Just so you know...

My darling Vic,
Just so you know,
Today you asked me to stick,
A dollar in your piggy,
I put in an extra dollar without you knowing.

Simply because,
I love you so,
Just so you know,
The amount's not a lot,
But simply because,
It means a lot to you,
I love you so.

A toothy affair

I notice there are many toothless grins amongst the 6-8 year olds.  There was even once when at least 6 out of 9 kids in her music class had missing front teeth!

My girl, I'd say kept her milk teeth for a little longer time, thanks to an almost-zero sugar diet I guess (or a very strict mummy who insist that she brushes her teeth twice if I think it's not clean enough). 

But in a matter of less than 2 months she lost FIVE teeth!  First it was her lower central incisors, then the two upper incisors.  Yesterday, she slept with a blood-stained face flannel on her bed, because her lower lateral incisor tooth was giving her discomfort and she desperately wanted to pull it out herself.

This afternoon she ran into our room declaring victoriously that her tooth has come out!  We were happy for her, and I asked her what did she do.  She said she was doing her music work when she felt like swallowing something.  She touched her loose tooth to confirm it was still there.  Then she said as she continued her work, the tooth just "popped" out of her mouth.  Quite hilarious, the way she said it.

Not the latest photo... this shows only one hole... today she has THREE!!  She's resorted to slotting food items into the holes without opening her mouth

So now, she has three holes in her mouth!  : )

But still our pretty princess...

Here's a picture of her at the dentist recently to clean and polish her teeth.  She also had a small filing done. 

Victoria's first singing competition

On September 10th, Vic sang in front of a thousand over children in her school assembly hall.  She was one of the two girls selected to represent her class for this annual singing competition.  The song was picked by her music teacher and she only had to practice at home. 

Both daddy and I were in school waiting for Vic's turn to sing.  The Standard 3 participants went first in the morning, followed by the Standard 2s after recess and finally the Standard 1s.  When we arrived (without William so that his afternoon siesta is not disturbed), there was an Indian girl on stages belting out a long and upbeat Chinese song.  Both hubby and I initially had to squint longer to check if she was really an Indian or just a dark chinese girl.  After we've picked our invisible jaw up, we started giggling.  

We found Vic in front with all the other participants. 

Sadly she didn't seem excited to see us, nor did she came to hug us.  She was reluctant to take pictures with Daddy and only after coaxing I got two pictures with her.  She told me to accompany her to the toilet while waiting, but she ran ahead of me all the time and didn't seem to need me at all.  So I asked her why she asked me to accompany her when I seem like a crazy lady chasing her to and back?

When her name was called and went upstage, she sang well, but looking at the video I do think she was nervous.  We didn't stay for the result to be announced. 

We bought her favourite yam cake on the way home because she was hungry

Vic was informed of the result a week later - she received 8th place but between she and her classmate, she lost.  I asked her why, and she said it was because the other girl sang louder.  So yea, I guess that's a good lesson learnt as I kept encouraging her to sing louder and smile and if she can manage, pendulum her head.  

But we have pre-empted her to join with the right attitude.  Winning is nice but is not everything.  Hopefully this competition has built her confidence somewhat.

Great job anyhow, Vic!   Glad that you are not sad.   

William at 4 years 4 months old

When William was a toddler, he was so gentle, relatively easy to care for with minimal fuss and tantrums and amazing obedience!  The only complaint I had of him back then was the numerous times he woke me up during the night, easily until the age of 3.  If there was ANY reason at all, for me to cringe at the thought of caring for babies would be this, besides cleaning the poo bottoms.

But William has long stopped waking me up at ungodly hours now.   If I had any thoughts of him turning out like a polished and soft mannered English boy, they have all diminished with his increasing boyishness and passion for kungfu since the introduction of Kungfu Panda in his life.  And he has learnt to talk back! 

Remember how I used to say this boy would come around and plant little kisses on my cheeks, lip and even legs?  Well, reality of life hits me these few months as I realize that he's kissing me less and I have to asked for "it."  Daddy reminded him a few times and then he kisses me more.  I better cherish these kisses, before one day he starts becoming conscious.

