What a big brother!

Tuesdays and Thursdays mornings are always quite a rush because they are Russell’s school days. Especially so this morning when Russell got up extra late, I had to hurry him to take his breakfast, brush his teeth, get change. At the same time, make sure that Netanya also has her milk, breakfast, change out of her perjamas, pack Russell’s lunch, make coffee and let the dog out to potty. Within an hour, all the things listed above and more have to be done and everyone needs to be ready to hop into the car and go. So it really helps alot now that Russell can get certain things done without my help. He can sit down and eat his own breakfast, put his plate and cup away when he’s done, brush his own teeth, help bring his school bag and sleeping mat to the door and put on his own shoes. But this morning he surprised us by doing something on top of all those.

I had asked him to put on his shoes and walked away to do something else. As usual, Netanya followed behind him because she knew that it was time to go “gaigai” (means to go outside). When I returned to check if Russell had his shoes on, I saw him trying to put on Netanya’s shoes for her. Awhhh….that was so cute and heart-warming. He already had her left shoe on and was working on the right side, and she was sitting there obediently and allowing her brother to do what he want with her feet to fit into that tiny shoe. What a good brother!

Happy Birthday, Netanya and Xiangkang 哥哥！

    

Netanya celebrated her 1st birthday in Singapore. The best part about the celebration is not the food nor the cake (of course that was really yummy), it was being surrounded by cousins who love and dote on her so much. And to make it even more special, she celebrated it with Xiangkang 哥哥 (my second sis eldest son), whose BD is just 3 days (and 12 years) apart from hers.

I have probably said this a thousand times to myself and others, it amazes me that Netanya and Russell are so different, very different in so many ways. Raising Netanya makes me feel that I’m learning to be a parent all over again. Things that we do that work for Russell, don’t produce similar results when we try them on her. Now that she is 1, her personality is really showing. She is free-spirited, funny, daring, know no fear, can’t sit still, not shy and very observant. Which also means she is stubborn, likes to test boundaries and she will wander out of sight whenever she has the opportunity to. I’m discovering her and what works for her everyday. I am certainly enjoying having her around, even though we always call her 肥妹妹 because she loves to eat, she really is the Little Miss Sunshine who brings so much laughter in our lives.

King of the fruits: Durian

One of the things that I told myself I must do during our stay in Singapore is to let Russell taste durian. Durian is a tropical fruit found mainly in Malaysia and Thailand. The ones that I grew up loved eating are Malaysia durians. They are green and thorny on the outside with big seeds covered with yellow pulp on the inside. This is a fruit that you’ll either love or hate it. To people who love to eat durian, the unmistaken strong-smelling bitter-sweet pulp is simply a taste of heaven-on-earth. But to the others, especially people who has never tasted durian before, they find it quite inconcievable how anyone can put that pungent seed in their mouth and after that lick their ten fingers, savouring every scrap of that yellowy stuff. Hey, what can I say, it’s an acquired taste, some people like goat cheese, some like cavier, and we just can’t enough of this King of fruits, durian.

Okay, back to Russell’s first tasting session. Before we started prying the fruit open, he kept chanting, ”I want durians, I want to eat durians!” But when he put the seed in his mouth, his facial expression changed from excitement to frown.(just look at the pictures above) Anyway, that was the first and also the last seed he would put in his mouth. For the rest of the evening, he has a blast ’opening’ durians for everyone else. His conclusion is, durian doesn’t taste good but it’s a grest deal of fun.

Our trip to Singapore

Russell and some of his beloved cousins

That’s why I have MIA from blogging for that long…we (the kids and I) spent a month in Singapore. We just came back last week and are barely recovering from jet-lag right now. Despite how difficult and tiring it was to bring 2 young kids on such long flights, the trip home was definitely worth it. We didn’t do much, the sole purpose of this trip was to spend time with family and friends, especially for Netanya, who has not met any of her extended family members before.

One month seemed so short, we collected so many precious memories and wonderful experiences. I will use the next few blogs to share some of our experiences with you.