Bunk beds at last

We bought the modular Princess Emily beds for the gals 4 years ago. We have been planning to let the gals sleep in the bunk beds but procrastinated for a few years cos they were too young then. We let the gals sleep in separate rooms in their own beds previously.

Now that RA is in Pri 2 and RL in Pri 1, we decided to finally do it. The gals have been asking for double decker beds for some time while RL has always preferred someone to sleep with her. Since our condo will TOP in 2 yrs time. It will be a waste if we were to move without even giving the gals a chance to sleep on their bunk beds.

Since RA gets to sleep on the upper bunk, I decided to get curtains so that RL won't feel left out. This way, RL has her own cosy corner too. Tonight is their first night sleeping on bunk beds. So I paid $50 for the bunk bed installation, $85 for an additional guard rail and $80 for a set of chiffon curtains.

Not sure if they will fall asleep easily in their excitment. At least the air con is on. Hope that will help. :)

The Gals' Piano exams

Today, Raelynn finally went for her repeat Grade 1 piano exam. It took her another 5 months but I am glad history did not repeat itself. She was cheery and happy. She even made jokes to make RaeAnne laugh as RA was going for her Grade 3 Piano exam before RL and feeling butterflies in her stomach. RL also gave Cheh Cheh big crushing hugs. RA complained a bit and I think their squabbling did help ease the tension and stress a bit.

What made it work the second round?
Think the major factor was that RL got to do the exams together with RA. She had someone to 壮胆。
We booked 2 practice slots at Award Music studio so they were quite familiar with the place.
Raelynn has matured and grown more confident after 2 terms of Pri school.
Brought along little bribes and let them open the pressies once they come out of the exam room.

RA's heart was thumping fast before and after the exam. And RL made it through without any tears. In fact, RL she came out. She said she wanted to do the exam again. And asked if she can have the same examiner for her Grade 3 exam. She said the examiner was smiley even when she made mistakes. Long way to go, Honey. But I hope you can get your wish. Not sure how the gals will do as both admitted that they made mistakes for nearly all the pieces but I am happy with just a pass. Anything extra will be a bonus. Jia you gals!!!

RaeAnne is 8!!!

We had a celebration for RaeAnne with a few of her classmates last Sunday. Our house is too small to have a big party so we only invited kids and mummies from our 2C closed WhatsApp group. It was a cosy get together for the mummies as well as we have been chatting for more than 1 year since we attended the P1 Orientation together.

RaeAnne had fun with Valerie (her no. 1 BFF), Jiaxin, Wanyee and Gerrard. THe house was so noisy with just 6 kids that I half expected the neighbours to come knocking on our door to complain. Lol.

Today is her actual birthday. They are not allowed to bring goodie bags to distribute to classmates anymore but I did tell her to distribute some of the Aji no san waffle snacks to her classmates during recess. I woke up at 5 am with a terrible tummyache, bad stomach spasms so I went to the doctor and got MC. Rested at home until 3+pm as I promised to bring her to Toys r us to buy a toy.

We were supposed to have Swensons but RA changed her mind. She said she doesn't want Swensons anymore since Mummy cannot eat ice cream. We ended up at Din Tai Fung. Just a simple meal of mushroom noodles before she went for her usual Art class. I went home to rest as simply could not take it anymore.

At bedtime, we sang a birthday song for her again. Daddy sang in Mandarin, I sang in English while RL sang in Korean. It was a funny sight and RA laughed. I told her my wishes for her is to be kind, wise and healthy. I forgot my most important wish. And that is she will be happy. Love you darling!!! Whether you are a smiley baby with cute dimples or an eight year old fast maturing primary school kid. :)

Last day of Pri 1...

Today is the last day of school and RaeAnne's school prize giving ceremony. Surprised that she did well enough to be among the Top 10 in the level. Top 2 in fact. Actually, she didn't do well for her Term 4 tests. Didn't get full marks for Eng and Maths, only Chinese.

So I was surprised that she ended up being No. 2 in class and level. Maybe her Term 2 and Term 3 results were ok so it helped improve her aggregate score. I really didn't expect it so I took leave for Mufti yesterday so could only take a few hours time off today. Lol.

She also won Artist of the Class and was given a trophy on Tuesday. Drawing is her interest but she has little time to do it since entering Primary 1 except the weekly art class and her art enrichment. In CC, she used to doodle all the time and pass me her drawings.