William is still passionate with his drawings.  He doesn't like coloring as much, and does well in the activity workbooks that I give him.  Just a few days back, I explained to him the concept of subtraction, and showed him how to do a few elementary questions in the workbook.  With some grudging sounds and no other choice, he obliged and gave me these results:

These days he calls me Smurfette.  And with so much sweetness in it!  He insist he is Baker Smurf, and Daddy is Papa Smurf whilst Vic wants to be Brainy Smurf.

William drifts into his own world of imagination during the most unexpected moments.  He can be "baking cookies or cakes" in the car after I pick him up from school or throwing kicks and punches into an imaginary enemy, with "tomatoes" as bullets and lately, he's into Spiderman.  He does the Spiderman fingers too and has been bugging his stingy mother for a Spiderman coloring book (that comes with a Spiderman mask) that cost RM15 but I said no.

His bad side?  He easily gets upset when he doesn't get what he wants or if he feels second-place.  For example, if you accidentally say goodbye to Mama Yeh Yeh and he wants to speak to them, he cries but when you hand him the phone seconds later, he rejects it.  His famous pose is the folding arm pose, with a long, pressed sulky lips and to emphasize his frustration more, he frowns his eyebrows.

William's being "kissed" by Kami (means "black" in Korean) which is a poodle owned by our Korean friends.

And just the other day when I told him to wear his own pants, this was how he wore them. That's the cheeky boy he is!

Food wise, he is not a choosy eater although bittergourd is not on his list.  Thankfully, I have no problem getting him to eat his veges.  I'm even surprised that he likes pumpkin, specifically pumpkin soup, fried shallots and lady's fingers/okras.  He'd polished off all the fried shallot garnishing on the fish if you don't limit him and help himself to tablespoons of okras without touching his rice. 

Still likes Finn McMissle more than Lightning McQueen and thinks Daddy's greyish silver car now looks like Finn, only that Daddy's car don't have bullets and interchangeable parts. 

This boy doesn't speak much Mandarin and whenever he does utter a few words, he sounds like an ang moh.  But he speaketh English like a Chinaman, whatmore the way he sits when he does his homework - with one leg up! 

The other day he was flying the flag of Union Jack and at the same time singing our national anthem Negaraku.  That's William!!
 

All I Want For Christmas...

... is my TWO front teeth, my TWO front teeth...

... just my TWO front teeth!! 

School excursion to Rabbit Farm in Semenyih

August 30th 2012

I don't even know where to begin.

Earlier this year the school organized a field trip to somewhere I forgotten, but just as all school trips (especially kindy ones) they are mighty interesting!  But unfortunately, the younger kids in Year 3 and Year 4 were not involved.  Then a couple of months back we receive the a note in the Message Book that the school will be organizing a field trip for the Year 3s and Years 4s and limited spaces for parents who wished to join.

Yaaayyy!!  And the kids will be visiting Rabbit Fun Land in Semenyih.

Since this was PROBABLY going to be my last field trip with any of my kids, and also my first (hehehe, I'm a child at heart) I signed up for both myself and William!  Yippeess, we were going to feed some rabbits.  William apparently had "insider news" that there will be goats there too, as he was talking about it.

We assembled in school at 8am, and four big (and new) school buses were already parked in the school compound.  The kids were briefed and simple rules and parents too (do not stray, do not walk off, must follow the teacher, etc) then allocated into the buses (2 classes in each bus, kids sit with their parents, kids without parents sit with other kids).  By 830am we left the school compound.  I forgotten to track the journey time, because we were all too excited, hehe.  William and I were happily snapping pictures, chatting and munching at the back of the bus. 

When we arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see the place well kept, with spacious parking allocated, kitchen and toilets clean and easy access to sinks to wash our hands. We were immediately greeted by the proprietors of this Rabbit Farm which is family-run. As you see, they even have their own website. Our two guides consist of a English-speaking father-and-son team whilst the mother handles the kitchen, souvenirs and food.

I will now let the many pictures do the "talking".

