updates...

Long overdue updates on our side...

This summer (hardly summer!!) was busy entertaining. After our trip to asia in May to early June, we set home ready for our 'guests'. We have visitors in a row from June to Nov - and just sent off last batch of guest on Monday. Oh before May, we had seen visitors from Singapore & US in April. Happening eh....

Gabriel was super duper excited having more people at home. It is more busy than usual when you have guests around but really truly....we had WONDERFUL TIME TOGETHER!!!

in June - we had Wei Kiat & Pek Shaan from Philadelphia, only short stay of 4 days. WK is very good with kid and Gabriel LOVE to play with him and yes, he still remember uncle WK! WK & PS has been our weekend dim sum 'kaki' in UK, gone were the good times but Gabriel is eating so well now that having dim sum with him is - FUN!!

in July - we had aunty Alison and Clarinda from Singapore. A week with us and I took the sole responsibility to bring them around - my 1st driving out of London, I didn't lost my way!! We had WONDERFUL time together, the singing and dancing at home was particularly fun!! Gabriel is attached to Clarinda, every morning he would run into her room to wake her up...

in August - we had uncle Lawrence & family from Hong Kong. Not much entertaining but lot of eating out that week, and we had a BBQ at home - very fun!! We went to Lake District, it was not best time to go (with the rain) but we managed to see the beautiful scene of the lake. I love it!! Gabriel love it too!!!

in September - we had Evelyn and Elinus from Singapore. They were on their one-month- Europe-2nd honeymoon so I only met them 3 times. They were here the same time 3 years ago - when they visited me and baby Gabriel at hospital in 2005!! They are back now for Gabriel's 3rd birthday ; -))

in October - we had the Chia's siblings from Singapore and Shanghai. This is the '1st family holiday'!! For a whole week we only eat, talk, laugh, shop, picture, travel. It was GREAT time bonding!!! I became a London guide and also drove them to Stonehenge and Salisbury. We went to Bath and love Sally Lunn!!! Gabriel, without saying, was over the moon but I find him more mischievous than usual - too excited ! When all gone, he asked me 'mummy where is everybody....?' He miss all the uncles and aunties plus some of the grands'.....

NOW, NOVEMBER......

Uncle Lawrence came the next day after all guests left. Daren continue to run the marathon. For me, it is all quiet since his visit is purely business. However this is time to clear backlog, prepare gifts to bring home in asia, meeting up friends before I set for my holiday in Dec. Hmm....I think I will continue to be busy for while.

Flossers

Just when I was wondering how to floss Gabriel's teeth, I found this amazingly CUTE flossers in Tesco. I grasp 2 packs as they are in sale, down from 1.29 to 49 pence!!

It say the flossers for age 6+ BUT.....

We tried them, it WORK for age 3 too - of course mummy have to do the job nicely!! Actually it work much better than the usual floss, easier to handle and get the little one to co-operate.

Gabriel is very happy to choose from the bag of flossers that come in different colour and shape, obediently letting mummy do the job, and eagerly looking to the next flossing!!! Take a look of the tiny flossers, they are very cute...

The next day, I bought another 6 packs from Tesco, before the sale end!! The flossers is for one-time use, I find it too cute to throw after use so I cut the string and keep the handle for future use - they are good for counting, or art work!!

Good buy, I am chuffed!!

1st Dental Checkup

I brought Gabriel for his 1st dental check-up on the 29 August 2008. The check-up is long overdue - some parents in UK take their kids to visit dentist at their 1st birthday, BUT I think age 21/2 to 3 is just good time because :

(1) more teeth to check ;-)

(2) kids have better understanding of dental check-up

(3) easier to get active kids to sit still during checking

Gabriel is receiving free dental service up to the age of 18 in UK. Being a first timer to the dental clinic, mummy is acting bit "kiasu" by booking 2 appointments at different clinic - to see how the service differ. The next appointment due 23 Sept 2008.

NOT SO GOOD NEWS.....

The check-up discover an early sign of one tooth decay - mummy was more panic than shock about this. Gabriel love sweets and has the most damaging habit of keeping food in his mouth so it is no wonder he has early decay!!

REMEDY to save the teeth.....

(1) clean teeth thoroughly

(2) floss the teeth...doesn't matter he is 3

(3) change to low fluoride tooth paste *

(4) apply a tiny dot of tooth paste on the decay area after cleaning

(5) limit frequency of food intake

(6) limit sweets intake

(7) intensive education of keeping clean & healthy teeth

*Gabriel been using 'fluoride free' tooth paste as he still swallows some of the paste. A dentist friend advised tooth paste with fluoride will leave white spot on teeth if kid swallow too much. Now that Gabriel needs the fluoride to save his teeth, I started to insist he spit out after brushing!!

Mummy launched a teeth cleaning campaign at home, Gabriel has been responding well!!

Happy brushing.............

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GABRIEL

Gabriel turn 3 today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY darling!!!

We had a party yesterday scheduled in 2 sessions - morning party with Gabriel's little friends and the evening party with his older's friends. The weather was less than pleasant but we had good fun indoor - crowded, messy but manageable for 23 pax at one session in my tiny nest!

