Cheeks To Cheeks

This post is dedicated to people who think they have a bad day.

SMILE!

It ain’t all that bad.

Two major stars left us today.

Rest in peace, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.

Being home with my girls has its perks. At times they can make me pull my hair in frustration. At times they remind me how much I love them. Here are some pics taken during the days when I have both girls with me (alone)…that is every Monday and Friday. Enjoy!

Here is Belle in a traditional Malay costume, Baju Kurung. It was given to her by Aunty Michelle. It was a warm Friday and it was perfect for baju kurung. Belle loves being in a baju kurung. I might need my mom to start sewing some for her and Cass.

Belle can pass for a Malay girl ‘cos she is a hitam manis (tanned/dark skinned).

Both Jon and I have agreed that Belle looks a lot like my mom. Popo should be very happy.

Now that Cass is a little older, she participates in our masak-masak (cooking) games. The little one loves to imitate her big sister.

When there are two kids in the house, meltdowns are inevitable. My mother-in-law says she hardly see Cass cry or whine. Well, here’s to prove her wrong…

There is nothing this Mommy can’t handle. See the 180 degree turn of mood?

The trick to staying sane when meltdown happens is diversion. If that doesn’t help, then Mommy will have to lock herself in the bathroom and scream her lungs out. I have yet to get there. Haha!

Besides playing masak-masak, Belle loves to work on her workbooks. We bought a bunch of it when we were in Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur. Belle has become very good at sitting still working on her “homework” for at least 15-20 minutes. It is a great improvement for her ‘cos she is an active girl. She loves to move about and seeing her do her “homework” and enjoys it makes us very happy and proud.

Here is a pic of our studious girl…

I have been looking back at my kids photos and boy, have they grown a lot since then. It is as the saying goes, “in a blink of an eye.”  They are growing way too fast for me to handle. All I want is just to hold them close to me and keep them as my babies forever. I am selfish but I can’t help it ‘cos I’m a Mom.

Promised a friend I would post some pics of the girls but will have to break that promise today. My lappie D drive is running out of space and all the new pics are in the digital cam. I guess I will have to wait till Jon gets home and transfer current pic folders to our backup PC.

In the mean time, I’m trying to get use to the new WP 2.8. It is so different and it will take me a while to get use to it. Talking about getting use to something, Belle is so used to having “long weekends” at home she is refusing to go to school.

This girl is refusing naps too and her teachers are getting exasperated. She began to use toilet and bed-wetting as her excuses to not nap. We gave her a good lecture last night and we’re trying a different approach.

We bought a few packets drinks and told her it will be her treat if she naps and not wet the bed. This morning when I dropped her off to school I’ve instructed her teacher to give her the treat ONLY if she naps and not pee on herself. Hopefully this trick works. If it doesn’t I will have to crack my brain to think of something effective.

The husband had to go in to the doctor’s office this afternoon and needed me there to “hold his hands.” When it comes to doctor visit, my husband can be a chicken. My father-in-law swung by the house and brought Cassie to his house while we brought Belle with us. After the doctor visit we went to TK noodle for a late lunch.

We were about to finish with our lunch and Belle noticed the four Pacific Islanders sitting behind our booth. I have a hunch they are Samoans ‘cos the ladies tied their hair in a knot on top of their head. They have heavy set frames, and 9 out of 10 Samoans I came across with are not particularly petite sized people. Anyway, this happened…

Daddy: Belle, come here. Don’t disturb the uncle.

Belle walked over to her Daddy.

Belle: Daddy, why is the uncle like giant?
Daddy: Huh? (didn’t hear her the first time)
Belle: Why are they like GIANT?
Daddy: Huh?? (Daddy must be hard of hearing)
Mommy: Shh! (Tried not to laugh and started to stuff Belle’s mouth with food to stop her from asking.)

I do have to admit, those folks were pretty B-I-G. Thank goodness she didn’t use the word F-A-T. But it was really funny to hear her use the word Giant to describe heavy-set people. 

I have been super busy planting and harvesting. Those who have Facebook will know about Farm Town and I’m so addicted to it! I will take time off from the computer tomorrow ‘cos I got free movie tickets for the new Disney cartoon, UP. All thanks to Mixed 106.5FM!

I will drop Cass off at my in-law’s and bring Belle with me. This will be her second movie experience. The critics gave great reviews but our friends who had watched it said it’s a so-so movie. Well, we will just have to wait to see for ourselves. Hopefully Belle will cooperate and will not give me toilet runs in the middle of the movie.

A conversation with Belle this morning:

Putting on a clip that has U.S. flag colors on it… 

Mom: Are you American?
Belle: No, I am Isabelle.

Note to self: Ask her if she is AN American next time.

My friends in my Facebook have the privilege to see recent photos of the girls and it’s high time for me to start posting the pics here. I did a post for Belle during her potty training phase and here is Cassie’s. Enjoy!

Here’s one with her having the pants on her head. My silly girl loves doing that.

Taa-dah!

My baby doesn’t look like a baby anymore, huh?

My pretty Cass looking pretty even when she’s doing #2.

I had fun shooting these photos and I hope y’all enjoy the pics.

Oh my gosh!

Oh my gosh!

Oh my gosh!

Cass signaled to go to the bathroom and she peed in the toilet! It’s unbelievable! I guess all those trips to the bathroom paid off. Whenever I’m alone with her and have the need to tinker I would bring her along. I would let her know what I would be doing. I.e.: I would let her know I’m shee-shee’ing (peeing) or ngm ngm (doing #2).

They say that the younger siblings learn faster in terms of potty training. I would have to agree with it but being a home parent is an added bonus too. When a child is being home parented (as in not in a daycare), the parent will have more patience and eagerness to potty train the child. I have friends who have great nannies who agreed on early potty training. If you can find such a nanny, she’s a keeper! Majority (I would say almost all) of the daycare centres in U.S. do not enforce potty training but most preschools mandate that their 3yo students have be potty trained, otherwise these children will not be accepted. That is so contradictive, isn’t it? Just to be clear: a daycare centre is different from a preschool. Daycare centres are more like a place for play groups. Basic learning like ABCs and 123s will be taught. Preschools are more structured when comes to education. Preschools prepares the kids for Kindergarten. Not that I’m saying Daycare centres are inefficient but majority of the daycare facilities are home-based. And, there is nothing wrong with that. I guess in a way the Preschool facilities sort off prepare the kids to the brick and mortar of a Kindergarten or Elementary school.

Anyway, I think I have differ from the main point. I am still flabbergasted and I can’t wait to tell the Hubby about it. Haha…isn’t it funny that I’ve actually blogged about it first? I guess a blogger is always a blogger.

It’s a blistering hot day and I have both girls with me today. Whenever both girls are home, my day will be interesting and today is no exception.

Just a few minutes ago, I had to fish up Belle’s favorite pen from the toilet ‘cos Meimei decided to test out the sink or float theory. If the bowl is clean, I have no problem retrieving the pen. All I need to do is gear up with some latex gloves and fishing it out will be easy peasy. But noooo…God had to test me. Cass decided to throw in the pen when Belle was doing both her #1 and #2!

I hadn’t any time to put on the gloves and I did not want the pen to sink any further. I did the inevitable.

Yup, I had it fished up quickly with my fingers and tried to do it with the least contact to the tainted water. So, for the past few minutes I was scrubbing both the pen and my hands with anti-bacterial soap.

Can my day be anymore interesting?