Mid week updates

Sara starts her My Gym playgroup today. I dropped by during lunch time to check on her. She went into My Gym by herself without the helper. That’s a good sign that she likes this playgroup…but… better keep our fingers crossed, normally the crying will come after a few lessons when the novelty wears off. She will be attending My Gym playgroup for a while before she enters the childcare next year.

Talking about childcare…. Lynn has decided to pull Gwen out from LF and enroll her into another school due to LF poor children welfare provision, small school compound and the non- a/c environment. She is going to enroll Gwen and Xeon in Kids N Tots. That’s a big 11,000sq ft school with big compound. Lynn asked if I want to place Sara in Kids N Tots, well, to be honest – I would like to. But as the boys are already in LF for so many years, and this place has taught them well. Especially Sean, he benefited greaty from his time in LF. Also, I do not want to go thru’ the learning curve all over again. ....so I will stay put in the comfort zone of LF. So long Gwen, we will still see you in Growing Pains and My Gym.

Leave you with some of Sara's pics....


Thank you San gugu for this cute pj.



She loves the big purple dino... Barney. Bought for her most of the Barney books in the bookshops...


My SILs and BIL will be in town today, looking forward to having a great time with them.

Have a great weekend to all.

Sara in My Gym Playgroup

Yay, Sara will be attending playgroup on Wed and Fri, 1-3pm in My Gym. As she is familar with My Gym environment, we decided to sign her up for the playgroup class. As for her enrolment to Little Fairyland, it shall be deferred to a later date as I reckoned that she is still too young to attend childcare centre.

She attended the playgroup trial class with Xeon. But Xeon will not be in the playgroup as the timing is not right. Well Lynn decided not to enrol Xeon in Little Fairyland as the school is non-air conditioned and the school compound is small. But for Sara, she will be going to LF next year.

Sara enjoying the painting / stamping session.

Attentive in class??.....

Did two layouts over the weekend.

Did a layout of Surfin and her daughter ,Nicole. As what I told her, all the layouts that I did will be given to Nicole when she is 21 years old.... cos' her mommy has no time to document all these details for her.

A layout of Sara... her blissful and chirpy nature inspired this layout. The lace on this layout was introduce to complement her outfit.

Chandelier

I first introduced Sean to chandelier when he is about 3 years old. You may ask, why chandelier… it is because of series chandeliers in the lighting shop along East Coast Road. We used to take our evening stroll along East Coast Road. Subsequently, Shayne got to know about chandeliers from his brother too. Nowadays, whenever, they pass by that shop… they tell each other why and which chandelier they like. They like the intricate details and bright light from the chandeliers.

So… I bet they will be thrilled and excited to see this bubble chandelier that was installed in CSC last evening. Finally, the 4m diameter chandelier is up. I still clearly remembered when Sean visited a museum in Brisbane at 3+ …. the first thing he pointed out to me was…. “mommy, look at that big chandelier, I really like it. Let’s take a photo of that.”

So here it is….. the bubble chandelier… this is a very intricate design, every glass bubble is different.



This section of CSC is open to public. See you guys there end of the month when Tung Luk Restaurant is open.

Isn't she lovely

The song " isn't she lovely" was playing from my computer.... a beautiful song . This inspired me to do a layout titled " Isn't she lovely" last night.


Journal:-

"Isn't she lovely?... Truely the angel's best. Boy, I'm so happy.
I have been blessed. I can't believe what God has done.
Through me, He's given lift to one. But isn't she lovely, made from love"

Sara @ 1 year old


I like the Quickutz flourish....

Just my thoughts... to be captured in this page for Sara.

I enjoy scrapbooking, currently I somehow fail to introduce this hobby to my friends. *sigh* Yesterday, in the kiddos art lesson... I told Lynn to scrapbook together someday. Perhaps I have to start with Gwen first...that girl really likes art and craft.

My buddy

My buddy... yes, at times they are the best buddy to each other.

