Shake my hand

It really makes me wonder what is going on in a child's mind at times. They can think of the funniest things.

Today while I was lying next to Jiaheng in bed, he asked me to shake his hand. "Mommy, can you shake my hand?" I reached out my hand to him and he took it.

"Mommy, I pass my power back to you ok?" "Jiaheng, what power?" I asked. "Mommy, you gave me the power to read, now I want to give it back to you, so that you can pass it to Yixuan and then to the 3rd baby, the 4th and the 5th."

I am tickled by what he said and at the same time feel happy at his generosity. Woah! 3rd baby, 4th and even the 5th! Thanks but no thanks my boy. I am very happy and contented with my 1st and 2nd baby... and not to mention the biggest baby of you all... your Papa of course! Haha

Guess I will just stick to that... at least for the next few years. Mommy wants to reserve my time to grow up with the 2 of you.

Up till now, Mommy has not regretted giving up my job to stay home with you and Yixuan. To some, they may view it as a sacrifice. To me, I view it as a blessing and a gift to be able to do so. Nothing beats the bond we created.

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posted by Mommy

First Steps

Yixuan Yixuan, come, come to mommy ... and then *plod plod plod* and she landed in my arms. ;)

I moved back a little, opened up my arms and then called out again. *plod plod plod* Hey, the little girl made 3 quick steps before losing her balance and landed in my arms again. Mommy was all smiles, so was the girl.

Yeh! It's our dear Princess first steps.

I first saw her rehearsing her moves. She held my hand and then squat down, stand up, squat down and then stand up. She seems to like what she was doing and kept rehearsing those moves. My mum told me that once the little one starts to do the squatting and standing, she is ready to take the first steps.

So, I decided to give it a go. I sat in front of her. First I helped her stabalise herself before I let go and called out to her to come to me. Initially, I was not sure what she will do... will she 'run' to me? just *plomp* sit down again? carry on standing and waiting for me to take actions? ??? But when she made those first steps, I was so proud of her. And more important, she was so proud of herself.

Hug Hug baby Yixuan.

It is really amazing how fast babies learn in those first few initial months. Yixuan just turned 10 months a few days ago and it seems just not too long ago when I first held her in my arms. She was so helpless then and now she has taken her first steps.

I am so glad that I can be home to take care of her while I worked.

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posted by Mommy

Clap clap clap

Have you seen those comedy when the comedian tries to clap but can't coordinate well and ended up missing the clap?

Yep! I just witnessed it today. So funny.

Yixuan just picked up the clapping skill and really enjoys doing it. She will keep on clapping if she has audiences. (aka mommy, Jiaheng gege, Popo) She will also clap when Mommy sings the "If you are happy and you know it" song. She will clap with you when you actually wanted to clap and signal her to come to you. Ha ha.

*Clap clap clap* well done my girl.

Jiaheng wants to talk to God

"Mommy, I want to talk to God." Jiaheng told me at bedtime tonight. He said, "Mommy, do this." and as he spoke, he clasped his fingers and asked me to follow suit.

"Dear God" Jiaheng started. "Please make Quek Kay Hng well, and Quek Yi Xuan well and Wang Tse Wern well." "God, Quek Yi Xuan is sleeping next to Wang Tse Wern. And Quek Kay Hng is talking to you now." (as if he is trying hard to describe us so that God can pinpoint us)

"God, please make all the sick people well." (ah... so sweet...) Then he turned to me and asked, "Mommy, any more people sick?" I said "What about your Popo?" Jiaheng quickly continued his prayer "God, please make my Popo well too, she is staying in Blk 158, Toa Payoh, Lor 1."

I nearly could not control my laughter... yes Jiaheng, God will not miss out your grandma. (when you went to the details of giving God her address)

It all started when Jiaheng started school at a Christian kindergarten this June. They do prayers before school starts and during snack time. So Jiaheng started his conversation with God too. We do not really have a religion and we are open to what he is doing. We believe in giving him a choice.

Life is all about making choices, isn't it?

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posted by Mommy

Goal Setting Works... results are in

Hey! We are proud to announce that Jiaheng has finished reading 100 books today. And he proudly read the statement printed on the reward chart that says "Yeh! I have finished reading 100 books."

