Saying Goodbyes

In less than 2 days' time, we will be flying off to Singapore for 7 weeks!! Previously, I would be really excited to go back to Singapore. But this time round, I actually feel sad to be away from "home" for so long - 7 weeks! 

After more than 3 years of living in Sydney, we have pretty much settled in to the lifestyle here, made several close friends, and enjoyed the fruit of the land. It is truly with mixed feelings that I pack my bags to go off for 7 weeks. 

Both Janelle and Janine have to miss 2 weeks of school, and on top of that, they will never go back to their schools as both of them will be at Pacific Hills Christian School next year. Tomorrow (Thursday) marks the last day of school for both of them. 

Janelle has been at Kellyville Public School for 1 year and has settled in so nicely and made close friends. I myself have made good friends who are parents of Janelle's classmates. I will really miss the fun-loving and close community in this school!

Janine has been at Kidzville (her childcare centre) for 3 whole years! Considering that she has not even turned 4 yet, that's three-quarters of her life spent at Kidzville! The staff and teachers have been absolutely amazing - showering her with such love and care that I just have to salute them! 

I guess the hard part about saying goodbye is the fact that both girls are leaving good environments where close relationships have been forged. But I believe that they're moving on to an even better environment in PHCS! We just have to embrace this new season in life with open arms :)

Here are the thank-you cards that the girls made for their teachers:

Update from Josiah

Hi my name is Josiah and I'm turning 14 months old. Since I started walking a couple of weeks ago, I now absolutely love walking around and exploring my surroundings. Mummy reckons that I clock up a few kilometres each day just walking around the house! It is no wonder that I am not putting on much weight. And no surprises that I am really quite slight in stature since I take after my mummy's size!

My favourite toys are balls, balloons, wheels, and anything round. I love playing with older children and adults, and "separation anxiety" is not in my vocabulary. On the contrary, I amfriendly towards new people (perhaps a little too friendly for my mummy's liking). I eat anything and everything (including sand, toys and other stuff that I can get my mouth to), and I can eat as much as, if not more, than my 6-year-old sister. 

To my mummy's dismay, I dislike shopping! But then again, I am a little man and which man likes shopping anyway? Whenever I am unhappy about something, I show my displeasure byblowing bubbles with my mouth. I have a very big voice and can shout out loud too.

If there were three words to describe me, it would be cheerful, cheeky and charming. Often you would see me with a big cheeky grin on my face, and I have a hearty and delightful laughter that gets triggered off at the slightest thing. I am cheeky and love to play. My idea of play includes crumpling up my sisters' beautiful drawings, chewing on my sisters' colour pencils and markers, and pulling my sisters' long tresses. I am not sure how such a cheeky boy like me can appear charming to others, but it does seem that everyone who meets me is charmed by me. 

Here is a picture of me taken at Collaroy beach yesterday - showing off my big pearlies.

One year on...

Josiah is now 1 year old and as the saying goes "time waits for no man", I truly feel that time has indeed whizzed us by! Yet looking back at the past year since Josiah was born, I see that we have so much to give thanks for and so many changes have actually taken place!

1) Sleep

No more musical beds. For some time (perhaps some months?), we have been blessed with the luxury of SLEEP! Sleep has returned - somewhat miraculously - to our family! We have all 3 kids in bed and sleeping through the night most of the time. Occasionally we do find one of the girls in bed with us by morning, but at least it's not too common an occurrence anymore! 

2) Maturing

Josiah has grown so much in the past few months and matured so much in terms of his mannerisms and actions. A few weeks short of his first birthday, he decided he was a big boy and weaned himself off breastmilk just like that - no warning, nothing! Thankfully he is taking well to formula milk now. He still cannot talk much but he can point to what he wants! Balls, round objects (like oranges, mandarins, etc), balloons and huge teddy bears are his ultimate delight! He is still a fantastic eater and sleeper, which we are extremely thankful for 

3) Schools

This will be the last year that Janelle will be in Kellyville Public School, and also the last year that Janine will be in Kidzville (after spending 3 years there!). From next year onwards, both girls will be starting school in Pacific Hills Christian School - with Janine starting Preparatory and Janelle starting Year 1. I do feel sad that both girls are moving on but I suppose the fact that both girls are so nonchalant and unaffected by the impending move alleviates the sadness! Also, we are looking forward to a wonderful school 'career' in Pacific Hills as it is a truly fantastic school! 

