Kierra Can Swim Like a Dolphin!

It was a beautiful Friday last week when the girls had their swimming lessons. Usually Mommy and Eugene will be at Kor Po's place since Mommy was advised to stay away when the kids are having their lessons. However Mommy has been staying beside the pool with Eugene for the past two weeks, since Kor Po was out taking care of Chor Chor (who had been hospitalized the previous week).

The girls have certainly made good progress with their swimming skills. Well, they can't swim without any aids yet, but it was a far cry from when they started last year. They do seem to enjoy themselves a lot. Kierra was able to swim like a dolphin, diving in and then coming out of the water with the help of Uncle Saw's hand. Check them out below!

Kieona swimming with her board
Kierra "sleeping" by the pool
Kierra dancing like a princess
Kieona twirling like a ballet dancer
Oops, Kierra drank some water
Kierra acrobat
Kierra swimming like a dolphin

Hey Diddle Diddle, The Cat and The Fiddle

Kieona meow meow!

Kieona was one happy cat meowing last Friday. She left school like the picture below, as her class was doing a lesson about pets and it was cats in particular that week.

Huge Bottles of Fresh Milk

With the rising costs of basic commodities, Mommy is finding it a squeeze to use the same amounts of money to get quality food for the whole family. As it seems that food prices will still continue to remain high, Mommy has started looking out for viable alternatives that are not only easy on the pocket but also reduce the grocery shopping. (Yes, Mommy is very stretched with having to go on groceries-stocking trips every other day given the tonnes of work she has yet to complete.)

One of the frequently bought items is fresh milk and chocolate fresh milk. The girls drink them like water and the Magnolia brand (the priciest of probably all fresh milk in Singapore) now costs $3.50 for a 1 liter pack, up from somewhere slightly more than $2.50 about a year ago. The 1 liter packs also mean that they finish quickly in our family, and results in tonnes of waste in terms of packaging. Naturally this was one of the areas Mommy was looking for more efficiencies without reducing the quality of what we consume.

Finally, we found them in the Meiji brand of fresh milk! Previously we had always been shopping at NTUC when we bought any Meiji milk, so we never saw the chocolate flavoured one (Kieona doesn't take white milk) in anything near 1 liter. They came only in the small 830 ml size. When we found that they also come in 2 liter packaging for the chocolate milk in Teo Chuan Kee (a provision store near our place), we were certainly delighted. This is the second week we're consuming Meiji milk. Kieona, the fuss-pot, was extremely alright with their Cocoa flavoured milk. We're now consuming a total of 3 to 4 bottles a week.

Check out the large packaging. And the plastic is also recycleable! Only downside of this Meiji milk? They always run out at the stores!

The 2 liter Meiji Milk in Fresh Milk and Cocoa flavour

Scones for My Friends

Mommy made some scones with a new recipe on Tuesday and both Kieona and Kierra loved them. They asked if they could make some to bring to school so that they could share with their friends. Mommy said alright and we quickly finished dinner on Wednesday, so that we could bake some ready for Thursday morning for their classmates.

Since we had run out of raisins, Mommy improvised and used cheese and cranberries instead. The girls had much fun greasing the tins, stirring and mixing the dough, shaping the scones and laughing at each other. As we did not bake that much, Mommy reminded them that they could only have one each that night so that there will be enough to go around their class the next day. It was rather heartening to hear from the girls that they will not eat any at all that night, "so that there is enough for our friends". These words will make any mother proud.

They shaped these, with some help from Mommy

Mommy counted the scones and hoped there was enough to go around. It wouldn't be nice if any of the kids missed it. So that Thursday, they brought their scones to share with their classmates while out for a school outing at Animals Resort.

Aren't the baked scones beautiful?

Kierra's New Shoes

Now that Mommy is slowly getting over the anxieties and shock of Kieona's nostril incident, I can put together the weeks happening in subsequent posts.

