31st December 2010

And we've finally come to the end of the year 2010! pix taken on 31st December 2010, post written in August 2011, back posted to 31st December 2010.

It's been an eventful year for us, 2010. Well, actually, maybe it's just 2 main "events" - Asher & Shawna!!! :) 2010 is truly their year. They were born on 6th January 2010. But there was so much anticipation of them for much more than a week before their birth, and after that, Asher & Shawna truly filled our lives. How blessed we are!!!
Asher, above, "being a baby" :) We often say he's the most manja of the three, but frankly, so is Isaac. So shall we say, "it's a boy thing"? Maybe! But Shawna also has her times when she seeks affectionate cuddles. Nowadays, this happens early in the morning at about 6am, when she's about to wake up, she'd crawl into my bed to cuddle up with me before waking up properly.
And of course, we celebrate my Dad's birthday again since it's the actual day. Traditionally, he'd have a party on 31st December, but since my sister had the Christmas party this year, my parents decided not to hold the usual 31st December party.
So a simple one it was. 2 tubs of yummy Ben & Jerrys ice cream for my Dad the ice-cream lover, surrounded by his beloved grandkids!!! :) Happy 61st Birthday, Daddy!!! :)

Christmas time is family time!

pix taken on 25th December 2010! post written in August 2011, back posted to 25th December 2010 :)

Christmas time is family time! My sister kindly offered to host the Christmas party at her house. We made sure to take the requisite family pix immediately after most have had their dinner. As usual, with so many in the picture, it was almost impossible to get a perfect one - thus I'd uploaded two - with these two combined, it'd be a perfect pic! :) You can see above how our clan has grown! Above is the pix of The Cuzzies + spouses/partners + offspring, if any. And not even all the Cuzzies are there! In fact, there's only 10! Just slightly less than half-strength! And for the individual family shots... presenting the Number Twos!!!
The Number Tens above (sorry Chiang, this was the only pic I had)... and the Number Threes below... (great pic, if I do say so myself!!!)
Number Fours above very under-represented... ;p

And the Number Fives below, yes, that's us!!! :) I suppose you could say we are... prolific?! kekeke... Again, please combine both pix for the perfect photo! :p
Oh and we had to celebrate the birthdays of the two December babies, of course! Yew Luang's birthday on 24th, and my Dad's on 31st. And in December 2011, we should have another birth to celebrate! Congrats Yew Luang & Chin San!!! :D
Isaac and Natalie in one corner playing with spud heads... and lookie lookie, cute pix of my Asher below! (Taken by Yew Yi, I think. Thanks!!!)Can't wait to celebrate Christmas in 2011!!! :)

Kidzes circa December 2010

Pictures here taken between 1st & 11th of December 2010. Post written in August 2011, back posted to 22nd December 2010, 1.23am

Asher & Shawna are 11 months old. At 11 months old, both Asher & Shawna are crawling very proficiently. Shawna can even stand on her own, without support from us, nor from holding on to furniture - she can do this since she was about 10 months old.

At 11 months, Shawna started to take her first steps :) Somehow, she found it very amusing (and probably liberating) to be able to stand and walk - thus she was very motivated to keep practicing until she could do it. She would even beat our hands away or pull her hands out from us, sending a clear message that she wanted to do this on her own, and not with our help.

I love seeing Asher & Shawna in Isaac's clothes - they're both wearing Isaac's pyjamas. We also enjoy seeing Shawna wear Chloe's or Natalie's clothes. Of course, Natalie's clothes were largely from Becca and Isabelle, so all the more meaningful it was. Brings back all the nice memories of when the older kids were younger :) also serves to remind us how quickly time flies! how old we are! and how we should really treasure each and every day of our lives!
I'd wanted to take this picture above to see the contrast in height between Isaac and Shawna :) Isaac looks like such a big boy next to Shawna! And his cheeky grin! :)
The kids love to push each other on the car. But while Asher doesn't mind Shawna pushing him along, Shawna doesn't like it when either Asher or Isaac pushes her. She wants total control!!! :) Look how steady she is standing on her own!
Look at that look on Shawna's face, and how straight and purposeful her pointing action is. Yes, she's the One Finger General! She loved having her grandpa carry her, and she would point in the direction she wanted to go. Usually, she'd be pointing to the main door - she loves going for walks downstairs with her grandpa!Shawna's Grandpa's favourite, I think! :)

School "concert"!

pix taken on 30th November 2010, post written in August 2011, back posted to 21st December 2010, 9.23pm.

I love to watch kids perform! I find it very entertaining! Also, perhaps, I am looking forward to the day Isaac, Asher & Shawna can do playback theatre with hubbs and I - we'd form our own Playback Theatre troop! :) Perhaps conduct lessons for kids to do playback? you never know! :)
It was a year end Graduation Ceremony to mark the end of a school year, where the kids would progress to the next level. Isaac hence went from N1 to N2. He was very proud of the fact that he was "growing up" and would soon be in N2 already. Teacher Lina did a good job in drumming it into Isaac that being older comes with more responsibilities kekeke...

Can you see Isaac in the far left? This is the "dance item" put up by the N1 kids - though there wasn't much dancing but more ribbon waving. Still, it was cute :)
Each level combined to perform an item or two. In the picture above, the kids were supposed to represent an animal each. They acted out a simple skit. Ooooh, so reminds me of the skits we put up in primary and secondary school.
This is the "real graduating class" - the K2s! They're all wearing their respective school uniform of the school they would be attending in the following year 2011. Thought it was a great idea to make them wear the school u. Makes them look all grown up, too!
Even the dance item they put up was more hip and happening! :) Joy, look at Zara's pose, below! :) Stylo mylo!!!
Back to the N1s for a song & dance item :) All stand there, blur blur like that. hahahaha...
Nice pix with Teacher Siti, Teacher Lina and Hu Laoshi - Isaac's Chinese teacher in N1.Isaac with a constipated look?! hahahahahahahhaa...

My smiley twins!

pix taken on 28th November 2010, post written in August 2011, back posted to 21 December 2010, 9.23pm. Asher & Shawna @ 10 months plus

I love this picture below! My smiley Asher & Shawna! I'd just shaved their heads when they were 8 months old, and about 3 months on, you can see that Shawna's hair is thicker and grows out faster than Asher's. You can see their budding teeth in this picture too! :)
I love happy babies pictures!!! :)