Our Little Girl at 3.5

Dearest Phoebe,

We love this photo of you taken at the HK hotel. You are not very photogenic but somehow this photo brings out your features :-))

By the way, you don't like it when we call you our little girl. And even though your birthday is still six months away, you like to tell people you are already four years old!

Looks like you can't wait to grow up!

Luv,
mummy.

HongKong (Jan 2010)

Dearest Phoebe,

We kicked off the year 2010 with the "coolest" holiday in HongKong. Frankly, Mummy was rather apprehensive prior to the trip as we never felt HK was a place for family travel especially with young kids. However, it turned out that the cool weather and the festive season made it the perfect holiday destination for us.

A few interesting incidents happened during this trip: Most would have expected HK to be the place where there would be no dietary issues since there is a deluge of 'Cha-Chan-Ting'. But this didn't apply to our little girl whose diet depends alot on japanese steamed-egg and western sausages especially when eating-out. Hence, on that evening, we braved through the chilling streets of HK in our windbreaker to look for your chawanmushi. And the funny thing is the Jap restaurants in HK didn't seem to know how to whip up the chawanmushi dish and we ended up with a sausage for you from 7-11 and that was almost 10.30pm by then!

While at Disneyland, Daddy was very sweet; he actually wanted to surprise you with a pooh-bear helium-filled balloon. Before he could do that, we were out from the store and we let you chose the balloon you like. Naturally you chose the pooh bear balloon. Unfortunately, we could not bring back the balloon to Singapore and we gave you a choice of releasing the balloon on our last day or deflate it. Even though you chose the former and was happily holding it with you on our last day, the balloon flew off as the string went loose. It was a pity as we would love to see you release it yourself.

Throughout this trip, you were carrying with you your pooh bear soft toy which you brought from home. You were carrying "her" and according to you, the pooh bear is your little sister and she is real! By the way, at our last Perth trip, you brought along another pooh bear soft toy too. Looks like this is your SOP for every holiday to bring a soft toy with you.

On our last day, we had breakfast with Disney Characters at the Enchanted Gardens restaurant.. Though very pricey, the experience was worth it. Like Eric Carle's Hungry Cateprillar, you gulped down two bowls of cereal, one glass of skim milk, one sausage, one french toast and one hash brown. Hours before our flight, you were so reluctant to go back to Singapore that you requested to visit Disneyland for a quick stopover. Needless to say, we obliged even though it was raining.

Being a full-time working mum, holidays like this really bring us closer together. Each time we see the smile on your face and your laughter, we know it is you that will make all our holiday destinations so special and so memorable.

Luv you,
Mummy.

Up

Dearest Phoebe,


this is a photo we took when you were a toddler at the tender age of three and a half years. You were attempting to fly the balloon like a kite just a stone's throw from the main entrance of Disneyland Hong Kong. It was our second overseas trip in early Jan 2010. You took a liking to balloons, especially those helium filled ones and kites. The gist of the story behind this picture is probably a reminder to you to remain grounded but at the same time, to aim for the sky.

Phoebe, there will be times when you feel lonely and isolated, this is especially so as you are an only child. I hope you can find strength, courage and love from the sweet memories of your childhood. And if the daily grind of life really gets you down on some days; please, just look up!!!

PS: We love you a gazillion times as high as the balloon can fly! 8-)


Be good and smile pretty,
Daddy Dearest

A Christmas Gift from Mummy

Dearest Phoebe,

You have somewhat outgrown your red ikea table and Mummy thought it is high time to buy you an ergonomics table. This would be your Christmas present for this year.
We brought you to the shop to choose your favourite colour (not many colours to choose from to begin with except for the upholstery). We hope this table can last you for many many more years to come.

Luv,
Mummy

THE Performance

Dearest Phoebe,

We managed to find time to catch a number of performances in 2009 and some were really good such as 'The Jungle Book'. However, the only performance that gave a lasting impression for Mummy and Daddy was your graduation concert.

When the school invited the parents to watch the nursery 1 children perform, Mummy was rather hesitant; knowing you, we were worried you might start to stick close to me once you see me in school. However, it turned out that you followed the instructions well. Even your teachers commented that you managed to stick to the concert plan. Gosh, we were so proud of you when we watched you perform.
Well done, darling!

Luv,
Mummy

"Little Prince(ss)" Artwork

Dearest Phoebe,

This is probably one of the many pieces of art work that you did for your class at LPN. We like it very much. According to teacher Shanvyn, your art teacher, it bears resemblance of those drawings that you see from the famous children's novel 'The Little Prince'. Well, there is indeed some similiarities there in terms of the treatment and strokes.

Well done little girl!

Luv,
Mummy

Phoebe's first Meet-the-parent session @ Mindchamps

Dearest Phoebe

We had our first Meet-the-Parent session with your teachers in Mindchamps. Generally we were happy to see that you were rather comfortable with your teachers and before we left the house, you even brought along a little artwork and gave it to Ms Jennifer, the centre manager as a gift. Ms Jennifer used to be your form teacher before she was promoted and we could see that you are reallly comfortable with her around.

On the whole, the teachers commented that you are doing very well academically. The teachers even thought you attended academic-type of enrichment on weekends which could explain why you are pretty advanced in your cognitive ability. You also have a good grasp of grammar and concepts and are able to understand past tense and present tense rather well now.

However, the teachers would be working on your social behaviour and they noticed that you are rather passive and reserved. When you are unhappy, you tend to walk away from issues rather than expressing how you feel. This is something that we need to reinforce too at home. At one point Mummy teared a little when Ms jennifer commented that on the second day of your ride on the school van back home, the vehicle came very very late, you were rather unnerving and looked rather worried. Ms Jennifer had to assure you that everything was ok. When Mummy heard that, it feels lousy that we were not there to comfort you in times like that. Guess thats really the deep bonding that mummy has with you.

Here's a nice scrapbook which the school did for every child. Seeing the bright sparkles in your face was probably an assurance for Mummy and Daddy that the money was well spent :-))
Hope you will continue to find joy and happiness in your learning journey.

Luv,
Mummy