Rare Performance by Nicholas!

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Very precious video clip!! I can hardly capture him dancing and singing and this is a rare occasion that he allows me to video him.

Panda Eyes!

See that bruise on his right eyes?! It may not look obvious on photo but the green is really green! So worried it affect his eye sight that I kept trying to test if he is able to see with his left eye covered. So far so good.

Wonder why the bruise is around the inner eye...Its looks painful to me but he doesn't feel any pain when I rubbed it.

I had been wondering and worried about his "5 second seizure" the past days and my church friends (expert mommies) told me that it could be that he had went into shock. Learnt something new today.

They knew I am feeling guilty for the fall and had tried their best to reassure me that falling and bumping its parts and parcels of growing up. Thank you!

Bad Fall

Its a accident waiting to happen and who to blame? ME!! Little Ryan doesn't like to sleep in his cot and I don't bother to "train" him to adapt to it. So, I let him sleep on the bed with us. A little selfishness too on my part as I want to be with him, smelling him; curdling him and sleep.

So this morning, he was awake and was playing with the bolster where hubby was and the next thing was a loud THUD!! It was such a terrible fall with his right side of the head hitting the floor first! I quickly got over and carrying him!! He was wailing so loudly and then, suddenly, his face turns paper white (I'm not kidding), eyes closed and no sound for a good 5 seconds! Gosh! Its seems like eternity to me! That very moment, I prayed to God that nothing will happen to him and gladly, his face colour came back and started crying again. I was so glad to hear that cry! For that split second, I thought I am going to lose him!!!

After consoling him and checking that his head and every areas are ok, I latched him on but he seems to doze off and not sucking. Worried, I woke him up and played with him and get Nicholas in to distract him till he is back to his alert self.

He is okay now, but am sure going to monitor him for the next few days.

Excursion to Chinatown

Nicholas's pre-school organised an excursion trip to Chinatown. The place can be very crowded and the teachers had requested for adults to follow if possible. I gladly opted to follow, of course. (hee.. I can do some new year shopping and be with my darling..kills 2 birds with 1 stone!)

Holding hands with his "girlfriend"

His favourite stall...Sweets booth

Ain't they sweet!?

Fire crackers decoration for our house

It was fun but hot day. We were perspiring towards the end of the trip and was so glad to see our bus! Lucky it was only about an hour walk. Little boy also demonstrated how strong he is by helping me to carry this "Big" box of fire crackers decoration.

Brotherhood

Every morning without fail, Nicholas will come into our room and crept onto the bed to lie next to baby Ryan. He will gently place his hands around baby Ryan, smelling and kissing him occassionally.

And when baby Ryan wakes up, Nicholas will be the first to greet him "Good morning, di di" and baby Ryan will give his brother the biggest smile. Isn't this sweet?

What a wonderful way to start the day!

My Little Gardeners

These 2 girls had been my little gardeners since we moved in to our new place and I must say, they both had been doing a very good job at keeping the garden and car porch clean.

But since school re-opened, they are so tied up with all the school works and enrichment classes that they can only help on weekends and days which they had completed their work early.

Seeing them working so hard under the evening sun, I paid each of them $2 each for the hard work.

This extra money will be used to buy small stuffs which they need for school. See, in the beginning of the year, I will give each of them a brand new set of stationery (1 box of 2B pencils, 3 erasers and colour pencils). If they decided to misuses it (Rachel loves to sharpen the pencil and play with the erasers), then they have to use their own pocket money to buy new ones. This idea was shared by a church friend of mine who is very good at handling kids.

His First Taste Of Durian

Baby Ryan had his first taste of durian today and he LOVES it!!

I "peeled" off the "skin" and gave him the meshy fresh.

I'm not sure if its too early to give him durian but, aiya, since he is number 4 already, mommy not so uptight anymore and follow strictly by the books liao.

Baby Ryan @ 9 months old

Just a quick one to note down little Ryan's achievements:

1. Able to pick up small biscuits with his 10 fingers and put them in his mouth without dropping it.

2. Able to sit through complete session of nail-cutting.

3. He seems to understand what "NO" means. He will stop and look at us when we said "no" to him.

4. Able and love to pull himself to standing position..that makes mommy very busy. We cannot leave him unattended even for 1 second as he will dash towards any object and try to pull himself up!!

5. He is able to climb out of his walker/ baby chair...so, another constant supervision...Cannot put him in walker and on the floor without supervision for even a second! Its easy to see why mommy had been so busy lately, cos I have to follow him everywhere but I'm not complaining..I enjoys every moments with him!

Things that he is still trying to do:

1. He is trying to crawl with tummy up but has not make past 2 steps. So he still uses the "leopard" style to crawl.

2. He is learning to get himself into sitting position and succeed occasionally but still not very steady when he succeeded. But if we sit him properly, he's steady.

3. He decided to skip learning to crawl the proper way and go straight to "cruising" around. When he is standing, will try to move a few steps holding on the furniture.

