Cheeky monkey updates

What better excuse to post new photos of the girls, then posting a new update about them eh? What’s to say? Loads! The girls have grown so much over the past few months. Besides physically – Bibou has shot up over the summer and is really slender (like really really slender!), whereas Seraphine, who has grown taller, hasn’t quite lost her chunkiness yet, though it’s a bit more distributed now…. I remembered that Bibou was like that at her age. Hopefully, Seraphine has her sister’s good genes. Have to say though, Seraphine loves her food. She eats really well, whereas Bibou is picky. And they dislike really different things!

Over the summer, the girls have grown very very close to each other (as they were 24/7 for the whole two months). In fact, on the first day of school after the long summer this year, Seraphine was rather upset that Bibou had to go to school. She cried and hung on to Bibou, nanny had to carry her out of the classroom. She kept asking when she’d see Bibou again. Then the next day, she decided that if she can’t have Bibou at home with her, she’d stay in school with Bibou! So once they got to school, she began to take her schools and coat off and sat down next to Bibou in class!! It took a while for the nanny to persuade her to come away from the classroom. She’s now adjusted to having Bibou a couple of hours per day and it’s perfect. True, they fight a lot (but which siblings don’t? and most times they fight because Seraphine is currently in a very ‘a moi’ or ‘mine’ stage… everything is hers. Of course Bibou will assert herself once in a while (she does give in a lot to Seraphine)). But they adore each other and always look out for each other. Seraphine more than Bibou though. She wants to be with Bibou all the time. She follows her everywhere, does exactly what Bibou does and says exactly what Bibou does. She looks up to her big sister. She has taken to liking dance too, as Bibou likes it! They play really very well together. Bibou will very patiently sit down and show her how to do jigsaw puzzles for example. She’ll set the pieces together, touching ever so slightly, and then you’ll hear her say, ‘here Seraphine, press down on this now. Wow, good girl, you see, you did the puzzle! You want to do another one?’. ‘OUI!’ Josephine can be really patient with her sometimes, explaining things to her and also trying to get her to improve her English. You’ll constantly hear Bibou asking Seraphine to repeat after her : Seraphine say : flower… and always always congratulates her! Seraphine is constantly constantly all about Bibou. If she receives a treat, she will always ask for another, not for herself, but always for Bibou and then she’ll rush to Bibou, ‘bibou, bibou, here, bonbon’. She’ll always grab Bibou’s bag, shoes, coat etc, and hand it to her if she ever forgets.

Their favorite time of the day? Definitely must be bath time. Yes, still! Splish splash. They would also scrub each other’s back. And after bath? Bedtime! The girls love their bedroom and bedtime routine. Bibou has Daddy reading a story to her prior to bed while I have Seraphine. Prior to the stories, it’s their ‘bon bon” time (actually their vitamins), and Seraphine will never fail to remind us. However, not just for her, she will never ever forget Bibou’s vitamins. She’ll always ask for Bibou’s, take it (never eating it herself) and giving it to her, all the while calling out to Bibou. "Bibou, Bibou, here". We’ll also have a short read, normally one of her picture books (and it never cease to amaze me how much her vocabulary has picked up. She recognizes a lot of items now and can tell me what they are in English – and the same in French with the nanny), before she has her suckle. Normally Daddy finishes the story first, and she’d get a kiss on his way down. When we’re finished, she’ll immediately run to Bibou to have her goodnight kiss. Then, she’ll cuddle up into her own bed. Both girls LOVE their 'big girl' beds. Now, for some reason, Seraphine is a kind of hoarder in bed. She needs lots of stuff, no, scrap that, HER stuff in bed with her. There is always her special bolster pillow, her doll (‘baby’), her bear, and always a few books, currently her favorite is her Dora book, which is enormous. Often times, when I go up to check on her before my bedtime, I would find cups, bags, pencils, other dolls, all in bed with her! She won’t part with them too. She’s a funny gal.

Now at 2 ½ years old, Seraphine is very opinionated. Unlike Bibou, who was (still is!), very timid when being scolded, in fact, she would get very upset and breaks down crying… and throwing lonnnnnnng tantrums if Daddy won’t console her. Bibou’s tantrums can go up to 30 minutes… Seraphine is the opposite. She is very very cheeky. She does not need approval, she is unafraid, oh no. She is VERY cheeky. Reprimanding her would only mean her talking back at you, going nah nah nah, she would then run to say the nearby couch and pretend to sleep… SNORE. She knows how to dodge and make you laugh… she will try and make you forget that she’s in trouble. She is also very independent. She wants (and often able) to do everything herself. She’s been able to eat and drink on her own since… oh since she was 14- 15 months. She’s been able to put her own shoes and coat on for a while now, and now she has started to dress herself, insists on picking out her clothes and her favorite thing is to pull on her pants by herself. She’s real proud when she can. And unlike Bibou, who prefers to be ‘helped’, Seraphine wants to do herself, and will admonish you if you try to do it for her. Up in the morning, want a cup of milk? Bibou will ask for her, Seraphine… she pulls her little s tool to the kitchen, climb s to get her cup (yellow no less), opens fridge door, pulls out the milk and pours herself a cup! What’s the fuss? Why wait? This is great of course, until she decides she wants chocolates and candy out of the candy bowl. Oh boy.

She is very verbal. Unlike Bibou who just whines and whines, Seraphine will speak up and give you a piece of her mind. Unfortunately, at this stage, it is mostly gibberish, or ‘Seraphine’s talk’. But whatever she’s saying, it ain’t whining! You can be sure, when she is able to string her sentences, we’ll be getting earfuls I’m sure. Having said that, she is beginning to speak in little sentences and certainly tries to put her opinion across. The other night, at bedtime, I tried to give her one of the other little bolsters as hers was in the wash. She looked at me sternly and said “No, moi pillow downstairs. Ca Bibou pillow. Ca pas moi. No Mummy”. OKaaaaaay. Oh and she can count to two. LOL. I figured that ‘coz when you give her a bon bon, she’ll ask for ‘two please’, or always asking for 'two books' before bedtime. She's really cheeky!

