你会说中文吗？

I've officially become the mandarin speaking parent. It is something mountain man and I have decided to implement after realizing that our son can't really speak mandarin beyond the basic survival language such as niao-niao (which arguably isn't even real Chinese) and 我肚子饿（I'm hungry), 我要棒棒糖 (I want lollipop). I feel he can do better ("growl" says the tiger mom).

Frankly I'm having a bit of trouble switching because I have limited Chinese vocab, and the brain doesn't think in Chinese so my reaction is a lot slower. Mountain boy is also getting used to the transition because he is normally rather chatty but now he just goes "uhm" when spoken to in Chinese. Also when he has his meltdowns he gets more frustrated because he can't express himself that well in the new tongue. I usually just tell him to speak in English in those instances and hopefully in time he can convert.

But I have to say that kids learn fast. It's week 1 of Chinese immersion and already I feel that mountain boy is a lot more confident in forming Chinese sentences, and he can recognize quite a number of Chinese characters. Attaboy!

Sent from my iPhone

Spring Cupcakes

White chocolate cupcakes w chocolate buttercream. I'm quite happy with some of the piping. I've been googling tutorials online I think for a first I did ok. But im not a fan of regular buttercream I think I'll stick to dark chocolate frosting in the future.

Sleeping beauty

Are you done with your growth spurt yet? Mommy needs her beauty sleep stop waking up at night.

Daddy's girl

Bake sale for charity

I've never done a bake sale. Made this beautiful oatmeal cookies again I hope they will run out. I also invested (with mountain mans money of course) some moolah to sell fresh juice but it seems that my driver bought too many fruits so I don't know if I'll be able to sell it all. Let's hope tomorrow will be sunny and bright, even though the weather report says cloudy.

Boot camp baby

The insurance card for Lilybuff was finally sorted out last week so i took Lily to her 2nd check-up at 5 months! I was called "relaxed" by the pd but I think she was being polite.

Anyway at 5 months, her fine motor skills are pretty good. Emotional development on track. But she is not rolling over! I admit that I dont want her to be too active like her brother because he has gotten into so many accidents, but after being called fat and lazy (though not in the same sentence) in one check-up, it's time to take matters into my own hands.

I am going to start her on swimming twice a week. And at least 1-2hrs of tummy time each day. It's gonna involve a lot of cheering and clapping but hell she better shape up before her 6th month check up!

Weaves piping

Tennis again

Sporty is not a word often used to describe me. I don't hate exercise, I just never really excelled in anything sports related. I swim really slow, I run slower than a tortoise, I close eyes when a ball is coming at me, and my aim is bad, like seriously.

Ive been playing tennis for 20 over years. It's a sport I enjoy but only for leisure. I used to play tennis for the school, but frankly I rather get benched because I clam up during tournaments it's very very embarrassing. When I was in junior college I decided to quit tennis because I couldn't take the pressure. It wasn't the long hours of training, or how hard it was on my body. It was my pride that couldn't bear losing another tournament and letting my teammates down.

Anyway, now that mountain boy goes to school I can spare some time during the day, just 1 hr a week to play and practice. Hopefully it's something mountain man can pick up so we can play together when we grow old.

Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

I combined the regular Hershey's cupcakes recipe with carrot top moms kickass cream cheese frosting. Very yummy!

Delicious as it is, I have a complaint about the Hershey cupcake recipe. The batter is quite thin so cupcakes don't rise evenly. Recipe works better as a regular cake.

You are my sunshine

She has the kind of smile that makes you smile with her. I'm so crazy about her right now.

The day he got slapped

Some of you may know that I am a huge advocate of PET (Parent Effectiveness Training). The PET method mostly requires a lot of active listening, discussing, problem solving, consulting, all the sugar, spice, and everything nice. No form of corporal punishment should be used under any circumstances, you just talk things out.

BUT.

As with most things theoretical, it can also be impractical.

Mountain Boy is quite a passionate and boisterous boy. Sometimes he expresses himself through rather physical methods such as punching and kicking (inanimate objects mostly). It's not uncommon and i do encourage him to release this energy. But what I am most worried about is when he lays his hands on Lilybuff, it happened before. Potentially he thinks it's fun, but mostly he does it to get our attention. I've taught him and he knows he can simply say "Mama/Daddy look at me" when he feels that he is not getting enough airtime from us. But kids being kids, they have a memory capacity no bigger than a goldfish.

I live in a household where the adult to child ratio is 1:1. The nanny and I have to take turns to do stuff so at least one of is keeping an eye on the children. But sometimes this system lapses and the kids will be left on their own for seconds or even minutes during the day. Panic always hits me whenever i realize that no one is supervising them.

So in my desperate need for Mountain Boy to understand why physical abuse is bad, i've rationalized the used of corporal punishment at home, limited to only when Mountain Boy hits Lilybuff. In fact, Mountain Man delivered the first sentence, he hit Mountain Boy's knuckles with his drum stick. OUCH.

Yesterday on our way home from school, Mountain Boy decided to see if I would react by slapping me in the face. My blood temperature started boiling immediately and i asked if he wanted to know what it was like to be slapped, he defiantly replied "YES!". I explained that it was extremely painful and i felt hurt. Of course i didn't proceed to slap him but i might as well have because the first thing he did when he saw Lilybuff was to slap her in the face. Ooh that got my attention alright. I told him that he hurt his sister and that i was going to slap him (yes i warned him first). Again he said "YES!", so i did. I gave him a good one like i've been a professional slapper all my life. He bawled. The right side of his cheek was glowing for a while.

After the incident I didn't even feel bad, or rather I didn't think I should feel bad. Could I have slapped him somewhere other than the face? No because it's so much more painful to be slapped on the face! Could I have slapped him less hard? No because if it didn't hurt then i'd be wasting this whole experience wouldn't i? I told myself that the punishment fit the crime.

But after stewing on it for a few more hours, I can't help but question if I've negatively demonstrated that violence is the answer to violence. Since implementing corporal punishment at home, did the incidences of physical abuse decrease because he understands that physical abuse is bad, or is he just afraid to hit others because I'm there, but what if i'm not there? Of course we talked about the slap. I explained that I didn't want to hit him but i had to because i wanted to show him that it was painful.

Frankly I admit that i'm still new at this. Mountain Boy if you're reading down the road and still remember how Mom slapped you, i really didn't want to do it. =(

Fun with photobooth

When stars have no stylists...

It's late and internet connection is retarded so i'll be short. 

Geri Halliwell ( aka Ginger Spice)

Wait? What's wrong with this she looks adorable!!

Ohk.. Once a spice girl not always a spice girl. 

Multiple offender Anne Hathaway. She has such a tragic street style i just want to dig my eyes out.

And one would think stripes is supposed to be slimming!

I double checked. She was not on set. I'd gladly be proven wrong. 

Something Savoury

I call it Cami's scrolls after my friend who introduced it to me. Recipe coming right up!

Second kid

Mountain boy never saw the tv till 13months. Lily is already watching Ghost Protocol at 4 mths!

Fresh strawberries

Loves shrek toy

Funny story... Mountain man and boy went back to singapore for a week and the father came home empty handed for his little girl save for this free shrek head from SIA. Looks quite ugly but she chuckles whenever she sees it! Love her laughter.