Which is the front? (a) or (b)?

(a)                                                  (b)

(a)                                          (b)

(a)

(b)

If your answers for all the above was (b) I’ll have to ask you this, “are you my husband?!”

That’s right folks, the man I swore to spend the rest of my life with is simply clueless when it comes to girls’ clothes! Him dressing my little girl is like Forest Gump’s box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get!

Now you would think, ooookay, dressing girls’ can be a little tricky at times (is this the front or back?) especially for a guy who grew up with only two brothers and no sisters. I’ll cut him a little slack even though both the tops had tags and I’ve always assumed everyone knew that tags usually mark the back of that piece of clothing.

BUT… how puzzling can it be when it comes to the opposite, i.e. removing clothing from a little girl? Especially if it’s just a two piece thingy like the one below.

Yah, what’s so puzzling about this right?

Well, one night when hubby was helping me bathe Little Missy (which he occasionally does) he floored me with the question, “honey, how do I remove this piece of clothing?”

“Huh?! It’s a skirt and blouse.” I answered assuming he would… you know, figure out that it’s a two piece clothing, you know, a skirt and a blouse (and from there deduce that he has to remove them separately?!)

“What?!” He asked. And I’m thinking… “What the….?!” but I just yell, “it’s a skirt and a blouse!” I was just too flabbergasted to give him any other answer (what would you have said?)

Just as I was about to head over to help him, he finally figured it out. “Oh, I thought it was a one piece thingy that had something around the waist to make it look like a two piece thingy,” He said.

Huh?! What?!! (I swear this is the whole truth and nothing but the truth! I couldn’t stop laughing out loud that whole night!)

Go figure! This is a man who oversees a few sections at his workplace but when it comes to dressing his little girl…

I’m never assuming anything ever again!

Last Saturday we finally visited the Henderson Waves, the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore. It is also part of the recently opened Southern Ridges. It was quite spectacular.

I never thought I would ever describe any scenic thingy in Singapore as spectacular (hey, don’t blame me, I’ve been to the Canadian Rockies!)… But this truly was is quite spectacular. It did take my breath away. I loved it. Whoever conceptualised this was is brilliant!

 Breathtaking isn’t it?

Hubby-jr monkeying around with other kids

We only walked from the Henderson Waves (bridge) to Mount Faber and from there we took a cab to Vivocity (a mall). We had to cut short our plans because we picked a wrong day and a wrong time. It was blazing (and I mean burning, melting, BLAZING) hot and late morning was approaching noon! We just had to get indoors.

Oh well, next time, we’ll head out early morning and start from Hort Park. From there we’ll walk all the way to Mount Faber, if not Vivocity. Yup, that’s the plan. I’ll tell you more about it when (whenever that is) we do fulfill… the plan.

(To see more pictures of this lovely bridge, click here.)

My current “it” song. It really ministers to me.

For the lyrics click here.

And according to her website Tammy Trent (the singer) will be heading here (Singapore) end of October, this year! Scroll down at her Tour Dates for more details.

Hubby-jr, my five year old son, inherited his daddy’s nose albeit a sensitive one. This makes him terribly prone to a runny nose. I have tried many, many times to teach him how to blow his nose and have failed almost every single time. There was a moment or two where I thought he got it but nah, the next time he needed to clear his nose he just sucked it in rather than blow it out (ooohh). Somehow he just couldn’t get it.

That was until two days ago.

His nose was acting up again and it was getting just plain gooey. “Wipe it off your face with a tissue please and throw it afterwards! Do not wipe it off with your hands!!” Get my drift?

Anyway he obeyed me and soon afterwards he developed his own tissue game. And whaddaya know??! This game taught him how to blow his nose!

First, take a piece of tissue paper.

Next stuff it into the nose, just like this.

BLOW and out comes the tissue. (Sorry we couldn’t catch a shot of the tissue hanging in mid air.)

Ta da! Easy Peasy. He now knows how to blow his nose and if he forgets I’ll just stuff tissue up his nose! For more tips and such please head over here.

P/S: No icky stuff was dislodged in this demonstration. All gooey thingies were properly cleared beforehand.

Just as I wrote about engaging my two year old Little Missy, I came across this - How To Amuse Toddlers at Instructables.

This guy has wonderfully compiled a list complete with pictures and some instructions. I’ve done most of the activities with my kids and can vouch that they DO amuse toddlers. Having said that I still found the list very handy. So if you have to entertain little ones, go check it out.

Since the turn of the year, Little Missy dropped her late morning nap. This means that I have an active toddler for the whole morning! It has its fun side, she’s my little companion (shadow?), accompanying me while I grocery shop, run errands and even go on fun downtown trips (after Hubby-jr goes to school). When we’re not out, we enjoy slow mornings at home.

I’m cherishing these precious bonding moments with her as next year she’ll be attending playgroup sessions for 1½ hours in the mornings. (Sniff, my baby is growing up.)

The flipside is that she can sometimes (more than sometimes?) demand more attention than I can spare. It can be pretty annoying, not to mention a test of my patience especially when I’m trying to get the house chores done. She’ll keep yelling, “Mommy, come. MOMMY! COME! COME!!! MOMMY!!!” Yes, 2-year olds can be very persistent and often suffer temporary memory loss of the terms, No or Wait. “Later” to them means, a second later!

So I was so glad to stumble upon this “trick”. She now “helps” me wash dishes after lunch almost everyday. She’s happy just playing with water, soap water. Occasionally she “washes” a cup or bowl (plastic or melamine ones). Ya, well it is more of over-washing them in soap water…

It is brilliant. She’s happy and I hope she eventually does help me with real washing (one can hope right?). I get the dishes done and best of all, we have our bonding time over the sink!

