Photo taken on 12 Nov 2012 (Ashley at 7y 5m)

It’s been awhile since I wrote a post on Ashley’s development milestones but thought I’d write about it in this post.

What can I say? Ashley’s a tough cookie. She survived Std 1 in a chinese primary school.  Yes I know, thousands of  others did too.  With her though, at least for now, I know that she’d be able to survive in a chinese school for the next 1-2 years. We’ve heard lots of horror stories about how the teachers were in a perpetual state of PMS but thankfully, her class teacher is a very nice lady, strict at times but  very reasonable.

Ashley doesn’t let anyone boss her around (except for me ).  Truth be told, she is the one who bosses everyone around and I can’t help but to think that she inherited this bossiness from me

She’s independent,  stubborn as a mule at times and really knows what she wants and when she sets her mind on something, nothing or no one can get in her way.

She’s feisty and will put up a fight when she is at a disadvantage.

She loves speaking in Mandarin. In fact, she’s much better at it compared to me. At times, she’d insist that we converse in Mandarin. It’s like our thing – A mother-daughter thing because  Aidan doesn’t know how to speak in Mandarin (although he has started learning the language).

She’s becoming more self sufficient in carrying out her daily routines with less supervision but rather more guidance and reminders. I noticed also that she dislikes us making telling her what to do. She’d rather make her own decisions  and we let her as long as it’s within her boundaries.

She is able to read independently which has opened up a whole new world for her. Although she can read on her own, she still likes to snuggle next to us during bedtime and have us read to her.

I also encourage the kids to pen down their thoughts  as often as possible and Ashley has been doing just that. She’s able to write a short paragraph of her activities of the day.

She started  cycling without her trainer wheels a couple of month’s back and she has felt liberated since then.

She loves to try out new food. She challenges herself to have some curry each time it’s served on the table.

She loves to play dress up at home! (She reminds me of myself when I was her age!)

She loves her brother to bits although she may not want to admit it.

She has an active imagination – always engaging in pretend plays with Aidan. One moment they are playing teacher-teacher and the next, they’d pretend to be on a bus going on an excursion and the next moment, they’d be  on a safari.

8 of her milk teeth have come out. Her two front teeth are huge and I call her Bugsy  - short for Bugs Bunny

She loves sweets.

She dislikes chocolates.

She loves her Barbie Dolls.

..And she still believe in tooth fairies.

Can I press the pause button already???

We’re very proud of the lil missy. She has finally started to cycle without her trainer wheels as of 23 July 2012!

Another milestone worth mentioning is that the lil missy has also stopped sucking her thumb!

Bravo!

My baby girl turned 7 on 2nd June. We had a simple do at our home. I did the decorations at the very very last minute (as usual). I had everything in my head and only prepared the decor  1.5 hrs before the party started. Am quite the procrastinator these days.

I got the free printables from Ruffled. Aren’t they pretty? – except for the number 7  in which I had to write it down.  Oh what the heck.

The spread – Garlic & Herb pasta, Aglio Olio, Garlic bread, Chicken Nuggets, Cocktail Sausage, Abrina‘s cupcakes (of course) and Chocolate Brownies  and loads of junk food.

Goodies in cupcake cones. I was supposed to make marshmallow pops but because I was doing everything at the last minute, I didn’t have time to make ‘em. The cupcake cups are from Bake With Yan. They were RM4+ for a bunch of like 30-40 (or 50 maybe?) cupcake cups.

The girls wanted to walk around in high heels! Girls …..

They played with Ashley’s Barbie dolls…

The boys were busy in the kids’ bedroom – playing with toys, Nintendo and games on the iPad!

The surprise birthday cake I got for Ashley from Jellycake Michelle. This cost me RM110 only and they deliver right to your doorstep!

Happy birthday Sweetheart!

At the end of the day, Ashley thanked us for a memorable birthday. Awww! She said it was perfect. She wore the dress that she got Grandpa to buy for her, she played with her friends…that’s all she wanted

Note to self : Never organize another party at home without a maid! I busted my butt off the whole day!

Ashley @ 6y 9m (Picture taken on 25 Mar 2012)

…..is my 2 front teeth.

Ashley lost both her upper central incisors 6 days apart. (11 Mar and 17 Mar). Both milk teeth came out while she was playing with Aidan. Now she says that she is XXB. (eXtra eXtra ‘boh geh’!) LOL!

