At 28 months...

Terelle is already 28months old and soon will no longer fit the description of a toddler, but rather a child. Some updates on her development, mainly for myself to reminisce about when she is older!

At 28 months...

* She is 89cm tall and weighs 12kg

* Has been fully toilet trained since she was 2 years old. Only has to wear a diaper to bed at night and when she naps in the afternoon (cos she takes marathon naps of 3-3.5hrs!)

* Loves all kinds of fruits, i never have to force her to eat them. It is much more tricky with foods though. She dislikes vegetables (courtesy of her Daddy) and will spit them out if they are not finely chopped up and camouflaged with the rest of her meal. Loves chicken wings, noodles, cheese and steamed fish (thankfully!) Everything else has to be finely cut up before she can be conned into swallowing them!

* She can recognize all the alphabets but has yet learnt how to read. I have realised that she thrives on experiential learning and that making her sit down to learn her phonics is an almost impossible task. She has a short attention span and gets bored easily. She requires constant stimulation by varied sights and sounds and rote learning simply bores her to death. Sigh, i need some inspiration to come up with new and exciting word games to make her learn how to read!

* She can count from 1-10 in 3 languages: English, Mandarin and French. In the process of teaching her to continue up to 20. She gets it sometimes in English and Mandarin but French is still abit wonky.

* Finally able to recognize colors proficiently in English. Was starting to worry that perhaps she was color blind when all objects were pronounced to be "Red!"
However, now all objects are "Hong se!" (mandarin for red) But this time i wont worry that she wont get it in the end!

* Loves to sing in all 3 languages, and can even make up silly songs on her own, complete with her very own made up lyrics. Very hilarious when she starts singing the words "Mummy mummy go away!" to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars, when I try to get her to eat just that few more mouthfuls of rice.
Favourite songs: All english songs basically, for mandarin she loves "Xiao Ya - Duckling song" and "Yi shan yi shan liang jing jing - Twinkle twinkle", French "Joyeux Anniversaire - Happy Birthday" and "Tete epaule genoux et pieds - Head shoulders Knees and Toes"

* Adept at answering "Who, What, Why, When, How?" questions. Her carefully thought out hilarious answers sometimes leaves us in stitches. My favourite past time is "chatting" with her about anything in particular. Sample conversation:

Me: Terelle who is at the door?
T: Scary uncle
Me: What is the scary uncle doing there?
T: Waiting to catch me
Me: Why does he want to catch you?
T: Because...because im naughty
Me: How did he get there?
T: By aeroplane
Me: When is he going to go home?
T: When he wants to sleep

* Tries her utmost to get out of having her hair washed every night. Every single night without fail, she will look at you with expectant, shining eyes and ask imploringly "No wash hair?" To which i will reply cheerfully "Must wash hair!" Now she kinda accepts her nightly fate with a resigned "Ok my hair is stinko..."

* Behavior wise, I am happy to say that she responds well to negotiating. I do not have to resort to hitting or caning her as i believe that that should always be the last resort. She will usually abide by my requests and listen to my commands. For example, when i tell her that it is not nice to snatch toys and that she must share them or else no one will play with her in the future, she will usually give up the toy obligingly. That having been said, all negotiations will cease when she is in a foul mood, especially when she is sleepy, and amidst much screaming and crying, the desired toy will still not be relinquished.

* She is well and truly Daddy's girl - she can get away with just about anything with her Daddy! Cos as soon as she turns on the waterworks and adopts the damsel in distress persona, Daddy melts and will accede to all (well 90% of) her requests. And she knows how to play her cards very well! Switching from a cool, well behaved child who is eating all her vegetables in my presence to a whiny "manja" queen as soon as im say, off to the toilet and she is left alone with her Daddy, who just cannot bear to shovel another spoonful of the offending greens into his snivelling, theatrical daughter's mouth!!

Well, well...With her around, our life just gets more and more interesting everyday!

The grandparent gain? I wish...

Magazines always extoll the virtues of having a grandparent's influence in a child's life.

