So Cute!

Isn't she adorable and talented?

Articulating Lavigne

Lavigne started 'talking' later than Louisa. I remember Louisa could speak 3-words sentences when she was about 16mth old. Lavigne only started saying proper sentences when she was about 19mth. Though slower, she seems to have picked up really fast. She's been stringing words together that make more sense and beginning to communicate with us more effectively. Sometimes she catches me by surprise. She'll say something and I will be like 'Did she actually say that?'

Proper sentences that she normally says now:

1. I want this/ I want to/ I want more ______.
2. I like/ah like (don't like) ______.
3. Tidying toys, say to Louisa 'Help me'.
4. I want to try.
5. Let me do.

Words she LOVES saying, usually in this order:

1. Minnie Mouse
2. Doodle (Donald) Duck
3. Mickey
4. Cinrella (Cinderalla)
5. Disneyland

A word which she obviously doesn't fully understand what it means:

• SHARE

1. Whenever Louisa wants a toy Lavigne's having, the younger one will take the toy away and exclaim 'SHARE! SHARE!'
2. Louisa and Lavigne shares a plate of biscuits. Louisa helps herself to more and Lavigne will snatch the plate away and shout 'SHARE! SHARE! SHARE!'

Gardening is Fun!

I've been working hard in the garden these past few days. Got more plants, a couple of beds completed and did lots and lots of digging. I am happy that I'm one step closer to creating my garden. The girls enjoy helping out and today, they had a go at weeding. By the way, I'm no longer afraid of the creepy crawlies in the garden. I've seen so many that I've gotten used to them. Hooray! Looking forward to spending lots of time in the garden this summer.

Louisa & Lavigne hard at work

Eggy Issue

I was preparing to cook omelette, broke 4 eggs and this is what I got. Broke 4 eggs and out came 7 egg yolks. I thought to get one is unusual but 3?!! There's still a few eggs left in the tray. Perhaps there's more with twin yolks.

Sports Days

Today is Sports Day at Louisa's school. We happily brought along our videocam and digicam, ready to capture Louisa in action. It is her first sports day afterall. In the morning, she'd told us she didn't want to join in the race. I thought she'd be fine when the time comes. We reached the school field, had everything ready and she was one of the firsts to race. Ready, get set, GO! Oh no! She stood there and refused to participate. Coaxings from her favourite teacher, Mrs Mills, didn't help at all. In the end, she was assigned the role of 'sticker person', pasting stickers on those who completed a race. I was disappointed and a little embarrased that she was too shy to race in front of all the parents. I thought she'd be the only one. To my surprise, one started crying halfway through the race. A couple followed suit later and their parents had to bring them aside. What can we expect of them? They are only but 3 and 4 years old. Much to my relief though, she took part in another race with Mrs Mills running alongside her and in another sibling race in which Lavigne ran happily together with her and me.

I have to say the highlight of the event was the parent races. There was the mummy race which I gamely took part and daddy race where Adrian and 2 other dads competed in. It's been ages since I last ran my 100m, I think I was in JC then. We didn't run 100m...I think it was 50m maybe. Most of us ran barefooted as we were wearing sandals. It was fun for me whereas Adrian thinks it's very funny seeing me race. He kept laughing when he and the girls were watching the footage back at home. Hey, it doesn't mean that now that I am a mother of 2, I can't run in a race, OK? At least I didn't come in last and was one of the fastest.

Accents

I thought only us adults sometimes switch accents when we speak to people from different countries. Today, I discovered that Louisa does the same as well. I overheard her talking to her teacher with a British accent. She then ran to me and switched to the way a Singaporean would speak just like that. Later in the afternoon, after Stepping Notes, we stayed behind and she played and interacted with her friends. Again, she communicated with them in a British accent. But once she's with me, she'll speak like one of us.

Previously, I'd noticed that during school term, she'd speak like the way we do when at home. However, whenever it's halfway into her school holidays, she'll speak to us like her fellow friends. I thought it should be the other way round since she doesn't get to speak to her classmates during the holidays and hence will forget how to sound like a British.

One of my sisters had asked her not to speak with an accent and I told her it's not possible since she attends a British school. Another aunt of mine also said to her before we relocated here, 'Don't you come back and speak with a British accent.' How not to let her be influenced, I wonder.

A New Garden

Finally! I got down to some gardening today. I'm a little late this year but I'm determined to create a proper back garden this time round. Equipped with more knowledge on garden design and planning, I sat down and drafted a design. Last year, I planted mainly annuals which died after the flowering season. This year, I'm going to buy more perennials which will die down to an overwintering rootstock during autumn and grow up again the following spring. It saves me money and effort of changing the plants yearly. Since we won't be staying here permanently, I have to remind myself not to overdo it. My garden will have pavings, a raised bed, an alpine corner and a play area for the girls. I'd really love to have a gravel path but let's see about that. I'm also hoping to get a sandpit so that Louisa and Lavigne can have fun while I tend to the plants.

