sok sok

erika is learning about the world and the 7 continents in school...so as she sings the song...'there are 7 continents in the world....north america, south america, australasia, europe, antartica, asia, africa, there are 7 continents in the world'... in order to help her understand the world...i told her that her sok sok is in australia - the smallest continent and her ku ma & josh & zack in europe, disneyland in north america...this triggered her memory of sok sok

e : why sok sok go back to australia so fast one?
me : he gotta work there...ask him to come back more often la...then u can play with him.
e : i like sok sok. i can jump on his stomach and play with him. i miss sok sok la..he's funnie and he always wear shorts...hehehe...i can see his legs got hair wan...i want sok sok here. why sok sok go there to see his girlfren ah?
me : he got no girlfren la
e : got...last time me, jasmine and samantha saw sok sok's girlfren...hahaha
me : really...

wuiyoh! the things that comes out of children's mouth...amazing!

wash car day

since it was so sizzling hot on sunday and the cars needed washing, dad decided to rope in the girls to help him coz he needs to be motivated to do a chore! this is the first car wash for the girls. usually this is done by kakak or the 1U carwash ~ no need to find parking in 1U mah, especially on a weekend or else daddy won't bring us there (his excuse la). and getting out bearings around the huge carpark is also a nite-mare.

erika was excited since this is a great time to play water! of cos it never register in her mind that this is going to be work...she quickly went up and changed into her shorts...something she never wears (vain mah! only wear dresses and skirts and pants - must be shiny ones!) and tee. ellisa just let her run out as she is - no need to change la...since end results is the same - soaking WET!

erika was in charge of spraying water on the cars...then dad took the hose and started spraying the girls...they love it, smiling and screaming and dancing in the man-made rain.

a little bungalow

we have a baby cot for ellisa downstairs - so that she has a safe place to nap (away from the 4 buffalows) and also for us to get her out off our hair, sometimes.

of cos if she is not snoozing, ellisa will make a big, big fuss in the cot and will be wiggling and trying all sorts of ways to escape. well...unfortunately for us and also for her...she succeeded! bOooiiNk! ooucch! my cry baby! one big red bungalow just pop up from the left corner of her temple!...po po rubbed some black cina oinment on her and she quickly forgotten her whole ordeal and happily joined in with the 4 buffer-lows in their game.

that's it la...she has loudly told us that she has now outgrown the cot. can tapau for my cousin's baby who will be out in march 2007. thought i can pass to him later, but ellisa has spoken...

this is no ordinary baby cot ...it has a lot of sentimental value...it was the same one...that my sis, my brother and i used...it's like the family "heirloom" and we have been passing down from one family member to another....it has now come full circle and it's back to our children's turn...the 4 buffowlows and ellisa...hopefully it can come back another circle for the bufferlow's babies!

yes men

it's now holiday time...yeh yeh asked ku mah to sent the girls (erika, jasmine & sammi) to his house. he adores the girls and took them to do the fave. gurly thing - shopping at sungei wang. ku mah reported that all she heard from the girls were "i want, i want, i want" ringing all over the mall and yeh yeh generously obliged to all their whims & fancies! how come i didn't have a grand parent that spoilt me like this...i think the most i got was a few sen to buy ice-cream or iceballs with syrup.

when erika came back, she had a bag of goodies to show and of cos, she was smiling from ear to ear...who wouldn't after a shopping spree?

she was also wearing a new dress...she gets a new dress almost every week. you can guess by now, who is the apple of yeh yeh's eyes? erika told us that jass and sammi complained to yeh yeh, "yeh yeh why you always buy dress for erika, why we don't have new dress, we are so jealous". in order to pacify the girls, yeh yeh said "aunty 7 buy one".

when it comes to mommy - the most often used word is "NO" and "no means no" or even "you can see only". as usual erika will always sulk and complain "not fair, not fair"...but she knows the bounderies...

however it's a different story with yeh yeh or daddy...she knows how to twist her little fingers around them, give them a sweet smile and melts their heart...