"Never underestimate the influence of grandparents as they are universally recognised as great companions who constantly shower their grandchildren with lots of love and special treats"

"Grandparents have a truckload of life experiences, and they can privide your child with a rich sense of family history"

"Your child will then have a better sense of who he is, and where he has come from. He will have roots, a history, and a sense of belonging, continuity and perspective"

Oh yes ive heard all of this and i do believe in the importance of my child being with her grandparents. And i do know that whenever she spends time with my parents, she is happy and contented because they do dote on her and indulge her shamelessly.

But why oh why is it so hard for them to be a constant feature in her life instead of being manipulated by the petty issues in their own lives, and leaving her constantly wondering where is one or the other when both were supposed to be meeting her?

Why oh why when i am stressed and overwhelmed by work and the world outside, they are not my listeners and advisors? Havent they "been there and done that" and have the hindsight to help put my issues into perspective? Instead, they carry on and on about their own inability to get along with each other and how they wish for the millionth time that each other never existed so that their misery will end. A depressing whirlpool that relentlessly sucks me in, leaving me drained of energy and feeling immensely guilty for coming into this world and "forcing" them to stay together for my sake while growing up.

Why oh why are my parents not mental and tangible support for me when i truly need them? All i need is a place for me to leave my daughter, without any fear or worries, whenever i need to go to work for a couple of hours. Even this is denied of me, and all because a dog takes priority in my old home. A cranky, mad, sick, old mutt who has refused to be tamed since the beginning of time but whom they refuse to get rid of because of "ethical reasons". Because of this mutt, i cannot bring my daugher home for fear that it will chew her up, gouge her eyes out and infect her with a virus. As a result, my daughter is robbed of precious time with her grandparents, time which could be spent more constructively and which, i am sure will be much treasured by her when she grows up and reminisces about her childhood.

The solution is simple: Send the dog to an animal shelter where it can live out the rest of its days, with visitation rights of course. But no, the dog takes priority over my daughter. It stays and she has to stay away. Case closed.

And yet, they carry on a constant tirade about not being able to see her often, and missing her, and being all depressed and upset because they havent had a chance to see her in a long time. Why oh why torture themselves when my girl can actually spend 3 entire afternoons a week with them? I really wonder if the presence of the dog provides more happiness than 3 whole afternoons a week with your own grandchild.

I am particularly miffed and upset now, all because of a phone call telling me that time was wasted roaming the streets of Singapore in a bid to get away from each other today. Time that Terelle could have spent buliding a bond with her grandparents. To me that is utter waste. Period. And it makes me absolutely sick and tired of this charade of martydom, and to what cause?? And how much more time is there left to be wasted??

I remember growing up at my Granny's house; her warm presence, her yummy meals, her cantonese rhymes and stories and just being there for me and with me. I also remember violently refusing to go home at the end of the week simply because Granny was home to me. Sadly, my daughter will never experience the intensity of these feelings, and all because her grandparents are too bitter with life, too caught up with feeling sorry for themselves and too full of pride to look beyond their grievances to let her into their lives.

I pray for my children's sake, that my husband and i will never become so embittered and resentful of each other. For it will be a painful, draining and depressing legacy to pass on and i would never ever want them to carry this burden, the way my sister and i are carrying it now.

All i need is a miracle right now.

Daddy's fat

Hubby goes for an evening workout at the gym most evenings if he comes home early. Feeling curious about her potential answer, i asked Terelle why does Daddy need to go to the gym.

I wasnt all that surprised (but totally amused by her candidness) when she answered solemnly, "Because Daddy is fat."

Once again she throws a gem of an answer in our faces. Bravo...

Fish bone, baby Bone?

I was feeding Terelle dinner the other night and i accidentally fed her a large fish bone together with the chunk of meat. Thank god she is a proficient spitter, her skills having been honed by countless spitting episodes of food that she does not fancy.

Out came the chunk of meat and bone and i was admonished with an exasperated look and the words " Mummy!! Baby no eat bone! Only dogs love to eat bones!!"

I should have been shocked, fearful, relieved...but i could only manage to laugh hysterically...Haha...


She has also taken to calling the new baby "Bone". I wonder isit because she heard the doctor say that he could see the baby's nasal bone while we were at my checkup.