She’s usually shy to show her teethless grin but after much persuasion, she caved in. I told her that when she’s older, it’d be nice to look back at how she looked like without her 2 front teeth She agreed

Remember when I said that I was going to do something about the guest room and convert it into the kids’ bedroom?

Here are some pictures to jog your memory….

This is the guest room or more like a  catch-all room. Whenever my parents are in town, it would be cleaned up but whenever they leave, this room would look like it was on the path of a tornado.

And finally, here it is. After almost a year, the room has been transformed.  There’s still work to be done but this is a start…..

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They both share a small room. No choice. The beauty of these beds is that they are BOTH bunk beds so they don’t end up fighting  to sleep on the top. In addition to that, there is storage space below each bed. So this is a win-win for us.

No prizes for guessing who these beds belong to….

I am gonna tackle the storage space below their beds next and find an effective way to corral their stuff to reduce eye clutter. Also the room needs a clock and perhaps a picture or two on the walls….let’s see…

And…*drum roll*….

On the 28th Jan 2012, after 6.5 years,  Ashley slept in their bedroom all on her own! At first, she wanted the lights to be on. The next morning, she told us that she eventually switched off all the lights and went to bed. Aidan chickened out and only slept on the 3rd day when my dad stayed over at our place and slept with them in their bedroom. What a milestone for the kids!

With all the things which have been happening so far, I haven’t had the chance to update the blog about Ashley’s Std 1 experience!

I can’t believe that she’s in Std 1 already! Where has my baby gone???

Anyway….life in a chinese goverment school ain’t rosy. Even I had a tough time adjusting to it. It’s like they are literally thrown into a sea of sharks compared to their honeymoon years at kindergarten.

In the kindy days, the school used to circulate memos to the kids so that the parents will know what to do/bring.

In the chinese primary school – the teacher will only repeat what she/he will say twice (according to Ashley).  The kids are afraid to ask the teachers questions. Ashley is one of them. She said the teachers do not like to repeat themselves and if they do respond, they’d respond loudly and fiercely. I consoled her that the teacher had to handle 40+ kids and had to speak loudly so all 40+ of them could hear her loud and clear.

Everyday is a guessing game. I’d be texting to other moms to ensure that the message the kids brought back tallied because this time, there are no memos whatsoever. If the kids didn’t do their homework nor bring a book – they will be punished. Some got whacked multiple times on the palm with a cane. Some had to pull their ears for God knows how long – Ashley included.

So how is Ashley taking it? She is ok so far. She is scared of the teachers nonetheless but so far she hasn’t made a big deal of her punishments. She said, “The teacher asked me to pull my ears. I pulled softly.” I have no doubt that she will be able to handle the humiliation the teachers puts forth on the kids.

She’s a tough cookie.

The question is whether I will be able to take such  demoralizing tactics by the teachers.  I can most certainly bet on my life’s savings that Aidan will NOT be able to cope in a chinese school. But…never say never I suppose? He may just surprise me. But for now…I don’t think he will be able to take it.

Anyway, back to Ashley…

Her school bag weighs a tonne! It’s heavier than my laptop bag! Why can’t the school provide lockers so that the kids can leave their books at school?

Academic wise, the kids haven’t been doing much in school. I heard that it gets tougher when they go back to school after the Chinese New Year holidays.

I’ve started Ashley on a 1-on-2 tuition 3 times a week so that the tutor can guide her and her bestie with their work. Is 3 times  a week too much? I don’t know. Better to get her on a good start before it’s too late I suppose? And since DH and I are ‘bananas’ – outsource it is!

Anyhow…wish us luck!

The day after Ashley’s graduation party, she had to go to her primary school to attend Mandarin classes for the next couple of weeks during the school holidays. From honeymoon to not-so-rosy reality I’d say. She donned her new uniform and spanking white new school shoes and INSISTED on  bringing her almost-empty Power Puff Girls school bag to school.

See? The bag itself is heavier than the things inside the bag.

 She is in the same class as her cousin, Nicole and both were very excited to be together in their new school.

Her brand new school shoes. No surprises that it’s a Barbie one…

Where do I start? After our Avillion trip, we/I have been away for the next 2 weekends. Let’s start with the weekend after Avillion…..

We.went.to.Penang.

It’s a big deal cause I’ve always wanted to make a trip there but the dear hubs (DH) wasn’t keen due to the long drive but when the opportunity to play football arose, DH was all set to drag the whole family there.

