First post of 2012

I am declaring that 2012 will be a yer full of miracles, blessings, good health, wisdom,  grace, answered prayers and unceasing fruitfulness.

We welcomed 2012 on board the plane from Singapore to Melbourne. Awesome experience.

Our first Christmas in Singapore as a family was wonderful. We loved the fellowship with family and friends. Kate kept saying “I miss everyone in Singapore and is inviting everyone to come over and visit her in Melbourne”.

Kate has grown up heaps, physically, socially and emotionally. Friends and relatives in Melbourne commented on how tall she is now (Daddy and Mummy beaming with pride). She may be cheeky, but ultimately she listens to us. I guess the most effective way is to instruct her, and if possible leave her to think about it and carry it out. She often comes back to us and repeats what we instructed and does it – very good. There are times however when she chooses to ignore us, but I guess that is all part of growing up eh – testing her boundaries.

On lovely afternoon, I was in the kitchen preparing dinner and Kate came up to me and said “Mummy, look. I packed up”. I leant over expecting to see some toys on the floor still but to my surprise, the living room was neat as – wow I was blown away. Everything was so neat. To top it off, she told me she packed up the shoes too. I thought she was joking. So, I walked over there and my jaw dropped. She kept all the shoes and it was the neatest ever.
Mummy: Well done Kate. I am so pleased that you are packing up after you have played. What a surprise that you packed the shoes too.
Kate: Yes Mummy. Barney says we have to pack up after playing so no one trips and hurts themselves. I do not want you or Daddy to trip so I packed up all my toys
Mummy: Awww … thank you Darling. Thank you for loving  us. Let’s go wash your hands.
Kate: OK Mummy

Kate has been dressing herself. She is currently into skirts and polo tees. Not bad her dress sense. Quite nice … haha

 

getting better at reading situations

Monday 12 December 2011

Daddy and Mummy were on a short fuse today. Not enough sleep + not enough time = ungraceful, impatient, irritable

I open the front door, let Kate and myself into the house, removing my boots (Kate has already removed her shoes), and is ready to snack. So, while I am putting the bags down and walking into the house, she starts asking for something to eat. I want to quickly get started on dinner, but I have to get her some snacks while she waits for me to cook, then she wants to watch TV (reminded her no TV prog on school days). Then she finishes her snack and wants something else (I inform her that dinner will be ready soon, why don’t you do some drawing). Then she wants sticky tape and glue (I ask her to use whatever she has instead, and she ends up cutting). Pretty good improvisation (her Daddy’s genes)

I snapped at her a couple of times during the evening as both Kenneth and herself were trying to speak to me, and I was trying to get dinner ready, then clean the dishes (while Kenneth was preparing something for his client). She noticed that, and very promptly finished her dinner, asked for her dessert and proceeded to bring the dishes to the sink.

I had a chat with her before bed and explained to her that she needs to learn how to take turns when speaking. I noticed  that she tends to want to speak when her Daddy is speaking. That is frustrating for all parties involved, for me because I can’t hear what they are saying, for Daddy because he wants to complete his sentence, and Kate because she wants to be heard too. So I suggested she put her hand up whenever she wants to speak and Daddy and I will let her have her turn. It worked. I was telling her a story, and when I looked up at her, she had her hand raised and was smiling at me I praised her for her efforts and she beamed from ear to ear.

Its true. Encouragement works! I am so glad I took the time to explain and offer suggestions to her. Fulfilled : )

So independent

Monday 28 November 2011

I went to Kate’s room to wake her up and noticed that she was dressed differently to what I wore for her the night  before. I woke her up and asked her why she changed and she told me “my nappy pants overflowed”. I was so impressed that she changed herself that I was speechless for a little while.

I asked if she tried waking me up, and she said No. She just changed out of her wet nappy pants, and clothes, cleaned her bum and pulled on new clothes. Haha. So smart right?

My little girl is growing up soooo quickly .. hee

 

My little girl is growing up so quickly

A few instances that remind me how much quickly Kate is growing up

I found a pair of soiled nappy pants in my rooms’s waste basket. Very unusual because Kate does not bath in my rooms – she uses the other bathroom. Yes, she still wears nappy pants at night as she is only toilet trained for the day. She was brushing her teeth when I discovered the find. I asked her the nappy was doing in  my room and she replied sheepishly. “Oh, it started to droop down so I took it off”. She comes climbs into bed with us when she wakes up. I do not work on Thursdays so we snuggle in bed together for a llitle while : )

Kate reads a story on my phone and so I left her on my bed with the phone while I showered. When I got out, she had already left my room. I thought she would have left the phone somewhere on the bed, or on the bedside table. To my surprise, I found it in its case and on the edge of my bed. Exactly how I would have placed it while getting ready to leave the room. So cute : )

While I was putitng on moisturiser for her after her bath, she told me out of the blue “Mummy, I will help you next time when you have a baby. I will help you to change the baby, and throw the nappy away when he or she poos. You can push the pram for the boy baby and I will push the pram for the girl baby. I will help you.” Awwww … thanks Kate. She is really preparing herself and us for another child. Nope, I am not preggers yet .. haha .. obviously someone is anxious for a sibling .. LOL

 

My cheeky little monkey

Kate and three other girls cut their own hair at childcare!!!!! They usually do craft at the table together so the carers left them to do some cutting – but they were unusally quiet. So, the carer went over to the table to take a peek and she saw strands of hair in front of each girl, so  they were cutting their own hair. Aspiring hairstylists? Hmmz .. did I cut my own hair when I was young?