It was sheer hardwork digging out the borders. My back is aching and my fingers are sore even though I wore gloves. I'm also quite tanned as it was very sunny. But it was very good exercise for me after the unhealthy lunch of home-cooked burger and chips this afternoon. OK! Gotta list out the plants to buy. Yeah! Shopping at Longacres! (Adrian's going to nag and complain when he reads this)

New Look

I've changed the look of my blog. It's not properly done yet but here it is. I've been wanting to design my own layout but have yet to come up with something decent. There doesn't seem to be many nice templates for blogger and I contemplated switching to xanga, wordpress or livejournal till I chanced upon this. I'm sure I will not stick to this design for long.

Friends

Friends come and go. It's easy to make friends but difficult to keep them. We fallout with friends due to misunderstandings or conflicts. Other times, we simply lost contact with them. It is easy to lose touch with my friends since I am living abroad. But thanks to the internet, we managed to keep one another updated with our lives. Not only that. I got back in touch with friends whom I have not contacted.

I lost touch with Tracy, an old neighbour of mine, about 17 years ago. We went to the same primary school and would walk to and from school together. I remember going over to her house for parties and play sessions. We played badminton quite often at home, using the dividing fence as the net even though the shuttlecock would always end up being stuck in my very huge pine tree. However, we drifted apart when we went to different secondary schools. It didn't help when she moved when we were in secondary three. Since then, we'd not contacted each other. A few years ago, I heard from my mum that she had moved back to the neighbourhood. They had bumped into each other at the market and being in the small world we live in, she's working in the same company as my 3rd sis. Strangely though, I'd not run into her at all. A couple of months back, I got hold of her email address and sent her an email. We've since been chatting regularly on MSN now. It does feel strange that we used to play together then but now, we're both mothers to 2 kids.

Elva, a close friend from poly, got married and moved abroad while I came to UK to study. Again, we lost touch. Then late last year, she and her family relocated to England. We exchanged the odd emails and chatted online sometimes.

Joelle, my pretty friend from university who looks very much like HK's star Kelly Chen, and I fell out due to some misunderstandings (I think). She's slim, always very well-dressed and her make-up perfectly applied. She's several years younger than me and used to call me mummy. We got on really well until many things happened which I wouldn't like to bring up again. Small world once more, her sister and mine knows each other as they attended the same secondary school and junior college. A couple of weeks back, I was feeling bored and was looking through my youngest sis's Friendster's friend list when I came across Joelle's sister's name. Joelle is in her friend list. That was how I got back in touch with her. I left her a message and she replied. She's now a flight attendant and everything's going really well for her which I'm glad.

It's strange. I'm at this stage of life where I want to get back in touch with my old friends. Perhaps I'm feeling lonely here in UK.

The 3 Bears

I was scooping porridge into the bowls for the girls when this conversation took place.

Louisa: Where are we going now?
Roslyn: We're not going anywhere. It's time for lunch.
Louisa: Let's be the 3 bears
Roslyn: (wondering what she's talking about)
Louisa: The porridge is still hot. Let's go for a walk! Goldilocks will come.
Roslyn: (laugh out loud)

Zebra Stripes

The weather's been really lovely this past week. However, even though the highest temperature we had encountered so far was only 28 degrees, we're becoming quite tan. Unlike humid Singapore, hot days here are bearable. The wind is cooling and we don't get all sticky. But what's happened to us after spending time outdoors?

Zebra Stripes

(Louisa & Lavigne were playing body painting, hence the blue markings)

Wagamama and Guildford made my day

Adrian had ramen at Wagamama in Glasgow and raved about it when he came back. Knowing that I love Japanese food, he took the girls and I to the branch at Guildford today. I had chilli chicken ramen and Adrian ordered Chicken Kare Lomen (taste very much like our version of Laksa) while the girls shared a big plate of Yaki Soba. I forgot to take a picture of the food when they were served and only remembered halfway through eating (Guess I was too eager and hungry to try my noodles). Don't think I want to post the half-eaten food picture. The pictures shown are taken from the restaurant's website.

Yaki Soba

So what was the verdict? I'm pleasantly surprised that the texture of the noodles was quite good and the soup pretty tasty. However, the grilled chicken breasts were a tad too dry and tasteless. Knowing that this is not an authentic Japanese restaurant and therefore the food is catered to the Westerners' taste, I still find the standard of the food good enough for return visits. The girls loved their fried noodles and Lavigne kept asking for more helpings. She even had a go with the 'practise-chopsticks' and it was sure fun looking at her eat. I was telling Adrian that if they have a branch at Staines, I'll definitely go there every week. Too bad the nearest branch is 1/2 hr drive away.

