Song Sisters

Hong Kong Disneyland

2010-02-17T06:32:00.000-08:00

It's time for some updates... after a long season of laziness... :-P

Mei and Ernie checking in at Changi Airport.

Brought the girls to Hong Kong Disneyland last December. It was Ernie's 1st time to Disneyland and boy, was she excited! Ah Mei also had very fond memories of the theme park and was looking forward to returning. It was good for the parents too - during the school holidays, we often threatened to call the trip off whenever they misbehaved. Bargaining power??

"If you don't _______ (fill in the blank), I will not bring you to Tee Tee Mao (Ernie could not pronounce Mickey Mouse properly and we found it such fun to imitate the way she called the character) house to see Tee Tee Mao." Or, "If you don't _________ (fill in the blank), I will not allow you to "sit aeroplane" to go see Tee Tee Mao in his house. His house very big, you know?"

Daddy and the girls enjoying their 1st cup of mango pomelo drink straight upon arrival in HK. While the other tourists were standing around waiting to board the bus.
Tee Tee Mao and girlfriend/wife (have they gotten married yet? He has been courting her since the 1960s) were in their Christmas baju.

So we visited Tee Tee Mao house, took photos with Tee Tee Mao, Minnie Mao, Chip and Dale, Goofy and some elves. Watched fireworks in a heavy drizzle. Went for the Winnie the Pooh and Small World rides twice. Went for other rides. Watched all the shows. Watched the parade. Ernie was so excited during the parade she was screaming at the top of her voice (if you've met her, am sure you'll remember her voice is really LOUD) while she jumped up and down. The "Disneyland man" had to stay close to ensure she did not jump off the kerb and onto Main Street. The 3D show was good.

Apart from the girls, Daddy enjoyed himself tremendously in HK. He was extremely satisfied with the shopping. Bought working shirts from Black Label (they don't carry it in Singapore anymore) and casual shirts from G2000. He claims the designs are nicer than those in Singapore. His only disappointment is he could not found anything suitable from Zara. Daddy was also really happy with the food. We had dim sum every morning and the girls were pleased with the "prawn in blanket" aka har gao. We ate at the local dessert stall Xu Liu Xiang everyday, sometimes more than once a day. Daddy had his mango pomelo dessert and the girls were more adventurous - they tried several types of mango dessert. Ah Mei especially enjoyed the rice balls (tang yuan) soaked in fruit syrup. As for Ernie, anything cold and sweet was good.

Also met up with Uncle Hoe Seng over dinner and dessert at where else but ...... Xu Liu Xiang.

The stay in HK came to an end too quickly. On the flight back, Daddy was making plans to visit HK again. The food and shopping were really good and think among the 4 of us, Daddy enjoyed the trip most....

Our last bowl of yang zhi gan lu (mango pomelo dessert). Taken at the airport just before we boarded the plane. Yum!

Jan 2010 - Adjustments

2010-02-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

January is usually a month of adjustments. There's so much adjustments we had to make especially this month with Big Mei going to school.

Wasn't it just yesterday that my big mei gave me a cheeky smile and cried "ehhh", when she took her first cyreal (and I teared), where she took her first step (and I was so worried), she performed her first violin concert and dropped her first milk teeth. This month, I had one of those moment - she entered the big girl school. The feeling is just so strange. It was one of confusion, sadness, pride and to certain extend achivement.

Our Big Ah Mei goes to Primary 1 this month, putting on her cute little uniform and she looks so small in the big school.

We been busy helping our Big Mei adjust to Primary 1. Must say that she is doing a better job adjusting then her daddy. In comes the Chinese and English spelling and this week she is having her first assessments. I FEEL STRESS.

To make matter worse, while we struggle on the school work, our Big Mei is also needing to complete the violin piece this week with a small performance at the end of the week. How are we going to do it? I am not sure how, but I am sure we will survive - everybody does.

While all these excitement occuring to our big Mei, our dear Small Rae also has her special moments. Rae goes to Nursery 2 on her own without the big Jie. While we go about getting the need to do done we are careful to remember Rae's emotions as well.

This month I also start helping up with Rae violin. Not easy but managing it. I had to think of creative ways to teach my little one how to play twinkle. Because she is quite a tough one to work on, I ended up putting her on a small table and getting her to practice so that she doesn't go running all over the house.Guess what, it works. :)

Adjustments, adjustments and more adjustments.

Our Mei Graduates from Kindergarten

2009-11-19T19:16:00.000-08:00

Mummy and I are both so glad and proud of our little girl who graduated from the Kindergarten this week. We were very surprised and pleasantly please that we sent her to a Kindergarten with Christian values. We thought originally that if they are not in Pat’s they may not learn about the different clouds. But to our surprise the Kindergarten is pretty good. They teach her a lot of things and I must say they also inculcate the habit of reading. Mei reads a lot, she love reading General Knowledge subject books. She surprises us with the different layer of a rainforest, condensation, pest and aphids etc etc.