Bibou herself has evolved. A bit more grown up, a little less tantrums (still have them unfortunately) and definitely a lot more ‘big sister’. She is quite sensitive, versus thick-skin Seraphine. She loves to be helpful, and hates being rejected or ignored. She loves to draw and color, and in fact can do it really well. True to her nature, she loves drawing FOR you. These days, she often comes to me when I return home and hands me a little page, saying, here Mom, I drew this especially for you. Once she asked me I could 'hang it up' in my office, so I did, and took a photo for her to see. So I did. She was so happy. It is rather easy to please her! Most of all, she is hilarious, mostly unintentionally (Seraphine is a clown on purpose). One evening, we were talking about colors and so I started ‘testing’ Bibou “ Bibou, what color is your hair?” “brown”. “ Bibou, what color is Seraphine’s hair?” “brown”. “ Bibou, what color is Mummy’s hair?” “black”. “ Bibou, What about Daddy’s hair?” “GREY!!! ”.

I also have my very own anti-telemarketer system now! BIBOU! Bibou will pick the phone up and when the telemarketer asks for Mummy, she’ll say, in perfect French, “Mummy doesn’t speak French at all, she speaks only English. So you can’t speak to her. Daddy is not around”. The telemarketer might continue trying, and she’ll, very patiently tell her, “Yes, I know, but Mummy doesn’t speak French at all, she speaks only English. So you can’t speak to her.” I was doubled up in laughter that 1 day when we had about 2-3 calls in an hour. She turned to me too whilst on the phone, and giving me this big conspiracy grin on her face.

Enjoy this batch of photos and videos. I hope to be able to update the blog soon again….

Here are some videos too (ps, go back to 2 posts below if you'd read them before. I had problems uploading the videos the other night).

Here's Bibou dancing first... singing her own song. She has Daddy's baseball cap on:

Then Seraphine decided she wanted in on the action too. So she popped the hat on and ...watch her. it's simply hilarious...

The two girls playing together, either in the garden or indoors. Seraphine would do just about everything Bibou does. Monkey see, monkey do!

Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet

This year, Halloween was on a Saturday and we had the time to carve out the pumpkin. (with the pumpkin seeds, I roasted them in the oven and they were delicious! First boiled them in salted water for about 10 minutes, drain and dry them with a towel, In the meantime, lay a layer of olive oil on a cookie sheet and I sprinkled a layer of coarse salt on it, then lay the seeds on them, sprinkle with more salt and a pat of butter… roast in the oven and oh be careful not to burn yourself when trying to eat them too early). (oh and with the flesh of the pumpkin the next day, I made some yummy pumpkin soup made with beer).

Unfortunately, Bibou had been really ill late that week. We were hoping she’d be feeling better on Saturday, but unfortunately, she was really ill, with a high temperature and was quite lethargic. She didn’t want to do anything all day but sleep. She needed it. Poor girly. So she missed out the treat or tricking our neighborhood organizes every year. I stayed home with Bibou, keep her company and ensure she was alright. She was a really good patient though… not a peep because all she wanted to do was sleep. At around 6.00 pm the door bell rang! They came round to us to see if we were ready to go! I dressed Seraphine up in a little pumpkin witch outfit, with a witch hat. Really cute. Unlike Bibou was at that age, she wasn’t afraid of the scary witches, ghosts etc. Everyone one of the kids were dressed up as something scary! They descended upon the houses screaming “les bon bon”, rushing into the houses to grab the candies! Though Seraphine was the youngest one there, she wasn’t lacking in the candies. She caught the eyes of a couple of the teenager girls and they were taking good care of her! Once they got their candy (well, of course they would), they would run back to get her, carry her through the crowd of screaming, grabbing kids and ensure that her bag had candy in it! And as they made the second trip, they didn’t ask for seconds! They’re good kids. I think we were one of the last houses that they visited. It took a while before they came, but boy did they come. I had a huge bowl of candies and it was gone in a minute. I couldn’t see Seraphine in the sea of black and white, then suddenly near the end, a little orange pipsqueak got pushed through. I don’t know if she realized that it was me, she seemed a bit lost until I called out to her. Even then, I had to grab her bag and stuff the candy into her bag.

After everyone had left, I peeked into her bag, it was FULL. She did have a good run. And ever the precious one, she knew Bibou didn’t have any as she didn’t go, so she first asked if she could have a bon bon, and when we said, yes, she immediately asked if Bibou could have one from her bag too. Aww. Sweetness.

Kongkong and Mahmah's visit

We were most fortunate to have kongkong and mahmah visit us this past October. It had been a while since their last visit, but we managed to do some heavy persuasion. Before they’d arrived, we told the girls about the visit. Of course Bibou remembers them very well, and so was very excited. She kept asking us when they’d be arriving. The last time that Seraphine saw them was when she was 1 year old! I’m sure that she didn’t remember much before the arrival. But she got excited all the same, as she noticed that Bibou was. Once, as we were going up the stairs, she peeped at the wedding collage that I’d made back when. It had been kept hidden during our recent renovations so she hadn’t seen it in a while. I pointed to Kongkong’s photo and asked her who that was… she said kongkong!! Clever girl.

The big day finally arrived. Daddy went off to pick them up from the airport while I cooked some comforting rice congee. The girls, though excided, managed to wait quietly (well, in front of the telly!), while I worked in the kitchen. Traffic was bad, and once again, the girls (and I!!) had to wait impatiently. Finally, the car pulled in. We all rushed out to greet them. It was a wonderful reunion.

As always, we were totally spoilt! The girls received loads of stunning clothes (a pair of red red Chinese cheongsum) and some cute pairs (a pair of green tweety bird sundress the girls look so adorable in) , and a mountain of toys. Loads of princess stuff no less! Daddy also got some nice batik shirts and some go-go gadgets! – one that he constantly uses now is this no-battery-needed (just wind up like an old car) – clip on the head like an old miners hat, night lamp! He uses it at night when he wants to read in bed without waking me up. Me I got loads of delicious spices and food. Things I truly truly miss. It was heaven.

