egg tarts

One new food that Chen Rui now eats and requests regularly - egg tarts. She used to eat a little before, but recently she liked it more and more and she now sometimes requests for it. Well, I guess one more option is better than none. Her range of edible food is still rather limited. No meat (she says it stinks). No green vegetables. Noodles OK, chocolate muffins OK, Kraft cheese OK, rice with tomato sauce OK, soup usually OK.

12 Dec 2010. We were browsing Christmas sales items at Mid Valley.

Chen Rui wanted to show Michelle Belle, Michelle's favourite Disney princess (from Beauty and the Beast).

I realise Shee Yun is playing online games on the iPad now. It suddenly occurred to me that these are online games, not that different from the online games or MMORPG games that people play on PC's. That's a scary thought. The internet can be a very scary and unsafe place.

Shee Yun is even drawing about her online games. One of them is called Trade Nations, and the way she draws it is rather cute, a little like the actual game. Shee Yun's drawings are quite colourful.

Both Shee Yun and Chen Rui like pricess stuff. Shee Yun's current favourite princess is Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). It used to be Cinderella. Cinderella is probably her second favourite now.

Today Chen Rui helped Ma wipe the table after lunch. She enjoys helping with household chores.

Today is my 9th anniversary. Happy anniversary to Michelle and me.

一个读书、一个做事

今天午饭的时候，晨睿自动自发帮Michelle拿碟子布置在饭桌上，后来还跟Michelle要匙羹叉去放在饭桌上。她喜欢做这样的事，昨天也有帮妈妈在扇子上绑蝴蝶结。她绑第一阶段（只是一个简单的结），妈妈完成蝴蝶结。她绑得很快，弄到妈妈都有点压力。

煦芸没什么兴趣帮忙，很专心在玩她的iPad。她很着迷。煦芸做事可以很专心、很忘我。有的时候如果被打扰她会很没有礼貌。我们要教她体谅别人，不是只执着自己要做的事。相比之下，晨睿比较容易做事分心。她做事往往很慢条斯里，优哉优哉。很多时候叫她去刷牙或叫她去冲凉，她都是慢吞吞的，或在玩，或在做其他的事。要人催。煦芸很常反而是催我们那个。

2010年12月25日圣诞节，我们到Tanjung Aru海边玩。Michelle的哥哥早上送咏恩来，来跟我们一起去。

晨睿很记得要去捉hermit crab。

不过这次Michelle找不到hermit crab，只找到普通的小只的螃蟹。

从上至下：煦芸的、咏恩的、Michelle的、我的、晨睿的。

handy helper

Today Chen Rui was a handy helper and helped Ma with tying ribbons on (traditional Chinese) fans which were to be door gifts at Mei's wedding. She was quite happy to be of help. She used a thread of ribbon to tie a simple know around the middle of a fan, and then Ma did the next step of completing the bow. She took her job very seriously, and made sure that before she started tying the knot, the ribbon lengths on both sides of the fan had were equal.

18 Dec 2010. Chen Rui happily putting on a toy tiara when playing at Ah Yau's place. After I took the photo she seemed a little shy and took off the tiara.

Shee Yun and Chen Rui kept fighting over the iPad, until I had to implement a timer mechanism. I used the timer function of my watch to regulate them taking turns on the iPad. 5 minutes each. That seems to help a little. Shee Yun is very addicted to a treasure hunting online game. Such games are designed to hook you. You need to regularly check you game to make sure that your food doesn't spoil. Many actions like cooking food take a long time to complete, but you can pay real money to buy in-game currency to speed things up. Basically it's a high-maintenance game. You need to attend to it all the time. Facebook has lots of these kinds of games, and I don't like them. I'm not so happy about Shee Yun getting addicted, so I need to control her a little. Maybe it's an opportunity to teach her some self-discipline. Afterall if adults can get addicted to these games, what can you expect from a 5-year-old child's resistance to such games. I hope I can teach Shee Yun to self-regulate her playing time.