Happy and proud of you RaeAnne. Work hard next year for Pri 2! :)

Proud of you, RaeAnne!

RA has always been a quiet and reserved gal. From CC to Primary school, her teachers have commented that she should speak up more, and be more active in class discussions. She has never performed on stage alone so far.

Last week, her FT msg me and her Bestie's mummy if both of them will like to participate in Fashion Channel, a dress up costume show and this year's theme is on Inventions and Inventors. Both gals were a bit reluctant but both mummies thought it was a good experience and exposure so we managed to convince them.

So I researched and thought of the Ice Cream Maker's female inventor Nancy Johnson since we have 2 gals. Valerie's mummy came up with many good ideas on how to make the costumes, props and make the show interactive. We met up 3 times to research, make the props and rehearse within the week.

Today was the big day, last minute we had to change their catwalk cos there was no rehearsal for the kids. RaeAnne was very nervous when she went on stage but I was very proud that she overcame her fears. She spoke clearly and loudly and her friend was good too. When they pulled out the ice cream from the ice cream maker, the audience clapped. It must have impressed the judges. Because RA won Best dressed and the two gals both won the Best prize for Primary 1 level. So happy for them.

First Piano Exam

RA went for her first Grade 2 piano exam today at

Juzmusic Parkway Parade. She has been taking private piano lesson since Nov/Dec 2013 after finishing Yamaha's jmc course. Quite long to prepare for a 15 mins exam. She was quite nervous but hope she passes. We will only know the results in 3 weeks time.

Chinese New Year 2015!

One of my relatives noticed something during this CNY and I realised it is true. I no longer dress my gals like twins ie. same dress, same colour. Maybe because they are starting to have their own preference and no longer insists on buying pink all the time.

I let them each choose a CNY cheongsam this year and see what each one is wearing. Quite different design prints. Lol. :)

RaeAnne's birthday celebrations

Just realised we celebrated RA's birthday 3 times in all. The first was on 28 Nov as a combined celebration with RL at childcare (though there was only 1 cake). Then, on the actual day of her birthday, I brought goody bags down for her classmates during recess because we received quite a few from her classmates. I wanted to reciprocate the gesture to her new classmates.

And then on 24 Jan (Sat), I had a mini birthday playdate with a few of her K2 friends cos she missed them very much.

I guessed this is a transition from K2 to P1 so we end up celebrating with different groups of friends. Oh well, birthday gatherings/playdates is a good way to keep in touch with old friends since most of them are in different primary schools now. :)

She has been asking for a pet for the last 1-2 years. We have been buying time and now that she has turned 7. We finally decided to teach her about responsibility and let her have a pet terrapin as they are quite low maintenance. Ever since she entered Poi Ching, she has been visiting the eco pond, because of the huge terrapin there. And she thinks the terrapin in her school's eco pond is cute.

Did not manage to get one at Petlovers Centre Next as the terrapins' conditions were not good. Finally went to Bedok opposite Bedok library and got her 2 terrapins at $2.50 each. She named hers Sunny as terrapins love sunshine and the other one was named Cherry by Raelynn. Hope she will continue to love her terrapin for many years to come. :)

RA enjoying Pri 1

It has been more than 2 weeks since RA entered Primary 1 at Poi Ching. I am glad she is happy so far. Yes there is homework everyday. Much more than I thought there will be. A few pages everyday on average. Even though her form teacher is a bit fierce, she is ok with her. Maybe because her FT gives out tokens as encouragement or maybe mummy is fiercer in her eyes. lol.

She enjoys buying her own food at recess. Her favourite food is the bolognaise shell macaroni from the Western Food stall. They top up with parmesan cheese and it comes with a fruit as the school has adopted healthy eating in its canteen. Every main course comes with a fruit no matter which stall you go to. I think it's a great idea. In this way, I don't have to especially pack a fruit for her in her lunch box. Great for busy working mums.

That's not to say that the canteen does not sell tidbits or crackers etc. Yes, they do sell some crispy bags or snacks. But I am fine with it. It is for us parents to teach the kids to eat food items from the food pyramid, and not to indulge too much in sugary drinks or snacks that are too salty or heaty. So far, RA has not tried buying such snacks or stationery from the bookshop. Partly because I don't give her a lot of pocket money. I give her $2 and her favourite western set costs $1.50. With $0.50 extra, she can't buy very much. But even if she does. Once in a while is fine. Everything in moderation.


