One beautiful year

Reegan turned one last Sunday. We had to celebrate his birthday...he's been such a sweet and funny little guy.

He was born at 0908 a.m. so we had a little cake cutting ceremony before heading off to church. We made a jeep cake because one of his favourite toy is the little zoo jeep. And it sure was a fudgy chocolaty chewy cake. Very yummy! But Mummy has to watch that fat tummy now bulging out pretty obvious!!

When he saw the candles, he said," Hot! Hot!" He was then more interested to put his Mr Cow from his little farmyard onto the plate.

After church, as planned, Aunty Carol invited us to her house to celebrate Reegan's 1st birthday. She had also made a chocolate cake for him. It says "1". Uncle Hon cut out the number from a paper so that we can put the icing sugar on it. Very clever! And that special candle there sang a Happy Birthday tune. Of course, everyone's singing overpowered the poor little candle.

This is a very nice picture Raymond took of him. What a big boy!

Back home, we had balloons...

Oh how can we forget the goody bags we had so much fun preparing! Everyone loved the soccer ball chocolate. Benjamin nearly threw it on the ground thinking it would bounce back. What?!!


Reegan is very clever. We just showed him a few times how to play with his new toys and there he goes!

This little bike is from Big Sister Meredith. And she fixed it up for him! I thought that was very clever.


We slept very early that night, everyone was quite exhausted. But we were very happy. We did what we wanted for Reegan. And the next day, we were going to the farm and boathouse!

Letters

Meredith came back with a letter last week. It's about Grimwade Club. It's basically a club for after school activities. They have Swimming, Tennis, Gymnastics...etc the usual stuff. After a discussion with Meredith and showing her what she can expect from each activity, I am rather surprised she has decided she would want to take up Chess. Of all the activities....Chess? I asked her several times, but she was sure she wanted Chess. I am still not sure if she will change her mind. But whatever she decides...I trust she knows what she wants.

Today she returned home with a letter and she was VERY excited. She whispered to me,"Mum, I think I'm going to be the next VIP because I have a letter." I knew what that letter was and was quite certain it isn't going to be a letter about being a VIP. I was sad to see her rather disappointed.

Everyone at her year level gets to be a VIP for a week. When you are a Very Important Prep, you get all the privileges. You get to be first in the line, you can bring to school some things that you like to share with your friends...etc. Meredith has already thought about what she would bring when its her turn. I told her her turn will come, its all about turn-taking.

First steps!

Reegan took his first steps last Monday! All by himself! I was at James's (or Aunty Claire's) for morning coffee with the mummies. He was playing with little Nick when he decided to take his first stride. Wonderful!

Thursday at church, with the encouragement of Olivia and Meredith, he could walk even further, from one end of the hall to nearly the other end.

It is now officially autumn. In fact, today is the second day of autumn. I told Meredith the leaves would soon start to fall off from the trees. We are expecting more wind as the weather gets cooler. I had to get Meredith a track top (jumper) for her sports. So we went to the uniform shop. In the end, we also got her winter uniform... skivvy, kilt and long navy socks. I'd have to shorten the kilt. Think she can wear that her whole life! It's too long!

Reegan is turning one next week! I can't believe it! I am going to make him a cake. And we will take him somewhere to see the animals and plants...We are also preparing some goodies for the people at church!

Its nice weather again today. Sunny but cool. Its been of unbearable heat the past two days! We had to turn on our 1960s air conditioner to get to sleep at night.

We are looking forward to celebrate Reegan's first birthday. It would be a Labour Day long weekend and we're trying to see if we can go somewhere.

He is a funny little guy...

Thus far...

-he is only walking while holding on to either the wall or his favourite push cart.
-his first word: HOT, learnt after being overzealous at trying to help me get the dishes out from the dishwasher quite immediately after the wash
-tries to talk or babble a lot and I enjoy listening to the sound he makes
-he helps take the laundry out from the washing machine and puts them in the basket...no kidding!
-loves toast in the morning
-learning to enjoy 'mega lego'
-loves pointing to the sky and tells you what he sees..."shiork...shiork"
-drops things on purpose then say "Uh-oh" with a very rounded lips...
-waves bye-bye...always frantically but with a BIG smile

and of course, he still smiles all the time!

