A Girl & Her Best Friend

A sunny day, good company, a nearby beach = a great day out! Small fry went to the beach with Troy, her 7 year-old best friend, and had a blast building sandcastles and getting thoroughly tanned. The 'aunties' were thoroughly amused with the two kids. They provided enough laughs and entertainment to last throughout the trip and the following days.

Shop Till We Groove

My friend Anis is one of the best aunts I know. Not only is she the daytime caretaker of her nephew, Musa, she's every inch the doting aunt and in many instances, I feel as if she treats Musa like her own. All of which make Musa a very lucky three year-old. Of course, if I tell Anis that, she'd just brush aside my comments, modest person that she is.

Anis and Musa recently made a trip down to visit us. On the agenda: shopping for Anis and playdates for Musa. It was a fun-filled and full schedule; three full days of shopping interspersed with romp and play for the small ones.

When we weren't out shopping and looking for play areas for the young ones, we were at home supervising small fry's and Musa's antics. And then there was the cooking.

Musa hit the jackpot staying at our place. It had all the elements he adored: playmate, planes and trains passing by overhead and underfoot, and a mosque next door. Small fry got someone to lord it over and boss around, "Musa, you must drink more water or your lips will be dry", "Musa, don't throw your rice cake out the window or no more rice cake for you!", "Musa, share!", among other admonishments and orders.

While they did spend a fair amount of time in their strollers, the small ones took it in stride, entertaining themselves whichever way they could.

Small fry had so much fun with Musa over the weekend that she refused to go to playschool the next two days. Since she'll be enlisted into the school grind soon enough, I saw no reason to turn the table on her wishes to play.

It was a lovely albeit tiring change of schedule for all of us. When the time came for Anis and Musa to leave, I could see Anis was ready to head back home and hand Musa back to his parents.

Small fry on the other hand, when presented with news that Musa was to leave that day promptly bawled, "I don't want Musa to go home! I don't want Musa to leave. I want him to stay!" repeatedly all the way from Paragon to Somerset 313.

Thankfully when it came time for the actual parting, both toddlers parted without much drama. They were positively civil, doling out hugs and saying goodbye.

I'd say it was a successful venture by Anis to travel with Musa on her own. Even though she appeared harried at times. And she didn't find the shoes she was looking for.

We'll be looking forward to our trip back before CNY and another play date with Musa. In the meantime, here's proof that they had fun even while we shopped:

Navarathri (Nine Nights)

Apparently, Navarathri is celebrated four times a year and there are various forms of Navarathri celebrations (about five, according to Wikipedia), with the most important being Sharana Navarathri. In essence, Navarathri is a celebration of the Goddess Durga.

Previously, mention of Navarathri would bring to mind sis' Odissi performance at Sutra, which according to her, are now not being performed due to complaints from neighbours. Goes to show that even though you may have a nice setting and stage built into your bungalow compound, the neighbours may still call you out on making a racket. It's a pity. I like that stage. And the setting.

The hosts: Bhagarv and Bela

So last Saturday, we were invited to a Gujerati celebration of Navarathri at the Singapore Swimming Club. Of course, first question I asked hubby was, "Do I wear my saree?" And of course, he replied no. But he had his Punjabi top and we were off.

Right, when we got there I was probably the only one not in traditional garb. Sarees all over the place except for me. Man, did I ever feel underdressed. Score one for hubby. And we were probably the only non-Indians around (although technically, I was probably the only non-Indian around as hubby has Indian blood somewhere along his bloodline).

No matter, we were there to join in the festivities. And boy, were there festivities. The function hall was a mass of bodies. The music was blasting and the bass was pounding. And there was colour everywhere. A shrine to the Goddess Durga was placed in a corner of the room and everyone was on the floor, dancing the Dandiya-Raas.

In Gujerat, Navarathri is celebrated by dancing the Garba and the Dandiya-Raas. Garba is performed in a circle as a symbol of the Hindu view of time. The rings of dancers revolve in cycles. The dance symbolizes that God, represented in feminine form in this case, is the only thing that remains unchanging in a constantly changing universe (jagat). In Dandiya Raas men and women dance in two circles, with sticks in their hands. "Dandiya" or sticks, are about 18" long. Each dancer holds two sticks. Generally, in a four beat rhythm, opposite sides hit the sticks at the same time. One circle goes clockwise and another counter clockwise. 

We got to try our hands at the Dandiya-Raas. It's not as easy as it sounds; there's a pattern and sequence to the four beat rhythm. I managed not to get my fingers bruised but I think I may have bruised some fingers myself.

