Happy Birthday, My Baby.

 We celebrated her birthday on Sunday as it is the nearest weekend to her birthday.
There was no funfair, no guests, and no presents. (!!!)
I still have not found the time to get a toy cat.
And we are saving the drum set for the eve of her birthday, just to let her learn about delayed gratification. (haha, no lah! just so it will be more meaningful).
By the way, she wants "Lightning" designs on her drums, I went Daiso but there wasn't decals... where's the lightning when you need one. LOL. 
She's much of a rock chic than anything else. She likes cars, Freddie's - We will rock you, and Oggy & the Cockroaches' love-hate friendship. For a five year old, she surprises me all the time. Told me snuggle means cosy, and explained in zest about the movie - Frozen. She places small objects (toy figurines) in my palm when I sleep; so that I wake up with something endearing in my hand; that included my Strawberry Shortcake figurine that is out of bounds to her; she placed it in my hand and I woke up with such a warm surprise. In short, she surprises me with her empathy, EQ and "贴心-ness".

Dental

 Kiki complained of a toothache last week...... good thing a new, family dental clinic opened at our estate.
Among the team of dentists, only one is pediatric trained.
Well, she managed to sum up enough courage to handle scaling and polishing but broke into tears when we told her we have to go back there in another two weeks to fill up the small cavity. In fact,,,, four small cavities. The dentist says, she will attempt to do one, one, two teeth at a time, so that will be three more visits. 

Saturday 29th March

 Sometimes, Didi cries when we say goodbye. We have to go for class and sometimes he misses us.
I ask Maricar to bring him to the playground but of course there would be more fun if we were there too.

 The staff told me twice - "This has liquor you know?" (Orange Bitter Choc).
"I know," I replied, "it's for me."
Kiki had tummy ache the next morning; not the usual tummy ache... it was painful.
I think it has to do with this ice cream, she had too much of it and it is also richer than regular ones.

Kiki asked to taste my ice cream. I told her it is for adults only because there's liquor.
She asked what liquor is.
I said,,,, it's a drink that may make you drunk.
She said - Drink and become drunk, then feel sleepy and then cry.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  OMG. How did she know?  I grilled her but she said she just knows.
I don't think she gets to watch any shows with a drunker stupor, or did she? (me faints).

P.S: Karmeleon, you're quite right. 


After class, dinner & ice cream; we headed to Synwin to get our second violin.
The staff refused to bring down a 1/4 or 1/2, he explained that 1/8 will be most suited for Kiki.
I've tried to explain that her teacher told us to get at least 1/4 but he refuted and patiently told me that a 1/4 violin would mean her arm will over-stretch and be put in a "stressed" position. He explained that a slight fold at the elbow is the correct position (although I've been told by another friend that the arm has to be stretched). The staff further substantiated that age 5, 6 or even 7 use 1/4.

I didn't argue because I tend to agree with him, but I was just very puzzled and wonder how would I then convince her teacher C. Well,,,,,,,,,we'll see.

 While waiting for the shop to re-string, we went to play.

And then, it was a long way home... walking endless underpasses to catch our bus.
But I was happy I found LUSH again! After some 18 years??? I had used them during my Pre-U days; they never did change their paperbag packaging.

 Note: Be careful when you receive their free samples,,,,, the small tubs are made of hard, inflexible plastic, the lids don't seal well! ARGGGGGHHHHH! Soiled my bag. Luckily no damage done to my phone or violin book.

Art @ CC

 I'm sure the teacher tidied up the sketch.

She was eager and looked forward to the art class, so much so that she couldn't help telling Maricar about it first thing Friday morning. She made a new friend there, although she doesn't remember her name, she says it starts with "R". Not Rachel, not Roslind, Rosie nor Rebecca. Perhaps it was a Hanyu Pinying name, I'm not sure.

My 3rd Float on a Thurday night.

It feels so Sci-fi before stepping into the egg-shape capsule, it's like some space crafty environment. LOL.
Anyway, the third float was va-va-voom.  In a good way.
I think my brain waves measured at theta & delta states; or perhaps it reached gamma and I didn't know.

Pet Lover

She loves her pets. She prepares pet food in a dish and makes a nest for them.
This year for her birthday, she wants a cat. Thankfully, she accepts a plush toy cat. But I haven't found the time to go get one.... well, I will get to that soon. She chose a dog-design cake for her birthday and has never had any princessey kind. She had also asked for a drum set for her birthday. We have ordered her a real drum set rather than the previous toy set that broke after a couple of weeks two years back.
I have been quite busy at work these past weeks, a major project is completing. I have not had the time to organise a small party for her; I feel a little bad. Nevertheless, I am sure the drum set would make up any lack =) 

New Class

After much contemplation, we've decided it's time to pick up violin the CDEFGABC way. I don't know what you call it; to me, it's the notes reading way. I think it should be all right to have traditional lessons alongside Suzuki method, well, let's just discover along the way. 

We were taking toddler's music classes at Kawai since she was 30 month-old. It didn't stop abruptly, the group music module had run its course and ended just after CNY this year. But for Kiki; who had been going there every Saturday after Ballet for the past 2 and a half years, the termination was kind of sudden. She misses her teacher very much and would sometimes shed a tear when she realises she isn't going to see her former teacher. So sometimes, we still pop by to say hello, and teacher Maya sweetly welcomes a warm hug now and then. 

We are on a one-month trial for the individual violin lesson as the teacher will decide if Kiki is ready as the usual age to start is around 7. (Keyboard/Piano; 5)

The school explained that they are with Trinity Guildhall, and the teacher will coach students in both theory and techniques; eventually prepare them for board exams. 

For a start, the violin teacher was both impressed with, and appalled by Kiki at the same time. 

