Ashley

Kids !!

It just struck me how many other stuff kids experienced away from our sides that we are not aware about.

Ashley found a comb and proceed to brush my hair through with it. As she was combing, she commands, “Say, Owieee…Momma ! Say Ow !”

She has her own hair washed at daycare by the school’s kakak and blown dry by the teachers everyday before naptime. I guess the brushing must have hurt.

However, I didn’t think that my kid would have “expected” brushing to hurt and accepted it as a daily routine of life.

I was also thinking about how quirky kids can get.

Just the other day, Kimberly was chatting to Ashley on our drive out to Renaissance Hotel for long buffet lunch. Ashley was hanging on to Kimberly’s Enopi blocks cos we left right after picking up Kimberly from her Enopi, and Ashley wouldn’t let go. She said she wanted to bring it to school (ie. kindergarten)

Kimberly then proceed to explain to her in her best chieh chieh tone that it isn’t done to bring toys to school.

“You get punished if you bring toys to school” Kimberly said.

Ashley looked at her chieh chieh without comprehension.

“You know what is punishment?” Kimberly asked her baby sister, leaning across from her car seat to Ashley’s car seat as close as she could.

Ashley shook her head.

“Punishment is where you go stand in a corner and be quiet” She announced in a know-it-all way.

“Ohhhh…” Her baby sister exclaimed with widening eyes and bopped her head up and down, showing understanding.

She then proceed to return Kimberly’s Enopi blocks to Kimberly’s receiving outstretched palms and smug grin.

Haha ! Aren’t kids just so refreshing? You get glimpses of these every now and then and it makes all things worthwhile.

And haven’t so much have changed since our time, subtle or otherwise?

These pictures were taken at One Utama sometime last month.

As I was clicking on the shutters, both Kimberly and Ashley yelled in unison,

“Ben 10 !!!”

These here were taken at The Gardens.

At the bird cages, upon taking pictures, I said,”Say cheese !”

Kimberly yelled, “Birdie !!!”

At Ikano, I told Ashley, “Say Cheese !”

Ashley yelled, “Christmas!!! ”

What happened to our old fashioned, “Cheese !!!” ??? Things have sure evolved from our times, hasn’t it? Ha ! Ha !

Just in case I haven’t got a chance later, to all readers who celebrate Christmas, may you have a wonderful wonderful Christmas !!!! Happy Holidays !!

Ashley’s School Concert

Today is Ashley’s concert day. She has been showing me her moves at home.

She has been telling me, “momma, I plakthish like this, like that”, showing me her moves. The closed fist rolling towards the chest in clockwise and anti clockwise motion, spreading her 3 fingers upward and almost pinching her cheek with her forfinger and thumb, lying down on the ground …. and I had guessed that she would be a kitten.

Ashley has always been one who likes to dance. I thought she could dance really prettily too, swaying her hips and clicking her feet gently to each other to the left, to the right. All the hands moves.   She would dance in fast rhythm whenever she hear fast music, unlike Kimberly, who like to sway to slow music.

Anyhow, true enough, today when we reached her school, her teacher handed me a brown leopard print tee and pants. We were told to send the kids to school by 3.30pm cos the concert starts at 4.30pm.

You would have thought that with all her showing off to us at home, she be eager to groove away.

Not so ! haha…

The little one was overwhelmed at her school being flooded with so many strangers aunties and strangers uncles (parents of the kids) that she clung to me. When I tried to get her to wear her costume, she abandon me and clung to her father, getting her father to get away by straining away from me.

I knew that Ashley is a timid one, but then she has also been an obedient one. And one who would eat when her teacher told her to, even if she doesn’t feel like eating.  So I wasn’t prepared that she would balk at performing.

Anyhow, seeing her distress state, we decide that we would just watch the show instead. So we went right to the back of the hall and settled down to watch.