And for his reward, we gave him a watch. The previous watch was left in his pocket and ended up in the washing machine. :P From his look, we can see he likes his watch.

Jiaheng requested for another goal, i.e. to print another reward chart with another 100 empty boxes so that he can finish reading 200 books. Goal setting really works for him and has pushed him to greater heights. We are very happy with the results.

Brother-Sister Love

Jiaheng was not very cooperative today. He kept saying "No" to things I proposed or requested him to do.

I was hoping to quickly bath him and then put Yixuan to bed so that my mum can go home earlier today to rest. Throughout the 5 minutes bathing process, Jiaheng already said quite a few "No"s. Hmmm... one of those days.

When I asked him to come over to the bed so that I could dress him, he did so so so slowly. I could not contain my anger and I flared up at him. Yixuan was with my mum in the living room. According to the witness (my mum), Yixuan was very upset and teared when she heard me scolding Jiaheng.

When Jiaheng started crying in the room, Yixuan also burst into tears in the living room. I carried her over and brought her to the room while I continued to discipline Jiaheng. So can you imagine, the stereo symphony of cries and wails surrounding me?

Normally, when Yixuan fell down or was cranky, she will calm down when I nurse her. But at this moment, even that fails. She only stopped when Jiaheng stopped crying.

I guess she really love her brother very much. We all agreed after witnessing what happened today.

We hope that they will continue loving, looking after and depending on each other as they grow.
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Posted by Mommy

Goal Setting Works...

Successful people always say that we have to set goals and work towards it. It is proven to work through a lesson my son taught me.

Jiaheng is a fairly good reader for someone his age. He can pull out almost any of the pre-schooler books and read. Guess, he figured the words either through memory or through the use of phonics. Or perhaps, the cards flashing that Mommy did for him in his early days helped.

However, we felt that his reading is too ad-hoc. We decided to give him a goal to achieve. That is to achieve reading 100 books (since Jiaheng likes big numbers, so we decided to give him a big goal).

We prepared two boxes for him. One says "I am going to read these books", the other says "I have finished reading these books". Then we have a reading chart with 100 boxes pasted on the wall. Everytime he finished a book from one box and put it into the other box, he can paste a sticker in the reading chart. By the time, all boxes on the chart are filled, Jiaheng will have finished reading 100 books!

With this goal in mind, it really motivates Jiaheng to read more consistently. He already completed coming to 60 books in a mere two weeks time.

Yes! Goal setting works. Have you set your goal today?

Midnight Peek-a-boo

My son and daughter sleep in the same room as us. My son will sleep on the mattress next to our bed, nearer to Mommy side. Our daughter will sleep between us on the big bed.

I climbed into bed quietly next to my princess yesterday night. I looked at the clock, it's already past twelve o'clock. As usual, I placed the small pillow over my eyes to induce sleep.

While I was just about to doze off, I felt my pillow being pulled away from my face. Very instinctively, I opened my eyes quickly. And there, greeting me was my dear princess, sitting next to me with her usual charming toothless grin. :)

Oh... hello there. I was a little surprised and caught off-guard to see her. But as I was about to fall asleep, I was really very tired. So I said to her, "Good night, Yixuan... Papa is sleeping already... you sleep too ok?". And needless to say, the answer will be "not ok"... cos the pillow was pulled off the moment I replaced it.

Oh I get it... she was playing Peek-a-boo with Papa.... in the middle of the night! She was so excited to see me place the pillow on my face that she pulled it off the moment I put in there. Once, twice, thrice... and I never fail to see that happy face every time the pillow was pulled away.

How can I be upset when I see her cute face? So what is the next best thing to do? Of course, to wake Mommy up to "share" in the fun lah!

90 ml in 24 hours

Our dear princess refused to drink! This is really upsetting for Mommy and Grandma.

Even when Mommy tries to squeeze in a bottle teat into her mouth when she has fallen asleep, she will still raise her hand and brush the bottle aside. When princess is awake, it is just impossible to get the bottle near her. She is indeed good at "tai chi" and quickly "tai chi" the bottle away.

She only wants to nurse on Mommy to get some fluid in. But Mommy wants to "see" the quantity that goes into her princess. So, Mommy resorts to syringing the milk in... pouring the milk in... letting princess drink direct from the cup. Finally managed 90 ml in 24 hours.