4. He is trying to climb up the wall! hahaha....so cute! Of course, he never make it. He would kneel in front of the wall, and tried to stand up but always ended up on his back. Luckily, he only did that on my bed, so when he falls, he falls onto the mattress.

5. Learning to waves goodbye..did it a few times.


Things he loves:

1. loves things that are black, even if its very small and far away, he will crawl towards it.

2. loves to watch cartoon and me playing my facebook games...heehee

3. He prefers my mattress than his...hmm..he sure knows the good stuff..hahaha

4. He likes to shake his head and we gladly took the opportunity to tell him that it means "No, no". Don't think he equates that yet.

5. He simply loves his brother, Nicholas! He'll scream excitement whenever he sees Nicholas, especially in the morning! And I'm so glad that Nicholas loves this little brother of his and took very great care and even supervision of baby Ryan for mommy.

Sad to say..

1. He still wakes up 2 - 3 times for the night feeds.

2. Still not "talking"..so no "mama; mum mum or papa" yet...

My Rant

Its been nearly weeks and finally I'm able to write these unhappy events without getting too emotional or agitated.

Since we gotten our new place, my SIL and MIL had been the topic of our near daily arguments and both hubby and I are tired of it. Its not that I started the fire, its MIL and SIL that did. At the end of every visit by them, Hubby and I would end up arguing after they left and the last incident really is the last straw for me!

It all begin this way:

Before the idea of in-laws coming over to stay with us, we have ample rooms for everyone in our family... the girls will share one room while the boys in one. We even have a big study room for the kids and I to do our work + a guest room/ playroom.

So now, with in-laws and SIL coming, we (my kids and I) are left without an area to do our work. Yes, of course, the kids can study in the dining/living area, even their own room. But I need a place to work and hubby needs too when he is at home. Now we are sharing the same work area and he couldn't stand my style (I have lots of KIV and paper works, so desk is usually filled with papers and stuff). So, I suggested to "built" a room outside our bedroom at the balcony area while hubby pointed out that we can share the BIG room with SIL instead. I was reluctant.

Incident One

On the informal house warming night, they came over to tour the house. When they were in my room, I heard SIL commenting to her daddy "Oh! They (hubby and I) are so lucky! They even have a walk-in wardrobe!" This sentence was not said with envy but with jealous tone..(there's a different if you know what I mean). Oh..I forgot to add that currently SIL is taking the master bedroom in their own place.

That night when she was back at her house, she actually cried to MIL!! One must be very puzzled..why, since her room is already the biggest among all of us (she was told that the big room is hers). MIL told hubby that SIL was upset that my girls' room has all the nice built-in shelving and hers is so bare!!! Then MIL as usual tried to cover up for SIL by saying "She is just a kid".

When hubby told me this, I was puzzled and also boiling inside but kept my cool. She is not a kid anymore!! She is a teenager! A 14 years old girl!! Even my sister who is 1 year older than her would not have said such a thing!

We had given her a big room and yet she still make a fuss over it. So I told hubby the next night that I will take up his suggestion (to share the room with her). I know I did it out of spike and anger. Although she is such an ungrateful brat, I felt terrible inside that I have turn myself into Cinderella's stepmother. Felt so evil...guilty feeling?? I don't know but my thinking was that I am only allowing her to be with us till she turns 21 and out she goes..the most I gave her till 24 years old. I'm not going to have her till she decides to marry off..what if she doesn't?!

Incident Two

One week later, they came again and hubby broke the decision to them. Right away, MIL protested in her usual discreet way, telling hubby "This isn't very good idea, right? What if your sister make too much noise while the kids are studying? Also, you have 4 children. Think long term, with only that half, it would not be enough, isn't it?" Hubby kept quiet.

Then, they went downstairs and MIL suddenly suggested for us to built a study room at the side of the house instead. I heard everything and I told hubby off in front of MIL. That place is so hot, it would be a glass house effect! MIL kept quiet. She is very good in portraying a pathetic person. I was stupid to fall in the trap!

Hubby reprimanded me that night for shutting other people's kind suggestion. He said that MIL is just being nice and worried for the kids being disturb by SIL if they were to share the same room.

Since that night, we have been arguing on where the room should be. I know my stand was not make with clear cool mind but I just couldn't control my anger whenever I thought of what SIL said and how MIL maneuver the whole thing.

Hubby thinks that to make that as a bedroom will look funny but if its a study room, its good idea since it overlooking the garden. But I just don't want her to come up stairs and intrude into our private area.

We finally came to the conclusion to give it a try and plans were made to divide the room.

Then came the finally straw!!

Incident Three

They came and SIL rushed upstairs to "her" room with a bag of things. Rachel was with her and Rachel told her that that room is not only hers but theirs too. They were talking and Rachel shouted for me saying that SIL is putting things up on the wall. SIL standing at her halve of the room asking me "Is THAT their study room?" I replied "Yes" and I walked off, not wanting to talk to her.