Our girl has come a long way, remember the early days, the Mandarin teacher will tell us that Mei will suddenly stand up in Chinese Class and sings Twinkle Twinkle because she doesn't know what the teacher is talking about. Today, Mei is ready to go Primary 1 as the teachers say. Our little girl can read 220 words and has a super duper memory. She is able to memories any little things. I believe this is to do with her violin training where she is expected to memorize notes and fingering. I must say I am unable to memorize the way she does.

Anyways, last Saturday was Mei's K2 Graduation Concert. She played Patsy - a superkid in a superschool for superkids. She played the violin and acted as one of the main role in the concert. She is this little girl who tells her friend who Jesus is. Its so her to want to talk about Jesus and share with others the 'right' thing – our little evangelist at home.

Well done Mei.

Megan - our little girl

2009-03-13T21:33:00.001-07:00

Megan recently started having Chinese Spelling. We asked her about her test. It goes something like this:

Daddy : How did you do for your Spelling?
Megan : I did okay.
Daddy : Did you get all correct?
Megan : Yes.
Daddy : How do you know you got all correct?
Megan : Because I wrote all correctly.

We were once again reminded that our Megan is still a little girl - who is very innocent. She did not realise that to have all correct you need someone to validate what she did and not what she thinks she did. My little girls still have a long way to go.

1/4 2009 Year Update

2009-03-04T04:17:00.000-08:00

It's so fast, we are already 1/4 into year 2009. I have been really busy. Days are getting longer and nights are getting shorter. Mummy gone back to work and as such daddy needs to wake up at 5.35am everymorning. Daddy is enjoying his drive to work with mummy a lot. We get to spend more time together in the car discussing about anything and everything.

The girls are doing fine. When I send mummy to school I get to see the little primary 1 girls going to school and it reminded me that our little Megan will be going to school next year. I feel a little sad because I realised that Megan is growing up and soon she won't want me to cuddle her, tickle her and play 'monster'. There's that tinge of disappointment. I am however glad that I was with her at every significant milestone in her life and hope to be there fore more.

Raeanne is doine well. We are contemplating if we should send her to Nursary next month. Although we know she is going to fit in really well due to her ability to articulate her wants but we are also concern about letting her go to school and be caught up with the Singapore's Education system and process. Not sure. not sure!

Gwyneth is doing well. She had her little jab recently and doc says she is fine. Gwyneth is already flipping back and forth and starting to 'sing' along with us. She is smilling all the time. She started having cereal recently and as we expected she likes it. She is rejecting the milk a little though.

Really busy recently and been really tired going through the routine. Hope to update more.

Gong Xi Fa Cai! - Happy Niu Year

2009-01-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

The year of the Ox caught us by surprise. We realised it was coming only a few days before "chu yi". Daddy has been really busy with work these few weeks while mummy has been nua-ing at home and lost track of calendar days. With Christmas and the Sentosa trip coming so close did not help us in preparing for the coming Ox Year as well.

It is Gwyneth's very 1st CNY! Think she enjoyed herself during the celebrations. She was unusually excited to the extent of refusing milk and her little power naps. She played a good host and smiled and danced with to all who visited Gong Gong's house. We are starting to learn more about our little Gwyneth. She likes people to play with her, talk to her, and play peek-a-boo. She will reward us with a cheeky smile.

With the recent hit serial of Little Nyona, we decided to dress the girls in their traditional costume. And since Daddy has some Peranakan traces in the family so we thought it would be really nice to get the girls dressed in their traditional customes.

Looking back at Megan's first CNY, this little girl has grown so much. We still remember the first photo she took holding the orange. Now she looks like a big girl. So cute!

Our little Cheeky Raeanne enjoyed herself. She went 'wild' this CNY. Ate and ate and ate. During this CNY, we realise a strange 'likings' of little Raeanne. She likes Ginko nuts! Mummy did not like it. Daddy did not like it and neither did Jie Jie Megan. We never ever liked it but strangely Raeanne likes it.
The 2 jie jie's were dressed in their sarong kebayas for the 1st day. Mummy wore Great-Grandmother's Dolly Kabaya as well. Mummy look really really nice in it. Daddy could not get a traditional Baju in time so just took on some left-overs Kong Kong had. Maybe in our next Church Camp to Melacca (don't know when?) we will get ourselves a nice suit.

Here's wishing everyone a happy lunar new year.