Mummy ordered 2 cake for the party. All Gabriel asked is a chocolate cake, so look at this...

Birthday boy welcome guests.....

Mummy also set up the house with all things party, Gabriel was extremely excited when he woke up seeing balloons hanging rounds the house. He was also very happy to see all the sweets.

We couldn't do garden game and BBQ as the weather was wet. For the whole week before party I was stressed over the foul climate in UK thinking how to handle big crowd indoor (hey I am talking a tiny indoor..) but all things ready really turned out so well! We even did the BBQ with the drizzle of rain - to add to its juiciness!!

The crowd, the fun, the noice.....you know what, the kids are all ready to see who blow the candle first, very funny!! We have to re-light the candle so that Gabriel get his chance ; - )

Family shot, the most 'proper' one - Gab was just too busy to look at cam!!

Gabriel enjoyed himself a lot in the evening sessions too as he has always prefer elder playmate so Ruth, Hannah, Aristide and Charlotte complete his day. We have very nice company in the party, I enjoyed myself so much I forgot to take video during cake cutting....

Gabriel's think the bigger people are more fun to play with, at least no one is fighting over puffing the candle, haha..!

The most exciting moment for Gabriel.......

The 3rd Birthday Party for Gabriel...



Thank you aunty May for the ribs, and to all my guests who made the party special, and for their gifts!! To Gabriel's ku-ku and ku-zhang in Singapore, and dua-pek in Shanghai, thank you for your well wishes and lovely thought cross the miles!!

Also not forget Benjamin in Hong Kong - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, you are 15 today!!!! Thank you for your call and the well wishes, we are thinking of you too!!

...Gabriel - mummy is very emotional at this time because time passes so fast, you have now grown from a tiny baby to a 3 year old, growing too fast. Mummy and daddy enjoy you tremendously, you are a WONDERFUL boy!! May GOD bless you with good health and happiness and fill you with his love.

PHONICS - learning the letters' sound...

Recently I am doing study on Phonics. I am learning the letter sounds and it is not easy for me, maybe I am too old eh...

Phonics is about learning the sound of the 26 letters and blending the sounds. There are 40+ sounds in English. It is crucial to know all 40+ sounds well, plus good blending techniques, in order to achieve fluency in reading and writing skill.

The logic behind this sentiment? Simple!! - just remember 'sounds make words, words make sentences, sentences make stories, stories make book'

So, if you want to cultivate independent reading in your kids at young age, it is very useful to teach them the letter sounds.

I am no good at Phonics at all, so I am starting from very basic, and....

I make a promise - I want to learn Phonics, do it well enough so that I can teach Gabriel.

I just realized there is a lot to learn, and more to do to teach my son. First thing now, learn the sounds in the respective groups :

(1) s, a, t, i, p, n
(2) ck, e, h, r, m, d
(3) g, o, u, l, f, b
(4) ai, j, oa, ie, ee, or
(5) z, w, ng, v, short oo, long oo
(6) y, x, ch, sh, voiced th, unvoiced th
(7) qu, ou, oi, ue, er, ar

When I first started this learning, I felt very discouraged and scared. But thanks GOD that I was given good supports and resources. Plus lots of free online lessons!! I get back my motivation, hope to finish the whole course, and looking forward to do it with Gabriel!!


...Gabriel - mummy is learning for myself, and more for you. I hope one day you will master the skill of Phonics, and enjoys early independent reading. Love you!

First day, Last day...

8 July 2008

My hubby's 1st day of 35th....

Happy Birthday to my dear hubby...

Cake from Bonbon Patisseri in Kingston....

A small celebration at home.....

Small but fun, warm & loving....

Birthday kisses.......

...Gabriel is more keen on the strawberry than the cake, good for him!

Last day of Mini Stages in Ham....

Gabriel joined Mini Stages in Ham more than a year ago. We loved the class and enjoyed very much. We are sad it was last lesson on 8 July - Sam is returning school to finish her stage management course, thus terminate the class. I witness Gabriel's growing with Mini Stages, from a timid young toddler to a happy brave little boy in the class. Oh, and the biscuit served at end of the class - that was Gabriel favourite!! We made good friends in the class, and we said we will try to keep in touch!! Now that we are not going Mini Stages, I must do more music and dance at home with Gabriel. Or, another class?!

Miss the class, some sweet memories....

It's time to go home now

It's time to be gone

We've sung lots of song

And we've had lots of fun

It's been nice to meet you

It's been such a treat

We'll all come agian

And we'll see you next week

Goodbye goodbye......

I feel sad when we sang our goodbye song - I know we won't be meeting next Tuesday.

I promise to keep in touch with the people in class.

....MORE Packing!!!

I find myself always packing things...

Things in the kitchen, in the store-room, wardrobe, drawer, every corner of the house!!

So many things to pack and re-pack to save space, to keep tidy......

It is extremely tricky when you have limited storage space and when you keep buying!!!

What to do????

I said - move to a bigger house!!!!

Daren said - stop buying!!!!

Gabriel???? - move house...more toys!!!!!

....at times I can be very sick of packing and cleaning.....domestic help here is very expensive so I have to take up the 'hard' role of cinderella....sigh!