After recess, her favourite thing to do is to explore the school. She loves the eco garden because there is a terrapin in the pond. She was angry at a naughty boy who threw things into the pond. She told me all the other kids nearby shouted at him to stop. I am glad that she can be kind towards animals. She even told me that she wants a terrapin for her birthday present this year.

Hope you continue to enjoy school, my not-so-little anymore but still a sweet gal.

All set for Primary 1

Finally, tomorrow, RA is going to Primary 1. No nap today and cooked dinner so that I can let her sleep earlier at 9+pm today. I should sleep too but too excited. haha.

Ok, run through the checklist
School bag
Pencil case with 3 pencils, 2 erasers, 1 sharpener, 1 stapler, 1 highlighter and 1 ruler
1 tall water bottle
Student's hand book
Books for Day 1. All wrapped (credits to Daddy) and labelled (credits to Mummy).
Uniform with name tags ironed and sewn. Credits to MIL.
Culottes with pleats ironed. Darn those pleats. Zzz.
White bata shoes and socks
Cardigan and Raincoat (just in case)
Digital watch ( in case she cannot loses track of time esp during recess)

Charged my camera just in case too. Poor 8 yr old Sony handycam has died. So that's all I am left with anyway. Haha. Hubby took morning leave too. Hope we'll all have a great day tomorrow!

K2 Graduation Camp and Growing Independent

RA had her K2 camp at cc yesterday. She was excited to go, happily packing her luggage and looking forward to seeing her best friend Caleigh again. I think I had more separation anxieties than her. I wondered if she will be ok. When I heard that she and her classmates were at Swensons Tampines after they watched Penguins of Madagascar the movie, I went to the restaurant and see if I could get a glimpse of her. But the waiter told me that they just went 15 mins ago.

When hb updated me that he saw the whole group outside Starbucks waiting for their transport, I rushed there again. I saw the big coach bus but all the kid were already onboard the bus. Luckily their teacher saw me so I did get to wave bye bye to RA. Hb and I were bringing RL to watch the same movie (since she whined and cried that RA was going on a school camp but she can't), my HP's battery was dead. I especially bought a power bank to charge it on the go so that I won't miss any calls, knowing that the cc teachers will call to inform that the kids have safely reached the school.

This morning when we went to pick her around 830am, she still wanted to play with her friends. I checked with the teacher and she slept quite well from 10pm to 7am. We decided to go for bf and run some errands so that she has more time to catch up with her friends, some who have withdrawn from cc but especially came back for this camp.

Got to admit that RA has grown up. She is quite independent now. Able to go for camps without Mummy being around. She sleeps in her own room now too. Cos RL has finally agreed to give up her baby cot and slept on her own in a big bed on 17 Nov. So, I just need to tuck both gals in bed, close the doors and leave them. So my me time starts much earlier. We have been waiting in the room for them to fall asleep for the longest time. Didn't think there will truly be a day where they can sleep on their own but it has finally happened. Not a myth anymore. Haha.

Double Birthday Celebration

Decided to do a combined early birthday celebration for RA and RL at Elfa today. RL's bd is next Tues, 2 Dec while RA's 22 Jan next year. But since it's RA's last year at Elfa and a lot of her K2 friends are withdrawing from cc today, it's a birthday cum mini farewell party.

Raelynn has been having a runny nose and slight cough since Monday. Last night the poor gal woke up to cry cos her nose was blocked despite us giving fedac. So in the end, we brought her to see the doctor in the morning so that she can get better since we don't want to cancel the school party.

Luckily the meds and the nap after helped her so after she woke up, we rushed to get the cake from Bengawan Solo, get the candles and inflate the helium balloons. I bought the helium balloons and goodie bags cheap from taobao. But never expect the helium air per balloon to cost as much as $9 each. But we were rushing to the cc, no time to shop and compare. So lesson learnt. :P

What is the theme for the party this year? What else can it be? Frozen of course. I think the gals probably ate more than 5 frozen cakes from their friends' parties this year already, Lol.
But luckily their classmates didn't mind. The cake was 3kg but the kids nearly finished it. Maybe because it was chocolate cake or maybe because it was tea break time. Anyway, I am glad we don't need to lug the cake back. Just a small portion for Ils to try. :)

Another Milestone for RA - P1 Orientation

Today is RA's P1 Orientation. She reported to the hall at 145pm. When the teacher brought her and her classmates to the classroom and the school tour, mummies and daddies stayed behind to listen to the Principal's speech and watch the various video clips and presentations. RA said she watched a video story, did some colouring in class, and went on the tour of the school.

