Isaac starts school!

Well not really. I mean, his 'school' is only 2 hours. You see, we'd already signed him up for pre-nursery school (3 hours thingy) which will only start in January 2010 - coz that's the year he turns 3 yrs old, and they wouldn't allow him to start any earlier.

But the twins come out in January, you see, and people (well, everyone!) says that you should never start the older kid on school at the same time as when the baby (babies!) is (are!) born - coz this might make the older kid feel that they're being 'got rid of' coz of the babies - which, for the record, is NOT TRUE.

So, we decided to try and start Isaac earlier, on the idea of school. So we signed him up for this one-hour thingy on a Saturday morning. He enjoyed this 'school' thoroughly, and constantly looking forward to it, and asking to 'go school' all the time.

So this past week, we transferred him to the Monday - Friday 2 hour session thingy, instead of going for the Saturday 1 hour. In general, he loves it! Isaac loves to learn, and he can take instructions well, so he's been enjoying his classes, mostly.

I say mostly... coz... hahaha... you see, since this is his first week at school, we could sit in with him during class. (His Saturday 1 hour class has a parent to sit in permanently, but this 2 hour class - not supposed to be accompanied by a parent).

So on Monday and Tuesday, hubbs sat in with Isaac. He took to the lessons very well, and hubbs could distance himself without too much whining from Isaac. The teachers were very impressed with Isaac, saying that he could take instructions very well, and that he was attentive and understood what was going on very well - for his age (Isaac's 26 months old).

Then Wednesday, I brought him to class. Ah.... baaaad idea. He was sooooo clingy to me! Not at all like his first 2 days at school. The teachers were surprised and asked me:"Is Isaac more attached to you than his father?" Well, yes, he is. I mean, he is also very attached to hubbs, but I guess the kind of bond Isaac and I had, was in a way different to the bond that he had with his father. Hubbs says it's a mother-son thing. (He is looking forward to his father-daughter thing.)

So, it's like we took a step back. On Thursday, when hubbs brought him in. Hubbs says that Isaac was more clingy to hubbs than he had been in the first 2 days, but teachers said he was much better than he was on Wednesday with me. On Friday, yesterday, Isaac wasn't feeling well, so we didn't bring him to school.

Well, in general, still, I think Isaac enjoys school. His eyes light up when we ask him if he wants to go to school. He eagerly looks forward to wearing his uniform and carrying his backpack. At night, when he wants to continue playing/reading and not want to go to bed, we'd just have to mention that he has to sleep early for his has school tomorrow - and he'd quickly skip off to bed.

We're proud of him and very glad that he likes school :) Well, now to show off. hahahaha... For the record, even before Isaac started his Saturday 1 hour class... Isaac knows the following:
1) Alphabet:
He knows how to identify all the letters in the alphabet - in capitals. The small caps, he doesn't really know yet - for those that look substantially different from the big caps. Hehehe... our fault - we started teaching him the alphabet in the higher case.
Oh he can recite the alphabet from A to Z too, though he somtimes misses out the letter N.

2) Numbers:
Isaac knows how to identify his numbers from 1 to 10.
He can count items up to 10.
He can recite 1 to 20 - though he sometimes misses out the number 14.

3) Shapes:
Isaac can identify the shapes: square, circle, rectangle, triangle, diamond, heart, star, moon (the crescent shape)

4) Colours:
Think we mentioned before, Isaac's pretty good with his colours, was one of the first things he'd learnt. He knows: red, blue, yellow, green, white, black, orange, purple, brown.

We don't like make him memorise or anything, nor do we flash card him like mad. We just mention such stuff in our everyday talking with him and it seems like he soaks up everything.

Some people have told us that what he knows is pretty good for a 2 year old. So, of course we're pleased. But still, we know that different kids learn at different rates, and kids do catch-up at a later stage in time blah blah blah... so we're trying not to count our chickens too early.

Still, we're proud of our lil guy :)

Way to go, Isaac! :)

Please say "please"!

We've constantly tried to imbibe in Isaac the basics of manners and courtesy, constantly telling him, making him say "Please" and "Thank You" etc.

The night before last night, at bedtime, I sat on the bed and gestured towards the pile of books in the corner "Isaac, go take a book, Mummy read to you..." as is our ritual every night, as I would have to read to Isaac before we sleep.

Isaac, turned, looked at me, and said:"Mama, say "please"."