We intend to name the baby Thane, so questions of "where is baby Thane?" nowadays, will be met with insistent yells of "Baby Bone!! Baby Bone!!"

Hubby loves to tease her by saying "Thane Thane Thane!" To which she will reply vehemently "BONE BONE BONE!!"

She can be doing her own thing; playing with her toys or reading her storybooks, but if she hears us surreptitiously mentioning Baby Thane, she will simply declare loudly "BONE!!" without even looking up from whatever she is doing.

I guess we will let her call her brother (?) whatever pet name she fancies...Guess we have to be thankful it is a cute pet name instead of something unmentionable. Imagine if she had heard the doctor saying "penis", now wouldnt that be a disaster???

Circle of Friends

Hubby had a dinner appointment last Saturday which Terelle and I couldnt attend, and i didnt want to be stuck at home on a Saturday nite. I immediately called up my trusty April Mummy friends and invited myself over to their houses to hang out.

It suddenly struck me that by and large, i have become so much closer to this group of friends, they with whom i can carry out endless conversations about motherhood (or anything else for that matter), whom are the only ones who do not frown and cringe when my toddler acts up, they who are the only ones who understand and symphatise when i have to go through a particularly testy and challenging time handling a temperamental 2 year old.

It is extra rare and heartening that we have bonded not because of a common hobby, a shared interest or because of mutual friends. Everyone has clicked so well simply by virtue of the fact that our kids are all born in the same month and we are on this journey through motherhood together. We are all of different ages, have different characters, have no shared history nor have ever known one another's teenage angsts or heartbreaks, yet we have no lack of topics to yak about and can confide in each other our secrets and fears.

With these friends i know that my gal will be guaranteed a whale of a time playing with her little friends, and that i can also have a good gossip session and maybe even enjoy a nice enough dinner (minimal interruptions in 5 minute intervals like squeals of delight, bruises or bumps while playing too roughly or petty squabbling session among the kids are totally tolerable) My old friends who do not have kids are still footloose and fancy free and are all out on a Saturday nite having fancy dinners, watching the latest movie, having supper and partying till dawn. To them watching your kids play together at home must be the most boring thing to do on a Saturday night and boy would i be out of my mind if i were to drag my gal over to their house and "torture" them with this ordeal.

And so we drift apart from our old friends...perhaps maybe just on this particular chapter in life. On the rare occasions that we do meet, we still have a good time, reminiscing about the past, gossipping about mutual friends and sharing our hopes and dreams.

And who says we have boring Saturday nites in? The whole gin gang trooped to Macs at 1am that night for a late night treat, kids in their PJs and all!

My little Piglet!

Yes it is going to be a little Piggy baby! Funny how 2 lines will change your life forever...

My toddler, my blessing...

Havent been faithfully updating this blog so thought ill get down to it again, cos i have just so many thoughts now that my little girl is growing up so quickly.

She is now a toddler, a walking, talking exercise in patience and love.

Suddenly, her entire vocabulary consists of of 'no!' and she makes up silly songs to shoo you away and get off her back. Overnight, she's gone from being an angel full of smiles, coos and adorable gurgles, to a hell-bent toddler, concerned only with getting into every room, nook, and cranny that she isn’t supposed to be in.

She is an enigma of extremes; one moment, she is smiling like a chershire cat and smothering you with kisses while the next moment she is a wild, screaming banshee, embarrassing you in the cafeteria all because she doesnt want her friend to eat the crackers from the same bowl as her.

I cherish the few quiet, stolen moments especially just before bedtime, when she lays her head on my shoulder, or when she kisses me just so that mummy will be happy instead of sad. I act the clown with her and close one eye even if its way past bedtime, whenever she prances around the house every night during her last bursts of energy, just so that i can hear the giggles of my toddler for a little while more. And sometimes i just do not have the heart to admonish her when she pretends her mouth is full for the upteenth time, just so that she doesnt have to take a another spoonful of food, all because of the impish gleam in her dancing eyes.