Today, we found out that recess time for P1 kids is 9am. Lessons end at 130pm. Add another 15 mins for flag lowering, dismissal and walking home, the earliest she can eat lunch is 145pm. Some of the single session schools give a 15mins snack break at 12 o clock for the students to eat something light in the classroom. But Poi Ching does not have this practice. All along they were operating on double sessions.

So myself and another parent gave our feedback but the P said it's fine. They can pack some biscuits in their bags. But if the teacher does not give them an official snack time, the kid will not dare to take the biscuits out of their bags to eat. I think more than 4 hours is too long for 6/7 years old to go without food. Duh.

After the P1 Orientation 2 hr programme ended, the few of us whose kids are in the same class formed a whatsapp chat group. There were 4 gals and 1 boy. Coincidentally, all the gals went to Crestar Ballet before.

Our conclusion is that we cannot give the kids a full bf since they need to eat again at 9am and they need to eat a lot. If not, they cannot last till 2pm for those who stay further away from school. No wonder kids grow skinny after starting primary school. :(

RA's Graduation Ceremony

Today is RA's K2 Graduation Ceremony. She took a long time to memorise the thank you speech in both English and Mandarin but she finally did it. And she delivered the speech beautifully with the rest of her classmates at ITE East College hall today. She walked down the stairs to the stage waving to everyone with the other graduands but it was the furthest from my seat and I was trying to figure out the zoom function of my new camera so I missed it. Shucks!

After she walked to receive her certificate, she threw her mortar board up in the air but made sure it was close enough so that she can retrieve it back easily. She memorised her Speech and Drama item - I love colours and could even tell me that some of her classmates missed our parts. No wonder it sounded messy to me. She practised her dance moves and did everything beautifully not missing any steps. In short, she was great today and I am proud of her as always.

I imagined myself crying at her graduation since I did that for previous years' cc concerts even when she was not the one graduating. Lol. I did cry. But only a little when they played the graduation montage. The rest of the time, I was busy trying to capture the moments, record or take photos of her graduation ceremony so that she can see it without having to wait 1 month for the official dvd.

But seeing all the cute little toddlers turn into K2 graduating children make me feel sad somehow. Where did all the time go? How did my little baby grow up so fast?

Even though I quit my job to be a full time SAHM to spend more time with her when she was 13 months. I was only really a SAHM for 2 years because after that I tried out property, then teaching and now finally back at my ex company for a part time position.

She went to childcare when she was almost 3 years old. I picked Elfa because it has good Chinese foundation and I need her to have a good foundation since we intend to send to the nearest primary school which is a SAP school. Elfa has a half day programme for PN1, PN2. But from Nursery, there were only full day programmes. So she spent 8 hrs daily for N, K1 and K2 except weekends and public holidays. Add all that up, she really spent most of her formative years at Elfa.

Although I feel guilty because I feel I didn't spend enough time with her. What consoles me is that she made good friends at Elfa and she has two best friends who practically grow up with her at CC - Caleigh Au and Calyesta Tan.

Yesterday, the teacher got the kids to do appreciation cards for their best friends. And yes, my quiet gal received only 2 cards but they were from these two friends so they do treat RA as their best friend too. There were petty squabbles before and these are the same two gals who hurt her last year when they say "Don't want to be your friend", "Need to know the secret password for you to be my friend". She forgives and forgets and still treats them as her best friends.

RA is sad that her two best friends are withdrawing from CC after today's concert and they are not going to the same school as her. I hope she will always remember her friends and the fun times she had though I know that she will make new friends in primary school.



Tomorrow is another milestone for her. Her P1 orientation. She is lucky that one of her CC classmates (Jan08 baby) will be in the same class as her at Poi Ching. Her ballet classmate is also in the same class as she is also a Jan08 baby. Primary school will be another 6 years of her life. She will grow from a child to a teenager by the end of that 6 years. We are not withdrawing from cc yet since hb still has to work. School hols for him doesn't start until 2nd week of Dec. That's 3 weeks from now. And we've got a short couple trip in mid Dec. When we return, maybe we will try and let her skip school to give her a break. Unless she wants to go back to Elfa cc to play with her friends. :)

Thanks to all her teachers and friends at Elfa that made the past 4 years of her life so fun and memorable!