After a few video clips, Ashley was settled enough to want to go back to her class , where all the kids were waiting their turn.  So we walked back to her class. And she let one of her teachers take her from me.

Her teacher got her dressed in her costume.

I thought I checked her out, and what do I see. Crying again. Haha.

So I sat on a chair besides the stage with her to watch instead , and see if by the time it came for her turn, she would be ready.

2 other kids, Dale and Aidan, about 6 months older than Ashley, were crying too, but they had settled down and sitting with their classmates already.

As for Ashley, each time, her chieh chieh find it fit to remove herself from her friend, Diana, whose kid brother ,Dale, is also in Ashley’s class, she would walk over and yell at Ashley over the noises, pointing towards the stage, with 2 hands on her hips, befitting of a chieh chieh,

“It’s your turn, Ashley, sit there with your friends !!”

Ashley would then burst into tears again. haha. And each time one of her teachers came by and kindly say,”Ashley, you ready to dance or not?” she also burst into tears as well. haha!

Anyhow, come her turn, I nonchalantly maneuver her to standing position from my laps, then pushed her to the back of the lining up kitties.

She hesitates but I nudge her along with the line. She walked up obediently to the stage…but stood there with quivering mouth, with eyes about to swell up with tears and holding back her sobs. haha. Okay, okay, so I went forth and took her back. The poor thing.

So this is the little kitty who didnt perform. haha.

Not her first show anyhow.

Fortunately, come the last part of the show, where everyone in school sang a song, she deem it comfortable enough and condescend to walk up the stage together with other kids without nudges and sang a song, It’s a small world.

So we managed to catch some memories of her concert (with her participating) on the video cam after all. And I quickly snap lots of pics. Whatever I could anyhow. haha.

I didn’t catch a lot of the show on camera cos she was at my lap and I had left my camera at my seat.

Managed to catch these only.

At the end of the show, the school provides some light snacks for the parents. 

This is Ashley posing with her classmate, Aidan, at the end of the show.

Two parents had quarrelled when they couldn’t catch video clips of their kids.  And one parent seems to “deliberately” bump another parent while walking past because the fella keep blocking her view despite her reminders. 

These little fights seems to happen quite frequently nowadays. sigh. I see them at Barney shows at One Utama, at Barbie shows at Times Square etc.  Mostly at kids shows where eager parents tried to catch moments of their kids on camera or video and were obstructed.

Anyhow, had to leave early cos the kids’ Koh Poh were admitted to the hospital. FIl and MIL is down and had spend some time with her at the hosp. The kids’ Koh Poh is FIL’s elder sister and lives next door to FIL. We are quite close to her. She is a real lady who had it tough in life and managed to bring up FIL and other siblings when their parents passed away. She then married into a comfortable lifestyle and continued to raise her siblings till they were of earning capacity age. I admire her for her strenght and her resourcefulness and I do hope that she will be alright.

So that’s the day of Ashley’s concert. Her very first concert !

Ashley is three !

Ashley had a simple birthday do in her kindergarten today.

Kimberly had always celebrated her birthdays at Gymboree, Mc D, Burger King or Kidsports. The last 3 years running at Kidsports, actually, because I wasn’t up to checking out new places. 

Ashley, the poor dear, save for her first birthday held at home with caterers and magicians and about 100 guests, I haven’t done much for her birthdays.

I was just just going to let it go like last year, but since she is now in kindy, I figure we can do a kindergarten party instead. Kindergarten parties are so easy. haha. All you have to do is pack some party packs and get a cake. You don’t even have to get her a party dress. haha.

Ashley has been asking for one. She goes, “my birthday, momma, my birthday in school?” or “my birthday momma, party in school?” except she pronounced the school as shhhh-kul.

I ordered a jelly cake for Ashley. 

Good thing she is not into Barbie yet. Cos the Barbie cost RM135 (just because it’s Barbie) while this one only cost RM75. Hee hee.