Though they were here for about 12 days, the time flew by very quickly. Every day was jammed packed. Since kongkong loves fruits and loves picking fruits even more, we decided to visit the Farm de Gally. We got there mid morning, as we’d previously only gone in the late afternoon and all the pickings were mostly gone already. Apples were in season of course! Kongkong and mahmah were real pleased about that. They love apples. Their (and ours too) favorite were the golden delicious and we found some nice ones. After picking the apples, we went on to pick other fruits and vegetables. Bibou really wanted to pick some berries, strawberries are her favorite! But daddy wanted to pick fresh corn (yummy!). They were both at very different ends of the farm. So we split up. Bibou and I went with Mahmah and Seraphine had the boys all to herself. We had a wonderful time. We picked strawberries and a cauliflower too. We tried to pick cherry tomatoes, but they were all gone. We met up with the boys just before lunch and they had managed to pick loads and loads of fresh corn on the cob and also a big whole pumpkin for Halloween. It was a fruitful day :)

During the week, while Daddy was at work, we took the girls to the playmobile fun park next to our place. It was a large place! I had thought that the girls will head straight for the pink castle with the princesses stuff. Boy was I wrong… yes they went for the castle… but it was the ‘boys’ castle…. The medieval one, with dungeons and dragons! Seraphine loved the airplanes and copters one too! Bibou spent lots of time with the pirates. Hmmm.

Kongkong and Mahmah were amazed at how Bibou, at five (and she started this summer!) is able to ride a bike without training wheels! She’s even better than her own Mummy – I can’t ride a bike! Seraphine is now also able to coast on her scooter too.

The time flew by too quickly. They had to leave, we hope we’ll see them soon!

Video

Here's a video of Bibou on her bike.

Summer 09 Big UK Trip

FINALLY, our big UK trip. The girls were told that we were going up to see Aunty Michelle. And Bibou kept asking when we’d be there! Finally the day arrived. That night, the girls went to bed, warmly wrapped in warm pjs and were told that we were going to wake them up in the middle of the night for our car trip. At around 1.30 am, we got up and got the car loaded. As we were doing that, our neighbors came back from their super long vacation trip! What a coincidence! They wished us (longingly) a ‘bon vacance’ and lamented the fact that they had to go back to work the next day! Then we went in and got the girls. Daddy woke Bibou up first and as I reached down to pick Seraphine up, she woke up herself (she’s a light sleeper as compared to Bibou), got up and said to me ‘car, Mummy?’. I didn’t think she remembered but she did. She loves riding in the car. Once the girls were all bundled up nicely in the car, with blankets and pillows, off we went. The drive went smoothly. Me taking the ‘french’ side – that took us less than 3 hours to get to Calais. The train ride was about 30 minutes and then Daddy took over. It was about 2 hours to get to Michelle and Luke, who were nicely waiting for us already. They live in a lovely area, all the houses were new and they have this wonderful park just across the street (which came in handy. The girls loved the park there and one day, Aunty Michelle taught Bibou how to swing on the swing on her own. She did it and was sooo proud!! ). The girls were so happy to see Michelle and Luke… jumping all over them. Bibou wanted to tell them all about her trip. We got settled in, bringing with us all the gifts for them. Then us girlies went for our girls outing – shopping where else??!! Michelle brought me to Costco… I LOVE Costco. Why can’t we have it here? Bought TONS, but Saved a lot too. The prices were just incredible. As an example, I came back to check that a pack of 12 Brita water filers cost about €56, I paid like 13 pounds!! Loved it. Then we went to Morrisons and also a Chinese supermarket. Oh I had loads of fun.

Anyway, we also managed to get some activities done that week. One trip we took with Michelle and Luke was to Beaulieu. Actually, Daddy really wanted to go to the beach, but when we got to the highway, it was jammed packed! Looks like EVERYONE had the same idea (it was a really gorgeous hot, bright and clear day). In the end, we agreed to stop off somewhere else. We pulled out at New Forest. Boy was I glad we did. It was gorgeous. And the most wonderful thing about it was that there were loads of wild ponies roaming around. As we drove around looking for a place to have lunch, the Bibou woke up and I pointed out the ponies to her. She was all excited. We stopped at a pub/ lunch place and had a quick lunch and then moved on to a nearby town to stop and admire. On our way, we passed by this group of ponies grazing in a quiet spot, and we couldn’t’ resist stopping. So we did. Daddy carried the girls (one at a time) to see the ponies. They weren’t afraid of us at all.. just continued grazing and chewing. Daddy and Bibou even managed to touch one of them. I was taking photos and videos with my camera and wasn’t paying much attention to them, until one of them approached me. I was wearing his blue sundress, so he must have thought that I was this big, fat, juicy blueberry or something, ‘coz he came right up to me and bite me in the tummy! Ouch! It was quite a nip! I wasn’t bleeding or anything, but it did give me a bruise… and gave everyone a big laugh! Anyway, we first stopped at a place called Beaulieu. And it was true to its name (in French – beautiful place). The site that greeted us was breathtaking as you can see from these photos. Gorgeous picturesque place. It was just amazing to see the wild horses (and cows) roaming everywhere. They weren't afraid of cars, humans etc, though the cars all gave way to the animals. Most of the horses, however, wouldn't let us near them nor touch them. (so i guess the little nipper was an exception!).

On another day, we took the girls out to the farm to visit the animals. The Finkley Farm (http://www.finkleydownfarm.co.uk/) is an interactive farm where the children can feed the animals and they also had regular workshops where the children could touch and handle little animals. We got there and bought a bag of feed. There were lots of animals to feed! There were llamas, angora sheeps, goats, cows! The girls totally enjoyed it; reaching out their hands towards them, calling them and having the thrill of them licking the feed off their tiny hands. It was time for the first workshop, the little bunnies. They re really well organized. Two rows of benches, and the kids, orderly queued up, sat down. They were given a little carpet to put on their wee laps and were taught how to handle the bunnies. Then excitedly they received the bunnies on their laps. They were so pleased! The sweet little bunnies were so docile, allowing the children to pet and hold them. I have to admit that I was surprised to see that our girls were really gentle with the bunnies, not mishandling them at all. Especially Seraphine; she was hold the bunny really tenderly. Another workshop that we went to was for little chicks. Just like the bunnies, the children sat on 2 benches and were given a little basket on their laps (chicks tend to move quickly!). Again, Bibou and Seraphine were super kind with the chicks, handling them tenderly. Bibou said that the chicks were really soft! Really fun day out. They had a huge playground with a massive slide, a hay stack area and the girls even learnt how to milk a cow… it wasn't a real cow, but it sure looked like fun!

