Christmas is a time for family and friends

Christmas features largely in our annual calendar of celebrations. For our family, it is a busy of the year as we gather at various weekend parties before Christmas.

This year, we decided to organize just one large combined Christmas party for our family and friends instead of segregating the group and having different parties over several days. Also, I felt motivated to add some personal touches to an otherwise outsourced party as we are engaging a caterer to handle the food arrangements for almost a hundred guests.

The Christmas party invites were handmade from cardstock sourced from the craft shop. I decided I did not want a cookie-cutter style and so each invitation card is unique, no two are the same. One side has a shiny-but-slightly-matt surface while the other side sported colourful borders.

For each table group, I made a Christmas Tree centre-piece to add a festive tinge to the room and as a tribute to the season. Chocolate hearts were scattered around its base to bring some colour to the table setting.

The sugar cookies I baked earlier were also left in plates on each table to serve as snacks for those with a penchant for sweet things. The kids loved them and I was so touched that several came up to say how much they liked the cookies.

This is the first time I baked for a large-scale occasion and I was so touched and encouraged when all the shepherd’s pie, fruitcake and brownie squares were polished off. Alas, Hubby and I were so caught up as hosts that we totally forgot to take pictures of the other food once our guests started arriving and we flitted from table to table, chatting and reveling in their company.

After dinner, the kids had fun with a piñata lovingly made by my mother. Using only natural materials, she lent her creative energy to fashion a striking piñata, heavily stuffed with goodies and little knickknacks. My mother truly has a way with kids as she organized the kids program that night and all of them, including the older children, had lots of fun.

It was a really wonderful evening spent with family and friends and a satisfying culmination of weeks’ of preparation, to finally know that it had been one great party.

I can't walk...my leg pain pain

Much to my displeasure, one of the recent activities Little Buddy has taken to is jumping. He loves to climb onto the bed or sofa or the toy box and from there, take a flying leap to the floor.

I should have no qualms if he wears appropriate protective gear and practises his jumps in a safer environment. As it is, I have shouted myself hoarse in stopping him whenever he does this at home. I have taken the soft approach of explaining to him why he should not jump from such a height, the tough stand of punishment in the naughty corner and even caning but to no avail. Once my back is turned, there he is at it again.

That is, until last evening when Little Buddy complained of pain at the back of his left knee and upon examination, I noticed some swelling of the knee. Fearing the worst as he could not even stand without support, I brought him to the KK Women's and Children's Hospital, for an X-ray just in case, he had a fracture. Armed with masks and with apprehension at entering a possible H1N1 environment, we quickly made our visit and left within half-an-hour, thankful that there was only a handful of people at the Children’s Emergency.

I thank God that it was just a strain. Little Buddy had most likely pulled his hamstring, thereby causing some swelling. The doctor bandaged his knee to minimize movement in that knee joint and assured us that recovery should be in sight in 2-3 days’ time.

New toys again

The boys were recently given a box of Kid Knex constructors by their Grandfather and I secretly love this new toy myself. Many stores sell the Knex for older children but not Kid Knex for the really young kids.

A lot of thought has been put into making this range of toys because the pieces are of excellent quality, well-built with no sharp edges which may pose some danger to young children. They are easily joined together with simple yet secure connectors, colours are bright and vivid and the end-results, simply too cute for words.

Here are the boys with some of their creations on an early Sunday morning.

Is there school today?

Big Buddy would ask me this everyday till he finally understood that school is out. The mid-year school holidays will come to end in a day’s time when school officially starts on Monday.

It had been a whole four weeks of fun and play for both boys. Little Buddy enjoyed having his elder brother at home to play with and at Big Buddy’s instigation, gets into a whole lot more mischief than usual. To balance out, I try to set some semblance of routine with time set aside for some holiday work, otherwise it will be tough for Big Buddy to settle in to school when term resumes.

Due to the quick and rampant spread of the H1N1 pandemic, we decided not to travel overseas for a vacation. While it is not really deadly for most, we will definitely not court it. Moreover, it is a hassle to have to declare our travel itinerary to schools and offices on our return. We also limited mall shopping, preferring time spent outdoors and at less crowded places.

It had been a great break for Big Buddy but I think he looks forward to seeing his friends again. This past week, he had been counting down to next Monday and I daresay, I too, will be glad when school reopens : )

For the little kid in each of us

Hey folks, go check out Mini Modern.

This is a fascinating website showcasing sleek mini room and house displays made up entirely of mini furniture and figurines. It is really amazing, the lengths and efforts the creator has gone to in order to setup each of those rooms.

Here are some preview pictures of what's available. Absolutely exquisite and drool-worthy, are they not?

Boys at play

Today is the start of the 1-week school holidays and Little Buddy is just ecstatic that his big brother is home to play with him.