Weekend @ Sentosa

2009-01-13T03:41:00.000-08:00

We used to take yearly vacations at Sentosa until we discovered Batam (cheaper) and Hong Kong(great shopping). It’s been quite a while since we took a family vacation there. So, with that we decided to book ourselves into a 3 Day 2 Nights Rasa Sentosa package over the weekend. The main objective of the stay in the island was to spend some time with the gals at the beach. We always found it a hassle bringing the girls to the beach and not able to wash them up without proper bathing facilities.

We definitely enjoyed ourselves.

It was Raeanne's first trip to Sentosa and the Beach.

It was also the first time she was taking a Luge Ride.

Daddy spent $44.10 on some silly 'beach toy set' but later found out that it was actually a gardening tool set. Till today, I still feel extremely stupid paying that money. Anyhow we eventually got the beach toy from the hotel giftshop at $9.90 only.

We brought the girls to watch Songs of the Sea after a quick dinner by some weird beach bar serving horrible Chicken Burger. But mummy's Pizza and Megan's Fried Cheezesticks were yummy.

The girls were so tired that they fell asleep early and mummy and daddy had some quiet moments having their room service and enjoying the awesome sea view (which daddy insisted on paying extras for).

The next morning started with a sumptuous breakfast for the girls in the hotel. Mummy and Daddy weren't very impressed with the breakfast though. We were just talking and guessed probably we been 'spoilt' a little for choice.

Well, the 1st highlight of the day was the girls' trip on the Luge Ride. It was Raeanne's first trip on the Luge. We were pretty excited about it. Mummy decided that we should take the duo ride package (which included 2 rounds on the luge and 2 rounds on the skyride). Megan rode with Daddy and Raeanne rode with Mummy. They were so happy and definitely wanted more. Daddy however was freaking out after the first ride on the skyride. Daddy never like heights, so we gave in to the girls and went for Luge ride number 2 without the skyride. The girls really enjoyed themselves.
The 2nd highlight of the day was our trip to the beach and swimming pool. We kept forgetting that our little Raeanne was only 2 years old eventhough she is articulating like a big girl. It was so funny. Raeanne hated the sand and refused to walk on the beach. She kept crying "its so dirty, my feet and hands are diry. How?". Still in her pampers, she started exploring the beach and made it her toyland. She had so much fun.

The 3rd highlight of the day was actually for mummy. Daddy had wanted to bring Mummy to 'The Terrace' for their wedding anniversary but daddy was quite sick during that weekend. We were quite disappointed that 'The Terrace" had already closed. So after looking around we decided to have dinner at Barnacles. Barnacles had beautiful scenery and the ambience was pretty. The girls enjoyed their dinner and mummy and daddy had their yummy steaks. Curious about who the chef was, we realized that the chef was the same chef that used to work at The Terrace. Highly recommended.

Within 1/2 hour upon returning to the room, the girls fell asleep. With that we are pretty sure they had a wonderful day.The trip was really a nice break. We had so much fun and laughters together. The girls enjoyed themselves so much. We are sure to return again.

Thank God for 2008

2009-01-01T20:45:00.000-08:00

I was telling mummy at watchnight 2008 service, as we reflected of the year, that actually God has been very good to our family despite some of the challenges we had to undergo. It was a year which saw us undergo adjustments, discouragements, disappointments, challenges, healings and victories in our lives. These blessings outweigh the negatives.

Our Lau Kong went home to be with the Lord in April. While we were sad but we realised this is God's way of healing him. For all our sakes and the love for us, we have to know God cared so much for us that he had extended his life for almost 3 years so that we can all be prepared for his departure one day. During these 3 years, after the liver operation, he had enjoy so much of the family's laughters, parties, great-grandparenthood's joy and the nice warmth of his 2 darlings. He lived a fulfilling and victorious life.

During the year, mummy and I advanced in our careers due solely to the abundant favour of God on our lives. With that we also saw ourselves grow in our respective careers taking on challenges which we would not otherwise have the opportunities to better. While both of us are not fantastically brilliant people, we are very committed and put a honest day's work in all that we do.

This year we also saw the arrival of Gwyneth after some initial scare. Mummy had Chicken Pox in the mid of the year but we saw God's hands of protection on little Gwyneth. How can anything compare to the arrival of our 3rd born? Gwyneth arrived safely with no complication. We cannot thank God enough for the protection and His grace for giving us our youngest little baby. She is growing well and good, rolling over early, chatty and very alert.

Oh wow, God's hand of protection is on our family. Ko Ko, who is currently pregnant, had fell few times and God has been gracious to protect her and baby. Mummy's Daddy (AMK Kong Kong) had a very serious accident reaping the entire front portion of the car with Po Po in the car but God protected both of them and they came out perfectly fine. Daddy had 2 minor knocks this year on his old car and he is fine as well. We saw protection on TS Kong Kong as well. He had twitches in his face originally we feared for brain or nerve problems, but God proved to be the abundant Grace on him. How can we thank Him enough for such protection on our family.