Meredith is doing just as great! The work that she brings home from school has been impressive. I can see how interesting and fun school is. But I am tying to get her to finish her lunch...had given her stern warning...that she has to finish her lunch before getting out to "enjoy herself"...sigh.

She is quite busy actually. We decided she goes to Mandarin class every Saturday afterall. And that means some Mandarin work to do everyday.

She also takes home an easy reader from school everyday. I try to read with her everyday. Its to be a 'me n her' time, without Reegan. We try to do that everyday.

Sometimes I try to take the kids out. We sometimes have dinner at the park or playground, when the weather is good.

I haven't quite found a good solution to marketing. Different places sell different things I want. There's the Chinese spinach that Reegan takes that only Richmond has. Yong Tau Fu, which is good for soup and my beehoon soup which only Boxhill (nearest) has...and the soya bean that I love...Glenferrie would be the best place to buy.

So I go to one place each week to buy all the food.

It's good cooking and looking after the house yourself ...you feel it is your home...

Breakfast

Daddy left last Saturday and we went for a good breakfast before he headed for the airport. Breakfast was really nice. We sat at the verandah from when it was cold and chilly till the weather became bright and sunny.

The little cafe a few steps away from the beach was actually a milk bar turned bistro / cafe serving real yummy and gorgeous breakfast. You would want to eat everything they have on the menu.


The cafe was much talked about also because its next to a playground and they also provide picnic mats complete with sunscreen. How thoughtful! It certainly is a hot favourite for parents with young kids like us. Luckily we were there early and it wasn't very crowded yet.


The kids had their fun while Daddy and Mummy could enjoy a real good brekky!


We took a slow walk by the beach after eating. It was really nice. We have to do more of this...That's why no weekend Mandarin class for Meredith! But that means Mummy has to do her part to teach her...

Where is Reegan?

You can find Reegan in the most unexpected places...sometimes its quite difficult to to find him...

He is happy playing and exploring by himself sometimes, but his sister is still his best pal. He is terribly excited when Big Sister plays with him.

His all-time favourite game: Hide n Seek

Meanwhile, Meredith had a short orientation this morning to reacquaint herself with her teacher and classroom before the real school tomorrow...We hope she'll like school and enjoy learning here...

The teacher is all ready for the new year... the pencils are sharpened...

the tubs are labelled...


The teacher even had a wall of pictures of the kids taken during the first orientation...



with pictures the kids drew...Meredith's the biggest one outlined in yellow right in the middle...


I would have done that for my class...but where is that thing called motivation?

2 more days to school

It's two more days before Meredith goes to school. We decided to take her out instead of getting her to shop and pack with us. We went to the Botanic Garden.

As usual, the cockatoos woke me up early in the morning. Might as well... I started to make sandwiches and prepare Reegan's lunch for our little picnic.

We had to go to the Children's Garden. It's actually quite fun. They had miniature 'dense forest', some rocks and little hill for kids to climb, a little tunnel....etc But I think they can try to expand it. It's too small and you get over with everything in a while.

We managed to get a real good spot under a shady tree by the lake which we shared with a nice Polish couple. They reminded us how important it is to provide our children knowledge.

We were enjoying our little picnic...but of course we couldn't beat the locals who have their wine and cutlery and pillows. But it was still nice. We chatted and Meredith ran around after the birds....until a group of people from a particular country came to our spot. The sort where ladies dress in this particular way...


....umbrellas, 'hip' sunglasses, high heels for the park... They started to take lots of pictures and made several pose (gosh! what are they doing??) for that. They spoke loudly and polluted the peace...sigh...

We tried to put Reegan down on the ground. He was at first afraid and would not put his hand on the grass...



But he soon got used to the new texture.

Almost done...just a bit more

We are almost done setting up the house. We are so happy. That means we can go around a bit before Daddy leaves again and before Meredith goes to school next week!!

We took a break from all the business and went to Tai Pan for yum cha on my birthday. The food was great great great! No disappointment! True authentic and generous servings! Yum! It was so good we had to take away some to eat at home...I also just realized that here, we need to pack takeaways ourselves...and so we did...


Meredith made little books for my birthday. The books are about our family. She talked a little about each one in the family. She also bought a bunch of gerberas for me at the supermarket. She's wanting to do this since Reegan was born...Now she finally did...flowers for Mum!


