Cherish beautiful moments in life............

Lunar New Year 2012

2012-01-24T04:17:00.000-08:00

Here's our princess all dressed up for the Lunar New Year!!! May the new year be a properous one for all!

Our little girl eating cotton candy.

2011-04-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

Sheri's 4th Birthday Party

2011-01-08T01:54:00.000-08:00

New bicycle for our little girl!

2010-11-08T06:14:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning at Pasir Ris Park

2010-10-24T01:36:00.000-07:00

Our little girl's Art Gallery

2010-10-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

Picking Seashells at East Coast Park

2010-09-12T05:44:00.000-07:00

Singapore Zoological Garden 9 Sept 2010

2010-09-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

Escape Theme Park

2010-09-01T00:21:00.000-07:00

Airport 'Adventure'

2010-07-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

Where are our 2 little princesses going?

Happy Fathers' Day 2010

2010-06-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

Here's wishing Daddy a Happy Fathers' Day!!!

Our little Ballerina

2010-06-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

Sheri's favourite hunt-Changi Airport

2010-06-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

One of our little girl's favourite spot in Changi Airport

It's never too early to start on a recycling project.

Indoor Playground in Changi Airport

A BIG treat for everyone from mommy!

2010-05-03T03:41:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, mommy gave a promotional treat to everyone at Seletar Hill restaurant.

Sunday morning walk at Esplanade

2010-05-03T03:25:00.000-07:00

With my added responsibilties at work, Mommy has been so busy nowadays. So, when my brother suggested taking a walk at Esplanade on last Sunday, mommy jumped at the idea because we(mommy and Sheri) finally had a chance to shed off the extra kilos that we put on ever since we moved back to Singapore.

Full month celebration at Auntie Oranna and Uncle Sin Teck's place

2010-01-17T05:58:00.000-08:00

Auntie Oranna and Unle Sin Teck invited us to their place for the full month clebration of their daughter.

Guess what is Sheri doing with Uncle Yiak Thiam?

Celebration of Gong Gong's 70th birthday

2010-01-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

Sheri's birthday celebration in School

2010-01-15T04:51:00.000-08:00

As close as sisters.....

2010-01-15T04:50:00.000-08:00

Sheri's first birthday party in Singapore

2009-12-21T06:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we had Sheri's first brithday celebration in Singapore. Our little girl is going to be 3 years old soon. You may wish to click on the following link to see Sheri's birthday celebration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNLRNdh8vFE

Playtime Pictures

2009-10-10T22:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Mooncake Festival 2009

2009-10-10T22:35:00.000-07:00

Off we go to the Mooncake carnival!

Here is little Sheri riding on a motorbike during Mooncake carnival.

Teacher's Day Gifts

2009-10-10T22:33:00.000-07:00

Kai Jun's birthday

2009-08-30T06:07:00.000-07:00

Today is Sheri's big brother birthday. His parents invited us to celebrate his birthday over a dim sum lunch.

However, our little girl did not seem to have much interest in eating dim sum. The only food that she was interested in was the crackers that came with Peking duck.

I wonder what can bring a smile to our little princess.

Oh, it's the fishes in the aquarium.A picture with the birthday boy

Sunday morning walk at Botanic Garden

2009-08-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

What can be more pleasurable than to immerse yourself in the tranquility and lush greenery of Botanic Garden on a Sunday morning.

The trio taking a walk together

Tired! Shall we take a break?

Statue of Chopin, a gift from Poland to the people of Singapore

Can I play the piano too?

Where are the rest?

Bedok Reservoir Park

2009-08-21T23:26:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, mommy chanced upon the Bedok Reservoir Park on her way back from Pasir Ris Park. It has been quite a long time since mama went to Bedok Reservoir Park. Our little girl enjoyed roaming around the park in her favourite Mickey Mouse shirt, which Ah Ma has specially bought for her in Thailand.

Casual shots of Sheri

2009-08-08T23:54:00.001-07:00

Mommy's national day celebration in school

2009-08-08T23:29:00.000-07:00

Mommy had her National Day's celebration in school on last Friday. Mommy went to school in a red Kebaya, a traditional Malay costume, to celebrate the occasion. Being able to wear other races' ethnic costume is one of the privileges of living in a multi-racial country like Singapore. Let us rejoice on this special occasion and wish Singapore a Happy 44th Birthday!

A picture with mommy's colleague, Grace.

Sheri's first National Day Celebration

2009-08-08T00:06:00.000-07:00

This is Sheri's first national day celebration. We brought her for a march past last week at a mini National Day's celebration at our constituency. Strictly speaking, Sheri is not a Singaporean, but I guess that she still enjoys the National day celebration which is filled with lots of singings and fireworks.

Pony Ride

2009-07-05T06:09:00.001-07:00

Swimming at Uncle Harry's house

2009-07-05T06:06:00.000-07:00

Picnic at Pasir Ris Park

2009-07-05T06:01:00.001-07:00

Pictures with cousins

2009-07-05T05:56:00.000-07:00

MRT Train

2009-07-05T05:52:00.000-07:00

Picnic at SchoolHouse by the Bay

2009-07-05T03:38:00.000-07:00

East Coast Park

2009-05-15T23:44:00.000-07:00

This morning, mommy brought Sheri to East Coast for a morning walk. Our little girl also gets to cycle in her bike.

Sheri's first nursery progress report!

2009-05-15T23:23:00.000-07:00

Time flies!. It's the end of the term. Mommy has just received our little girl's first nursery progress report. It says.......

Sheri responds when her name is called and is able to follow instructions. She loves singing and dancing during circle time and is an active participant. She is starting to mimic words that are spoken by teachers and can communicate using simple words. She shows strong interest in mandarin and this has accelerated her learning and absorption of the language.

Sheri loves to get her hands dirty with art work and shows curiosity when it comes to colours and prints. She also displays interest in different tools that are used during art work and will try to experiment with them. She enjoys every experience she found at the art table.

Sheri has settled down in the program and is familiar with the class routines. She loves to attract teacher's attention and is easily pleased with their company. She is also starting to imitate behaviors of her peers and adults. Sheri is exploring her environment and will try out the learning corners available in class.

Sheri is able to manage her daily routine task like taking off and putting on her shoes. She is stable during runs,walks and jumps. Sheri loves outdoor activities and can independently climb up stations that are about one metre in height.

Well done, Sheri! Keep Going!

Splashy Splishy at the pool

2009-05-15T23:16:00.000-07:00

In this hot and humid climate of Singapore, swimming or, I should say, playing with water and getting herself wet, is one of Sheri's favourite activity.

Happy Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-11T05:06:00.000-07:00

This was the little gift that our little Sheri made for mommy specially for Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all mothers!

Botanic Garden & Jacob Ballas Chidlren's Garden

2009-05-11T04:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Auntie Oranna's wonderful suggestion. Last Saturday, we had a fun-filled morning with Auntie Yin Shan and Auntie Oranna's family at Botanic Garden and Jacob Ballas Children's Garden.

Sheri's new bike

2009-05-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

Recently, mommy bought a bike for Sheri. Today, she finally has the chance to debut her new bike.

