JD has been really great when it comes to waking up from a rest.  And he is a darling when he knows I am still asleep and he would leave me to sleep in or make himself something to eat…

Lately though, he has taken it to another level.  He now rushes into Chloe’s room when he hears her calling out when she is awake.  I think deep down he misses his sister when she is having her naps.  JD asks me this on a daily basis “Where has Chloe gone?” “Why is she still sleeping?” “Can I wake her up now, please please please?” … each time she goes for her day naps!  They play, they fight but they bond well.  And it gets stronger each day.

This was where I found them this afternoon.  Chloe woke up from her nap not long after I lied down for a rest and JD just played with her in the cot and I could hear squealing, chuckling, laughters down the hallway…it was so nice just listening to them played. 

JD has dressed up as a policeman, a magician, the latest outfit from the toy library is Superman!  JD just love it to bits, he wears it everyday, only taking it off when he has to go kindy or to the toilet.  He reluctantly take it off when he goes to sleep but there he is again the next morning, Superman here he comes!  It’s quite cool I think!  And I find myself feeling very safe when my Superman escorted me to the local supermarket! 

Superman is strong.  He can fly!

He needs to eat too.

 A bit of exercise won’t hurt too!

But main thing is, this Superman needs to build more tools to face the enemy!  In JD’s term he said “I am bulding more energy so I can shoot the monster, pwtooi pwtooi pwtooi!” And off he went again! 

JD’s friend turned 4 today.  And I only remembered it this morning.  With limited time, I really couldn’t bake her a cake, or run down to the shop…

So, I make do with whatever I have in the fridge. 

- A packet of lamington fingers

- Whipped cream

- Punnet of strawberries

There you go, tada!  How’s that for a great b’day cake, heehee!  Only she didn’t know I have almost forgotten :)  And she thought it was the best ever, hee.

She likes playing ball.  Basketball, ping pong ball, bouncy ball, footy ball, tennis ball, golf ball, she will rummage through all the different kinds of ball we have in the box.  She will examine each of them, roll them, bounce them, throw them, lick them,  and with each ball she picks up she will excitedly call out “Wooo, wah, ball, ball!” 

When I was little, my mum used to make this dish, Turmeric Chicken.  I liked it a lot and I still do.  Over the years I kept thinking what the dish was because even my mum couldn’t remember anything about it.  Somehow this week, while out on my morning walk and planning for the dinner, I realised it was turmeric chicken!  Yes, my mum used to fry some chicken with onions and turmeric powder and it was so yummy.  It was yellowish and not like her curry chicken.  It got to be Turmetic Chicken.

So I tried it last night, it was quick and easy to make, everyone loved it.  But I still think my mum’s one tasted better.

Chloe as the second child has a lot of people to copy and follow around.  Apart from JD, our house is usually full of kids, friends, neighbours and etc.  She sees children coming and going everyday, running around, painting, doing playdough, kicking a ball, talking, dancing and singing, no wonder she wants to be one of them too. 

She reminded me of the little Koala bear in that book.  Because she believes if they can, she CAN too! 

Here she was insisting on wearing his kindy uniform before sitting down demurely (and deceptively) on the floor, posing for the camera.  Simply because she knows the routine, JD goes to pre-kindy, we read books, bell rings, we wave goodbye to him and he is gone for 2.5 hrs.  When we pick him up, he is usually chatting with excitement of what he has done, not forgetting all the colourful paintings and crafts he brings home.  It must look like a lot of fun to her.

Another 2 more years, Chloe!

Just the other day, while having to clean the car outside, I agreed to let JD ride his bike on our street. 

And I realised again, “He is growing up”.  Because he knows that while I often keep an on him while I go about doing my gardening in the front or cleaning the car, he has learnt to come back to me after each round to say “Mommy, I am back again, I am okay!”  Then he is off for another bike ride around the cul-de-sac.

But I still can’t convince him to leave his big n heavy bag behind so he could ride better.  Oh well.  On this ocassion, he requested to wear his bag because he was delivering the supermarket weekly catalogue and doing “recycling”. 

And he just took out the old supermarket catalogues from our recycle box and put it into the neighbours mailbox!  Laugh!

It was an impromptu camping trip.  We just thought about it on Friday, rang up a few places the next morning, packed the tents, the mattresses, pillows, some food, cooking pots, the kids and off we went.  It was Chloe’s first ”camping” trip so we decided to camp out at a caravan park.  We had wanted to go Lancelin, but all the camp sites were booked out, so we went south to Rockingham.

How did it go?  Well, it was a trial.  And while we all enjoyed it, there was one little part we didn’t quite enjoy.  Chloe whom has never share a room with anyone, except for her first 4 days in the hospital, thought it was just PARTY TIME when she shared the same tent and mattresses with daddy, mommy and JD.

She rolled, crawled, climbed, drooled over our faces, trying to pry open our eyes, bouncing up and down on the mattresses, giggling, laughing, chuckling, squealing for the pure fun of the whole family in a big tent.  It was fine except it was 1 o’clock in the early morning, and we just wanted to sleep.  She finally crashed out at 2AM but only to wake up again at 5.30AM ready for more slumber party!  Great!

I was knackered by the next morning and we just packed up and went home.  Needless to say, things went back to normal again when we got home.

Note to self - Chloe needs her own tent and her own portable cot! 

Phil setting up the tent, JD playing “kung-fu” with the sticks in the background

JD brushing his hair with a brush, crazy kid!

Chloe just “supervise” and be the si-tou-po (boss lady in Cantonese)

For dinner, we had some yummy chicken sausages, corn, bread and coleslaw

Where there was just one, we focus all our time and energy on him

Then when there were two, we focus more time and energy on them

There have been lots of beautiful days

Watching the 2 of them grow

But the beauty of having 2 so far

Has been the bond between them

It grows stronger everyday

Sometimes spoken, sometimes simply

Just by him wanting to walk behind her

And as he said ” So I can watch out for Kai Yee”

PS - JD prefers to call her by Kai Yee than Chloe

This is JD’s green teddy.  His name is Green Teddy.  My sis gave this teddy to JD when he was just a little baby.  He found it again when he was about 3yo and they have been inseparable since.  We finally gave Green Teddy a wash the other day and he looked good as new and smelled pretty fresh under the hot sun!

JD has a funny way of naming all his toys.  He doesn’t like giving them a name like Scruffy, Thunder, Gordie like some other kids too.  He will name them as like Green Teddy, Fire Green Car, Pink Spiky Ball, Red Robot Bike, Fat Teddy…and to be honest, sometimes I scratch my head when he comes around asking me, “Mommy where is my Fire Green Car?” and I have to quickly put the description to the object and figure out from his collection of the 40 old and new match box cars!

The kind of stuff I store in my brain since having children….