Work is picking up a bit lately and I have little energy at the end of the day to update this blog. Every evening, while we are sitting at the dinner table having our dinner, Renee will ask me to draw. Draw lift, draw flower, draw spoon, draw duck, draw fish, etc etc.....the most difficult one is draw aligator! wah lao, that is the most difficult thing to draw!! Ha ha, can't really eat in peace. Now that she is into drawing and coloring, we can't really stop her. She's always got a pen or marker in her hands. Not to mention, drawings on her own ARM! Egad! Looks like tattoos. Oops! We have given her plenty of old empty notebooks to draw till her hearts' content, and trust me, she has drawn on EVERY SINGLE page. Just a scribble or tons of marks, every page is used!! Last Saturday, we were walking from NTUC to Parkway Parade when a woman sneezed right into my face. Gross! And since the kids were with us, they got some of the spray as well. True enough, that afternoon I felt a sore throat coming about. I was hoping like mad that I wouldn't spread it to the kids, but alas, Russell came down with a runny nose on Wednesday and Renee on Thursday. Curse that woman! It takes so long for the kids to recover. My friend Wendy recommended FLUIMUCIL and I am going to try that on Renee tonight.

Russell is now trying to sit up by himself from a tummy position but always manages a mermaid position only. I had to change the height of his cot last week because before long, he will be able to pull himself up. So now, both cots are at their lowest position. Once we move to our new place, I will convert Renee's cot to a toddler bed, hopefully she doesn't fall off it after turning a million rounds every night. PILs reported to me that she has been sleeping for very short periods during her nap time, or not napping at all. Then I remembered my good friend Susu telling me that her son doesn't nap anymore. Maybe she is adjusting her clock to that kind of routine. Oh boy, no more naps means no more quiet time for my in-laws during the day. Yikes!

Tomorrow, we have an outing to Sentosa with some friends and brunch thereafter. Hopefully the kids are feeling better so we can get soak up some sun and build sandcastles. The kids have never done that. Is there some kids play area? Me so suah ku, don't even know!

Happy Halloween!

What do you do with your precious time?

Have some leave to take till the end of the year. I am trying as much as possible to take it on Monday or Friday so that I can bring Renee to class. She keeps asking me to bring her. Wow, powerful stuff, it convinces me that all my time spent with her is worth it. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there's Eugene.


Daddy: "Do you love papa?"

Renee: "No, I love Mummy."

Daddy: "Papa bring you to school, want?"

Renee: "No, Mummy bring neh neh (Renee) to school."


I can't help feeling sorry for him but I guess that's what you get when one doesn't spend as much time with the kids. I know I can't be the only mother out there who has sacrificed her time and energy on her kids. I mean I'd rather watch TV and read the newspapers than

- create a cake on the Barney website
- count with Elmo on the Sesame Street website
- sing, "I love you" by Barney & Co
- sit down and color and draw fish with color pencils and marker pens (** see below)
- paste stickers all over the place
- cook fake food
- put puzzles together

but I guess I'll have all the time to watch TV and read the papers when the kids grow up and they no longer think I am the coolest person on Earth. Honestly, I am so out of touch with current affairs right now. I totally cherish my time with the two rascals, I don't look forward to the day when they prefer their friends to me. Am I crazy?

I am trying to get Renee to quit drinking milk before going to sleep, heard that it causes milk decay in teeth. So I talk to her when we are in bed, talk talk talk till she falls asleep. It is the most tiring thing at the end of the day when the lights are out, but I just keep talking and responding to her. Eugene would be gone before you can say goodnight. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ like a great big grizzly. No wonder he is missing out and not her favorite!

** Renee's latest obssession is coloring. Of course she can't color within the lines but that is perfectly fine with me! But my inlaws and Eugene are so particular about coloring within the lines. Drives me nuts man!

RRRRRRRRRRRRenee

According to my in-laws, Renee's speech isn't very clear. They pointed out that she can't do RRRRRRRRRRRRRR....because the thingy underneath her tongue is too tight. It pulls back her tongue and thus her pronounciation is not good. So they suggested that we have that thingy cut!! Just a little bit......CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY!!!! NO WAY will I subject my darling to that!!! Could it be that she is still young and just can't pronounce properly? Apparently, my SIL also has that problem and she kinda "blames" my in-laws for not doing something about it when she was young. Well, that's her problem! Don't touch my daughter!

My dear Renee has been such a good girl lately, I think the naughtiness phase has more or less passed. She listens and understands. Sometimes she listens but doesn't do things right away but I suppose that is just a kid being a kid. They concentrate on something and it isn't right to rush them through it. I have just learnt to be more patient. But the most trying times are after her bath. She will jump around naked on our bed and it takes about 10 minutes before she is fully-clothed. Now that she knows how to button and unbutton her clothes, those 10 minutes will be negated in a flash and I have start chasing her around to put on her clothes again. Sigh. Never mind, I still enjoy those moments.

Last night, I drove my dad's car home and she wanted to sit in my car versus her father's car. No car seat? Never mind, she sat still in the front passenger seat with a seat belt and we sang all the way home:
"Are you sleeping, are you sleeping, Father Jo, Father Jo,
When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up,
Ding Dong Bell, Ding Dong Bell."

hahahahaha! Who cares if it doesn't rhyme?? Priceless moments together!

It's getting really difficult to bathe Russell now. Dude can't stay still on the changing table or the bath tub. He always wants to lie on his tummy and now he's started to do that worm thing. Lift off butt, push forwards, repeat. He can sometimes just stay at one spot doing a see-saw - lift butt, lift chest, lift butt, lift chest, but never both at the same time. Too funny man!! At least he crawls forwards, Renee started off crawling BACKWARDS, repeat, repeat, fall off the bed. Sigh.

Those are my two rascals for you.....

Russell turns 7 months old!

....well, that was on Sunday.

Yeap, feels like just yesterday I gave birth to my little rascals, where did the time go? Found some really cool Halloween costumes at Amara last week (one bumble bee and one lady bird) and couldn't resist buying them. Will bring the two rascals out wearing them one day!!

Here is Renee wearing my Littlepod sarong to carry her bear-bear.

The two rascals having a jolly good time together..

Russell in his car seat....Renee wants to sit in it too....now they take turns (sigh)

Renee at McDonalds, dancing and holding a balloon, two of her favorite things!