Happy Birthday to Mama!

2009-05-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is mommy's birthday. Last Thursay, the Goh family had a joint celebration with mommy's sister and brother-in-law. Happy birthday to All of us!

Delightful moments....

2009-04-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

Mommy has been very busy working and taking care of our little one ever since she joined the class of working moms. Despite my busy schedule, I will still try to upload the pictures of our little one to keep our viewers informed of her latest development.

Celebrating Ye Ye's birthday at Bo Bo's house

Picking up Ah Ma and Ah Gong at Changi Airport

Vivio City

Buffet Lunch at Merchant Court's Hotel

2009-03-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, we had buffet lunch with Ah Gu's family and Ah Gong at Merchant Court Hotel. After a hearty meal, we took a walk at Clark Quay and the new shopping mall called 'Central'.

Our 3 cuties!

Cousin Galtysen and Brother's birthday

2009-03-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

In a big family, there is always cause for celebration. In the month of March, we celebrated Cousin Galtysen and Ah Gu(mommy's brother)'s birthday. Happy Birthday to both of them!

More school-going pictures

2009-03-07T06:33:00.000-08:00

This week is the end of the two weeks of trial lessons at School House by the Bay. Our little girl has been very receptive to the idea of going to school for the past two weeks. Whenever mommy puts on her school uniform, she will bid farewell to everybody in the house and run to the door to wait for mommy to bring her to school. It is evident that she likes the school environment very much, so mommy has decided to enrol our little girl in the pre-nursery class at School House by the Bay.

Sheri's new adventure

2009-02-27T06:45:00.001-08:00

This week has been a very memorable week as our little girl embarks on her new journey to SCHOOL.

First day of School

Finally, the much awaited day has arrived. Monday was Sheri's first day of school in her pre-nursery class. Mommy noticed that she was a bit apprehensive when she first saw her English teacher, Miss Deidre. In order to allay her fears, mommy quickly distracted her by showing around in her new classroom. That seemed to work very well as she was immediately drawn towards the toys in her new classroom. Mommy and Ah Ma secretly slipped away while Sheri was preoccupied with her new toys. We headed to the observation room where we could observe our little girl without her knowing. She seemed to be perfectly at ease in the new environment. That is certainly very reassuring for mommy who was worried that she might not adapt to the new environment.

Sheri waiting anxiously for her class in the school canteen

Unfortunately, our little girl fell sick the next day and she did not go to school on the second and third day.

Fourth day of school

Last Thursday was supposed to be her second day of school since she did not attend the school on the second and third day. Even though it was just her second day of school, parting seemed very easy. Mommy was taken aback when our little girl voluntarily said, 'bye, bye to mommy and Ah Ma' when we brought her to her new classroom.(It was a new classroom as they had Chinese lesson that day.)

Fifth day of school

Our littel girl seems to like going to school. Whenever we ask her whether she likes going to school, she never fails to reply us with a resounding 'Yes'. So, mommy just left her in the charge of Miss Deidre today.

She was all smiles when mommy went to pick her up today. It is very comforting to see that our little girl enjoys going to school and learning new things. Thank God! There was not much tears involved in this whole adventure of sending her to school. Hopefully, she will continue to enjoy learning in her new school.

Pretty girls!

2009-02-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

Big Auntie(Mommy's elder sister) bought a pair of sunglasses for Sheri and cousin Hui Chi. See how the two girls enjoy their new pair of sunglasses!

Cousin Huichi's birthday

2009-02-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

Cousin Huichi has turned three on last Sunday. Nowadays, it has become an increasing trend to have a birthday celebration both in school and at home. Ah Ma and mommy brought a cake to school on last Friday to celebrate her birthday.

We had a birthday celebration for her at home on Sunday.

What a big feast!

Mommy's brother, sis-in-law and cousin Huichi

2 big brothers of Sheri

2009-02-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

In Singapore, Sheri is able to enjoy the joy of growing up in an extended family. This is partly the reason mommy and daddy decided to move back to our home country. She is fortunate to enjoy the brotherly love of her two cousins, Kai Jun and Kai Foo. She can play with them every evening when they come back from school. Here are some of the pictures that she took with them during one of the evenings when they played together at the playground.

I can see you!

Cheers!

Splish and Splash!

2009-02-17T06:47:00.000-08:00

For the past two weeks, my sis-in-law and I have been bringing our two little cuties to the pool to have some fun playing with water on Friday morning.

We brought some water toys along, so the kids could keep themselves occupied playing with the toys.

Love is in the air!

2009-02-16T07:01:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday was Valentine's day. Mommy just woke up from her sleep at about 8 o' clock in the morning. Minutes later, someone came to deliver a bouquet of flowers to mommy. A secret admirer of mommy?

Yes, he is none other than our dearest daddy. Thank you, daddy, for giving mommy such a beautiful bouquet of roses. Happy Valentine's day!

Our favourite hunt

2009-02-16T06:13:00.000-08:00

It has been two weeks since mommy and Sheri moved to Ah Ma's place. Mommy is always on the lookout of nice places that are close by for our little Sheri to roam around. There is a nice park just behind Ah Ma's place. Mommy loves to take a walk with Sheri in the evening.

Here are some of the pictures that we took during one of our evening walks.

There is also a sandbox for our little girl to play.

Our creation

70th birthday celebrations

2009-02-11T07:32:00.000-08:00

It is a coincidence that both daddy and mommy's daddies have turned 70 this year. On the last Saturday before daddy left, we celebrated their birthdays, respectively.

We had a sumptuous lunch at daddy's parents place to celebrate Ye Ye's birthday. Thanks to Nei Nei for preparing a delectable set of Asian cuisine.

Ye Ye, Nei Nei with all the grandchildren

Later in the evening, we headed to the restaurant for Ah Gong's 70th birthday banquet(Mommy's daddy).

Mommy's godsister

Auntie Molly, Grand Uncle and Ah Gong

Family picture

Grand Uncle and Auntie Molly

Ah Gong and Ah Ma with the three of us

Mommy's cousins and Grand Auntie

A loving couple

Mommy's siblings and Ah Gong

The Goh family

One last family shot before we left

Outing at East Coast beach

2009-02-08T06:24:00.000-08:00

Before daddy left for the States, we had a family outing at the East Coast beach. When we reached the beach, the sky was overcast and a heavy thunderstorm seemed imminent. However, crazy mommy still insisted on renting a family bike. As usual, daddy acceded to mommy request. We took shelter at the lighthouse for awhile when it became impossible for us to brave the rain.

Surprisingly, our little girl did not utter a single word of complaint when we cycled in the rain for awhile. Mercifully, the rain dwindled and we continued our journey. Poor daddy!Daddy must be having a hard time ferrying mommy and Sheri as he is the only one among the three of us who knows how to cycle.

Meeting with mommy's JC friends

2009-02-08T05:32:00.001-08:00

We managed to meet up with Mommy's high school friends during the Chinese New Year Week. Thanks to Auntie Yin Shan for organizing the gathering.

Cheers!

These are our two lovable kids.

After dinner, we spent some time touring the Parkway Parade Shopping Mall. This used to be daddy and mommy's favourite shopping mall when we were young.