My girl sees the world through rose tinted glasses. Every mundane thing in my life is transformed into something new and wonderful in her eyes! Picking bits of fluff off the blanket, rummaging through the dustbin, smothering a stranger's dog with hugs and kisses, anything prohibited becomes an extraordinarily fun thing to do! Her imagination is limitless and i constantly find myself wondering where in the world does she find the energy to be a rabbit one moment, a dancing robot the next and then running at top speed around the house saying hello to everyone!

They call these years the terrible twos. Yet somehow, in between the tantrums, the crocodile tears, the ability to say no a thousand times over and repeat a request over and over again like a broken record, there is something precious and unique about this time spent with a toddler. Every day is a challenge and yet every day she lights up your world with new antics and out of this world comments.

The kiss, the lopsided grin, the hugs and words of "wisdom" of a toddler will warm your heart like nothing else will do, even on the toughest days when you feel like throwing in the towel and giving up. Regardless of the hard moments, being a mother to this toddler is one of the biggest blessings in my life and i will remember these crazy, happy times for as long as i live.

Daddy, naughty boy!

Hubby got a speeding ticket today and Terelle was fascinated as she watched her father being reprimanded by the traffic police at the back of our car.

When poor Daddy came back to the car, I asked her why did the police man catch Daddy. To which came this solemn reply, complete with an admonishing finger, " Because Daddy naughty boy!"

Will the wonders never cease?! Haha...

Homeward bound!

Day 15 - 22nd October 2006

After a gruelling 14 days, for the daddies and mummies at least, we are finally going home! Usually i will be a little sad at the end of a holiday, and definitely reluctant to leave the country to go back to mundane Singapore. However this time round, i was actually quite happy to be going back home to rest my exhausted, aching body. And i guess everyone else also felt the same way...

Goodbye Monsieur Phillipe and his minion, Arnaud

Just as we were about to board our plane, there was an announcement that the flight would be delayed for an hour. Now why didnt that come as a surprise at all? We have all become immune to the constant delays that we had to endure throughout the past 2 weeks. Sigh...

Nevertheless, the girls managed to charm this adorable 8 year old French boy who was taking the same plane as us. He was so smitten by them that he came over to where we were sitting and refused to leave their sides! He kept carrying them, hugging them, singing to them and lavishing them with kisses! Whoa..they really have a way with French men!

We're bored!! Can we go now??

Finally after much waiting again...we were good to go!

Because it was an afternoon flight, the girls were bouncing off the walls in the plane. They jumped on the seats (or rather Terelle did), walked up and down the aisles, snacked non stop, yakked with each other, watched dvd after dvd...

Help Terelle! You're squashing me!!

Only this could keep them in their seats!

Yippee we're going home!!

All in all it was a memorable, albeit tiring 2 weeks and a holiday of such proportions with 2 babies in tow definitely didnt come cheap. Many of our friends and family members have challenged us by saying that it was a waste to have brought Terelle on such a trip as she is so young and wouldnt be able to remember anything.

I beg to differ...as you see her entire face light up when she sees something she has never seen before or hear her squeals of joy when she is up close and personal with nature or just watch her as she revels in simply being out and about in different surroundings, all the tiredness is worth it and the money is well spent. And i believe these imprints will be with her for a lifetime.

To paraphrase those Mastercard ads: Holiday with kids - $X. But a lifetime of memories - Priceless.

Chateau de Versailles...Opulent and Obnoxious

Day 14 - 21st October 2006
Today's the last day that we'll be running around Paris, and boy are we glad! After 2 weeks our shoulders have become numb from the weight of the overflowing bags and wriggling babies.

Today's itinerary is a visit to Versailles, the official residence of Louis XIV. Everyone was simply gushing over Versailles and told us that a visit to Paris wouldnt be complete if we didnt see it, so in spite of the constant ache in our battered bodies, we braved the half hour train ride out of Paris to view its reputed magnificence.
Apparently it was so grand, so luxurious, and so expensive to maintain that its upkeep and maintenance, including the care and feeding of staff and the royal family, consumed as much as 25 percent of the total income of France!

But then again...almost everything in France is excessive...

Thankfully the queue was bearable when we arrived so we got into the Palace itself rather quickly. However, we were a little horrified when they told us that strollers and even the baby carrier werent allowed inside. How were we to manage 2 crazy toddlers, who were bent on getting their hands on everything, while trying to explore the extensive palace grounds??