Mommy has been looking around for shoes for Kierra to replace her favourite purple pair, as the soles have been worn off. Kierra said she liked Kieona's shoes and wanted to have the same design as what I had bought for her sister some time ago. As it was from Bubblegummers (a brand carried only by Bata here), Mommy has brought her to the Bata and Thomson Plaza (where Kieona bought hers) the Friday before to look for it. However, there were only the smaller sizes left and we couldn't get a pair for her. Since Kieona was staying in school on Tuesdays, I decided to take Kierra out to Ang Mo Kio Central to look for her shoes. There were two Bata shops there and Mommy hoped that at least one of them carried her size. Alas, they were all sold out! I explained to Kierra but she was visibly upset, saying why Jie-Jie has and she doesn't. She also said she just wanted the same one as Jie-Jie. My heart sank. I told Daddy that evening and requested he check out the large Bata store in Peninsula Plaza and see if he could get her size.

Kierra, opening her surprise

My shoes

The next night (which was a Wednesday), he brought home the surprise. Kierra was naturally excited and happy with her shoes. Now she has the same flower shoes as Kieona.

I love them!

A Wake-Up Call

Last night was a terrible night Mommy had. I couldn't sleep a single wink even though I went to bed close to 2am. Every single time I closed my eyes, I had this vision of the white piece of thing emerging from Kieona's nostril. How can anyone not have nightmares when she thought that she had dug out her daughter's bone at the nostil or something deep within her nose?

Early this morning, I decided it was best to have her examined by our GP since Heaven knows if there was any infection within that Mommy really have no clue how to find out. Mommy decided that school can wait and rushed down to the clinic after gulping down her breakfast to queue for a number. The helper was given instructions too to have the kids dressed up and ready for school so that I can come fetch them for the consultation, after I get the number since they were both not done with their breakfasts yet. We were first in the queue and thinking that Dr Cheah normally comes in at 9am (clinic opens at 8.30am), Mommy took her time to get the girls and reached the clinic within 20 minutes. Well, we were late as the queue number was already at 4, but we were glad we were able to consult the doctor as soon as patient number 4 came out.

Dr Cheah was told what happened and Mommy also brought the offending object to show her how large it was. Kieona was thoroughly checked for any signs of infection. The result? Dr Cheah said although the area seems red, it does not seem like infection had set in and thinks that it will probably clear on its own. However, we were given a mild antibiotics to prevent any bacteria from forming. She also asked how Mommy got it out and whether I knew what it was before I pulled it out of her nostrils. I said I didn't, but had a shock when I saw it once it was out. She said lucky it was done pretty well, since there was little injury to the delicate nostril as well. What a relief! Mommy asked Dr Cheah to also highlight to Kieona the risks of putting things into her nostrils, since this has happened many times and no amount of talking to from Mommy seems to have worked. Each time it gets worse. Mommy really cannot imagine what could have happened if it had gone undetected for another few more days. We could really have lost Kieona as the doctor also said that if a foreign object is left in our body for too long, infection will set in and that can be fatal.

If only I had known how at risk she was and how much I would lose sleep over this, I would have insisted Daddy to bring her to the hospital for checks last night.

This incident is like a wake-up call to Mommy. I kept wondering to myself if this was my fault, and that there had been too much focus on Eugene and little time for the girls, especially Kieona (since she was the oldest and by far most sensible). I suppose I had overlooked the fact that she is still a very young child, and I wonder if the repeated attempts of stuffing things inside her nostrils was a way of her asking for my attention. Her learning in various areas seems to have also taken a beating, since I haven't been able to focus my energies on her with my busy schedule everyday and there was always a rush to cramp our time for playing and for revision.

What should I do? Throughout the night I had been tossing and turning in bed. Whatever the outcome, the decision will be a tough one but I suppose there will never be a perfect solution.

Helped pave the way for Kieona's Class Blog

Mommy was roped in two weeks ago by Kieona's temporary teacher, Ms Izan to give her some pointers on starting a blog for the class so that Mommies and Daddies can become more involved in their learning and their progress. Ms Izan is very smart, and has gone on to set up the blog and Mommy is really excited, as this means that she can look forward to some picture fun about Kieona from the blog. If anyone is interested to see what Kieona and her classmates do in class, do click on the link called Kieona's Class Blog, which is always available, on the top right hand panel of this page.