This layout was done yesterday afternoon with Sean... in between his school homework break time...His concept: My buddy. And to have a mommy bird watching over two baby birds. He wrote these words and insisted that he got all the words spell correctly. After taking a closer look... the word "serect" is written wrongly. Anyway, let it be. I taught him the correct spelling.

Have a great week ahead.

Give Thanks

Yesterday…while struggling to complete my design work deep in the night…. I thought about my design concept for a CC…FAMILY, PLAY, CULTURAL….. I paused and self reflect on my family. I love my Family. I am blessed with a beautiful family; a wonderful husband (though I nag at him a lot), three lovely and beautiful kiddos. Yes, as compared to my sister, who is taking care of baby Phoebe all by herself and hubby), I am so lucky to have a whole load of support.

Talking about my sis, since young, I am not exactly very close to my sister, even though I have only one sister…but we have each other in heart. My sister just became mommy to Phoebe. She and Mark have always wanted to have a baby.… finally, their prayers are answered. So they will be staying in Taiwan for a while. Yes, every trip to the States, my sister always spend about a month of her time buying items I requested…. Books, Clothes and Scrapbooking items for kiddos. Can you imagine that she actually brought back a big luggage of book for the kiddos. Thanks for that, so this time round, it is my turn to get things from Phoebe. Glad she likes the items we sent over to her. I thank God for her.

To raise three kids, our immediate support comprises of my parents and our two helpers… and very occasionally my sis-in-law Foon Che…. And all the gugus that love the kiddos to bits. I am so grateful for them. Similarly, I really thank God for all of them too.

Talking about God, nowadays, whenever Shayne is naughty…. Sean will tell him: “ Don’t be naughty, I’ll tell God about it.” He tells God everything now. Sing grace before they eat and talk to God a lot. They look forward to their Sunday school. Yes, last week they had a great Easter Party in church.

Yesterday, Surfin made a comment that I bought a $25 fried rice for my two helpers in our recent outing. Though I have two very ‘blur’ helpers, I treated them as part of our family too. That is only $25. Last week, one of them had a tooth ache. I brought her to the dentist, she needs a tooth extraction, the cost $120. She scheduled for another tooth extraction with surgery … that will be $450. *sigh* very expensive hor…..

Nowadays, before I complaint about my life and my expectations not met, I’ll count my blessings. After counting my blessings….. true enough… no more grievances.

Have a great weekend… and I’m leaving with a few photos of the week.

Sara likes these rides very much.....

Sara and her play date... Xeon.

They are enjoying and participating in the Art class.

Art class....Nicole went for this Art class too. But it is a pity Surfin never sign her up for the class.

Perhap next time.

Xeon.. a very adorable boy who loves Thomas the Train too...

Sara @ 17 months old

Our lil’ girl is 17 months old now….

Height :- 84 cm
Weight:- 12.8kg


- has a very spontaneous laughter. During the midst of her crying, should certain actions captured her attention ---- she’ll laugh. Then guess what happen next…. she actually continues her crying after that. Very dramatic huh?

- She has 8 teeth now. Two more on the way…

- I often wonder why… her ‘terrible two’ syndrome starts at 17 months. Whenever she fails to get her way, she cries at the top of her voice. During breakfast, she insisted on having Shayne’s plate. Shayne refused to budge… Sara actually threw her water bottle onto Shayne’s plate. I only got 2nd hand info from my mom and thru’ Shayne’s complaints. Hmmm… *sigh” .. where she pick up that action ???

- She has her daddy’ look and somehow she has my character…. impatient, temperamental character….she is quick tempered.

- Whenever she get her hands on her brothers items…..she screams…”MINE”

- She likes to doodle and draw. And she likes to see picture books a lot. Her fave place is Borders bookshop.

- Sleeps thru’ the night without night feed…yay… Her last feed for the day is at 11pm… till the next day 9.30am.

- I am planning to send her to Little Fairyland, half day, this June. But grandma and daddy say “NO, she’s too young”. Ok slightly older than.

- Very mature for her age and understands us. Her word repertoire is increasing rapidly on a daily basis….

- Daddy pats her to sleep every night as I am always busy with teaching the two boys and my crafting work.