Stunned, laughing away, I quickly obliged "Oh yes, please Isaac, can you please choose a book you want me to read to you?" :)

Hahaha... do unto others as you would want being done unto you, huh.

Surprise!!! Dragon Phoenix Twins!!!

Guess what?! kekeke... you know how I told you guys that the twins were identical twins, and so we were expecting two girls? hehehe... well, they're not! Apparently, they're fraternal twins, and a boy and a girl! :)

Hahahaha... this pregnancy has been full of surprises for us. For the first 5 visits to the gynae, we had a surprise at each visit. This is how the timeline went:

4 weeks
We tested positive on the home pregnancy test kit. Yay! But we didn't go see gynae yet, coz we know if you go to the gynae too early - baby still too small, can't see anything on the scan! So should wait for a few more weeks, don't waste money kekke...

7 weeks - 1st gynae visit
Dr Ang could identify one baby on the screen. We saw its heart beating, and heard the heartbeat. "Congrats! You're pregnant!" yay!!!

11 weeks - 2nd gynae visit
Dr Ang slathered on the gel and started scanning my tummy and... "Pamela! You're having twins!!!" We could clearly see two babies on the screen, each in their own amniotic sacs. It was without a doubt, twins! Dr Ang could only identify one placenta though, hence her conclusion that this was a set of identical twins - i.e. twins that split from one fertilised egg (hence only one placenta).

16 weeks - 3rd gynae visit
Dr Ang says that we should be able to see the gender of the babies during this visit. She scanned around the babies, and only managed to see the gender of one of the babies - a girl. However, since we thought that the twins were identical twins, so it was assumed that it was a pair of girls.

21 weeks - 4th gynae visit (plus detailed scan before that)
We had our 5th month detailed scan on the same day at the hospital wing, before our gynae visit. We had a great time, as this time (compared to the detailed scan during Isaac's time), the machines seemed much better in the sense that they provided very clear pictures of the babies. We could see the different parts of their bodies etc. Previously with Isaac, it was difficult to make out what was what. Technology has improved!

The sonographer (the professional scanner person) was scanning around and said at one point "Ah, you know the gender of your babies already?" hubbs and I looked at each other and I said "Er, yah... they're supposedly 2 girls..." "Oh?" said the sonographer. hubbs and I glanced at each other and started laughing "Why?" I said "Now got boy ah? hahaha..." Somehow, we were kinda used to having surprises in this pregnancy that we weren't all that surprised to hear that - "Yah! I can see one boy and one girl here!" the sonographer said.

Still laughing away, hubbs said "Sure or not? Can confirm?" The sonopragher frowned, perplexed that our doctor's diagnosis is different from hers when she could clearly see "The penis - you see here." Yes, we could see, very clearly indeed. After 'taking a picture' of the penis, she proceeded to show us the 'hamburger sign' of the baby girl "See, three lines, the hamburger sign. Girl." she said as she took a picture of it.

After the scan, we went to see Dr Ang. She was as amazed as we were "I'm very happy for you, even though it proves me wrong!" she said, looking at the scans. "Dr Ang, your machine must change already lah. Upgrade! Upgrade!" hubbs teased her. "Yah, think must upgrade already." she agreed.

Well, needless to say, we were ecstatic! Hahaha... It was perfect! To have a boy and a girl for twins is the best case scenario ever! Praise the Lord! hahaha... He has been having fun with us. But we're more than pleased. Now, everyday, I just pray that He blesses the twins with good health in everyway - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually!!!

Last USA post

Okay, finally we're at my last USA post. Think comparatively, we taken much lesser pictures this trip compared to our other trips. Pix fatigue! hahaha...The last few days, we did quite a spot of shopping at the factory outlet stores. Was quite fun, but as we were trying not to spend unnecessarily, we hardly bought ourselves stuff though we did end up buying lotsa clothes and stuff for Isaac.

Isaac had a fun time at the shops. Running here and there, and making friends and sitting on kiddy rides. We don't insert coins for them though - didn't want to get him hooked on that. Even till today, we just let him sit on kiddy rides without inserting coins in them.
We saw a coupla interesting shops, such as this huge skateboard shop here...
And this whole array of gumball machines. The gumballs are so huge I wonder how does one eat them.
We went to the Farmers' Market during the weekend too.
Isaac had a great time playing with the girls. Isabelle in particular, and Natalie too. Becca was kinda busy with school and all that she was almost always occupied - in school, or trying to get to sleep early to get ready for school the next day!
See Isaac with Natalie... Isaac's a bit taller than Natalie is... he's about 3 months older than she is.
And the best friends of the trip...
Isabelle and Isaac! They were really best friends this trip.

pix above taken between 12th - 16th December 2008

All in all, even we so-called didn't get to do much, we had a fantastic time this trip to USA. It was our first trip with Isaac which made it great fun, and also coz we got to catch up with friends and family. We sure were glad we decided to make this trip :)

Roadtrip with Ian Tan!