Then Grandma said, let's give her some porridge tomorrow. Mommy says "Yes".

It was one mouthful after another mouthful. Princess is simply gumming her food in (still no teeth lah). Mommy is simply delightful and more importantly relieved. After that one day of porridge, her thirst of milk came back. In fact, she wants MORE milk. She also wants to drink plain water (or "plane" water in Jiaheng's words)

So our gal is starting to make her stand known. She is learning to assert herself. She wants to tell us that she wants more than just milk. And the "hunger strike" got what she wants!

Boys' Night In

Jiaheng likes the idea of having "The Boys Team" and "The Girls Team".

Grandpa, Papa and Jiaheng form "The Boys Team".
Grandma, Mommy and Yixuan form "The Girls Team".

Tonight, Mommy says that she is going for an all girls night out with her good friends. So she asked Jiaheng to spend a night with Papa. After much reassurance that Mommy and Yixuan will come back before his bedtime at 10 pm, Jiaheng reluctantly agreed.

I brought Jiaheng to the central to shop around. Then let him play at the playground. He enjoyed himself tremendously. Running, climbing, sliding and most importantly smiling. :)

Then we had a meal at a cafe that just opened not long ago. It was the first time that we patronised the shop. Jiaheng ordered his favourite Spaghetti and I took a chicken chop. Each of us had an orange juice. It was a simple meal but a good one.

Next up, Papa planned the movie, "Surf Up". Everything is going on well until 10 minutes before the movie is finished. Jiaheng asked me the dreaded question "Is Mommy coming home already?" Oopps! Quick, quick sms Mommy.... *reaching in 5 mins* came the reply. Phew!

Yes, our dear boy still can't do without his Mommy. But Papa and Jiaheng had a great time these few hours... for our "Boys' Night In".

Papa, I Miss You

Tomorrow morning, I am taking the morning coach to KL.

Tonight, before Jiaheng went to sleep he remembered that I will be going to KL tomorrow. He asked me "Papa, I miss you. Do you miss me?"

I looked at him and said "The moment Papa step out of the house, I will start to miss you." And Jiaheng replied "Papa I miss you too".

We played and talked a little while more and then Jiaheng started his Good Night Chant.

Here is how the chant goes...

Goodnight Papa, Goodnight Mommy, Goodnight Yixuan, Goodnight Everybody.
I love Papa, I love Mommy, I love Yixuan, I love Myself, I love Everybody.

*yawn* *yawn* .... drifted off to dream land...

Sleep well Jiaheng. Papa will miss you, Yixuan and mommy.

All Down!

First it was my girl, next was my son, then it spread to my mother-in-law and then my wife got it too. Everyone was down...

The cough and running nose virus is all around. And the bug got my family members too. I actually planned to go to Malaysia for the business on Wednesday morning. But I changed my mind and decided to stay back to look after them. Because they are the reason why I am building this business... of course, I will choose to stay by them at this moment. Moreover, there is no boss around to demand my attendance in the office and no limit to the leave I can take now.

Woah.... I know that it is never easy being a full-time mom looking after two kids but I didn't know it could be this tiring. One minute my girl wants to pull herself to stand, the next minute, she wants to grab the TV remote control on the table. While I was busy catching up on my girl, my boy zooming around the house on the scooter bike. By the end of the first day, I was exhausted. Still it feels good being able to spend time with my two active kids and let my wife rest.

Despite the fact that I didn't do much for the business these 4 days, my business is still growing. That is the beauty of this business. I am really thankful for this.

Jiaheng went to school ... alone

Today is Jiaheng's 3rd day in his new school.

Jiaheng transferred to his new school, Zion Kindergarten, this term. He was supposed to go only next year but we decided to bring it forward to this term.

Earlier, the principal offered to let me sit in his class for the first 3 days. I declined. Think I expect too much from him. Maybe because he did not cry or throw tantrums when we sent him to his first school, I decided to let him go to the new school alone.

We were waiting at the void deck for the school bus to come pick him up. I gave him a tight hug. I am thankful for that hug cos I think that charged his battery up all the way to last him till end of school. When the bus turned into our carpark, I held his hand and brought him to the bus. He was smiling.

He sat in the seat obediently and the bus auntie helped to buckle him in.... then I saw his face... his smile was gone... he seemed to want me to follow. It was at that very moment that I totally regretted my decision to let him go alone.

