Disciplining Reuben

Reuben is at the age where he is able to distinguish between right from wrong. Hence, discipline must be instilled. Whenever I reprimand him, he would pout his lips. He would look very sad, with eyes welling up with tears and lips quivering. He would look at you and he would lift his head with pride. He would not move an inch or make a sound and would stand there to receive his shelling. He is very different from Phoebe.

Phoebe would fidget when I scold her and I have to order her to stand still and look at me. She will also whine and say, "Mommy..." and then burst out crying. I want her to learn how to receive her reprimanding with humility. After all the scolding, Phoebe will always ask, "Mommy can you give me a hug?" I will always end the episode by giving her a hug to ensure her that mommy loves her and that I will not condone her wrongdoings.

Likewise for Reuben, after receiving his fair share of shelling from me, he would reach his break point and burst into tears but Reuben's break point is higher, he will only burst into tears after severe scolding. Then I will give him a hug too.

If it is a fight between Phoebe and Reuben, after both are reprimanded by me, they will usually ended up in tears. Then I'll end the episode by telling them to hug each other, then I'll hug the two of them. A lot of heartache to see them cry, but they're also very cute when you see them upset, especially Reuben because he'll really pout and purse his lips and sometimes, he'll pout a lot, practically the whole lower lip will pop out. Sometimes, we have to resist giggling when we see him doing that.

Love my 2 babies A LOT ! (^_^)

Little Learners

Phoebe attended Little Learners when she was about 21 months old. Reuben will be turning 22 months old when he attends Little Learners next year January. I let Reuben try on Phoebe's old school uniform. Suddenly, I thought that he looks rather grown up in the uniform. On the contrary, Phoebe looked more babyish when she wore the uniform at about 20yish months.

Let Me Go

Reuben's doing his act. His act of nature's call. He does it in many styles - slanted sitting position, squatting, standing and leaning forward while standing. He's a boy of sophistication.

Busy Bees

Went to Toys R Us and bought this cute bee costume set last weekend. It was the halloween season so there were a lot of costume sets but we chose the bee set because it was on 50% sale, $7.90 after discount. Pretty cheap for a pair of wings, a tutu skirt, a headgear and a bee wand. The two of them shared the costume. Reuben looks especially cute in the bee tutu. Haha. Actually, comical is the word. Have you heard of a bee that goes 'ga-ber ga-ber ga-ber ga-ber' ? Yes, that is Reuben Bee :)

Phoebe Bee goes Buzz Buzz, Reuben Bee goes Ga-ber Ga-ber

Face Book

I'm on Face Book!! Whatever that is... haha. It's a channel to get in touch with your friends and get everyone link up. I know I'm a bit late, coz everyone's already in FB and they keep bugging me to be in it. But I'm still the old traditional kind of people, I like words, I like writings, I like reflections, I like memories, especially those of my children because they grow up so quickly. Anyway, whoever wants to look for me in FB, you can check me up! :)

Three Daughters?

Do I have 3 daughters ? Phoebe is the obvious one. So who are the other 2 ? Haha. Reuben in a pretty pink Minnie Mouse pyjamas. Nah, though he's in a pink MM PJ, he's definitely not a girl. I bet 2 years later when he sees this thread, he'll definitely protest! "Yuck! Mommy why did you dress me up in pink!!" Haha. Alright, let me explain. I saw this size 18 mos MM PJ selling at a discount so I bought it for Phoebe when she was already about 19 months old, thinking that she might still be able to fit in for about 2 months. However, she was quite a big size baby and could not wear it. So I thought I would keep it and I forgot about it totally until recently, I found it in my wardrobe. I like the PJ very much and thought that it's a waste so I might as well let Reuben wear it since now that he doesn't know the difference between pink and blue anyway :) So here I have, Reuben in pink PJ. Haha. I know some people will cringe and will never let their sons be spotted in anything red, let alone pink. But to me, as along as it is wore at home, I don't really mind it. I'm a practical mommy.

So who's the third daughter ? Look carefully at Phoebe's picture. She's holding a little bunny in her hand. She said that's her sister and she calls it "my sister".

So here you are, my 3 daughters...

