Fiona recently could tell us that she needs to poo poo. She would yell for "toilet bowl" if it is time for poo poo. Toilet training Fiona for that was a breeze. I never expect her to be able to do it so soon. I remembered that Aaron only managed to do that at the age of 3 yr 3 mth during our trip to Korea... must thank the Koreans for their super clean and comfortable toilet :p

I know many parents r sending their tods to extra lessons ...but with Arianne's needs to take care and logistics issues, unfortunately, I couldn't. It is not that I dont want to but with 3 kids, logistics is a big issue n it's really so tiring to take care of all 3 of them.
However, during these 2 mths of my maternity leave, I feel that Fiona had picked up quite a lot. She had learnt quite a few nursery rymthes, could name the vegetables on the flash cards, recite her A-Z, 1 to 10 in English and Mandarin. I'm trying to teach her colours and reading 1 - 10 but everytime I ask her "what is this?", she asks me back the same question :(

Just nice that my maternity leave is during the June hols. School's out for Aaron. As much as possible, I tried to arrange for him one exciting activity per week. I need a break fr staying at home lookin after the kids too. We went cycling, up the Singapore Flyer, underwater world n dolphin lagoon. June was also the time we celebrated mei mei's 2nd birthday... was fun! I wish Arianne would grow up soon and join in all the fun. I love such outings with the kids but bringing Arianne out at this moment with 2 other active ones was really tough.

Can't believe Aaron is so Brave! He insisted on taking a pic with this white snake outside the Underwater World. Creepy.

Fiona's 2nd birthday celebrated at home with her cousins on our usual Friday family gathering. My kids love parties especially Aaron. We bought Fiona a Barney cake n bought some tim sum fr Yum Cha. Actually, Fiona fell asleep even before the cake cutting session. All we had to do is to whisper to her "Barney Birthday Cake here" and she was wake again. Power of Barney on kids. Fiona loved to sing. She could sing happy birthday in English and Mandarin and had been practising her vocals the past 1 mth. How old r u Fiona? "2 years old"... we taught her that few months back and only recently she was willing to give us the answer.

This is something which i have not done for my other 2 kids... blogging about their one month.


Arianne had been q a difficult and fussy baby, refusing to sleep throughout the full one month and always crying for milk. Having a confinement lady doesnt help much... i was laughing to myself.. perhaps the loud high pitched"noise" of the CL kept Arianne awake :p

Arianne had grown quite a bit from the tiny winy little newborn we saw in the hospital. I guess she must be ard 4.5 to 5kg now, judging fr her size. She grew 4cm... so she was 55cm by full month.

Fiona had always been a sweet elder sis. She handled Arianne with tender touches and light kisses. Aaron as usual, is v mischievious. He would hug his sister tightly and touch her head when i'm not looking (something i disallowed him).

As for me, rest was a priviledge which i rarely have. With 3 kids around it's something hard to have. It has taken me more than 3 days to complete up to this part of the Blog. Fiona is always up to some mischieve when we don't supervise her. During the whole one mth, she has done many things which had made us scream our lungs out! She squeezed out almost 3/4 tube of Desitin diaper rash cream and applied it on her neck, plucked out the keys fr our laptop, climb up the metal gate of our home, threw her toys outside the door, threw stuff down fr top of the staircase.... etc etc.... i feel that i am almost going mad handling her behaviour!!! We call her Fierce Fiona coz she would strike out a fierce fight with her brother over minor things. Aaron, though a big brother, would never give in to his sister... that's how all the fights would begin. As a 5.5 yr old kid, Aaron loved to ask questions. I really really wished i had more free time to spend with him and plan some holiday programs for him. My days revolved around cries, fights, tantrums, breastfeeding...... i wish for free time... even 10 mins of bath is precious time! Usually, i cant even spend more than 5 mins in peace! After 1 mth, i'm still FAT, yes FAT...5 kgs of fat still sitting in me. The hair looks like a mad mop and face still belmished with lots of freckles! Sadly, this is what pregnancy had done to me :( I never agreed with comments that pregnant women look the most radiant... at least not for me. U'll not get to see a pic of me here till i look more presentable... heee

Arianne's full month was celebrated at home. We bought cakes from E-creative and Sweetest Moments. Over the weekend, we invited our relatives over 2 sessions and had food catered from Neo Gardens. As usual, the 2 older kids felt so happy to have people coming over, especially Aaron.

