Bento #13 - Bears and Flowers

Seriously running out of idea and I have to admit that I am someone who doesn't posses any creativity and imaginative skill. Bleah... 

Flower are made of Wholemeal Bread, Strawberry Jam and Guava

Bears are made of Wholemeal Bread, Peanut Butter, Seaweed.

Tung Tung's 4th Birthday Tea

Animal Theme Day

The last day of school for Semester 1, Peter and Jane had arranged a celebration for Teacher's Day in school together with the Theme Day. P&J Children will dressed up relating the theme assigned to their grade. Nursery's theme of the day was "ANIMAL". The easier thing to do is usually just wear a T-shirt that has the image of the Theme, be it fruits, animals or anything else. It is not compulsory but it is always fun to have your kids dress up to join the theme day. 

Ta Ta !! My Girl in her "Rabbit Costume". It 's not exactly costume, I bought the Rabbit Set which included the Headband as you can see in the picture, a furry white scut and a pink bow. MaMa attached the scut at the back of Chloe's tutu skirt. Yeah, again, FORGOT to take a photo of it. I didn't use the bow as I didn't the bow suits my girl well. 

Look at how cute is my little girl. Can you notice the aunty behind? She was trying to steal a shot with Chloe "secretly" in a open manner. Can't blame her. Chloe is too cute in her Rabbit outfit. The moment, she saw Chloe, she kept on telling me how cute is my girl, and can't stop looking at her with a big smile.

Posing for a shot and a little shy :P

Mrs. Zue, the class teacher, was thrilled to see Chloe dressed up and came up to Chloe to praise how adorable she was. Chloe passed the Teacher's Day gift to Mrs. Zue, and Mrs. Zue returned with a great big hug spontaneously. Sweet!

Moo Cow Experience @ KLCC

MaMa came home early today, and had early dinner with the angels. Since, it was still early, Ah Yi (MaMa's sister a.k.a Sam) suggested to go for grocery shopping @ KLCC. We were attracted to the Mooing Sound and Cow Statue in front of the Isetan Supermarket Entrance. Unquestionably, the girls demanded for a cup of Yummy Frozen Yogurt. I guess most of us are relatively familiar with how the MooCow Station looks it since it's everywhere now. Yeah, my bad that I didn't capture the look of it. How to describe it? It's cute, It's refreshing, It's approachable, It's attractive, It's "just make you wanna BUY one and try" kind of mood. We had the Plain Yogurt to share among 4 of us since we just had our scrumptious dinner at home.

Look how much Chloe enjoyed the cup of MooCow Frozen Yogurt. We suppose to share the cup of MooCow, but in the end Chloe had 70% of it.

Co~Co~Co~Cold !!!!

Snippets of Information about Darling Clarisse

Yes! I was told by one of my good friends that I don't blog much about Clarisse, and they are all about Chloe. This is not entirely true, and today I am going to dedicate this page to only Clarisse, SPECIALLY. :P 

Let me clarify before I proceed (Hehehe...can't help trying to stay clean & fair to my girls)! You see, hahaha, even though they have individual personality, they are still sisters who live in the same environment. So, they are growing at about the same background which will end up the same story. Hahaha...ok..Sorry, too much nonsense excuses! 

Here are snippets of information on Darling Clarisse' everyday conversations and activities.

(A)

Jie Jie cries waking up almost every morning. One day, Clarisse came into my room while Kakak was changing Jie Jie.

Clarisse : MaMa, Jie Jie CRY CRY CRY!

(B)

MaMa used to tell Jie Jie that Fountain goes "Oi Oi" (Sleeping) or a nap in the afternoon, trying to coax her to take a nap during daytime. I guess Clarisse learnt it from her Jie Jie cause I don't say this for a long long time. Whenever Clarisse sees the Fountain in the Titiwangsa Lake which is not pumping out the water into the air,

Clarisse : MaMa, Fountain Oi Oi Already!

(C)

This morning, Jie Jie cried again. I overheard Clarisse lecturing her Jie Jie.

Clarisse : Jie Jie, Don't Cry la!

(D)

Last night, MaMa came home early to play flashcards with my two darlings before putting them to bed. When I flashed the "Dragonfly" card to Clarisse, she responded with her cheeky grin, "awwwww, cheeky fella" Moment!