4 Dec 2010. Shee Yun (and Chen Rui too) likes to play with this display at Leisure Mall. There is a project in the ceiling which projects various animations onto the floor. The animations are movement-sensitive, e.g. there is a Christmas scene where the gingerbread men flies all over the place but avoids you when you try to catch them. If you do catch them, they flatten out into fat gingerbread men.

老师

回到亚庇煦芸和晨睿都很粘妈妈。妈妈有时带着她们在书房画画，她们玩得很开心。妈妈说是在跟她们玩school，她们是学生，妈妈是老师。我去看她们的时候我说我是校长。她们还拿妈妈书房里的奖杯来玩，因为她们自己也有奖杯，所以现在看到奖杯也会拿来玩。

今天中午我、妈妈、Michelle在后面晒衣服的时候，两个孩子都在找妈妈玩school。她们大声喊“阿嬷！”，没有反应，她们就开始喊“老师！”。

2010年12月26日。煦芸的头发长了，时常弄到嘴巴，或吃饭的时候弄到食物、刷牙的时候弄到牙膏。

在车上两姐妹争着跟妈妈坐。

晨睿。

remembering KK

We are back in KK now. Shee Yun remembers many things about KK. She remembers the box of toys, and she asked Ma where it was. Usually it's in my room on a cupboard near the small window, but Ma had done a major clean-up and had stored it away in the store room. At first Shee Yun asked in English. Ma didn't hear her. Then she asked me how to say toys in Chinese. I said it's 玩具. Then she shouted out to Ma (who was downstairs) again "阿嬤，玩具在哪裡？". She thought Ma didn't understand English and needed to be spoken to in Chinese.

Shee Yun also remembers the Sacred Heart logo on a signboard at the roundabout near St Francis Convent. When we go to the beach we always take the turn marked by the sign. This morning we went to the beach and she reminded me of the sign even before we were near the roundabout.

She remembers that we always go to the 2nd beach too. She reminded me to go to "Beach 2".

Chen Rui remembers the hermit crabs, which she pronounces as "hermit clab". She knew we were going to the beach today, and first thing after she woke up she asked me whether there would be hermit crabs at the beach. Later on to our surprise we found that there were none. Michelle only managed to catch normal crabs for Chen Rui.

This photo frame was a Christmas present that I received at the company gift exchange event in Penang. This photo was taken earlier this year at KLCC.

When Shee Yun says "button" she says "butt 'n". That is so guai low.

rude

Chen Rui can be rather rude sometimes. This morning I played Hive with Shee Yun. When Shee Yun was reading the rule booklet, Chen Rui said she wanted to take a look, and promptly snatched it away. They fought over the rules, and in the process tore it a little. I scolded Chen Rui, and she started crying. She is crying more often now and I think she is using it as a weapon. I let her cry. I need to teach her that she cannot expect to get away from wrongdoing by crying.

Shee Yun can be rather annoying when she sets her mind on something. She has been playing a treasure hunting game on the iPad a lot, and she likes it a lot. Yesterday she played with the iPad almost the whole day. In the evening when Michelle was using it, she kept bugging Michelle about wanting to play her treasure hunting game. She really can get very absorbed, even addicted, to something she likes.

She is still very insistent on things getting done the right way. She cannot tolerate mistakes. It's often a disaster when Chen Rui plays with the iPad or DS, and Shee Yun watches. Shee Yun keeps trying to tell Chen Rui what to do, and gets upset, even cries, when Chen Rui does it wrong. We keep telling Shee Yun that she needs to let Chen Rui explore and learn for herself, instead of forcing her to do her (Shee Yun's) will. Shee Yun will probably be a good auditor (strict about rules), but a poor policeman (too soft).

4 Dec 2010. When day when Michelle went to Bata, bringing Chen Rui along, Chen Rui walked straight to the children's section and started trying on shoes. 毫不客气！She even says that she is just like Michelle's best friend, referring to Ah Yau.

She even took off her socks. This pair of socks are quite old and has been stretched so much that it is not very elastic anymore. But she likes it and still wants to wear it.

Shee Yun is not as enthusiastic about shoes.

