BBQ Weekend

Yes, another video post :).... I'm so loving my new cell phone (thank you kong kong!!). Not to worry though, July is coming up, and the busy period is about to hit me, and hit me really good. So I'd probably be quiet for a while! So enjoy this post.

The weekend past was just gorgeous weather. Bibou had a birthday party to go to on Saturday and she totally enjoyed it. It was a girly party, all dressed up, with make up and pink flowers. She was quite happy to say the least.

But the best thing that happened this weekend for Bibou was Sunday. The Ms came over to spend the day with us. Oh, Bibou was just soo excited! (and she woke up in a great mood too as she didn't wake up till almost 10.00 am! She was so tired from the day before - no nap too). The pool was out and the kids just had a blast! Bibou got a very nice color too (despite being lathered up in sun block)

Angel's just been a laugh riot and a half as you can tell from these videos. She's a very fast learner and has discovered how to use the fork. Also, she once saw her big sister doing twirls, listening to Daddy's music, and guess what... she's now happily doing twirls, though she doesn't understand why she feels dizzy or falls down after doing a few of them twirls at the same time!

This is Angel using her fork already!




And a funny video of her doing spins!




A(nother) great BBQ lunch with the Ms!

Another post

I know I know, yet another post! With more videos. I can't help it! I came home last night to a positively pleased as pie Angel. She had such a proud grin on her face and as soon as she saw me, she launched off and walked right across the room, without falling. And she knew. She was so happy. I had my trusty little phone next to me, so I snapped a video.

I also wanted to upload a couple of photos that were taken during a photoshoot (on Daddy's birthday if you remember). Some of the pictures of Daddy and Bibou turned out really lovely. I love the photo of Bibou with Daddy, singing along and helping him with the gestures. Normally it's me who's Daddy's 'assistant'. I'm glad that Bibou was able to help him hehehe. Actually, she is really very good when she wants to be. She can sing whole songs all by herself now and often sings to Angel to calm her or amuse her. She has a few favorites like "ABC", "Twinkle,Twinkle little star", "Mary had a little lamb" and "itsy bitsy spider". The other night I heard her muttering to herself and listened carefully... and realized that she was reciting the days of the week (in French) to herself. She got it all correct too. So I just started telling her what the days of the week are in English!!

I just adore this first photo of her and Isabelle. Gorgeous!

Opps, a quick edit here (well, hopefully you'all haven't read the post yet, prior to me doing this edit hehehe). I'd meant also to upload these photos too from last week that D's Daddy sent to us. It was the end of the school year party last Friday. Bibou's school year will be ending this Friday and she'll get the whole of July and August off. What fun eh? Not for us parents as we have to find activities for her to do!! We also got a note from her teacher to tell us that Bibou has passed her first year of school and that she's been 'promoted' to the next year. Yah. Here are some pix of Bibou and D at the party enjoying themselves. Bibou was sooooooooooo not happy to return home.

This was a video I snapped last night when I arrived home. This is how I'm greeted. Awww.





Gotcha! This is a video of Bibou when she first started walking hahaha. You can tell though... Bibou had more hair :)

The funny Angel

It has been just another week or so that has passed, but yet, the changes in Angel has been ...WOW! She's definitely walking a lot now, and is able to do it quite quite well, without falling much, or rather, she's able to fall down 'nicely', either on her hands and knees or on her bum. She's not had a lot of accidents, which is quite different from when Bibou started. Bibou's walking experience was longer and fraught with lots of falls, bumps and crying. Angel is just launching herself and its a go go go. I think the difference stems from Angel's deep sense of confidence in herself and determination in just about everything she does. She KNOWS what she wants and will stop at nothing at getting at it, mostly physically, (she will grab, pull and eventually hit, VERY hard, to get at something that you're holding from her). Unlike Bibou, she wouldn't whine to get something. She would, however, demand very loudly and quite forcefully for something. Along the same lines of walking, she's taken to walking with a stroller (a toy one!), using it as a support and can walk very rapidly with it. She's also started to climb on stairs!! And boy is she good at it. I mean, the videos that you see below of her climbing is probably her second and third go at it!

