Homemade Toys

Last week, Hubby and me took turns and stayed home to look after the Bees because my mum was on "medical leave" as she had hurt her leg.

As it was also the March holidays, I decided to channel the restless energies of the girls to something constructive. So, I laid out some craft materials and we created homemade soft toy snakes out of my old socks, newspapers (as stuffing), stickers and construction paper!

The Bees busy stuffing their snakes up with newspaper!

It was really fun to create something out of nothing and the Bees, especially Big Bee, was thrilled. She did everything on her own, applying creativity to her snake by proactively making a forked tongue on her own initiative. Little Bee was distracted at times, and needed my help, especially in drawing the snake's eyes, but she enjoyed sticking the stickers on the snake and even created a bandage patch on her snake, after which she told me the snake was "pain pain"!

Little Bee's red snake called "Nake" with its pink bandage and Big Bee's sandy coloured snake with its forked tongue called "Sparkly"

The sense of achievement experienced by the Bees after completion was a sight to behold. Throughout the entire day, they were holding on to their new soft toys, bringing them out, hugging the little snakes on bed. Big Bee named her snake "Sparkly" and Little Bee just called hers "Nake" (she could not pronounce the "s" yet!).

Holding on to their new soft toys with glee and delight!

Inspired by us, Hubby set forth to create another set of homemade toys the following day! When they met me after work, I was greeted by each of them holding a pair of musical rice maracas made from plastic cups, rice, scotchtape and stickers! They were happily shaking these maracas and creating the most mellifluous samba beat ever!

One set of maracas

Quality Time

My little one was down with a nasty flu over the weekend, so I stayed home with her while Hubby and Big Bee went out for all her enrichment classes and grandparents' home.

This was a wonderful opportunity for me to spend solo quality time with Little Bee, who was so deprived of it, compared to Big Bee. It was akin to those idyllic days of quiet, private time with Big Bee before Little Bee's arrival. One-to-one playing, uninterrupted learning, intimate chatting, no fighting, no arguments, no distractions! Fabulous.

With 2 kids, it is so difficult to spend lengthy moments alone with one child. So I count my blessings to be able to indulge in some personal time with Little Bee. I am sure Hubby is grateful for the private time spent with Big Bee too. This is one of the guidelines I read in a parenting book: to ensure that each kid gets to spend quality solo time with each parent regularly.

Just to relate a random conversation at the doctor's:

Doctor: Here's a sweet for you, Little Bee.

Mummy: What must you say, Little Bee?

Little Bee (smiling): Thank you ... (long pause, serious pondering expression, staring at the doctor)....MAN!

Mummy (embarrassed): You can say "Thank you, doctor" too!

Little Bee (revelation on her face, smiled again): Thank you, ah-tor!

She had also started learning from Big Bee colloquial expressions like "Oh, man!!!" whenever she could not get her way.

And sometimes, when I see the little one chitter chatting with the talkative big one, a warmth just emanates in my heart, marvelling at how dependent they are on each other's daily company :)

Of Zoos And Plays

I had never felt so excited about the brief March holidays since my JC days. The one-week break descended upon us with a much anticipated downpour of torrential activities after a long drought of weekday routines. Which was why last weekend, which was the start of this wonderful reprieve, was such a whirlwind of hectic activities.

Saturday
1) We started off Saturday morning with a trip to the zoo after a long 3-year hiatus since I was pregnant with Little Bee. Which means that this was Little Bee's first visit to the zoo. She was amazed by the plethora of animals, uttering the names of the animals after us, and Big Bee melted into the zoo's arms like a long-awaited homecoming.


Lovin' the boat ride!


Big Bee loved the horses in Kid's World, and Little Bee looked so at home on the pony!

They loved the new boat ride across the reservoir and spent too much time in Kid's World. We had a long lunch in their very crowded Ah Meng's Restaurant, and went home, tired, perspiring and with a pair of sleepy and grumpy kids.


Check out their sleepy eyes!

2) After a short afternoon nap for Little Bee, we set forth excitedly (more like me being the most enthusiastic of all!) to the Disney Princesses On Ice show.


The girls chose their own costumes, amidst a mind-boggling number of girls dolled up in different princess costumes!