This year we saw the family help up more in church (a little more). Serving now, unlike during our youth-days, where we were able to spend lots of time in Church, we realised that we had other things to take care of as well. Work, family and kids all took on a different perspective. So we try to do our little part in whatever ways we can. And if we can contribute as a family the better it is cos we get to spend family time together as family time is so precious. We hope the little things we do would please God. Mummy supported me whenever we had to take on those small projects or having to teach those morning classes. Praise God for a wonderful wife! I think some of the highlights were seeing mummy and Megan playing at Afternoon Outreach, Christmas and Watchnight services. When we saw so many people getting saved at the Christmas Service, our hearts were all moved.

God is faithful. We sometimes take God’s goodness for granted. It is only when we actually start recollecting that we realised that God is indeed Good. Especially on those little things we take for granted. Many times, these blessings outweigh the negatives. And also that sometimes these negatives were suppose to make us better people.

As a family, we approach the 2009 with some apprehensions especially with the upcoming downturn and the challenges ahead. But somehow, I have a quiet confidence in God that this is going to be a great year and we know God is going to be there to surprise all of us with blessings.
We pray that the year ahead will be one of health, fruitfulness, favour, abundance, unity and victories.

Raeanne's 2nd Birthday!

2008-12-29T00:38:00.000-08:00

Raeanne turned 2 today!! :-). Blessed birthday, my 2nd-born.

We initially planned to have our usual family dinner at a nearby restaurant. However, this afternoon, Yi Yi Sarah called to say that she and AMK Kong Kong are down with flu. So better don't have dinner together lest the children catch the virus. Ok, so change in plans, we'll have dinner with only Kong Kong, Ma Ma, Auntie Lynn and Uncle Jingsong. Lo and behold, at 4pm, Mummy found that Raeanne was running a fever - 38.2 degree Celsius. To cut the story short, we had dinner at home with Kong Kong and Ma Ma.

Raeanne wasn't feeling too well and was grouchy and whiny even though she had 2 long naps today. The phlegm made her uncomfortable and she refused to eat. Glad the birthday cake cheered her up. She was her usual self when she took photos with the cake. :-).

The fever returned in the late evening. :-(. Hope she gets well tomorrow so we will be able to bring her out. We had wanted to bring her to either the zoo (yes, again) or Marina Barage.

Daddy didn't have to go to church earlier today as his class ended last week! Yeah! Daddy also just bought a new Korean Drama Serial on some ER thing about cardio surgeons. Think it is currently being screened on TV. He is now watching the 1st disc as mummy is updating the blog. Megan doesn't like this series as she is afraid of the blood and gory scenes. Her head is covered with a cushion 5/6 of the time when she drank her milk on the sofa. Our big mei really resembles me. :-). Ha ha... But happy for her that she is braver and has more courage than her mummy.

We Are the Reason

2008-12-28T00:49:00.000-08:00

Megan played in the Christmas service this year. She did a fantastic job with the violin while mummy fumbled with the keyboard. By the way, this is Mummy blogging and I must include a very important disclaimer: I am not used to playing the church keyboard standing up ok! Ha ha, actually I was rather nervous. Come think of it, Megan rather "zai" - not at all nervous. She believes she was playing for Jesus' birthday party and her great-grandfather was watching from heaven (with a box of chocolates next to him). After the service, she said she wants Daddy to give a ballet recital at her next birthday party! Can't wait to see that!!

When we were first asked if Megan could play at the Christmas service, we prayed and asked for a suitable piece. We wanted something evangelistic instead of the traditional Christmas hymns and carols. We decided on We Are The Reason by David Meece but were hesitant as we were afraid it was too difficult for our Ah Mei. Daddy and Mummy felt it was a very meaningful song and really hoped Ah Mei (by the way, she doesn't like it when people call her that. She'll go "Please call me by my name. My name is Megan. So please call me Megan" in that psuedo-adult voice of hers) can learn to play it. Thus, we stuck to it.

So, we started by playing her the CD and teaching her how to sing the song. Mummy even sang it with her when she was out Christmas shopping and in the dressing room trying on clothes! Next, we tried the chorus with her on the violin and she picked it up extremely quickly as she likes the song. If mummy remembers correctly, she could play the entire chorus after going through twice with mummy. Thank God - phew!

Through this experience, we learnt yet a little more about our firstborn:
1. She not nervous playing in front of so many human beings!
2. She is more adaptable than we think she can be. We made changes to the song 4 days before Christmas and she could cope with the change in key, fingering, etc.
3. The violin is a source of security for her, despite the procrastinations over violin practices!

Included the video for your viewing pleasure.

Post-Christmas Sale Crowds

2008-12-28T00:18:00.000-08:00

Went to Takashimaya today. Very crowded. Before the kids came, mummy didn't mind the crowds. Now, mummy doesn't really like crowded places anymore. Is it Daddy's influence? Is this good thing?

