When she first started gym, she wasn’t flexible. I was still lamenting that I started her and Donald too late. But she worked very hard, always practicing at home. Over time, she had become more flexible. But Donald still stayed pretty much the same. 6 years old is too late?
Progress in Swim Lesson
June 1st, 2010 · School & Enrichments, Videos
Here are some videos of Donald during Uncle Raymond’s swim class. Mind you, he was not able to do this even though he had been learning for a looong time.
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Flowers for Mummy
May 30th, 2010 · General, Just Family
Whenever we pass by Thomson, Daddy would want to turn in to Far East Flora to buy me some flowers. He enjoys bringing the kids into the cold cold room and choosing flowers. He has a very good eye for choosing flowers. The flowers he choose are usually unique and beautiful on our dining table. If you ask me to choose, I, being the boring one, will always pick roses, so boring! 
I will always remember when we were courting, he would come to Tanjong Pagar to join me for lunch, and then after lunch, we would walk to the market, and he would buy me a bunch of roses for $6. Then I would bring it back to the office and put them nicely in a vase, and before they wilt, I would hang them upside down to dry them nicely. I did build up a good supply of dried roses, and they do smell soooo nice.
But now, I don’t fancy flowers much, even though he still likes to buy them. I find it troublesome to upkeep them, and find it a waste of money. Hiaz… have I grown so accustomed to it that the romance of giving flowers is lost? Naughty Mummy…
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Little Tables
May 29th, 2010 · Just Family
We don’t have much space at home to make kids’ tables and chairs a permanent feature. So they usually do their drawing etc on the dining table.
But we also bought the foldable bed table from ikea. When put on the floor, it is a great height for the kids.
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Playdate with Ethan
May 27th, 2010 · Little Friends
Auntie Carol was on leave, so we had a playdate at our place.
Elizabeth and Ethan hit off quite well, sharing food and toys. 
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Lizzie and Her “Cheeses”!
May 23rd, 2010 · Just Family, Videos
Today is Daddy’s Birthday. We bought a cheese cake home to celebrate.
While eating the cake, Liz didn’t forget to give us her “cheese” whenever she saw Daddy or me whipping out our camera! Even when her mouth was full of cheesecake, or she is busy trying to get Ann to feed her the cheesecake!
Her “cheese” is not 2 fingers pose, but a 1 index finger pose…very cute!
A Trip to Pulau Ubin
May 22nd, 2010 · Just Family, Trips
Daddy wanted to bring us to Pulau Ubin again, I was very apprehensive due to the extremely hot weather recently. But this morning, we woke up, it was so cool with a slight drizzle, so we decided that it was a good time to embark on this trip, so we did!
It was Liz and our helper, Ann’s first trip to Ubin!
We took the boat across and had breakfast at the first shop. Their mee rebus, and nasi padang was YUMMY! The kids had their push-scoot, which we hope will encourage them to walk, especially Toria.
While we were eating, one uncle, who drives the van, asked us if we wanted to go to Chek Jawa. The last time we went, it was high tide, we didn’t see anything, so found it boring. But he said that we came at the right time, cos very soon, it will time of the lowest tide of the day! So we were excited, and decided to go Chek Jawa for a walk.
It was low tide indeed, but many of the spots with things to see, we hardly spotted anything. Only this one spot, we saw soooo many crabs, red and white in color, and they all have a very big pincer. It was fun watching them.
Before we went to the seaside board walk, Donald, Toria and I saw a wild boar walked by! It was big, not the tiny baby ones, but a young adult I would suppose. It walked across and in front of the info counter, shortly after, we saw a group of photographers following it. So cute!
Liz walked and walked and walked, by the time we were to go home, she totally knocked out.
Mummy and the Kids
May 15th, 2010 · Just Family
Before we could leave the house, Daddy insisted to take pictures for us, saying that we all look so nice!
I must say, really lovely pictures Daddy took, of me and the kids together and individually. Thanks Daddy!
→ No CommentsTags: Mummy and Donald·Mummy and Kids·Mummy and Liz·Mummy and Toria·Potraits
Iron Man 2 Outing
May 15th, 2010 · Just Family
Breakfast at home, then off to see Iron Man 2 at Great world city as a family, helper included!
