Wrapping Up 2010!

I was partly very busy with work, plus the pregnancy progressing into the third trimester and having to have a frequently traveled husband I missed updating my favourite celebration of the year, Christmas!!! I looked back my SD card for photos took, unfortunately I didn't have many as well *sob*. I guess I will just do a brief wrap up for 2010...

A week after my babymoon to KL, we actually had another trip to Melaka. It was a planned to trip with the Chan clan. There was a lot of walking, eating, talking and driving. A short trip, but I think everyone had fun, especially Charlotte.

Then it was Christmas celebration. I can't believe it that I didn't take any picture of Charlotte in her beautiful dress that Pat bought her for Christmas eve! I have no picture to show what so ever took place during Christmas, not even a family photo under the Christmas tree. How lazy was I? Or I should blame it to the pregnancy *hehe*?

Anyway, we attended Christmas eve service at the church with my family and spent the entire Christmas day with in-laws. We had Christmas dinner at one of Pat's sister's house and Pat assigned me a real good challenge - roast turkey! I made it, with Pat's help of course. The bird that we bought was about 5kg in size and I couldn't manage that weight myself. It turned out to be quite a success. But just when I thought it was over, Pat threw another idea after the Christmas dinner with the turkey left over. He suggested to have another lunch the next day and asked for "kiam chai boey" with the turkey left over. So I woke up early the next day, rushed to the market and get the ingredient and rushed back to cook for lunch. I have to tell you that the "kiam chai boey" was the best I did so far (thanks to the turkey) and it was probably the most expensive chai boey ever *ha*. Unfortunately, no picture on the turkey and also the "kiam chai boey"...

Some random pictures in Dec 2010...

loved the grand piano that cousin Rachel has! 

picture with cousin Christopher at Melaka

The war ship at Melaka

Playing PS III - cousin Samantha helping her

Pressies under the tree - the new scooter from daddy is Charlotte's favorite!

 

The lady bug backpack from KimKim

I think my next post will be CNY. Hopefully I will have a better story to tell and more pictures to share.

The Baptism

I was very active at the church when I was young. I remember I was the youngest member in the Christmas caroling team, I was active in the church activities and participated in all performances like drama, dance, choir, and etc but it was all before I entered university. After that I was totally disengaged, shame on me.

When Charlotte was born, I did think about getting her baptised but back then I was overwhelmed as a new mother and with all the new motherhood responsibilities. I strayed very far away from God and I didn't think I was able to guide her the Christianity way. I started Charlotte at Sunday School just a few months ago and I also started to pick up a little responsibility at church. My parents then suggested Charlotte's baptism during Christmas since my "soon-to-be" sister-in-law will also get baptised during that day. We considered and we agreed.

It is my responsibility now to guide her and upbringing her with God's words and the Christian way. God help me.

Merry Christmas - from us!

This picture was taken on Christmas eve, we were all ready for the Christmas Eve service at the church.

Charlotte attended 80% of the Christmas Eve service last year, she was sleepy before the clock strike 12am and so we left without wishing everyone Merry Christmas. This year, Charlotte was all excited and looked forward going to church. She was more excited to get all dressed up more than anything else actually and I had to stop her from opening up the presents under the Chritsmas tree that night too. She behaved very well at the church that night, and she enjoyed the night as much as we all did. This is the time of the year that I am glad that all the "baby episode" is over!


Merry Christmas and have a God blessed New Year ahead!

Merry Christmas!

Charlotte was very happy that finally she gets to open all the Christmas presents. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to get all the presents under the Christmas tree this year. All Charlotte's KorKor and Ah Pek didn't give out the Christmas gifts until Christmas night but this year she got 2 sets of Barbie dolls, this was one of it she posted with...

We then got ourselves ready for Christmas lunch with my parents and brothers. Charlotte was wearing this beautiful dress bought by my brother recently when he and his family went to the States for holidays. She was also wearing the Santa's hat that I bought for her and for all her cousin sisters the night before...she wanted to wish Merry Christmas to Simba before we headed off to the restaurant.