Chen Rui still doesn't eat proper food. She is 4 years old now. Lately one of her staple food is Gardenia chocolate muffins. Sometimes I wonder whether she photosynthesizes. She is still full of energy despite not eating much. It's like she absorbs energy from just breathing. When she eats rice, she still only eats it with tomato sauce. Meat is still completely out of the question. Noodles is sometimes OK.

She still wants to be accompanied when she sleeps in the evening. Yesterday Mei had gone to Irene's place, and she kept asking for her Gu Gu. She always says "我要人陪". Usually she is contented after I accompany her for 10 minutes or so. I can tell her that I need to leave, and she will usually give permission.

Today is Day 4 that Chen Rui has stopped using her pacifiers.

pretending to snore

Today at about 9pm I went to check on Shee Yun. She was alone in her room, in bed, and only the dim night lights were on. The moment I went inside, I heard her pretending to snore. It was very obvious that she was deliberately making the "khorrrr" sound followed by the "phewww" sound. Also normally in real snoring "khor" is when you inhale, and "phew" when you exhale. In her case, she make both sounds when exhaling. I stood on the edge of Chen Rui's bed so that I could take a close look at Shee Yun. She had covered herself up in her blanket, and had her eyes closed. I said aloud that I was going to check on her. I gently stroked her forehead, and then softly spoke to her. She didn't respond and continued to pretend to sleep. But I could see her smile. I didn't try to wake her or let her know that I knew she was pretending. I turned off one of the night lights and quietly left the room. I think after that she really fell asleep. She did say that she wanted to sleep just slightly past 8pm, so I guess she was tired.

4 Dec 2010. Shee Yun.

The children like getting balloons from promoters at shopping centres, but I hate these balloons. They are a nuisance to manage. Often I end up holding them. We have so many of those plastic balloon sticks at home.

Chen Rui hasn't used her pacifier since yesterday. It looks like we will be able to get her to stop it completely. Four is the magic number.

I find that lately Chen Rui cries more easily than before. Sometimes because she doesn't get what she wants. Sometimes when fighting with Shee Yun. I remember in the past when she fought with Shee Yun, only Shee Yun ever cried. I think Chen Rui is older now and crying is just an additional way that she wants to use to express herself. Or maybe she is just getting more manja.

3 Dec 2010. Chen Rui.

pretending to sleep

Today is Chen Rui's real birthday. She is four years old now. That feels like such a big jump from three years old.

I worked at home today since Michelle needs to work at a client's office. Mei was home most of the day, and played with Shee Yun and Chen Rui a little. In the afternoon she taught them to pretend to nap. They both "slept" on the mattress that Mei is using, and covered themselves with the blanket that Mei is using. Mei asked me to check on them, and I did. Chen Rui couldn't resist peeking, so I caught her with her eyes open. She was smiling too, which was another giveaway. Shee Yun kept her eyes closed, but I could still tell that she wasn't asleep. I remember about my own experience of pretending to be asleep to avoid getting caught by adults. It was fun.

Later Chen Rui did want to nap for real. I managed to convince her not to use a pacifier, since she is four years old now. I hope we can get her to completely stop using it soon.

10 Dec 2010. One afternoon they said they wanted to nap together in Chen Rui's bed. They tried, but as I expected they ended up playing and not napping at all. Now Chen Rui wants this pillow case hanging from her bed. We used to hang a whole blanket cover, making it a curtain. Now it's downgraded to a pillow case.

Shee Yun lost her fourth tooth today. She said Chen Rui kicked her and it came off. I'm not surprised this is true, but I know the tooth has been wiggly for some time. Shee Yun bled a little. She gargled to spit out the blood, and after that I asked her to bite on a folded-up piece of tissue paper. Soon she stopped bleeding. The new tooth is already visible behind the hole left behind by the old tooth. Shee Yun wanted to put the tooth next to a note she wrote to the Tooth Fairy, but I told her I would store it away. I put it in a small zip lock back and recorded date and position of tooth.

4 Dec 2010. Leisure Mall, Cheras. The little notes hanging from the grid are Christmas wishes of orphans. Shoppers can take the notes down, buy the gift, and then drop it in a gift area.

Chen Rui always resists taking photos. She looked up to avoid getting caught on camera.