yeh yeh and daddy is the Yes YES Men in her life...mommy just shakes her head in amazement how easily they allow themselves to be manipulated...and enjoys it too!

back to being elastigirl for a while more

arrrggggh!! so frus today...called the maid agency...to enquire why my maid application 3 mths also cannot "kau tim", chase and chase the agent...now they tell me...the maid not coming!! how la!! fuming mad!! now only say this, when i could have applied for another one and she would already be HERE! aiyoo...sooo StoooPIOD!

really need a kakak fast...now my hands all kasar from all the washing...not to mention the laundry! i think gotta ask laundryamah's help loh!

when ellisa is clinging like a koala, i cannot do anything...and when she wants to explore her drawers and cupboards, i cannot concentrate on washing, cleaning or tidying-up...and when i want to sweep, she wants the broom...i read, she wants to turn the pages. she's my little helper, just like erika. i also gotta thank God erika helps out to clean the glass doors and work tables and most of the time, put things back!

always having 5 children in a house is almost next to impossible to keep it clean...but still gotta try la.

i am fortunate that mom is more teror than elastigirl and is able to be on top of the whole messy, crazy, noiszy situation! if it was me, i think i would have gone cook-koo!

luckily a fren helped me get my maid - this time a christian one from a pastor! so no agent fees and 6 mths prepayment of salary...maybe this is a blessing in disguise...save me money and maybe this maid is meant for my family! please God, i thank you for her and please send her fast.

hugs & kisses

a conversation with daddy.

d: erika, why are you so reluctant to kiss yeh yeh and ma mah these days?
e: what is reluctant?
d: it means don't really like la. why you act like this(make body like a limp sotong) when you give them a hug.
e: i'm tiiiiiiired ma (paused thinking very hard) why don't you kiss them? they are your daddy and mommy. we are family
d: ehh..i am an adult
e: adult also can kiss what...

erika got a point! what happened to us? when did we grow out of kissing and hugging our parents. well, we do it on special occasions but is that enough? i think we tend to substitute our embrace with our children's.

weekend happening

saturday...thought of having a restful day of snoozing...but the angels woke up at 7+! don't they know it's a saturday?

so no choice...i gotta wake up la...coz...before long ellisa poo-poo and daddy will not clean her up unless i am green face, white lips (literally pengsan) already! i don't even remember a time he cleaned up erika...so ellisa luckier (hehehe) daddy cleaned her up ONCE...clap, clap, clap...men needs lot of praise for one tiny deed!

since woke up so early, got lots of time on our hands...did foot and hand printing for ellisa then let them paint the bathroom walls...got this idea from the blog mama's...they really enjoyed it! i guess they were thrill to be able to paint on a new platform.


later after cleaned-up, erika was kidnapped by yeh yeh, so we were left with only ellisa...yahoo! can go shopping liao! so went to the curve, makan pizza...let ellisa eat the crust since she can't eat any cheese, she happily ate most of the crust. daddy volunteered to take care of ellisa for almost an hour while i finally bought some new stuff for myself! not shopping for the angels or the house or kiddies birthday...but only indulge in myself for once...it was a happy day! another round of applause for daddy! we should do this more often.

dinner with the whole family and 6 children at prego...i think the noise level was suddenly up by a few hundred decibles! can see that the staff was so happy to see us off...we were also getting a headache from the racket.

sunday, went tropicana charity bazaar...then buffet brunch with the whole family - binged! then go home ...makan durian some more...then supper at the hawker center!! the result is...visit the bank - got lots to deposit today...

for the first time, ku-ma took care of 6 children while the adults went for supper...smart already - learn our lesson from yesterday. while we were out, ku-ma said ellisa was happily going through all the drawers in the kitchen, she is still into drawers and erika was having a word-fight with the boys over a 100+ drink...

monday - recuperate at the office from all the baby-sitting, eating, walking....

a little stand-up comedy

The other day, as I was chatting with daddy…he told me his fren can stand all nite…and this fren was like in the early 50’s but has a very well-built body, the gym is like a second home to him.