Chinese New Year

2009-02-05T06:51:00.000-08:00

During Chinese New Year, it is customary to visit family, relatives and friends, a practice known as New Year visits.

The following pictures were taken on the first two days of the Chinese New Year.

First day of Chinese New Year

Daddy's parents

Mommy's siblings and family

Great Uncle's place

Folks of the same generation(Mommy's siblings and cousins)

Mommy's godmother

Mommy's cousins (Uncle Mandred and Auntie Adeline)

Mommy's fourth auntie family

Second Day of Chinese New Year

Daddy's nephew, Ziyong

Hello! Can I speak to Sheri please?

Last Saturday before Chinese New Tear Eve

2009-02-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

Paying respect to our ancestors

Whenever we are back in Singapore, we will always go to the temple to pay respect to our ancestors. We went to the temple with my mother-in-law on the Saturday before the Chinese New Year. This time, the trip has added significance since we brought home a new member of the family.

Our little girl keeping herself entertained with Cheerios at the temple

Meeting with Auntie Jocelyn & Uncle Edwin

Auntie Jocelyn and Uncle Edwin came to pick us up at the temple. They brought us to Joo Chiat Place to eat the famous Wanton Mee. After that, we retreated to Siglap for some dessert.

Mommy and daddy knew Auntie Jocelyn and Uncle Edwin in the States when Auntie Jocelyn was posted for an overseas assignment. We thought it would be cool to meet up again with them back in Singapore.

Our little princess loves the princess pillow in Auntie Jocelyn's car.

Reunion dinner with mommy's family

It is a rare opportunity for us to be back for Chinese New Year. Since it is customary to have reunion dinner with daddy's family on Chinese New Year's eve, we decided to have the reunion dinner with mommy's family one day earlier. So, the day ended with a reunion dinner with mommy's family.

Hello to all my friends in SIngapore.

2009-02-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry friends, I know some of you have been trying to contact me since I'm back in Singapore. I need some time to get settled down since it has been quite awhile since I left Singapore. I will try to keep in touch with all of you once I get myself and Sheri settled down. In the meantime, I will continue to update my blog.

Journey back home

2009-01-22T14:51:00.000-08:00

To all my faithful readers of my blog, mommy has a pleasant surprise for all of you. Yes, we are back in Singapore now, just in time for the Chinese Lunar New Year which is just a few days away from now. We departed from San Francisco Airport at noon on 17th Jan, and embarked on our much awaited journey back home.

The total flight hours back home is about 20 hours, including a 3 hours transit time at Narrita Airport in Japan. This was the longest flight that our little girl has taken so far in her life even though she did fly for over 20 hours in mommy's tummy two years ago when we flew from Singapore to Canada. Thinking back, her life journey has straddled across North America and Asia. She was conceived in Canada, diagnosed in Singapore and finally delivered in United States. Now, she is making her first trip to Singapore where mommy and daddy grew up

Poor Sheri! Mommy and daddy had to wake her up at 4.00 am in the morning to go to the airport. Fortunately, she has been quite cooperative. Here she is, enjoying her raisin bread while waiting for the flight at San Francisco Airport.

Travelling on a long distance flight with a full fledged toddler can be very challenging at times. Daddy and mommy had difficulties keeping her restrained on her stroller when we encountered some problems with our check-in luggages. Apart from this, our girl is generally well-behaved throughout the whole journey. At the airport, she kept her entertained by going up and down the escalator and travellator.

That certainly sapped up all her energy that she was totally knocked out after we transited at Narrita Airport in Japan.
Here she is, sleeping on the airplane while hugging her favourite bolster that Ah Ma made for her when she was born.

Japan is a country that is renowned for its electronic gadgets. Even their toilet in the public restroom has an electronic side panel for user to play with while using the toilet. Pretty interesting, isn't it?

Jungle Gym Martial Arts Workshop

2009-01-11T00:12:00.001-08:00

It's second Friday of the month again. If you have followed my earlier post, you should know we are very enthusiastic in attending the family dance workshop organized by YMCA on every second Friday of the month. Yesterday, the workshop was on Jungle Gym Martial Arts.
Everyone of us was crawling around like an animal in the class.

See how actively both adults and kids participate in the class.

Perhaps it was because there was no music, our little girl lost interest in the class after awhile. We had no choice but to leave before the class ended.

Children's Fairyland

2009-01-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

Today, we went to Children's Fairyland in Oakland, California, a ten-acre outdoor storybook park with children's fairy tale theme.

This was the first theme park in the United States and was built in 1950 to cater specially to families with young children. It was reported that even Walt Disney came to Fairyland to get ideas for Disneyland.

We were greeted by this bubble machine when we first entered the park. Bubbles are beautiful. Bubbles are magical. They always never fail to bring smiles to children and adults alike.

The Three Little Pigs

Our little Sheri had fun playing in the pigs' houses.

Alice in the Wonderland.

Can our little girl find her way out of the maze?

Miss Muffet and the Spider

A wishing well

There was also a small farm in the park, which of course, is our little girl's favourite hunt.
Here comes this over-zealous girl, petting the baby goat.

We finally had a chance to see the Alpaca, which was one of the animals that she learnt from the 'Animal Adventure' episode on 'Wheels on the Bus' CD

There were also gentle rides in the park, specially catered for small children.

Merry-go-round

Playing with the water fountains in the park.

Posing with a flower girl

Sitting on a dragon

Another favourite place for our little girl........ the sandbox.

Overcoming the obstacle's course with daddy

After all the fun and play, our little girl finally fell asleep on our way home. Before we left, we took a picture at Lake Merrit which is just outside the Children's Fairyland.

We took the Bart(Bay Area Transit) home. Doesn't the Bart Station look similar to that in Singapore?

First day of 2009

2009-01-01T22:41:00.000-08:00

Today is the start of the New Year. The foo family lazed around in the bed until 8.30 am. Miraculously, our little snuggle puppy also tried laze around with us in bed even though she woke up earlier than us. As usual, she crawled up to daddy's bed and tried to snuggle with daddy. Usually, our naughty little girl will deliberately greet all the animals 'good morning' except to mommy and daddy. However, this morning, we were surprised to hear her greeting daddy 'good morning' when she tried to snuggle with him in bed. Hopefully, this signifies that our little girl is getting more sensible in the new year.
The weather was extremely pleasant today. It was sunny with temperature hovering around 65 degrees Fahrenheit(18 degrees Celsius), a perfect day for getting out of the house. Since we did not have any plans today, we took our little girl for a walk at the playground.

She spent the whole morning playing in the playground and chasing after the poor squirrels. Our little girl gets very excited whenever she sees animals, and she always cannot wait to run after them and pet them.

Most of them had no choice, but to climb up the tree to avoid this over-zealous girl who was hot on their heels. Poor squirrel!

Happy 2009!