Yes, this is how I do it. A dining chair, a sponge brush, a plastic bowl and some soap water (I usually give her more, she’s almost done in this picture). And oh yes, she usually needs a change of clothes after this. Next I’m getting her an apron!

Hubby and I love books and we spent quite sometime at Bras Basah that day. How on earth did we manage such a feat with two little kids in tow? Especially since Hubby-jr simply hates any kind of shopping.

He starts his chain of complaints the second I (or hubby) as much as glance at something. That never fails to drive me up the wall. So to avoid this we’ve resorted to:

a) NOT shop (I can’t avoid this ALL the time!)
b) Tell him to be quiet or else…
c) One of us brings him somewhere where he’ll be happy (i.e. toys section)… (but what if there is no “happy” section for him?)
d) Bring one of his toys along… (a toy car works but we’ve lost quite a few.)

THEN during our trip back to Malaysia we discovered a very effective on-the-go babysitter…

A little too effective?!

Yup, it’s the outdated Nintendo gameboy. We borrowed (permanently?) it from our sister-in-law (who has since upgraded to a PSP) as an “emergency weapon”. The emergency being our 5 year old going “out of control” restless on a 5-hour long bus ride back to Malaysia! Well the emergency never occurred (he was so well behaved) but hubby introduced it to him anyway.

Needless to say Hubby-jr took to it like fish to water. He is hooked.

Well it’s not too bad (yet?) as we’ve confined this activity to only weekends. He’s still attracted to other of his favourite activities even with the gameboy in hand. And who am to complain when it keeps him happy while we are happy shopping!

So is the Nintendo a friend or foe? A friend, I say (at least for now).

P/S: Hubby insists it helps with his hand eye coordination and helps him fit in socially… (yeeeah, oooookaay…)

Serendipity!

ser·en·dip·i·ty

1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.

2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.

3. An instance of making such a discovery.

We found ourselves at Bras Basah this afternoon and being there I just had to visit the Children’s Bookstore. While the range of books was not as exciting as before I was so, SO thrilled to find Guji Guji on one of its shelves. We (kids and I) absolutely LOVE this story we found over at Storyline Online.

Guji Guji is a story about a crocodile who was brought up as a duck. One day Guji Guji is confronted with the question of his identity and where he belongs - is it with a group of mean crocodiles he just met or with the ducks he grew up with? A very lovely engaging story that will make you smile, warm your heart and teach you about identity, loyalty, and what it really means to be a family.

And guess what? It was selling at only SGD5.60 (SGD8.00 less 30%) per copy! A hardcover copy mind you! I grabbed a few copies as they’d make excellent gifts. I suggest you’d better hurry over there and grab a few too before they run out of stock! (Screams kiasu doesn’t it?)

More serendipity…

While I was at the Children’s Bookstore with the kids Hubby had to pay his pilgrimage to Tecman (a Christian bookshop). Not long later he scurried back to tell me that Tecman was having a 40% storewide sale for members (you can sign up on the spot for only SGD6.00). So we headed that way, kids and Guji Guji books in tow.

Guess what I found at Tecman?!

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name. It is the bible storybook. If you’re looking for bible stories for your kids, look no further, get this one. If you already have countless different bible story books for children, you have to get just one more, this one. After reading about it over here I bought one copy via Amazon.com (I couldn’t find it at several bookstores then). I can tell you this, it really is as good as is described. Hubby and I LOVE it because… (this is what is written at the back of the book)

The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the Story beneath all the stories in the Bible. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby, the Child upon whom everything would depend. From Noah to Moses to King David, every story whispers his name. Jesus is like the missing piece in a puzzle - the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together.

Beautifully written and illustrated. The Jesus Storybook Bible invites children to discover for themselves that Jesus is at the center of God’s great story of salvation - and at the center of their story too.

The sale ends 30 June 2008. So if you’re living in Singapore and you’re reading this before 30 June, stop reading, get dressed and hurry over to Tecman NOW!! Go! Go!! Go!!! Well if you’re reading this after 30 June, take your time but still get over there to get a copy of that book. It is WORTH it. In my opinion ALL Christian families with kids should have a copy. Seriously.

So there you have it, my wonderful unexpected fortunate discoveries of the day. Serendipities!

When in Malaysia, play their national sport. What else? Badminton of course.

Err… I can’t say if they have a natural talent for the game… but I think they can strike a pose or two. What do you think?

P/S: I bought this kids’ badminton set (2 steel rackets and I foam/plastic shuttlecock) at TESCO (a hypermart) for only RM4.90 (that’s what? SGD2.30?) Unbelievably cheap right?

My kids LOVED their stay at my parents’ house. Just a backyard, some plants, a small water pool and lots (LOTS!) of water made them very, VERY happy. (I too was VERY happy. Happy, self-occupied kids, what more could a mother ask for?!)

Well, this is what they did almost every morning (and sometimes evenings too).

 Watering poh-poh (grandma)’s plants.

 Playing in this small water pool.

Incredibly they didn’t seem to get tired of this tiny pool. In fact they couldn’t get enough of it!

NO, this wasn’t ALL they (we) did during our 10-day stay. There were other stuff too. But that’ll be in another post. I’m still catching up on our laundry!

P/S: Yes, dearest, DEAREST hubby had our computer resurrected! God bless him. Did I mention how much I love that man?