At the end of this post, i pray v hard for God to give me patience .... AND MORE PATIENCE.

Strawberry Shortcake had been a hot fad in my younger days. I have this old doll, which my dad bought when I did well for my exams in Primary 1.

So that makes it 26 years old!!! It's still kept in v good condition.. only thing missing is the smell of strawberries :)

On a beautiful Sunday morning, BB Arianne 李欣颖, my third bb was born on 20th April 2008.

Time of birth: 0441am
Length: 51cm

Weight: 3155g

Place of birth: Thomson Medical Clinic

Arianne was induced at 1150pm on Wed night as she was due and gynae saw no reason to keep her inside me anymore. Furthermore, I was having painful contractions though not very regular. Cervix was already 3cm dialated when gynae did the check before breaking the waterbag. 3 hours into labour, bb heartbeat was dropping. I had to rely on Oxygen to keep her going strong. She had to come out v soon or her life would be in danger. We found that her umbylical cord had twined round her neck causing the drop in heartbeat. Fearing for her safety, i had to push as hard as I could....finally at 441am, i could hear her cries.... strong loud cries.... Thank God.

Thinking of a name was a v difficult task. I wanted something close to our hearts which Fiona and Aaron can relate to.

Finally, I chanced upon this name - Arianne. An 'A' rhymes with Brother Aaron and 'Anne' is a baptism name which Fiona and I share. Arianne, mummy hopes u like the name which we have chosen for u.

Vivo City

Fiona enjoying herself in the wet playground

Animal Resort

(Left: Fiona, Aaron and KH feeding the fishes in the pond of Animal Resorts

Right: Aaron feeding the rabbits with carrots)

Weekends are dedicated to our kids. We usually bring them to places which we think they would enjoy.

Animal Resorts was fun! Aaron enjoyed it v much. Initially he was fearful of the goats when they approached him for the food. But later on, he warmed up and bought more than 5 packets of carrots and bread for them!!! Fiona, however, was a bit scared and did not feed the animals. Instead, she was enjoying herself at the fish pond feeding the coils.

Grandpa, Zo-gong, u have chosen to leave us in the midst of the Lunar New Year. It's hard to understand why u have to go but I know it is best for u. No more suffering, no more pain.
Thank u for all the years of guidance. Thank u for looking after me during the first 5 most tender years of my life. Thank u for sharing our joy of marriage and birth of the 2 dearies. At your death bed, u worried abt us not being able to cope financially with 3. Grandpa, I assure u everything is well within control. God has provided us in abundance.

CNY was celebrated with mixed feelings. On one hand, the Chinese spirit of joy and togetherness and the beginning of a new lunar year is something which all of us love to experience. The kids love the Mickey Mouse Ang Pows which they have been getting.

On the other hand, grandpa (or the kids' great grandpa aka zhou2-gong1) was v unwell and on day two, had to be sent to the hospital. His heath was deteriorating away. Sad to say, I know it's gonna be a last CNY with him. Deep down inside is a feeling of sadness and lost.

My wish for grandpa is for God's spirit and strength to be with him.

Mel invited us to her home for a gathering n lao yu sheng n pineapple tart making session. Some photos uploaded.

It has never been easy gathering all 4 of us together for a photo. In fact, the number of photos we have taken as a family is really rare. Today, I have specially arranged for a shoot at at 11am, hoping it does not clash with Fiona's sleeping time. Fiona had diarrhoea just before we set off fr home. She stained the pretty little batik dress which we had dressed her in:( At the studio, it was a difficult and most challenging task getting Fiona to smile at the camera. Usually, she does not smile readily, much less for this occassion. After an hr, she was cranky and kept pointing to the exit.

Despite the struggle, we managed to have quite a few nice poses fr her. Good girl, Fiona. Aaron was easier. He was the darling of every camera man, except for his habit to stick out his tongue during shoots :p

Till the next photo shoot ... probably after the birth of our bb girl.

A lovely and happy family ...that's all I ask for.