For a 3-going-to-4-year-old, Aaron definitely uses his brain a lot. He's always thinking of solutions to problems, and smart, creative answers to questions. For eg: Me: Aaron you're dirtying your smelly blanket A: The washing machine can wash it! Playing lego with Jie-Jie, and they made a wishing well N: Aaron, make a wish! A: I wish I can have a wishing well! Watching movie at home, and I refused to let him turn off the lights as he's eating. And he said, "Mummy, do you realise we're having movie night?" Meaning must be dark, and must have snack. And I was surprised when he told me about the story of Noah's ark one night ... what he learnt in Children Church! Certainly hope he continues to grow and develop that little brain of his!
Nadine's making progress with her Chinese. She can now recognises most of the Chinese characters that she learns in school, and still does most of her Chinese homework herself.
Last Sunday, while doing this writing homework with her, I was surprised when she said she likes princess - the fact that she know's "princess" in Chinese!
Last week, we went to Phuket for a short getaway, during the week that school had reopened! This will be the last year that we can go for vacation during school term, before Nadine goes to primary school!
Guess who we met at Changi Airport!
The kids were super excited about the vacation.
We took Jetstar, and very happy with the services. The crew were so much more friendly and polite than Scoot, which we took to Gold Coast.
Both kids travel really well now. They either slept or watched movies on their ipads. No complains, no tantrums, unlike when they were younger. Very easy.
We stayed at Movenpick Karon, which was a superbly family-friendly place, although very far away from the airport.
The pool is huge, and has a slide which Nadine enjoyed tremendously. Went up and down many many times in the 3 days that we were there.
There was also a baby pool that was warm and nice. Aaron was happy playing in it.
They had a tight-rope activity too, and I was surprised that Nadine asked to try. She was really adventurous! And she certainly did very well for a 6-year-old!
Movenpick also has a fantastic kids club, with a mini playground and ball pool and many games. The staff there were extremely friendly and caring. We left the kids there to play every morning after their breakfast, so that we could eat in peace; and also for a couple of hours on one of the days, so as to go for massage!
Aaron, with the pirate hat that he made at the kids' club.
Although Movenpick is just next to the beach, we spent only half an hour at the beach. Both kids preferred the pool way more than the beach.
At the pool, Nadine made friends with a French family, whose 2 kids are about the same age as Nadine and Aaron. They couldn't understand each other's language, but got along really well, and enjoyed playing with each other in the pool and at the kids' club.
And that's what I like about Nadine. She's not shy at all, and makes friends very easily. I'm sure that will be an essential people skill that will help her along in life!
Our only family photo during this trip - taken on a tuk-tuk at Patong. The kids loved the tuk-tuk ride.
Overall, it was a great holiday. Kids and parents all got to enjoy. This was certainly the most relaxing holiday we've had so far - lots of time in the pool and kids' club, no rushing through meals, and a good massage for Daddy and Mummy! Should have more of such holidays!
The concert was totally entertaining, with a court jester telling stories, and engaging the audience, getting the audience to do various actions that would complement the music. It was really fun, and both kids enjoyed themselves enormously.
And I miss coming to Victoria Concert Hall. Had performed here during my Crescent band girls. How nostalgic!
I hope my kids will grow to love music as much as Daddy and I do, and will also eventually pick up 1 or 2 instruments!
Last week, the kids' kindergarten organised its annual "Project F1" - parent-child aerobics session. This year, I had to go on 2 days, coz both Nadine and Aaron were involved, but on separate days.
I was really proud to see that Aaron could do most of the moves, and was happily following the exercise.
After the exercise, parents could stay for 10 min with their kids - bonding time. Aaron happily showed me around the MPH. Good to see that he's enjoying school!
Here's him and Evynne, chilling together.
LSK does a lot to encourage parents to be involved in their kids' growth and education, and creates opportunities for parents to be a part of the kids' school journey. I like!
2 weeks ago, Aaron had to be nebulized. I felt so guilty because I'd thought it was just a cough and we could self-medicate. Didn't think that it could worsen so much that he'd need to be nebulized.
The last time that Aaron had to be nebulized, and even hospitalized, he was just about 4 months old! Thank God this time round, he recovered very swiftly and needed only to be nebulized once! I certainly hope it'll not happen again!
For more than a decade, we've gathered with Uncle Mel, Uncle Ben and Godma during CNY for a full-day (sometimes lasting into the night) mahjong session, and then we'd have more friends come join us for dinner.
Over the last few years, this annual gathering has developed into a wet-swim gathering for the kids and dry-swim gathering for the adults. Both kids and adults always have a great time.
The boys had a riot playing with their water guns
While the girls had fun doing their dive/dance/gymnastic routine ...
before relaxing at a corner for a htht like some teenage girls
Then as usual, more friends joined us for dinner. Friends who have grown together for over 20 years and whose children are now growing up together. How precious.
"Hope" - that's what Nadine means in Russian. So this is a record of our journey with our little bundle of hope .... and her little brother, Aaron - "Enlightened".