Both boys had their batteries recharged after their afternoon naps and decided that it was time for a boat trip. Big Buddy emptied one drawer of the toy cupboards and turned it into a boat and brought Little Buddy for a boat ride.

The loud chuckles and squeals bore testament to such enjoyment that I had not the heart to stop them though I know the marble flooring will suffer from their role-play.

Say cheese

It has been quite a while since we manage to take a nice shot of the whole family together. Most of the time, it will be either Hubby or me behind the camera while the other spouse herds the kids together. If you have kids as young and as active as mine, you will probably agree that it is a near-impossible feat for them to hold any pose long enough to be captured by the camera. When Big Buddy deigns to cooperate, Little Buddy will be elsewhere gamboling about and when we turn around to get him into the picture, Big Buddy seizes the moment to scamper off.

Because posed pictures are such a challenge, we usually take candid shots of the kids. We simply point and click away in bursts and hoping that at least some photos will turn out fine. Whenever we end up with nice photographs, it is double the reward for our efforts.

So it was a nice surprise for us to be able to reap these shots at my brother’s wedding.

Boats, boats, boats...again

In a bid to raise the number of local visitors to certain attractions on our sunny (and hazy?) island, the Singapore Tourism Board launched the 2009 Reasons to Visit Singapore promotion. Now in case you are wondering, I do have better things to do than to be surfing the STB's Uniquely Singapore website! I got to know of this promotion through an online parenting forum that I participate in.

With the free tickets, it would be a wonderful opportunity for the family to enjoy an afternoon at the Singapore Flyer. However, to our dismay, when we arrived in the afternoon, we were met with posters declaring that all tickets have already been redeemed. I had entirely misjudged the capability of my fellow citizens to stake their claims way before opening time. I was told the queue started on Friday night and all tickets were given away by Saturday 9:00 am!

I forgot that for most Singaporeans, anything with the word FREE or LIMITED EDITION draws crowds and queues. For those uninitiated to the amazing Singapore queues, have a look at the Hello Kitty dolls craze, iPhone 3G Launch and the rush to buy an apartment.

So, we went for the Singapore River Cruise instead. It proved to be a treat for Big Buddy and Little Buddy with their ceaseless fascination with transportation. Their joy brought smiles to our faces as we marvel at the simple pleasures that childhood dreams are made of.

Look at the water!

Ever since I dug out a kite from the cupboards, the boys have been clamoring for some kite-flying action. Good weather conditions beckoned so we decided to pay the Marina Barrage a visit after recommendations that the rooftop garden is a perfect spot for kite-flying.

The Marina Barrage generated a bit of a buzz at its official opening on 31 Oct 08. With its dual function also as an integral component of a flood control scheme, it is touted as Singapore’s first city reservoir with a range of fun activities. Hubby and I thought it would also be a good opportunity to have a look-see at the place.

Loud sirens greeted us the moment we alighted from the car. We had a hunch that the reservoir crest gates were about to open and thus made our way there to witness the rush of waters. I had heard how there is no schedule for the opening of the crest gates but is instead dependant on mother nature - the tides and water levels within the reservoir. Thus, we were thrilled to be just on time to catch the action. The crest gates opened really slowly and it was just amazing to watch the waters in the reservoir tip over the gates and rush out to sea. The rush and roar of the waters, with the wind caught in our hair, made it an exhilarating experience for our family.

We ventured into the Sustainable Singapore Gallery which explained Singapore’s water strategy and demonstrated the functions of the Barrage with a working model. Before the kids created any damage with their overly-enthusiastic pushing and pulling of buttons, levers and what-nots, we hastily made our exit.

We made our way to the rooftop with the intention of flying our kite but alas, the wind was fickle. The direction changed every once in a while and made it difficult even to launch the kite. Meanwhile, the kids were apparently more interested to run around chasing each other and so the kite was abandoned. We ran down the sloping garden towards the ground level where the water play area caught the kids’ interest and we spent some time at the shallow pool before calling it a day.

It was a wonderful day spent, part in fun and part in educating our kids on water.

Ride the wacky DUCK Katrina

Our family joined some friends on the Duck Tour yesterday afternoon.

We were warned that weekends are busy times and it will be advisable to pre-book the tickets especially if we had a large group. And a large group we were too - 11 adults and 12 children.

Considering the fickle weather recently, thankfully the weather held up and we had a dry and sun-hiding-behind-clouds kind of day.

Honestly, Hubby and I were not too impressed with the Duck Tour. The ride was not very comfortable and it got quite bumpy when on the road. The scenery was quite boring since the buildings have been there since eons ago and the Marina area is undergoing major construction. It was like one huge construction worksite. The only interesting bit was the informative trivia that the tour guide dished out along the way.

