Reading Rain

As I always say to Papa, being able to read is a very liberating and empowering achievement. Sophie no longer relies solely on us (adults) to take her into the magical and imaginative world of stories. She can do it all by herself, slowly but steadily and surely, she would reach there. She struggles like any beginner readers, but she is very determined to do it right. I think she’s very confident in that aspect and I am proud of her.

(Last evening...)

Even more encouragiing is how she tries to read to her little brother and teach him a thing of two of what she knows. We like the fact that she always tries to be a good big sister even though she does not always feel good having a rival for her parents' affection and time.

Men!

I was trying to come up with some extension or story stretcher for Stick Man by Julia Donaldson since we watched the play last Sunday. However, I was so caught up with everything else that I could only do simple crafts.



I put Alfee on a pram and took Sophie and him out for a late afternoon walk around our estate. It was quite hot but the kids did not seem to mind because we were searching for the STICK MAN (actually sticks and twigs to make the poor guy…)! Sophie has always loved sticks and leaves so she was exceptionally happy. And her cheerfulness was contagious.

After we picked up enough sticks and twigs to start a fire, we settled down at the picnic table to do our craft. Actually, I was hoping that we could “return” the stick man to nature after that. Sophie and I sorted the sticks and twigs and made our Stick Man with a little sticker tape, plastic googly eyes and a little piece of pipecleaner. A pity that Alfee could only look on and chew on his straw.

Next, I took a bunch of straws and helped her make a straw man. It was not as well made as the stick man but that was because the rain was closing in on us and frankly, the heat was starting to affect me. It was also quite embarrassing when the management staff and cleaners of our estate start to stop by and look at our "creations". It did not help much at all when Sophie also started telling everyone she had seen the play and thus making a stick man.

Next, a lump of overused Playdough and we made two dough men. I let Alfee had a go at it but he kept pinching and dropping bits of Playdough on the floor. I had little choice but to ban him from littering.

At last, I thought we could go back and rest a bit but Sophie reminded me that there was still pipe cleaner man to make. So, I quickly helped her made one and completed the family of odd looking men! Finally we could go, after an intense hour of hard work! The sky looked really dark by then and I would do anything to escape the rain. That must be why I caved in when she insisted that the "men" must go home with us! And they did!

Building A Relationship

It is simply amazing to watch how the kids interact this morning. Sophie had a bit of spare time before she headed for school so she played Lego with Alfee. As she built the structure, she coaxed her little brother to watch and follow her. And little Alfee really did just that! He was in complete trust that his big sister knew what she was doing and was quite willing to learn the ropes from her. I really hope they would become best of friends and siblings, despite all the sibling rivalry, and take care of each other always!

我要向山舉目

Sophie learnt this song from her school for their anniversary mass. It took us a while to figure out what she was singing (with the help of lyrics provided by her teacher upon request). And thank you Auntie Annie for the link to a more professional performance of that song!

Stick Man

Today, we went for our second play for the year - Stick Man based on a story by Julia Donaldson. It was another play of Kids Fest! at DBS Arts Centre - Home of the SRT. This time, I opted to watch it on Sunday because the seats and timing were better. I deliberately bought this book in anticipation of the play and prayed Sophie would like it. I want her to be exposed to more authors and genres so I picked the one that she was not familiar with. But by the end of the play, she has become very well acquainted with Stick Man and his family.

Here’s the story read by the author herself!




And here’s a trailer of the show we watched.



As usual, I could only take pictures of the empty stage. It look less elaborated than The Tiger Who Came To Tea, but the play was brilliantly done. Some parts of the story has been either ommited or simply narrated, but those scenes acted out were executed very creatively. I thought the actors and actress were very good, not too exaggerated or "hyperactive". There was hardly any dull moments and we were quite captivated throughout. Certain parts were a little abstract for young children but no one seemed to make any noise so I guess they still enjoyed those scenes.

I cannot speak for Sophie though. She was grouchy and she complained about everything even before the show began. She seemed to have enjoyed it, judging from the laughter and wide-eyed focus on her face throughout the play. Yet never ask her because she would search for something to complain about.

Papa sent us there and waited for us with Alfee. It was an hour of "walkaton", "street photography" and "bonding" for the pair of father-son duo. I am still looking for his shots to upload and I woould do it asap...

