Mama's friendliest bee

Last Friday marked the end of the school term, at which point we had a Graduation/Recognition ceremony.
Kecil's first ceremony ever! I think there was a lot of confusion, TONS of effort (especially on the teachers' part!), but also lots of fun.

Confused Little Girl

Lot's of confusion :: well... for one, the ceremony, while still held within school ground, was held outside, instead of inside the school building. Of course, playing outside on any normal days does present some safety issue, the school being right next to a main road. I suppose the teachers were also counting on the parents to play their part in keeping the kids away from the main road during the D-day.

Still confused

For two, ceremonies are not quite like normal classes, is it? Especially when you are talking about toddler/playgroups where you basically play or at best have educational plays with the hope that kids will learn something out of the play. Haha...

Testing the 'stage'

Then there was also the stuff that the kids need to do: lining up to their assigned seats, dancing their piece in front of everyone, and to come upstage to receive their certificates.
Not stuff for the fainthearted, I tell you. Still.. with some help, Kecil managed all right.
Except for the dance. Despite the last minute practice with Mama the night before, she froze up on stage, just watching the teachers trying their best to 'inspire' the toddlers to do their moves.

Uhmm... Mama tried to take a video, but being more familiar with the camera function, somehow the camera turned a trick and the video turned out quite badly. At the same time, no photos as Mama was busy trying to get the video mode up during the dance. Hmmpph!

The Bee Medal

So Kecil may not get a medal for her dancing, but apparently she is still being commended as the friendliest student in her class! And hence, the precious Bee medal.

Following the rest of the ceremony

The ceremony took a while, with all the students being recognized for their best behavior, and of course, a certificate of completion for each student.

End of ceremony picture

No ceremony is ever complete without a picture of two with friends. Little Karin is going away back to her home country soon after the ceremony, so... it was only fitting that the two of them have their pics taken together.

Lastly, despite 'just' being recognized for her best behavior and completion of the term, having Kecil going through a ceremony feels like another milestone for Mama. We would still definitely have lots of these in the future, and this Mama knows that Kecil would continue to make her loved ones proud and happy.

Proudly presenting

Mama's Little Friendliest Bee, indeed.

Then & Now

Then

Now

"Then" photo was taken by Daddy's colleague, since it was the days before Mama got the nice, big camera.

Mama dreaming...

Sharing a moment

Among the many blessings that Mama is always grateful, very good friends make one of the top in the list.
And so Mama does wish too, for this Little Daughter, the ability to make friends, special friend, good friends, no matter where she goes
For friends are people who make the world seem a little bit better,
Who shares your problem and your joy, and as they say, halving the former while doubling the latter

Here's for friends abound, wherever you go, wherever you are, near or far.

This is dedicated for all our friends, near and far. Those in the past, those in the future that we haven't met yet, and especially those who are going away.
Globalization have made the world feels like a smaller place, have enabled so many people to come closer, yet sometimes the physical distance can be oh so felt, and made precious moments so transient in nature.
But at least we would still have our memories, which we will cherish for a long, long time, along with the hope that someday, we will meet again.

Favorite things

Favorite things

There was a time after I gifted Ami a beautiful batik sundress, that she would demand to be dressed in that particular dress every single day.
It would seem that Kecil had also reached that stage, of having her own preferences for clothes, shoes, etc.
The two featured above, are her current favorites.

The B dress

The "B" dress had become a favorite not long after she learned of the letter B in school. We call it the "B" dress because, although not seen in the photograph, the fabric design actually incorporates a few frames with single letter in it, the most prominent one being a letter B right in the middle of the skirt.

Oh, there no day that pass without Kecil asking for the dress. The dress actually does not survive very long on the hanger in the cabinet. The moment the dress is spotted, Kecil would demand for it.

Mama never thought that she would be one day grateful for Kecil's propensity to drool liberally, but with respect to the B dress? She actually did feel grateful.
Because drool means wet dress which means the dress needs a wash, and Kecil can't abide wet clothing. If not for the drool, I think the dress would get worn day in day out without washing in between. Yay, drool!

The Snow White Croc

As for the other favorite, it is yet another pair of Crocs, this time from GrandMa. I believe there was an irresistible sale, and she consulted with me regarding the size.
I remember telling her that Kecil still have quite a few shoes at her current size, and recommended a bigger size just so Kecil will get more chance of wearing it.
Ahem. Somehow both our precaution just blew up the sizing and we ended up with a WAY to big pair of Crocs, which Mama tucked away in some corners of the shoe cabinet for future use.