We were entertained from 7 to 9pm, mouths gaping, spirits soaring and hearts stirring at the amazing skills of the ice skaters, who had to grapple with difficult manoeuvres and gorgeous expressions of Disney characters. All the fairy tales which we were so familiar with leapt out of the pages of well-thumbed Disney books.


Oblivious to everything but the stage...

By the second last act, Big Bee asked me worriedly: "Mummy, is the show ending soon?" I affirmed her sinking suspicion and she let out an audibly disappointed sigh. Little Bee was so fascinated that she sat mostly on her own seat for the whole 2 hours, eyes and mouth wide open! It must have been a remarkable spectacle for her little mind. We went home, fatigued but contented, right to the warm embraces of our welcoming beds.

Sunday
1) We started off Sunday morning with a wonderful breakfast in a French cafe that Hubby brought us as a surprise. To see rows upon rows of ambrosial confectionery was akin to stepping into breakfast heaven. To be immersed in a heavy cloak of mouthwatering smells of baking bread was pure divinity. We had a most wonderful breakfast in the quiet but cosy cafe, with the Bees chomping delightedly on doughnuts and croissants.


They sure made pastries look delectable!

2) We then proceeded to one of our country's oldest heirloom - Singapore River. We took a wonderful walk along the riverside, soaking in the relaxed Sunday atmosphere. The Bees were carefree and cheerful. After a short jaunt along the river bank, we stepped into Victoria Theatre to watch a play by a Canadian company - Alice In Wonderland.


Big Bee was rightfully skeptical of the play from the start whereas Little Bee was checking out what she would be in for.

It was rather disappointing and not very engaging, utilising multimedia and music to depict the bizarre adventures of Alice in Lewis Carroll's well-known book. As the book was an emblem of literary nonsense throughout history, the play somewhat reflected that too, to Big Bee's befuddled bewilderment. At the end of the play, she huffed and puffed and said: "I want to throw rotten tomatoes at them!" Harsh critic indeed. Little Bee, who sat quietly throughout the play, nodded happily when I asked her if she liked the play. She is definitely not as cynical as jie-jie yet!

What a fabulous start to the fantastic March holidays!

Hula Hoop Competition

Big Bee's school has all sorts of cute school-wide competitions. One of them was a hula hoop competition last Wednesday which she was placed at top 6 in the whole standard.

This is a page I stole from her diary (on days that I am lazy to blog!). She wrote it last Wednesday, right after the competition, hence the entry started with "today".

Enjoy reading :)

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Today was my Hula Hoop Competition. It was called Hulathon. I was very excited the past few days. There are four houses in my school - Olson, Jackson, Blackmore and Lee. There were many people in my class joining the Hulathon. We need to go down to the quadrangle five minutes earlier before recess. We were the first class to go to the quadrangle. My best friend Claire Khoo is a reserve so she is not joining. When the Hulathon started, all my friends were very excited! Many people were watching us. I was the top 6 of the game. When I did one hula hoop, I was very good. Some people in my class dropped their hoops when we were doing one hoop.

"I Want EAT!!!"

The Bees with Jiu Jiu and Jiu Mu...what a lovely portrait :)

Last Saturday evening, my family went to Club Chinois for my brother's wedding food tasting session. It was a wonderful time to bond with the brother, his wife and my parents. My brother invited his friend along, together with his wife and 2 year old son, Oliver.

Oliver and Little Bee - they do look somewhat alike, right?

The 3 kids went quite wild, running around, yakking so loudly and creating a general commotion. Thank goodness we were ensconced in a cosy room!

However, once the dishes were served, Little Bee immediately stopped all fun and laughter and asked to sit in her "bebe chair". Once tucked into her chair, she devoted her entire attention to the sumptuous spread of food in front of her! And she already finished her dinner at home actually.

Poor little Oliver kept trying to attract Little Bee's attention by asking her to play. She ignored him, preferring to focus full attention on the yummy sea bass, crunchy crackers, springy spinach, amongst others.

I asked her, "Do you want to eat or play?" She gave me an indignant look as if reproaching me for even asking that sort of question, averted her eyes back to the plate full of food scraps in front of her, and exclaimed loudly and impatiently, "EAAAAATTTTT! I want EAT!!!" Thereafter totally ignoring me again.

