I Am English

Phoebe is telling Mommy about her friends in school.

Phoebe : Gabriella is very dark.
Mommy : Is it ? Is she an Indian ? Or Malay ?
Phoebe : No, she's English.
Mommy : [amused] Is it ? Then what about Ezann? Is she a Chinese?
Phoebe : No, she's English also.
Mommy : What about Phoebe?
Phoebe : I'm English too.
Mommy : What about Hui Sze?
Phoebe : Oh! She's Chinese.

Haha. Actually, Gabriella is a Filipino, Ezann, Phoebe and Hui Sze are all Chinese. Phoebe equates the race of her friends to the language that they speak. That's why she thinks that she is English too.

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 :)