[countdown to Japan!]

We can't wait for the trip to start, just 7 more days!! ..... every morning on the way to school, the girls will go : I wish we were in Japan now.... :) Heh, me too sweeties!
Anyways, we're all nursing colds so it was just as well that we are not travelling yet. Luckily the girls have recovered (keeping fingers crossed!) and they are quite well. It's really me and V that are trying to get rid of the persistent coughs and gravelly throats....

New Year festivities have started, and as most of the family will be travelling this Chinese New Year, we had our reunion lunch a few weeks earlier. Here are the pictures at the lunch:
Our very first Lou Hei at Tung Lok.
All the girls :)
"grand" uncle....
K showing V her new toy from ku ku
Me in soft focus
Little R, so cute!
K loved her new ballet pumps, she calls it her 'clipclop' shoes
Cousins
A more civilised shot.

After lunch, to walk off the food and also since we were already in the east, we went to the nearby library to while away the afternoon, while K took her nap in the pram.
Since we were all dressed up, here are some shots of us with G.

In the library, I picked up this cookbook that was presented in the most unique and graphical way - such a delight to read!
*all the pictures were taken with the Nikon 50mm f1.4 lens which S so generously lent us. We're still getting the hang of it, as we're hoping to bring it along to Japan.

[Mid Jan 2011]

Is it already mid-Jan!!! Gosh! how time flies. We are as usual frantically trying to get into sync with the whole work / home balance again. After the lethargy of the Xmas and New Year's break, where we managed to pretty much spend almost everyday with the girls, it is back now to the grind as the projects at work get more intense.
This year is the year of the Rabbit, which apparently will be a good year for the Rat. Not sure about the Tiger! Well, we shall see. :)
So, just a recap on the happenings in January, one of the most exciting thing will be the planning for our upcoming Japan trip!! Yay, it has been almost 4 years since we last visited Tokyo, at that time, with a barely 1.5 yrs old G. This will be the first holiday that we will take with just 4 of us. Ever since K was born, we have had benefit of the help of my parents on all our major holidays.... it will be fun to see how we cope with the 2 girls. I guess now that they are older, it should be pretty easy going. Especially with the promise of visiting Disneyland on the agenda!
Waiting for G to bring her some water from the sea
my 2 girls :) How big they are now!
All set for the snow in Japan!! :) V has been diligently buying up all the things to kit the girls out from eBay. The snow boots are a steal and K looks so cute in that Gymboree vest.
G has been asking to do some sewing projects with me, we borrowed a good book from the library and spent the lazy weekend doing lots of sewing projects :)
K's little elephant. K is surprisingly much more adept at sewing than her older sister. I put it down to the meticulous nature that she has inherited from V. She is more concerned about how she puts the next stitch down, unlike G who just wants to go through it quickly to see the end product (erm, like yours truly!)

[The girls - 2010]

The girls have grown up so much this year (well, i guess i say this every year!) Physically as well as emotionally. K is now talking and starting to emulate her sister in reading etc, physically she has grown at least a head taller, she can now reach the most of the lift buttons.... Incredible that just a year ago, she had just started eating well and not rely on a liquid diet of Pediasure. She is also much more assertive, especially in the sibling relationship (much to our dismay!) G has also grown up, she has shot up and stretched vertically! Everybody that meets her thinks she's 7 or 8, rather than a 5 yr old... Emotionally, she has also matured a whole lot this year. Even though occasionally she is still automatically jealous and hostile to her sister, she is learning to be less confrontational about it all. There are moments where she can be super big - sister-ish and take really good care of K, and then there are moments where she just cannot stand the sight of her! From talking to other mums with multiple children, all this is pretty normal i guess, and we just have to handle each situation on a case by case basis (but o! how tiresome they are!)

I thought it would be fun to see how the girls have grown in pictures, so here they are in chronological order through 2010:
February - Chinese New Year - the girls all dressed up to go visiting. I remember K was thrilled to carry her little bag around. This is probably the 1st CNY she remembers!
May - We brought K for her first Drama class at Act 3. She didn't quite enjoy it, although she dances and clowns around alot at home, she was very reserved during class. Same as G!
May - We brought the girls on a balmy weekend to Kent Ridge Park, K looks so little here!
June - Since we visited Sentosa so often while staying at New House, the girls insisted that we should go equally often after we moved. We love the ease of playdates there, this time we met up with G's good friend G, who we really should meet again soon!
June again - Sentosa again! We stayed at our regular hotel for our yearly 'stay-cation' there. Always fun for the girls, they enjoyed themselves so much...
July - A family trip up to KL, the girls loved staying in the hotel, we loved the good food and slow days!
More July - Safra Jurong and West Coast Park... doesn't K look tiny in these pictures? And so chubby too! While G is growing taller and leaner!
August - Another favorite weekend destination - the Botanical Gardens, we usually end up at Jacob Ballas for the playgrounds, but this particular visit, we walked from the carpark to the Pre-historic grounds, which was a good 15minute walk for the girls, they were real troopers!

September - Lots of picnics, which are so fun now that both girls can amuse themselves (even though sometimes it's as short as 15min!) These pictures were taken at Keppel Island.
September again - K looking all wistful at the science centre. We brought the girls there as they enjoyed the one in KL so much. They quite liked it, although K was more thrilled with the little car she 'drove' around and G just liked looking at the unhatched eggs.
October - A random pic of a typical afternoon at our place, as K naps, G will be reading one of her many books. We make it a point to visit the library if not every weekend then once bi-weekly. She loves reading and can always be seen with 1 or 2 books around her person. Favorites at this stage are still the Enid Blyton's.
October - Taken at K's birthday treat at Universal Studios. Look how she has grown! And G's a regular princess now. We love dressing both of them up.
November - Haha, yes, sometimes she chooses her entire outfit, from Tiara down to princess shoes.
November - The difference between K and G is captured in this shot. K often lapses into these semi-melancholic moods, where she can be in her own world and often is most sensitive at these moments. G has never really shown such traits, perpetually exhuberant and talking non-stop, the only times you catch her on the quiet is when she's eating or sleeping, and now when she's in fairy-tale land in her books.
December - We visited Mimolette near our place recently, this is pretty much how they are like whenever you ask them to pose!


A year seems such a long time before, but with the 2 of them, it seems to fly by so quickly! I guess it's mostly as they grow up, we try to treasure every little moment of their fleeting childhood lives. Here's to more beautiful memories and wonderful moments with these 2 little cheeky monkeys in 2011!!