We were also lucky to have spent a day in London with the Gohs. Oh what a yummy day it was! We met up in their gorgeous, gorgeous townhouse in Kensington and then went for Lunch at Goldmine (the chef had moved there from Four Seasons. Oh mi gosh, the most succulent roasted duck I’ve ever tasted. They also had daily soup and gasp their chilli oil was heaven,heaven, heaven. I must have eaten like 3 bowls of rice with that chilli oil. I admit that I overdosed on it. If you were on High Street Kensington that afternoon, you would have noticed a women who kept running back and forth from the WHSmith bookstore where she was TRYING to buy some books and the Starbucks next door that had a bathroom. Groan. However, did I learn my lesson? Of course not. Dinner was at Kaisu, again on Bayswater, a Singaporean restaurant. My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach. I practically ordered almost everything on the menu. Laksa, oyster omelets, beef hor fun, satay, curry puff, carrot cake, golly I’m hungry again. It was oh so good, oh so oily and oh so spicy. Yes, needless to say, I didn’t sleep well that night. Bad tummy. But have to say, it was all worth it.

All too soon, we had to leave. It was sad saying goodbye, but we’ll be back!

Videos

First glimpse of the ponies from the car:

The friendly pony that came to say hello :




The girls with the rabbit at Finkley Farm:

Summer 09, Personalized Aprons

Sometime over the summer, I received a parcel from the US! It was from a really sweet friend, an ex-colleague of mine actually. She's always thinking about the girls, and she chanced upon these aprons, and thought about the girls immediately. She knew that I loved to cook and that the girls sometimes help me out in the kitchen, so hey why not! Let's combine them together. She hoped that this will encourage the girls to be a good cook like mummy. Awww. Thank you Aunty Arlene!

As soon as I got back home, I took the gifts out and showed it to the girls. They were REALLY excited. Though I very seldom use the apron (for some reason, I have never gotten used to the idea of wearing an apron, despite always cooking... maybe I should as I always have very dirty clothes after cooking :)....) Bibou immediately said, APRON! I guess Daddy does wear an apron once in a while. I said yes.... and then " for me? for us??!!" YES... and then when I took out the aprons, I showed it to her without saying anything yet. Just to see if she would noticed it. She did! Immediately. She was like, There's my NAME! Look Mummy, there's my name! She's all excited about it.

To show Aunty Arlene the gifts, we pulled out the camera and the girls gamely posed for us. Then I decided to add some fun and ran into the kitchen to bring out some bowls, and mixer. Bibou immediately asked if we were doing some baking... in the garden Mummy???!!! LOL. Didn't matter that we weren't, that we were only pretending. The girls went at it wholeheartedly... whipping and beating. Seraphine even tasted the spoon :). Tasted really good too.

I do hope the girls will take on my hobby of cooking and baking. The girls, especially bibou love helping me in the kitchen. Often asking me if she could help. Seraphine has also started, though I suspect it is mostly because the greedy girl just wants to eat first.

Summer 09 Day out with Dan

Another hot Summer day. What do we do? OOOO, Dan’s available? Well, that’s it, we’ll spend it with Dan of course!! And where shall we go? Where else, our favorite place, Jardin d’Acclimintation of course! Those two were so excited to see each other. They couldn’t stop laughing and talking. I guess by this time, they’d both not seen each other in over a month! Can you imagine our love birds not seeing each other for a month? How cruel!!

First we had a little picnic in the park. We managed to snare a table (the area was PACKED – lots of groups). I’d made a few picnic stuff to share, a tuna salad spread, potato salad and some cheeses, yummy bread. After the yummy lunch, we went off to the play around. Bibou and Dan went immediately to the large climbing pyramid thingy. Last year, Bibou started climbing it though she couldn’t get to the top,… she year, she was most proud to reach the top! Unfortunately, Dan wouldn’t even go past the first level. Hmm, guess Bibou’s had a lot of training from Daddy! The kids kept running up and down, into the playground and learning to share and wait. As it was a(nother) hot summer day, the venue was fully booked! Good thing we arrived early. Oy, it was jammed packed. And soon, it was time for the punch judy show. All the kids in the show loved it. I guess they would! It’s all about punching each other. The kids were fairly well behaved, though it was really very very crowded. Dan’s Dad managed to get the kids up front on the front seat. Remember, Bibou and Dan have seen these shows many time now, at school and at school outings, but this is the first time Seraphine had seen them. I’d thought she wouldn’t like it, or wouldn’t be able to sit still for it. But she got really caught up in the excitement that the others radiated. She clapped when everyone was clapping, screamed when they did, laughed extra hard when other did too. She was, however, a bit too friendly with the girl next to her, touching her hair etc. The poor neighbor couldn’t figure out what to do with her! After the show, we had some gouter and then as promised, we took the kids on the rides. Apparently, Dan doesn’t quite like the fast roller coaster rides (his Dad called him a scaredy cat), so Bibou had to be content with the tamer ones (she really didn’t mind as long as she was with Dan). Then we had to leave the park and go home! Until the next time then!

Summer 09Babie and Ed’s visit

Here we go. I hope I’ll be able to keep up with the blogs. There’s just soo much to catch up on. Ok, first… dating back, holly molly, 4 months now, summer this year..We had the great fortune to have Babie and Edward visiting us in August. They arrived beginning of August and stayed with us for almost 2 weeks. The girls, especially Bibou were so excited. Bibou remembers Babie really fondly and especially can remember that ‘Babie’ took me to the place where I got my nails done with her!! She couldn’t wait for Babie to arrive.

