Pororo Training Chopsticks

I took Sophie to Thomson Medical Centre for a follow-up appointment. She is still coughing and her mucus is rather thick although no longer greenish. She still has to be nebulised 3 times daily and take some oral medication from now on for another week or so. Gone were the days I could send her to the TCM for flu, she would need 2 weeks of home rest to recover.

At the pharmacy before we headed for home, I bought her a set of Pororo training chopsticks. I thought it would be good for her to start using chopsticks since she is beginning to be competent in self feeding. I have to admit, they are really cute, too!



Of course I still feed her at home. It is a lot quicker, cleaner and she feels pampered. I chose not to insist on self feeding because she is currently feeling a little insecure over her baby brother. I let her be a baby a little longer. Tis good enough to know she can do it properly at school. And today, I was impressed how quickly she learnt to use the training chopsticks. It made our dinner a little more interesting.

Disney Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Sticker Book Treasury

I bought Sophie Disney Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Sticker Book Treasury from Singapore Motherhoold bulk purchases after she has finished her Dora The Explorer Sticker Book. (bought from one of the kiosk at Downtown East). I do not personally like sticker books, but I know Sophie cannot resist them. These sticker books are like activity books except that the stickers provided are the answers.



So, Sophie is very motivated to work on them even when they are about counting.



This was slightly harder because it involved addition and substraction. I helped her with linking cubes. I was amazed how she could grasp the concepts so easily just because she could feel and touch the manipulatives.

CNY - Red Lantern & Oranges

Chinese New Year is coming so we are doing lots of CNY related craft. This is the first one we did. I rummaged through my recycled box and found plastic jelly cups. So we painted theinner side red and stuck two cups together to make lanterns.

Although myvideo clip looks very normal with Sophie painting, I must say that she has most definitely grown very steady and competent with her painting. She is no longer slapping paint onto the craft. Instead, she can be meticulously applying coats of paint onto the item. We started doing craft when she was 15 months old. Now, it seems like everything has paid off.

We are not too sure where to display the lanterns. We can hang them on our pussy willow (plum blossom) or create a display of CNY items. We also made some oranges so I guess it is better to set up a display. Hopefully, it would not look too much like a altar.

Show & Tell

I am not so sure if she would do Show & Tell eventually, but we practised anyway.

More CNY stuff

Yesterday, we also bought two potted plants which are considered 年花 because they bloom around this time. I do not have green fingers so I try not to touch them. However, we soon found flies congregating around the soil so I had to banish them outdoors.

I bought a 福 for decorating my main door. When I bought it at NTUC, I thought it was quite big and loud. However, it somehow shrunk in size and intensity the moment I pasted it on.

Sophie had a lot of difficulty making the oranges using some sort of net. They come in kits so I thought it would be a great way to kick start our CNY craft work.

Chinese New Year - Pussy Willow

It has been a week since we do anything for Chinese New Year. The general atmosphere is lukewarm out there, so we cannot really get into the mood. Plus the fact that Sophie is down with fever, so we really feel quite down. However, I managed to convince Papa to take us all to Far East Flora to buy some plants for the new year in hope to lighten up our mood.



Back at home, we tried to put up the pussy willow and hang some ornaments. Sophie was very curious and excited about it. She kept peeling the "husk" off.

I Can Draw A Dog

This is the second drawing of our "I Can Draw" series. Sophie was not too sure how to differentiate a cat from a dog yet. Still, I think she did a pretty good job. I like the way she insisted she must write her name below. It shows she has high regards for her drawing.

I Can Draw A Cat

Sophie has almost perfected her drawing of a cat. She also wrote the words "CAT" and "SOPHIE" on her own although she could not spell "cat" yet. I think she needs a bit more practice with colouring.

"Berries" Boring Sunday

Our helper was on leave so we were on our own today. It was quite a challenge I must admit. We started the day with grocery shopping followed by lunch at The Peach Garden at Thomson Plaza. Then we went home to load the groceries while Sophie took a short nap in the car. Then we were off to CPF Building at Bishan to send her to Berries for her enrichment class at 1.30pm. I loitered around Junction 8 with Alfee while Papa sent her there.

It took me at most 15 minutes to run out of places to go. I used to find Junction 8 a good place to hang around when I was young now it just seems too small, too boring. I was quite relieved to see Papa again and we went out of Junction 8 for a stroll around the neighbourhood. Well, it was boring and hot! By the time we walked one round, we were too bothered to go on and we still have an hour to kill. Reluctantly, we headed to Dome Café at the Bishan Community Club. We had a lousy strawberry smoothie and a slice of very dry cheese cake.

We were all glad that the wait was finally over at 3.15pm. We picked Sophie up and went for a car wash. Sophie kept asking Papa to take her on a car wash (automatic sort) but we could not find any, so we settled for a manual car wash. Papa, as usual, tried to spice up her experience.

We were cracking our brains, trying to think of something to do before dinner when we thought of Sembawang Jetty. We have made reservations at Beaulieu House Restaurant (opp the jetty) for our Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner and we have to put a deposit. Thus, we thought it would be good to go there for a walk before dinner.