Getting the kids ready to visit the toilet before the journey

We were given buns and water for snack.  Kids were told to bring only their water bottles on a sling, so my handbag became the food bag too that day

It's a lonely road... with four busloads of excited kids and parents!!

As we walked in, I peeped into their kitchen and saw how clean they were.  Honestly.  The food, which we were provided later taste good too.

Part of the farm.  To me, this was a good place for an outing.  Clean, no mosquitoes, weather was pleasant and no foul smell of animal poo

The grandfather billy goat sits majestically on a platform, oblivious to all the visitors snapping photos of him

This is the picture that went on Facebook, of William and his first attempt at milking a dairy cow.  I did not think that my boy or even kids their age would pay attention to what the guide speaks in front, but he did, and when the guide said a few kids are allowed to milk the cow, I heard William told his teacher immediately that he wanted to do that.  The guide showed how a calf suckles the mother cow first, which he further explained that this was to stimulate the milk flow, so it will be easier for humans to milk her later.  

The technique, apparently is to slide and tug at the same time, so the milk will flow out.   But William did not slide, he tugged and he pulled but no milk came out.  It was really quite hilarious but I love him more for being so sporting!  He even washed his hands BEFORE and AFTER touching the cow's teats.  Hygiene mah...

Fed some free range chickens.  Also quite funny to see the chickens running away, and the kids with grains in each of their hands waiting anxiously to feed 'em chickens, and the parents (well, me mostly) making all the chicken sounds to entice the chicken to come to us...  In the end, the teacher just told the kids to sprinkle the grains on the ground so we can move on...

After the cow, the chicken, it was the goats.  The kids were given carrot sticks to feed the goats.  William grab a couple without prompting and he went off to find a hungry goat.  No scared ler...

Sayang sayang...

Couldn't resist this "family picture" of daddy goat, mummy goat and baby goat... hehehe

The goats are friendlier than the chickens, thank God. 

And finally, the star of the show... RABBITS!!  We took turns (in two groups -  4 classes in each group) to go into the rabbit enclosure to feed adult rabbits.  These are called the meat rabbits (the common ones that we see) as they are bred for their meat.  To be slaughtered.  Sadly, the rabbits did not seem to be hungry as they hardly ate the carrot sticks offered by the kids (we were the first group too).  They ran away and around and William was busy finding rabbits to feed (picking up untouched carrot sticks from the ground) and also trying to carry them.  I had taught him the theory of carrying a rabbit the correct way, so I guess he wanted to try it out.  

Aaahh, finally found a rabbit who nibbled on his carrot stick.  

And mummy went chasing rabbits just to get good picture shots.  Finally this bunny pitied me and gave me a much appreciated few seconds pose!

One with William's good friend, Eviana.  Does William look shy or what?

A little bit of education for the kids.  We were a lucky group, as there was a batch of newborn bunnies at 7am that morning.  So these here are only a few hours old.

And these with a thin layer of fur, eyes still closed, are only 4 days old.

Moving on... the 10 days old rabbits here have just opened their eyes that day. 

And William hesitates NOT when it comes to carrying the 14 day old bunnies.  He seems like a natural, taking one bunny up then another and another.  I have to tell him that's enough.  In the bus, he told me he was not afraid, and the only fear he had was crushing the rabbit soft bones. 

Adult rabbits in rows of cages.  I think they are for sale and for slaughter. 

This is a lionhead rabbit - imported breed but tropicalized.  I asked the proprietor separately if he sells them for pets, and he offered me RM380 for a pair!  Sounds reasonable, and I was contemplating on how to rearrange my small garden to allocate the 3ftX3ft recommended space for 'em bunnies, but in the bus William said he didn't like the lionheads as they were not as cute.  A quick search on the net changed my mind too, as some people were offering as cheap as RM50 for the same breed.  Huh, and I already thought RM380 for a PAIR was a bargain!  Just shows how blur I am with market prices on pets. 

We saw a 1000kg bull too, apparently the 2nd heaviest in Malaysia.  Not that the kids or we cared anyway, but worth noting lar.  Give the bull some credit.  Next to the bull enclosure was this play-thing.  Kids love them!