I had a nicest lunch ever that afternoon and all thanks to the Crayola Color Wonder that I bought for her as Christmas gift. She was so excited by the magical markers and not only that, her cousin brother Isaiah was also very impressed by it. Both of them were busy coloring all the time...

and they found magic within magic too...

This is what I mean: the coloring page above only shows the Cogsworth (the clock) for the coloring activity. But my nephew Isaiah found the hidden images like those numbers beside as he tried the magic markers on the empty space. Interesting? After that discovery, both Isaiah and Charlotte were more interested in finding those hidden objects than the image shows on each page. *faint*

After lunch, I had to make sure Charlotte falls back on her daily schedule quickly again because we were going to meet at one of Pat's sister house that night for another Christmas feast.

Charlotte had a lot of fun meeting with all her cousin sisters and brothers on Christmas night...

There was a lot of chit chating (the adults) and running around (the children) and a lot of food too but the one catched everybody's attention was the Nintendo games that Pat's brother-in-law got. At first everybody wanted to get a chance on that remotes but only the boys stayed longer by the games. The girls later gathered and formed a spontaneous Christmas carol. We then realized how much all our nieces had grown up and they are so talented (even the younger ones). We had one played on the piano and the other one played the guitar while the rest sang the sweet sweet Christmas songs. The entire house warmed up immediately and the night felt extraordinarily bright! It's SO good to have daughter(s) :)

Charlotte came home that night with 11 Christmas gifts and 1 big ang pow. We were so exhausted but the agenda didn't end there. The big Chan family will be gathering at a photo studio the next day for their 1st "complete" family picture! So, we had to let Charlotte to have enough rest for a perfect picture the next day.

On Christmas Eve

We had a long agenda lined up for the next few days and the immediate started on Christmas eve. Knowing that we were going to have long night, I kept Charlotte on schedule during the day, such as her meals and nap. We don't want a cranky preschooler while everybody is busy catching up.

We had a big reunion dinner with Pat's family on Christmas eve. It's the 1st time all Pat's siblings (10 of them, plus the spouse and children) were back from various countries and places! I have not met one of Pat's sister from Australia, not even once since I met Pat 15 years ago (time flies). They are back this time and the Chan's family planned to have a big family photo shoot at a photo studio during the Christmas week.

After the reunion dinner, we headed off to meet my parents at Church and also joined the Christmas eve service. This is our 2nd year joining Christmas eve service with Charlotte and my parents. This time, Charlotte did a lot better compared to last year as she managed to stay up all the way till the end (we left right after holy communion last year) but she was disappointed as there was no Santa Clause :( I managed to talk her through and keeping her look forward to Christmas day and all those presents placed under the Christmas tree at home.

We reached home about half past midnight but we had a wonderful Christmas eve and spent time with both of our families, fair and square :)

Christmas Party

Charlotte's school was having a Christmas party this morning and we were told to prepare a small gift for kids' Christmas gift exchange. I took a brand new lunch box from my collection and wrapped it yesterday and put it in Charlotte's school bag.

I also prepared some snacks for Charlotte to contribute to the party. I bought a pandan chiffon cake and a loaf of bread last night. The chiffon cake was cut into Christmas tree shape using a Christmas tree cutter that I bought earlier on and small bite sandwiches using some of the cookie cutters that I have. I wanted to decorate the Christmas tree chiffon cake further with the hundreds and thousands but I didn't have enough time to do that, so it was just plain green color Christmas tree chiffon cake. The picture on the chiffon cake didn't turn out well, it was too close up and I didn't have the magnifying function on.

Charlotte was dressed in the Christmas crochet dress that her Auntie Brenda made for her and I could tell that she was very excited with the Christmas party.