Aww... Aww... Caught In A Traffic Jam

Alfee loves music just like his big sister but unlike her, he has more groove. In the car, the two of them enjoy singing and bopping. Usually we do not encourage pop music but… our bad! Since there is no G version of the MTV available...

Playground Revisited

We took the kids for a stroll to the public playground near our place this morning. I used to take Sophie there because there was no playground in our condo and the swing is good for very young toddlers. Sophie remembers the place well and she totally enjoyed running amok. Alfee was also happily exploring and climbing everywhere. Even though it was just half an hour, they seemed to quite satisfied.

The Tiger Who Came To Tea

Thursdays are the only days Sophie has nothing in the afternoon. It was a deliberate attempt on my part to conduct other home-based activities or attend performances. I plan to take her to at least one performance a month, if there are good performances. So far, this is the first performance for 2012 - The Tiger Who Came To Tea. It is one of the 3 theatrical performances of Kids Fest! Singapore 2012. Next month, we are going for "Stick Man", but we are skipping "We're Going On A Bear Hunt".

On the way to DBS Arts Centre, Sophie fell asleep in the cab so I had to carry her inside. We were a good 45 minutes early so I held her as she napped. It was a little awkward as everyone else was all lively and noisy. Our performance was 3 pm but I woke her up around 2.45 pm to be seated. She was a little disoriented but fortunately, not cranky.

Today's performance is based on "The Tiger Who Came To Tea" by Judith Kerr. I bought her the book a few months ago to prep her for the show. She loves it instantly because the little girl in the story is named "Sophie" as well. Here's the original story...



I was quite impressed by the whole set up and the energy level of the performers today. Despite a small audience (due to weekday), they were all geared up to make it worth our every penny. They were interactive and animated enough to keep the children entertained. The props were very good as well, almost like a magic show. Sadly, no filming is allowed so this is all I captured.

However, I did managed to find a trailer version...



The organizers also gave our colouring sheets and colour pencils to keep the children occupied while waiting for the show to start. That pacified Sophie and made it easier for me to relax a little.

On the way out, the children were given a balloon each. Sophie was overall quite happy, I think she enjoyed the performance.

I asked Sophie to draw me what she likes about the performance and this is what she drew first. She said the girl beside the tiger is her (of course!).

Sophie then drew Sophie's parents. The one on the right (wearing a tie) is her Papa and the one (with two buns on her head) is her Mama.

Last, but not least... the milkman and postman (and the bicycle)!

CNY 2012 - Day 2

Me and my bright idea! I thought it would be good if we could do something distinctively “Chinese New Year-ish” so I suggested a trip down River Hong Bao. We set off early as usual and took a leisurely walk from Raffles City to River Hong Bao. It was a little sunny but still manageable because it was early. Unfortunately (as usual), we found ourselves staring at closed gates (opened only after 12 pm) when we finally reached there. Thus, we had to do a last minute Plan B – Esplanade Mall.

By the time we were there, the kids were tired, hot and cranky, especially Alfee. I was quite exhausted myself. We settled down at a café and fed Sophie some cupcake (which pacified her immediately) and let Alfee nap a little. Then we explored the food court and got some lunch before we shopped around a little. Papa said this is the best mall we have got in Singapore and I was not too impressed. Still, it is huge and there are many shops. Anyhow, we made our way to River Hong Bao (reluctantly due to the heat) and spent a little while (15 minutes) going around the exhibits. Frankly, I am disappointed. It is not even close to what the media has portrayed it. Maybe it’s just me but I think it is not worth going at all.

Back home, I tried doing some work with Sophie while Alfee made his presence felt . He really distracted Sophie and made it hard for all of us to do work. I guess I have to wait for him to be old enough to join in the WORK!

Dragon Year - CNY Day 1

I think it started a year or two ago when Sophie started nursery. Everyone is eager to dress their children in traditional (or any kind of) costumes and we, too, got caught up in this pretty irrational practice. The costumes are rarely comfortable and sometimes, they are just simplified versions. Yet, I find it really hard not to let Sophie and Alfee appear in such outfits… maybe they genuinely look adorable!

In any case, Sophie has got a Vietnamese costume on today. In addition to her almost demure look, I let her put on some non-toxic make-up (essentially just powder). The deal was that she had to let Papa take as many pictures of her as he liked! The result – a really beautiful, princess-like little girl and some really good (and rare) shots of her.
Alfee, on the other hand, looked very Chinese (like some martial arts cum Shaolin sort of boy) in his costume.