We're nearing the end of our Dec 2008 trip to California USA. The last few days were spent largely at Stanford with my sister and her family. On this day on 14th December 2009, we went on a daytrip to the Carmelite missionary - or something like that.

Stopped by this lovely spot along the way. We seldom have pix with all three of us in it, so couldn't resist uploading both here :p
This is Ian! He's our friend, Singaporean, but was studying and now working in Los Angeles. He was so sweet - drove all the way from LA to Stanford to meet us. My sister says that's like driving down from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore just to see us! So sweet, right?!
Not only that, he was our driver for our daytrip! He was really a godsend as it was not possible for us to all fit in my brother-in-law's car for this daytrip, so if Ian joined us on this trip, we could all sit comfortably in 2 cars. We kept thanking him for coming to meet us, but he says that it is seldom that we have come so near, and so, what's a little driving. Thanks so much, Ian! :p
Here we are at our destination! :)
Natalie and Isaac :p and Becca below...

This above is a mistletoe tree! Look at this great pic! :) See Isaac laughing!? hahaha...
See Isaac all shacked out from the travelling :p
We dropped by a nearby town for lunch.

We really had a good time catching up with Ian that day, as we had a lot of talking time on the road while driving in between places. Were really glad he came to look us up. Thanks again, bud! :)

pictures taken on 14th December 2008

Isaac @ 16 months

Natalie @ 13 months

Isabelle @ 3 years plus

Rebecca @ 5 years

Twins FAQ: How different is it from carrying one?

This is the other most frequently asked question, especially from people who have kids of their own (and hence have gone through a pregnancy of their own).

Well, compared to the time when I was pregnant with Isaac, I must say, in super short summary, the difference is:"Heavier lor." Hahahaha... (that answer is reserved for colleagues who pop this question when we walk past each other - in different directions!)

But seriously, I call this the "accelerated pregnancy" - I'm getting more and more pregnant at a faster rate, compared to when I was carrying one baby only. It's like, my tummy gets bigger faster - it's like even though hubbs and I see myself everyday - it looks to us everyday that my tummy is bigger than the day before. It doesn't seem to grow gradually, it seems to grow exponentially!

Also, I seem to have leaped from 1st trimester to the 3rd trimester! In the beginning, I was always sleepy, very characteristic of the 1st trimester. I had to take 10 - 15 minute naps during lunch to last me for the next half of the day.

When I entered 2nd trimester, I didn't have to take naps anymore. I had looked forward to the 2nd trimester, when it's traditionally 'easier', when pregnant women feel most alert, and full of energy. But *groan* I was wrong!

This time, my 2nd trimester felt like my 3rd trimester of when I had Isaac! I feel very heavy already, tummy huge, and all the symptoms of advanced pregnancy came at me full force! Bad back aches! Unable to find a comfortable sleeping position. I am simply getting all the advanced pregnancy symtoms earlier and in a more serious fashion. For example, carpal tunnel syndrome! During Isaac's time, this affected me to the extent that my hands would go numb. But now, my whole bloody arm, both arms! would go numb! Sighz. But well, at the moment, this only happens when I sleep at night. (my hands used to go numb during the day during Isaac's time) So I think, the worse is yet to come, when my arms would go numb during the day as well.

Now, at 25th week, I suppose I am considered to be in my 3rd trimester? My tummy is pretty big such that people ask me if I am to pop anytime soon. Colleagues who see me every other day all comment that my tummy looks like it's grown bigger again, even though they saw me not too long ago!

All in all, it's just more tiring than before, heavier... Don't know if its coz I am older now that when I was pregnant with Isaac, or that it's my second pregnancy, or whether it is coz I'm carrying two babies this time.

In any case, we're very blessed in order to have twins, so I don't want to complain too much. Just trying to enjoy the process and rejoice in this miracle of life! :) Oh and continue praying for His blessings that the twins are healthy in every way, and that we three can tahan all the way till 38 weeks at least! :) Pray for us! ;p