It turned out to be a great idea. The weather was good so our walk was very refreshing and enjoyable. There were quite a number of people at t beach but it was not crowded. Sophie was a little sleepy but the outdoors made her less cranky and more willing to cooperate with us. Alfee was also very docile. In fact, the breeze and sea made him sleepy enough to just lean on me quietly.

At one point, we were just sitting around and enjoying doing nothing in particular. Yet it felt good because we are together. Even though my arms were almost breaking from Alfee's weight. He is not very heavy but I guess I am getting older.

Around 5.30pm, we went to the restaurant for dinner. We had hor fun, noodles and satay! I never thought I would get to eat satay without going to a hawker or foodcourt. I have been craving for satay since I was carrying Alfee. Sophie also had her first taste with satay and she liked it. The hor fun was good too - no fish cake and excessive starch in the gravy. Of course, I gobbled as much as possible for as long as Alfee let me, then we took turns walking him. Even so, it was not too bad because he fell asleep very quickly.

After dinner, we headed home and called it a day well spent! We got over the "Berries" boring Sunday...

In Our Blood

Those who know me well and long, know I love acting. It is a passion that never quite die in me. Apparently, Sophie has got some of my genes after all. I think she is quite a comedian actually. She has a natural desire and talent for acting and making others laugh.

No More Learn Thru Play

Learn Thru' Play at Ang Mo Kio Hub is closing down so everything is on half price. By the time I (a member)was informed a week later, most of the "good" stuff were gone. No harm done since members get 50% discount during their birthday month anyway. Still, like any other kiasu parent, I went in and bought stuff that I would otherwise unlikely buy. I got sophie (and of course, eventually Alfee) puzzles - assorted designs.

Not sure I want Sophie to start playing with toy or constructed guns, but I must still say she does have good imagination and creativity. Love the way she answered my question...

Activity Kits

I bought two sets of activity kits, Disney Pretty Princess - Busy Book for Sophie and Read & Play - Ready, Set, Go! for Alfee.

As usual, Sophie monopolized both and surprisingly prefers her brother's set. Frankly, I would too. There are 12 mini vehicle figurines and a road playmat for her to create her own stories.

The other one also contains 12 figurines but they are the Disney princesses and characters which are not very exciting. The playmat is a garden scene, so it is very tamed and "girly".



Sophie enjoys playing "rescue" and "superhero". I just hope Alfee will grow up faster and in time to play with his sister and we would not have to resort to 拔萝卜all the time.

Chinese New Year - A Point Of No Return

The plan is rather simple and innocent - we want Sophie to have a sense of her Chinese identity and culture. Maybe her Chinese langauge would also improve a little. So, I planned to get a few common items related to Chinese New Year for her. I always have a soft spot for sparklers... This box is particularly loud (whistling sound) and smokey so we could not play indoors.

First Day At Cherrybrook (2011)

Sophie’s first day in school. Papa would send her to school from now on because she is in morning class now. Ah Gong would still pick her up after school. Her school day starts at 8.20am and ends at 1pm. That means she has to have her snack in school. I am not too sure how she fared today because I did not have time to ask the teachers. We managed to pick her up after school on the way back from TMC though. She seemed fine although she was clearly very tired and hungry. She told me she did not eat the green bean soup during her break. Good news – she came back with no wee wee “accidents” today! I hope she would continue to be “accident” free.

Let Me Do It!!

Sophie started out trying to show Alfee how the toy works. Then she monopolised the toy and even got frustrated when he grabbed it.

New Year New Haircut

I took Sophie to Cherrybrook for new school pants, leaving Alfee with Ah Gong. It was unnerving and I had to rush back in time to feed him. After feeding him, I took her out again. This time, I brought her to a neighbourhood salon to have a haircut. She wanted to look like Dora so I asked the hairdresser to trim. I knew if Ah Gong were to bring her there, he would ask her to cut her hair as short as possible. No, I want her to keep her hair long so that she can look and hopefully, behave more like a girl.

Happy New Year!

First day of 2011 and we spent it at Auntie Ann's place . Auntie Ann is Mama's primary school friend so that means we have known each other for about 25 years at least. Auntie Ann and Uncle KK (her husband) just moved into their penthouse so we took the opportunity to check out how a penthouse looks like. Sophie definitely enjoyed running about the rooftop patio and climbing up and down the stairs. Of course, she also took some pictures with my IPhone.

Auntie Ann is quite a good cook. We really enjoyed her pasta dish and even picked up some tips on cooking from her. Auntie Eunice (another old friend of Mama's) came with delicious local desserts as well. It was a great gathering for us. Auntie Ann owns a toy shop (Simply Toys) so she has many toys at home. Sophie loves her plush toys so vey much. I am happy that she did not cry or ask to buy some home. In fact, she knew she could only play there.

Uncle KK (Auntie Ann's husband) likes Sophie very much and I am sure the feeling is mutual for Sophie. Both of them sat and watched TV while Papa and Mama ate our dinner. Sophie was reluctant to leave actually but she was very tired. She fell asleep in the car. I think it is good for Sophie to start visiting others and learn how to behave at others' home. So far, we are quite proud of her because she was polite and well-behaved there.