Reegan is doing great! He is getting a little more greedy and wants to try everything we are having. He would 'bounce' happily whenever we agree to let him have a bite. And he thinks its so cool...eating what the grown-ups are eating.


And this is what he does sometimes when we leave him alone for a while to do some unpacking...


This one is funny...he climbed up the suitcase and didn't know how to get down!
We are almost done though. The apartment is looking good! We went to get sofas today. This weekend, all the clearance sales ends. We are happy we got what we wanted. I think we still have to get a bed for Meredith and that should be it. She wants a bed loft...the sort where she can sleep on top and below, there's space for her to work or put her toys. There are some really good looking ones here...but we are on a budget. Let's see what we can get!

It's been busy

And so we arrived...some 3 weeks ago...nearly...and this is the amount of luggage we had...just me and the kids first.


So Mummy tried to clean up as much as possible before the shipment arrive ...Reegan had fun with the empty spaces...



Sometimes we take a break from all the cleaning and unpacking and decided to relax at the park. We are at Albert Lake Park, a nice one by the lake.



While Meredith did all the climbing and sliding and swinging, Reegan is just happy to stay by Mummy.

New Year

It's incredible how time flies! I spent the beginning of last year in great anticipation of my new arrival, and it has been such great joy looking after him. This new year, in a new place, would be a whole new experience. I am not extremely excited, but am happy we are finally going. There would be lots to do as we (hopefully not just me alone...!) try to get settled down.

My dreams for the new year...well, I try to keep my dreams small...

*I hope the children and every one in the family and friends be happy and healthy
*I hope Daddy will have more time with us, especially the children, not just physically with us but mentally and spiritually...
*I want to spend more time taking care of myself...I am getting old!!
*Continue to have lotsa fun with the kids!

Happy New Year one and all! And may your dreams come true/ through!?!

Elizabeth and Anna

Meredith met up with Elizabeth and Anna for the first time and they clicked instantly. For their mummies, it was a reunion after nearly 16 years! It was nice to be chauffeured to the restaurant in a big "family car". The grown-ups had so much to talk about, the kids had to find their own fun.

The girls were first extremely delighted when they were served with princess cups..."Wowwww!" they all said.




Then they decided to play hide-n-seek...

Hiding under the tables, Xmas tree...etc

Luckily we managed to persuade them to do other safer and quieter activities...


The kids look so cute all squashed up at the back of the car. But you know, they said the car ride was the most fun!

Fire and tears

How my sentiments exactly!

We have finished emptying our house and its contents is now on its way downunder. It was tiring and nearly stressful.

But the concert we attended was a nice treat. It got better this year, more orderly I think. They had a pram station and had some teenagers to help usher around.

It was splendid to listen to a 'live' orchestra again. Even nicer when you can tap, swing and clap along with your kids.

Like previous years, kids could go up and mingle with the musicians at the end of the concert when the orchestra play their final treat. This time, Meredith was brave enough to go up there by herself. She said she saw the violins, trumpets, double basses up close in action.

What I saw...was quite hilarious. One kid actually went up and close up the score and pack up the score of one violinist. That made the violinist lose his track and had to scramble to his partner so that he could continue to play the music. Some others stand right in front of the musician's music, blocking their view. All these, the musician could not do anything but giggle and didn't seem to mind at all. Some little mess this kids would have caused.

Going home

We had a lovely flight back. No transits. Reegan decided to greet every passenger as they board the plane and everyone liked this little new flight attendant.


The flight seemed so much shorter. Maybe next time I should pay a bit more for another airline that doesn't transit.

Reegan slept a lot more this time. Check out his hairstyle after the nap. He also had a baby friend, who was sitting next to us and they spoke to each other in baby language, with clear turn taking techniques. It was quite hilarious!

The last but best

Just before we head back home, Uncle Stanley decided we should meet up. And as usual, he was late. He came at about 1:40pm for our noon appointment. But its ok cos I got Reegan and Meredith to have their lunch first.

Uncle Stanley took us to Springvale, using his new gadget, the navigator. He took us to Gold Leaf for yum cha. I have had so many yum cha this trip but this last one was the best. I was relaxed and could actually enjoy the food and order things I like to eat.

Reegan was also very happy. Uncle Stanley was really good with kids. I hope their plan for next year will come easy.