Until Kecil found the pair during one of her rummaging expeditions.
And she is so not letting go of this one. I guess well.. it's pretty. The material actually sparkled instead of plain matte blue as I would expect. So... I guess it's irresistible for Kecil.
It is, however, still very much too big. Yet somehow, she managed it.
After some tinkering, she actually declared: no more big!
Are you wondering yet? Here's her tinkering:

Tinkered Crocs

Aw, she's one cool little lady, all right. Haha.. so for the tinkering, I think she deserved the shoes.
And I'll have you know too, that so far, Kecil had manage to do all the things she usually does with the shoes. Jumping, running, walking.... She's goood!

broken links

Lost in uhmm... jungle?

Ah yes, this picture would perfectly describe how Mama is feeling.
Broken links on the blog! Mmmm... Mama is so NOT happy.
And the best part? Some pics had even gotten the nerve to go missing from the web album!
Arrrr.... me thinks it's best that Mama does some serious maintenance on the blog.
In the meantime, intermittent blog post is expected for the next couple of days.

Stay tuned....

Sunday Outing...

Little Girl with the Toothy Smile

All the pretty horses

Bouncy Girl @ the Bouncy Castle

The Next upcoming Coach mistress

It's called the Caterpillar ride

Driving a car

Mesmerized

By the Pink Bunny on the Bus?

Needless to say, Kecil had TONS of fun last weekend, or rather, just on Sunday.
Impossible as it seem, all that happened just in one day. And that was not all.
She's a busy little girl, that one. Just wait and see.

PS. apparently taking pics inside a mall is a whole different basket than taking pics at home. Seriously! So... please do forgive the poor quality of pics for this round. Mama is still learning. Besides, after Kecil's delighted squeal, learning proper techniques takes a far away back seat.

Sunday ...

Ready for a Ride

This Sunday, instead of staying at home, Daddy decided he needed to get some stuff from the shop.
So... off we went on the car, took the 40 minutes ride to the nearest civilization, just to get some stuff.
I think Kecil had a blast, but for Mama and Daddy? It was quite tiring.
I think we are quite happy not to do that kind of thing every so often.

So.. apart from recuperating, Mama would also have to deal with Kecil for the whole day today, since school is officially over for this term. We shall see how this will affect the blogging schedule.
In any case, here's to a good week for everyone!

ps. Please do ignore all those spots on the mirror. Yes, the car is so due for some washing.

(their) story ... repeating

Shepherd & Baa 101

Still remember THAT photo from the days of yore? I think you can find it here.
As they say, history has a way of repeating itself, through generations, through years, and sometimes, even just any amount of time.
True enough. Here's what I found in my camera the other day:

Shepherd & Baa. Version 102

Almost a carbon copy, if you allow for the different setting, costume and ... oh well. Fine, not quite a carbon copy. But still along the same line, yes?
Can't be helped, I guess, for a Kid who grows up with a well-beloved, over-sized dog.
As for Mama? Mama is enjoying the ride, and snapping for pictures for all its worth.

Shepherd & Baa version 103

After all, you'll never know when you'll get something so fashion photography, like 103 above. Of course, most of the time, you have also have to allow for photos like these:

Woof and Baa?

Huge grin

But hey, the Dog gets along well with the Kid, and vice versa. I'm good. At least, there were big grins. Other days, there might be grimace, there might even be tears, and sometimes, a howl too.

Fighting for food?

You can't touch me!

You are blocking me!

Here's to more companionable days between the Kid and the Dog.

Sliding on...

Still remember our Queen of the playground? Oh, she rules, all right, especially when it comes to the slides. Just take a look at her antics:

Flashing

Aiming (to kick the shoes right)

She got the sliding part pat down all right. So on to climbing now...

Scaling the wall, our very own SpiderBaby

Sunday that was...

Lazy Sunday under the coconut tree

As is normal, Sunday was a day of rest, mostly at home.
Mama managed to get herself two new books, and she got totally hooked.
Thank goodness Kecil was pretty amiable to playing on her own outside,
and lazing under the coconut tree.

Not many pics of the weekend, thanks to Mama gotten hooked on her new books, but there are enough to tide over the next few days.
We have been quite busy indeed, even if it took Mama quite some time to get away from being hooked.
As for today, what do you know, it's already the middle of the week! My!

Here's for good days for the rest of the week. Cheers!

Shoes! part deux

Yet Another Pink one

It was not that we purposely kept this Yet-Another-Pink one aside. But back on Sunday, when Mama took the rest of the shoe photographs, this one was still quietly hibernating in storage, waiting for the day when Kecil's feet is big enough to fill up its space.
Not that her feet has grown overnight, mind you.
But Kecil did find This Pink One while rummaging through the shoe cabinet, and she wouldn't rest before Mama put it on her feet.
And boy does she ADORE, LOVE this new (to her) pair.