Men…

Anyway…

On 1 Oct 2011, Saturday, we drove up to Penang.

Our first stop was food court somewhere at Ipoh. We wanted to try some duck noodles but somehow ended up in a different place.

The food were yummy or maybe it was because we were hungry?

After lunch, we continued our journey up north…

I love the architecture on the heritage buildings in Penang. I just wish that they would make more of an effort to refurbish and maintain them. They all look so quaint…and vintagy (is that a word?).

After reading Agnes’ blog on her Penang trips, I had to try the places she mentioned. We decided to have lunch at Nyonya Breeze. As soon as we stepped into the restaurant, we were greeted by the aromatic Nyonya food!

The kids decided to sit on their own.

Ayam Pongteh – so yummylicious! I was afraid my tummy won’t agree with the chillis but then I thought ‘eat-now-suffer-later’ la!

We had Gandum for dessert. Yumz!!! 

We ordered some other stuff as well but I was too excited and forgot to take pictures. 

If you want to try out this restaurant, here are the details :

Nyonya Breeze
No. 50, Lorong Abu Siti,
10400 Georgetown, Penang
Tel: 604-227 9646
Business Hours:
Lunch: 11:30am – 2.30pm
Dinner: 6.30pm – 10.pm
Closed Every Tuesday

We stayed at Traders Hotel  but a friend of mine suggested afterwards that we should have stayed at G Hotel - perhaps next time..

After driving around the city, we headed back to the hotel. I had a bad case of sinus and the medication i took earlier that morning only kicked in after lunch. So while the DH brought the kids to the hotel pool to swim, I slept like a baby. When it was time for the DH to play football, the kids played in the bath tub in our hotel room and then we headed to 1st Avenue Mall which was right next to Traders Hotel. We walked around abit, got the kids to eat their dinner at Kim Gary and headed back to the hotel to wait for DH to come back from his football game. 

For dinner, we met up with my ex-uni mate at Soul Kitchen and had pizzas. 

Soul Kitchen, 102 Lebuh Muntri
10200 Georgetown, PULAU PINANG
Tel : 04-261-3118

No pictures again as Aidan was sleeping on my lap! The pizza’s are nice. We didn’t get a chance to eat the pastas though. If we go back to Penang, I’d want to go back there to try out the pastas and their desserts. I heard that they’re good.

After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and decided to visit the Penang Peranakan Mansion (29, Church Street, 10200 Penang, Malaysia.) before heading back home.

I was very excited to visit this musuem because this was the Chen family house in the  The Little Nyonya TV series and at one point in time, I was hooked to this series. It’s an excellent MediaCorp production which gives you a taste of the Peranakan  rich lifestyle, culture and traditions.

We got abit lost looking for this mansion. Our GPS brought us in circles and it didn’t help that they blocked off some roads to film a movie…. I asked around and noone knew where the mansion was and little did we know that it was only 1 block away from where we parked.

After the mansion, we started our journey back to KL.

We stopped over at Ipoh at the infamous Onn Kee Restaurant to have chicken with beansprouts.  No pictures as it was raining and we had our hands full with the kids and umbrella and all..

By the time we reached home on Sunday night, it was late in the evening and everyone was exhausted! Going on a road trip for more than 4 hrs with the kids is no joke! Would we do it again? DH and I will think thrice!

(Pictures taken on 16 July 2011)

How many of you have flown a kite before? None of us have flown a kite before except for Hubs. When Aidan received a kite as a gift at school, we decided to try it out and had so much fun trying to fly it!  

Our kite only made it to 1-storey high. Nevertheless, I’d say it’s not bad of us beginners eh?

Somehow, it felt rather empowering when the kite was launched and sailed in the breeze.

Note to self : We should do this more often!

We’ve just started Ashley on swimming lessons. The kids are pretty comfy in the water on their own. Aidan is comfortable in the adult pool as long as he is wearing a float on each arm. Ashley is able to swim (frog style) but is still learning to tread water. Since a friend expressed interest in  signing up for a group swimming class for 6yos, we decided to  enrol AShley for swimming lessons so that she can learn how to swim  the right way.

She had her first lesson yesterday for an hour and so far, I’d say she did pretty well. They were taught how to paddle their legs, exhale underwater and do breath stroke with one hand. I am hoping Ashley will pick up the basics after 1-2 months so that we can get some free time back on our weekends.

Am I selfish to think that way? *guilty*