Finally the day arrived and Daddy went to pick them up from Gare du Nord. The girls and I decided to go out onto the streets to play and also so that we can have an early glimpse when they arrived. Unfortunately, Daddy got a bit lost and so was delayed. Bibou was near tears thinking they were not coming…. Waiting quite impatiently. Had to distract them. Finally the car came up the hill and it was a funny sight… Bibou squealing and Babie running to them.

The days passed by quickly. We had loads of fun… Ate really well.. Babie even prepared a gorgeous yummy meal of sweet, salty salmon grilled on the BBQ on a bed of coarse salt. Yummy. We also went and did stuff with them. One place that they’ve never been was the Chateau de Versailles. We often go there every summer too, so off we went. Upon getting there though, it was obvious that it might not have been a good idea! The queues were HORRENDOUS! Probably 1 hour to get the tickets and then another hour to get out that the parks were free ainto the apartments. It WAS summer, the upmost peak tourist season, and probably one of the hottest days of the year. Fortunately, we found ccess. So we left Babie and Ed to visit the apartments while we took the girls into the park to roam around. I tell ya, it was HOT HOT HOT. After lunch, Bibou really wanted to get into a row boat in the canal. She didn’t get the chance last year, (and she remembered too!) as they were closing by the time we got there. So into a row boat we went. The scene was lovely and it was cooler too, being on the water. Daddy was a wonderful rower, strong, even strokes. The girls and I tried to give it a shot too…err, no go! All we did was go in circles LOL. Daddy took over quickly. 45 mins later, we decided to get out.. just in time too. The crowds, probably after lunch and hitting the afternoon heatwave had started to pour into the canal. It would have been difficult to navigate around the others, we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the scene and most of all, there were a number of ‘idiots’ on the water! Some were obviously first timers and probably wouldn’t go very far… kept bumping into everyone. Geesh. While waiting for Babie and Ed, we rested along the canal for a while. The girls found the swan and ducks and were so happy talking to them. Then Seraphine wanted to feed them and she remembered that I’d brought cookies, and was happy feeding them! Soon after, we hooked up with Babie and Ed and had a yummy tea – ICE CREAM!! Yum. Needless to say, the girls fell asleep in the car home.

On another day, we went downtown to do our annual trip to the Fete de Tuileries. The girls as always, got really energized when we got to the fair. They wanted to do everything! We got on to the merry go round though I think the girls found it really tame. They want to get on the more exciting rides now. Onto the cars and rides they went. Last year, I wrote that Bibou started getting onto the roller coaster rides. So needless to say that this year, she wanted to get on again. However, Seraphine too wanted to get on! We were wondering if she was too young, but she really wanted, so onto the ride she went with me. And this year, Bibou was brave enough to get on a seat all by herself! I was worried about Seraphine, but no, she had a wonderful time. Next to me, all I could hear was giggles, and ‘wow’s! At one point, she and Bibou even raised their hands in the air (how they know to do that, is beyond me!!), just like adults do in a scary ride. After the ride, Daddy asked her if she liked it and she said a big YES! Next the girls wanted to get on the big long slide. Bibou could do it on her own now, though Seraphine had to be on Daddy’s lap. 5 times the girls went up and down. They LOVED it. They were howling with laughter each time. Finally, I was looking longingly at the water log…every year, bibou was either too small (young) or too scared (last year) to get on the Water Log. It can be a rather scary ride as the drop is long. After much persuasion, she finally agreed to do it with me. She was scared! And whimpering a little, especially as we approached the big fall. However, after the big splash, and we got out of the ride, she perked up and said that it was a good ride. Then she said that she wanted to get on again (I guess she didn’t quite enjoyed it the first time as she was too scared)!! I was getting ready to get on with her again when Babie and Ed came round to meet us (they’d gone shopping instead). So Ed went with her. Bibou was HILARIOUS. She came down each fall squealing and shrieking.. “this is SUPER COOL”. She loved it. What a big difference between the two rides.

All too soon, we had to bid Babie and Ed farewell! Byebye. We hope to see you real soon!

Here's a video of Serpahine dancing with Babie.

Bibou's Fifth Year's school pix

Oh i've been so very bad. I'm guilt-wreck that I've not been able to update the blog. Work work work (and now, I've just been asked to take on MORE!), and we've also had a big bout of illness going on. I'll try and update a bit more very soon. In the meantime, I thought you'd like to see Bibou's most recent school picture. I love love love how the school does this regularly, every year like clockwork. Can't wait for next year either, as Seraphine gets to have her picture taken too! Love Bibou's smile. Wanna see how she's changed over the years?

My baby girl, all grown up.

I promise to try and get more updated soon.

My Princess turns Five!

First, a big big apology for the long silence. I know I've been falling behind tremendously on the blog and it stresses me out to no end that I've been unable to update it. Indeed, I still have a lot to catch you up on, with all our fun summer activities, recent visit of mahmah and kongkong. Unfortunately, that will have to wait for a while,.... hopefully in the next 2 weeks, things will slow down ever so little, and I will do a big post...hopefully! In the meantime, I hope that some recent pictures of my little precious' recent birthday party will suffice.

It is hard to believe that slightly more than 5 years ago, a little peanut with a mop of shocking black hair popped out of me (ok, she actually got dragged out 6 weeks earlier... :), but still, it was a wonderful first meeting.... all 30 seconds of it). 5 years later, that little peanut has turned into a gorgeous, helpful, delightful, active, sensitive , lively princess who loves to sing and dance! We cannot imagine our lives without her.