Still, I had wanted to make the party pack a bit different. But I have no idea what to do.  So I asked Nancy of Yozoranitesky if she could bake some cupcakes for the kids.

The sweetie not only bake them for Ashley, when she delivered them to my place on the night before, she absolutely refused to let me pay her. I was overwhelmed.

This is the 2nd time she refused to let me pay her, not even for the fondant, the cupcake boxes and the butter n stuff. She steadfastly refused. And I knew for a fact that she had to bake them till past midnight cos by the time she gets home from KL, it has to be 7pm at least.

And on Thursday night itself, she had to rush out for dinner right after she delivered them to me. She even stayed back to fix the toppings before she rush to her dinner with her friends.

She said the cupcakes are to make the kiddos happy. I have earnestly never met a sweeter soul !

Isn’t she such a darling? 

These are the cupcakes ! 40 of them !!

Waiting for the cuppies to be baked in batches, and kneading the fondant, fixing it on top of the cuppies, those are bound to take up a whole lot of time, energy sapping especially if Nancy needed to work the next day. So, I had gotten the flowers and clowns from Cake Connections to make work lighter cos I knew it’s going to be time consuming piping out buttercreams or cutting out fondant flowers. I just couldn’t let Nancy do more. She did a lot already!

I love those swirls that Nancy did on the fondant. Aren’t them swirls so pretty? I like the girls colours more than the boys’ colour. Didn’t they say girls are sugar and spice and everything nice? haha.

These are the kids in the kindy.

What a well behaved lot !

Umm…perhaps not all. haha.

The cupcakes were taken off cos there were too many friendly little “helping” hands.

I didn’t catch the cake cutting and the blowing candles cos I was with the video cam by then.

These are the kids waiting for their party pack and cupcakes from Ashley.

The boys get Bob the Builder and the girls get Barney, only because there isn’t enough Barbie on the shelves when I got them.

Ashley’s chieh chieh helped to pack those party packs. And yes, that’s her helping her to give them out in the pic.

She was so curious about Ashley’s party, I let her off school. They are not having lessons anymore anyhow, spending most of their times doing concert practices.

Ashley’s teachers asked if I could pack a party pack without any chocolates or milk based products. I think it is good that the teachers take a stand on this. It encouraged healthier eating habits.

I had already gotten some packs of chuppa chups and mini raisins, but haven’t gotten anything else. So for the party pack, I added some simple party noise maker items and balloons instead.

Had to add the chuppa chups cos I don’t know what to do with them.

This is Ashley with her friend, Hailey. Ashley likes Hailey a lot Hailey is 2 years older and is in a different class.

This is Ashley with a birthday present that “my friend, Dale” gave her. Dale’s name came in 3 words. Instead of Dale, he is always “my friend Dale”, as if that is his full name. haha.

I put the present in a paper bag but Dale fished it out and planted it firmly in Ashley’s fingers again. And again. oh, and again. So she end up carrying it around. haha.

She also got a book and a stringey puppet pencil from her teachers.

Nancy got Ashley a present too.

She opened it the night itself. (Pardon her mismatched pyjama. Kimberly dressed her because I was cooking)

It’s her very first music box !

You can tell she likes it.

A LOT !!!

Cos her chieh chieh would not let her touch any of hers. So this one she could claim it as her own.

I never thought to get her any cos her chieh chieh got soooo many. Like 9 or so? One day I will blog about her numerous collections.

The 2nd born always missed out, don’t they? Inadvertently.

Because Ashley’s favourite Yee Yee knew that she isn’t getting many presents having a simple do, she came over with Poh Poh and Kau Fu and we went out for supper at Pappa’s kopitiam nearby cos it was like 11 pm when Poh Poh got here. Poh Poh gave Ashley a big angpow.

 

So Ashley is now three years old !

Now to teach her her new age.

*Hold up 3 fingers Ashley. yup, that’s right. Say, “three years old !” *