From a young age, Arianna has always been facinated by the telly. She started off loving all the ads on tv and she would literally stop what she was doing to watch the ads and then continue with what she was doing. In the beginning we just thought that it was the colors that grabbed her attention but as she grew older, we noticed that she genuinely loves watching telly just like any kid you know.

While I am not happy that she watches a wee bit too much, she’s actually picked up a fair bit of information and lessons from just watching Sesame Street alone. I reckon thats the best children’s tv series! I should know, I grew up on it too! *lol*

But KR is a different person all together. She couldn’t be bothered with the tv and if there wasn’t one there, she wouldn’t know the difference. Arianna would most likely totally freak out and start her rambling and mumbling asking for the tv.

But here’s a random shot I took of the girls totally concentrating on tv. Yes, KR can stand now, she can even crawl and walk too but she needs to hang on or she loses her confidence….

These 2 are absolutely clowns…. *lol*

It seems to be a trend these days that most parents always end up buying the latest electronic toys for the kids. While some kids are lucky that their parents can indulge them with such luxuries, most kids are not that privileged and yet, their parents still try to give in to them. It must be really hard on the parents…especially their pockets. I guess we are blessed because we have yet to give in to such gadgets because honestly, I dont think kids really need more exposure to such things as Wii and PS, iPhones and what-nots. I don’t see why there is a need to indulge them in such things.

Thank goodness both Arianna and KR are easy to please. So far the best fun that they have both was mainly from their toy basket. The first time I noticed how much fun they could get out of it was when Arianna got into the basket and KR was poking at her. I got that on vid and here it is :

And then recently, Arianna’s imagination kicked in and somehow, she managed to turn herself in to a ‘robot’ and goes around all day with the basket over her head, going ‘Robot! Robot!’. She really does this the WHOLE day!! And never gets tired of it. Here’s a shot of the basket case :

And finally, tonight….they both decided that they wanted to be environmentally friendly and played quite happily for a rather long period of time with recycled boxes and bottles. *lol* And the best part of it was they didn’t fight or tresspass into each other’s territory, hence I wasn’t stressing out.

Playing with recycled items – empty boxes and bottles fllled with crystals. Keeps them happy…keeps Mother Earth happier!

Thank goodness we don’t have to buy expensive toys to keep them happy! Aren’t we blessed?

Sometimes, Arianna tends to be a little too rough and bullies little KR. But when she’s nice to KR, she’s really, really nice and it’s really cute to see them together. Here is one such precious moment :

This is how you do it….

When I first let Arianna play the organ she liked it, it made noises and she could bang it with all her might and we didn’t say anything. *lol* It’s a rather rotten instrument and really, it didn’t hurt plus it was nice watching her have fun. Although she does share, most times she is the taker instead of the giver.

In this case, she actually let KR play along-side with her which was a really nice change. This does not happen often!

The girls are really growing up fast. I’m surprised by KR’s vocab because she is definitely picking up words so much faster and clearer than Arianna. Although she doesn’t talk much and is on a rather quiet side, she is a very observant baby. I reckon she is taking in lessons from Arianna – what not to do so that Mummy doesn’t go all crazy and start screaming like a banshee! *lol*

Looking at things, I reckon #2 & #3 will most likely gang up on Arianna once they are big enough. I wonder how Arianna is going to handle them. *lol* She’s definitely going to have her hands full.

After almost 2 years of being a fulltime housewife and mother, I finally stepped foot into my old office. In the beginning, I was so excited, then the office mucked around so much that I got sick and tired of waiting hence I was pissed, then I got worried coz I had to leave the kids behind with Ted, then finally yesterday, I had no feeling at all coz I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t want to dwell on any what-could-go-wrong scenarios hence, I just went to work with an open mind and left my little worries behind at home.

Both the girls were excellent with Ted and apparently he had no trouble with them at all. *touch wood, touch wood* He even prepared lunch and dinner for everyone. So I am very proud of him. Somehow when it was time to go to work, I went with a light heart because deep down inside, I knew I could trust him and that he would do great. I am glad that I have that much confidence in him because if my heart and mind was left at home, there was no way I could concerntrate at work. And with numbers, there’s always a chance of a wrongly placed decimal point which could bring the whole department down! So praise God that all went well.

That said, while I did miss the girls a lot. I didn’t miss them as much as I thought I would have. Not wanting to sound like a bad mum coz I honestly did miss them but at the same time, I also appreciated the time away from them. While they are lovely to spend time with, nothing beats having time to yourself and being amongst big people. And to be honest, I’ve had enough of Sesame Street for awhile! So while I lapped up the chance of having some time out even though it was spent working, Ted too spent a lot of time with them and making up for the times he was at work, away from them.

It’s a beautiful win-win situation. I have about 2 to 3 weeks of work and after that, who knows? If things look good and if I get offered another job, I may take it…or maybe I won’t. It will depend a lot of the location and position of course. At the moment I walk to the train station – excellent way to exercise, then take a train to Liverpool and then a bus to TAFE. All in all, it takes some 51min.