As always, Bibou wanted a princess themed party and so she did. As it was the start of a new school year, we invited everyone who was on her table in class (and of course her usual 'gang' that she hangs out with.... Dan (gasp, what is a party without Dan), Aaron, Louise and Noemi. At first, we had a little hiccup as apparently one of her classmate / invited guest was also hosting her birthday party on the same day as Bibou and they both shared the same guests. Oh dear, what are we to do? Fortunately, M's mom, got into action, and started making some calls, and changed their birthday party to another day. Now everyone had 2 parties to go to that week. Everyone was excited... but not as excited as Bibou. This year, she really understood what was happening, and was anticipating it! For more than a week, she would tell everyone, and especially Daddy and me, that she was going to be 5 years old and that it was going to be her birthday soon! On the day of the party, you could not have controled her excitment at all. Bless her. She was so happy... every few minutes, she would go, it's my birthday! She would skip and sing, laugh and clap "its my birthday", do a little spin. She helped with the decoration planning everything! and boy was she super happy with her... Barbie Princess Cake. My second year of making it didn't make it go any faster, but at least this year, I didn't need to do surgery on Barbie's legs (I used last year's doll, just changed her dress). I got some superduper frosting color, unfortunately, they were QUITE superduper... and I put a little bit too much blue... EVERYTHING was blue, but it was fun.

Anyway, Bibou couldn't wait for her guests to come. She did stand quietly for me to put on her make up. And then we got her dressed up in the new princess dress that I got her (oh and matching 'high heeled' shoes too! It was hilarious the day i came back with the dress and shoes for the girls.... they rushed to put on the dresses (Seraphine got to wear Bibou's old one). And slipped on the shoes! Both went clacking around the house with them. I couldn't resist taking a photo of them, and when I asked them to show me their shoes... they promptly lifted their skirts. Funny). She was so happy to have glitter all over the face too. When her guests arrive (all 13 of them!), all the girls wanted make up on too... so I made all of them up. They were so thrilled. In the meantime, Bibou was showing all her friends her 'princess room' upstairs.

We played a few games (pass the parcel, bob for apples, oh and hitting the pinata). She got totally spoilt with presents too and all her friends went home with a bag filled with loads and loads of goodies. Oh and she even got a pair of roller blades from mahmah and kongkong, which she did try to.... but kept falling over (of course) but she didn't get frustrated. Instead she couldn't stop laughing! My funny girl. Happy Birthday my baby girl.

My Belle Girl

Baby girl has grown up too quickly over the past month or so. She’s gone from a baby, literally to a strong, independent, stubborn toddler. She holds her ground very firmly. She knows what she wants and will not stop until she gets it. Fortunately, she’s easily distracted and so doesn’t normally go into big long tantrums… unlike someone we know. She’s EXTREMELY cheeky, really really cheeky. Sometimes it gets you so flabbergasted, but most times, you just can’t help but laugh out loud. She would say no, just for the sake for saying no, and laughs at you. She actually doesn’t care either way. She likes to go nah nah nah at you, and has occasionally stuck her tongue out!! She can roll her eyes, oh and get this, if you are scolding her or ‘lecturing’ her, she pretends that she’s asleep! I kid you not. She will put her head down, close her eyes and pretends to SNORE!!! Ai. But she laughs. She loves to laugh and loves to make people laugh. She’ll do anything to make you laugh. You can hear from the video below, she has a most delicious and infectious laugh. She is very affectionate, loves to give and receive kisses. Most of all, wants US to kiss. For example, when she is in my arms and Daddy comes over to give her a kiss, she’d insist that Daddy gives me a kiss too! And she’d insist that it was on my lips (sometimes Daddy likes to kiss me on my forehead…. And if so, she’d tap her little finger on my lips and look at Daddy sternly. Simply hilarious!) She, however, is not a cuddly person. So sad. Bibou loves to cuddle but Seraphine is too impatient for it. She’d wiggle out of your arms if you try and cuddle with her too long. The only time I get to hold and cuddle her is when she’s asleep or when she’s ill. Poor baby.

She does so like to ‘copy’ me, for example, when I leave for work in the morning, I have my handbag, my laptop bag, my lunch bag and sometimes another bag or two. So baby girl’s favorite thing now is, stuffing things into bags… she LOVES bags and slinging them across her shoulders, putting on shoes and waving to us, saying ‘byebye’. Simply delicious. Ah yes, she loves shoes now. She can put her shoes on herself, most of the time, even getting them on the right foot. Of course, currently they girls are wearing sandals, but still, she needs to slip the shoes on, slip through the buckle and Velcro them down. However, she loves to wear other people’s shoes too….especially mine.

She does stand up for herself, and is a bit aggressive….no doubt all learnt from Bibou. She HATES it when Bibou whines and whinges… and so often goes up to her and smack her when she does it. I think she hates it ‘coz we hate it! LOL. Of course that just gets Bibou all winded up even more. Sigh. They both do get into snatching and smacking fits unfortunately! Arrgh. But like I previously mentioned, Bibou is still protective over her and loves her little sister. She would go up to her to cuddle or for a kiss.

Seraphine is a chatty one. She picks up words and phrases quickly now. Watch the video for more Seraphine fun!

Oh before I forget... the girls got their ears pierced too! Bibou really wanted it so we went to the store. She was really really brave. Didn't cry at all! She was a little startled when it went it but not a peep from her. Seraphine did cry, but only for a very short time.

Well, that's it for now. I hope to be able to upload more pix and videos and news of the kids soon!

Videos

The Pink Princess Room

Ta-da! Finally, the girls' have got their rooms. It sure took a long while coming but the girls are all moved in like they’ve been living there forever. Daddy and I painted the room pink (Bibou picked out the color herself!) while I picked out their decorations. Daddy laid down the floor. The girls just couldn’t wait to move into their room and had no problem settling in. So are some photos of their room. Note though, that the pictures were taken prior to Seraphine moving into her ‘big girl’s bed. YES, she’s moved from a crib to the normal bed..in fact, she’s got Bibou’s old bed and Bibou has a brand new pink bed!! Ain’t they lucky??

The slopping roof made it difficult to have a wardrobe in the room, without loosing much space. So Daddy just installed a rod and we have an instant wardrobe. The girls are estactic that everything is pink and princess. I found princess rugs too!

The princess blanket from kongkong made a perfect throw over the chair and the princess tent was just the perfect accessory for the playroom!!

And I tell you, the girls just LOVE running into the corners, and hiding there.

Video

Don't you just love the way she asks for me to 'come'..with her hands?