But the reaction of the kids was different. Big Buddy was excitedly anticipating the Duck Tour as he has this fascination with the various modes of transportation. He could not wait to get on the vehicle and Little Buddy was just game to do whatever his brother was doing. They particularly enjoyed the water part of the ride, waving and shouting hellos to the other boats that passed by.

The joy of the kids was enough to make it a satisfying trip for us. To see such bliss and enjoyment on their faces made our day.

Yes, that is the whole bunch of us.

Oh by the way, if you are contemplating a ride, be informed that Singaporeans and PRs are eligible for 30% discount off ticket prices although this is not advertised on their website.

Happy Birthday Big Buddy

This year, we celebrated Big Buddy's 4th birthday with 2 parties - one at home for family and relations and a second one at school with his friends.

The home party was celebrated the weekend before his birthday. My mother and her helper did all the cooking and wow, what a sumptuous spread it was! We had prawn fritters, ngoh hiang, sotong youtiao, char siew, roasted pork, fishballs, mixed vegetables, fried noodles, chicken wings. For dessert, there was fruit salad and tau suan. And of course, we had a Pocoyo birthday cake, a design requested by Big Buddy.

On the day of Big Buddy's birthday, he woke up nice and early. And for once, we did not have to hurry him to finish his breakfast and dress for school. He was all ready to go, dressed in his party clothes.

He had a wonderful time in school that day, sharing his birthday joy with his friends and teachers. Little Buddy came along to the party too and Big Buddy was so well-behaved and considerate towards his brother that it caught us by surprise.

And that night, we had another smaller birthday cake for him, courtesy of someone who blessed him with it. So all in all, he had 3 cakes for his 4th birthday!

Finally fixing puzzles

For the longest time, I had been wondering when Big Buddy will stop throwing puzzle pieces around and start using them the way they were meant to.

Towards the end of 2007, he started fixing bordered knob puzzles. Each puzzle piece fitted into a space meant for one puzzle piece. Apparently, he found it too amateurish so I mixed two sets together to provide him with more challenge. It proved to be still too simple and we progressed till he managed to fix all 10 sets of puzzles even though they were all mixed together.

We then gave puzzling a rest till he was given this set of 6-piece transportation puzzles. These were not individual piece puzzles and he was stumped by this new challenge. Then just today, he suddenly fixed them all up on his own!

Cool robot cities

I stumbled onto this interesting flash city and spent some time exploring it. Move your cursor around and you will discover that some features can be manipulated. There are two more fun robo-cities to check out, here and here. Have fun!

I love Pocoyo

I first met Pocoyo and his friends last month when we stumbled onto their program on Disney Playhouse. It had a very different concept for a children's program which to my surprise, worked! Big Buddy, and even Little Buddy, enjoy it very much.



The program revolves around the adventures of Pocoyo and his friends, Elly, Pato, Loula and Sleepy Bird as they explore the world around them. The characters are depicted in bold block colours with very little accessories. To further minimise distraction, the usage of props is kept to a minimal and when present, are always integral to the storyline. All these help young children focus on the main points. The storylines are simple, often exploring a single concept per show. Narrator Stephen Fry does a great job as he guides Pocoyo along, often engaging the viewer to participate too.

As for me, I love the artwork, humour and the antics.

Hey, I sound as if I am Zinkia Entertainment's spokesman, raving on and on about this precocious little boy! Anyway, I invite you to check it out and let me know what you think.

Toys for Boys

Last Friday, Hubby bought this for the boys.

But if you ask me, I think it is just an excuse to buy it for himself :)

I love the sleek new look and pristine white casing. Even the various controllers and gadgets come in matching whites. The set came with bundled with Wii Sports - bowling, tennis, boxing and golf. It has been a great tool for family bonding thus far. It is actually quite amusing, watching how the kids anticipate the moves and respond accordingly.

Over the weekend, we browsed the shops for Wii games and we are drooling over the following :

We discovered that prices for the games vary quite significantly from shop to shop, even for the same game titles. Overall, it may be more cost effective to purchase them oveseas if we are buying more titles.

As with all computer and interactive games, Wii can be addictive. So we laid down rules regarding time and duration of play and play etiquette that must be adhered to. At the same time, it also presented us with opportunities to teach the kids about sharing and taking turns and reinforcing while playing the games. There are also platforms to talk about winning and losing and the more constructive way to react to that.

When will he start building something?

There are plenty of construction toys at home ranging from Duplo sets and various themed Lego sets to wooden blocks (both natural and coloured ones). We bought some but most were either gifts from relatives and friends or toys that my brother and I played with when we were young.