At work, most of them recognise me but just couldn’t put a finger on where they’d seen me. lol Work wise, things have changed a bit but nothing I couldn’t handle. It was definitely good to be back in an office. I really miss it. Tomorrow is Australia Day so it’s a public holiday, hence I’m off but it’s back to work the day after and it will be full-on!! It’s enrolment time at TAFE and it’s going to be a mad house. lol

Just the way I like it.

I was meant to update on a monthly basis as the girls grow up but apparently I am too early for Arianna and too late for KR. *lol* But I think something is better than nothing.

Arianna turns 2 years, 4 months in Jan

The more the better Mum! [Plus where are those promotional hand sanitizers?? We need them for when we slush in mud!]

See, so cheeky! Don’t want to come out from her cot…

All smiles

Arianna is hitting the terrible twos. Constantly testing her limits and our patience. It’s not easy coping with her tantrums and hitting but it’s one of those growing up issues we have to deal with. For most of the time, she is a good kid. Loving at times but mostly just being her own little self. She is good at playing by herself which is a bonus for me and is slowly getting used to having a baby around the house.

Thanks to Sesame Street, she has improved vastly on her alphabets and although she cannot sing it yet, she can quite easily identify them if I were to write it out. She also knows her numbers up to at least 17. She also knows a fair number of animals which is only because I tend to lure her towards that and is beginning to form longer sentences and not just 2-3 words in a row.

Manners wise, she is doing quite ok too. ‘Thank you very much, Mummy/Daddy’ is a norm these days. Sometimes, its even ‘Thank you very much, Arianna’. *lol* And most recently is ‘Sorry Mummy/Daddy/Baby’ because of her hitting.

Overall, I think she is doing good but I am still concern about her food intake as it is tough as nails to get her to eat veg. Noodles and soups are her fav and at least she’s ok with the ang moh [spice-less] curry that I have been making lately. I do try to vary her food but I am absolutely hopeless in the kitchen hence I am not surprised that she finds my food isn’t as appetising as Nanna’s!

Kathleen-Rose turns 9 months in Jan 2010

Sleeping beauty

This must be how movie stars look like after a messy meal!

Aarrhhhgghh, stay away!! Paparazzi! Paparazzi!!

Giving her approval upon checking out her Chrissy pressie from Grandma and Grandpop.

My cheeky vegemite

KR is a blessing to us. She’s such a darling….her mannerism is as her name, sweet. And so very unlike Arianna is almost every aspect. Perhaps the only thing in common that they have is my penyek [flat] nose, and also that they both sprouted their teeth late. Arianna grew hers when she was about 6+ months but KR still has no signs of it yet. May take a while to sprout, poor little thing!

Despite almost 8 months, she hasn’t done a tummy-back-tummy roll just yet. I thought that since she rolled over 2 days short of turning 4 months, she would start to crawl earlier than Arianna but I think this will not be happening anytime soon. She absolutely hates being placed on her tummy but is more than quite happy to be sitting upright. In fact, she can quite happily do so for quite some time. She too can play quite nicely by herself. It’s funny how she reaches for all the ‘forbidden’ toys ie. toys Arianna won’t let her play with, after she has gone to bed. It’s just SO funny!!

Vocab wise, she has started to babble even more and can easily tell you that she isn’t happy about something. She literally shouts out to you to let you know about her discomfort. She has also started calling out ‘Dada’ and sometimes, as clear as a bell ‘Daddee’. How unfair is that???? >.< Looks like I have to wait till she turns 2yrs before I can her those precious words la. :/

Like Arianna, I am also having issues with food with KR. Having an allergy to cow’s milk, I am totally off dairy, including soy. I’m not sure for how long but I assume that as long as I am still bf, this is my situation. Sad right? Also, she is still on pureed fruits. I think I should up her solids intake so that she will sleep through the night. At the moment, she is waking up about 2-3 hours a night which is a bummer for me coz it’s a little tough getting back to bed. And once I actually fall asleep, it’s time to wake up for a feed again. A very very big bummer!

I guess I should be more adventurous in allowing her to try more things but looks like my being afraid is what’s holding her back! So I will really have to read into finding out more foods that she can take. Funny how despite having Arianna not THAT long ago, I still can’t remember. Aiyooo….anyway, this is all for now.

Stay tuned for next month’s update.

KR is about 1.5months now and it was only recently that I finally managed to take a pix of Arianna and her together. Ever since KR came home, Arianna has been rather oblivious to KR’s existence but recently, she has taken more notice of her and that is good.

I had to use this moment ie. Arianna busy having her bottle AND watching tv to get these shots and I tell ya, they are priceless!!

Sisters watching tv together-gether

Arianna is either giving KR a head massage OR trying to say, ‘Eh, move your head la, you’re blocking the tv!!’.

Sweetness!!