Finish your food, young lady!!

It is a norm, a routine and a dreaded ritual that every day I have to remind and nag Victoria to quickly finish her food. It sometimes drives me up the wall especially when I have so many other things at hand, or when school has already started and she is still dreaming at the breakfast table, or when she is not biting at all.

Victoria has her days. There are days when she can quickly gobble up whatever that is served, and even ask for second helpings. She love fried stuff, but obviously like many health-conscious mothers, I am not one to take the easy way out by giving her fried stuff every day just so that I can have a relatively easy time during mealtimes.

This little girl can irritate you further by not responding to all your yells, threats, pap talks. Briberies may work, but that doesn't hasten the process, that just ensures she finishes her food. In the midst of eating, Victoria is sure to make at least one visit to the loo for big or small business.

Even when we create a little competition between Vic and William to see who finish first, she gets easily dejected when William is about to finish first. Sigh.

I guess all parents go through this. Getting a child to finish their food ain't an easy feat, but if it has to be done, it has to be done. Hopefully when William grows up, he doesn't become one fussy eater.

Swimming over the weekend

It's been raining almost every day. But last Sunday after our trip to Midvalley, the weather was still hot and sunny in the afternoon. So we decided to bring the kids for a swim.

This is my new float
Haha... you can't catch me!!
Just like the sister, he loves pouring water on Daddy's hair
Jie jie don't pull my float!
The cheeky look. She spends more time outside the pool than in it.

Our first Christmas tree

For many years I have been bugging my hubby to put a Christmas tree in our house. I've always loved Christmas. Besides celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus, I love everything that comes with Christmas... carolling and carols, presents and wrappings, decos and roast turkey and its stuffings, mince pie (we don't get this here in Malaysia) and snow (nor this!), and of course... the Christmas tree!

But somehow we never got around to get a tree. Then Victoria came along. And then William. Last year, Victoria, my cousin Maria and myself went for the Boxing Day sale at Metrojaya with the mission to bring back a tree and lotsa cheap decos. Yes, we achieved mission! A 7foot balsam fir christmas tree that come with fibre optics lights! I had such a gala time choosing the decos and I must say, when I paid for the baskets and baskets of decos, it must have been my happiest "paying" moment for until now, I keep the (now crumpled, "ham yue") receipt in my handbag just to remind me what a bargain I got and put a smile on my face. Yes, this is the weird part of me (coz I don't normally have the habit of keeping shopping receipts).

So last weekend after hubby got back from his Beijing trip, we finally put up our very first, very own Christmas tree. I put on a children Christmas CD just to create the mood but after awhile, William insisted on his Donutman CD! Vic busied herself with picking up the decorative balls and putting them in their toy pail (used for the beachside) and passing them to me. William occasionally pull out one or two balls from the tree and throw them back on the floor.

I got hubby to put up the star on the top of the tree, after all the decos are up. It's the final touch, and I think I'd like him to do this every year, as a tradition, and because it's the most important last piece on the tree.

These are pictures of us putting the tree up...

Victoria put on her apron to protect herself from getting "dirtied" I guess... or was it just to look involved?

Our little helper

Kids playing with the deco balls

Mummy with her new christmas "ear-rings"

Putting up the star

Here it is.. ta daaaaa!! Still quite bare (need more balls) and I can't get a sharp pic without my flash on... but with my flash on I can't get the effects of the fibre optic lights. So I go with a sharp picture but no light effects.

The mini red-star christmas tree on the dining table.

Santa needs a place to hang...

Some old pictures...

... taken last year by the school during an outing to the Butterfly Park. Vic was only 3.5years old (and much plumper).

Another sign of a growing up little Miss

Victoria has been wanting to walk to class by herself. Hubby told me that happened to him most of the mornings when he send her to school, if not all. She doesn't want to hug before saying goodbye either.

I thought I would have it different since the once-in-a-bluemoon times that I have to drop her off at school, she was extremely happy and allowed me to walk her to class, said her good byes and gave me a hug. I watch her settle down, sometimes thinking back of her first weeks in school and how she was so attached to me, how she cried, how insecure she was hugging her Barney bag throughout class, and how quiet she was.

Those days...