2 of the 3 Sisters
May 14th, 2010 · Just Family
The other day, the reality hit me, that we are having 3 girls! 3 sisters! Initially I was “upset” about the odd number, but I realised that when you add ME in to the girls, there will be 4! When they grow up and the 4 of us go for dinner, or trips etc, there will be 4! Even numbers! No one will be left out! Hee Hee Hee!
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Snacking in the Kitchen
May 12th, 2010 · Just Family
Sometimes when Mummy is not at home, and our helper has to keep a watch on Liz, Liz will sit in the kitchen to have a snack. She will sit in front of the bomb shelter, which is also our helper’s room.
Mothers’ Day 2010
May 8th, 2010 · Just Family
Nothing major, we went to CZZAR at Great World City for lunch.
For Oma’s birthday, I created a FOTO JOURNAL for her, which has all the pictures of her, from the 1st day she became Oma in 2004, till 2006. So for Mothers Day, I created another FOTO JOURNAL for her, for her life as OMA from 2007-2009. So it will be another 3 years before she will get another one like that! LOL!
How to Sleep 6 in a Room?
May 7th, 2010 · Just Family
Our bedroom, as with all new apartments, is small. So we decided against having a bed frame, but instead built a platform on the floor, and put all the beds on it.
The initial design was just to have a King’s size bed. But when we moved in, we decided to put a single next to the king, because Donald and Victoria was sleeping with us.
When Lizzie came along, we bought ANOTHER single, and put it at the foot of the king bed. It was all working well, the whole platform was full of beds, running from end to end, wall to wall, so you basically can roll all around!
When we realised that we are pregnant again, there was no way to fit in another bed, so we decided to do it the “Singapore Way”, built it up in the air! We looked around for a double decker bed that can fit into our room. We really don’t have much allowance left on the platform to fit in bulky bedframes, so when we found the KURA REVERSIBLE BED from IKEA, it was like a dream come true!
The KURA bed is not super tall like the usual double decker. It was meant for kids, so the bottom sleeper is actually ON the floor, as opposed to being raised. So THAT feature fit our configuration very well. The bottom bed can still be connected to the rest of the beds to form that sea of mattresses, yet there is 1 more single added on top. And it was inexpensive, costing us only $299.
So we bought 1 to try. Daddy and I assembled the entire bed frame by ourselves. YES, I did all the screwing and knocking and moving of beds. What the heck! I moved house twice during the first 2 pregnancies!
The kids absolutely adored it! They were climbing up and down. We bought a canopy which was specially made to go with the KURA BED, and Donald loved it! He had agreed to sleep on top, so no more hugging me to sleep. He is finally going to sleep on his own, and to learn to fall asleep on his own.
After configuring the entire layout, Daddy and I discussed and felt that it would be perfect if we can have 1 more KURA bed. In that way, there will be 2 double decker beds, which makes 4 single beds, 1 for each kid. And we, the parents, can sleep on the king size, so everyone will have their own space and bed, and yet we are still in the same room!
But our platform was too short, we had to extend it by 1 feet. And our king mattress would have to be SQUEEZED in, as there is a shortage of 7 cm. So we will get the 2nd double decker bed when all these issues are solved.
** update: problem all solved, we had gotten our 2nd double decker bed, now we are all ready for the arrival of Isabella Chan! **
→ No CommentsTags: 6 in a room·Bedroom Configuration·Double Decker Bed·Kura Bed
Liz’s Snacking Spot
May 4th, 2010 · Just Family
Liz likes to sit in this particular spot for her breakfast or snack. Well, at least we don’t have to monitor her, which we would have to if she is on the high chair!
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Uncle Raymond
May 1st, 2010 · School & Enrichments
Thru Alexis’s Mummy’s recommendation, we decided to try out Uncle Raymond for swimming lessons.
Uncle Penguin was GREAT! He helped Donald to overcome his fear of water and to enjoy swim lessons, but Donald wasn’t progressing much. Apparently, Uncle Raymond does not use any floating device, just teach the kids “empty handed”. Alexis, under his coaching, is able to swim the full length of the pool in various strokes.
So I thought, it was time for Donald to move on.