Exclusive Rights

Phoebe and papa had a good time playing a game of Jenga together. When I wanted to play with Phoebe, she said, "I only want to play this game with papa." I guess papa has exclusive rights to play Jenga with the little princess :)

An Aurora Birthday Cake

Phoebe favourite Disney Princess is Aurora, The Sleeping Beauty. Why ? Because her dress is pink, which is also Phoebe's favourite colour. Phoebe's 4th birthday is coming soon and we intend to celebrate in school for her. She wants an Aurora cake. I've come across an Aurora cake in Bengawan Solo, but I thought the cake (2kg) is too big for a class of 18 little children. So does anyone know any other confectionary that makes Aurora Cake ? Please let me know. Thanks :)

No More Diapers

Phoebe has been off diapers in the day since she was about 32 months old. Some children are off day-diapers earlier and some, later. I guess every child is different and they have their timing. However, it is only recently (about 2 months back) that we started letting her go off diapers at night. Since all of us slept on the same bed, we have to be creative in the arrangement to ensure that all of us still sleep on the same bed, without Phoebe wetting our bed and soiling the whole entire king size bedsheets and mattress. So how was our arrangement like ? Take a look.

Phoebe will sleep on the small mattress, which has a small waterproof protector under the mattress sheet.

Anyway, it was not very successful initially, Phoebe would pee and then wake up in wet pyjamas.

But we have the small waterproof mattress protector, so we only need to change the small mattress sheet and her PJ. This went on for about 2 weeks, with nights when she peed consecutively and I had to get up every night to change her and put the wet sheet and clothes into the washing machine. But towards the third week, things got better. Phoebe wet her bed less frequently. Before she goes to bed, I will bring her to the toilet first. In the middle of the night when I need to relieve myself, I will also bring her along.

Phoebe has not wet herself for more than two weeks now. These few nights, I did not even wake her up to pee. She can hold her pee till 7+ in the morning when she wakes up to get ready for school. I would consider it a success! :) Finally, after 47 months, Phoebe has officially graduated from the Diaperless School! We can save $$ and keep the remaining XL diaper for Reuben :)

Back to School

After resting for a week, it's back to school again. On the Monday morning when Phoebe was trying on her old Barney school shoes, we realised that her toes had touched the tip of the shoes. Her feet has grown bigger! When we bought the Barney school shoes in the beginning of the year, it was a little loose. It is only when the shoes of my child becomes tighter that we realised that she has grown taller. Her school uniform has also become shorter in length. Hence that morning, I immediately went to Compass Point BATA to get her another pair of white sporty school shoes. (By the way, do you know that Bata has a website too ? You can do online BATA shopping.) It was a very pretty and comfy pair, very cushiony. But it was pricey, $22.90 for the pair, considering that we only paid $11.90 for the Barney ones. I bought it a little larger in size hoping that it will have a greater mileage :) Phoebe loves her new school shoes. As for the old pair, it is still in very good condition. Auntie Nia washed and sunned it. We'll keep that for Reuben when he goes to SKMCC 3 years later. Ha :)

Phoebe's new BATA School Shoes

Hi-5 Surprise! Live Tour 2009

On Tuesday night, our whole family went to watch Hi-5 Surprise live performance at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. We were given complimentary tickets because one of papa's colleagues helped us to purchase $200 worth of Choice Vouchers in Sembawang Shopping Centre (SSC) just to get 4 complimentary Hi-5 live performance tickets. Apparently over last weekend, SSC was having a promotion - with every $100 spent, the shopper could redeem 2 Hi-5 tickets. Armed with 4 tickets, our whole family, including Aunty Nia went. Under the terms, children above 1 years old needed a ticket to enter. I wanted to let Aunty Nia to watch the performance because it was her (and Reuben's) first experience watching a live performance. However, at the entrance, the ushers did not check for Reuben's age and allowed all 5 us to enter with just 4 tickets. Yippee! :)

Our seats were at the balcony. Hence, we did not have a clear view. Phoebe kept telling me, "I cannot see, mommy. What is Lauren (her favourite) wearing? What's her costume?" What to do ? Free tickets, what do you expect? :p

The performance was so-so. The place was too big, there were many empty seats. I think the response was not good, hence they had to cancel 4 shows! The sound effect was not very clear, we could not hear what some of them were saying at some point in time. The plot was too boring - it was supposed to be a surprise party for Chats, but it's not surprising enough for us audience. There were lengthy talking, hence the children were bored. There should be more singing. Well, in the first place, I felt that the original group of Hi-5s had stronger vocal chords and their dance choreography was better. Too bad that they had to retire. I thought the last year's Barney show was much much better.

