Disneyland, California

We are back from our 10 days/9 nights road trip to Anaheim & Vegas! Both Walker & I were completely shagged out by the kids but it made us happy being able to do fun things together as a family :)

19 to 22 December 2011

Our first destination was to visit the happiest place on earth... Disneyland! Although it was Ash's maiden voyage to the theme parks, she was as brave as her brother on the rides!



Sharing the few pictures we managed to take amidst the crowds in the park. Heehee, guess we need to choose a more 'off-peak' period to visit.







We realised Kaeden has matured alot! He is no longer the little boy that goes woohooo over kiddy rides like the Flying Dumbo. I hope Walker has a strong enough heart to accompany Kaeden for more thrilling rides because I definitely don't have one! One round on the Goofy's Sky School with him made me wanna dig a hole and hide my face with all the yelling!

Daddy is HoMe!!!

Walker is finally home after being away for almost a month! Still find it hard to believe that I actually survived through the absence and had done so much better than expected *pat myself on the back*

Now the family is busy getting ready for our upcoming trip to Vegas and Disneyland. Kaeden is really excited about it and he caught me by surprise when he told me he can't wait to visit the M&M shop and sample the ice-cream float in different flavours! WoW... who say kids don't remember anything? Haha, at least mine can remember where he been to 3 years ago!

Praying hard that the weather will be in our favour and that the kids will be good :) Amen

Mouse's house

Imaginative play is a very important aspects of a child's development and I realised that Kaeden has been getting better in this area of 'play' lately.

He will come out with something from his imagination, be it through drawing, fixing or building and describe it in detail (sometime he can go on for as long as 30mins of non-stop talking!) Usually, I will just listen and nod my head but today, I decided to have them written down on a paper instead...

Ta-da! A mouse's house built from pillows and blankets in one tiny corner of the house.




Summarized list from his verbal descriptions (written by me and spelled by him except for those underlined words which I helped him with it)

Helping hands

My once-upon-a-time little boy seems to have grown so much eversince we arrived here. Not only has he learnt to bath and dress himself, wear his own shoe/sock etc... he has also been a really great help with Ash during those long hours of just the 3 of us.

Last night, Kaeden saw me feeding Ash and he asked if he could give it a try. I thought: 'why not?' and passed him the spoon. Didn't expect the both of them to be so happy about it. Well... I am the even happier one since I have one lesser 'workload'!




Ash was also trying to be helpful too, trying to dust the window ledge BUT in less than 1 min, she sent a box of flashcards and magnets flying... *oops*

Our 1st 'big-enough' snowfall in MH

Kaeden was super duper excited to see snowflakes falling and had wanted to play outside but his bad Mummy said 'no'. It was really too cold and I couldn't risk having him sick with Ash already under the weather.

Sigh... nonethless, I can't help feeling guilty about it and 'invited' him to our backyard for a little snowplay before we head off to school in the morning... That definitely made his day :)

Chaotic week

It has been a chaotic week with Ash running a fever, passing loose stools and losing her usual appetite/sleep. Makes me sad simply by looking at her moody face :(

She was so clingy to me that it was almost impossible to do any housework! Sigh... sometime she left me with no choice that I got to just let her cry... On a happier note, I am really thankful for having Kaeden around. He has been a great help watching over his sister when I need to get things done :)

A picture of a slightly cheerful Ash this morning sharing Mac's hotcake with me...



Some stuff that Kaeden & I managed to do together despite the busy week. Heehee didn't want my boy to feel neglected because of Ash...

We set up a table specially for all his Legos and gotten all the mixed-up pieces fixed! This 'activity' almost KILL-ed me! Imagine fishing for THAT particular small piece amidst a whole box of other sets.




Kaeden also helped me with the packing of Christmas goodies for his classmates in CH. I purposely made him share out some sweets from his 'collections' so that he can understand/experience this season of giving.



I bought a 6 feet Christmas tree from Walmart and gotten it set up... no decorations yet though as I wanted to visualize it first before deciding on the colour theme. Hopefully we can get all that we need this weekend if the weather permits.

Well, that is all for now :) Another 12 more days to Daddy's homecoming! Can't wait!

Health Check @ 1 Year Old

Brought Ashlyn for her 'well-baby' check-up this afternoon and she is now weighing 8.8kg, length 71cm.

According to the doctor, she hasn't been growing since her last visit in July... BUT HOW CAN THAT BE??? She has been eating, drinking and sleeping well... *scratch head*

Sigh... anyway, every other part of her is well and healthy so I guess that means she is fine?

She was given 5 different jabs on her thighs :( As for me, I brought home a super whiny baby running a temperature of 38.5oC :( really is 祸不单行!

An emo day :(

Today is the 7th day since Walker left for TDY and is also the first time I could no longer hold back my tears :(

I felt so tired, really tired... I don't know if I still have any energy left for the next 18 days to go.

Whenever Walker left us for work overseas last time, I always have something to keep me going on... Dinner @ Mum's, bringing Kaeden for weekend classes at Forum, chit-chat session with my friends while waiting for our kids to finish class BUT now... what do I have to look forward to?