2009-01-01T00:53:00.000-08:00

It is now 1 a.m in the morning on the first day of 2009. Here's wishing all of you a very Happy New Year!
New Year's Eve is a great time to partake in lavish food. Chinese have the tradition of eating steamboat on the Chinese New Year's Eve. This practice is passed down from ancient China where the weather is usually cold during Chinese New Year, and therefore the entire family can huddle together to enjoy steaming bowls of soup and warmly cooked food. So, what could be more appropriate to usher in the New Year than to have a sumptuous steamboat dinner for all of us. Personally, I feel that it makes more sense to eat steamboat here where the weather is cold than to have it in Singapore where the weather is usually hot and humid.

Since we are on Pacific time now, we were also able to watch the countdown at New York Times Square while enjoying our sumptuous steamboat dinner. Happy New Year to all!

Point Reyes Station California

2008-12-29T23:29:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, we visited Point Reyes Station in California. Point Reyes Station is a small unincorporated town located in western Marin County, California. It is also very close to the San Andreas Fault responsible for the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Isn't the 'San Andreas Fault' sound very familiar? Some of you must have studied it during the geography class in school.

We went on a faultline walking tour from the Point Reyes National Seashore's Visitor Center.

Due to limited daylight hours nowadays, we did not want to spend too much time on the earthquake trail. In order to save time, daddy had to put our little girl on his shoulder even though our little Sheri loves scampering around on her own.In that aspect, I must give credit to our little girl for her independence. Ever since from the day she knows how to walk, she has never expressed any desire for us to carry her.

During our trail, we witnessed a coyote devouring a carcass. I would say that was the closest contact that we ever had to the wildlife in an unrestrained environment.

The blue markers in the picture denote the faultline.

During the 1906 earthquake, one side of the fence in the picture jumped 16 feet in less than a minute.

So, this means that if you and your friend were here on April 18 1906, shaking hands on either side of the rift zone, both of you would have been pulled apart by about 16 feet.

We reached the end of the trail. It turned out to be a very educational trail for mommy and Sheri (hopefully). Thanks to daddy who never fails to impress mommy with his knowledge of geography.

We went back to our car and continued our journey. Looks like our little Sheri also wants to play an active role in navigating us to our next destination.

There are a couple of undeveloped ocean beaches at Point Reyes that runs through open grassland along the coast. Being nature-lovers, we decided to explore one of them.

Don't you think that both father and daughter have similar hairstyle? Hee! Hee! Hee!

Our little girl was stunned with astonishment when she first saw the beach. Looking at the horizon on the beach always makes us feel so small and insignificant. I wondered if that was the reason she stood rooted to the ground for quite awhile before venturing further.

We were pretty impressed by the cleanliness of the beach.

The beaches overlook the Pacific Ocean. When we were on the east coast, we visited the beach at Atlantic City, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. So, daddy feels that we should definitely visit one of the beaches which overlooks the Pacific Ocean since we are on the west coast now. According to daddy, this will enable us to appreciate the fact that United States is a large continent by itself. So, this trip also fulfills daddy's wish to visit one of the beaches on the west coast that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

One last shot before we left.

Beautiful memories from North America

2008-12-24T00:18:00.000-08:00

In celebration of our little girl's birthday, we are proud to present to you a video clip that captures the wonderful moments of her life in North America in the second year of her life journey. This is also a gift from us to our little darling. Hopefully, she will cherish it and carry it with her for the rest of her life.
Enjoy!

I'm TWO!

2008-12-21T23:26:00.000-08:00

Time flies. Our little girl is going to be two tomorrow. Unlike last year, we decided to keep our celebration simple this year. We had a small party just for ourselves today. Mommy specially baked a banana cake for our little girl. The reason for the choice of banana cake was because mommy was inspired partly by the recent batch of banana muffins that she baked. It turned to be so delicious that even mommy who is not a big fan of muffins ended up falling in love with the banana muffins. I would be keen to share the recipe with any of you who are interested.

While our little girl was taking her afternoon nap, Daddy and mommy spent some time decorating the banana cake that was freshly baked from the oven.Finally, it was ready to give our little girl a surprise when she wakes up from her nap.

Surprise!

Happy Birthday to our little precious!

Our little greedy girl was caught red-handed on the camera for laying her hands on the raspberries on the cake. Yummy!

One last shot before we cut the cake.

It's time for the cake cutting ceremony!

Presenting to our little girl her birthday present from daddy and mommy!

Daddy and mommy hope that our little girl likes the birthday celebration that we had specially put up for her. Happy Birthday to Sheri!

Birthday greetings from Auntie Suze who is in charge of the kindergym at YMCA.

A birthday treat -Tilden Little Farm

2008-12-15T23:59:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday, we went to Tilden Nature Park.

Of course, the only attraction that is of interest to her is the little farm in the park.

Daddy and mommy know our little girl very well. She gets very excited when she sees animals, so this is our birthday treat for our little girl whose birthday is coming in one week's time.

Sheri: Moo! Moo!

Sheri: Baa! Baa!

Sheri: Hello! Goat!

Our little girl gets very excited when she sees animals. Throughout the visit, she was scampering around the farm trying to take a closer look at the animals. We had to keep a close eye on her as we were afraid that she might get too close to the animals

We saw the goats head butting each other just like daddy and Sheri who like to head butt each other too.
Our little girl has always been reading books about animals, so she could recognize the names of animals that are printed on the information board.

Rabbit is our little girl's favourite animal.

Frankly, this was the first time that mommy and daddy saw a live turkey.

Our little girl wanted to pet a hen that was wandering around in the farm, but it was not easy. She followed the hen for quite awhile before she could finally lay her hands on it.

Finally, her perseverance was paid off.

We also visited the Environmental Education Centre beside the Little Farm. It provides information about the wide variety of plants and animals in Tilden Nature Park. We were impressed by the layout and the condition in which the exhibits were kept in the Education Centre.

A picture of our little girl stepping on the scale which tells us the mass of water in her body.

Our little girl has always been an avid reader. However much she has read about farm animals, nothing beats the real experience. This trip provides an excellent opportunity for our little girl to come close to the farm animals that she has read about in the books.

Christmas is coming!

2008-12-15T23:21:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, we went to 99 Ranch Market for grocery shopping. It is one of the largest Asian supermarkets in Berkeley. You can find all kinds of Asian delights there and you cannot help but feel as if you are no longer in the States.

There is a large Christmas tree outside the supermarket, which helps liven up the atmosphere for the coming festive season. Mommy quickly asked Daddy to take a picture of us with the Christmas tree.

In the evening, we attended a Christmas party at daddy's advisor home. We had a sumptuous dinner and a fun-filled evening.

Merry Christmas to all!

Wee Music Dance Workshop

2008-12-12T23:54:00.000-08:00

Time flies. Today is the second Friday of the month. Here we are again, at the dance workshop in YMCA. Today, we had 'Wee Music' for the kids. See how our little girl danced to the rhythm of the music during the class!

Who is Ah Ma?

