Happy Halloween

End of the World

21 October

Ever since my 3 y.o has started mouthing words, he has been a real entertainment and live wire for the family. Hang on, I should rephrase that - before he was our Marcel Marceau, now he's our Tina Fey/Sarah Palin.

His first word was dada (for dad) followed by mama. Then came duck, more, mer (for milk), bao bao (carry me), no, moo-moo, woof woof, nai nai, popo, yiyo (for yima), yeye, tar (for car - he couldn't pronounce 'k' sound and substituted it with a silent 't'), down, up - in that order. He then progressed to his first 2-syllabus word - obar (open), enuf and started to string 2 words together - big tar (garbage truck). Sentences came next with "Mama, music pease." (when we were in the car) and "Mama, pease make milk for me (that was after he stopped referring to himself as a third person by name)." It took him a while to figure out "here" and "there", though surprisingly, he got his left and right immediately right. " "L" and "r" sounds were the next hurdles he learnt to overcome. Before that pillow was pi-o and we had quite a fair bit of peace (please). Now he's into words with 3 syllabus and beyond - that brings me to his current favourite phrase "To infinity and beyond" (Captain Buzz from Toy Story). But his first quote from the movies was, "Where's my food?" in the sternest voice he could master (but it still came out too sweet because of the smile that accompanied it) - mimicking the grasshopper from "A Bug's Life". His current favourite word is "difficult" (in addition to his usual "what happened" and "why"). He can even say hippopotamus and excavator clearly.

This morning, after having done his no. 2, he went: "Broken. Spoilt already... cannot flush. Everybody dies ..." See the similarity? It's about as logical as Sarah Palin's claim to foreign policy experience. And by the way, the toilet bowl was working fine.

Yummy Biscuits

Here's a recipe I adapted from the back of a box of Nestle Corn Flakes:

200 g plain flour, 1 tbsp cocoa/Milo powder (A)

2 cups Nestle Honey Gold cereal finely ground (I used Nestle Corn Flakes)
100g white cooking chocolate, chopped or Van Houten choc chips
100g raisins (I cut this to 40g. Alternatively, drop the choc - otherwise you may risk having hyper kids)
100g chopped walnuts (Optional - I didn't use any)

250g butter
100g caster sugar
1 cup Nestle Corn Flakes, coarsely crushed (Again, optional)
2 teaspoons Nescafe coffee mix with 2 teaspoons water (Optional - I didn't use any)

Preparation
1. Sift together ingredients A. Stir in Nestle Honey Gold cereal, chopped choc, raisins and chopped walnuts. Set aside. (B)

2. Cream butter, sugar and Nescafe coffee mixture until fluffy (This step is important. The lighter the mixture, the crispier the biscuit. I used a manual whisk and got help from husband, Sweet Potato and domestic helper. The hard work is well worth it). Fold in flour mixture B and mix well until soft dough forms.

3. Drop teaspoonful of mixture into crushed Nestle Corn Flakes and roll until well coated. (Skip this step unless you are baking for someone who is crazy about cereals! I suspect Nestle is trying to push sales ...)

4. Place teaspoonful of mixture on lightly greased baking trays, allow room for spreading.

5. Bake in preheated 180 deg C oven for 12-15 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from oven and let it stand for 20 minutes or so.

It's real easy. I have done it 2x and got amazing feedback - "As good as Marks & Spencer", "Better than Mrs Fields", "Like Famous Amos" and to my surprise, even satisfied my most picky 'customers' - my husband and Peanut.

The Real Banana Boat

My best friend, Joshua.


Ummm... that smug look on the face, where have I seen that before? Right, my childhood photos!

Here's my boat

Fire! Fire!

Today's email update from Peanut's school

Dear parents,
We had a fire drill today (our second practice this year). The children responded positively and together with the teachers, followed the fire evacuation procedures well. The teachers have explained to the children about the drill and procedures they should follow when they hear the fire alarm in school. You may also like to highlight to your child about fire safety at home too.
Best regards

Huh ... my boy taking part in a fire drill?? I wonder if the kids are getting the right message. I certainly hope they don't think it is something fun. Come on, the school is housed in a 2 storey semi-D, not a skyscraper. I can almost imagine Peanut wanting to play fire fighter in the exercise ...

Jacob Ballas Children's Garden

2 August 2008

It's our 2nd visit to this park. This time we brought grandma along. It was a super hot day and Sweet Potato looked, rather was definitely, overdressed in a thermal suit .. hahaha, no thanks to a kiasu mother. Peanut on the other hand was down to his shorts because I forgot to pack his swim wear. That last photo of SP asleep and the one before that of the park are taken by his kor kor. The Panasonic Lumix camera is truly fool-proof, though not child-proof.

Peanut and Mia

A song comes to mind ... "... and they call it puppy l-o-v-e "

Peanut's 3rd Birthday

Thank you,

Yipo (grandaunt) for the set of Bob-the-Builder clothes which mama says I'll have to wait 2 or maybe 3 years later to wear;

Sheryl and Sherlyn bil-yi (aunt) for coming despite being in the midst of their exams;

Ah B kor kor for finding time to join us;

Auntie Wati for shopping for a set of blue clothes which was my bd request;

Popo (grandma) for the fire engine with a really loud siren - which I chose;

Yima (aunt) for the bua-yi towel costume which will match perfectly with my bua-yi hat - perfect costume for Halloween;

Ye-ye (grandpa) for another pen to my collection of pens that are not to be used;

Nai-nai (grandma) for the choo choo trains jigsaw puzzle which can join up to form a 9-feet long train;

Kow-gong (granduncle) for the play-doh barbeque set - you know I always enjoy cooking;

Elaine Bil-yi for the Sesame Street book;

Auntie J and TT for the fire engine book and the Sesame Street book which comes with a camera - how did you guess that I'm into fire engines (amongst trains, aeroplanes, helicopters, cars, motor bikes, excavators, trucks, car-carriers)?

Mama for the wall decor and the bd cake - just what I wanted;

and the ang-pows from nai nai, popo, gu-che (aunt) - I wonder how many toys I can buy with the money ... maybe a Maserati when I'm old enough to drive one. Mama and I just checked it out a week back, but she says I can't buy it with my 10 cent coin;

and most of all, everyone for coming to my bd party though it must be really boring for them; luckily the food mama catered from Deli Hub was yummy.

From Mama to Peanut:

Thank you, because of you,

I am constantly reminded of the joy and comfort of a simple hug and kiss on the cheek

I actually enjoy preparing for bd parties .. and I thought I was done with organising a party for life after my wedding dinner party

I can finally sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in Chinese

I learn how to take 'no' for an answer repeatedly without the slightest dent to my self-esteem

I get to sharpen my negotiation skills, practice quick-thinking all the time

I have healthier home cooked meals with less salt, less sugar, less seasoning and a diet with more fruits

I understand the importance of being organised, planning ahead, making contingency plans .. and learn to be at peace even if things don't turn out as planned

I become more responsible for my actions and my words as I feel like a pair of tiny eyes and ears are following me everywhere. Bless you, you are more effective than a religious preacher. No wonder people say a baby is a God-sent.

I discover the luxury of having a bath or taking a pee without being disturbed

I become more humble as I realise there is so much that I don't know, each time you asked, "why?"

I started this blog ... and amazed my techy husband who is able to take a computer apart and build it up from scratch.