm. 15 minutes to go. 5 minutes to go. 4.30pm! Hubby's turn to call! Alas, he called me back, frustrated, highlighting that they needed some time to tabulate the numbers.

My turn now. My fingers tapped my mobile fretfully. A crisp female voice answered almost immediately. I asked about the outcome of the registration. The first thing she asked me was "Do you live within 1km?" I breathed out yes! Her voice softened considerably when she said "Then you are successful. All those within 1km need not ballot. There are 37 applicants within 1km!"

I had not smiled so widely, nor felt my heart so radiant in a long long time....

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...

Smoky Dinner...

Dinner on Saturday night was spent with PF and family at our place - in full smoldering BBQ style. The kids had been bugging us to get together so they can play, and true enough, they did! Those 3 big kids turned wild the moment they met....and my place was filled with a chaotic cacophony of shrieks, yells, laughters, screams! Add billowing smoke from the grill in the balcony, and it was a rampant pandemonium with the euphemism of dinner! Big Bee was eagerly anticipating their arrival hours before the dinner and she had the blast of her life. Little Bee was also super enthusiastic but it was really tricky for her to dodge those fleeting big kids!

They finally left at 10.30pm, and we adults were the ones to drag them apart, ironically! Frenetic? Yes, but truly fun as well!

Mozart

On Saturday, we went to an interactive exhibition for kids in the National Museum, with Mozart as the main theme. The Museum is really awesome - majestic architecture, less crowds, artistic features and filled with myriad exhibits. The girls had a funner time playing in the creative play area (complete with a mini ball pool, a maze and a drawing area) outside the exhibition! Big Bee put up her painting of the ocean whereas Little Bee was thrilled with running around in the maze, hiding in corners, refusing to leave.

Inside the exhibition, I spent a fair amount of time explaining to Big Bee about Mozart's life, much to her fascination. She got to dress up as a noble woman from Mozart's era, complete with gigantic wig, beauty mole, blushed cheeks and a beautiful gown! And whichever activities that Big Bee engaged in, Little Bee will sure to follow her jie jie, right down to pounding peppermint leaves and cloves to make arcadian toothpaste! How cute. She was also very fascinated by many of the exhibits on display and kept pointing to the direction she wanted to head towards, saying "there!" ubiquitously, making me very busy! Little Bee was terrified by the herculean statue of Michelangelo's David (in full glorious pink!!!!) whereas coming-to-age Big Bee was more interested in the fact that David's...erm..nether parts were fully exposed and in a magnified mien!

We then went to Novus Cafe for a leisurely, quiet, idyllic lunch - the kind of lunch I fancy because it was peaceful and unhurried so the girls and us were really relaxed and happy!

Terrible or Terrific Twos?

Little Bee is 2 weeks past 18 months but her temper has ascended the steep slope of the terrible twos! These days, she will yell and bawl when she could not get or do the things she want. I usually have to do a lot of explaining and cajoling to soothe her. There are more signs of conflict between Big Bee and Little Bee, but I usually let them settle their conflicts in their own ways. And I am happy to see most conflicts solved amicably, after some minor catfights!

Little Bee is now running from point A to point B instead of her teetering ambling. And she is starting to have longer attention spans. This evening, I just sat a full 20 minutes with her, reading two books. Little Bee sat opposite me, intensely focusing on my reading and pointing to the relevant pictures whenever I asked her to identify things.

She is still not strong verbally, but that does not bother me, as with Big Bee's experience - they are now busy absorbing what we are saying to them, only to burst into explosive and colourful verbal spiels when the time suits them!

She is now interacting so well with hubby, Big Bee and me, and we spend a lot more time chatting with her. She tries chatting back with a talkative mien, albeit in her baby language, but these are good signs that she is ready to yak more! She is so aware of her environment, crying and following us, clinging to us every morning when we go to work, happily gurgling and clapping away on days we bring her down to the car for outings, shrieking in delight and running to us with open arms whenever we come home after work, beaming at Big Bee whenever she helps her with something, and then putting her head on Big Bee's chest to indicate her boundless adoration for her sister.

Terrible Twos? I think it's more like Terrific Twos :)

Busy Bee

Yesterday was the first day of school for Big Bee after the enjoyable June holidays. Needless to say, Big Bee has her own first day blues. But I am elated that she came back from school, happy and chirpy as ever, telling me happily about her day. This was so different from the teary Big Bee of yesteryears, much to my and her teachers' amazement.

She came back with lots of handouts about her Term 3 curriculum in K2. I am suitably impressed...and stressed! You mean my little girl has to go through these? Spelling, 听写，造句, 习字，weekly English or Maths homework, nouns, adjectives, verbs, past/present tenses! Drats. She is growing up fast, absorbing everything like a sponge. She wasn't stressed though, taking these in full stride, so I will try to disguise my stress.

No more plucking Big Bee from school for my weekday leisurely outings anymore
:(