Only Shee Yun and Michelle in the photo because Chen Rui didn't want to be in it.

Angel

Train

Another angle of the train

Chen Rui's birthday party

We did a small birthday party for Chen Rui yesterday. It was also partially a Christmas party. We invited Ah Yau and family, Chee Ying and her parents, and Yan Yan (Irene was out of town). Mei in is KL, so the timing for the party was just nice. We have not done any party for the children for quite some time. What's funny is we invited Shee Yun's best friend Chee Ying and not Chen Rui's best friends Chloe or Annabelle. We don't know Chloe or Annabelle's families and since it's school holidays we can't try to meet them at school. Chen Rui didn't mind.

There were so many presents. Michelle bought some for the other children. She bought multiple Christmas presents for Shee Yun and Chen Rui. We had bought an hourglass to replace the one that Shee Yun accidentally broke. She was so happy about it that she said "it's what I've always wanted", and "my dream has come true". Chee Ying's parents even bought Michelle and I presents. We didn't buy any Christmas presents for adults. We did buy some 龙珠饼（馨香） from Penang for Ah Yau and for Ai Shiang (Chee Ying's mother).

One of Chen Rui's presents was a set of Minnie Mouse underwear. We told her it is time to start wearing underwear, but she still said she didn't want to wear any. Not even Minnie Mouse could convince her. Today Chen Rui broke one of her presents, a snowy globe. At least I think she did. She was the one who came to me to tell me the water inside had gone, but she said she didn't break it. At the time Shee Yun was reading a book quietly by herself. I don't think Shee Yun broke it. What a waste of RM5.90. Thankfully we bought the smallest one.

Chen Rui liked playing with her new Barbie doll. She played with it a lot. Barbie dolls are something that Michelle and I have been trying to avoid giving to the children, lest they become too girlish and superficial - liking (too much) dressing up and make-up and jewellery.

During the party Chen Rui cried. She had been trying to get Shee Yun's attention, but Shee Yun was too absorbed in playing with Chee Ying. Poor Chen Rui, being neglected. Later I cheered her up by playing with her, so she didn't make a scene.

Our old Christmas tree. Many parts are falling off. That crown at the top is Chen Rui's. She put it there. The snowmen and mini Christmas trees are Shee Yun and Chen Rui's handiwork from the holiday camp. See the many presents. These are not all. This photo was taken before our guests arrived.

Chen Rui and Shee Yun nowadays like to ride Chen Rui's bicycle around the dining table.

Shee Yun playing with bubbles.

Ah Yan.

That's Chee Ying behind Shee Yun.

Chee Ying and Shee Yun.

We had too much food. Michelle cooked spaghetti (2 sauces available), fried noodles, broccoli, and red bean soup. I bought two Ayamas chicken. We also ordered two pizzas. It was waaay too much. We would be eating the leftovers for the next few days. Chen Rui didn't eat her own birthday cake. It was a Baskin Robbins ice-cream cake. I bought it with her after she had tasted the ice-cream (strawberry). But at the party she didn't want to eat it. She only asked for a little icing. Shee Yun didn't want any either. She only ate one of the heart-shaped decorations.

Ah Yung riding the bicycle, and Ah Yan behind her. Chen Rui often likes to carry this mini handbag nowadays.

Chen Rui and Ah Yan.

Shee Yun and her best friend Chee Ying playing in Shee Yun's room. Chee Ying's Chinese name is 朱茵, exactly the same as the Hong Kong actress. Mei found out from chatting with Chee Ying's parents.

This was what Chen Rui had been building using the plastic jenga blocks.

Chen Rui's birthday cake.

妇女组！

Shee Yun (5.5), Chee Ying (5.5), Chen Rui (4), Ah Yan (3.5), Ah Yung (5.5).

Chen Rui blew her candles very slowly and deliberately, one by one.

Before we could take our family photo Shee Yun and Chee Ying had helped themselves to two of the heart-shaped decorations.

Shee Yun was very focused on opening her presents.

Chen Rui flipping through a book which was Shee Yun's present.

Chen Rui and one of her fans Yan Yan. See Chen Rui wears shorts under her dress.