With her 8 teeth (though I think that she's got a couple more coming in as she's been waking up in the middle of the night again), she's been eating very well. In fact, so well that she's now beginning to reject her purees, preferring to eat 'real' food now. I'd made some fried rice, with lots of cabbage for Bibou last night, and lo and behold, guess who wanted it. And she finished up a big plate too! No more plain purees any more. That reminds me, I'd better warn the nanny LOL. She's also starting to experiment with different types of taste. Well, we are anyway :)... I'd let her try different things these days, just to see if she'd like it. most of the time, she's quite game, and she does like it! She loves shrimps for example hehe. Soon, I think I'm going to encourage her to try spicy stuff. however, again, true to her nature, if she doesn't like something or has had enough, don't even try to force it upon her. She'll let you know in straight away! She'd stick her tongue out at you and blow raspberries at you, sticking all the food all over your face! As if to say, "so there!"

So, there are a lot of movies this time round. It's just that movies really capture her expressions and cute actions that words fail to describe accurately. This is just such an adorable time. Enjoy these videos and pictures.









Here's Angel having a taste of Ice cream, deciding if she likes it or not (that weird face must have been 'coz it was cold), liking it and wanting more.

Angel rocking really high and hard on her rocking horse.


Angel walking with her stroller.



Angel launching off the chair and walking 'like a Frankenstein" to me (with bibou behind me encouraging her)



Here's Angel trying to climb up the stairs.



Eating fried rice with shrimp and lots of cabbage.



Finally, here she is, eating a muffin, announcing her appreciate of the muffin, listening to Daddy's singing and dancing at the same time!

Finally! Summer has arrived

It was the longest day of the year this Saturday, marking the start of summer, and finally it WAS summer. The sun was shining brightly and it was warm. Perfect! For the BBQ that we were hosting on Saturday. In fact, perfect for all the activities that we had over the weekend. Indeed it was a very busy weekend. And in anticipation, I had taken two days off from work to prepare for it LOL. Well, it was all work, I had taken a few hours off on Thursday and went to watch a movie with daddy (it's been a long time since we've watched a movie) – we went to see Sex and the City! LOVED it. Even Daddy liked it. Hehehe.

Friday was spent cooking like a manic. I managed to make :

For the BBQ:

• A huge pot of chilli (for chilli dogs)
• A spinach dip (marinated spinach (frozen that had been thawed and squeezed dry of water) with chopped spring onions, crème frache, boursin cream cheese (made of garlic and herbs) and a packet of dried vegetable soup mix (normally I use either mushroom or onion)

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• Marinated lots of chickn wings (marinate made up of garlic, ginger, crushed green peppercorn, chilli padi, turmeric powder, soya sauce and lime)
• Marinated chopped up vegetables such as onions, peppers and aubergine for a vegetable kabab (marinated with melted butter, lots of chopped cilantro, and freshly squeezed lime juice)
• Pavalova

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For meals for the rest of the week

• Lamb tagine

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• Moussaka (a typical Greek meal with eggplant)

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• Small pot of black sauced chicken wings for Bibou (she loves this)

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• Marinated a bag of pork chops for the freezer (so if ever we're stuck, we can always pull it out of the freezer and plonk it on the BBQ / in the oven for a quick meal. (marinate made up of onion, honey, light soya sauce, rice vinegar and rice wine)

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By the end of the afternoon, I got really tired of being in the kitchen, so took a break and went onto ironing instead J. I did continue making more food the next morning – made a batch of onion and brie tart, and my double chocolate chocolate brownies. I also skewered the vegetable kababs and got everything else ready. What a feast! We also had lots of salads (2 of our guests were vegetarians ergo the non-meat dishes for a BBQ). Daddy filled up the wheel barrow with lots of

ice and kept the drinks cool.

The pool actually wasn't out at first, however, when the guests, well, when the

LITTLE guests arrived and were so sad when they didn't see the pool that daddy pulled it out, pumped it up and filled it right out. The kids were all soooooooooo excited and didn't care that the water was cold. They just jumped right in and had a whale of a time, especially since they'd discovered the water pistols and were shooting everything they could find! I was pleased to see that Bibou was no longer scared of the splashing and in fact, jumped right in with everyone, kicking and splashing up a storm. What a difference a year makes! In fact, she loved the pool so much that even w

hen everyone left, she jumped right back into the pool. We had to drag her out of it as her lips were turning BLUE! That night, it was still all very bright at

past 10.30 pm!