I Found This in Her Nose!

It has been a disappointing way to end the weekend. Mommy is still troubled close to 1am on this day as she is really disturbed by what she dug out from Kieona's right nostril.

Since yesterday evening I noticed that Kieona had the sniffles, apart from the slight cough she had since early week. She was coughing a little more since Saturday around evening time as well, so Mommy didn't think very much about it, except that the cough may have gotten worse and now she's having a runny nose as well. Since she was busy with some work around bedtime, Mommy just told Daddy to feed Kieona some medicine for the runny nose as well before he went to bed. With the slight mucous at times while watching the television programme, Mommy didn't suspect anything wrong with Kieona at all.

Sunday night before bedtime, Mommy decided to ask if Kieona needed her mucous in her nose to be sucked out by Daddy with the help of the nasal aspirator with the sucking device. It didn't seem like that was much mucous, so Mommy asked if she could check Kieona's nose for dirt (which always happen to be blocking her nostrils so that she has bad sniffles). When I checked with a torchlight, I thought I saw something white in her right nostril. Mommy asked Daddy to take a look at it and Daddy said it's got to be "pee-sai". I thought it was wierd but since it was pretty deeply entrenched in the inner nostril, Mommy asked Kieona to try blowing it out. She tried but it didn't come out. Then, Mommy said she'll try to dig instead. And guess what when Mommy looked in? It was something white and while digging it out, there was blood spewing out of her nostril. Mommy thought a bone had come off and didn't know what to expect. Instinct told me to still get it out no matter.

When it was finally out, we saw what was in the picture below. Kieona must have stuck it inside her nostril and Mommy seriously didn't know where it came from, except that it must have been from some plastic pouches with zippers. Since I couldn't trace where she could have gotten it from, I woke the maid up and after some pondering, the maid said it could have been from yesterday at Nanyang Primary School. We had been there in the afternoon for a registration for P1 talk and the kids were at a child-minding session with Maria, where they were given colour pencils and pictures for colouring. This only meant one thing - that the zipper had been in her nostril since Saturday afternoon! My goodness! It was already there for more than 24 hours and it was a lucky thing we did get it out and the bleeding was not too shocking. Mommy shuddered at the thought if I did not have this instinct asking me to check.

This was the zipper which we found in Kieona's right nostril

Obviously she got a good scolding as this is not the first time she stuck something up in her nostril. She has put papers, tissue papers and some other small objects in her nose before and each time I had explained to her the dangers. Mommy really cannot figure out where she learnt this from and why she keeps doing it even after all the explanations. I am really at my wits end. Will this be the last time?

Fathers' Day at Palawan Beach (15 June)

Our family hardly celebrate Fathers' Day alone, since we've got two grandfathers to celebrate Fathers' Day with on that weekend. However since there was a term break for Kieona in her Chinese Speech and Drama classes at Hokkien Huay Guan, we decided that it was a great day to visit Palawan Beach at Sentosa.

The girls have been asking about Sentosa a lot and increasingly so, since it must have been a couple of months since we last went. The weather that Sunday was fantastic - the winds were gentle and the sun was not too glaring. Kieona and Kierra couldn't wait and once we set up the mat, were heading to play with the sand with their tools. Mommy had to remind them to apply their sunblock first and to take off their dresses before playing at the beach.

Applying sunblock

Sand Ice-creams, anyone?

At first, Daddy and Mommy just lazed around as we watched them digging away at the sand with Bibik. Mommy joined in after a while and when the girls had enough fun playing mermaid and building sandcastles with Daddy, we headed for the sea and sat at the edge of the seabed where the waves sometimes rolled in. Kieona, Kierra, Daddy and Mommy had so much fun riding the waves that when it was time to clean up and have lunch, we were all a little reluctant to go. The only downside of the waves catching and riding? The sand that stayed in our bikinis and swimming trunks.