Lavigne's first attempt with the 'chopsticks'

Guildford is a town that will always be close to my heart as I spent 3 years there as a student. We did some window shopping and I suggested bringing the girls to the university. My department has a new building since I graduated and I wanted to go have a look too. It's nice that the school has a very big lecture theatre and it's own seminar rooms all housed in one very nice building, a far cry from it's old place. We didn't even have our own building then. The department was housed on 2 separate floors in a building which was shared with other departments. I remember having to run all over the campus to attend lectures and tutorials in rooms which were really old. While walking around the building with Louisa, I chanced upon my supervisor's office and I left him a note to say 'hello'. He's my favourite lecturer as he helped me a lot with my final year project and not forgetting that he always gave me good grades for my assignments and exams.

University of Surrey holds fond memories for me. As a foreign student, I led a carefree life and went to many places. I made friends with people from different cultures and most importantly, learnt to be independent. Adrian and I had so much fun during our 3 years' stay here. It's good to be back in UK though things are different now. We lived lives as a married couple without kids then and could go anywhere as and when we liked. Now, as a parent of 2 girls, we spend a lot of time at parks and playgrounds with them instead.

How many fireman does it take to switch off a fire alarm?

My neigbour's fire alarm went off today yet again. I'm sure it was triggered off by smoke from cooking rather than a fire. It happened to us a couple of times but as ours is a rather simple fire alarm, we could enter a code and stop the alarm. However, the one that my neigbour has is a pretty complex one. There is no way he can stop it himself and he told me the fire engine had come a couple of times so far and it is embarassing.

The alarm went off at about 12 noon. The fire engine only came more than 1 hour later. If there's a real fire, the whole house would be gone by then and my house wouldn't be spared either. Perhaps they knew there was no fire and so took their time to come. They spent less than 5 minutes in the house, merely switching the alarm off. 6 firemen came just to switch the alarm off. What a waste of resources.

Sweet Kaelyn

This is little Kaelyn, first daughter of my friend, Anna. I got to know her through the Singapore Motherhood forum. Since Aiqi needed to go to Contact Singapore in London with Adrian to get some documents signed, all of us went as well. I took the opportunity to visit Anna and Kaelyn who was only born 2 weeks ago. A very hospitable Anna asked her aunt to cook us a sumptuous lunch.

Louisa and Lavigne were thrilled to see the baby. Lavigne kept wanting to touch her. Looking at her stroking Kaelyn, my little baby has grown up and no longer a baby herself.

Black Saturday

I was brushing my teeth this morning when I heard Adrian shout. I thought Lavigne had poured powder all over the carpet or something along the line. He came into the bathroom with my spectacles, bent. Many times I managed to save it from her hands but not this time. I tried to bend it back very gently but broke it instead. So you could say it was I who broke my own pair of spectacles. This is, in fact, my spare pair. I had it made before we came to England as I'd anticipated Lavigne breaking my spectacles just like her sister had done. Louisa didn't just break one but TWO of my spectacles. I had just taken this pair out to wear a few months back as my old one was getting loose. Well, at least I feel comforted by the fact that it was this cheap and brandless make that was broken and not my other expensive pair.

Adrian lost his mobile phone when we went to Staines to get some shopping done. He reckoned he had dropped it while getting the girls into their car seats. We went back to the same car park lot (which wasn't occupied after we left) within 5 minutes after leaving but it was nowhere to be seen. A middle-aged man had just parked his scooter next to our car and smiling to us just before we left. Adrian wrote a note asking him to contact us should he have seen the phone and left it at his scooter. It's been 3 hours and we've received no calls. The phone has been switched off and I'm sure the new owner must be gleaming away. It was a PDA mobile phone. Luckily it's a Pay-As-You-Go SIM card and there's not much value in it. I think I am more upset by the loss than Adrian. And guess what? We were looking at some cool mobile phones earlier on.

To go or not to go

Adrian's first proper paper has been accepted to appear in a conference in Portugal and he has asked me to go with him in August. He's suggested asking his mum to look after the girls while both of us go but she's not sure if she can cope with 2. So the plan now is to bring Lavigne along with us and Louisa will stay behind with her grandmother. However, I don't feel good leaving her behind. She's very attached to her father and if she doesn't go with us, she'll definitely feel totally left out and be very upset about it. But if we bring her along, I'm not sure if I can cope and her airfare costs more than 200pounds which is a lot. Lavigne is still an infant and her air ticket will only cost about 2opounds. We'll be away for 6 days and I am already feeling guilty towards Louisa even though I've not decided to go yet.

In fact, Lavigne and I were to go to Edinburgh with Adrian last Wednesday for another conference. We planned to let my parents look after Louisa since they were here and we were meant to be away for only a night. However, the plan fell through. It wasn't worth paying 100+pounds for the airfare and stay for only a night. Moreover, we would have to arrange for another person to look after Louisa as my parents were flying off to Italy the following morning.

Once again, should I place my own needs before Louisa's?

Mental Block

I've not blogged for a while now as my parents and sister were here. Now that they have gone to Italy and I have some time on the computer, I don't know what to blog about. So many things have happened over the past few days but now I'm sitting in front of the computer screen, I don't know what to write. Mental block.