The next day, we were off to the Jardin d'Acclimintation for the MESSAGE Father's Day picnic. Yes I know that Father's Day was the week before, however, because of the yucky weather, the event got cancelled. We managed to pack everything (we were bringing the gifts / name tags / guitar and the double stroller to transport everything!) into the car and off we went. The weather was very kind. It had rained and thunderstormed the night before and was slightly cloudy when we started, but it turned lovely for the event. I'd packed us a picnic (mostly left overs from the day b4 hahaha) though I didn't eat much. The event wasn't well organized though, and I stood there distributing the name tags and gifts for most of the time. The clown that had been organized came quite late, so by the time it came for Daddy to sing and play the guitar, most people had left already and Daddy was in a foul mood. But the kids that were there had a great time and sang along with Daddy. After the event, we packed up and went on over to 'the other side' where there were paying rides. Bibou had been waiting for this the whole day. And again, I was amazed at the difference a year makes. She was all so excited on the rides (maybe it is time to get to Disneyland again J). She really couldn't wait. The excitement in her eyes was enough for me … I didn't need to get on the ride to feel her thrills. And then, when N and B wanted to get on the roller coaster ride, Bibou wanted to go too. I thought that she was going to be scared, but nope! She had a great time (as you may be able to tell from the video …. Daddy couldn't get the video on her girls all the time as he was jostled everywhere LOL).

When we got back home though, we were just soo hot that everyone jumped right into the pool, which had warmed up significantly. Even Angel had fun. She totally enjoyed the splashing. What a great weekend!

Enjoy this batch of great photos and vidoes.

First video : Bibou and 'I' on the 'train' ride

Bibou and 'N' and Daddy on the roller coaster ride. She had lots of fun!




The three of them in the pool! Angel was actually quite afraid at first (probably 'coz the water was cold), but quickly warmed up (pun intended!). Same with the spinny thingy. She was whiny at first but soon got used to it and actually liked it!






They sure had LOTS of fun monkeying around....

Giggles!

This past weekend has been chockablock full with events! It started with a lovely dinner invited (adults only! wahoo!) at cousin Isabelle's place. Daddy was really excited as Isabelle's brother, Thierry, another cousin of his (DUH, obviously Karena!), was also gonna be there. And it was the first time that they would be meeting each other. And the evening turned out to be as good, or even better, dare we say, than ever. They are just lovely lovely people. But the biggest thing that stood out were how alike the two cousins looked! right down to the hair / glasses / noses / ears etc. I managed to take some pix on my super duper phone that has camera features. Here they are. what do you think??! Alexandre, Isabelle's oldest son made a delicious dinner of roasted rack of lamb (with lots of garlic) and some yummy, creamy gratin of potatoes. Yummy!

The next day, Bibou had a birthday invite from a MESSAGE member's daughter, in Paris. Daddy took Bibou and I had little Angel. After she woke up from her nap, I thought I'd take her for a walk since it wasn't raining (yes, it has come to a point where the weather is sooooo yuucky that if it ain't raining, it was 'nice'). As I put Angel in her stroller, I gave her a kiss and a funny smile and she burst up in peals of giggles. it was so funny that I had to take a video of it. Fortunately, I had my super duper phone with me again and managed to get a video of it (unfortunately, it's not the right way! So you'll have to tilt your head a little, but you'll still be able to hear her infectious laugh). We had a really lovely walk around the Parc de Sceaux. She kept turning around to look at me and held out her hand to me. We held hands going down our road (with me walking backwards). It was really lovely. And though there were a few dark threatening clouds, it didn't rain at all and we had a fun time, with the sun peeking out occasionally. In fact, it peeked out when we were at the fountain and it even sprayed through a rainbow! Lovely.

The next day was Father's Day. The girls gave Daddy a personalized song sheet book. And Daddy started playing with it! That afternoon, we were invited over for Dan's 4th Birthday party. We weren't too lucky with the weather though as it started pouring once we left the house. We didn't get soaked as we had the appropriate covers and all, but it wasn't pleasant. Dan and Bibou were just thrilled to see each other and spent the rest of the afternoon stuck to each other.

Oh if you remember, I had posted a blog last year sometime about our visiting hedgehog which disappeared before we got take a pix? Well, he was back again and unfortunately, he had fell and got himself stuck in the meter well. Daddy managed to take him out and he seemed unharmed though very scared. He wouldn't budge. Then I remembered that they like milk (I read on the internet last year) so I put some milk in a saucer and we left. Yes, he liked it and drank it all! and I got to see a hedgehog up close and take some pix.