We were looking for Raeanne's birthday present. Brought her to the Toys department and thought we'd be democratic and let her choose her own present. She ran along the aisles, fiddled with this and that, picked up a stuff toy to hug and talk to, etc. At first, we thought she wanted a toy telephone. Later, she seemed more interested in hugging and talking to puppet Elmo, puppet Ernie and stuffed Cookie Monster. She even put Cookie on her stroller and tried to buckle him down! When we wanted to go, Raeanne refused to let anyone put him back on the shelf. She appears to be really very much more acquinted with the Sesame Street gang after the show at Marina Square. The one that Mummy had to queue for more than an hour (with a very excited Megan and the usually very active Raeanne) to watch and take photo with. And we watched the show not once, but twice!
Anyway, we didn't get anything in the end. Mummy was not keen on stuffed toys and we couldn't think of anything else. So we decided we'll celebrate her birthday first and get her a suitable present later.

Do let us know if you've any suggestions!

So busy....

2008-12-24T01:30:00.000-08:00

Just want to add a quick update for the lack of updates. Well we are currently very busy preparing for the Christmas Service. Daddy is busy working on the service while Megan and Mummy is putting up a Violin / Piano recital at the Service. We are attempting to let Uncle Richard singalong with Megan's violin. She will be playing 'We are the reason'. Not sure how it will turn out as yet but we think it may be quite a challenge for the little girl. We will update later.

The service is going to be held at Futsing Level 2, 2 Alleby Road on 25th December 2008 at 11am. Breakfast starts at 10.10am. Join us if you are free. Admission Free! Its going to be fun with kids program as well.

Join us. Join us.

SSO Babies Proms at Victoria Concert Hall

2008-12-06T20:41:00.000-08:00

Hmmm.... Mummy told me previously that we have to bring the girls to the Babies' Proms someday. So, after much procastination, we got ourselves 4 tickets and brought the girls for the SSO Babies' Proms. The SSO Babies' Proms is an annual event introducing classical music to children below 7 years of age.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the concert. It was mummy's first time being part of the audience at Victoria Concert Hall (VCH). It was the first time to VCH not needing to pick mummy up. It was also my first, and the girls', orchestral concert :).

Immediately after dropping little Gwyneth at the grandparents' place, we made our way at double quick time to VCH and attended the pre-concert activities. We got the first row at the hall.
Megan was selected to go upstage to be one of the conductors by the event coordinators. It was a first for her because she is usually pretty shy, but this time, she took the task bravely. We are very proud of her. This is the 2nd time this week she went upstage in a public event to answer questions or participate in an activity. We have been struggling in trying to incalculate some 'braveness' in her. We thought she is too shy or timid and we been working with her to improve this area of her character. It is very important in this society to be brave and confident. Mummy and I felt it's very important to work with her on this. So we are glad we are tasting the fruit of our labour.

Anyway, back to the concert. It was quite interesting. Immediately after the first piece, Megan told Mummy she wants to learn that piece. They played about 6-7 light classics and the conductor, Uncle Peter, lead the crowd in hand and feet actions. The concert ended with the kids going up the stage and standing next to their favourite instrument. Megan went for the violin. We hope she is inspired to practice hard. Not that she needs to be like them, but just that she realised that when she practices hard she will be able to make beautiful music.

Yet another Saturday

2008-11-29T23:30:00.000-08:00

This evening, I'm once again reminded that Raeanne is only 1+. She wanted to leave the room but the door was closed. She stood on her toes and tried to reach for the knob but was too short to open the door. Guess what she did next? She pressed an imaginary bell on the wall beside the door and went "Ding Dong"!! When there was no response, she turned round and asked "How? The door cannot open! How?" She's such a amusing child. :-). We must remember to treat her like a 1 year old and not expect her to grow up overnight just because she is now a jie jie. It doesn't help that she started speaking early.

Gwyneth visited to the paediatrician yesterday. Think she got the phlegmy cough from Raeanne. Don't feel very comfortable with feeding her cough syrup at such a young age. After all, she is only 10 weeks old. She hates the medicine. Suppose babies have an acute sense of smell - she starts crying even before the medicine gets into her tiny little mouth... :-/. On the contrary, Raeanne LIKES the cough syrup (same chemical name as that prescribed to Gwyneth but difference dosage). She's always wanting to "take medicine". This evening, she threw a tantrum when we wanted to feed Gwyneth the medicine first.

Violin class today was good. Megan was concentrating and took the class very seriously. The teacher went through quite a number of new pieces today. Add oil, Megan!

