Kiddo Talk & Pic Aug 2021

阳阳: "bye papa have a good day at office"

This is what every parent wants to hear. Your kiddos wishing you a good day at work ... *thumbs up.

Showing Off Their School Artwork

The highlight of the month. While waiting for kids I noticed 萱萱's name on a panda drawing. Awesome! She has always had a knack for art.

I didn't know that 阳阳's art was also on display till his teacher told Meimei about it. He had made the ambulance you see in the picture right above his head. 

Kiddos @Kinokuniya - Takashimaya

A rare outing today to Takashimaya. Our first stop was Kinokuniya to introduce them to the bookstore. 萱萱 used to go to the library with Nyaong but 阳阳 has never been anywhere. 

The kiddos looks so cute sitting there flipping through the books. 萱萱 tries to read a little but goes back to the picture books very quickly. 阳阳's all about the pictures and I kept a watchful eye that he doesn't destroy the books he is browsing.

Hillview Aug 2021

The best part about Hillview is the foyer where we can play anything. So any play that create lots of sand, dirt, mess and generally ban from the normal living room floor is reserved for Hillview. Today the kids are playing with playdoh.

Switching Seats In The Car

阳阳's getting too big for the medium chair. It doesn't help that it's slanted a little at the back and 阳阳 has to arch his neck forward. So we switch him into the big kid chair and have 萱萱 move to the portable seat. Both seem to enjoy the change.

Elixir Haul #2

Kiddo Talk & Pic July 2021

Meimei: I don’t know what we are having for lunch 

阳阳: but we are going to find out!

阳阳's First Dental Appointment

萱萱's scheduled for a dental appointment and Meimei just booked an adjacent spot for 阳阳. It's his first time and he did admirably. He didn't flinch nor turn when the dentist worked on his teeth. 

I'm sure the TV and having 姐姐 go first while he watch helped him keep his calm. All in all a good trip to check out their teeth.

A Medley Of Playgrounds

This month was a good month. We were able to bring the kids to a medley of new playgrounds. It's a much needed reprieve from all the caution and restrictions. The kids badly need a semblance of a childhood and being stuck at home isn't one of them.

Potty Stickers

This has to be the surprise of the decade. No one noticed that 阳阳 has pasted stickers on the side of the single seater where he has his potty corner. Well we couldn't because the spot is so tight, he was the only one who could fit in it.

Today's sofa change revealed it all. We are moving this to Nyaong and Nyama's place so we had to peel them all off. I wonder when 阳阳 gets home will he fuss over the missing stickers or that he no longer has a cozy little potty corner? Hmmm.

New Cellini Sofa

Finally the day has come, our new Cellini sofa is being delivered today!

We started the cleaning right after breakfast. The first step - salvaging the little titbits that were 'lost' underneath the sofa. There were all manner of balls and trinkets down there. We kept the balls and threw most of the other little toys.

It took several vacuuming and moping runs to clear off the stain somewhat. There are stains that would never go away but thankfully they are going to be covered by the new sofa.

The new sofa is everything I expected and more. The wide seats just screams comfort and the lighter shade vs the old Magnum also brightens up the room a little. We now have a space on the right for a small kids corner. Toys are still all over the living room but we can now begin the next step of getting them to the window side.

萱萱 & 阳阳 @主日学

萱萱 now has weekly Sunday morning 主日学. We try to get 阳阳 to join but he has no patience to sit there and listen to the teachers speak in Chinese. It's different for him, he never got to go to the church with Meimei and Nyama, not even once.

Hopefully someday when Covid is no longer a problem we can bring him to experience Sunday service at the church. I think he might like the singing and dancing with other kids of his age. 

阳阳's First Homework

阳阳's first homework is to collect things that make up the number 5. His classmates already did a showcase of their toys and items in the house etc. I didn't really think about it till Sunday afternoon.

As it turns out, his has to be the easiest and cheapest to complete. No need to try and buy a number of things for the homework, no need to take a picture, print it out and paste it on the workbook. All that's required is some tracing work which is fun in its way for 阳阳.

Cheap Standing Setup For Master Bedroom

With both of us stuck working at home, there were many times when Meimei had to leave the room to take a call so as not to disrupt mine. The study is small so we will be talking over each other if we get on meetings at the same time.

To get around the problem, Meimei bought a cheap standing table from Taobao for the master. It has wheels so she can move to the living or dining room when required. It's not the best of quality but sufficient for the occasional work.

Elixir Haul #1

The prices on wines have been oddly higher recently. There is also a lack of promotions and good flash sales. So the stock of wines are getting low and I started exploring other alternatives.

So that's where I made my first order of cognac online from DFS. It's not overly cheap but when you consider the number of meals a bottle can take you, its roughly the same price as a bottle of wine in the $18-$20 price tier.

I'm gonna start trying out the different brand of entry level cognac, namely the VSOPs and see if we can find a couple we like. This can be our backup plan whenever the wine stock runs low and we don't have any good ones to restock with.

The haul - Hennessy Master Blender's selection No.4 500ml & Martell VSOP Red Barrel 1L