Sticking out like a sore thumb

And then of course, after the dancing, there's the ubiquitous line for food. Our hosts, Bhagarv and Bela took care of that and we had some vegetarian Indian burgers (there's a name for that but I can't remember) and authentic Indian tea.

We left around 10:30pm but the dancing actually lasts till 3am. The Gujeratis sure know how to enjoy their Navarathri. And put on an awesome party.

It's Over!

YESSSSSSSS!!!!

I am ecstatic that Spain has won the World Cup. I've always admired their style and precision and they are deserving of the title and trophy. Especially after the way they were harassed and harangued by the Dutch. Urgh, if the Dutch have to resort to physical tactics and fouls to trip up a worthier opponent, it shows just how good bad they are at the game. The germans at least had more class and sportsmanship than to resort to such tactics. It was an ugly game to watch.

And what a beautiful goal, right at the end by Iniesta. I love watching the Spaniards play, even though they didn't get to 'play' much against the Dutch aggression yesterday.

No matter, they won.

Viva Espana!

P.S. Small fry was a vocal couch spectator in both the Spain-Germany game and the final between Spain & Netherlands.

We Are All Sorts Of Beautiful

"Mummy, you are fat! Daddy is big and I am tall!"

So says the small fry.

School, Showering, Totoro and Eyes

Morning
*******
First day of unaccompanied play group today. As expected, the small fry bawled her head off and tried to escape out the door. Luckily it was latched and I could hear her bawling on the other side, "I want my Mummy! I want to go out!"

After that, more new kids arrived at the class next door and there was a cacophony of bawls and I couldn't tell who was who. So instead of beating myself up about the small fry crying, I left.

I did catch a glimpse of her clinging to her teacher as I left.

Two and a half hours later,  I picked her up and the teacher had a chat with me. Apparently the small fry did better than she expected and cried for only a few minutes. She was participative but was more of a one-on-one kind of gal. As soon as the teacher was out of sight, like when they went for a bathroom run, she cried.

Looks like we have a ways to go.

But teacher Neelam was very optimistic and pleased with the small fry. By the end of the class, small fry and her best friend were jumping about, having fun.


Afternoon
********
Small fry lugs her Minnie bag-on-wheels around the living room.

"Totoro! Come, Totoro. Let's shower and then you can wear your eyes."

"The three Totoros will shower first and then I will buy them eyes."

Small fry running to and fro in between the living room and the bedroom, carting her Totoros and her Minnie bag.

"Totoro! Totoro, come! Let's go on the bus! See, one goes on the bus and the other two go in the cab. We're on the bus! Totoros are so tired!"

Plonks on the couch with her Totoros.

"All right, I sit with you. Look at the Totoro. Totoro's sleeping on my tummy."

"Totoro is sleepy, Muumy. Totoro, you dropped your eyes! Mummy, Totoro dropped his eyes while sleeping. It's OK Totoro, I pick up your eyes."

"Totoro dropped his nuts! Oh, oh! Totoro, it's OK. Look at that, his eye dropped out. Ooooooooo, oh, it's OK. Totoro."

"The other Totoro fell down!"

Grabs her Minnie handphone:

"I call the cab for Totoro. Oh, the cab's downstairs already. All right, Totoro. Let's go downstairs. Wait ah...see, I'm going downstairs. I'm going to pick Totoro's eye up. I just put it in my zip. It's OK, the eye's still there, Totoro."

While talking to Totoro, "All right, now you can wear your eye."

And so on and so forth. It went on to colouring and drawing and singing and activity after activity after activity. I felt tired just listening to her.

I took a 10-minute audio recording of her followed by 17 minutes of video. And then I went to cook dinner. Jona and I didn't have to entertain her one bit. She entertained and talked enough for herself, the Totoros, Jona and I put together! She didn't stop till we were done cooking and it was time for her to try out the quesadilla.

Wow. First day of school? Amazing.

Penguin & The iPad Difference

Here's to those naysayers out there. How cool is this?

The people who pooh-pooh the iPad probably don't have kids or have never handed their iPod to their small ones to try out. It's the easiest thing for kids to manouvre and figure out how to use.

Small fry loves the iPod. She handles it like a pro. She learns her alphabets on the iPod and traces them with her finger. She plays constructive games on the thing. She's even figured out how to get to the emails. I have to stop her from sending off gawd-knows-what to people.

So yes, the iPad is cool. And with the right apps, makes for a great education tool.