Still clutching to her bag even at play time

As some might guess through my blog, I'm one who have difficulty letting go. That's also why I blog. I am impatient with the future, and yet I miss and reminisce the past. I pen down special moments and things I hope never to forget, sometimes I forget the details, sometimes I think they are too minute but I tend to regret latter when I have trouble remembering.

So this is like a big thing to Victoria. Walking to class herself, I mean. She is growing up. This week I send her to school with William in the car because Daddy's away. I normally park in front of her kindy entrance where there are guards sitted, and I leave William in the car just for the short time that I walk Vic to the inner gate and make sure she's safely inside and on her way to the class.

This morning on the way, she told me that she will walk to the class herself, and she said this rather proudly. I asked her if she was happy, or was she just being an understanding daughter knowing that William was in the car.

She said yes, she was happy. In this sense, she liked to be a big girl carrying her own bag and going to class herself.

On the way home, I am entertained by Mix FM and William who keep pressing off and on the radio, and turning the volume up and down.

I wanna sit plane

Daddy's away on a biz trip in Beijing. He flew off early Sunday morning and we all miss him very much. The kids have been very hyper and active especially at night. For Victoria, it's quite normal coz she's a night owl. But for William, I don't know if it's because of the ventolin that he's taking, which makes him active, although he takes it with promethazine which makes him drowsy.

They've been playful all the way until 11pm or midnight, eventhough I off the lights, put the music on, tell them to hush. He takes around 12oz or sometimes 14oz before he sleeps now, and because he sleeps so late, the only consolation is that he wakes up 6am instead of middle of the night.

But I'm bullied. They climb all over me, jump and walk on the bed... everything they do! He gets braver everyday, and he was exceptionally naughty, curious and playful yesterday.

This morning Victoria was moody on the way to school. I probed. Finally she told me she wanted to sit aeroplane. (I did explain to her earlier that once she's healed of her allergies, we will all fly) I think she also thinks that when she sit aeroplane, she can see snow in another land.

Btw, you're not the only one who feels like that, Vic. ; )

Some facts on William

William turned 1.5years old three days back. He weighs an approximately 12.5kg (checked a month ago during his hospital admission) and is taller than the baby girl who's 2 weeks younger and stays down the road by half a head.

The boy loves animals... the fishes don't really interest him but he gets excited over the new and still surviving pet-crab, Tita and also our guard-tortoise, Tom. : ) He enjoys watching us catch the baby shrimps for Tita to eat and watch Tita have his meal.

At this time, he's obsessed with all CDs and the DVD player. My mom and maid told me, on two separate occasions, that he taught each of them to on, eject and put in a CD, then play. Oh my! I have to watch him now closely especially he gets near the one-CD micro hifi in our room, lest he jam two CDs in (like what Vic did to our car last year). He also likes to open and takes out the CDs, then leave them all in a pile or around the living room. I get upset because I'm one who cannot stand things in a disorder or in a mess and he does this a zillionth time everyday.

William can understand almost everything we says, and some people attest to this... so that I don't sound bias as a mother. But unfortunately, he has really learnt how to mouth and say words. He calls "Yeh Yeh" and "Pou Pou" but when in front of them, he doesn't call when asked to.

He dances by shaking his head or what chinese say, "fing tou".

When he enjoys his food, he puts up his thumb to indicate, "good!"

He likes to ride on his tricycle around the house, with an assortment of goodies in the basket, eg garlic, apple, old handphone, pen, doll, toothbrush.

William luuurrvvves salmon. I bought a whole 5kg salmon fish from the fresh market two weekends back. He loves them anyway we cook them - baked salmon with garlic and thyme, olive fried salmon with onion, steam salmon with garlic, or just simply boiled salmon porridge. Well, I'm glad there's someone who will help me finish the salmon in the freezer coz I'm getting a bit "geelat" with salmon. You bet when I go for western meals, I avoid the salmon, haha.

William still sits obediently in his stroller when we go out. He's alright in his high chair when he has his meals except for a few times when he wants something else on the table but can't get it. He also allows me time to bath whilst he plays or watches from his baby cot at the bathroom door. For all these, I am very thankful as it takes a lot of stress off (I had it much much worse during Victoria's time - to the extent, take a dump also so stressful as baby Victoria would be yelling her lungs out!)

Well, I guess that's about it about William. He's a good brother to Victoria and although they have their moments of disagreements, but I'm sure they will grow up loving each other.