Mama : Clarisse, What do you see in this card?

Clarisse : Huh? * in her usual "manja" tone

She tried looking at the flashcard once more and turned her head away shyly and replied :

"Huh? I dunno .."

Then, MaMa flashed the "Dragonfly" card to Jie Jie and she replied swiftly in her loud and confident voice.

" It's DRAGONFLY, MaMa"

"It's DRAGONFLY, MaMa" Clarisse repeated in a scream in attempt to contend with her Jie Jie in loudness.

(E)

Ever since Jie Jie attended Ballet Class every weekend, she has the privilege to join PaPa & MaMa at the Lot 10 Hutong for some mouthwatering local hawker food. Clarisse gets to nibble and taste PaPa's regular meal like Hokkien Noodle, Claypot Chicken Rice, Sushi, Soya Bean Drink, Wanton Noodle, Char Siew Bau etc. I guess this little girl really enjoys the food with us, and she always claim that she goes to Ballet (as in FOOD in her case).

YehYeh : Chloe, Did you go to Ballet today?

Clarisse : YehYeh, I go Ballet.

* she answered excitedly before Chloe could answer YehYeh, but Yeh Yeh heard "BALI" instead. Ok, i am a biased MaMa. I think Clarisse pronounced it perfectly, YehYeh heard it wrongly. :P Clarisse said "BALLET"

YehYeh : Huh? You go BALI? When are you going to BALI?

Clarisse : YehYeh, NO BALI. BALLET!

(F)

Clarisse sings :

A B C D E F G H I J K L AH AH AH (M N) O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Now I know my ABC, AH (next) time won't you sing with me

(G)

MaMa : Clarisse, Who's Naughty?

Clarisse : Jie Jie Naughty.

MaMa : No. Clarisse Naughty.

Clarisse : NO WAY! Jie Jie Naughty.

MORE MORE MORE AND MORE...... NEED MORE TIME TO WRITE... SHALL DO PART II tomorrow... :P

Chloe is enjoying her Chinese Songs

“ 当我们同在一起 ”

” 妹妹背着洋娃娃 “

Clarisse loves to sing

Horsey - Clarisse says

MaMa : Clarisse, What is this that you are riding?

Clarisse : HORSY!

MaMa : Chloe, Pose Leng Leng for MaMa.

Chloe : OKAY! 

Clarisse : MaMa, I want to take Photo!

MaMa is quite surprised when Clarisse requested to take a photo because Clarisse uses "I" a lot instead of her own name "Clarisse". Chloe used her own name most of the time when she was a toddler like Clarisse. Perhaps, it is much easier to use "I" than "Clarisse". :) Muak!!!!

One Fine Night - Sleeping Posture

Novi, Kakak, would normally send my princesses to bed whenever Hubby and I returned home late. Ya, they will be both asleep by/before 10pm. We feel rather guilty for coming home late and not able to kiss our darlings Goodnight. But the devil deep inside our hearts is actually cheering for it because we get some free times to do whatever we like, most probably some "Astro" time before going to bed. As usual, before PaPa indulged himself with the "UFC" (some wrestling programme that doesn't interest me much!), he would pop into the room and take a look at our darlings. 

He rushed out of the room with much excitement and insisted that I have to go into the room with him to check out our girls.

And this is what we saw! It might not be very interesting to anyone of you but I don't know how to describe how PaPa & MaMa take pleasure in looking at our girls sleeping in the such familiar position.This scene is indescribable joyous to us and we actually spent some times in the room, just by looking our girls with our hearts totally melted.

Clarisse with her knee bent.

Chloe with her knee bent.

I went on google and found out that our sleeping positions actually reveal our personality too - http://jercasas2.tripod.com/Sleeping_positions.htm

What it stated is quite true. :P Well, Just for fun!

SIDE SLEEPER WITH ONE KNEE BENDED 

You are inclined to be fussy , always whining and complaining . Nervousness is probably your second name . You tense up easily and get overly excited over small matters. Life isn't such a big deal . Learn to relax .

BACK SLEEPER WITH ARMS CROSSED TO SUPPORT THE HEAD

You are highly intelligent and enthusiastic to learn. Yet sometimes you are filled with cranky ideas which people find hard to follow. You take good care of your family, but the problem is you hardly love anybody. A little bit choosy, huh?