RaeAnne's first tooth fell out

RaeAnne dropped her bottom left incisor last Thursday, it has been shaky for 1-2 weeks. It finally fell off when she was tossing and turning for bed. There was a bit of blood but I stopped the bleeding with a cotton pad. She was quite excited cos she thinks the tooth fairy will give her a present. But the tooth fairies were undecided on what to give her and fell asleep in the end. So the next day, tooth fairy no. 1 gave her a dollar coin while tooth fairy no. 2 got her a little soft toy bear which she wanted. Lol.

Her bottom right incisor is shaky too. Hope her top incisors won't fall out too soon because she has a graduation photo taking session next week. Not very nice to have a boh gay graduation photo. Haha.

P1 Registration...

I have never studied harder than I had these few weeks. Checking up on MOE website at night to see the no. of vacancies by phases. Visiting kiasuparents to compare odds against last year.

Yup, it is P1 registration for RaeAnne. Finally... Still remember the day when my waterbag broke and I gave birth to her after a long 16 hrs labour. Then in a blink of an eye, fast forward almost 7 years le and she will need to start her 6 years of formal primary school education in just 4 months.

We did PV duty last year for 60 hours last year so finally got the coveted PV letter which allows us to register in Phase 2B. Took leave today and registered with my friend and RA's cc classmate. Brought RA along too. Hubby as usual had to work. Today is the first day of Phase 2b registration, went on the very first day because I was too kancheong. The school admin said Phase 2b should be safe from balloting.

According to MOE website, 25 have registered and there are 53 vacancies. Looking good so far. Keeping fingers crossed for good news tomorrow. :)

Ocean Animals - Part 2

RaeAnne brought this home on Monday. So... that's what the school version of the "Ocean animals" drawing looks like. Much nicer with the colours. Haha.

Ocean animals

RaeAnne showed me this picture she drew. Asked where did she copy from? And she said it was from the white board. Teacher drew and she copied. Looks cute to me. Not sure why there were 2 unnamed animals though. Lol.

Eye checks and Weight

School Health Services came to the gals' school last week. They did eye checks, took height and weight.

Both gals do not have 6/6 eyesight, only 6/9.5 ie. Acceptable eye sight. Think it's only a matter of time before they got to wear glasses. Though I am restricting their ipad/youtube time by setting passwords to the devices. They seldom watch tv except DVDs with us during dinner if I cook. :P

RaeAnne
Height: 117.6kg
Weight: 18.7kg
BMI: 10-<25 percentile

RaeLynn
Height: 101.40
Weight:15.7kg
BMI: 50-<75 percentile

The weight difference between RA and RL is only 3kg. No wonder RA is at a low 10 percentile for weight and RL is of median percentile. I think it has got to do with RA dropping milk feeds. Nowadays she only eats a snack for BF usually bread or cup cake and same for before nap. She hates the smell of FM so she doesn't want to drink by cup and too big for the bottle. Fresh milk is too cold straight from fridge while uht packs are convenient and costly in the long run. Looks like we got to find ways to up her milk intake somehow and increase her food portion (she is still taking the same as RL) if we want her to gain some weight.

Doctor for a Day!

Heard of this children's event from my smh mummy friends. It is organised by Parkway hospitals for children aged 5-10 years old and they rotate the venues.

I signed up for RA when I found out about that the next one will be held at Parkway East hospital (old Eastshore hospital) cos it is the only Parkway Hospital nearest to home. I should have signed RL up too but I wasn't sure as she is not quite 5 years old yet. She only turns 5 yrs old in Dec. But I changed my mind and was glad that I did not sign RL up. When I saw kids as young as RL crying when the programme started or running in and out of the room. They are probably too young to focus for 1.5 hrs.

Anyway, RL was quite upset at the beginning of RA's 1250pm session as she can't join in and she won't have her toy stethoscope. She cried loudly at the registration counter and one of the organising ladies was really nice to give her a stethoscope to stop her tears.

RA was having fun wearing a yellow scrub suit and moving from room to room learning about hand hygiene, how to tie a bandage, change a baby's diapers, doing a procedure at operating theatre, etc. The event was very well organised with a photo session as well as a graduation session at the end when each kid was given a goody bag.

What I appreciated most was that there were activities for the kids at Level 1 too: balloon sculpture, beads art activity and photo taking sessions. RL was having fun and that helped with the waiting as RA only finished past 2pm.

Next year, if they have another event at Parkway east, I will definitely sign RL up.