Uncle Raymond is teaching both Donald and Toria together. Of course it is tough for the kids, cos even though Uncle Raymond is also great with the kids, his type of teaching meant REAL swimming for them. They kept complaining that they can’t breathe, don’t want to go for swim class etc. But Mummy says so, they have to learn how to swim. I told them, I don’t need them to be superb swimmers, as long as they can swim using the breaststroke, freestyle and can float on their back in the water for survival, that’s enough for me, and they can stop THEN. Meantime, sorry kids, you just have to learn.
Within 8 lessons, Donald was able to make it 3/4 ways across the breadth of the pool, using breaststroke (not entirely there yet, but better than nothing). Which was a HUGE LEAP from the past. Toria still needs some time, as she is still quite young.
So…thank you Stephanie, for your recommendation!
Today is Labor Day, so we all went down to watch the swimming lesson. While waiting for them, Liz had a walking good time!
She is 16.5mths now, but had not build up the confidence to walk on her own. Holding our finger, she walks around like anything. She can walk, just a “readiness” issue. I tried holding the back of her dress and she took a few steps, but fussed and went back to hold my finger.
Liz is really one cutie pie. Beautiful eyes, sweet little girl.
Butterfly Toria
April 30th, 2010 · School & Enrichments, Videos
Toria is learning Ballet at Cheng Ballet. She does the butterfly move so well, that even though she is new, the teacher places her 2nd in line to lead the class in that move. The teacher will also exclaim non-stop “Good job Victoria”, “Very nice Victoria”…
Fun at T3
April 25th, 2010 · Just Family
There was an “amusement” corner set up at the T3 carpark. We went there today for the kiddy rides.
→ No CommentsTags: Airport·T3
Chan Junior 4 becomes Isabella Chan
April 21st, 2010 · Pregnancy & Post Partum
I’m 16 weeks pregnant and time for a proper scan to find out the sex of the baby.
We had both the names thought out. If the baby is a boy, we would name him Edward Chan. Even though I wanted Mark, but Donald and Daddy both wanted Edward. I wonder why? Maybe with the recent Twilight craze, they fell in love with the name? Anyway, Donald said, he hopes Edward is not a vampire or born with scissorshands! Oma said “choy choy choy”! LOL!
If the baby is a girl, we would name her Isabella. It is a queen’s name, and a spanish version of Elizabeth. At the same time, it is the name of the lead character in twilight! So many thought we were really twi-hard!
So with the scans, Dr Chin said… 80% sure, it is a ….GIRL!
In the afternoon, when Donald and Toria came back from school, I told them that we are going to have a Bella, not Edward, Donald started to cry, wail, sob, fuss, whine…you name it, he did it!
Well, before we were even planning for another baby, Donald did mention that he wanted a baby brother. It was on a day when he got “bullied” by some girl in class, and when he came home, Toria refused to share her strawberry shortcake toy with him, so he said he wanted a baby brother to play boys’ toys with. I asked him to pray to God.
When we realised that I had gotten pregnant by accident, I told him, must be God answering his prayers!
But when it turned out to be a girl, he was so disappointed, he cried like a baby, choked on his lunch, begged me to have another baby! I told him that this will be the last one, he was even more frantic! I told him, let baby Howard (my brother’s baby, his cousin) be his little brother. He said he wanted a baby who is always at our house! Hiaz.
Anyway, a few days after, when we went shopping, and he saw a toy he liked and he asked me to get it for him. He said that if I get it for him, he will not ask me to give him another baby anymore! My gosh, what a cheap exchange….
We all did thought that this would be a boy, because of a dream that Daddy had when we were in Israel years ago.
But since it is a girl, we have accepted that God has a different plan for us. Girls are known to be closer to parents, so we would in fact have 3 more sons added to us down the road. *wink*. Daddy is also “nicer” to girls, and a lot more harsher towards boys, so maybe that’s why God gave him 3 daughters. Anyway, lots of reasons. Since this is an accidental gift from God, we know that she came for a special reason, and we look forward to receiving her.
Isabella, we love you and we greatly look forward to seeing you when you pop out! Mummy especially! Loves Loves!
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April 17th, 2010 · Legacy
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Coins Savings by Liz
April 16th, 2010 · Videos
All our kids go thru this phase of being in charge of dropping all the coins into the coin bank everyday.
Now it is Lizzie’s turn.