Front view

Tante Lia bought this pair together with the Pink Skool shoes from a yard sale and brought it along when we met in Singapore earlier this year.
Apparently the previous owner also outgrew these shoes at record speed.
We can all hope that since Kecil took to wearing these a bit early, it will stay with her hopefully a bit longer.

The Perfect Shoes

Oh, and did I mention she LOVE, HEART, ADORE the shoes?
They are just the perfect shoes for our daily walk, it seems.
Perfect for running, jumping, exploring...

You should see the change that happens the moment she put on those shoes,
It was as if suddenly her feet spouted wings, or something.

Balancing

 And truth to be told, Mama does not quite know for sure whether to be very glad, or to be a bit apprehensive about the sky high boost in self confidence.
On the one hand, there is definitely the joy of watching the various antics of a little Kiddo, so sure of herself and her ability
On the other hand, should she judge wrong, Mama is the one to bail her out.
We are talking here about adding the extra push, providing extra balance, giving her a pull out of the too deep (dry) drains, and (God forbid), also kissing away any boo boos that might happen.

Still...
There is the JOY
There is always be the JOY
So I will keep that part firmly in mind, and just go with the flow.
In the meantime, you too can enjoy the ride.

Hup hup hup....

GO!

Vintage weekend: Baby

Talking about being underweight, I remember this picture from the past.

The Little One, literally

When she was born, the Little One was really tiny. She was born after full term, but still, compared to her bulk of a Mama, positively on the puny side.
And those legs? They only started filling out after 1 month.

But she filled up pretty quickly, so fast that 6 months down the road, I remembered being shocked looking at how thin she looked.
Given that, I guess she's not really made for a super-thin model, which is fine.
After all, Mama's dream is nothing specific, as long as she is happy, content, loved, and comfortable in her own skin.

Shoes! Shoes! Shoes!

Little Legs

Last week, Kecil got the result of her general check up at school, in which she was declared underweight. Underweight! Can you believe it? With those Little Legs of hers?
And so we did a careful measuring and calculating, and concluded that most probably there has been a miscalculation somewhere. Hmmm... sloppy sloppy.

Still... Mama is somewhat jarred enough to pay more attention that Kecil gets to eat slightly more, of more variety (the good kind), etc etc.
In addition, those two feet also inspired Mama to do a little documentation, of the Shoe kind. Just continue on.

The Red one

Actually the first pair that I should feature should be the pink ones featured here. Somehow, however, that particular pair did not make it in front of the camera. I think Kecil kept on stealing that particular pair every time I placed them nicely somewhere.
As for these Red ones, I remember buying them in Bali to replace her older pair, the sling of which broke.

The Black one

The Pink, the Red and these Black ones are the current ones (the ones that currently fit) that Mama bought for Kecil. These Blacks were bought specially for the Singapore trip. Not that Singapore in general is a very formal place, but I was planning to bring Kecil along for Sunday mass with my old church choir. Ahem, had I brought her along wearing the dusty Red, DOH, I might get kicked out by the choral director. Haha... a firm believer of the concept Sunday's best, I don't think he would appreciate the Kid wearing Crocs lookalike to church on Sunday.

Kecil did not make it for that Sunday mass, she was still asleep then. But she did attend a wedding ceremony in those Blacks. Also, in the pipeline, the school will be having some sort of recognition ceremony to mark the end of the school year, during which Kecil will be required to wear those Blacks. So... all is good. She loves those Blacks, by the way, thanks to the way it taps on hard surfaces. None of her other shoes make such sound.

The Pink School Shoes number One

You might remember these from the Skool post. This is her supposedly current school shoes (since they never informed us about any color requirements, ha!). Mama does check regularly that the shoe still fits. Past two days, these Pinks have been very much replaced by Pinks no 2. But maybe we'll keep that story for another day.

The Blues

Aren't those flips flops pretty? I think Tante Rina bought them for Kecil on our holiday in Bali. It's still a bit of struggle for Kecil to wear these flips flops, but she loves them.

I do thank you should you think that those pics look nice. Trust me, taking them was not quite that easy. Quite a lot of times, I ended up with these Cinderella shots:

All thanks to a certain itchy-handed Little Girl:

The Itchy-Handed One

Well... we finally got tired of staring at shoes, so we decided to make good use of the good weather and went off swimming.
But of course, the shoe story is not finished yet.
Being so in-love with her Blacks (she does not get to wear it that often), Kecil refused to take them off. So... there she went, in her yellow bikini, the blue-faced man hat, and the Blacks.

Off swimming