When I came back out, I met her at the stairs and she stomped passed me and showed me her white eyes!! What the shit she think she is!!! Yet, I still kept my cool. Only after they left did I know that she actually cried and complained to PIL and hubby that I said that room was not hers!! When did I said that!!! I only says "yes" to her question if half of the room belongs to the girls!! Hubby said that though SIL is rude but by what I said, I was the one that started the provocation!! He went on to give a stupid example "if you stared at someone and got beaten up, when the police question you, you think you did not do anything which provocate the other person, but by staring, you are asking for trouble."

We had the biggest argument that night since we moved in!!!

What made matter worst is the next day, MIL brought SIL to hubby's office and do what she is best at. She made SIL apologise to him and MIL told hubby to "forget about it" and don't pursue the incident with me anymore. Hubby interpret that MIL is scared of me but I know her well. Its not she is scared of me, she is trying to be the Mrs Nice in front of him. And by telling hubby to forget about the incident meant that I was in the wrong and they are forgiving me!!!! ARHhhhh...super angry!!

Throughout the week, the tension in our house was so high. Any mentioned of SIL's name will see both of us really to "fight" in words. It really affected me and I totally have no more mood to cook or do anything. I tried to talk myself out of this anger but I really was mad.

Then, Hubby commended one night that the food was so boring, every day the same stuff. My reply to him was "when a woman gave up the kitchen, it also means the woman had given up on the family" He knows this time I was truly angry. After dinner that night, I gave him the ultimatum. If he insist on SIL coming in, the children and I will move out. I can't stand the sight of them anymore. I cannot bring myself to be a hypocrite. I am a person that show all my emotion on my face, I cannot pretend to welcome them when they had caused us so many unhappy nights.

Only after the ultimatum was served, hubby finally decided to sit through and talked about the whole thing and addressed my feelings without ending up quarrelling. The decision make that night was, instead building it for our study, we are going to make it as SIL room. The kids and I will use the entire room that was meant to be hers.

Am I being mean? Am I unreasonable? It makes her like Cinderella, sleeping outside the house and me the evil/ cruel stepmother.

They know I am unhappy and didn't come for a while. Our house was peaceful!

Anyway, I can feel the regrets in hubby for asking them in but its too late to say no now. He has been cracking his head for other options to place them but none is financially wise....

Tell me, was I wrong in anyway? Was my decision right?

Latest happening

They came over for dinner and that brat didn't even greeted me!! She see through me as if I wasn't even there!! No greeting when they arrived, no greeting when we start our dinner and no bye-bye when they left!!! If she is angry, so AM I!!!

Our Christmas...

The condo we used to live in organised a Christmas party for the residents and since we are eligible, I registered the kids for the party which was on 18th Dec. The turn out was not as good as last year but that means more chance to go up stage to play games for the girls.

The girls went up stage twice to play the games (though wining nothing) while Nicholas watched.

As usual, they had this Santa appearance and Santa will distribute the presents (which the parents had bought) to the kids. This is the most exciting part for my girls, for they were told that Santa had been "watching" them all year round and will have presents only for the good children. So they were very eager to listen out if their names were being called.

Nicholas was very anxious waiting...but when his name was being called, he refused to go up stage to take his present.

The girls each get a present from "Santa" and they were so excited!!

On 19th Dec, hubby's friend from Malaysia came over for dinner and I wasn't told till the morning itself!! I was so nervous as hubby suggested for me to whip up some Christmas dinner which I totally have never tried before. Moreover, they will be our first official guest to come over to our new place for dinner...*more sweats*... So, I dashed down to the Cold Storage and grabbed the frozen turkey; ham; sausages; salad...and a yummy log cake from Swiss cake. It was my first time roasting stuffed turkey and was so super nervous...I was praying real hard inside that I won't embarrass myself. But they were very nice people..everything I served, they ate as if it was really very yummy. It really flatter me!

The girls playing with their new friend in our garden...

On 22nd Dec, hubby suddenly suggested over dinner that we take a MRT down to Orchard Road and soaked into the mood! I was worried off the crowd but surprised to find its manageable. The kids, especially Nicholas, was so excited over the train ride!

Finally Christmas came!! The kids were the most excited ones. FIL and SIL came over for dinner and I made stuffed turkey again! Yup..its really yummy..the meat was not tough but tender and juicy..yum yum! This time, I placed some bacon on top of the turkey to give it some taste.

Made some baked scallops with cheese too. A new dish I tried today.

After ice-cream, the kids couldn't wait to unwrap their presents.

How can we leave Baby Ryan out of this , right?!

A family photo in front of the Christmas tree.

See those Thomas and Friend's shoes on his feet? He just couldn't resist wearing them right away!

And this present is from Santa @ the Condo's party. His favourite digger! See how happy he was?! He even pose for the photo take which was really rare!

And what's my Christmas's present? My best present is FINALLY, my baby can sit in the car seat for short distance drive (20minutes so far) without crying!!! Isn't it great news! YIPPEE!!! I can at least have my sanity back when I have to ferry the kids around!!