We put the coins and the coin bank far far apart, she actually crawled to the coins, took one, and crawl back to the coin bank. She did that a few times, each time, she did move the bank a little closer to the coins. I wonder why she doesn’t just move the coin bank to where the coins are, to save her the trouble? Hee Hee…am I expecting too much?
Oma’s Birthday Celebration
April 14th, 2010 · Just Family
We had the birthday dinner at this Teochew Steamboat restaurant in Joo Chiat area, quite yummy!
Nowadays, we don’t order cakes anymore, nobody is eating them. Oma ordered cream puff from Tampopo, one for each of us. Much better!
Dress Up
April 10th, 2010 · Just Family
Liz becomes the doll for them to play dress up! This beautiful sun hat was a gift from Ee Zai, Oma’s sister who lives in Cambridge. Beautiful isn’t it?
Siblings @ Play
April 4th, 2010 · Just Family, Videos
My expensive piano became a playhouse for them. Liz absolutely adores her siblings, they can really make her laugh!
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Hot Dogs & Scoot
April 2nd, 2010 · Just Family
Daddy brought Donald and Toria to Botanical Gardens to “push scoot” as we call it.
Daddy with Kids
April 2nd, 2010 · Just Family
Caught them on camera… all snuggling up on the sofa, watching TV. Lovely!
Chan Junior 4 @ Week 12
March 26th, 2010 · Pregnancy & Post Partum
Little darling at week 12, still too early to tell the gender of the baby.
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March 22nd, 2010 · Legacy
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Yangon Day 4
March 22nd, 2010 · Trips
Last day in Yangon, we were going home in the afternoon. Went to have their local breakfast, which I was hoping for something similar to what I had enjoyed in Bangladesh, Pita bread with curry and sorts, but their offering was not quite appetising.
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Yangon Day 3
March 21st, 2010 · Trips
Today is Sunday, so we decided to do some touristy thing.
We took a taxi to their famous temple. It was really hot, but walking around barefooted inside was quite cooling!
Before we went for lunch, we went to their “flea market” type of place. Bought local sandals for Toria, but really, nothing much to see. Heat was a major issue.
Then we had lunch at this place, which was recommended by the lonely planet guide. Nice pictures they hang on the wall!
After lunch, we just walked along the streets and had a feel of the local lifestyle.
It was too hot, so we went back to the hotel to sleep.
For dinner, we again went back into town. Went to eat Nasi briyani at this place recommended by the lonely planet guide. Not too bad. I don’t quite fancy onions, but their local onions are really nice and sweet. Unlike those we get in Singapore.
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Yangon Day 2
March 20th, 2010 · Trips
My pants were getting too tight, so we went to their stalls and bought myself a sarong and their type of sandals. They taught me how to tie so I tried wearing that for dinner that night. The moment I got out of the taxi at our dinner place, I could immediately feel the sarong loosen, but I couldn’t retie in front of everyone! So I was frantically holding it, hoping that it doesn’t fall! My Gosh!
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March 20th, 2010 · Legacy
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March 19th, 2010 · Legacy
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Yangon Trip Day 1
March 19th, 2010 · Trips
Today, Daddy, Ah Gong and I went for an inaugural trip to Yangon. That place is mighty hot!
We had their local lunch, not quite used to it. Very hot, bought a fan to fan myself, which was THE most critical buy of the whole trip. Ah Gong was sweating sooooo badly.
We took a taxi to town centre for dinner, but we didn’t dare to eat at their roadside stalls, because I am pregnant and wouldn’t want to risk food poisoning, but we had to walk miles to find a decent chinese restaurant. Even then, the food wasn’t fantastic.
It was so fuming hot, their taxi are all not air-conditioned, so it was quite miserable…
→ No CommentsTags: Trips·Yangon
Act 3 Holiday Camp – Aesop Fables
March 18th, 2010 · School & Enrichments
For the March School Holidays, I signed Donald and Toria up for drama classes at Act 3 International, which is located at Cairnhill. After 1 week of “school”, today is the performance day.
First up was Toria.
Her level were the 3-5 years old, and her class did the Aesop Fable “The Lion and The Mouse”. She was one character, because the teacher divided the class into boys and girls. The boys were the lions, and the girls were the mice. BUT our darling Victoria refused to be a mouse, she insisted to a lion. So she was the only lioness in the group! And if you look at the video carefully, she was pretty much the “leader” of the pack! It is her first drama class and stage performance, but I must say that she did VERY VERY well. She was calm and composed, she remembered her lines and she really acted her character! The only thing, she refused to put on the headgear to represent a lion. 