2012 Mother's Day Present from Chloe

I always envy those moms who always received gifts from their children on their birthday, mother's day or any other celebration events. I never get one those TLC gifts before because my girls are too young to understand these commercialized events. :P Besides, PaPa told me that he will never be caught in these kinds of commercialized celebration. Therefore, do not expect him to initiate on the celebration or even lead my children to make something for me these special occasions. YES! It's a very very materialistic world, we are all trapped in these Commercial Occasions. 

I told him to join me @ the P&J for the Mother's Day Celebration so that he can help us record down the Mother's Day Celebration. Initially, he said "See first. But most probably, you will be going alone!" until I told him that "I won't inform him if there is a Father's Day event, and you won't get to go!" I guessed he  felt threatened and didn't want us to leave him out of 'HIS' special days, so he went to P&J with me TODAY! :P 

MaMa's first Mother's Day present from Chloe. A Keychain made by Chloe & MaMa @ P&J. Thanks to P&J and Thanks to Mrs. Zue for being so thoughtful.

This is the back of the keychain.

I shall update more photos which was taken by PaPa, and THANKS to PaPa, Ya!

Chinese for Chloe...

I may sound super "Kiasu" from the Blog subject, but I am definitely not the champion. :p Chloe is turning age 4 this nov. But, she will be joining all the 2008's children for Primary 1 (Standard 1) which is 2.1/2 years away. It may sounds really far away, but I think I must somehow start planning for it.

Weeks ago, my mom asked me whether if I am sending Chloe to a Chinese school for her primary education. Without hesitation, I answered "OF COURSE". My initial plan was 

- 1 year in "Learning Through Play" School / Montessori

- 2 years in Kue Cheng Kindergarden so that she can pick up some Mandarin

- 6 years Primary Education in Kue Cheng Primary School.

After having Chloe in P&J for months, MaMa is completely indulging the warmth and friendliness emits from each of every teachers and staffs. The privilege of having most teachers and staffs to recognize me that I am Chloe's MaMa. MaMa could pick up Chloe without a Car Tag, the teacher could easily recognizes me and called out Chloe's name on the PA system so that they can send Chloe to my car. This is what I call a perfect dismissal for both parent and child. It's safe, it's organized, it's absolutely stress-free! What I like most is that whenever Chloe's class teacher sees me in the school, she always comes to me with a nice warm greeting and updates me about how Chloe was doing at school spontaneously. Seriously, Mrs Zue has the power of mind-reading, and she can always answer my questions in my mind. So perfect!

Sigh...Now comes to the time to decide which CHINESE SCHOOLS becomes even tougher because I just can't bear to take away Chloe's happy childhood by sending her to a school which is strictly academic and discipline. Chinese schools are known very strict and the tendency to correct children's bad behavior through punishment like caning. I am Chinese-educated. I survived! It was a lot easier for me because I am a 100% "CINA" brought up in a 100% MALAYSIAN CHINESE environment. Of course, I struggled a lot during my college times as English was the only language used throughout my further studies. :P

Ya. Why would I think that Chloe might not be able to cope in the Chinese School? Geezzz... People said kids thrive in any environments that we put them in, the problems always lie with the parents who underestimate their children's real capability. We are the interference of our children's development and the path towards independent. YA! I know all these facts. I think i have too much "TLC" flowing in my blood, oozing continuously...... Kakakaka...

Why Chinese school? 

1. Because it has better discipline (what an irony! I know! It was just one minute ago that I complained about their strictness on children's discipline!) 

2. I want my children to use their own mother-language, able to read, write & speak in proper Mandarin.

3. I want my children to learn to thrive in a harsher environment so that they will be tougher ?!!!!

Now, these are the only schools that I have in mind now :-

坤城小学

中华小学

黎明小学

中国公学

These are the only chinese primary school that I know. Somehow I know Li Ming is not possible because of the location. Even Kue Cheng is also out of the way but it is definitely top in my list. Zhong Hua was my Primary School, My parents' primary school, my cousins', my brother's, my aunties and uncles. It had a good long history, but honestly I didn't like the community because Zhong Hua is famous in making "Ah Lian" and "Ah Beng". Ok FINE! I was AH LIAN too! :p Just didn't like idea of Chloe or Clarisse being part of the Lian-Beng Category. Zhong Guo is highly recommended by my mom because she receives lot of hearsays from Yi Ma Gu Jie that it is a highly respected chinese school. I have not heard of it before until she mentioned about it. Then, i googled a little about it, apparently, it is a famous chinese school who is at par with Kue Cheng. Sigh... I visited Kue Cheng kindergarden before, I really liked it there. I am not sure will it be too taxing for Chloe to travel to school everyday with massive traffic for her 8 years of life - 2 years kindergarden and 6 years primary. Geez...I don't even want to think about her secondary life yet. 