The Hi-5 merchandise was also over-priced and unattractive. A helium-filled foil balloon cost $10 (which we bought for Phoebe anyway) and the design of the T-shirts were too plain! We bought a Hi-5 cushion (which cost us $25) for Reuben just to be fair. Fairness is expensive :p

I was quite disappointed overall. The children were engaged on and off. Some of the songs were unfamiliar, so the children were restless. Well, the consolation part is that, at least I didn't have to spend money on the tickets :)

Everybody's Painting

On Sunday afternoon, our little neighbour decided to come over to play painting. Reuben, seeing all the jie-jies painting, also insisted that he wanted to paint. He was really serious and was totally on task. When Aunty Nia came into the room to check on the children, she giggled when she saw Reuben so engaged in his activity. Reuben barked at her when he saw her teasing him. Throughout the half an hour, Aunty Nia came into the room a few times just to tease Reuben and each time, Reuben would 'chase' her out by babbling vulgarities at her. Haha. :) It was a funny sight.

Lil Japanese Boy

Anatawa kawaii desu ne! Yes, I thought Reuben looks cute in this Japanese costume. It was supposed to be handed down to Phoebe by my aunt. However, I kept it in the storeroom and have totally forgotten about it. Now that it is too small for Phoebe, I tried it on on Reuben. It fitted him perfectly, except that the print on the costume was the head of a Japanese girl character. When papa saw the pictures, he was appalled, "Aiyoh! Why did you let my son wear girl's clothes!" Well, I think I won't be letting Reuben wear this again. But at least, I have some pictures for a laugh :)

Playing Piano

This is the difference between a girl and a boy playing the piano. The girl will play the piano with her fingers but the boy will play with his palms and wrists! Haha. Let the little ones entertain you! (^_^)

Twins

Seeing double? Nope. I got the dress for our little neighbour for her 4th birthday and got the same dress for Phoebe too. The 2 little girls wanted to wear the same dress together. So I took two pictures of them in identical clothes. It's sad that our little neighbour is going to move to another residence in March next year as her parents had bought a condo near Singapore Expo. They do not intend to sell the HDB unit. Instead, they want to rent it out. Phoebe will have to bid her best friend goodbye soon. It's so sad coz the 2 girls have really grown up together and they have enjoyed each other's company. They often go to each other's house to play. It's such a pity that they're moving away. *sigh* (-_-)

Happy Teachers' Day

This is the first time Phoebe celebrates teachers' day in SKMCC. It is also the first time she is fully aware of this occasion. She is able to make a teachers' day card to her class teacher, Ms Hoe. Phoebe spent her Sunday afternoon drawing the card. At some point, she was getting tired and made some mistakes. We were able to cover up the mistakes with some stickers given by Aunty Ann :) Intially, we wanted to make 3 cards for her 3 teachers. However, Phoebe was too tired and I didn't want to force her to do it. Hence, Phoebe only managed to make a card for her favourite Ms Hoe. I couldn't post the pictures in here, so I had added the only 2 pictures in the slide show. In addition to the card which Phoebe had made, I had also added a black polo T-shirt for Ms Hoe too. I also gave each of the other two class teachers, Zou Lao Shi and Mdm Guok (teacher assistant), a Tupperware container with Japanese Green tea satchets. Have to reward the teachers for teaching and looking after my girl. Just a little bribe (Oops! I mean, TOKEN) of appreciation. Heehee :) Hopefully my girl will be given a little more love :p

HELP !

I don't seem to be able to post any pictures! Does anyone have this problem ? Whenever I click the 'Add Image' icon, instead of the usual 'one empty field and one browse button' , I get '5 empty fields and 5 browse buttons'!! And when I try to add in an image, the message 'Error on page' will appear. Has anyone encounter this problem before ? It's driving me nuts not to be able to post any picture of my two kiddos!! Please help!! :( :( :(