Next up was Donald.
His class of the 5-7years old, did the Boy who cried Wolf. And he was part of the sheep. His group was basically running around. You can see from the video that he helps “take care” of the group, pulling other boys to position when they are out of line.
At the end of the performance, there was a finale. So happened, Donald and Toria stood next to each other, so we could get some pictures and videos of them.
Overall, we greatly enjoyed ourselves watching them. We are definitely signing them up for classes there again!
→ No CommentsTags: Act 3·Aesop Fables·Drama Classes·Speech & Drama
8 Kids’ Playdate
March 16th, 2010 · Little Friends
It is the school holiday, and we wanted to have a gathering before Auntie Sherrie “dry docks” to deliver her baby. So we had a playdate at our house.
3 families, total of 8 kids. Next time we meet, 1 more from Auntie Sherrie and 1 more from me. So we will have 10 kids!! My gosh! What a crowd!
It was such great fun to see the kids play together. Donald and Alexis were still “thick”. And Toria absolutely adores Sarah.
We manage to get them to line up, siblings together, to take some group pictures. Not easy but we manage to get some decent shots.
→ No CommentsTags: Alexis & Alycia & Aleyna·Joshua & Sarah·Playdate
Breakfast @ Chinatown
March 13th, 2010 · Just Family
Woke up early today, and went to Chinatown for breakfast. Daddy loves the raw fish there.
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March 7th, 2010 · Legacy
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Tikam
March 7th, 2010 · Just Family
A while back, when we went to Batu Pahat, Daddy found some old times toys in a provision shop.
He found these Tikam charts. I never played them before, but he and Oma did. It was full of paper, and you pay to tear 1 piece off, and see if the number in your paper correspond to any of the blue ones further up. If yes, means you can tear the blue one too, and inside the blue one will be 10sens, or 20sens etc, and the provision shop boss will give you the money as a prize.
We bought 2 for framing up, and 1 more for the kids to play. It was a behavior motivator for a while, but the kids didn’t understand that you don’t get to win everytime! So they got so sad and disappointed that they gave up on the game. In between, they did “win” a few blue pieces, but it was so few that they lost interest! Ha!
It is such an old time item, that when Donald’s tutor, Mrs Ng, saw it, she asked us to help her buy a few when we go up to Batu Pahat again.
Now There are 3…
March 6th, 2010 · Just Family
Our 3 darlings….very soon, there will be 4. And they will fully occupy the sofa. Poor Daddy and Mummy and any visiting guests will have to sit on the floor! LOL!
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Chan Junior 4 @ Week 9
March 5th, 2010 · Pregnancy & Post Partum
Finally, a clearer and proper scan of our 4th and last baby at Week 9!
Oma with her Grandkids
February 28th, 2010 · Just Family
Vomit until Nose Bled
February 25th, 2010 · General
1st 2 pregnancies, I would vomit with such impact that there will be red freckles around my eyes and cheeks. We thought it must be cos the impact burst many tiny blood vessels.
3rd pregnancy, the freckles got less, but instead, some blood stains will accompany the vomit, which I attributed to the impact on the throat, causing some lesions.
4th pregnancy, the freckles never really recurred, maybe cos there aren’t anymore for me to burst. Sometimes, I see blood from my throat. But today, I actually witnessed fresh blood drip, drip, drip into the toilet bowl while I was vomitting!
I got a shock! Then I realised that it was from my nose, so I blew my nose a few times, and took pix of the blood on the tissue paper.
I never get nose bleed. Not once. I know that some people get frequent nose bleeds during pregnancy due to hormones, but I don’t. This time was just a one-off, and it was likely due to the impact of the vomit again.
Thank goodness this is the last pregnancy! LOL! 
Somersault
February 24th, 2010 · Just Family
Toria learnt this during gym class, and wanted to show us at home, so Mummy became her “bar”.
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Liz on Piano
February 24th, 2010 · Just Family
Liz likes it whenever I play a particular Minuet. She would sway from side to side and will clap when she anticipates the ending of the song. She also likes to sit at the piano and bang away for fun!
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