Cheeks to Cheeks

Friday is here. Yay!!! You cannot believe what a challenging week it has been.

We had to wake up early just so Belle gets to school on time. Apart from that, both Jon and I get interrupted sleep from the older girl ‘cos she insists to have her diaper changed whenever it gets soiled…middle of the night!

Things ain’t that fun during the day too when all I have been doing was packing, filing, packing and more packing. At 1.15pm sharp, I had to be out of the door to pick up the girl and her friend, Abby, for after-school.  Then it is back to more packing and sorting things out for our future garage sale. In between that I will squeeze in lunch. At 5pm it is off to getting the younger one from preschool and head over to the older one’s after-school place.  We would straight away head over to my in-laws’ place for dinner.

After a lot of threatening, scolding, cajoling the kids over dinner time, we would return home by 7.30pm for a quick shower. Then it is bedtime for the kids by 8.30pm. Sometimes I will konk out with them but the book, “The Girl who played with Fire” kept calling out to me. Both Jon and I would hit the sack before midnight and of course, get woken up by Ms. Belle some time between 12am and 7am.

So, yea, I’m glad it is Friday! That means more packing to do on Saturday. Both of us are so dead tired and we can’t wait for this (packing) to be over.

It is 10.30am and here I am reading through a stack of papers of Mandatory rules, parents authorization on technology and media use, and filling out emergency card. Just two and a half hours ago I was in the Kindergarten trying to get my 1st born settle into her new classroom and making sure she remembers all the hundred and one things she must do throughout the day, such as, “Remember to put your jacket in the backpack” “Remember to wash your hands after you use the toilet” “You will have to take your food out for lunch and if you need help, ask your teacher” “There is snack time and remember to take out your snacks from your lunch box.”

Yes, today my first child has promoted to Kindergarten. We are very fortunate to go through this 1st day of school experience with two other families whom have became very good friends. Today Belle, Abby and Tessa started Kindergarten together. The only unfortunate part is Belle will not be in the same classroom as Abby and Tessa. But we know our baby is strong and independent. She can survive in a new environment on her own and she did not cry when we left. She is quite a trooper!

Things have been going crazy in our lives but I will save that in a different post. Today is all about Belle and her first day of Kindergarten. We arrived at school 8am on the dot. If it weren’t for the traffic lights we would have arrived sooner. So, note to myself to leave the house 20 mins before 8am.

Once we got there, we picked up the stack of must-read documents from the school district and did a little name hunt in her classroom. Her teacher Ms. D.M. prepared a list for us, the parents, to go through with the new students.

First we found her cubby hole and above it there are hooks to hang the backpacks. Next, we had to find the drinking fountain which is next to the sink. This is for the students to take a sip if they get thirsty. The last thing we had to do was to find her table and we did that by look at the name tags that were pasted on the tables.

We picked up Belle’s name tag and proceeded to an easel where she had to write her name. After that the list stated that she has to choose a book from the book shelves and go back to her seat to read that book quietly. There are 25 students in her class and the classroom barely fits everyone (kids and parents).

After a few minutes of watching the teacher doing roll calls, Jon and I proceeded to the coffee table that was set up by the school. There we chatted with Abby’s and Tessa’s parents. Jon and I didn’t leave school until 9.30am.

I’m so excited and nervous for my little one. I do hope she is going to enjoy Kindergarten and making new friends. I guess I will have to wait till 1.30pm to hear all about her day. In the mean time, I should get back to the stack of papers from the school.

Fifteen minutes ago I was in the shower with the girl and my wise 4.5 year old gave me this piece of advice…

Mommy, you have to exercise more to get your nen-nen (boobs) up.

Mommy’s reaction: Speechless.

Oh, my dear daughter, I wish it is that easy.

Last night I was in bed reading the girls a couple of story books. Then Belle struck up a conversation that went (somewhat) like this:

Belle: Mommy,  look at this picture. The illustrator write (draw) it.
Mom: Draw it (tried to correct her when she said write).
Belle: Ok, draw it. The illustrator is good.
Mom: Yes, she sure is. That is a very big word you used: Illustrator. Who taught you that?
Belle: Nobody.
Mom: Really? Was it your teacher?
Belle: I dunno.

Oh well, it doesn’t matter who taught her but I’m amazed that she has begun to use big words. I don’t think I have ever used that word when I was four and a half. Lately, we have been borrowing the book series, Fancy Nancy, from the local library. Fancy Nancy introduces kids to fancy words and I’m guessing it is rubbing onto the girl. For what I know, she may start to speak a word or two in French.

These days Cassie has phased in to the 3-word sentences. Her favorite sentence is, “Let me see.” She has blossomed into a Miss Kay-poh-chi (Miss Nosy).

She loves to pull a stool next to me whenever I’m working on the kitchen counter. I would be cutting up vegetables and all of the sudden I would see her little head pop up next to me.

At 2 years and 5 months, she is stressing on her independence. She insists to dress up by herself. If we try to help she will push our hands away and say, “No no nonono.” Then it will be followed with a “Do”, which means she wants to do it on her own. She also loves to feed herself and it happens only when it comes to her favorite food. Among her favorites are Mac-n-Cheese, Pizza, Ice-cream and Meat. Yup, this girl is a super meat lover. For her to eat rice, we will have to entice her with meat, be it chicken, duck, pork or beef. As long as there is meat in her meal she will wallop them. Give her vegetables, she will spit them out or pick them off her rice.