Garden Fun

I was fortunate to be able to return home on time the past few days, early enough to spend some time with the girls prior to bed time. Though the weather hasn’t been really all that nice, it was at least dry and light out, so out in the garden we went. We discovered that there were red dots scattered around the raspberry bushes and then realized that… the raspberries were out! Yippee. And boy were they sweet. Bibou couldn’t wait to pick them (and into her mouth they went as quick as can be). Angel though, wasn’t terribly impressed by them… and spit it out immediately! Well, at least she did try them. She’s now gotten the hang of rocking herself on the rocking horse and can go pretty high! She had lots of fun rocking herself and watching Bibou and Daddy goofing around playing ‘plane’. We were having so much fun that I couldn’t help myself grabbing the camera and snapping some shots. Through these pix, we’ve just realized that Angel’s hair has turned quite brown, almost a reddish color, esp as compared to Bibou’s hair, which is a lot darker now. Though I guess one shouldn’t really compare the kidlets, I’m just so awed at how similar and yet different they both are. But the most amazing phenomenon to watch is the bond between the both of them, (and I really really REALLY hope that I’m not jinxing it by stating it out loud), Angel’s face absolutely lights up whenever she sees Bibou entering the room, or when she wakes up; Bibou, who is normally always grouchy, won’t grumble a bit if it was Angel waking her up (and even if it was quite ‘roughly’), they love to cuddle and hug, they just wanna be together. I really hope this will continue for…ever, as it was my biggest reason for trying for another child: so that Bibou wouldn’t be alone, especially when we’re gone.

Enjoy these new pictures taken yesterday. I thought the one of them feeding each other was hilarious. We had fun. Bibou does enjoy being a big sister.

Seraphine's First steps!

Yup, yet another milestone! Last week, little Seraphine took her first steps! And she's mightly pleased with herself. We were lucky to have been able to capture the first few tries on camera, and that the weather was good! (but only for that short period. The weather has been just plain miserable. Wet, grey and damp!). As you can tell, she's pretty proud and most tickled to be walking on her own. She ALWAYS has a huge grin and occasionally throws out her big peal of giggle while she's walking and even more when she's falling down.

This is just a short update.. I was just so excited about Angel taking her first steps that I wanted to upload the video. Seems like blogger is having some problems now, so I'm not able to upload any more videos! (been trying for the past afternoon!). So we'll have to make do with just the one video below and some recent pix.

I found the pix of Angel and me sharing a bone just hilarious! Obviously she's just like me and her sister... bone chompers! :). I had made a really nice lamb tajine and threw the bone in for more flavor (and of course having it during lunch was definitely at the back of my mind). Needless to say, I was most tickled when she heartedly started gnawing on it and wouldn't give it back to me!

Finally, some random other photos such as a pix of Angel with her Nanny (i just LOVE that giggle) and a picture of a yummy and yet easy to make strawberry rhubbarb pie! Finally, there is a picture of little Bibou twirling in her new outfit, which I'd just bought as she's going to be a FLOWER GIRL for Aunty Michelle's wedding come August. We'd showed her our wedding video (man did she get ever so excited and amazed to see 'kongkong, mahmah, grumps, mamita, daddy, mummy' on Telly. The first time she saw it, she was just screaming in amazement :oh look Mahmah, Mamita etc') She loves the video and is now watching it over and over again. We've told her that she's gonna be a princess, just like the girls in the video and she's going to walk down in a pretty dress, carrying flowers. Man she hasn't stopped talking about it. she's all so excited. According to Michelle, Bibou's outfit will make her look like a mini'me for the bride. Excellent. Here's praying that she'll behave at the wedding!!!!

Oh any Aunty Annette is spot on about Bibou and I've got absolutely no doubt that she will be into dressing up and make up when she's older...or rather her passion for them will get even bigger. She's already pushing to wear make-up as she sees me wearing it very working day. Each night, when I return, she'd ask "you have make up?"

Right, here's a quick video of her first steps. We weren't able to capture a better one unfortunately as it was nap time and she was ready for her nap. She still was quite cheerful though, just falling over too quickly which she found hilarious!

Recently, we've just noticed that when Angel she doesn't want something, she will vigorously shake her head, such as at the dining table. Unfortunately, the video of her shaking her head didn't come out well. Here's the video taken prior, with her still wanting to eat, being absoluately tickled that she's on camera and waving byebye to everyone.

And finally, a video of the girls goofing around in the garden. Aren't they sweet together?