Spalshing good time with boyfriends

What is summer without spending time with Dan??!! Gasp, inconceivable idea of course. And so, we met up with Dan and his family one hot weekend. As they’d never been to the Gailly Farm before, we decided to go there! What an adventure. Bibou remembered the place very well, as she’d been there various times already. She couldn’t wait to show Dan all the different animals. The first stop was the pigs and donkeys and fowls (ducks, geese, roosters, even peacocks). Seraphine was wide-eyed, finally seeing these animals ‘up close and real’ as she only remembers them in books. I told her that these were ducks, and first she looked at me, uncertain… about to go ‘quack quack’ with her hands under the armpit to do the flapping wings thing, when a duck obligingly started quacking. That got her all wound up!! She started laughing and quacking at the same time. She got on the old tractors and pretended to be the driver.
But the real fun began when we went onto the field where loads of little baby and mama goats were waiting to be fed. The kids all rushed into the pen while I rushed off to collect long fresh grass for the kids to feed the kids (hahaha). Bibou was a pro at it having done it a couple of times and so she showed the others what to do. Seraphine at first kept a clear distance and was trying to hide behind me. However, once she realized that I was being ‘attacked’… I had a huge bunch of freshly pulled grass, by the mama goats, who could jump up to chest level to grab the food, she hid away too. I managed to persuade her that they weren’t really all that dangerous. I showed her how to feed the goats instead of just throwing the grass at them when they came too near!! Finally when the goats were eating out of her hand, she was so happy. She totally enjoyed herself. Then we went off into the ‘forest’ when the Dads took the older kids for a walk. Us Mommies just got gouter ready. Soon we left the farm, to get to the other side of the farm, the harvesting side, where the Bitans gathered some fruits and vegetables. All too soon, we had to say goodbye to them, but no worries, ‘coz they were back again the next day.
As it was a really hot weekend, the kids wanted to cool down in the pool. First, we had a lovely lunch at a Japanese restaurant not too far away. The kids love the food, and so do we. Fresh fish and seaweed too. We next went to Ikea to get a few things. By the time we got home…the Bitans had arrived!! The kids ran to the pool and couldn’t wait to jump in. Little Seraphine however, was exhausted and had fallen asleep in the car. So Daddy took the whole seat out of the car and into the garden..where she continued sleeping (through the squeals and screams of the older kids). The Bitans were amazed at how she could sleep through. But after a while, she woke up and then was all ready to get into the pool with the kids as she saw how much fun the rest was having. At first, she stood around the edge while being splashed, but it was a quick few minutes before she splashed back and jumping around the pool.

The slide is such a hot item…the kids just love it! Ditto the big yellow seal. Bibou just loves climbing on it and hanging on but ultimately tipping over into the pool. The most fun part is climbing on the seal with someone else and tipping over into the pool. She did this with Dan AND with Aidan who came over another weekend. In fact, we often tease Bibou as she’s been seen in the same pool, same pose, on the seal, but with different boys! Ah what a heartbreaker. indeed, we've had numerous number of BBQs in the back yard with friends and MESSAGE colleagues and all the kids just love the pool. Unfortunately, the water isn't quite warm, in fact, it can be really cold, though on a very yucky hot and humid day, esp in the hot and humid train, Daddy says that it is very refreshing to jump into the cold pool. No thank you for me! Well, as long as the kids like it. Seraphine seems to have no qualms about being in the cold. She just jumps into the pool like that, no probs at all. Bibou HATES the cold, though she will get into the pool... but it has to be on her 'terms, at her own time. And hates to be splashed. Of course, Seraphine, knowing that it was something that Bibou doesn't like..... LOVES to splash her. Sigh.

Videos

Father's Day Picnic

It was Father’s Day next. The girls were all excited about giving Daddy his Father’s Day present (he got some candy, proper English biscuits and lots of books!!)After all the excitement has died down, we got ready and headed off to the Jardin d’acclimintation for the annual MESSAGE Father’s Day picnic. The girls are always really excited about going there, esp with the prospects on getting on the ride! We were met there by lots of MESSAGE friends, and Bibou was real happy to see them. All the kids were delighted as there were gifts of water pistols and bottles of bubbles. Unfortunately, Seraphine has decided that she loves them too, and kept asking for them. However, being the stubborn independent girl she is, she refused to let anyone hold the wand and bottle for her, insisting that she holds them both. She wants to do it herself. Of course, she’s unable to, and also keeps tipping the bottle of soap all over herself. Still she won’t let anyone help her. Daddy gave us some musical relief, playing some children song. We had a nice picnic at lunch time. After that, we decided to head on to the playground area with the Gadrets and the Straights. The kids love it and couldn’t wait to get on the structure. As it was a hot day, the water structures were a big hit! I held Seraphine up to the fine water mist which sprayed out mist intermittently. At first, she was startled by it, but very very quickly grew to love it. She learnt to anticipate the next spurt and squealed with delight. Daddy and I were most astonished and how strong she’s become. She can climb quickly and able to negotiate / push her way through the bigger kids. We found Bibou at the water jet area. As we didn’t bring the kid’s swim wear, they just stripped down to their undies and ran through the water jets. Seraphine loves water…. She loves to drink it, touch it, just put it in her mouth. So we were not surprised when she decided that she was going to try and capture the water jets (that were shooting from the edge) with her mouth. First she decided that she didn’t want to get too wet, so she was going to stand on the ‘dry’ side, and then she tried sticking her tongue out towards the jet..didn’t work. So she sat down…didn’t work. She tried all kinds of method. My absolute favorite is the one of her finally lying almost on the ground with her bum up in the air. Bibou in the meantime finally decided to take the plunge and ran through the cold jets, squealing. And Seraphine finally decided that it was fun too, so followed suit… though she was quite caught with surprise and how cold the water was. Needless to say, the girls all fall promptly to sleep once we got in the car.