This is a picture took with one of the teacher's son. I notice they always like to pair them up :) All other pictures took were quite blur and I can't find another good one to post here but there was one made me laugh when I saw it. It was Charlotte "showing off" her flare dress. She was turning and her dress spread outwards in that motion, with some classmates watching. My little vain pot, ha!

She came home with a gift and asking for permission to open it. I almost couldn't stop her but I'm glad that at last she agreed to put it under the Christmas tree until Christmas day. Good girl!!!

Where Are You Christmas?

Charlotte: mommy, mommy, why Christmas so long?

Me: Very soon, in 2 weeks time (although I doubt she knows how long is 2 weeks)

Charlotte: haiya...

This was what Charlotte asked me last night when she was watching me fixing the Christmas tree lights. We first told her that Christmas will come after her birthday. Now her birthday is over, and there are already presents under the Christmas tree, she wonders why Christmas is not here yet? Why can't she open the presents yet?

Hurry Christmas! Hurry Fast!

Christmas, Christmas time is near
Time for joy and time for cheer
We've been good but we can't wait
Hurry Christmas, hurry fast...

This is the song Charlotte picked up from watching "Alvin and The Chipmunks" and it seems very appropriate now as Christmas is just a few weeks away. The Christmas tree at home has been set up last week and so as those Christmas decorations at the malls and streets.

We love Christmas very much and I probably love Christmas more than Chinese New Year (oops!). I think we are going to have a lot more fun this year simple because Charlotte is older now and she feels the Christmas spirit a little stronger then the year before. It is also time for me to explain to her what Christmas is really about.

This year, we probably going to save a little on Charlotte's Christmas dress as Brenda has made her one! Remember the crochet that Brenda brought from home when she went back in Sept? It was too big for Charlotte and Brenda decided to make another one for her. She wants to custom make it to Charlotte's preference, can "fly" one! She finally completed her work after about 3-4 weeks of late nights (I saw her room light was on till almost midnight every night) and also while Charlotte was taking her nap in the afternoon.

I think it is very sweet and the color is just right for Christmas (what more can you ask from your maid, right?)! Charlotte absolutely loves it because it flies!!! She just can't stop dancing and turning around when she tried it on.

Oh and the Christmas tree is up too! I really need to start Christmas shopping soon!

Merry Christmas to all!

Aeroplane, Snowman and Christmas Trees

Dec 29th, I took Charlotte down to KL to meet up with Pat. So I told her the night before that mommy is going to take to go on an aeroplane to go see daddy, she smiled.

I woke up early on Saturday morning, making sure I had all the necessary (milk, diapers, bottles, pacifier, medicines and etc) packed. I dressed Charlotte appropriately to sleep the night before because I know she usually didn't want to get changed in the morning. Our flight is at 9.05am and everything was as planned. We arrived at the airport and after checked-in was around 8.30am. I took Charlotte to walk around so that she could see the aeroplane up close. She was very happy and couldn't wait to be boarded.

Finally, boarding gate is opened and we were boarded smoothly. Charlotte got her own seat this time and she was fascinated. However, not too long after suddenly she said "want air-plane d" (don't want aeroplane already), "home d" (go home) and she really want to exit the plane. Uh oh!!

I didn't know what triggered her but I don't think she was scared the flying thingy. Anyway, I tried to clam her down and told her that we are going to see daddy, aeroplane will take us there and daddy will be waiting for Charlotte. Luckily she nodded. I started to pray that Lord help me and help Charlotte to go through this quickly and easily.

When we were about to take off, I decided to pull down the window shield just in case Charlotte is scared if she notices the height. Unfortunately, this triggered her curiosity. She wasn't aware of the window shield but once I did that, she actually wanted to play with it. We were taking off and she can see everything outside clearly, including the height. I tried my best to explain to her that we are flying, just like the one she sees in the Barney video. Cars and trees are becoming smaller, and soon we were above the clouds. Thank God that she accepted the explanation, and she sort of understands what she is experiencing.