I guess the main strategy of such toys is to encourage children to demonstrate their inate creativity while developing their fine motor skills. So we happily brought out the baby Duplo sets for Big Buddy to play with when he was past his first birthday.

Of course, we did not expect him to start building aeroplanes, grand castles and the like. We thought it would be reasonable for him to sit down and perhaps start attempting to stack those large clourful pieces. However, to our dismay, Big Buddy displayed nary an ounce of interest in Duplo set. He proceeded to upturn the bucket, dumped all the building pieces on the floor and sent every piece flying to all parts of the living room with wide sweeps of his hands. I remembered checking the appropriate age stated on the set just in case Big Buddy was still too young to know how to play with the toy properly. No, it was clearly written 1-3 years. With a sigh, we packed them all up, determined to perhaps introduce it again some time later.

We brought the Duplo again a couple of months later but yet again, Big Buddy displayed the same response. He resisted doing any simple stacking, let alone building. He was happy to just bash the pieces around. We gave up and thought that Big Buddy was more of a destroyer than a constructor.

A book that I read informed that the specified age on the some toys does not necessarily refer to the age at which children are expected to know how to play properly with is. Sometimes it indicates the age at which the toy is safe for. Some friends also told us that how children play with their toys also depends largely on their character and likes/dislikes. Every child is different, each will develop at his own pace and not all will play with the same toy in the same manner even at the same age. I was comforted but since those days, I loathed to bring out any construction toys for Big Buddy even though he would sometimes beseech us to do so.

All this came to a sudden change when he started school this year. Perhaps it was due to peer pressure or from seeing how his friends at school played with those toys. Big Buddy actually started building something with those building pieces.


Simple structures but nevertheless, wonderful achievements from a boy who used to just sweep them all over the room.

And now, here is Little Buddy, intent on breaking up what Big Buddy has built...

My Little Climber

Right from a few months of age, I knew Little Buddy was going to be very athletic. He lifted his head and upper body from a lying-down position at 5 months and sat up at 8 months. Nothing spectacular you might say until you realised that he sat up not by first rolling onto his front and then pushing back till he sat on his bottom. No, not my Little Buddy. He sat up from a lying-down position by doing a sit-up with his stomach muscles!

Since then, I have been more attuned to his physical achievements which came fast and furious once he got onto his two feet. He walked holding onto supports round the house at 15 months and 3 days later, walked unaided. He could walk a small dog on a leash, squat and stand up again without support at 16 months. At 17 months, he kicked balls with one foot while balancing on the other and danced to music at 19 months. Round about that time, he started climbing on those playground structures and insisted played on slides that were taller than a single storey. Those mini slides no longer interest him.

Today though, he amazed me with his athletic prowness by climbing up my body! Literally! I was standing facing him and holding onto his hands. The next moment, he put one foot against my knee and by pulling on my hand, he lifted himself off the floor. He then proceeded to place the other foot on my waist and in this manner, climbed up to almost my shoulder! And Little Buddy seemed to enjoy it!

I will be waiting to see what other antics he gets himself into. At the same time, we do keep a watchful eye on him lest he hurt himself or do something dangerous.

Let's go outdoors!

The past few days have been a blur of visiting, feasting, hosting, feasting and some visiting again. So after breakfast yesterday morning, we piled into the car and headed out to Pasir Ris Park for some family time.

In an attempt to workout some of evils of excessive eating over the CNY, Hubby and I decided to rent a bicycle each at the Bicycle Station. Eventually though, we only took one bicycle as Little Buddy clung onto me and for the life of him, refused to sit in the attached child seat. On the other hand, Big Buddy thoroughly enjoyed his first taste of riding pillion behind his daddy on an adult bicycle.


To my surprise, when Little Buddy and I reached the huge children playground on foot, Hubby and Big Buddy were also there! Apparently when they cycled past the place, Big Buddy could not resist the lure of play and new friends, and insisted on disembarking to have a part of the fun there. The bicycle was thrown aside. The boys then proceeded to climb, slide, jump, crawl, stomp and swing to their hearts' content. Any parent with two active monkeys like mine will tell you it is almost an impossible feat to simultaneously keep an eye on both. With each boy running off in separate directions, deaf to your calls to wait up and entirely oblivious to your distress at having to keep up with them, Hubby and I gave up on our heroic plan to exercise and joined them instead.


We walked to the beach for a breather before going home. People lazed in their tents, others swam in the sea and there was a dog digging at the water's edge. The rolling waves were so gentle that it gave off a rather hypnotic effect.

On the return journey to the Bicycle Station, both kids squabbled and fought over who got to ride on the bicycle. You would have thought Little Buddy will steer clear of it but no, he decided that he wanted to do what his elder brother was doing. And so, Little Buddy had his time on the bicycle.