Big brother got attacked

Daddy's girl

Daddy says Amanda was an angel while out solo with him and is only naughty when mommy is around.

Fun with water

Another attempt to create fun memories for the kids, tire them out in preparation for a good night of sleep before those “I am so bored…” whining surfaces. Haha, so off to the balcony they went for water play while we chilled in the living room. Well, to be honest, we wanted to bring this down to the pool so that the kids had easy access to water but having spent almost the whole day out, we were too tired (not the kids though!), so this was an easy alternative arrangement. Plus it puts our under utilised balcony to good use too.

These days, mention swimming and Amanda would bug me for the longest time saying "I want wear swim suit".

Thank you Da-yi, who actually bought this waterplay table for Gabe during their last trip home and since they are back in Japan, the kids are making sure it doesn't rot. Wayne called this “his best weekend ever” (qualify : he has many “best” and uses best way too freely) - contentment comes easy to this little boy, something we adults should learn as well. But yes he has reason to say that – we brought the kids for their favourite Japanese cold noodle lunch, to the indoor playground, tea time at a café downstairs (read: ice cream), strolling by the river, a drama sampler and to top the day off with this waterplay activity at home, I guess it does qualify as “his best weekend ever”.

A bellygood deepavali celebration

Last month, the kids had their Deepavali celebration in school and we got this really cute outfit for Amanda. Ok, we didn't want to be biased, but Wayne had his Indian costume from two years back which he could still wear, so we kinda re-used that.. which of course, wasn't as cute as the one Amanda had, and which also didn't win him any best dressed prizes, cos well..all the other boys in his class had that same outfit (it was one of his concert outfits two years ago!). Hehe, ok ok, next year we promise we'd get you a new Indian outfit sweetie!

So back to Amanda's costume, Daddy had braved the throngs of Indians at Mustafa Centre to get an outfit for her two days before Deepavali, quite a feat isn't it - imagine the pre-festive period crowd! So a big thank you to Daddy who insisted on making a trip there as he wanted to create memories for his little girl. 

Here’s our little Indian princess with her sexy tummy popping out. The skirt was a tad tight so I had to buckle it just below her tummy. Haha. And she loved the costume - even did a few Bollywood worthy poses for us! Yes, memories indeed! Super love!

Sunday scooting

Scooting on a beautiful Sunday morning!

It was a bright and sunny Sunday morning, and the kids wasted no time in getting themselves dressed for some morning exercise as soon as they got out of bed. Helmets on, sneakers on, and we were all set. Didn't matter that we only had an hour and that we had not even had breakfast.   

Once we got downstairs, Wayne was pretty much zooming off by himself. Amanda, on the other hand, hasn't quite mastered her scooting skills to kor kor's level. So instead of being left behind, she insisted I push her. Speedily. Shows of her two traits - her laziness and impatience. Haha. Gotta get Amanda practising harder! I figure maybe the way to this is to let her practise solo, without Wayne. Cos when he is around he'd go really fast and she of course, wouldn't want to be left behind. She gets really frustrated when she can't move as fast and gives up. Which reminds me, we haven't even got her started on the Strider. Can't wait for her to be a pro on both the scoot and the Strider! We could then cover further distances and explore more places. 

So after an hour outdoors, the kids came home all sweaty but so happy! Love to see those smiles on their faces!

Our princess

One of the best things of having a baby girl as compared to a boy is being able to doll her in all things sweet and pink and girly. Who can resist those frills and bows which makes that already cute face a hundred times more so??? 

Ever since we knew we were expecting a baby girl, that stash of hair clips and bands have been growing, and boy did I have fun dolling her up when I was on maternity leave everyday. That we were spending our entire day at home didn't matter, it just made her look so adorable and mommy happy with all those Kodak worthy shots. So I had fun playing dress up with this tiny little baby for about nine months since she was born, when she suddenly realised she had a mind of her own and decided to yank off whatever you placed on your head. Hats, clips, bands - she refused them all! Poof.. there went all mommy's fun, and for most of the months after that, her stash of accessories stayed where it was - in the drawers. 

And for the benefit of those who don't really know Amanda, well, all these while growing up, she has never been the girly kind of girl. She plays the trains and cars with korkor, cries and screams as loud as the boys, won't allow others to bully her, scolds her korkor and anyone else for that matter when she's angry. And of course.. her size and thunder thighs aren't really princess material too.  Lol. Well...  anyway, in a nut shell, she kinda dashed mommy's hope of having a gentle, demure girl in love with pink and princesses. In fact, if I have to be objective, coupled with that character of hers, she's quite the monster. Haha.

But then... just as suddenly as she started refusing anything on her head, lately this little girl seemed to have re-discovered the beauty of them all. Lured by vanity, and influenced by the princess shows on Disney Junior, mommy is starting to see some hope! These days she chooses what she wants to wear (mostly dresses and in pink), opens my wardrobe mirror, holds up the two sides of her skirts, peers at herself, and asks me "Am i princess?".  Haha... yes, my sweetie you do look like a princess. 

So with that sudden change, her accessories are making an appearance again and seriously, I'm starting to realise how looks can be so deceiving. Quite the demure and sweet, gentle girl she looks here? Looking at these photos, I think I could almost forget how naughty she actually is. Haha. After taking this set of  photos this morning, she insisted I showed it to ah por, yeye and nainai. Sometimes I truly forget this little girl is just, two.

And yes, mommy is happy to start growing that collection of hair accessories again!

The accident

Just before bedtime last night, Amanda, Wayne and I were reading a story book when we came across a part on ambulances. “Nee naw, nee naw, nee naw” Amanda shouted as she pointed to the ambulance.

 I was reminded of the accident we had more than a month back and wondered if Amanda could remember what happened. I decided to ask her about it and our conversation went something like this:

Mommy:             Amanda do you remember the time you were in the ambulance?

Amanda:              Yes… painful.

Mommy:             Where was it painful?

Amanda:              Neck. *points to her neck* Neck painful. Doctor check.

Mommy:             What happened? Why was your neck painful?

Amanda:              Car. Car broken.

So yes, just two years old but she does pretty much know what had happened.

Anyway for the record, we got into a car accident along ECP quite a few Sundays back. It was one of those chain collisions. The kids were with us in the car and the impact from the taxi hitting our car from behind was quite strong, leaving us pretty shaken and Amanda crying from the shock. As Amanda was crying and complained that her neck was painful, the police activated the ambulance to get her checked, so off we had to go to the hospital.  After some checks and an x-ray, thankfully she was deemed fine and we could go home. We were thankful that no one was injured, just minor neck strains for the husband and for me strangely, a swollen ankle. Wayne was a bit fearful of the whole incident, but recovered well too. A reminder to us all on driving safely and to all parents out there, I guess we can’t stress enough how important it is to use child seats.

Happy halloween everyone (belated)!

Trick or treat!!

The only time i was sooo prepared for the kids schools celebration, preparing their costumes a whole month ahead.. only to realize this year, the school decided not to have a halloween party. Boo!!!

Amanda-licious @ 2 years and 3 months

Our girl of a thousand faces.