me: wah, impressive, really ah…so terror one…his girlfren must be sooo happy loh! stand all nite woh! he on drugs is it?

dad: eh..what are you talking about?...all you think about is that!!...what I meant is he can stand all nite at the pub and is not tired!!

me: you ah…tell me half half…how I know

you are late

this is the sign we having been reading a lot this week at the door of erika's kindy...yes...we have been late maybe 4 out of 5 days in a row...bad record la! not good example but what to do...so exausted...solly not from "erika new fave. word!".

the day starts like this...hurry up erika, we are late (a very common sentence used in the morning). so when we finally arrived at the kindy, we go to the locked door with the big sign saying "you are late"...we then have to press the bell and wait. yesterday, teacher jaimie came and open the door...then she asked "erika, why are you late?"....i think she was indirectly addressing the question to me...erika was acting blur (i have been informed by teacher carol that she is very good at this~drama queen, especially when it came to work time)...

i quickly step in to defend my poor darling erika...it's really not her fault..."sorry she is late, but erika's aunt from zurich is back, and her grand-uncle from hongkong is here and we also had a birthday party for aunt serena, so she had a lot of late nights". of cos she had lots of fun too. also informed her that erika will be away for 1 and 4 sept, as she's going to siem reap. i guess i also indirectly tell her, this is not going to be the last time we are late! of cos ...i quickly added...luckily next week is school holidays! consolation...i hope.

talking about the grand-uncle (yeh yeh's cousin), daddy is doing a family project on his family tree and was so happy to meet him, so that he may fill the tree with more roots! wow, grand-uncle already 80 but his memory is so good, he has meticulously kept a photo file of all the family members and even done a name-card style memo of the family. now that we have met him, we will definitely visit him when we are in hongkong and listen to his stories...i am sure erika & ellisa will love to hear them when they are older.

mind games

well after erika's not-so funny outburst of sexual curiosity....i had to rope in the help of popo to probe and find out what she really knows about sex. of cos, i am happy to share with her about her body and her sexuality, well God made all of us sexual beings...or not how to procreate! i hope one day to see her children and hopefully her children's children...if i get to live that long.

but i also worry if she got the wrong message too!

so popo played a game with her...the game goes like this, if we name an object/event....then she has to name where she have seen it...here goes

p: car
e: daddy's
p: fridge
e: kitchen

i am sure u get the picture....so after a while playing this game...popo said: sex...then erika said....mommy & daddy...it was so funny to hear the quick response, that popo burst out laughing! the word does make us laugh!

alamak...what is this? sorry we're definitely not into flaunting our stuff in front of AnyOne...especially our children...so where did she mean by sex then? our devil-vision is thankfully very well CenSored...we don't have any X video collections or books....

so i did some serious talk with her...what does she really mean by sex?...she said hugging and kissing la...
me: mom and dadday hug & kiss
e: sex
me: popo and kung kung
e: sex
me: yee ma & babu
e: sex

thank God...that's erika's interpretation...at this moment...i am sure there will be a time when she will need to know more than this!

she love her new word...who wouldn't when all it brings is lots of attention to her...especially from mommy!

three letter word

ku ma is back from zurich with josh & zach...so we went to visit them at mamah house.

while in the house, erika was suddenly acting funny...she was "seducing!!" (i think i used this word correctly) josh while he was busy playing his gameboy. josh was too preoccupied with his game, he didn't even notice why erika was hugging him and pushing her body to his.

u can imagine the faces of all the adults! then this came out of her lips..."u wanna play sex?"