That brings me to the visit to Toys R Us this afternoon before violin class. Raeanne, being surrounded by toys of all sorts, was ecstatic and uncontrollable. She was running from aisle to aisle (with Melvyn running after her) and finally settled for one of her favourites, the cash register. It was really difficult getting her to leave. We managed to carry her off to another section of the store in spite of her struggling and yelling at the top of her voice. The ultimate happened when she saw the laptops. Don't know how to describe what happened next. We can loan her to you and you can bring her to Toys R Us and find out for yourself. :-D. Nevertheless, we managed to get Megan and Raeanne their Christmas presents (cannot tell you yet lest you tell them!). Any suggestions for what we should get for Gwyneth? I suggested buying a tin of milk powder (I'm sure she will enjoy it) but Melvyn thinks it's a bad idea. ;-)

Got to go, Melvyn is bugging me to switch off the lights so he can sleep.

An Afternoon Classic with Our Stars

2008-11-28T17:18:00.000-08:00

The weather was a little gloomy when we reached Botanic Gardens. Was quite worried it may rain. If it rains all the kids would be very disappointed. I told Megan she should ask Jesus to hold the weather a while until the concert was over. Megan was looking forward to the afternoon very much. Daddy was very excited as well because I was with her when she learnt the 2 more recent songs while mummy was on confinement. When she was learning these few songs, I really did not know what to do during lessons. It was more Megan teaching Daddy what to do and if she understands or not. If she doesn't we got back to Mummy for help.

We were also grateful for the support of Auntie Jessie, Lor Koh Janice, Lor Teoh Norman and Yee Yee Sarah who came to show support to our darling star. All the kids were stars. They practiced hard and their parents gave them a lot of support. The both Grandparents were not able to make it that evening so it was nice to have people supporting little Megan.
Little Sister Gwyneth loves listening to Jie Jie Megan violin too

Reflecting back, it was a tough journey getting Megan to learn the violin. Mummy and I had some really heated arguments because we cannot agree on how much ‘patience’ we should have with her. We did not have the luxury of time to bring her to take extra violin lessons separate from the group class. And more so for us because the first class she attended was discontinued. (till today I still think the kids were too young to start at 2yrs plus, but since this is a public forum I shall not comment further) Had it not been the tenacity and perseverance of mummy I don't think daddy alone will be able to even complete a single song.

Anyhow, the kids played beautifully. Their bowing was right, they look like SSO musicians. Even if they made mistakes, like the teacher says, they are cute and the audience will be more forgiving.

Next Up: Megan is going to play in Church on Christmas. This is the real reason why we had enrolled her for Violin classes – to be able to serve God with her talents. We always look forward to Megan playing in church because the purity of a child's worship is always pleasing to God. She is going to play "You are the Reason" at the upcoming Christmas Service. If you are free, do join us.

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Quick update on Little Gwyneth's 2nd Month

2008-11-18T21:31:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update on Little Gwyneth.

Little Gwyneth turned 2 months on 13 Nov. Coincidentally, that is also her Great Grandpa's Birthday as well.

Anyhow, Gwyneth is doing really well. We are getting to know her a little more.
She likes to be carried, like us to chat with her (she actually will chat back) and is also very inquisitives.

Megan & Raeanne are having that irritating cough and Phlegm again..

2008-11-15T08:11:00.000-08:00

Our Girls were sick this week. I hate it! Probably I am a little paranoid about these things(usually Dads are more cool about this but coming from me seem a little strange for a dad). We tried to segregate the unaffected from the affected ones cos I seem to think that with the segregation, we are able to avoid them spreading to each other.

Megan was running a viral fever. The fever patterns were strange, it is only high in the evenings but alright in the day. We were fooled by the virus that we sent Megan for swimming class. Its another story I share another time but Megan been trying to find all sort of excuses not to attend her swimming class. Silly Us! The temperature went up to 39.4 degrees on Wednesday morning. The last time she had that high a temperature was when she was 2 years old and we brought her to the hospital. With cost going up we try not to visit the Pedia so often unless necessary. The normal GP would do but anyways, we finally brough her to the Pedi but to no surprise it was just the usual Para which was prescribed. She is doing well now. No more fever today - all ready for the concert this evening.
Don't be decieved by this look. She is quietly happy because the Doc gave her a book of stickers and she does not need to go to school

Raeanne is doing much better. She only has the irritating cough and philem. A little incovenient. She seem to throw up when she is in the sleeping position because the philem was irritating. We changed the bed sheet almost everynight for the last couple of nights. Thank God, I am glad she did not vomit last night. She is also doing well - all ready for the weekend of fun with her mummy and daddy.
Both girls still has the persistence cough and philem. The kids are too young to know how to spit it out. Zyrtec to the rescue. Let us see how it goes. This time round is good because the two older ones are having it concurrently or else the entire cycle for the family is about 6 weeks.

Daddy & Mummy making use of the Kids to get what they want....