She then discovered the seat belt. She asked me to show her to lock and unlock the seat belt. Luckily it was just a short distance flight and it wasn't too much turbulence. She was happily playing with the seat belt, learning to fasten and unfasten it repeatedly.

You must be thinking did she pinch her fingers at the end? Me too thought she pinched herself, that's why I stopped the video. No, that expression was because she didn't manage to get the seat belt unfasten, phew!

If you noticed in the video, there was a man sitting beside Charlotte (yes, Charlotte prefers the middle seat). Not long after we took off, that man fell asleep. Charlotte noticed it and turned to me and said "mommy, eyes close d" (ha ha!). As we were about to land, that man woke up and Charlotte said to me "mommy, wake up d". (LOL!)

We stayed at Royal Bintang, it's really a very strategic location to stay if the objective is to shop and eat. The Christmas decoration was amazing at the entire The Curve and Ikano Power Center.

Later that evening, Rachel CheChe, Irene KuKu and Uncle Peter came to meet us and join us for dinner at the Italiannese. Charlotte also received a Double Dancing Barbie dolls from Irene KuKu as Christmas present.

Who is that cow girl!?

We planned to shop at 1-U the next day before heading back to Penang unfortunately, Charlotte wasn't very much into shopping mood but more interested in walking up and down stairs/steps. So Pat decided to go straight back to Penang after breakfast, and there goes my Tony Roma's too :(

On our way back, Charlotte probably had bad dreams and she woke up crying hysterically. We were barely half way on our journey back home. She vomited the full 6oz of milk that she had about an hour ago. Worse thing was, I was carrying her with her facing me. When she vomited, I could see a big fountain of milk came toward me (eewwww....) and my whole body was covered with half digested milk (eeeeeeewww.....). We had no choice but to stop by the side and get changed (yea, in the car). Probably it was the bumpy road plus Charlotte just had milk not too long ago, all that motion might have upset the stomach.

Thank God that the remaining journey was smooth and Charlotte took another 4oz of milk as we were reaching Penang.

Merry Christmas!

After all the Christmas presents were unwrapped, it was time to get changed and visit to in-laws for Christmas wishes. We didn't go to church on Christmas day because we attended the mid night service on Chritsmas Eve and want to make sure that Charlotte had enough rest to the rest of the Christmas Day activities and visits.

I dressed up Charlotte in her new Christmas white color top that we bought for her from Gap Kids. Although the top is slightly bigger (yeah, the kia su mommy bought her a 3T), she looks so "christmas" in that outfit.

She first visited her grandparents (my in-laws) at home and then meet the other grandparents (my parents) and her KooKoo and KimKim (my brothers and SIL) at Maple Gold for Christmas lunch.

She didn't eat much but was having a good time walking up and down the steps. We realized that she is able to take those steps without holding to our hands, and so she was "practising". This is something about Charlotte, when she learns something she will keep doing it until she master it. At home, she goes up and down the stairs without holding on to the handrail or letting us to hold her hands. She says "Myself!" we will have to stay very close to her to make sure that we could catch her in time if she miss a step.

Underneath the Mistletoe

Yes, those were Charlotte's Christmas presents. I told Charlotte to put all her presents under the Christmas tree and can only open them on the Christams day. She followed my instruction completely even though she remembers the 1st Christmas present that we bought for her wrapped in the yellow color ToysRUs gift paper. She kept asking for it everyday but we told her she can only open it on Christmas day.

This year, we managed to attend the Christmas Eve Mid Night Service at church too. Charlotte again was very delighted to see the Christmas performance by the Sunday School children and she was also received the blessing from the pastor as I brought her forward during the Holy Communion. We left the church right after the Holy Communion but the next morning my mom told me that Santa Clause came soon after we left. Again, Charlotte missed it.

See how excited was Charlotte when she gets to open up all the presents finally...