2008-12-12T23:13:00.000-08:00

As our little girl is making sense of the world nowadays, mommy tries to introduce her to other members of the family. My mom was here for a short while when I delivered Sheri, but I know that our little girl has absolutely no recollection of my mom even though she took care of her when she cried in the middle of the night in the first two weeks after she was born. The only gift left by my mom that our little girl can relate to is the bolster that she has to hug every night to go to sleep. Whenever I see her hugging the bolster, I will always ask her, "Who made the bolster for you? " Without any hesitation, she will always reply, "Ah Ma!" Then, I will continue to ask her, "Who is Ah Ma?" Even though she may not appreciate the relationship between Mama and Ah Ma, she never fails to answer me that Ah Ma is mama's mommy as this was what I taught her. Unfortunately, she seems to be using the term 'Ah Ma' wrongly nowadays. She likes to call adults whom she meets 'Ah Ma'. Her favourite phrase is 'Bye, bye, Ah Ma!' Even though I try to correct her every time she does it, she does not seem to realise her mistake. It can be embarrassing at times. Fortunately, nobody here understands the term 'Ah Ma'. I guess this happens because she does not have the chance to interact closely with her grandparents ever since she was born. Sometimes, we cannot help but question ourselves whether we are depriving her of the chance to enjoy the love and affection from her grandparents. Perhaps, it's time to bring her home to meet other members of the family.

Adventurous Sheri!

2008-12-12T23:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, our little girl is getting more adventurous nowadays. She has finally mustered up enough courage to climb up the ladder on her own without any assistance from mommy. Good job, darling!

Tiny waves at YMCA

2008-12-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

YMCA has a session called Tiny waves where toddlers can play with water in a heated shallow pool. They also provide water toys to keep the little ones entertained in the pool. Mommy brings our little girl to the pool on every Tuesday. It is also open for family swim on weekends.

Last Sunday, we decided to go for the family swim. With daddy taking care of our little girl in the pool, mommy could finally snap some pictures of our little girl in the pool.

I do not deny that it is more relaxing to swim in a heated pool. At least, we do not need to overcome the initial jitters when we first step into an unheated pool.

Our little girl had fun playing with the green dolphin.

Whee! Down the slide!

2008-12-07T10:03:00.000-08:00

It always gives parents a great sense of satisfaction when their child achieves a milestone in their development.

Video of Sheri with Clifford, the red dog

2008-12-06T22:56:00.000-08:00

This post is specially dedicated to her Godmother, Sheri Lense, who gave Clifford to Sheri as a birthday present on her one year old birthday. Little Sheri is a dog lover just like her godmother. See how much she adores Clifford.

Circletime at baby gym

2008-12-06T22:52:00.000-08:00

Our little Sheri goes to the baby gym in YMCA every morning and she enjoys the 20 minutes of circletime.

Wedding Anniversary 2008

2008-12-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

2nd December is a special day for mommy and daddy. It's our wedding anniversary. Five years ago, it was on this day that daddy and mommy exchanged our marriage vows in the presence of the mayor of Princeton and our friends in Princeton Town Hall. Time flies. Here we are now in Berkeley, California, celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary!

Mommy specially baked a carrot cake for the occasion. More importantly, mommy wanted to have some fun playing with the writing icing tubes that she bought recently from the store. Finally, mommy's carrot cake was ready for display.

What do you think of mommy's masterpiece?

Unfortunately, daddy has group meeting on every Tuesday night, so we could only get to cut the cake late at night. Our little girl was sound asleep by then. Sorry, darling, for not sharing the joy with you!

Happy Wedding Anniversary to mommy and daddy!

Lazy Sunday morning

2008-12-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

This year, we had a very fruitful Thanksgiving holidays. As published in my earlier posts, we had a sumptuous Thanksgiving dinner with Auntie Deanna on Thursday evening. On Friday, we met up with Uncle Tao Feng's family for lunch. On Saturday, we drove to Napa Valley for wine tasting. After we came back from Napa Valley, we went for late night shopping. That left us completely exhausted on Sunday.

Our little Sheri saw us lazing around on the sofa on Sunday morning. Both mommy and daddy were reading something of interest to us on the sofa. Mommy told Sheri that she should go grab her own book if she wanted to join us on the sofa. Amazingly, she did what she was told.
Here we go! All the members in the foo family were reading on the sofa on Sunday morning.

According to daddy, President Ronald Reagan once said that reading is a magic carpet and you can never be lonely if you learn to enjoy a good book.'

Napa Valley California

2008-11-30T22:55:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, we drove to Napa Valley, the main wine growing region in the United States. Located in Northern California, Napa Valley is renowned to contain both the soil and the climate that is considered one of the best in the world for growing wine grapes. Hence, daddy and mommy have always wanted to visit the wineries, and enjoy the pleasant climate and beautiful scenery in Napa Valley. Finally, we had a chance to do so in this long weekend. Thanks to daddy who insisted on this getaway.

Undeniably, it was a refreshing break from the hustle and bustle of the city life in berkeley. It has been quite awhile since we enjoy the tranquility of the suburb and the drive along the valley made us feel as if we were back in the loving arms of Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvannia, a place that we have so many fond memories.

Our little girl had fun scampering around in the vineyard.

Frankly, fall is not the best season to visit the valley. Most of the grapes have been harvested. Those that are left are mostly dried up.

Different regions of the valley produce wines of different flavours. We visited two wineries, Monticello and Miner family winery.

Cheers!

Can I join in the fun too?

Before we left, we bought a bottle of red wine from the Miner family winery . Cheers, Napa Valley!

Lunch with Uncle Tao Feng & family

2008-11-30T22:25:00.000-08:00

We had a long weekend last week because of the Thanksgiving holiday. On Friday, we met up with Uncle Tao Feng and his family for lunch at Sichuan restaurant. Uncle Tao Feng has a pair of twins, one girl and one boy. Time flies. The last time we met their lovable kids was when they were born in Princeton. Now, they have all grown up.

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-28T23:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Thanksgiving day, the most important occasion in North America. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. Over the years, it has evolved to be an occasion for togetherness where families and friends gather together to enjoy a sumptuous Thanksgiving dinner with turkey roast and pumpkin pies.

With all the Thanksgiving goodies out in the store, I could not deny that we were inevitably drawn into the festive mood of preparing a Thanksgiving dinner even though we are not native Americans. We baked a pumpkin pie on the night before so that we can have it as a dessert for the Thanksgiving dinner. As for the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving dinner, we bought a 14 lbs turkey. We started roasting the turkey in the oven at noon and it took about 4 hours to cook the turkey completely.

Finally, it was out of oven, ready to be carved by the head of the household.

This year, we decided to be more adventurous. We prepared the stuffing and turkey gravy ourselves. It turned out be fabulous.

Auntie Deanna came to join us for the Thanksgiving dinner and we had a lovely evening with her.

To us, we will always regard Thanksgiving as an occasion to renew our ties with our loved ones, a time for remembering, cherishing and being thankful for all the good things we have been blessed with. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Last Music Together Class

2008-11-28T22:49:00.000-08:00

Last week, we had our last Music Together class for the fall season. Mommy and Sheri will definitely miss the fun we had during the class. Mommy managed to capture part of the lesson that we had last week so that Sheri can watch it in the future.

'Animal Bread' for tea-break

2008-11-19T21:56:00.000-08:00

Even though our little girl is a full fledged toddler now, she still has very strong liking for baby food. Apart from lunch and dinner, she still eats Gerber oatmeal cereals for breakfast and tea-break. Her favourite food for tea-break is banana puree mixed with milk and Gerber oatmeal cereals. For some unknown reason, she is not a big fan of bread even though mommy finds the bread here very tasty and has developed a strong liking for eating bread during breakfast after being overseas for all these years.