4) Siblings

It is such a delight to see how well the 3 Js get along with each other and I must say this is truly an answered prayer. Janelle and Janine play so well together that they can entertain themselves the whole day at home just role-playing mums and dads, chit-chatting, playing pretend games, etc. Whenever Janine is home with me on Mondays and Fridays, she cannot wait to pick jie-jie up from school just so she can play with her. Josiah is at an age where he is taking an interest in what his sisters do and attempts to play with them too! Janine never allows Josiah to escape without smothering him with kisses and cuddles, and loves to play with Josiah. Janelle is the ever-caring older sister to Josiah and always helps to keep a watchful eye on him, ensuring that he does not end up eating uncapped markers, colour pencils, etc, that are left lying around. With two adoring sisters to an adorable boy, we can only give thanks to God for these blessings in our lives!

Most Beautiful

Conversation with 3-year-old Janine after she overheard me telling her sister Janelle that she is beautiful.

Janine (pouting): "What about me?? Am I beautiful??"

Me: "Of course! You are most beautiful to me! Both jie-jie and you are beautiful!"

Janine (smiling): "Jie-jie is most beautiful, and I am most beautiful, but not Joie! Because Joie is most beautiful to Aunty Alice!!"

Such profound yet true words from my little girl! It is true that my girls will always remain most beautiful in my eyes - as will Joie be most beautiful in Alice's eyes. Seems like beauty does indeed lie in the eye of the beholder! 

In the same way, I am reminded that we as children of God are highly favoured, greatly loved, and beautifully and wonderfully made! Our Father in heaven looks down on us - His children - with great love and favour. How blessed are we!  

Josiah - 11 months old

Gosh where has the time gone?? Josiah is already 11 months old and in fact, we'll be having an early 1st birthday celebration for him this Sunday as his Grandpa would still be here in Sydney to celebrate with us!

Josiah is getting cuter and cuter (in our biased opinion as parents) and he has changed so much in the past 2 months! He has learnt to clap his hands, raise his arms to praise the Lord, play peek-a-boo, tease and play with us, etc. I think in terms of the social aspect, a baby really expresses so much more from 9 months onwards. It is absolutely delightful to see how excited Josiah gets at the sight of his 2 sisters, and equally delightful to see how Janelle and Janine simply love playing with Josiah and showering him with cuddles and kisses. 

Josiah has also started showing his discontentment by crying and whinging when he is caged up - whether in his playpen, high chair, or car seat. Gone are those days of him being an unprotesting and quiet baby!

Today, Josiah has learnt how to stand without any support and he was so excited about it that he actually stood up and clapped his hands as though applauding his own effort! Such an amusing sight to behold :) 

It is really interesting to see how different boys and girls are. Right from a young age, Josiah was already fascinated by wheels, balls, and cars. Basically anything that is round attracts his attention! And I must say he is a good climber. He climbs on top of everything and anything. He's already mastered climbing up our staircase, much to my horror! And when we discipline him by scolding him or smacking his thigh, he actually turns to us and gives us a BIG GRIN and laughs as though it's a joke! Is this a "boy-thing"?? The same treatment given to any of my 2 girls would have yielded a repentant cry and inconsolable sobbing, but to Josiah he just laughs as though it's funny. Hmm...

That aside, Josiah has 3 teeth that have sprouted out. See if you can spot the single upper tooth that makes him look like a little "Ah-Beng". I'm admiring this one-toothed smile of his as the other upper tooth is emerging soon!   

Of Castles and Princesses

As we were driving past a majestic-looking Sikh temple (or perhaps it is an Indian mosque) along Parklea markets....

Janelle (gushing with excitement): "Look, Mummy!! It's a CASTLE!!"

Me (grinning): "Oh? Is it?"

Janelle: "And do you know who lives in there?"

Me (puzzled): "No. So who lives there??"

Janelle: "Princess Jasmine!!"

I burst out with laughter but so as not to dampen Janelle's excitement, I decided not to correct her. Nothing wrong with children having their own little fantasies about things! 

Josiah - 9 months old

Josiah is already 9 months old and still as cheerful and good-natured as ever! These are some of the interesting things he can do:-

1) Climb up the staircase! (most dreaded milestone for a baby to reach, because it means we cannot leave him on his own already...)

2) Cruise while holding on to furniture

3) Vocabulary: 

"teh-teh" (meaning jie-jie refering to his older sister)

"daa", "dee", "ba", "aahhh!"

Unfortunately, despite my many attempts to teach him the word "Mummy", he is nowhere near saying the word "ma" yet!

4) Absolutely detests water. Even baby fruit juice does not entice him at all. He now refuses to play with his water bottle (let alone drink from it) because once he sees the water bottle, he associates it with plain-tasting water. 

5) Eats a gigantic bowl of porridge for lunch and dinner. In fact, I am pretty sure the amount of food he eats is bigger than the size of his stomach! Wonder how can a tiny baby eat so much?!

We are thankful for him being such a good and endearing baby, who does not mind anyone carrying him at all. I suppose that's the difference between girls and boys - girls tend to be more sensitive about such things!