"Little Mermaid"

"I've got you!"

More photos available at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29182&id=704853732&l=8c4da&ref=share

Fathers' Day Gifts

Kieona and Kierra do make wonderful gifts with help from their teachers in school, when it comes to Fathers' and Mothers' Days. This Fathers' Day, Daddy was surprised with a photo easel made by Kieona and a star card made by Kierra. Before Daddy got home, it was quite comical when Kierra insisted she had made Mommy a card for Fathers' Day. Mommy asked if it was for Daddy instead, as Mommy is not a Father but a Mother. Mommy further explained the Kierra has already given Mommy a very beautiful gift on Mothers Day. But she still insisted, until she woke up from her nap and saw Daddy. Once she saw Kieona's gift for Daddy on his table, she wasted no time to bring Daddy to her bag to get his goodie.... the star card.

Proud Daddy with his gifts

The photo easel and the star card

Pretty in Make-Up (7 June)

Mommy can't explain why the girls are so into having their faces made-up. Although Mommy is not big on putting stuff on her face for practicality reasons, the girls have always been fascinated whenever Mommy applies cosmetics and will insist to be done up as well. After having been forced to take a nap after Isaac's full moon celebration, the girls woke up feeling fresh and ready to slap colours on their faces. Mommy obliged since there was still time to dress up for Uncle Don and Auntie Zhen's wedding at the Four Seasons Hotel. Enjoy their make-up moments....

Kieona pursing her lips to even out the lip colour

Kierra's bedraggled look while having her eyes done

Little Isaac's Full Moon (7 June)

View of pool at The Eden, Tampines

It was a pity there was a heavy rain in the morning of baby Isaac's full-moon celebration. The girls were so looking forward to having a swim at The Eden, Uncle Winson and Auntie Peihan's house. Little Isaac was very cute and Ivan (his elder brother) was just as busy playing in a very well-mannered way everytime we met them. Although it was a short visit, Kieona and Kierra certainly enjoyed themselves at the lunch buffet spread. Kierra even went so far as to grab a red egg for herself, claiming it's hers even as Mommy had pick one up for her on the plate.

Uncle Winson, Auntie Peihan, Isaac
Kierra having a cold drink, brr
Kieona's satisfied look after filling her tummy

The Wedding Gift

It was with great sadness that we sometimes have to let go of things, things that mean a lot to us and has sentimental values, but are just not practical for us to hold on to. As the years go by, Mommy and Daddy has been trashing out things dear to us once, just to make way for more living space and space for the girls' toys. One of the things that we had to clean out was the below jigsaw puzzle which Clara Yee Yee's family had lovingly put together for Daddy and Mommy's wedding. It's a pity and we had to ask the girls to pose with it and keep a picture of it, so that we can remember it by and give it the utmost respect we have for the thoughts and efforts that went into this unique gift.

Kieona and Kierra, with a puzzle most dear

Concert at Bishan Park (18 May)

Sunday, 18 May was a special day. We've never quite been arty-farty kind of people but Mommy reckons if the NAC-Exxonmobil Concert in the Park was free, at Bishan Park (near), and has elements of letting the kids chill out, why not?

It was supposed to be more of a picnic cum watching of free performances on a lazy Sunday, but since both Kieona and Kierra overslept and Daddy and Mommy were busy working on the Baby Slings And Carriers website (their baby), Mommy brought no snacks, no drinks and was in a frenzy when she woke the girls up to leave for the place in the evening. (Arghhh!! Mommy!)

Kierra watching the performance on-stage

Kieona absorbed with the surrounding

Eugene Pie Pie was there with his mother too, as Mommy had asked if they wanted to join us. Although we all went there in a big rush and were late to get the best grass patch to sit on, everyone had a really cool time. Weather was beautiful, with a slight breeze. We wish we had gotten a place nearer the stage though, as it was quite difficult to watch the performances from so far away and with so many people walking around in front.