As I took the lift home, I was already feeling anxious. It's his first time on a school bus, it's his first day in a new school, it's his first day meeting new classmates.... how could I let him go alone? Bad mommy... bad mommy... I thought. :{

I resisted the temptation to go to school to spy him... but deep inside, I know that I will "fly" to school should I receive a phone call from school. I waited and waited... it's 2 pm! I made a call to school. How relieved and proud I was when the teacher told me that my boy is very independent. That he was able to interact with his classmates and enjoying himself in school. And that there is no need for me to accompany him to school the next day.

Jiaheng really did live up to my expectation and in fact far exceeded it. He is really brave. It's mommy who is lousy. *blush*

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Today is the 3rd day, I sent him to school as we went out before that. He did not take the school bus today.

I really felt that Jiaheng is very brave and strong when I saw the scene at school.

When the school bus arrived in school. The children alighted and stood waiting for the bus auntie to pass them their belongings. The children from the morning session was also there waiting to board the bus. And then, there were the parents hovering over their children (cos it's still within the first 3 days of school and some parents were there).

For a while, there was some commotion as there are so many groups of people standing around. Frankly speaking, even an adult may not know what to do, where to go, how to respond in that situation... not to mention a 4-year old. I really feel that my boy is very brave to have gone through his first day without his mommy.

I am very proud of you, Jiaheng.

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Posted by Mommy

Passport Photos

*Flash* Oppss... Head slanted
*Flash* Hmmm... Eyes not looking at the lens
*Flash* *Flash* Eyes closed!

At this rate, I really wonder when can we get the passports done for our 2 precious ones?

Jiaheng asked me when can he go take the aeroplane? Everytime I go to Malaysia, ( and I always travel on coach) Jiaheng will say that he will go to the airport to fetch me. Guess, he is really looking forward to taking a plane.

We finally decided to go for a trip to Macau-Hong Kong this coming December. Boy! was he thrilled. He will tell his baby sister to sleep and dream about going to Macau. Look who's talking, and who's dreaming?

Well this is the first overseas family trip for us and definitely many more will come. Ultimately, my dream is to bring Jiaheng and Yixuan to Disneyland in USA for one whole month. Over there, they can shake hands with all the characters. :)

P.S. By the time, I finished this post, only Yixuan's photo is ready.

The Crawling Track

Our princess has a crawling track that is designed so that it makes an excellent flooring for her to crawl on it. It boosts of the most suited material and design to enhance her crawling experience. (Excuse me... do I sound like I am doing some advertisement? Anyway, the crawling track is supposed to help her learn crawling.)

Crawling is excellent right-left brain exercise for a young baby. The faster the baby can crawl, the better the brain can develop.

Despite the goodness of crawling, our princess will whine and cry out for help after inching on it for a short while. I figured out it must be the posture of her crawl. She was pushing herself forward on her tummy. Perhaps, there was too much friction. Or perhaps, she just want mommy to comfort her. (Just like us adults, looking for an easy way out)

Mommy and Papa are persistent. We put our princess on the crawling track whenever we can. And today, our princess did not make a single objection and crawled the full length of the crawling track. Guess why? Because, she has progressed to crawling on her knees instead of dragging herself on her tummy. That is the result of many trial and error and improvements.

And one thing is obvious... it's that joyous and proud look on her when she lunged forward to grab the toy we put in front of her.

Somehow, I just link all these I observed back to the business. When I first started the business, it was slow and often there is the urge to "cry out" to stop. Then after much persistance and learning, I just got better and better. So much so, that I am proud of myself for being a better person in personal development and in business building....

Sometimes, I wonder if we are our children's teachers or is it the other way round?

My Run for Silver

It was the most exhausting yet most satisfying run I have ever had.

Woah ... don't get me wrong... I am not refering to those type of run like jogging. It was a run for rank advancement for my business. It was a run that was planned for two weeks. I am very fortunate to have a whole group of team mates behind me in my run.

I am coming to three years in my business. The initial two years was pretty lull. I was working on it bit by bit daily however, there was still the draining job to take away my attention. It was only after I became full time that gave me the freedom to fully pursue my business.