Nowadays, mommy is trying to introduce wholegrain bread into her diet. A few days ago, mommy bought some cookie cutters from the store, thinking that it might be a good idea to cut the bread into interesting shapes, which will hopefully arouse little girl's interest in eating it. Today, mommy decided to give the cookie cutters a try. After she woke up from her nap, she went scampering into the kitchen. Mommy told her that she was preparing 'animal bread' for her tea-break. The reason mommy used the phrase 'animal bread' was because I was trying to cut the bread into shapes of animals and since our little girl knows that cookies that are shaped like animals are called 'animal cookies', the phrase 'animal bread' will enable her to understand that she will be eating bread that are shaped like animals for tea-break. Mommy decorated the bread with peas, corns, crasins and cheese.

To my disappointment, our little girl could not tell mommy what those animals were on the plate. "Is my artistic skill so bad that she could not identify the animals?", mommy wondered deep down in her heart.

Anyway, she started by eating the peas, corns and crasins and she finished all of them except the bread. In order not to waste the bread, mommy torn the bread into small pieces and fed her bit by bit. She did finish eating all the bread in the end.

At this point of time, I can only conclude that cutting the bread into animal shapes only makes it more visually appealing, but I'm not too sure if it will sustain her interest in eating it. I guess mommy needs to look into getting some bread dippers or spreads. Hopefully, that will make it even more appealing to our little girl.

Homemade Blueberries muffins

2008-11-18T23:07:00.000-08:00

Daddy is a big fan of muffins, especially blueberries muffins. Last weekend, mommy decided to bake some for the family.

Like father, like daughter. Our little girl could not resist munching the muffins that were fresh from the oven.

Frankly speaking, mommy found the muffins to be too bland, but it did not seem to bother daddy at all. Greedy daddy ate most of it.

Family Hip Hop dance workshop

2008-11-18T22:18:00.000-08:00

Before we had our little girl, mommy and daddy had always wanted to take up a dance class together as a form of relaxation from our sedentary lifestyle, but we never had a chance to do so. Nowadays, it is even more difficult for us since we do not have any reliable babysitter with us. Thankfully, YMCA organises a family dance workshop on every second Friday of the month, so all of us can go together as a family.

So, here we are, at our first Hip Hop dance workshop. As usual, our little girl was the youngest participant in the class. Even though she was unable to follow the dance steps, we could see that she seemed to enjoy herself. Who cares! It's the fun that counts. It was a fun-filled evening for the whole family.

Thank you, daddy, for letting mommy put up the video!

A stubborn girl

2008-11-16T23:12:00.000-08:00

Sheri's personality is emerging everyday. As each day passes, she is becoming a more independent person with a mind of her own. Inevitably, this poses a new set of challenges as far as discipline is concerned.
Last week, mommy had a very unpleasant encounter with Sheri. It happened on one of the evenings when mommy was just resting on the sofa after dinner while daddy was still having his dinner at the dinning table. As all of you know by now, our little girl is an avid reader. She never fails to come to us with a book in her hand everyday, sometimes at the most inconvenient time. However, she has a bad habit of throwing the book at us at times and the book can hit us really hard as picture books are usually made of thick card boards. When she was much younger, we just gave her warnings and we usually do not pursue the matter further since she might be too young to realize her mistake. Nowadays, mommy feel that we should not condone her bad habit. So, when she threw the book at me when I was sitting at the sofa on that evening, I was very upset by her behaviour and wanted her to apologize immediately for her action. However, she refused to do so and started crying, hoping that mommy would give in to her this time.
Even though it pains me to see our little girl crying her hearts out, I know that I have to be firm with her in times like this that she is clearly trying to push her limits. I looked at her in her eyes and told her repeatedly that mommy would not read the book to her until she apologized. However, she refused to look at me directly, which clearly shows that she knew that she had done something wrong. Daddy who witnessed the whole affair also came to lend support to mommy, sending a clear and consistent message to our little girl that it's time we put an end to her bad habit of throwing books. It took her quite awhile for our little girl to say,'I'm sorry, mama', but she finally said it and I fulfilled my promise of reading the book to her. Looking back, I'm glad that I stood firm at that moment as our little girl does not throw the book at us from that day onwards. Mommy hopes that she will keep up her good behaviour.

Who is the snuggle puppy?

2008-11-14T23:22:00.001-08:00

Nowadays, there is no need to set the alarm clock at night because we have a walking alarm clock who never fails to wake us up in the morning. She is none other than our little girl. She never fails to wake us up in the morning between 6.30 am to 7.00 a.m.Poor mommy and daddy! There is no way we can laze around in bed as we used to in the past.
Ever since we got rid of the crib, she sleeps with mommy on a queen-sized bed while daddy enjoys the other queen-sized bed all by himself. Nowadays, the first thing she likes to do every morning when she wakes up is to crawl onto daddy's bed and snuggle with daddy. As a result, daddy calls her a 'snuggle puppy'. Usually, he will say to our little Sheri, "Snuggle puppy, Snuggle puppy, I love you." Recently, mommy also heard her saying that to daddy that as a wakeup call to daddy until he opens his eyes and responds to her.

Sunday morning walk at Berkeley Marina

2008-11-10T23:07:00.000-08:00

For some unknown reason, our little Sheri is very susceptible to having a runny nose ever since we moved here. Thankfully, she is still as bubbly as ever despite her runny nose. It is mommy who cannot stand the mess she is in whenever she starts rubbing her nose. So, mommy kept her at home for a couple of days, hoping that her runny nose would subside eventually. On Sunday morning, we could not resist bringing her out to breathe in some fresh air as the weather was too pleasant for us to stay indoor. It was sunny and cool. We took a walk at Berkeley Marina.

A unique statue that we saw on the pedestrian bridge from the Berkeley aquatics park to the Berkeley marina.

A hiking trail in the Eastshore State park.

Indulging in activities like bird watching can be a relaxing way to spend a Sunday morning.

A picturesque view of the yacht habor

A boathouse

It was a sunny and breezy morning. A perfect day for launching the sailboats.

A panoramic view of the San Francisco bay

Father and daughter kicking the ball in the park

Yummy! It's time for some homemade breakfast casserole.

All smiles after a hearty meal.

We also visited the Adventure Playground, which is very different from the usual playground that we see in the parks. There, children are encouraged to play and build creatively. They have the opportunity to design and build their own equipment.The concept for Adventure Playgrounds was originated in Europe after World War II, where a playground designer saw children playing in dirt and lumber from the post war rubble. He realized that children had the most fun designing and building their own equipment.

With this unique concept in mind, many of the structures in the playground are designed by kids and built using recycled building materials such as wooden planks, ropes and tires.

This is the area where we saw kids building their own equipment under the supervision of adults. Of course, our little girl is too young for this. Obviously, she was more interested in playing with the toy car that she found.