We were all provided lunch and food was more than sufficient.  The kids had the usual - fried rice, nuggets and rabbit meat sausages.  We adults had more choices, and I took meehoon (yummy even without the dark sauce), crunchy juicy bean sprouts, rabbit meat sausages, chicken drumstick. 

This was not part of the package.  After lunch, we had the option of a short 3 minute ride for RM3.  William says, "yeee haawww!"  on this pony.  He wanted more, but I said no, looking at the long queue.  

We left the farm slightly after 1pm.  The kids were obviously exhausted, except for William and a few boys in the bus who couldn't sleep.  William slept just 10 minutes before we arrived school.

A wonderful trip indeed.  Oh, and I bought a packet of 10 rabbit shoulders for cooking, already cleaned.  They cost RM45.  For your information, they sell whole rabbit meat too and rabbit sausages.  A few mothers and I suggested to the proprietor to delivery or open shop in PJ area so we can patronize but that's another story la...  Right now, the rabbit shoulder meat is still sitting in my freezer. 

August Break Part Two: Homework and A Funeral

Homework Challenge

Did I mention that my little girl got third placing in the recent (or not so recent, since it was held in May) and her first term examination in primary school?  I was totally distracted by the marks and did not have any expectation on her ranking in class or school.  So this was a truly pleasant surprise for all of us, and we only found out on the day the report card was given out. 

I have been asked a few times by various people on how my daughter is faring in a chinese school, we being banana-parents in particular.  My only answer is she's ok.  I can't say she's excelling, despite the favourable results in her mid term examination with only a week of revision.  I can't say she's struggling either because she doesn't come home crying nor does she dread to go to school. 

Vic has mostly good days, and some bad days.  Lately, I seem to find a lot of "bad days" because I found a homework not completed when it was supposed to have been, as she has told me that she has done it.  That's not exactly honest and I felt cheated.  On the same day that I discovered the uncompleted homework, she showed me her TingXie book with her latest marks - ZERO!  Now that is a collection of 4 zeros altogether since the beginning of this year.  I got angry because she did not even copy her TingXie down in her message book so she can revise at home, and I will be in the know.  But if it's not even copied down, how would any of us know that she has a TingXie test? 

The subject here is effort.  There was no effort.  So that got me really upset.  If she had copied them, revised for them and yet came back with a ZERO (which never happened actually) then it'd be a different story. 

A few incidence of her not knowing what she's doing in her Chinese work, and yet she did not ask her friends or teacher, despite our repeated advice.  A couple more incidence where she "forgot" to ask Mama, Popo or Yee Sam on her Chinese school work when she had the chance. 

I don't know if this is the general case for all 7 yos.  But I'm sure if I let her take her studies lightly and not inculcate the right attitude towards her studies during the first few years, then I'm not doing her justice nor being a good parent. 

Passing On...

On the last Sunday of the school holiday, we made a day trip back to Seremban to pay our last respect to Pastor Sally Foo, a dear pastor who served in Agape Gospel Assembly Church and fought the good fight against cancer. 

Hubby is closer to her as he knew her longer, but I remembered Pastor Sally as a very kind and always jovial lady who has a big heart.  She loved God and loved people and never complained.  As death is not a normal subject one would broach on, I took this opportunity to talk about it with Hubby.  Apart from some serious stuff, we also joked about what we'd do after one of us leaves.  I made him promise to let me go first, because I'm emotionally weak and eremophobic (fear of loneliness).  I even joked to hubby that he should bury me under a cherry tree or saga seed tree.  Of course, we both know that's impossible. Speaking of which, when was the last time you saw a saga seed tree anyway? 

I used to collect these seeds near my paternal Grandma's house when I was a child.  Sadly, after moving a few times, I've misplaced them.

Rest in peace, Pastor Sally.  We will always remember you for the great woman that you are. 

Life is so precious, so fragile and so sudden.  I'm not going to talk about the box of chocolate, but I guess when we lose someone, we start to think how we should start appreciating the simple things in life, and more importantly, the people that we love, before we lose them.