I called up Zhong Guo, and I was told that I should register 2008 child by next year. Argghhh...I have 7 months more to make my decision. I have heard some parents from P&J already registered their children into XXXX Chinese Primary School in Desa Park City or wherever they stay. I googled and found Kepong 3 is the only Chinese school there, but it is definitely out of the way.  

What is this MaMa doing? MaMa is enjoying P&J way too much that I infact was considering to place Chloe at P&J for another year so that I can also send Clarisse to P&J next year. This way, Chloe can 'sort of' take care of Clarisse. Primary School? I am stuck at Kindy's choice, how can I proceed with the registration of Primary School? Arghhhh.... So scary! My mom said she never had these problems with 4 of us (2 brothers and 1 sister). She chose the nearer school available. Ha! 

Chloe's Artwork @ P&J

Today, PaPa & MaMa sent Chloe to school. Chloe was delighted but she is afterall not a morning bird, she was rather quiet after she stepped into her classroom. Mrs. Zue once again told us that Chloe always take a while to warm up herself before she becomes active. Mrs. Zue also added that she loves to sing and she can sing very well, but need to warm up first. Hahahaha.... Anyway, MaMa took the opportunity to take a look at the art boards in the classroom and found Chloe's work @P&J. :P 

Chloe playing with Animal Puzzle

PaPa & MaMa agrees that this MASTERPIECE is definitely not by Chloe. Mrs. Zue or Ms. May must had helped her through the coloring. Anyway, STILL VERY NICE!

Obviously, this is MaMa's Favourite! So Sweet!

Grapes. Nice!

Mandarin Orange! This is the best SHOT I have in my iphone. :( 

Can see is an orange right? :P

I guess... this is a Milkshake? Ovaltine FLOAT?

Don't tell me, Let me guess what is this? 

Ohhh...It's French Fries. 

And Burger and ??? PaPa said Pancake. MaMa said Curry Puff. Haha... 

Don't know what exactly is the half-round brown "thing" but definitely is a kind of FOOD! Hiyah.... should have just asked Mrs. Zue, right?

Strawberries and Grapes

Fish! Red Polka Dot Fish, Chloe said. 

Chloe's Growing Up Milestones

3 years 5 Months 11 Days

LANGUAGE:
	Enjoys listening to stories and simple jokes. Never tried Jokes. Not sure she understands Joke or not, especially PaPa's Joke required some alcohols to make it hilarious.
	Speaks intelligibly-exhibits only a few sound substitutions. - YES
	Gives name, address, and age when asked. Not Address, Only "Titiwangsa" "Grandma's House"
	Counts by rote up to 20. Missed 15 or 16 sometimes.
	Knows several nursery rhymes. - YES
	Asks questions-"why," "what," "how," "when." - YES
MOTOR (Fine):
	Threads a shoe lace through beads. NO! She is my little spoilt brat :P KaKak and Everyone at home helps her to wear her shoes. Technically, she can't wear her own shoes, Slippers, sandals YES, but not Sport Shoes.
	Builds a tower of 10 or more blocks. - YES
	Holds and uses a crayon with good control. Can hold and Scribble, now can draw straights line and circles which are not ROUND.
	Copies an "O" (circle), a "+" (plus), and a "V." - NOT YET
	Draws a house. :"( No wor, she is really way behind in this case.
MOTOR (Gross):
	Touches toes without bending knees. - YES
	Stands on one foot for about 8 seconds at a time. Didn't try this before. I shall ask her to try tonight.
	Hops forward about three steps on each foot. - YES
	Walks skillfully on a narrow straight line.- YES
	Enjoys playing with a ball.  YES
	Runs on toes. - YES
	Climbs, slides, swings on playground equipment. - YES
SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR:
	Eats with fork and spoon. - YES
	Dresses and undresses except for laces, back buttons, some zippers, and snaps. She can only wear and remover her pants, she is struggling with t-shirt but an forcefully remove it if she really wanted to, definitely not when she is feeling moody and LAZY
	Enjoys companionship of other children. - YES
	Understands the concept of "taking turns." - YES