Three of the girls had longer hair so the cut wasn’t as obvious but poor E had very short hair so there was a noticeable patch near her ears. Oopsie. Till now, no one knows who started it. I shall ask Kate again .. hehe

While at the shop Kate decided to put a sparkly hat and when she took it off, she was covered in sparkles. Sparkles in her hair, sparkles on her clothes, sparkles everywhere .. haha

 

wet towel

Friday 18 November 2011

The restaurant where we had dinner provided us with wet towels. Real fluffy hand towels. So, Kate took one and started wiping her face with her, turned to me and said

“Mummy, you remember last time we took aeroplane and they had the same towel?”

good memory : )

Thursday 17 November 2011

Kate was taking an awfully long time brushing her teeth. I walked towards it and realised she was pretending to be someone else and talking to herself in the mirror. She called herself Gracielle and her friend in the mirror was Evelyn. Interesting

After I walked out of the bathroom, I heard her saying this to her”mirror friend”

“That was my Mummy”

So cute

Drama Queen

Tuesday 15 November 2011

While in childcare, Kate tried removing the cover off one of her friend’s drinking cup. She did not have a cover on her bottle, which is very similar to M’s and so she had to take M’s. The carers told her firmly that she should not do that. Her response to that was

“I can feel my tears coming”. Waved her hands in front of her face, pursed her lips and within seconds started tearing. Aiyoh, so poor thing, and so dramatic.

When I picked her up and asked her about the incident, she told me what happened (how she tried to remove M’s bottle cover). She also mentioned that the teachers shared a smile at her comment.

The teacher was so amused. They smiled after they were firm with her because she was so dramatic. Unfortunately, she caught the smile between them. Aiyoh, nothing escapes her eyes ..

10 November 2011

Kids speak their mind

Kate and I ordered her boost juice at the counter, and while waiting for it, she commented on the girl who served us at the cashier “I think that girl’s face is a little dirty”. I was shocked at what she said. Then I realised what she meant. The girl did have lots of freckles and she was a little tanned so to Kate, it looked “not clean”. So, I explained what freckles were. Phew .. good thing she did not raise her voice when she made that comment

Needing the restroom at the least convenient time

Kate and I ducked out to the mall to return the DVDs we borrowed from the library, pick up clothes from drycleaners, and some stuff from the supermarket. She fell asleep just as I parked the car. Errands had to be done, so Kate had to wake up. She was walking to the mall with her eyes closed, holding my hands of course. Aiyoh. I can’t carry her, so heavy. No choice, had to bribe her with boost juice. That woke her up. Phew

Quickly dropped DVDs off at the library, quickly picked up my skirt, quickly put her in the supermarket trolley ready to do some shopping. Then Kate exclaims “I need to go to the toilet”. I really wanted to just buy a few items and go home. So I asked if she could hold and she said Yes but I knew deep down inside that she will tell me within a second that she needs to go. Oh well, change of plans. No supermarket shopping – I’ll do it after exercise class. Off to the restroom and then  home, to shower Kate, gobble my dinner before heading out for my exercise. Parents must be sooo flexible with the plans … and kids why do you have to go to the restroom when we are shopping or having a meal?

Kate did the same thing to her Daddy a couple of nights ago. Tuesday was Daddy and Kate bonding time. Daddy was greeted by a very excited Kate when he picked her up from the childcare centre. He asked her what she would like to have for dinner, provided her with some choices “Western food? Chinese food? Maccas? Guess what she chose? I thought she would have chosen Maccas too, but to our surprise she said “chinese food”. So off they went for their dinner, ordered crispy noodles and was about to dig in when Daddy noticed Kate squirming in her seat. He asked her what was wrong and she said “I need to go to the restroom”. They were in the middle of dinner so Daddy asked Kate “Can you hold?” “Yes” was her answer. And yes  you guessed it, she said “I have to go NOW” less than a minute later. So, Daddy experienced the slight anxiety all parents have when children tell them that sentence, brought her to the restroom and enjoyed the rest of their dinner in peace

 

PHEW! that was close

Saturday 29 October 2011

Kate was taking a very long time to finish her lunch. To encourage her to finish her lunch faster, Ye Ye took a blueberry from her bowl and said he will continue to take the blueberries until she finishes her lunch.

Yeye: I will take another blueberry from you once I finish washing this plate

Kate: No … its mine

Yeye: I’m coming

Kate: gobbled all her food and said “Ive finished my lunch”

Then she came to me and said “Whew, that was close”

hahahahahaha

She then walked to Yeye and said “I will share my blueberries with you”

Awww ….

She will share but on her terms .. hee