We played Perpetual Motion, and the teacher went; "Good,... good..... good!"

She was impressed with her memory and presumably the few things she imparted were quickly learned. 

However, she was appalled that we were using a violin that she said, is too small for Kiki. She said it in a stern but most mellowy voice; to "Please get for her a new violin. This is a state of emergency. She is overdue for a change, she needs either a 1/4 or 1/2, if you can, please get 1/4". I don't know how she could say "state of emergency" without raising her voice but I surely detected the urgency. After ten minutes, she repeats; "It is very important that you get the violin, this is dangerous. She is dangerously developing a wrong habit if the violin is of the wrong size. Look at her elbow. Can you get it as soon as possible tomorrow please."

Erm..... yes of course. Not tomorrow but surely this weekend.

I was very puzzled because we had checked with the other teacher and she says we can change if we want but there's no hurry. 

So anyway. 

The new teacher also asked us to remove all the clips and gadgets that were fixed to the bow. She says those are fine if Kiki was 3 and a half but it was appalling that we were still not doing it the "proper way".  I could see the "anguish" in her. Perhaps she doesn't agree to Suzuki but did not want to comment? I don't know, but surely she was a tad distressed. Then she asked Kiki to play Twinkle; after which, she commented; "Good! Do you memorise everything?". I can't read her well, I really do not know what she meant but from the look of it, she would be coaching the little girl for a while. She asked me to sit in the session and do some exercises with Kiki when at home.

Erm.... okay... let's do it then. (I thought to myself).

Abacus

Actually, we just let her do Abacus for fun. As we thought she has a good brain so might as well use it. Her teacher (a very young lady) says that Kiki's good but sometimes playful. On good days, she could do 20 sums independently (although six had errors, the teacher said it was considered good, considering her age). Last night, I asked her teacher how many modules are there in the overall course; she said XXX numbers of books  preliminary, and then six books more to complete entire. I asked how long does it normally take; she said five years but if the student could do some homework from home, then perhaps four years. I almost fell off the chair except I was standing so there was no chair to slide off from ......................... Well,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I hope I've made the correct moves. Importantly, Kiki has fun. I think for her, the exercises are games. So I guess as long as it is fun, we will continue.

This morning, I decided to take a look at the workbooks. 

 

Waa, not bad! and I didn't even teach her how to write. I think I have to guide her on the number "8" perhaps. I sincerely hope that Abacus will help with her Mathematics journey because it was a fluke that passed PSLE and "O" Level Maths, I had failed miserably at every other Math test or exam, my scores were like 3/100 or 11/100; surely that is detrimental, and it was how I dropped out of UOL as I had to retake the Quantitative Method module which had A LOT of Maths that I couldn't handle. Hence, I would rather we face the dragon earlier this time and be good at Maths. 

Art Jamming

We went to the bookshop to get some art materials for the upcoming class starting this Friday (tomorrow).
She couldn't wait to lay her hands on the colouring pencils; straight after reaching home, she break into the new pencils and doodled a lion, probably inspired by the recent trip to the zoo. It is amazing to see the details of the lion, especially the "frown" and the long nose and black, nose tip. I am as eager as she is, anticipating art explosion. The classes at the neighbourhood Community Club cost a-third of the usual fees at other art studios; for $65 over twelve weeks, I think the concession prices must have been subsidized.

She will also be having Speech & Drama class at the C.C. That is $100 for twelve weeks also.

Bren & I will take cooking demonstration classes on Friday evenings. We are so looking forward to it.

When Colin nears five, he will join in with all these activities too. Meantime, he is enjoying both the music as well as the Chinese classes.

Sunday

 The Papa was so tickled that she managed to duck the water jets; left, right, she ducked to avoid the sprayed jets. Colin missed this as he was recovering from fever....... must have been the hot weather during the zoo's outing =( 

"Assignments" during Zoo's outing

 RE: comments

"There are "assignments" to complete and to be handed up before heading home."
Wow. What kind? This is really a Sg education. I went with my boys for their school outing to the National farm. They just followed the guide. No assignment to do. I like your photos.

Hi Sohcool,

We didn't have a guide, the school had been preparing the kids for the zoo trip hence the children more or less knew the names of common animals and the kids were delighted to see live versions. I was relieved that K1 has only Chinese assignments; K2 had to do the English ones also. As for N1 (Colin), they had flour dough to knead and mould into any animal shape the kid fancies.

Well, the assignment acts mainly like a "de-brief" after the visit. The student would then be sharing with his/her classmates on some sightings. For me, I've learned that the Chinese word for roar is 吼 and not 叫 as I had often misused. LOL.

We had only covered 1/4 of the zoo, I think we will be visiting the zoo again but this time, perhaps more leisurely =P

March 22nd. My 2nd Float.

 This time, I was much more relaxed.
In fact, I was thrilled.

 After my float, we went for breakfast at a nearby coffee shop.

I looked across the street and saw Aunty Merlyn strolling past. She's Bren's aunt.
Aunty Merlyn doesn't live near Siglap, she lives far away at River Valley with her grand children, daughter and son-in-law but she likes to visit the old estates she used to live when she was young. So naturally, that's Katong, Siglap, East Coast kinda estates.

She moved into many houses in the past as her late husband (British national) was an expatriate and their housing accommodation was arranged by the office. During her better times, she took in whoever that needed a roof. Bren used to spend a lot of time under her roof as his cousin- Jane; is a couple of years older and both of them became playmates. He always brings me to the various houses that he had been to, if they are still standing that is. In some of the gardens, he would tell me that's where Jane's dog(s) were buried. He even remembers which long kangs he fell into (these are now mostly covered walkways with grill covers).