We handed out early to Ah Gong and Ah Mah’s place. As usual, Sophie would attack the new year goodies and I found it hard to resist myself! Even Alfee wanted to try everything. Maybe we are really deprived since we don’t usually buy any. This year, Sophie was finally taught how to use a residential telephone. We don’t have any land line at home (sounds like we don’t have a lot of things at home!) so she never really got the chance to learn making phone calls.

Usually, we would leave for Naenae’s place after that, but sadly Naenae is no longer with us. Yet, we still decided to go to “Gong Xi Fa Cai” Uncle’s place for visiting. We seemed to have found solace in following the usual routine. Both kids were very well behaved there. The adults shared old photographs and stories with Sophie and entertained Alfee with balls and teddy bears. Although we did not do much of anything else, we really find it heart warming to meet up with relatives during this time of the year.

In the evening, we had dinner with Ah Gong and Ah Mah at their place. My brother and his family came as well, so Sophie was able to play with her cousin, Zixin. It was quite fun to see how they interacted. Sophie was super enthusiastic to come up with games (though a little incoherent at times) and Zixin was happily obliging her. I think it would be great for them to meet more often. Unfortunately, we had to leave for home early before the kids became cranky.

Chinese New Year Eve - Reunion Dinner

Back home, we washed up and had a simple lunch. Then we crashed in front of the TV and waited for dinner. It had been about a month since I last relaxed and lazed around. We started getting ready around 4 pm since we were meeting Ah Boh and Su Su at 5.30pm.

Last year, Sophie wore a Korean bubble dress for reunion dinner. This year, she had the traditional version (commercialised version). I thought they looked really adorable in costumes, even though I doubt they felt comfortable at all.

This year, we had our reunion dinner at Corpthorne King's Hotel. It really did not feel quite the same without Naenae. She would always smile at the kids and she always made them feel like they were the best children on Earth. She was the anchor of our reunion dinner. We found the food average and service quite disappointing yet reunion dinner is never really about the food, is it? At least, we were able to spend time as a family together.

2012 CNY Eve - Morning @ TBG

It is the eve of Chinese New Year and we felt a little lost without Naenae. We are still going to have reunion dinner with Su Su and Ah Boh, but somehow it felt different. In the morning, we decided to head for The Botanical Gardens and let the kids play with bubbles. Usually, we would have some breakfast before we roam around, but today, we went straight to our “bubble” spot.

Alfee was asleep by the time we reached the “bubble” spot so Sophie went ahead and played without him. I bought a bottle of Crayola purple bubble juice to test out today. It did not work as well as I had hoped. The colour was staining in its liquid form but not visible as bubbles. It also had a strong paint smell and the non-spill feature made it difficult to take the stick out of the bottle. Thus, we reverted back to our usual bubble juice.

I made a lot of bubbles for the kids even though Sophie almost always insisted on doing it herself. I know she likes to chase the bubbles and pop them. Many other kids came over and started joining her in their quest as bubble destroyers. I do not mind making bubbles for everybody yet I got some strange looks from people sometimes. We met 3 groups of people of different nationalities and their reactions towards us were all different.

First group was a Singaporean family of 4. The father was sitting far away while his two kids played with the bubbles. The mother was embarrassed that she could not stop them from crowding me. There was no verbal exchange between her and me, even her “thank you” went through her kids. The second group was a huge family of tourists. The grandmother was trying to pacify the child who insisted she wanted to buy some bubbles juice. The family soon spoke out loud (maybe hoping we would hear and respond) that they did not know where to buy. Finally, they sent the father to ask us. Lastly, a group of Caucasians (maybe 2 families) with young toddlers approached us. They chatted with Sophie and tried to make conversation with us. They encouraged the kids to play together and they left after saying “goodbye”.

Then our little girl complained she was hungry and tired and declared she needed to eat at Casa Verde. So, we started packing up to go. Just then a little girl came up to me hoping for some bubbles. I smiled and gave her the rest of my bubble juice. She was very happy but I could not say the same for Sophie. Her sense of possessiveness kicked in and I had to really talk her into letting that bottle of bubble juice go. Fortunately, she soon forgot everything with a good hearty breakfast.