Yee Yee had brought some snacks for Eugene, and the three kiddos just went munch, munch, munch, most of the time. As Pie had just learnt how to walk, he went around the grass patches but started crying when he fell. So, he is afraid of the grass!! That was pretty funny to Mommy and she kept laughing about it.

Us all, on a small mat

Kids munching

The highlight of the whole outing was perhaps not the performances, but the story-telling inside a huge blow-up fish which the girls enjoyed. Only up to about 15 people were allowed inside the "fish" at a 15 minute session. Although it was pretty stuffy in there, Mommy was quite surprised that the girls got so absorbed in the story-telling that they hardly blinked. We even saw Kieona's classmate, Ravshaan at the same session.

The traveller....
She's so engrossed

Since that was the last story-telling session we went to, the main event had already ended by the time we came out of the "fish". We were told that there was a centipede hiding below Mommy's bag on the mat at the grass patch and Yee Yee was so shocked when Bibik picked up the bag. The mere mention of it makes Mommy feel so disgusted. Eeeks! Thank goodness we were all not there.

Perhaps it's because the girls don't frequent the parks and open areas so much. They had so much fun running around with their balloons after that and it was so difficult to get them to leave. Mommy could see the disappointed looks on their faces when it was finally time to go. All in, it had been one of the most enjoyable way for us to end the week.

We Pierced Our Ears (17 May)

Kieona had been asking about ear-piercing for a little while now. She started asking Mommy if ear-piercing was painful and whether you need to have our ears pierced to wear earrings. Mommy said yes to both questions. She also asked if I liked to wear earrings. I said not really since I do not always change earrings. Then Kieona sent me a shocker, "Mommy, if you don't like to wear earrrings, then why are you wearing them?". Innocent enough as a question and very logical. Mommy said, "Well, I wear them because I do not want the holes to close". It took a few more days of asking it it was painful and how painful it was before Kieona completely stopped asking about it.

Since Mommy is not really very keen on letting Kieona and Kierra put on earrings at such a young age (cost and hygiene concerns), Mommy thought that that was the end of the saga and tread carefully in case I accidentally trigger it again. Apparently Kieona had not forgotton about it. A few days later while on the couch watching a television program, Kieona asked again.

Kieona: Mommy, if want to wear earrings must pierce ears first right?

Mommy: Yes, darling.

Kieona: It is a little bit painful right, Mommy?

Mommy: Yes, dear.

Kieona: It is not very painful, just a little bit painful right?

Mommy: Yes, Kieona. It is just a little bit painful.

Kieona: I like to wear earrings, Mommy.

Mommy: Ok.

Kieona: I think I want to pierce my ears. Can I?

Mommy: Erm, ok. (Mommy thinks - she's finally asked.) You may pierce your ears - it is really your choice. I have explained to you that it's going to hurt a little. But we've got to go to somewhere more established, like the one Mommy went to. And you must pierce the other side once you've pierced one side. If you feel the pain, you cannot say you don't want to pierce the other side ok?

Kieona: Ok. It's only a little bit painful right, not very painful right?

Mommy: Yes. (I don't believe in telling lies about such things with my kids, even though I'm not the most eager to let them have their ears pierced.)

Mommy asked Kierra whether she wanted to have her ears pierced too. She said no for the longest time, but on the day we went to B*Dazzle in Wisma Atria, she said she wanted it too. Even though there was some hemming and hawing at the shop, we decided to just let her have a go. Knowing Kierra, she will ask for it by the time we get home when she sees Kieona has earrings, if we do not let her do it then.

Kieona, with the pink studded earrings

Kierra, proud with the pink beauty on her ears

Our First Facial Masks (15 May)

Children are creatures of imitation.....

Mommy and Daddy have started getting back on taking better care of our facial skin by using masks a little more regularly. Being the vainpots Kieona and Kierra have always been, they also started asking for it. Mommy thought - no harm, especially since I can cut holes in those small paper pads that I buy and soak them in Diamond Water before putting on their tiny faces to absorb the moisture. Mommy's pretty sure maintenance has to start early for good skin to prevail when it matters. So there, the girls had their virgin facials that day!