Looking back at it, when Belle was in this phase, I had easily labelled her as going through the Terrible Twos stage. Now I just think of it as a growth development that every kid has to go through. I don’t get work up over Cassie’s need of independence. I guess I have come to accept it as it. I do find it liberating to know there is light at the end of it.

Okay, back to Cassie’s milestone updates. She sings now, well, not exactly in full sentences. For example, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star will be

Star, Star, Star, Star star star.
Star, Star, Star, Star, Star star star…

So, yeah, it is quite interesting to hear her sing. Going to preschool has also open up her personality. She now boogie and jive to songs, plays with kids, gives hugs, which is a HUGE improvement since she is on the timid side. She has realized that making funny faces makes people laugh, and she loves that. She loves it so much she ends up laughing (till she can’t breath) at herself. But this only happens with people she is comfortable with.

Another thing I want to jot down is her OCDism. She cannot stand being dirty. If her hands are dirty, she will have to wash them immediately. If her shirt gets a tiny spot from let’s say her chocolate drink, she insists to change into a clean shirt. If I prolong on changing her shirt, she will strip the top off and say, “Change”, then walk upstairs to her room and gets the new shirt herself. I have been trying to break her constant need to be clean, and it seems to work when we’re outside. That’s because I will the excuse of not having clean clothes with me.

Since this is a milestone update, I’ll end this post with new vocabulary she has gained:

Banban – Bandaid
Pain
Change
Downstairs
M’cine – Medicine
Ice – usually she meant icepack
Train – it can mean Train, Truck or Bus
Pink – referring to her (favorite) pink shoes
Park – all time favorite word of hers. She loves going to the park.
Panty
Me
Cassie – whenever we ask who is Cassie, she will say, “Meimei” of “Me”
Belle – sometimes she calls her sister by her name.
Vivien – she thinks it is fun to call me Vivien ‘cos she would get a funny look from me.

Last night both my girls gave me a massage. The elder one kept asking, “Mommy, does your back owwie?” When I nodded, she pounded my back a little longer with her tiny fists. The little one saw her sister did that, she decided to help too.

I praised them by saying, “Oh, thank you girls! You girls are the best daughters!” And of course, my massage session went on a little longer at each praise I gave them. *sneaky me*

So, yea, I’m very proud of my little slaves girls. I’m sure their Dad will try to talk out of giving me a massage now that the girls are able to give a somewhat wondrous massage.

So much to do and so little time to fulfill it. We have been busy since last week. First with Belle’s dance recital. The girl has been taking dance lessons in her preschool for over a year and we (the parents of the little dancers) finally get to see them perform. They were taught a variety of dance lessons from beginning ballet to tap. We have recorded the performance and I just need time to edit it. (For my sis: Yes, you will get to view it very soon).

Then I was told of a Teddy Bear picnic for Cassie’s class, which took place this Wednesday. I baked some cookies and the girls and I had a great early dinner in school. Last night the husband and I were up till 2am finalizing our Disneyland trip. All I can say that we weren’t shown any love by Priceline ‘cos we couldn’t get the hotel we wanted within our budget. Anyhow, the hotel and tix are done, now we just need to plan the driving route and pit-stops.

On top of that, our first born is graduating from preschool this Saturday. Can you believe it?! Our baby is starting Kindergarten this fall. She is pretty nonchalant about graduation and going to a new school. I guess it hasn’t really sunk in to her that she will not be seeing some of her friends and teachers after August 20th.

Photos will be posted after we are back from our Disney trip. Stay tuned!

Cassie did it all by herself and without letting us know she was gonna do it! Yay!

I’m talking about going to the big potty all by herself. I was busy washing the dishes this morning and Daddy was busying upstairs. The little one pushed her little stool (that is always in the bathroom) right next to the “throne”, stepped up, sat on her potty ring, did her #2, climbed down, and came out yelling, “Mama! Poo-poo!”

I’m super proud of her! Does that mean one less responsibility for us the parents? I certainly hope so.

This morning, the little one climbed onto our bed and gave me a tight body hug (arms and legs hugging me as if I were a bolster pillow). Then she said, “Mine……Mommy.” She repeated, “Mine..Mommy.” She repeated in a louder voice, ” My Mommy!”

She did that to let her Daddy know that Mommy is hers, not his. *lol*

This morning Belle gave a whole new pronunciation to the word Basketball.

Belle: Mommy, is it share day today?
Mom: No, share day is on Friday.
Belle: I want to bring my f*ckaball to school.
Mom: Bring what??!!
Belle: F*ckaball.
Mom: Um, honey, it is basketball.
Belle: F*cktheball.
Mom: Psst, Daddy, hear this.
Mom: Belle, what do you want to bring to school?
Belle: F*cktheball.
Dad: Belle, bas-ket-ball.
Mom: Baby, I know you can say Bas-ket-ball. It is such an easy word. I’m sure ALL your friends can say that.
Belle: Bassaball
Mom: Y-esss, Bas-ket-ball. *phew*
Daddy: Good enough. LOL!

As you can tell, the girl doesn’t know the F word is a foul word. Honest to God we never use it in front of the kids (hey, we ain’t saints!).  But I do have to say, it was a funny conversation.