"WHAT?" that's was me shouting in my mind...of cos i have to calmly say..
me: erika, what do u mean by sex?
e: i dunno
me: why do you say it?
e: because it is funny, it makes you laugh
me: it's not funny, erika, we are not laughing...where did you learn it darling?
e: from the advertisement...
me: can you show me the advert...when you see it?
e: i don't see it anymore....

i think she sense that we are asking too many questions, and became defensive...and kept saying the best line..."i dunno, i dunno" so i leave the subject...will need to pursue it further at a less awkward time~

i also wonder...is she curious where babies come from?…i did tell her the facts where they come out from, not how they were made.

or is it the devil-vision! let me think of any tv shows that have some hot steamy scenes...the only one i could think of is...it could be that infamous tuesday nite show...that mom & dad watches and laughs non-stop...'desperate housewives'....aiyah...if it is...means i cannot watch it tonite unless she is fast asleep! another sacrifice…

like father like daughter

it was sunday, we were all getting ready for church...daddy was in the bathroom..suddenly we heard a loud..."ahhhh....s*&^" then he came out and said..."like father like daughter!!"

at first i didn't get what he meant by that...wasn't interested actually, was busy washing dishes and also making sure ellisa was not putting her hands into the dustbin (she thinks there are treasures to find!) or trying to take out something sharp from the drawers...remember - i have to be elastigirl, no kakak yet...anyway back to daddy...has he gone crazy...then he smile...oh...ya he was right....he had the same toot-less smile as erika. of cos i quicky took out the camera to record this. i asked erika to pose with daddy so that the picture would come in handy for the father-daughter-look-a-like contest! hehehe say cheezzeee darlings...biiiggg smile...

always have a ready camera with amicro sd card...you never know when u need one.

definitely time for an emergency dentist visit.

elastigirl

today did some "high-tech" picture editing with slides and mosaic (i hope you enjoy them)...daddy thinks mom is so free at work to be able to do all this, but as usual he is impressed la!

mommy said that all mommies are multi-taskers!...meaning we are able to do more than one thing at a time...you remember the show - Mr Incredible...forget about Bob the dad.. remember the mommy Helen also better known as Elastigirl...

most mommies have this superhuman skills in juggling work, home and keeping in touch with girl friends...a very good example is po po.

ok time for me to "yam cha" with my fren. then gotta rush home to feed ellisa, while doing that...feed myself, chat with popo, and help erika with her schoolwork!

mosaic pictures

my first attempt at this...enjoy the pictures

love letter?

love and hate...well erika is fortunate to have her 3 cousins to play with her everyday...and of course, conflict arises when you interact with people especially to siblings and close relatives. sure give no face wan...wat to do...see everyday woh! even though in "theory", we should treat them the best and appreciate them the most...but in "reality"...that's a different story...we try but our success rate is nothing to be proud of.

guess what i took up from the dustbin...a crumpled letter from jernwei to erika...though she can't fully read the contents..she can definitely guess it well.

the last morsel

last sunday after having lunch with yeh yeh, we went to margaret ku-ma's house. once erika step into the house, the preserved lemon rind in a tiny glass bottle instantly caught her eyes.

erika: mommy can i have the salty thing?
me: NO
ku-ma: ok can la
me: (aiyah) ok..just a very small piece

so erika was happily enjoying her small piece of morsel of about a cm square size...and she took her time to savour it.

As we were in ku-ma house for only about 10-15 min...when we left...erika was still clutching on and continued savouring the tiny piece in the car... she was sitting in the middle of the back seat and yakking with her daddy...very happy mood...suddenly...in a frantic voice erika was almost crying...."daddy, where is my salty thing?...you move your hands and now my salty thing is gone"...now in tears already..."its all your fault, look for my salty thing for me...i have not finish it...you have to find my salty thing"...daddy panicked as his drama queen is pushing all the right buttons. we looked everywhere in the car but a tiny morsel of whatever is left, is next to impossible to find!

as for me, i can't stop laughing and enjoyed the whole scene being acted out in front of me...of couse this added salt to erika's bruised emotions...she was not thrilled...and did what is expected...cry all the way home!

story from erika

since erika started her music lessons, she has been enjoying her classes more than her kindy...the school must have some secret formula and a very huge bank account. her music teacher's name is nicole...this is erika's account of what happened during her music class last week..