A Vision Of Me

The small fry has shown a spark of creativity. She attempted to draw me, or rather DID draw me the other day. This is what I look like in a 3-year old's mind:

The two dots above the line are my eyes; the line is not a moustache but my mouth and the dot below is my nose. Shortly after she drew this:

After I'd asked her why my nose ended up below my mouth, she amended her drawing. The two dots above the line are my eyes again. This time my nose ended up ON my mouth. She added in the two diagonal lines as my legs and the two dots at their ends are my feet.

I wonder if Picasso would have approved?

I can visualize my very own air-and-stick figure, sans hands and arms, walking around in her mind giving her orders.

A Tale Of Two Tortoises

Conversations about two tortoises:
"Toetoise is sick. He needs medicine."
"Really, what happened to him?"
"Aw, he's got a cough. See, he's coughing mummy."
"Here toetoise, here's your medicine."
"Now he's going back to sleep. I cover him back."
"How about the other tortoise? He's not sick, right?"
"Oh, this one has got a fever. He needs medicine too."
"See, he's drinking his medicine."
"Now they're both sleeping. They are both sick."
"Aw, toetoise. It's OK, toetoise. It's OK."
Pat, pat, pat.

Everyone, meet Tortoise A (light blue) and Tortoise B (bright blue). They are now the small fry's constant companions. They're about 4" long and 3" tall. They have dethroned Totoro as her new friends.

They follow her everywhere: they watch from the sink when she's bathing; they watch from the floor when she's on her porta potty; they perch on the dining table when she eats; they share her pillow on her bed; they follow her in her stroller when she goes out; they go EVERYWHERE with her.

It all started when a woman in a wheelchair at the MRT station gave her a tiny balloon tortoise when I gave the woman $1. Naturally, the balloon tortoise lasted only a week before it deflated into oblivion. Small fry was distraught, and I mean D.I.S.T.R.A.U.G.H.T.

Every once in a while, she would burst out, "My toetoise! My toetoise!" as if it were the first time she found out about its demise. The last straw dropped when I wheeled her into the station past the spot where the woman in the wheelchair was and she whimpered, "My toetoise, my toetoise."

I didn't want to buy her another stuffed toy. Her stuffed menagerie is already colourful enough - octopus, armadillo, porcupine, Totoro in various sizes, Catbus, tiger, Miffy, Mickey, teddy, Senget, among others - and I didn't want to add to the clutter that is the mound on her bed. So I thought, maybe something small.

Luckily, a riffle through my amigurumi crochet book yielded a pattern for a cute tortoise. And he was small, to boot! Thus Tortoise A was born. Unfortunately, Tortoise A was not very well made. The stitches were a bit sloppy and his neck was floppy. Doesn't help that she grabs him and takes him around by the head. Therefore, Tortoise B was born.

Small fry had a hand in Tortoise B's creation. She chose the colours. She nixed all my suggestions of colour. She wanted the exact same shade of shell, just a brighter shade of head and limbs.  No green, n browns, no pink, no nothing. Just the shades she chose. Right.

Her tortoises can fly, they also like to sleep. A lot. Snug under her cloth. On the sofa, on her bed, on her pillow, on her tray table, on the coffee table, they sleep everywhere.

They have both taken a fall from her stroller. Somehow her hands lose their grip and each has met the cold hard floor. On different occasions.

So far, they're both holding up. Tortoise A is a bit battered for the wear. Stray yarn pops up here and there. I find them and I stick them back in. Tortoise B is better constructed. He stays intact. They've been around for a week or so. I hope they stay around for a bit more.

"Toetoise, you are so cute, na! Aw, toetoise!"

I'm One Of Those

I'm one of those people, whom if you slap on a pair of headphones and pipe in some fantastic music, gets caught up in it all and starts nodding her head, tapping her feet, mouthing the lyrics or moving some part of my body.

Can't help it. Music is infectious. Good music is a waste not to move to.

I'm one of those people who, if I see on the public transport, are oblivious to how annoying their foot-tapping, head-bobbing and lyric-mouthing can be.

I'm so annoying I even irritate myself.

No matter, good music is good music anywhere.

Chasing Lions

Small fry saw her first lion dance today.

I noticed the troupe waiting at the corner of the main entrance to Wheelock and stopped the stroller by the side. Then I thought it would be a good idea for the small fry to catch a lion dance. I asked her if she wanted to watch and she said yes. As a precautionary measure, I explained to her that there would be drums and that it would be loud but that the lions needed the loud drums to dance to. And if she felt that it was too loud at any time, then we'll just leave.

I needn't have worried.