I was surprise to see when she picked up a present and started to shake it like how the adults used to do. I never thought her that and wonder how she knew how to do it that way.

She received a wide variety of gifts, such as books, crayons, toys, game set, shoes and dresses. She was very excited and overwhelmed with all the presents received. My guess is, she is going have some level of expectation when comes to Christmas next year. I better start to tell her to be good if she wants more (quality & quantity) presents next year, hee hee!

Merry Christmas Baby!!!

Christmas Carol

We missed the Christmas carol at my parents' place last year because the caroling team only came after 11pm and Charlotte was too young back then to stay up till late night. This year however, the caroling committee managed to arrange for an earlier schedule to the house and Charlotte was able to witness the Christmas carol for the first time!

On Dec 22nd, I dressed her up in red and white jumper that we bought for her from Jusco. It was a perfect Christmas dress and Charlotte looks so adorable in it.



The caroling team came right on time, 10.00pm. The ladies were in white dresses and white shirts/black pants for men. The team also had 2 little "angles" with them (I don't remember we have that before) and they both wore a angle crown (more like a hairband), angle wing (or butterfly wing?) and a wand in their hands. When they were all standing at the doorstep Charlotte was delighted to see them, especially the angles. She kept very quiet, observing and admiring the carolling team throughout the session. I think she has the potential to be in the church choir, just like mommy (hee hee). I joined the caroling when I was 8. I was the youngest in the team because back then the church only allowed >13 years old to participate in the caroling. We didn't have the little angles role back then, and we were expected to remember all the songs (around 15-20 songs) by heart (yeah, I saw them bringing along the song book this time).



The only thing missing this year was the Santa Clause! Where has the Santa gone? I was telling Charlotte that she could see the Santa Clause that night. Although I didn't think that she knows what Santa really is even though we bought her a toy Santa at home. Apparently, the carolling team has been split into 2 to accommodate the number of houses to visit each night. The Santa Clause is following team #1. I am disappointed a little when I knew about the situation, however it could also be a good thing because I was also worried if Charlotte is scared of the Santa just like she is scared of the clown giving out balloons at the mall sometimes. I was prepared to tell the Santa don't come to shake hand with Charlotte when they arrived because I know about the carolling "process" very well. God must have knew about my worries, Amen!

Charlotte was very delighted with the whole carolling "thingy". She even blow kisses to the team when they were in the van prepared to leave for another house. The carolling team wind down the window and all blew kisses back to Charlotte too and shouted Merry Christmas as the van moved away.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's 2 weeks prior to Christmas. Malls, restaurants and offices are decorated with Christmas tree, Santa Clause, and we can hear Christmas song almost everywhere we go. Christmas shopping is done early this year and what is pending is the wrapping!

Yes, this is the time of the year or the occasion that I enjoy the most. Last year Christmas, Charlotte was just 13 months old and she barely knew what was really happening. This year, she is already 2 and she is very fascinated with the Christmas tree we put up at home. It was very funny to me as I found out Charlotte was stepping her foot repeatedly, but at some kind of rhythm while she was looking at the Christmas tree one evening. So I took a closer look. She stepped her foot and the lights on the Christmas tree turned on coincidently and a short while later, she stepped it again and the light went off. Haha, it was the blinking lights that we put on the Christmas tree! I don't quite prefer to have it blinking, but the one I bought does not allow me to stop the blinking totally. I can only turn the blinking down to a very low speed. So it looks like it is turning on and off at a very low pace, but it is not blinking. Charlotte must have thought that it was some kind of magic when she steps on her foot and the light turns on! It was so funny, unfortunately I didn't manage to capture in a video clip.

She is also very fascinated to see all the big and nicely decorated Christmas tree at the malls. She will ask us to take photos of her in front of the Christmas tree. She says "mile" (smile with the silent 's') and put her two index fingers by her cheeks. That's how we know she wants to take a picture (LOL)