She likes her box of hair accessories....

This is the way she say 'cheese' before the camara.

Similarities

Shayne at 5 months and Phoebe at 2 months.... Cousins....

When my sister posted Phoebe photos on her Facebook..... certain of these pictures reminded me of Shayne. Searched thru' my photos archive .... placed Shayne and Phoebe photos side by side. Ta-da....there are some physical similarities in them.

Another similar fact... they cries a lot. I have gone thru' that phase and understand the sleepless nights and stress my sister is going thru' now. Sis : "Hang in there... welcome to motherhood."

WPPSI Test (a very long post)

Sean Pediatrician strongly recommended all kids to go thru the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) test prior to Primary One. This is an intelligence test designed for children ages 2 years 6 months to 7 years 3 months developed by David Wechsler in 1967. It is a descendent of the earlier Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children tests.

For the benefit of parents who do not know about this, I shall elaborate on it….

The WPPSI–III is composed of 14 subtests.

Block Design - While viewing a constructed model or a picture in a Stimulus Book, the child uses one- or two-colour blocks to re-create the design within a specified time limit.

Information - For Picture Items, the child responds to a question by choosing a picture from four response options. For Verbal Items, the child answers questions that address a broad range of general knowledge topics.

Matrix Reasoning - The child looks at an incomplete matrix and selects the missing portion from 4 or 5 response options.

Vocabulary - For Picture Items, the child names pictures that are displayed in a Stimulus Book. For Verbal Items, the child gives definitions for words that the examiner reads aloud.

Picture Concepts - The child is presented with two or three rows of pictures and chooses one picture from each row to form a group with a common characteristic.

Symbol Search - The child scans a search group and indicates whether a target symbol matches any of the symbols in the search group.

Word Reasoning - The child is asked to identify the common concept being described in a series of increasingly specific clues.

Coding - The child copies symbols that are paired with simple geometric shapes. Using a key, the child draws each symbol in its corresponding shape.

Comprehension - The child answers questions based on his or her understanding of general principles and social situations.

Picture Completion - The child views a picture and then points to or names the important missing part.

Similarities - The child is read an incomplete sentence containing two concepts that share a common characteristic. The child is asked to complete the sentence by providing a response that reflects the shared characteristic.

Receptive Vocabulary - The child looks at a group of four pictures and points to the one the examiner names aloud.

Object Assembly - The child is presented with the pieces of a puzzle in a standard arrangement and fits the pieces together to form a meaningful whole within 90 seconds.

Picture Naming - The child names pictures that are displayed in a Stimulus Book.
Scoring

The WPPSI–III provides Verbal and Performance IQ scores as well as the Full Scale IQ. In addition, the Processing Speed Quotient (known as the Processing Speed Index on previous Wechsler scales) can be derived for children aged 4:0 - 7:3, and a General Language Composite can be determined for children in both age bands (2:6–3:11 & 4:0–7:3). Children in the 2:6-3:11 age band are administered only five of the subtests: Receptive Vocabulary, Block Design, Information, Object Assembly, and Picture Naming.

Quotient and Composite scores have a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. Subtest scaled scores have a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of 3. For Quotient and Composite scores,

below 69 is Extremely Low,
70-79 is Borderline,
80-89 is Low Average,
90-109 is Average,
110-119 is High Average,
120-129 is Superior,
130+ is Very Superior.

This is true for all Wechsler Scales. This test can be taken in PSY Guidance Centre. Gleneagles Medical Centre. #09-09 conducted by David Onn. He is a clinical child psychologist.


After much contemplation, we sent him. Yes, this is one of the few expenditure on kiddos that I actually contemplated, not so much of the cost $450, but the so call disappointment that follow should his IQ level falls below average. I guess all parents out there would want their kids to be brillant and above average. To be honest, I am no exception. I want to give them the best headstart before their mainstream school. Be it the cost, within my financial capacity, I'll send them if I think it will help them.