In front of the main facade of the Palace

Well too bad for Louis XIV then! We wont be held responsible for any damaged piece of history, his modern day staff had confiscated the very contraptions we had that could restrain our inquisitive babes!

It was heaven for the girls! There were so many things to see and touch and destroy!!

Kings and queens once held court before this fireplace...and what are the girls doing there?

Playing their favourite, row row row your boat!

While their mummies played the part of the wide eyed tourist to great effect!

Some views of the opulent interior, including the chapel (top left) and the bedchambers of the king and queen

Kara making herself at home and hoping to jump onto the huge 4 poster bed

At the heart of the Palace is the Galerie des Glaces or the Hall of Mirrors; it is located between the Peace Drawing Room and the War Drawing Room. It is a spectacular hallway that contains 357 mirrors, placed in seventeen arcades that match seventeen windows on the opposite wall. These mirrors were of an unprecedented size for that particular era.

Louis XIV had also ordered that the benefits of his government be painted on the ceiling; his painter had him appear as a Roman Emperor, a great administrator of his kingdom, and victorious over foreign powers.

If you ask me, this room simply screams narcissicm! Paintings of himself on the ceiling and mirrors everywhere? Just an excuse for Louis XIV to constantly admire and remind himself how great he was!

The Galerie des Glaces

This section of the Hall of Mirrors was undergoing restoration, but the chadeliers still cast dancing lights all around which lent a rare but surreal atmosphere to the otherwise supercilious surroundings

The largest formal gardens ever created in the grounds of Versailles

At the end of our tour, both the girls had fallen asleep in our arms. We were right at the other end of the Palace, so the guys had to go back to the entrance to retrieve the stroller and carrier, while Evon and I waited on benches at the exit.

When they returned, a snooty guard nearby informed them brusquely that strollers were not allowed in the Palace and that if we wanted to load the babies, we had to do it outside in the cold. Come on, we were like just 3metres away, couldnt you bend your thoughtless rules just a little and spare some consideration to the sleeping babies? The stroller definitely weighs much less than your 80kg frame and if you think you're not making a dent in the precious Palace's floor, why should it??

In the end, we just ignored his ramblings and Caleb wheeled the stroller right past him. We loaded the babies slowly, all the while shooting the guard dirty looks and making sure he knew that we were NOT HAPPY with his attitude. After all, it was our last day in France and we were quite fed up with the Parisians' (some of them) uppity attitude and their efficiency at getting things done, if at all.

I forgot to mention that in Paris, in the hierarchy of privileges, babies are ranked below dogs. Why do I say this? Because when we were outside a cafe along Champs-Elysees and the girls started to climb the steps up into the premises, we were stopped by yet another snooty waiter who informed us in condescending tones that babies were not allowed. We were stunned and incensed when just at that moment, a woman with a dog in tow jauntily sauntered inside.

Perhaps that is why the guard treated us the way he did at Versailles. Perhaps it is an unwritten rule that concessions are not to be given to babies, ever!

We were oh so angry...including Terelle!

Us feeding the girls on the train ride back..they were obviously NOT ENJOYING their food...

I dont blame them, 2 weeks of mushy and tasteless jar food is definitely not appetising!

We headed to St Lazare for some last minute shopping. It was another busy town with tons of people and large department stores.

The flurry of activity, just outside the train station

Figuring out the route to a mega sports store

We didnt buy anything in the end cos everything was just too expensive. As we debated on where to go for a good dinner to round off our holiday, the girls were busy taking the store apart.

Terelle finally helping to do some serious research for a good restaurant, probably cos she was hungry too!

We didnt want to venture far as we were all drop dead tired so we decided to try out this little eatery near the Metro. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out that they served authentic Parisian food and even had baby chairs!

Tucking into a sumptous feast...

...while the girls had a rolling good (bread) time!

And leaving a mess after it all

Somewhere in Paris, among the restaurant circles, we believe we have been blacklisted; because our kids made a huge mess by throwing rice, crayons and papers on the floor, smearing food on the baby chairs and even leaving their artistic imprints on the walls.

Dont track us down please...we are truly apologetic...