We were standing right by the side of the troupe as they were banging away on the drums and clashing the cymbals. The pair of golden lions strutted and danced around outside the entrance and did their thang: jumped around, peeled and gave out mandarin oranges, plucked and spit out lettuce, and finally bowed and posed for photos with the building management.

The small fry wasn't satisfied with just the main event outside at the entrance. When the troupe got ready to head into Wheelock and proceed to do the building walk-around, she insisted I follow the lions, refusing my counteroffer of a noodle lunch. So we were the troupe's devoted followers (other than the management), tailing along with the small fry clapping her hands enthusiastically while yelling, "Follow, mummy! Faster, faster!"

We tailed the lions and their troupe across all floors of the building (all 6 of them, including 2 basements) and finally when they were done, I had to placate the small fry by telling her the lions needed to rest and that she needed her lunch. And that we'd try to catch them again later or over the weekend.

It being the sixth day of Chinese New Year, I should have expected there'd be more lion dances at the other malls too. As we were walking through Ngee Ann to get to Cineleisure Orchard, I heard the drums reverberate through the mall. I knew I wouldn't be able to bluff my way out of chasing the lions, so I gave in and told the small fry we'd go look for the lions.

We found two different troupes dancing and ushering in the new year at several boutiques and we tailed both of them, one after the other. Small fry didn't find the deafening noise a deterrent; she deftly plugged up her ears with her fingers when the noise got too much to bear. And she insisted on staying till the very end.

I was almost deaf after the performances. The small fry pouted and wanted more.

My daughter, the lion chaser.

Things We Can Put On Pixel's Head And Back

On my sis' last day here in S'pore, we spent an amusing afternoon balancing a variety of the small fry's toys on Pixel's back and head and taking photos of them.

Sis took the pix and she assured me that she'll post them up when she's free.

So here's a list of the things we balanced on the fat cat's back:

1. A variety of balls
2. Small fry's wooden teapot and a teacup on saucer
3. Wooden toy salt and pepper shakers
4. A wooden cheese sandwich
5. A platter with egg, sandwich and bun on it
6. Various plastic shapes on his head
7. A book

In all our attempts, the boy was more than obliging to keep still. Right up until the salt and pepper shakers at the end; they rattled and he wanted to swat at them. And then I told sis that maybe I should do a photo a day with different objects balanced on the boy's back or head.

Now there's a thought.

Noah's Ark

Her bed.

That resembles Noah's Ark, minus the animals in pairs. The wall is filled over with decals of animals - mother and child.

Her bed has a menagerie of critters: dog/panda and crocodile bolsters that also serve as barriers; a porcupine, an armadilla and a tiger puppets; four different sizes of Totoros; her Mickey and Pooh pillows; magnetic dog, giraffe and cat (the latter of which is her personal version of Miyazaki's neko-basu); Miffy the rabbit; Senget the cat; baby bolster and pillow.

That's not including the other collection of stuffed toys that can't fit onto her bed and are sitting in one of her toy boxes.

The rascal has too many toys.

The Things That We Do With/To Totoro

We try to feed Totoro while he's on the stove and his blue buddy watches from the side, on his side.

We try to scoop some water from the tap while Totoro is in the sink. Not sure if we want to wash him or not. Note his blue buddy cooking in the pot on the stove.

And we try to feed Big Totoro something while he's in the sink.

Poor thing! Being slow-boiled must not be much fun. Even the carrots and other food don't want to join him in the pot.

Something Else To Do

As if trying to perfect the photography isn't good enough. Now I've also gotten myself into a crocheting spin. Already done one amigurumi cat. He's pretty lopsided. I've a good mind to call him Senget. He's red and beige. He now resides on Sophia's bed.

I now have two boxfuls of yarn; one contains the yarn I brought back with me from KL (previous projects which went undone) and one which contains new yarn I bought here. Fingers crossed that at least 80% will be used.

I also checked out a load of books from the library on crochet. The goal is to find projects from those books, make copies and keep them in my library. Crochet books don't come cheap. This is the way to go.

My sewing machine is still sitting in the closet. To remedy that, I went out and bought several swatches of fabric with Sophie's pants in mind. I spent the weekend looking for pants for her (having discovered in the morning that almost all her pants are either too short or too tight) but found only a few that I deemed light enough, nice enough or inexpensive enough. So instead of scouting around, I'm gonna try making her a couple of pairs based on a pair of funky ones I purchased off Etsy.

So many projects. Let's hope I succeed unscathed.

Let's not get ambitious; let's just hope I start...and finish. Especially the pants.