The report came back last week. Deep down in me, I somehow knew that Sean should be alright, even though he is lazy in his homework and worksheet. Yes, he did better than I expected. Extract from the report: “Sean obtained a Full Scale IQ of 126, placing him in Wechsler Superior range of intellectual functioning. His score is 96th percentile rank compare to other children of his age. “

I am very contented with this result. However, the psychologist, Mr Onn told me to read MORE to him! I was like… I am currently reading a lot to him, his knowledge is already very wide…. Among other things, I was told to improve on his vocab. Mr Onn told me that intellegence level is only say, 5-10% from parents genes, the rest is from enviromental factors. So parents have to be hands-on in their involvement with their children.

With this report and pointers from Mr Onn, I am in a better position to guide Sean in his mental and physical development. Like his Ped, I also strongly recommend parents to send kids to this test so as to best manage our expectations and to guide the kiddos. After knowing Sean should be relatively doing ok for his Pri 1.... I can work for at least two more years before Shayne goes to Primary One.

Pastry Making

Sean told teacher Millie that he'll bring sausage rolls to the school Easter party. On Monday night, we baked 60 bite -size sausage rolls. Nicole volunteered to help. The kiddos loves rolling and egg-washing process. The boys are used to baking with me, as for Nicole, this is the first time she bakes at our place and...wow... she really enjoyed this baking session. Next....she wants to bake a banana cake. Ok, will bake one banana cake next week.

Egg-washing the completed sausage roll.

Finally.... completed at 9pm.

They had one each... took 50 sausage rolls to school.

Very tasty.......

Art lessons

I have been telling myself that I can definitely teach the boys art and craft. But due my busy work schedule and lack of discipline… couple with insufficient knowledge in teaching children art… I decided to sign them up for classes.

After assessing a few art schools, I realized that Growing Paints is very suitable for Sean and Shayne. These two boys do not like to draw as much. The teacher Eric approach to teaching art is really fun and inspirational. Eric engages the boys to sing before and after their art lessons. Furthermore, there is an aquarium with starfishes in it. Cool huh… They started their first art lesson yesterday… and wow… I made the right decision, they enjoyed the class and are looking forward to their next art class… it shall be every Tuesday at 7-8.30pm. I am actively trying to robe in Nicole to join in their art lessons too cos’ currently, there is only two students during this time slot.

The school will be holding an Easter egg painting and storey telling session at the concourse of Kallang Leisure Mall. The story telling/ drawing theme is : Eric Carle Hungry Catepiller. We will be there at 2pm tomorrow. I bet the boys will enjoy the Easter eggs painting.

Eric engages them in singing and dancing before and after class.

Sean enjoying his art lesson.

I suggested to Eric to get the children to paint onto egg crates... that would be fun for Easter painting sesssion. The boys are trying out if this idea is feasible.

We will attend the 10 April sessions starting from 2.30pm. See you guys there... Surfin, Claire and Lynn. Bring your kiddos along.

Have a great weekend to all.

Happy Easter from our family to yours.

Cousin Phoebe

The kiddos have a new cousin..... Phoebe Ann Baumgartel. My sister baby girl (6 weeks old) Congrats.

Can't wait to meet her next month. Last evening when Sean saw this photo, he went downstairs to get my mom up. He told her " ah ma, look... ah ye baby girl Phoebe". Yay, Sara has another cousin to play with.

Vivo fun

We spent the entire Sunday morning in Vivo City with Surfin and Nicole. The kids had a fun time. As usual my kiddos went wild in the mall…. As for Nicole…. She is so well-behaved. Our helpers told Surfin that Nicole is an easy child. Perhaps after a few outing she’ll be influence by the boys and Sara.

Whenever we are there….. we’ll definitely patronize Sean’s fave place… Tung Lok Dim Sum. The kiddos wanted to play in the water pool… due to the bad weather, I told Sean that I’ll bring him to the Marina Barrage this weekend. They love the water feature there.



The boys with Nicole. Shayne is busy with his new Ben 10 phone.


It is very difficult to get a group photo... after many tries, we managed to get one.


Nicole and Sara took a nap. The boys had great hot chocolate.


He spotted an "eyeball".