2008-11-12T23:57:00.000-08:00

Mummy have been having this strange craving for really good Chocolate Cakes. So we bought a Chocolate-Banana cake from Awfully chocolate over the weekend. We know little Raeanne loves Birthday Parties so we decided why not?

Lets find a reason to celebrate. So mummy and daddy declared it was Dolly's Birthday - not the great grandma but rather the doll Megan has named little Dolly.

It was funny. The family celebrated Dolly birthday. Yiyi, AMK Kong and Po Po was there to celebrate Dolly birthday with the girls at Thong Soon.

Gwyneth wonders when she would be able to join the party too.

Playing at Botanic Gardens

2008-11-06T06:12:00.000-08:00

Megan and her friends have been invited to play as guest artistes at a concert to be held at Botanic Gardens on 15 November 2008, 5.30pm - 6.30pm, Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage. They are going to play 4 songs:

Hunter's Chorus
The Two Grenadiers

Theme from 'Witches' Dance

The International Anthem

My favorite is the 'Two Grenadiers'. This sond sounds very majestics espcially when the kids play it in an enclosed room. Megan is more able to inteprete the composer's intentions and express it through her style of playing. I thought this is good as this shows that she is enjoying the music.

Another song which I like is the Theme from 'Witches Dance'. While playing the song, the kids will be dancing. There is even a part where they play holding their bows upside down. When she first started violin I wondered when she will be able to do these songs. It sounded so farfetched then, but I thought she is playing really well and she is enjoying it now.

The kids are working hard preparing for the concert while the parents are being stressed with the intensive practices. Rosemary is also very stressed about Megan's bow position, tone and the clothes to wear. This is the 1st of 2 performances Megan will be putting up this season - so proud of and excited for her. Do come down and give these kids your support.

Raeanne came with a special story - A Story of Grace and Faith ... for Mummy and Daddy

2008-10-30T07:39:00.000-07:00

Rosemary and I tried for our 2nd child for more than a year. We wanted another baby because we thought Megan would be very happy with a playmate. After many months of trying, Raeanne finally came. When we discovered that we were going to have little Raeanne, we were, of course, very excited. But the excitement came with a time of fear and anxiousness. Firstly, we were supposed to be going to Batam for a short break and Rosemary was going to Australia for her band trip. However, when we found out about it, we had to cancel our trips. You have to understand our first baby, Megan, was a very easy baby (I will blog about her another time).

On the 4th month of expecting Raeanne, we were given the option of taking some blood test. As all excited parents were, we opted for everything, not knowing the actual implications of taking these tests. We opted to do the Triple Screening. The triple screening was suppose to screen the the unborn baby of alpha-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin and unconjugated estriol. For the non-medical students, which is what I am, it means you can determine if your kid is at risk of any birth defects such as Down syndrome and neural tube defects.

The results of the Screening indicated a high risk, ie 1 / 98 of having a child that may be abnormal. Which means that out of 100kids, there was 1 chance that the baby may be down and that chance could be yours. I was very anxious and worried. My thoughts play back all the what "ifs".. my biggest concern was how are we going to bring the kid up but yet provide for Megan and not compromising our love and attention for her.

People mentioned that how you feel, the kid in the womb can feel it. I tried to hide my rejection very much.

We met up with the Doctor and he explained to us the options we had. Our faith in our christian faith really brought us through. Our core values as Christians really started to be put to test. All parents wants a perfect kid. Abortion was an option, but as Christian parents we knew that the option is not an option because God is the one who have given us this gift especially since we prayed very hard for her. The Doctor suggested that we go for an amnio test which implied that a needle needs to be stuck into the tummy and extract the amnio acid for testings. This has a 5% risk. The fluid is then send for test to rule out Down Syndrome. On hindsight, thought this is very stupid. Come on we are doing all these test to rule out what is something we are not sure if its true. We prayed about it and decided that we are not going to do anything about it and ask God for the His peace which surpasses our own human understanding to overwhelm us.

I felt so helpless. Its something that we could do nothing about. Absolutely nothing! You cannot take medicine, no amount of money can do anything, no amount of anything we can do can change what is in the womb. My love language for my kids are acts of love. I tend to want to do things for my girls to show them my love. For me, it was very difficult because I could do nothing.

The worse about this is that this is only a screening which means medically they take your blood sample, roast it with some known data and match the profile to those that have tested and determine if your kid is down or not. This is not a diagnostic test but a screening test. And we have ourselves to worry about it for the next 6 months. This is the worse thing that can happen to a pregnancy. For my wife, I wanted to make the environment comfortable and try as much to let her enjoy her pregnancy but at the back of your mind I am affected and you know that there is a chance that the little girl could be down. I searched inside me and ask God, did I do something that did not please you. I told God, don't punish Megan because of what her daddy may have done. We ask, we ask and we ask. The few months, we felt as if God was so far away. Everything don't seem to be running in favour of us. That is why we decided to name her Raeanne meaning Favoured Grace while Rui En (恩睿) means favor and far sighted by the Grace of God. So each time we call her that we are reminded of who she is. Sort of a promise proclaimed on her forever.