Teacher Nicole was late to class again….went up to class with popo, ellisa & sean sean…no one was there…then went down stairs…still not here, went upstairs…was still not here....went down stairs again…still not here, went upstairs…still not here....Then when nicole came in her red car - i saw her red car...you know she got a red car, Popo scolded her…after that we went to class…then Nicole stick out her tongue at me…then I laughed!

Today she was early!

erika is eager to play the piano & will be having her first small little concert this saturday in her class. will need to get her a piano soon!!

powerful lungs

the 2 girls have now learned to enjoy each other's company and they love to go to my bathroom for a "mira showers"to do this...it must be the echo effect that draws them there. well, they are not singing in the bath holding the "mira mixer showers" head...but their current craze is the SCREAMMMING contest...where they take turns to scream and see who is the loudest or is able to reach the highest notes. i scream, u scream...laugh...then i scream, u scream....for.....Nothing!! They are happily testing their lungs while it has definitely testing our patience and ear drums!


they sure enjoy the "cheap mira electric showers" to the max!

puppy love

erika is lucky to witness 2 litter of puppies from rossie. she even took the puppies to kindy for "pets day" last June. She brought breezy to school as he was her favourite. Aunty su said that erika is very responsible and took a lot of care for the puppy...erika carried breezy for the whole day at school, as breezy was not happy to be stuck in his little crate...he was whining and trying hard to jump out of it...can't blame him as this was his first taste of bondage. during the show and tell, erika was so proud to tell her friends about breezy and her 4 other puppies at home.

we kept ringo and cropped his ears for cosmetic reasons...well, truthfully i will never crop another puppy's ear as it was a real torture for us to see him suffer. yes ringo looks great now...but to me floppy or cropped...i still love him! even if he is a real rascal most of the time.

the waiting game

it has been almost 3 weeks since our maid siti went home, after her contract expired...and we are still eagerly awaiting news of our new maid.

though i enjoy the house without having to share it with an "outsider", life has certainly been made much, much tougher with 2 little girls and 3 boxers to care for...and also a full-time job to hold down to. can't imagine how my mom took care of us when there was no help!! all i can say is she is SUPER! even now she is able to take care of 3 houses, 5 grandchildren, 6 children & children-in-laws & dad!! phew! on top of that she has her hand full with church activities...and she is still able to keep in touch and touch base with most of her school mates, ex-working colleagues, relatives...amazing la.

ok back to maid - our 1st maid was huri but erika was a little too young to appreciate her...luckily for siti, erika was almost 3 when she came and siti saw her grow up from diapers to a lady of 5. every night, erika will wish her - "terima kasih kakak siti, selamat malam kakak siti" before turning in for the night and doing her nightly routine of changing into her pj's and drinking a bottle of milo. siti also have a knack of tying erika's hair into all styles of braid from mermadia to fairy princesses. erika misses her very much and has been drawing little pictures and asking me to mail them to siti...ok will get to do it this weekend.

siti - being only 21 this year has a knack for all the latest tech gadget - handphone la, she even sms us from indonesia to tell us how much she appreciate the time she had with our family and wish us well...
well siti, we will definitely write and keep a close contact with you...

we hope you get a good life and a sales job search.

as for us we are still waiting for our new maid to come...wish you were here 3 weeks ago...

humpty dumpty

ellisa is in a stage of walking, falling, tumbling and exploration...

she likes to open drawers and climb into them...in fact she likes climbing into anything that can fit her baby frame....basket...pail...stroller...she seems to think that all of them can fit her. size is not an issue...ellisa tries her best to squeeze into all of them..which is quite a funny sight!

one thing i gotta say is she is a real toughfie humpty dumpty...doesn't make a fuss for all the tumble and rumble...not bad...made of all the good stuff...except for her eczema...poor thing...up to now...she can't enjoy ice-cream, yummy cakes with cream, egg, cabonara, fish, nuts ....pray she outgrow her allegies soon.