Playmates

Sophia and her classmate, Chiara, met up after class for a playdate. Actually, it was more like the mommies decided that the kids needed to play together while we sat down to chat. Chiara's 10-year old brother, Tony, joined us because Chiara's mom managed to 'bribe' him to babysit the girls. The price? A toy dart gun from Toys R Us.

We set up shop at Spinelli's and I brought out the markers, stickers, paper and books. Tony had fun drawing but insisted that he couldn't draw properly with a marker. Chiara had fun with the Thomas (Tank Engine) and princess stickers. Sophie hijacked part of my ginger cookie and was more intent on eating and lounging on my lap than socialising or drawing.

After hanging around the tables for a tad too long, we instructed Tony to play with the girls and to get them up and running. Sophia, who normally doesn't take to other kids, let alone boys, promptly followed Tony's lead and the two girls headed with the boy out towards a more open area to romp and play, the girls to romp and Tony to practice aiming at the wall with his little dart gun. To his credit, Tony was really good with the girls, entertaining them with the dart gun and not getting too carried away with it himself but paying the girls attention too.

It turned out the dart gun fascinated both girls, especially Sophia, who squealed in delight every time the foam dart left the gun. In no time, she took to following Tony around, 'assisting' him by picking up the darts, bringing them to him and intently watching him load the gun. When he sat in a corner to fiddle with the gun, she sat next to him, watching closely. Pretty soon, she figured out how to shoot it (!!) and when Tony disappeared back to the tables for a break sans gun, I could hear her hollering, "Tony! Where are you? Can you help me, please?" Turns out she had the gun and needed help with it.

"Wow, Tony. You're a popular guy," I told him. Tony turned to look at me and said, "She calls me 'Bony', y'know."

Oh dear.

Not only does my daughter now know how to handle a gun, albeit a toy dart gun, but she also seems to be taking liberties with names.

Of course, once one of the girls decides that holding the gun is fun, the other wants it too. So Chiara came by and took the gun from Sophia. When I told the small fry (Sophia) she had to share, she burst out, "Dowan to SHARE!" and promptly threw herself onto the floor into a temper tantrum.

This happened a couple of times. In the end, we took a break for lunch (chicken nuggets for the girls and wraps for mommies and brother), and after we had gotten their attention away from the gun, they started running around looking for pigeons.

All in all, a pretty typical playdate for the day, other than the fact that she took to 10-year old Tony so well and the major temper tantrums. But then again, she is only two.

A New Addition

I spent about 45 minutes at the office of Janome's sole agent just up the road from where we live, watching the sales engineer teach me about the sewing machine I was about to purchase.

It was a done deal. I just wanted to know more about the machine and how to thread the needle and other basic stuff I should know before I got it.

They took only cash. The machine cost $299 and I had $160 on me.

Since I lived close by and had no car, he endevoured to deliver both me and the machine home and collect the cash after delivery too.

Now I can start on those projects I've been eyeing in my craft books.

Somewhat Plastered

It's been a busy weekend. Hot on the heels of Raya, Genie and Eve dropped by for a visit over the weekend.

Their drive down to visit me was the best all of us could manage of our planned girls' get together that we'd talked about in 1999 a few years after we'd graduated. It was a visit long overdue.

Being the slovenly creatures that we are, and age having crept up on us, we spent much of the time lazing around and other than heading out to dinner before the F1 race, took it easy and tried to catch up as much as we could.

Catching up was somewhat foiled by the girls' new addiction, which I helped fuel: board gaming. When hubby first came home with two board games, one of which was Settlers of Catan, they were both not interested. I could tell by the skepticism in Eve's tone and the look on her face. Genie was no better: she looked even more tired when she looked at the board.

Right. That all changed when they started playing. From zero interest, they became gung-ho addicts. We went as far as bringing out the board every time we were home. And when Rizal and I were too tired to play, the two of them played TWO games by themselves and slept close to 3a.m.

Even on their last day in S'pore, they opted for two games before they left.

Looks like we've created a couple of monsters. At least Eve and her kids will have more to look forward to with her copy of Ticket To Ride than the crap Monopoly she has to play with them. And a whole new world of board gaming opportunities have opened up for Genie if she can find her own group of friends to play with.

Long live Settlers!

Magic Box

The many uses of an ikea storage box is not lost on us as we go about our daily lives. We do all we can to entertain ourselves with as many daily objects as possible. We already have too many toys, as it is. So a box on wheels is perfect as a 'train' or a moving ball pit. It barely fits her but she loves it.

Tutu Cute!

The Kate Mack swimsuit. Which doubles as a play tutu. It's really too cute to get all wet at the pool. So we romped in it at home.

She didn't want to take it off.