30 Jun 2010 - Good at puzzles

Tracy bought a puzzle for Jerlene which I thought she will not know how to fix. However to my surprise, she can do most of them. She was very focused and glad that she likes it. She can sit on her desk fixing it for an hour one puzzle after another. Clever girl, Jerlene!

27 Jun 2010 - 姐姐's Birthday

Today is my helper's birthday and we had a little celebration for her.

27 Jun 2010 - Javier's third haircut

This is Javier's third haircut and he still kept crying thoughout. From my observation, it seems like boys cry a lot more than girls during haircut. Jerlene had never cried during a haircut. Maybe it's because naturally, girl like to be pretty pretty.........

Below is Javier's before and after.

26 Jun 2010 - Javier taking MMR / Chicken Pox jab

Javier went for his MMR (Mumps,Measles and Rubella) vaccination today at KKH. The usual check is normal. We highlighted to the PD that Javier tends to snore a lot. He advised us to monitor and likely due to the "structure" of his nose, which may outgrow when he gets older. He also checked Javier's lungs and it was clear. We then proceeded to the vaccination room.......

Other than the MMR jab, we intend to let Javier take the chicken pox jab as well. So we opted to perform both the jabs at the same time, one on the left thigh and one on the right. Of course Javier cried.....so poor thing....... However, I quickly distracted him with other things so he stopped after a while.

While I was tending to Javier, the nurse spoke to Tracy and told her that the side effect of MMR (if any) will start to appear 1-2 weeks after the shot. We were stunned because we will be flying off to Fukuoka (Japan) at that time. Possible side effects of MMR are fever and mild rashes. For severe cases (which is rare), side effects include seizure, low platelets count etc. The more I read the more I'm worried. Guess we'll just have to hope that Javier will not have any side effects.

22 Jun 2010 - Jerlene really loves singing

I said previously Jerlene can compose her own tune, which sounds quite nice.

Now she can compose her own lyrics. For the same song, she can repeat it over and over again, and each time, she will change the noun and verb in the song lyrics. Must admit that she can think real fast......

20 Jun 2010 - Happy Father's Day

Wishing all daddies a Happy Father's Day!!!

With the help of teachers, Jerlene made the below card for me. :)

Thanks Jerlene!

19 Jun 2010 - My pretty girl

In the past, Jerlene did not like us to do anything on her head or hair. We tried tying up her hair or put a hair band on her but she will take it off after a short while. However today, she allowed Tracy to tie up her hair willingly. She looks so pretty........ Don't you think so? :-)

16 Jun 2010 - Tebrau City, JB

Since Jerlene not going to childcare today, we decided to bring her to Tebrau City in JB to do some shopping. The total journey time is about an hour today. As it is also school holiday for Malaysian students, the place is more crowded than usual. Tracy bought a pair of spectacles and I too bought a pair of sunglasses from The Spectacles Hut. It is much cheaper than to buy in Singapore. Jusco is the anchor tenant of the mall and we brought Jerlene to an indoor playground inside Jusco. First 20 mins is RM3 and subsequent every 10mins is RM1. Today Jerlene was a bit shy and did not dare to try most of the things.

Beside it is a mini amusement park and arcade. Jerlene tried the kiddy bowling game and she actually did quite well. My genes is in her...... :P

Across the road from Jusco is another mall called Tesco. Household items and groceries are much cheaper in Tesco, when compared to Jusco. We bought quite a lot of stuff here. At about 4pm, we decided to leave for Pelangi Plaza. It has been about 7-8 years since we last visited the place. When we stepped into the mall, we were surprised to see that it was pretty empty. And quite a number of shop spaces are vacant. As there is nothing much to shop, we left within 15 mins. By 6pm, we reached home.

13 Jun 2010 - Changi Airport Terminal 3

We decided to go to Changi Airport Terminal 3 today. It's slightly before lunch time when we reached there and had our lunch at Kopitiam since the crowd was not here yet. After lunch, we walked slowly towards the children's play area. There is a fountain structure and beside it is a little playground. Jerlene and Javier had so much fun there.

In that area there are two tube slides for the kids. Javier is too young while Jerlene does not have the courage to try it.

As there is a big open area, Javier just kept walking around non-stop. I actually had a hard time keeping up with him. He seems to have unlimited energy. We were there for almost an hour. After that, we went up to shop for Crocs shoes and bought one pair for Jerlene. We left T3 at about 3pm.

Above is the ceiling of the departure hall and it is designed to allow natural light into the area.

12 Jun 2010 - Jerlene getting independent

Recently, Jerlene has demonstrated to me that she is getting more and more independent. From choosing her own clothes and matching her own shoes since half a year ago, till now she wears own her clothes and shoes, except when she's lazy. What was unexpected for me today is that she went to toilet and passed urine all by herself. This may not seems to be a big deal to some. In fact, Jerlene can already does that many months back. But what surprised me this time is that she did not even inform me. She will at least notify me in the past. What happened was that we suddenly saw Jerlene came out of the toilet (and there was no light) and according to Tracy, she had been inside for quite a while. I quickly went in and look into her little potty and yes, she did it. When I asked her why she was in the toilet, she smiled at me and said:"I passed urine, got so much"....... :)

6 Jun 2010 - Woodlands Waterfront

Few days back I saw a news article on a new attraction in the northern part of Singapore, called Woodlands Waterfront. Looking at the map, I realized that it is actually quite near to my place. As such, we decided to take a look at that place.

There is an open air car park right at the entrance and the moment we stepped out of our car, we can feel the heat. Yes......it's a hot day so I took with us a huge umbrella. First we walked towards a long jetty that extends out to the sea. It is 400m long and is the longest in Singapore. There were many people fishing on the jetty.

Next we walked to another section of the place where there is a big open playground. Each corner of the playground is designed for different age group. Right at the centre is a 2-storey-high "Sky Walk".

Jerlene had fun at the playground but guess what, she had more fun with our umbrella.......:-)

Currently, only phase 1 is completed. When phase 2 completes by the end of this year, there will be nature trails and a 700m promenade which hangs over the sea.

As the weather was really hot, we did not stay there for too long. Both Jerlene and myself had already turned "lobster" by then. Before we left the place, Jerlene made a goodbye pose below.

1 Jun 2010 - Jerlene's Jun 2010 artwork

Jerlene is progressing well in her schoolwork. She can now write numbers and alphabets by tracing the dotted line. Also, she now knows the concept of coloring and she will try her very best not to color out of the boundary. In terms of music and songs, her current "playlist" contains many songs that I have not heard before. One amazing "talent" that I recently discover from Jerlene is her song composing ability. She sometimes sings a song using her own tune and it sounds pretty good. One example is a song called "Five Little Monkeys". She can sing this song differently each time (same lyrics) and it never goes out of tune. I should really start her in some music class soon...... :-)