A good start to potty training

2008-11-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

Time flies. Our little Sheri is going to be two in this coming December. The next milestone that mommy hopes Sheri can achieve is be potty trained. With no one to turn to in this foreign country, we have learnt to be self-reliant in raising our little girl for the past two years.Thankfully, mommy has a very supportive mother whom she can seek advice from whenever she calls home.
With her encouragement, mommy started potty training when Sheri was 15 months. Frankly speaking, I did not expect much success in my first attempt. My initial goal at that time was to let her be accustomed to the idea of urinating in the potty without a diaper. This might sound trivial, but it was not easy. I had to keep her entertained at the potty so that she could sit on it for awhile. Being an avid reader, mommy just had to keep on reading books to her at the potty, so potty time also became a storytime during that time. Sometimes, we could sit there for hours, but she might not pee into the potty. After awhile, both mommy and Sheri just lost patience and it became a very stressful time for both of us. Forcing her to be potty trained when she is not ready may cause her to have unnecessary resentment against using the potty in the future. Thus, mommy decided to give it up for awhile. Since then, mommy has been seeking advice from other moms regarding potty training. Most of them advised me that I should start potty training only when she is two years old.
Just before we moved to Berkeley, mommy bought a training seat for our little Sheri to avoid the hassle of cleaning the potty and at the same time, bypass the transitional stage from the potty to the toilet seat. After settling down in Berkeley for almost two months, mommy decided to give it a try again using the training seat. Besides making the potty experience to be as fun and enjoyable as possible, I will applaud her achievement each time she is successful. The results has been very encouraging. Our little girl is now comfortable with idea of urinating into the toilet, and she will clap her hands and say the word 'yeah' whenever she is successful. That is certainly a good start to her potty training.
However, our little girl is still unable to convey her need to go to the potty even though mommy keeps reminding her to do so, so mommy has to make her sit on the toilet at appropriate times. I guess this is something that mommy needs to continue to work on it.

Halloween Carnival 2008

2008-11-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

On last Friday evening, mommy brought our little princess to the much awaited Halloween carnival. This carnival was specially organized by YMCA for kids who are from 0-3 years old. Undeniably, this was an excellent idea to let kids in this age group be involved in the Halloween celebration since they are probably too young to go door-to-door for trick-or-treat.

It has been very rainy these few days and mommy was very worried that she could not bring our little girl to the party. Fortunately, the rain stopped just in time for the party. Off we went!

Sheri: It's time to do some artwork on the pumpkin.

Mommy helped our little princess write her name on the pumpkin.

Sheri: How about putting some stickers on the pumpkin?

Apple bobbing is one of the traditional games associated with Halloween. Here is our little princess trying to fish a green apple in the tub.

Sheri: I got it. Here's my green apple!

There were also balls to keep the little kids entertained.

The 'Baby Gym' was also open on that day to let the little ones roam around.

Daddy came to join us later, just in time for a family shot at the pumpkin and haystack.

After all the fun and play, it's time to go home. We came home with a goodie bag from the carnival. The apples were fished by our little princess. Happy Halloween!

Music Togather during the Halloween week

2008-11-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

Knowing that our little girl would probably outgrow her Halloween costume very quickly, crazy mommy seized every opportunity in this week to put on her princess dress.

Here she is, attending her weekly 'Music Together' class in her princess dress. Usually, mommy does not want to take any pictures during the class because I do not wish to be too disruptive. However, I could not resist snapping a shot of her playing with the musical instrument, especially when she was wearing such a beautiful dress.

A not-so-spooky Halloween night at the library

2008-10-29T23:38:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my earlier post, Halloween falls on this coming Friday. Mommy and daddy did not have the chance to celebrate Halloween when we were young, so we thought it would be a good idea for Sheri to join the fun when she is here. Mommy has to confess that it was daddy who prompted mommy to get a Halloween costume for our little girl. This shows that daddy is still very concerned for Sheri even though he is very busy in his work. For the past few weeks, mommy was busy scouting for an appropriate Halloween outfit for Sheri, making sure that she has everything ready for our little girl before the start of the week. As for Sheri, I do not think she knows exactly what Halloween is all about, but we have been mentioning to her these few weeks that she is now able to say 'Halloween' and 'Tricks or treats' very well. Hopefully, she will have fond memories of her first 'Halloween' when she sees the pictures next time.

There are a couple of Halloween events in this week and the first one to kick start the week is the not-so-spooky night at the library. It is a story time, specially organized in conjunction with Halloween. We feasted our eyes on the different Halloween costumes that the kids were in. Our little girl also had the chance to debut her first Halloween outfit, complete with tiara and a necklace.

Happy Halloween, our little princess!

A Princess and a Toad. Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it?

A farewell kiss with the bear before we left. Goodnight!

Sheri's pet-Clifford, the red dog.

2008-10-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

As all of you know by now, our little Sheri is an animal lover. She loves to chase after dogs and pet them whenever we see them in the parks. One of her favourite toys at home is Clifford, the red dog. This was the present that her godmother gave her for her one year old birthday. She treats Clifford as a pet. She likes to pet and kiss him, and feed him with water occasionally.

This evening, mommy asked her to take Clifford out for a walk and off she went.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

2008-10-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

October is the month of Halloween and there are lots of pumpkins on sale now in the grocery store.

Halloween falls on this coming Friday, 31st . What could be a better way to kick start the week than to have some homemade pumpkin pies.

Mommy specially made six small pies for our little girl.

Sheri: Wow! So many pumpkin pies!

A sneak preview of our little girl's Halloween costume. Be sure to catch our little girl debut her first Halloween costume in the later posts!

Let's take one family shot before we dig in.

Sheri: It's time to sample mommy's pumpkin pie.

See how clownish our little girl looked when she ate the pie.

This is certainly a more graceful way of eating the pie. Keep it up, little girl!

Verdict time: Mommy's first homemade pumpkin pie seems to have passed the test. Our little Sheri finished eating all the filling in the pie. She just needed some help from mommy in digging the crust out.

Simple pleasures in life

2008-10-26T23:35:00.000-07:00

Often our lives are overwhelmed by our busy schedules. In the midst of our whirlwind of doing, we may overlook some of the simple pleasures that life can offer.
For that, Mommy is thankful of these simple pleasures that she indulges in.

1. Trying something new in the kitchen
Mommy loves the joy of whipping up a new dish in the kitchen. The feeling of anxiety in anticipation of a newly concocted dish is just therapeutic. Mommy's latest fad in the kitchen is casseroles.

This was the breakfast casserole that mommy prepared for daddy and Sheri last week. Casserole is a good way of sneaking in vegetables for our little girl even though she is not picky eater when it comes to vegetables. Her favourite is carrots, but she eats other vegetables like celery, mushrooms, corns and peas. However, she is not a big fan of red pepper and onions. So, mommy deliberately diced the red pepper and onions into small pieces and added them into the casserole. Guess what? Our little girl did not spit out the red pepper like she usually does.
Mommy also tried baking a shepherd's pie for the first time last week. Well, it turned out to be a big hit. Daddy and little Sheri swept out the dish cleanly. It does give mommy an immense sense of satisfaction when she sees her loved ones savoring the dish that she has specially prepared for them, to the last bit. Of course, there were times when things did not turn out the way I wanted, but I see it as an opportunity for me to improve on it the next time.