Clarisse's Growing Up Milestones

Clarisse @ 1 Year 8 months 6 Days

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL:
	Uses a spoon to feed self. - YES
	Chews food well. - YES
	Raises and drinks from cup, then replaces it on table. - YES
	Plays beside but not with other children. Don't Understand this :P Yes, She loves to play, most of the time with Jie Jie Chloe at home lor.
	Is very possessive about toys-no sharing. - YES
	Clings to caregiver when tired or afraid. - YES
	Goes into tantrums when frustrated but can be distracted readily. - YES
	Demands a lot of caregiver's attention. - YES
COMMUNICATION:
	Engages in simple pretend play. - YES
	Uses 50 or more recognizable words but understand as many as 300 words. Hmm..... how to count? Let's try to count - one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, elephant, giraffe, Monkey, Snake, Dog, Cat, Mouse, Dophin, Fish, Baby, Walk, Play, Slide, Want, love, MaMa, PaPa, GrandMa, MahMah, Tai Ma, Jie Jie, Clarisse, YehYeh, KaKak, Rahir, AhGu, AhYi, Banana, Strawberry, Butterfly, Lamb, Cow, Fountain, KLCC, KL Tower, Wet, Car, Raining, Thunder, Tunnel, Down, Up, Go, ready, train, bird, ball, toys, teacup, water, beanbag, milk, cheese, biscuit, jelly, apple, juice, chair, Swimming, duck, cooking, don't want, OK, noodle, pau, vege, me,.......... hmm.....getting more and more difficult now... I guess is a "YES" gua
	Puts together two or more words to formulate a sentence. - YES
	Asks "What's that?" Not really, only use "I WANT I WANT" or "I DON'T WANT" for something NEW to her.
	Joins in nursery rhymes and songs. She loves to sing, she is learning lots of songs from her Jie Jie Chloe.
	Refers to self by name. She refers herself by her name but not in proper pronunciation, to be fair, her name is not easy to pronounce "CLARISSE" "L" "R" "S". Tongue Twister !!!!  So, I realize that she doesn't refer herself by her name ALL THE TIME, SOMETIMES by "ME! ME! ME!" which is much easier to pronounce.
	Points to and repeats the names of body parts such as eyes, nose, hair, feet, mouth. - YES
	Understands simple commands and conversation. - YES
VISION:
	Names familiar miniature toys at a distance of 10 feet away. - YES
	Enjoys picture books, pointing to details on command. - YES
MOTOR (Fine):
	Removes a wrapper from a cupcake or candy bar. Never had cupcake or candy bar till now. PaPa is very strict!
	Builds a tower of six blocks. Attempted in the Shichida Class last week, she managed to stacked a few but I don't think six. The block was with the KLCC picture, and she was supposed to build the block up with the right puzzle order. I helped Darling Clarisse arranged the 6 blocks and she placed the remaining 2 blocks. Is ok, if you don't understand. Hahaha... YES, she can build a tower with maybe 4? blocks.
	Imitates a vertical line with a crayon on paper. Nope! Definitely not yet. I didn't really spend time with my children on this part of the development. I just realized it recently when Chloe's peers can write and draw and Chloe can't do any of those PROPERLY. I am currently working with the HOMEWORK that was distributed by Shichida which required lots of drawing lines and tracing etc.
	Turns pages in a book one at a time. - YES
	Picks up tiny objects as small as a crumb. - YES
MOTOR (Gross):
	Runs on whole foot, but stops by falling down or by colliding with something or someone. Runs on whole foot - OK, YES, but stops by falling down or by colloding with something or someone? - Why must fall down to stop? why must collide with something or someone to stop? Hmm... don't quite understand the question.
	Climbs stairs holding onto the railing (two feet to each step). - YES
	Pulls wheeled toy by string forward and backward. -YES
	Throws a small ball. -YES
	Walks into a large ball when intending to kick it. Kicking? Yes, Clarisse can KICK. walks into a large ball when intending to kick it? -- Don't know.