school school school

was talking to laundryamah about our children and how we try our best to put them into the most reputable schools in the state. as for me...my 1st priority is a school that is convenient for my dad - the self appointed chauffer for his grandchildren. well, of cos we didn't have that luxury when I was young - it was either the ugly yellow school bus or public transport...take it or leave it....or better still bus no. 11 (meaning ur own 2 legs).

as erika is only 4++, i still have one more year to relax before fighting for a place for her in the school of my choice. but of cos there are other schools to deal with currently as she also attends music and kindy. on one hand, was so worried that we don't expose her to other activities besides school to try and cultivate whatever talents or gifts that she might have "inherited" from the both of us! and on the other hand...so lazy to send her to all the extra classes and also worried that we may bog her down with too many scheduled lessons with no time for play.

now already thinking of starting a playgroup for ellisa when she turns 2, just like her che che erika, she too will be going to a playgroup to "learn to play". of cos, shall again appoint her mah mah to accompany ellisa and spend some quality time with her.

ellisa just turn 1

my baby is now 1...i remember clearly the day she was born.

I was spotting a little on sat 23 july...but i told myself no worries...babies take a long time to come. so i made plans for a shopping trip with christine, my cousin and erika. we shopped in metro as they were closing down in Sect14, so we grab whatever goodies we could, then had tea at the kopi tiam. I could feel some cramps but took it easy.

at midnite, the pain came...usually i could sleep though anything, but not this...i was supprise that it kept me awake! i tried my best to sleep it out until sunday morning...but the cramps got worse...so i started timing the contractions...and to my surprise they were only a few minutes apart...i had no choice but to drag daddy up, who was trying to make a fuss for calling him out of his beauty sleep...we called popo & kongkong to come over..they were soo happy even though it was 3 something in the morning. We check-in into the hospital at 4 am...and to my dissapointment i was only 3cm dilated...oh boy! how long more to go lah! the first thing i call for was - epidural please...but unluckily for me i don't have that luxury due to my slipped disc....the doc gave me all the other pain management options...but it was downhill all the way from there....i thought i remember erika's labour was so much easier....

finally my little angel came and was i surprise - she was such a big big baby! 3.95kg and 52.5cm long....the first thing u did was scream and cried for a looooong time...both daddy and me was sooo surprise and that got us worried for a while. then the next thing that got us worried even more was the doc pointed out to us that you were happily sucking your thumb, and you were only out of mommy for less than 5 minutes!! daddy & me just stared at each other and in our minds we were saying...Oh NO....how lah...1 thumb sucker is enuff for the family...we don't need 2.

erika's struggle

yesterday i received a call from erika's kindy teacher. the first thing that came to my mind was...oh no...what have she done this time? i hope they are not complaining that we have sent her late to school, which have been pretty frequent over the past week, since our new kakak (maid) has not arrived yet. I also hope that she has not been acting out in school...since she can be "drama" sometimes.

well, she called because erika had a little scrape on her knee in school, although they don't know how that happen...she said erika was sitting on the stage area and suddenly fell down...must have doze off doing school work!

thank God...it was just a little scrape that a little band-aid could fix.

Well, since ellisa the baby arrived on July 24, 2005, erika's life have been full of challenges....she knows that her battle for mommy's full attention is losing battle...

i do try my best to cuddle her as much as i can but with a jealous one-year-old clamming for attention, 2 hands can't go very far.

thankfully, erika outgrown her milk drinking routine which goes like this:

me: please darling take out your thumb and your hand, please darling open your mouth, please darling close your mouth, please darling drink your nen nen....

if this mantra is not said...our little darling erika will go in a fits for her nen-nen routine.
note to self: not to start any mantras with ellisa

of cos, being the eldest - we made a lot of mistakes with her for example... thumb sucking...which looked so cute as a baby, thinking she will outgrow the habit in a year or 2....but we are still trying to psycho her to kill the habit...hopefully we are able to do it before she reach her 5th b'day in october.

here is a photo of erika on her 2nd birthday...happily sucking away...