Looking blissful facing a whole table of food. As always, she must have BOTH hands full with food.

It was only after the scrumptious 8-course dinner (she stayed happily in her seat until dessert was served) that she contentedly came down and play with Big Bee and Oliver!

Here are some photos with Jiu Jiu and my family during a Christmas high tea gathering where Little Bee sat throughout the 3-hour buffet, chomping up all the food.

With Po Po, Gong Gong and Jiu Jiu - but note where Little Bee was looking...

The Girls Are Dating...

...Papa!

Hubby received a family newsletter over Valentine's Day, highlighting social research which had indicated all future romantic relationships in a girl's life are influenced by the way she interacts with her father. If he treats her like she is valuable to him, she will likely see herself that way and may even refuse attention from a guy who doesn't treat her right. Read more about it here.

So, these days, special efforts had been made by Hubby to bring each of the girls out for short jaunts. Sometimes, he would bring one of them for single dates. Sometimes for double dates. They always came back happy and rejuvenated, having spent enough quality and private time together.

Last weekend, when I was working, Hubby brought the 2 Bees to Sentosa's Coaste restaurant on Siloso Beach for a mighty fine breakfast and a major frolic with the sun and sand.

The girls in the cool shade of a big umbrella that clever Papa got the waiter to rig up for their sandplay. So, Papa can feast in peace!

One of their rare displays of cordial teamwork...

Ta-da! A Hello Kitty castle (super girly!)

The girls are beach babies and were ecstatically playing under the sun for 2 hours followed by an hour of water immersion at the nearby fountain. They were both drenched, but loved Papa to bits after that!

Cooling off with an hour of waterplay!

All changed and clean...ready to head for home!

Papa's dates always seemed to revolve around sand, water and food! On previous occasions, these were some of the treats from Papa without Mummy around :)

Breakfast by the beach...

More construction work by the beach, this time at East Coast

Waterplay at home, in the shaded haven of our balcony

Warmest Of Welcomes

I had to work the entire weekend and Hubby was in charge of looking after the Bees. My mum helped out on Saturday, but yesterday, he was left to his own devices.

As I trudged home, fatigued and tired at 8pm last night, Hubby called my mobile phone and declared, "Hey, Big Bee just said she misses you very much, and asks you to come home immediately!" I told him I was already near the front door, and guess what? As I was walking towards our house, I saw a lean, lanky girl running towards me in the darkness....Big Bee! Apparently, she rushed out of the house to give me a warm welcome, a loud uttering of "MUMMYYYY!!!" and a big hug!

As we walked arm in arm towards our door, I saw one beaming, grinning face with a smile threatening to split her face in two...Little Bee! She screamed, squealed and jumped excitedly when she saw me...."MAMA!!! MAMA!!!" and gave me an equally big hug.

Thereafter, the girls both hovered around me, fussing over me as I was eating my dinner, with Big Bee showing me the photos of what the happy trio had done the entire day, and Little Bee running to and fro, making lots of noise, showing off little trinkets after trinkets. Hubby rolled his eyes, shook his head and lamented that they must be very bored with him! Aw, poor hubby :) I am sure they enjoyed his company, but probably looking for Mummy to put them to bed at this hour.

Still, this was a dazzling welcome from a whole tiring day at work. Simple pleasures like this really do light up our lives!

Midnight Supper

Last night, after we put the Bees to bed, Hubby and I went out to do some urgent grocery shopping - thank goodness for Cold Storage Holland Village which opens 24 hours! It was peaceful and therapeutic to be able to shop in the empty aisles, chatting quietly and ruminating over the products without any flustered crowds around. After shopping, we ambled towards Crystal Jade for a midnight supper, feasting on porridge and sweet desserts. Holland Village is amazing - it never sleeps!

With the packed weekday schedule these days, I count my lucky stars that Hubby and I can still have some couple time together, no matter how brief it is. I still find that it is fundamentally important to sneak in some solitary time between spouses, so that we can reconnect to ourselves without the boisterous kids around us.

And credit goes to my beloved Mum who stays with us 3 nights a week, so that we can leave the sleeping kids in her good hands.

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.