You know, God is good and I understood what it means to have Faith in God as well as His Grace was sufficient for us. Faith was believing in something which you cannot see, which in this case was something I cannot see. Grace is the unmerited love and favor of God in Christ. What we thought we knew as Christians all these years became really real to us when Raeanne came. Only a few of us were aware of this. Even the 2 mums were not aware of as we did not want them to be worried.

Raeanne was born on 28 December 2006 at 1600hrs sharp. The first question I asked the Pedia when he saw him was is Raeanne normal. ha the first answer that came was "Mr Song, Don't ask this question, can't you see? She is very alert!"

For that is getting to know Raeanne, you will know that this kid is a thinker. She loves with her mind. She is extremely witty and cheeky, always up to her tricks. She is able to get what she wants by manipulating you and runs all over you if you allow her. She 'bullys' everyone and is a goal getter. And you know something, she is very well favored everywhere she goes. Sound likes this daddy is self praising but really if you know her you will know her as someone who is very lovable and favored even though she is very cheeky. Praise God!

Now looking back, we learnt very important lessons.
1. Don't go for a test which we don't know the implications. I discourage all to do the Triple test its nonscience and non conclusive.
2. There is indeed power in what we name our Kids.

The credit goes to God really. Had we not been for Christians, I am not sure if we have the strength to not put the kid at any risk. I can't be sure what this Girl is going to be like in future, but we are enjoying her very much together with Megan and Gwyneth. The 3 of them are such a blessing of joy.

Went Fishing....

2008-10-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

There are not too many places in Singapore which are not crowded and yet fun for kids - The Fish Farm (to be more specific, its a fish farm for little children only). The kids can feed fish, rod fish, feed goose and koi fish. Most importantly they can catch Long Kang Fishes which I personally, as a kid, did not really get to do.

The last time we went was before Raeanne was born (ie almost 2 years ago). The last time we went was also the time when their Kong Kong started his fish rearing hobby. We’ve been wanting to bring the girls back there for a long time.

For $14, we got a bucket, a fishing net, 40 minutes fishing time for a kid, an adult and any number of fishes you can catch per person. So for $28, we manage to bring the Kong Kong in as well.

Not so much the money, it is a good time for us to bond with the girls.

This is the first time Raeanne was there so she was quite amused with the fishes so upclosed. We caught a few for her and she was looking at it for a long time.

Megan is much more confident moving around the ‘longkang’ and tried to catch some fishers. After sometime, she decided that she rather do the scaring of the fish.

Rosemary then started to catch the fish on her own. It was so funny. Mummy was really very adamant about catching the fish. You should see the concentration on her face. Dad was also trying to catch the fish at some stage. He got so frustrated that he started using the bucket instead of the net. Don’t get bluff… the net is too small to catch any fishers especially since the fishes swim very fast.

Apart from the 20 plus fishers we caught, which about 12 died the next day, it was really a nice time bonding with the girls.

What is in that name?

2008-10-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

To us the girls names are very special. All of them comes with a story. (hope to share more.) When we chose names for our girls, we wanted to be sure we gave them names with meanings, so that whenever we call their names we will be declaring the promises on them. Each one came came with much thoughts.

Mummy and I decided that we will start with one starting with the letter "M" and the other with letter "R". While Gwyneth came because we wanted something different from the two elder sisters. The two elder sister gets much attention and we wanted to fair to the little one as well.

Megan means Great and Strong while Ying Hui (颖惠) means clever, bright by the Grace of God.
Raeanne means Favoured Grace while Rui En (恩睿) means favour and far sighted by the Grace of God
Gwyneth means Blessed & Happiness while Li Lin (俐琳) means smooth, active, clever, smart beautiful Gem.

It's Mummy!

2008-10-22T08:05:00.001-07:00

This is my very first time blogging. Pretty excited about it. Will update soon.

Introducing the Song Sisters

2008-10-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

I tried starting blogs many times but everytime it fails because there was no purpose and no audience. I am not going to promise I will keep this blog very updated but I hope to be able to pen down our memories and add to our kids childhood banks of richness so that when they grow older they will be able to read about what Mummy and Daddy did with them.

We have got 3 kids. Megan Ying Hui, Raeanne Rui En, Gwyneth Li Lin. Proud to say all these names were given to them because of what we hope they will be or the qualities and characters we hope they will be. Each one of them is a miracle, we will share them in our subsequent posts.

Megan is 5 years old, Raeanne is 21 months & Gwyneth is 5 weeks old.