Crying Baby in Public

As I mentioned earlier on, I have two girls with their very own character and temper. No one is perfect and I am not comparing who is better than the other. I praise for Clarisse's disciplined sleeping schedule, and I praise for her enthusiasm towards new activities. This part of the blog I must praise Chloe for her understanding of acceptance and accommodating to parents' request. Hahaha... What I am trying to implicate is that Chloe listens to our "commands" most of the time whereas Clarisse is totally out of our control. She is "a little" strongheaded and SOMETIMES NOT listen to what we told her to do. 

Yesterday's incident is a very good example of how our Princess Clarisse displayed her domineering side of her. This scene may seem so familiar to every parents, and definitely annoying to those who cannot stand screaming kids in the restaurant/public.

We were having dinner in a restaurant, it was a public holiday, the restaurant was crowded. Food was served slow. I am pretty sure that Darling Clarisse was already hungry and bored waiting on her highchair. She started to make lots of noise and SUPER CLINGY to MaMa. PaPa volunteered to bring her out for a walk, but she refused and insisted to stick to MaMa. She didn't want to sit on the highchair and she wanted me to hold her. The moment I moved her back to the highchair, she started to howl (**REALLY SHARP AND LOUD!**). I wanted to do Timeout for Clarisse and place her at the corner of the restaurant which is just right besides our table. But it didn't work, she cried louder. I had no choice, and complied to her request which I had to hold her tightly as she wanted. It was a public, MaMa couldn't let her cry for even seconds longer as I could feel stares from all corners of the restaurant. Some with gentle smiles, some with angry frowns. To an extent that even My FIL couldn't take her nonsense and walked out of the restaurant, and insisted that I should just accommodate to her request to stop her from crying in the public. 

Well, it was no big deal. What I needed to do to calm her down was just let her CLUNG to me for as long as she wanted throughout the dinner. At that moment, honestly I was a quite tired and sleepy too, MaMa didn't feel like answering to her but didn't want to get all the unpleasant stares, MaMa started to lose control and throw an anger stares at her with a "slightly" louder pitch, "STOP IT". I felt really bad instantly, I thought I shouldn't had raised my voice. She is just my little baby after all. The problem lies in me! I need a superhigh EQ to handle the situation. The worse part was my "loudness" did not make Clarisse feels better, she actually cried even louder in a "sharper" pitch. Gosh~~~! MaMa completely lost the battle in LOUDNESS. Clarisse's the CHAMPION of the night and MaMa is totally defeated. White Flag.

If it was Chloe, the scenario would be much cleaner, something like that -Chloe cries, MaMa stares (option of PaPa brings walk walk), Chloe stops crying and MaMa happy!

I actually bought a book on how to control crying children and had a good read on it. However, I don't think I can apply these tricks in the public. How not to attend to the crying babies in public. We will be hated by everyone, and I think is very inconsiderate to leave baby crying in the public and distract others' dinner or whatever that they are doing. Definitely, there is no way for me to leave the restaurant instantly as I am not ALONE. I cannot interrupt the whole family's dinner time and tell them that I want to bring Clarisse home at that minute. What should I do? I cannot do all these as per advised in the book and yet I was told not to oblige to their tantrum as it results a spoilt brat?! Geezzz..

Parenting is such difficult task. I salute all stay-home MOMMIES. You gals are the best! I am only dealing my kids 2 days in a week but you gals have to deal with babies' tantrum for 7 days a week. Hahahaha... :P 

Well, to end this blog. I must say that our dinner ended JOYFULLY as a family with a *slight* hiccups. Not an issue at all. Clarisse enjoyed her brown rice, bitter-gourd soup, stir-fried lotus, Tofu braised with carrot. After a satisfying meal, Clarisse was back to her usual cheerful self. After dinner, Yeh Yeh  (my FIL) even bought her a Hello Kitty plush toy. :P to reward her for being a good time during the actual MEALTIME, and reminded her that her tantrum before mealtime was not pleasant. I am not sure whether she understands it or not, but I guess we just need to try again and again and one day I am sure they will know what we are trying to convey to them.