2. Accompanying Sheri through her 'Music Together' class
Mommy will bring Sheri to the Music Together' class at Live Oak Recreation Centre. There are about ten toddlers/babies in class and all of them have either their mommies and daddies with them. All of us will usually sit in a circle with our little ones on the lap. It is very interesting to see how our little girl responds to certain music in the class. Sometimes, she will just move to the centre and start dancing to the rhythm of the music without any hesitation. In fact, mommy has received positive feedback from the rest of the mommies that Sheri seems to enjoy the class very much.

3. Having a good workout
Nowadays, mommy tries to sneak out of the bed to go to the gym when our little girl is still fast asleep early in the morning on weekends. Thanks to daddy for taking care of our little girl during the weekends. I guess mommy really needs to take a break and take care of her own body too. So far, mommy has been quite disciplined for the past few weeks. Hopefully, mommy will be able to adhere to this arrangement as long as possible.

North Berkeley Spice of Life Festival

2008-10-20T23:14:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, we had the chance to witness the North Berkeley Spice of Life festival, which was held just along the street outside our apartment complex. This annual event aims to celebrate North Berkeley's landmark as a 'Gourmet Ghetto'. As a result, there were cooking demos and sampling by the East Bay's finest chefs, and gourmet food offerings from neighborhood restaurants throughout the festival. Besides catering to the food-lovers, there were also booths selling exquisite art and craft pieces, and offering mini-facials and massages.

Daddy kept himself entertained by getting a massage at one of the booths while Mommy found the nature sculpture project particularly interesting.

There were also activities for children ranging from a rock climbing wall, pony rides, farm animals, face painting to dance and composting activities.

Mommy was pleasantly surprised to see that Sheri lifted up a Hola hoop on herself even though nobody demonstrated it to her.

As usual, Sheri was so excited to pet the farm animals that she could not wait to get into cage the minute she saw them. Once she was in the cage, she was running all over the place busy petting the animals. Poor animals! Here comes an over-zealous child!

See how intimate she wanted to get with the goose! She wanted to kiss the goose at its beak and rear. Poor little goose!

A wonderful evening with Deanna

2008-10-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday evening, we invited Auntie Deanna to our place for dinner. Deanna is from Australia and she is working in the same group as Daddy. She has been a great help to us ever since we decided to move to Berkeley.

As a token of appreciation, daddy and mommy decided to whip out some Asian dishes for her. We had turkey dumplings served with ginger and vinegar, stir-fried bean sprouts and drunken prawns. Last but not least, what could be a more tasteful and delightful way to end a meal than a slice of homemade cheesecake that daddy had specially baked for Deanna. It was a combination with the fruit salad that Auntie Deanna had brought. The fruit salad was so refreshing with a wide variety of fruits that we could not resist a second helping.
It was also very thoughtful of Auntie Deanna to bring with her a bouquet of flowers, which had certainly helped brighten up the whole house. Perhaps, it's time for someone who buy a bouquet of flowers for mommy.

Thank you, Auntie Deanna for coming. We had a wonderful evening with you.

Positive feedback from the classes

2008-10-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

It has been a month since we arrived in Berkeley. Mommy has been busy shuttling our little girl to her classes. Frankly, these are not formal classes. They are mainly playgroups where kids can have all the fun and play.

Mommy and daddy are firm believers that learning can take place through all the fun and play. For instance, she learns how to interact with other kids in the 'Baby gym' by taking turns to play with the gym equipment.

During the circletime, she also learns how follow instructions and participate in group activities. I believe that all these are beneficial to her development as a person. Being the only child in the family, I do not want her to subscribe to the notion that she must always be the center of attraction everyday. She has to learn to accept the existence of other kids and conduct herself in a way that is appropriate.

In fact, she is showing some positive signs from the classes. There are a couple of occasions that she says 'Hi' to the residents that we met in our apartment complex even though we do not know them personally. From their reactions, I could tell that they were surprised by her friendliness and they could not help but smile at her. Yesterday, one man offered to open the door for us at the apartment lobby. Before I could say 'Thank you' to the man, Sheri blurted out the two words instantly. At that moment, I could not deny that I was very proud of the way she conducted herself. Hopefully, there will be more occasions like that in the future. From these instances, I can sense that she is learning how to engage and interact with other people in the society.

Nowadays, she also sings more often at home. Mommy was pleasantly surprised to hear her singing songs like the 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and 'ABCD'. Perhaps, it was because I did not have any recollection what I could do when I was at her age. I thought it was pretty amazing for a 21 months toddler to memorize the lyrics of the two songs that I mentioned earlier. A few days ago, we also witnessed her trying to create some background music for herself as she sings the 'ABCD' song by hitting an inverted bowl with a spoon. During last week's 'MusicTogether' clas, mommy also noticed that she stayed behind to play with electric organ that teacher was playing during the class while other kids were busy queuing up to collect stickers from the teacher. So, it seems that our little girl does show some interest in music or it may be because all kids have the natural inclination to music. Whatever it is, mommy hopes to continue to nurture in her an interest in music through all these classes.

UC Berkeley Campus

2008-10-10T22:50:00.001-07:00

After arriving in Berkeley for almost a month, mommy finally took some pictures in the campus.

The most charming part of the campus is the Sather Tower which is reputed to be UC Berkeley's most recognizable symbol

Mommy loves the tower because it is a campanile(a bell and clock tower). The bell was ringing when we took the picture. Somehow, it always gives me a sense of peace whenever I hear the bell ringing.
UC Berkeley is a large campus, so it is not easy to move around in the campus without getting lost. Thankfully, the tower has always served as a major point of orientation for us.
Mommy and Sheri chanced upon this big clock in front of a building. We were pleasantly surprised that it is still working fine.

The Berkeley's campus is characterized by diverse architecture which ranges from neoclassical to contemporary. One of mommy's favorites is the University Library, which is ranked as the top public university library in the nation.

UC Berkeley, being one of the top research Universities in Chemistry, has produced a lot of Noble Prize laureates. They even have a special parking lot for them. Pretty amazing, isn't it?

Is the Lewis Hall assoicated with the Lewis dot cross diagram that we studied in Chemistry? Yes, the Lewis Hall is named in honor of Gilbert Newton Lewis who introduced the Lewis diagram. He was a Professor of physical chemistry and dean of the Chemistry in UC Berkeley in 1912.

Similarly, the Hilderbrand Hall is also named after Joel Henry Hildebrand who is well-known for his work on solubility of non-electrolyte in UC Berkeley.

Parks near our apartment

2008-10-07T23:54:00.000-07:00

Before we came to Berkeley, we were a bit worried that there would be very few parks for Sheri to roam around. Fortunately, it turns that there are quite a number of parks and nature reserves in Berkeley that we have yet to explore. We have visited two of them that are within walking distances from our apartment complex over the past few weeks.

Cordornices Park opposite Rose Garden:
Ohlone park, which is about 15 minutes walk from our apartment complex:

An interesting 3-D structure that we saw at the park.