MESSAGE BBQ

The next day, we had the very fortunate occasion to be invited to a friend, fellow MESSAGE member and colleague (she’s MESSAGE’s president) place for a BBQ. Actually, it was their country house, about an hour’s drive from where we were. It wasn’t terribly hot, but we were lucky with the weather as it wasn’t raining… not until all the food had been cooked and eaten anyway. It was a nice drive, the girls fall asleep on the way (thank god for drugs – the girls get so car sick these days…). We did stop to get some delicious cherries and flowers for our hostess. The country side air always smells so different. So fresh, flowerly and such a ‘good for you’ feeling. It was a little bit ‘frais’ though … ie cold, but the girls solved that problem… by running all over the garden, exploring the wonderful toys and adventures that could be found in their new playarea. We were the first family to arrive, but all the other execom members and their family followed soon after. Bibou was especially thrilled to see Louise and stuck on to her for most of the afternoon. The two girls play so well together. Running and chasing each other and being targeted by the older boys. Daddy as usual, broke out his guitar, and everyone had a musical time, esp K. as she loves singing along with Daddy. Bibou was a wonderful accompanist, as always. I do hope she will continue to enjoy music and dancing when she grows up. She does like it a lot right now, always singing, not necessarily ‘conventional’ songs like the ones she has been taught, either at school or at home, but she also loves to make songs up as she accompanies Daddy (well, maybe it’s the other way round eh, Daddy makes up a song as she sings up a storm). Seraphine is always off dancing on her own.

Something I noticed that day that sealed my conviction that having a second child was my best decision ever made. We were sat at the ‘adults’ table chatting and drinking / snacking when we heard a little commotion. As far as we can tell, Seraphine had probably done a boo-boo like pushing the younger Giselle (whose second name, btw was also Seraphine) when she couldn’t get her way. Immediately, Giselle’s brother and another boy (who was ‘tight’ with the brother) confronted Seraphine. You can tell from the photo that the boys were aggressive towards her (not physically though despite the ‘gun’) and they were ‘scolding’ her. She had a most bewildered look on her face, not quite sure how to react. However, Bibou did. She immediately, stood over Seraphine, and was very protectively. She had her arms up and was staring intensely at the boys, making sure that they didn’t do anything to her. And then she just yelled at the kids (I couldn’t hear what she said), and the boys then moved away. She then scooped Seraphine up into her arms and hugged her and soothed her, making sure she was alright. She did me most proud. I was actually moved to tears. And this is not a one-off thing, I saw it again recently at a park in Paris. Seraphine was on a structure and I think had been accidentally (or purposefully, I don’t know) hit by a rowdy boy. Bibou immediately took her into her arms, protecting her, putting her behind her own back and then proceeded to scold the boy. It is what I’ve always hoped for, that the girls will be protective of each other regardless of the situation. Protect first and ask questions later.

What a wonderful day. And Bibou was in 7th heaven as she was allowed to pick flowers and wear them too!

End-of-School-Year Concert

Sorry doesn’t cut it I know. It has been way too long, since I’ve updated the blog. it has been at the back of my mind and nags me every single day. But I’ve just not had the time!! It has been crazy busy at work. And the weekends are also very busy… either cooking for the week, keeping an eye on the kids while Daddy tries to finish up the house or being with friends. It is the end of the quarter and fiscal year for us at work, I thought it would quiet down in August, but no such luck. Anyway, I’m going to attempt to do so now! I’ll try and update as much as possible…. Here goes.


First update on Bibou’s school Concert :In one of the previous posts, I’d posted about Bibou’s end of school concert for her French school. There, she performed with all her French schoolmates with various French songs. Well, not too long ago, it was Bibou’s English school concert. Bibou couldn’t wait for it. It was held on a Saturday afternoon at the American Cathedral in Paris. The children from maternelle section had to wear red, so I chose the reddest dress I could find in her wardrobe – what else, a cheong sum of course, made from red silk. She looked so good in it, especially since she had a bit of color from the sun. Seraphine and I had to wait out for a while while Daddy and Bibou went to practice. Yes, Daddy was also involved with the show as he volunteered to accompany the performance with his guitar. Seraphine and I hung around for a while, exploring the really old Cathedral. After about 45 minutes, the doors to the theatre opened and we went in. A wonderful site greeted us – a sea of little red people on stage! Yah. The maternelle group was going to start first. Bibou’s shiny red cheong sum was easy to spot! And she was dead center of the stage too! Yeah Bibou. Once the room was filled up, the maternelle group kicked off the show. First they started out with a couple of rhythms and finger actions. Bibou was all enthusiastic with her gestures and face expressions! And then they sang the song that she’d been practicing for a long time… doe a deer. Oh made me so very proud. She had all the actions spot on. You can watch her in the video below (if it ever uploads!!). All too soon, her group is finished and off to the side she went while we watched the performances from the other sections. They were quite good, esp the rendition of Romeo and Juliet from the (much) older group. It was funny however, to spot Daddy in the wee corner, struggling hard to match the children’s’ singing that were not in time at all…. At the end of the concert, all the kids from all levels came out on stage to do a farewell song (Bibou at this time was mighty bored, you could tell, but she still stood still, didn’t fidget nor throw tantrums….). At the end, everyone got thanks, especially all the teachers and the fabulous principal. Oh, and Daddy got thanked too “thanks goes out to our very own Mr. D’Arcy”…. Yeah.

After the concert, as we were in Paris, we went on to have lunch at Mirama; the kids just LOVE the food and gobble everything up, no matter that it is really hot. After lunch, we took a stroll back to the carpark, only to realize that they’d blocked off the main road to the Notre Dame. We tried to find out what was happening, only to be told that some VIP was going to visit Notre Dame. We hung around for a while, but the girls were getting edgy so we left. As we exited onto the road, we realized that we were the only car on the road (probably blocked off on the top) with lots of people behind the barricade waiting to see who the VIPs were. Daddy decided to be cheeky and rolled down the windows and the girls started waving pretending to be VIPs. The ‘audience’ all had fun and played along to the kids… clapping and waving back. That was fun. I found out the next day that it was actually the Obamas and their girls that were visiting the Notre Dame.

The following week, Bibou had her end of school fair where there were balloons, candies, games...and Bibou even got her face painted, something she was so very pleased about. That was also the week where the raspberries were all out! It was delicious and the girls love picking the raspberries off the bush, nice and warm from the sun and popping them in their mouth.

The videos