During my run, I focused on the result.... I did not just focus on the process. That makes the journey easier. And everything is worth it when I got attained the rank advancement of Silver Director.

It was really an adrenaline pumping week... right to the last minute before I confirmed the Silver. But hey... you know what... it was FUN.

I am excited and pumped ... and I am ready for more.

Can't wait ...

Jiaheng told me that he wants to get married at age 20, after his NS. He even got someone in mind already. The lucky girl is my future sis-in-law's niece. She is one year younger than Jiaheng.

It's amusing at times what goes on in the minds of the little ones. Seems like he CAN'T WAIT to grow up. Guess completing NS and getting married is his definition of growing up.

But, Jiaheng, do you know that mommy and papa wish that you will stay young and little a while more? We can't get enough of your funny stories, your amusing actions and your "annonying tempers".

Papa CAN'T WAIT to join you in your growing up. CAN'T WAIT to join mommy and spend time with you and Yixuan.

Joining you soon...

She's Everything We Hoped For

You're everything we hoped for
You're everything we need
You are so beautiful
To us
... adapted from song "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker

When our darling princess (that time we still did not know her gender) was in Mommy's tummy, Mommy visualised how our baby will turn out to be. Mommy visualised a baby with big, bright eyes. She saw a baby with a cheerful smile.

Mommy's positive thoughts and strong emotions moulded our darling princess when the tiny one was growing in Mommy's tummy.

The law of attraction is at work again.

At 6 months old, our princess has big, round eyes. Her eyes sparkled when she gazed innocently at you. Her eyes brightens up your day when she smiles at you. Yes... her smile is so infectious. Like it or not, when she smiles, you are drawn into her happy mood and smiles along with her.

To Yixuan... You are so beautiful... to us.

We love you, princess. Continue to live up to your name... Be happy and worry-free. That is Papa and Mommy's wish for you.

What's 5 + 5 + 5 + 6 ?

That's a simple addition question for someone like you and me. But that definitely is an amazing feat for someone as little as 4 years old.

My son, Jiaheng just turned 4 years old last month. My wife, Tse Wern took 14 months of unpaid leave to stay home and look after him when he was just born. After that, Tse Wern went on part-time teaching. Finally, she left the teaching service when Jiaheng turned 3 years old.

One thing we noticed since Jiaheng was young was his ability to pick up a skill quickly. Be it language, numbers or a game.

Jiaheng can converse very well in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. He is able to read by himself as well. He is exceptionally good with numbers. To date, he can easily recite the 1 multiplication table to 10 multiplication table. He can read the time using an analog watch before he turned 4 years old.

Tse Wern and I firmly believed that Jiaheng can do what he can mainly due to the fact that Tse Wern is able to stay home and teach him.

That day, Jiaheng surprised us once again. We were on the road and Tse Wern saw a car plate number, 5556 in front of our car. So she casually asked "Jiaheng, what is 5 + 5 + 5 + 6?" We were pleasantly surprised and thrilled when Jiaheng said "It's 21."

My wife pushed her luck a little bit more by asking "That's very good. How did you get 21?". "5, 10, 15, 20. Because 6 is one more than 5. So it's 21" Jiaheng answered matter-of-factly.

Jiaheng was actually using his 5 multiplication table to derive 20. Since 6 is 5+1, he got 21 for the answer. :) Well Done, Son!

Tse Wern and I are both very proud of our son. Thank you Jiaheng for bringing so much joy and fun into our lives. We love you ... Jiaheng.

The most dreaded thing that human ever invented

To me, the ALARM CLOCK must be the most dreaded thing that man ever invented.

Riiinngggggg... Riiinngggggg... that is the frightening sound that shatters the silence in the early hours of the day. That is the sound that jolts me out of my sweet dream. This is the sound that forces me to leave the comfort of my bed. Riiinngggggg...

Arrgghhh! Why do we need an alarm clock?

Really... Isn't it better for human to just wake up when we are ready? When we are fully rested and recharged, we will naturally wake up! And when we wake up naturally, our moods will be better and the day will start off more joyfully.

I will throw away my alarm clock the day I achieve my financial and time freedom. Hey! I can see that day happening.

If you want to have a preview of what I am doing now to achieve that day... click here.

Question : Do you know when you are supposed to wake up?
Answer : When you finish sleeping!