Happy 1st Birthday Ash!

How time flies! It seems like not long ago that we were still getting ready for your arrival and now you are ONE!

The past year has been an exciting one as we watched you grow from a newborn baby who only sleeps and eats into a interactive, mobile and curious little girl. Mummy is so glad to be there with you as you achieved your each and every little milestones.

Happy Birthday, my little Princess!

May you always remain healthy, happy & pretty!

Love,

Daddy, Mummy & Kaeden

Annual Chili Feed

CH had their Annual Chili Feed (which I still dunno what is it) at MH First Congregational Church this afternoon.

When I heard that the kids will be singing, I got really excited BUT... after watching the first item performed by the pre-Kindergarten kids, my jaw dropped! Its really a song... no microphone, no background music... nothing... just a SONG.

Ok ok... I admit, its my fault for imagining it to be as happening as those in GH. Nonetheless, when I saw Kaeden up on the stage, my face beamed with joy and pride of my son :)

************

In the morning, all ready to go out!



Mummy & Ashlyn, waiting eagerly for the concert to start...



The Kindergarten Class!

Pandan Kaya Bread

I am so proud that my 1st attempt at Pandan Kaya Bread turned out to be a huge success! For someone who couldn't even produce any decent stuff from premixes to someone who can bake almost anything, its indeed a great achievement :)

Ashlyn is turning ONE!

We had 2 parties on separate weekends for Ashlyn before Daddy leave for TDY. Ash was so happy and I bet she must have enjoyed herself having all the Uncles and Aunties carrying her around.


Cupcake Party (13 November 2011) with Uncle Mark/Aunty Joan, Uncle Johnson/Aunty Stacey, Uncle JD/Aunty Alison, Uncle Eng Soon/Aunty Tatiana…







Baby Mickey and Minnie Party (19 November 2011)

Ashlyn and Isaac were born only days apart so Yesmin & I decided to celebrate their birthday together with both our friends.

Ashlyn & Isaac

It was a fun afternoon spent with Yesmin and the kids over at my place. Reminded me of all the play-dates and la kopi session that I used to have back home with the girls.

Isaac seems to have to have grown so much. I still remember the last time when Yesmin left him at my place to run an errand, he was crying nonstop... Yet the boy now was too pre-occupied with playing to notice that his Mummy has left my place for a while to buy lunch.

Lonely... Indeed

It seems like the moment I boarded the plane to US, I am destined to be associated with the word... "lonely"... and perhaps, "helpless" too.

To the ang moh doctors, cough and flu are probably some of the most common ailments with most children here due to the constant cold weather BUT for ME, who came from a place with a totally different culture, I find them 没人情味。

The first time Ash caught a cold was because I didn't dress her enough, so I learnt from it. This time round, she was in THREE layers! Thermal, fleece sleepsuit and a thick fleece outercoat... We are not even walking in the open! Its just out from the car, into the stroller and inside the restaurant :( And it always have to happen when I am out with her on my own... Am I such a lousy mother?

Now I have to spend the rest of the many days watching her suffer with little I can do :( How can I ever have a life with friends if all I ever do is school - home - school - home???

Kaeden and his "All about Me" box

Every month, the children will take turn to bring snack for the class and this 'All about me" box will go home with whoever that is due to bring snack the next day.

"All about me" box is meant for the child to place any items in it so that they can share with their class something about themselves or their family. Its our "Show & Tell" equivalent :)

Kaeden was really excited about this box and was so looking forward to bringing it home with him. Almost every Monday, I will hear him asking me whether is it his turn to bring snack this week!

And so... its finally his turn on 2 November... Needless to say, he was super duper happy!

Kitty & Pirate

For the past many years, Halloween meant very little to us as we hardly celebrate this event back in Singapore.

However, all of us had an amazing experience here in Potatoland this year :) With everyone and everything around us being so "Halloween", its hard not to get into the mood for fun!




Last evening when the clock striked 6pm... Kaeden's started his first ever door-to-door trick or treat (with the 3 of us following behind him almost freezing to death ah!)

Ashlyn CAN climb!

Ash has been hovering around the bottom of the stairs for quite some time eversince she mastered the art of crawling... Today, she went halfway up the stairs in just a few minutes time! WOW...

Strike Dam

Walker was on leave last week and even though we didn't travel out of MH, we still had a wonderful time spending every minute together.

It seem like the kids and I hardly see him around the house ever since we came over here. Probably due to the nature of his work and also the long working hours. But well... 不来都来了.

Kaeden had no school on Friday due to the Fall Teacher Conference so we brought the kids out to explore Strike Dam.

Idaho Power

 
 

The infamous Dam of Mountain Home...

 

the beautiful scenary...

 

and of course, US!

Learning to communicate

Ash hardly cries for milk unless she happened to be 'confined' inside either her cot or playyard. Usually, she will come looking for me whenever she wants food. Its really cute seeing her 'parked' herself on the floor after she spotted me and used her own language to communicate her needs.



After I responded to her, she will waited eagerly for me to make milk or prepare her cereals...



Lastly... of cos her happy face :)