my princess is 4!

emma my little darling... you are 4 years old today!

i look at you and i cant believe how quickly you've grown up. from the tiny little screaming baby who woke every hour when you were about 10 mths old, to a little princess who can sleep through the nite now (it's me waking up at 3am to check on u and gor gor now.. life's not fair, is it?!?)

i think you'll grow up to be a superb lawyer. your ability to argue reason is way beyond your age. you take a while to ponder your answers but i can understand why you do that cos you always leave me dumbfounded when you answer my questions with your cleverly crafted answers! i can only hope you put your reasoning skills to good use when you're older (translate: don't use them with me or papa!)

next year you'll start kinder while gor gor goes off to a different school for prep. i really hope you'll be ok without him cos i know how much u enjoy playing in the back yard during break times. you just need to learn to be more independent and make heaps and heaps of new friends ok? and while i don't particularly enjoy you clinging to my legs when i drop u off at school, i know it's something i'll miss when you 'outgrow' me so i better enjoy it while it lasts eh?

you certainly are growing prettier by the day (papa's getting worried....) and vain too! Choosing your own outfits, accessories to wear, shoes, etc.. you love your sparkly shoes with the bling blings, don't u? I promise i'll get you more when we head back to SG for the hols next month.

i have been quite slack with you when it comes to writing your ABCs and doing your maths.. something which I'm planning to go full steam ahead with in 2012. so u better be prepared!! for now though, i just wanna say: 

happy 4th birthday my little princess... i love u berry much :)

thank you for my birthday present, por por!

i love the teddy from my cousins sarah & krystal!

a magical tinkerbell cake for our little fairy :)

my little graduate

we attended ethan's kinder graduation ceremony last evening.

yeah i can hardly believe it myself. my little boy is going off to school next year!

the graduating class of 2011 put on a lovely performance for us, singing a medley of songs that included Michael Jackson's Heal the World. I felt my eyes welling up for a while there... was rather emotional as it hit me then ethan had grown up too quickly and i had missed enjoying him as a pre-schooler in my mad, daily routine rush :( i have to constantly remind myself they are what matters and everything else is secondary. i must try harder to spend more time nurturing and coaching them now while they are still coming to me for advice, cos i'm pretty sure it'll be too soon that i'll just be labelled an old nag (and hag for that matter!)

congratulations my little one. mommy is so proud of you - you have achieved so much in the last few years and come such a long way, from a helpless little baby to a little being now capable of finding the pause button on the TV remote (and getting angry with me when i accidentally press 'stop' instead of pausing your dvd cartoon as it means you will have to start all over again :P)

happy graduation my darling ethan!

christmas concert

every year the childcare centre that the kids attend will organise the children for a christmas performance.

both ethan and emma had been giving me sneak previews of their performances at home and i was really looking forward to seeing them on the big day!

ethan did a fantastic job - especially compared to last year when he refused to perform. this year he was all smiles and sang and danced beautifully. that's my boy!

emma... oh... what can i say? she seemed fine at first as they filed out nicely onto the stage, but then as soon as a little boy accidentally brushed his elbow against her eye, she started to sob quietly and so basically didn't perform at all :( she came and sat with me while the rest of her classmates performed. last year she pretty much stood there throughout the entire performance too. ah well.. one final try for you next year emma!

advance birthday celebrations

the problem with being born during major holiday seasons is that your birthday event just kinda fades into the background as everyone is busy celebrating the major holiday.

so yes.. i believe it is something that emma - our boxing day baby - is going to have to live with the rest of her life.

we celebrated her 4th birthday yesterday as i knew everyone would traditionally be involved in family activities during the christmas/boxing day period. i have a feeling this advance thing is going to be an annual occurrence!

i guess it didn't really matter that it was 3 wks early - the smile on emma's face just made it all seem right :) i was happy to see her enjoying herself with her little friends. and we were rather lucky that the weather held up alright for us as well otherwise it would have been a really muddy affair...

another bonus is that she gets to enjoy all her birthday gifts in advance too! hehe