Kieona and Kierra's first facials

Kieona the Architect

Did I ever mentioned about Kieona's love for building tall buildings with her Mega Blocks? Well, she sure does. She gets frustrated at times when she spends effort building one and it fell and cumble to pieces or when Kierra or Eugene destroys it, but she usually picks herself up enough to rebuild one that is taller and more stable.

Kieona built this, all by herself

Kieona the Supermodel

We sometimes get amused by the things our kids do, and sometimes they form their own ideas about what they want to do even if they have never quite been exposed to it. I know, because since a very young age, Kieona asked about modelling when Mommy didn't even know where she picked up the term "modelling". We signed her up for child modelling for a year when she was two, and didn't continue at the moment since there isn't really many jobs and Mommy's time is already so packed trying to bring them to and from enrichment classes. Modelling, Mommy feels, can take a backseat for a little while.


Kieona dear hasn't forgotten those days of primping and dressing up for the photo shoots though, and has recently started asking for modelling again. Just look at her professional-looking pose.

Pretty Kieona posing in front of the camera

I want Breakfast....

Kierra: sob, sob...

Has Mommy ever mentioned that Kierra usually take her own sweet time with breakfast? Till today, we still can't find a very effective way to help her eat faster. Usually she looks like that at breakfast if we hurry her, or threaten to take away her breakfast. She will always say that she still wants the breakfast, even though she hardly looked like she is eating it.

The Singapre Flyer (27 April)

The Singapore Flyer by day

The Singapore Flyer is a new attraction. Although we have never officially thought about being on it (Mommy thinks it's too much money to pay for a ride on a Ferris wheel), we went on it anyway that Sunday 27 April as there was a promotion and kids under 12 go free.

Daddy and Daddy's darlings

Kieona and Mommy wowing at the largeness of The Singapore Flyer

It was rather exciting, as there were some food establishments there and it was afterall somewhere we have never been to. The girls were particularly excited as they were always talking about the giant Ferris wheel when we pass by the area in its construction stage.

Kierra munching in biscuit at Popeye's
Kieona watching her fries in case they're gone The Singapore Flyer - so small?
Queueing up for balloon sculptures

The view was breathtaking, since it is hard to get a quiet view of Singapore's skyline otherwise. However since the wheel was so huge and it doesn't stop for boarding or alighting (yes, we had to jump on or off the huge drums), the ride was a good half hour and both Kieona and Kierra got a little bored after the novelty wears off barely ten minutes on the Flyer.

The view is great! Jie-Jie, how high are we?
Happiest Family on The Singapore Flyer

The before and after were much more fun, as Kieona gorged herself with chicken, fries and biscuits at Popeye's before we had the ride, and chocolate prata at Shalima Palace (an Indian Fusion restaurant on level 2) after the ride. According to her, she was "so hungry".

We're bored, but getting off...

Is that a Prata Tower with chocolate?

These are yummy....

Just a side note - you may ask why Indian restaurant since we're with kids and Indian food is usually quite rich. Well, it wasn't our first choice actually. We had intended to dine at Jalapeno's Pepper a few doors away. The resturant wasn't exactly crowded but the service was downright poor. We were there for ten minutes and not only did nobody asked us what we wanted or got us a seat, no one even told us where to wait so that they could get us a seat. Daddy asked the manager if we could be seated and he just told us to wait. Never told us where and what was happening. He was just busy trying to key in the register. Mommy thinks that as paying customers (the food isn't exactly cheap), we shouldn't be made to feel so unwelcomed. We moved on and chanced on Shalima Palace (which was quite empty) and the staff were really friendly and courteous so we decided to just pop in to try their food. It turned out that it's empty not because the food is not good, but because we realised Indians normally eat a late dinner (and we were right!). It was full-house by the time we left, and we did really enjoy the experience very much.