The Promising Young Chef!

For two days in a row, Sherilyn has been dishing out this cucumber onion omelette dish for breakfast for everyone and man I tell you, it was really delish! Even Alycia, who has always been critical of Sherilyn praised her for whipping up this delish omelette dish. There is no special ingredient used but the concoction of cucumber + onions in the egg mixture just made this simple egg dish very flavorful.





Ingredients that Sherilyn used:
1) Eggs
2) Cherry tomatoes
3) Small onions
4) Japanese cucumber
5) Fresh milk
6) Salt
7) Pepper
8) Mixed herbs
9) Cooking oil


Initially I was skeptical that she could handle everything on her own in the kitchen. But I have been really busy the past two weeks and had no time to supervise her in the kitchen, so I said yes to her when she asked me if she could make a special omlette dish for us. During my MIL's four-month long absence recently, Sherilyn has shown keen interest in learning the ropes of cooking. Whenever I cooked, she would stand next to me, observing. Sometimes I let her help me at the stove when my hands were all tied to something else.

 

Sherilyn is a very promising chef, despite her clumsiness. Thank God she did not cut her fingers while chopping the onions and cucumbers and did not burn her hands on the stove. All I can say is practice makes perfect!  Good job Sherilyn!

Teaching Sherilyn Money

One of the topics covered in Sherilyn's recent mid term exam for 6YO pre-schoolers is money, i.e. all the denominations, how to add up Ringgit note and sen and questions in comprehension format. The standard is equivalent to that of Primary 2 kids. I remember I had a hard time teaching Alycia 2 years ago. It's the same with Sherilyn now. I had to use real money to explain the concept to her, which I think helped her to understand better. Hmm, I wonder why the kindergarten teacher did not take the effort to ensure that all the kids understood before they tested them on this topic. I'll bet other kids had a tough time grasping the whole concept too.

During revision with Sherilyn, as usual the impatience in me made me blew my top when this rascal just could not get it right. Her attention span is very, very short and her mind is always wandering far away. My SIL from Singapore who was up in KL came to my rescue. Then my mum. At long last, she finally got it right with the help of 3 tutors. She scored a 96% for her Math!

... and little nosy parker wants to be involved in all her jie jies' activities too!

My Little Ballerina

Sherilyn will be sitting for her primary ballet exam on Monday next week. She had already attended 2 trial exams over the past 1 month. She is also practicing pretty hard at home, with lots of cheers and encouragement from everyone at home... which she really enjoys getting. This fella seems to enjoy lotsa attention given to her!

My little ballerina in action...

Next Malaysian Idol Competitor?

Sherilyn took part in a talent time competition at her pre-school last Saturday. The talent time competition was held after the pre-school's sports day event. Everyone in the family went to the pre-school to watch her participate and to give her moral support - hubs, Alycia, Baby, kakak and even my brother and sil from Singapore.

Sherilyn in action belting out "I Went To School One Morning", complete with actions.

Though the judge (from another school) did not select her as the top 3 winners in the 6-year old category, she was however chosen by her principal and teachers to represent the pre-school in an inter-school talent time competition, to be held on 13 June, judging on her good vocal chord, clarity of her words when she sang and confidence. However, this fella is refusing to take part in the inter-school competition, reason being her other 2 classmates also refused to partake, sigh! However, after some coaxing, she is now relenting and is slowly agreeing to partake. Well, we shall see her mood and what the school principal says next week. IF she emerges the top 3 winner in this competition, she will partake in an international talent time competition to be held at Genting Highlands! Well, who knows my princess wannabe will be a future Malaysian Idol competitor!

Sherilyn's Achievement

She may not be as disciplined as her jie jie and I need loads and loads of threats, bribe and reminders to get her to memorize her weekly spelling, ejaan and ting xie. But at least, she has been scoring full marks for all her ting xie, ejaan and spelling every week and I am proud of her. Nonetheless, I am still very worried how my rascal will cope in Primary 1 in a Chinese school next year. Hopefully the tough environment and Chinese teachings will shape her into a better disciplined and obedient kid. And I am slowly but surely turning into Amy Chuah aka Tiger Mother, else this rascal will be a wayward child.

Sherilyn's First Spelling

Sherilyn had her very first spelling yesterday. To my surprise, this girl came home and told me that she got a yellow star from her teacher for scoring full marks. Bravo to you Sherilyn!

It took lots of threats and reminders from me on this rascal for her to memorize her words. And I have to do this for the next few years.... almost everyday of the year for spelling, ejaan and ting xie. Gosh, my hair will shed further having to go through this!! After Sherilyn comes Cassandra who will start pre school next year. That's one of the throes of motherhood!

English For 5-Year Olds

I was doing revision with Sherilyn last week to prepare her for her exam and when I came to the Collective Nouns for animals, I was amazed to note that the 5-year olds in her pre school are taught these:

I am sure some of us don't even know the collective noun for goose, horse and whales eh? And I am amazed that my rascal could remember all the collective nouns here.

Yesterday I collected Sher's report card from pre-school. She scored 90% and above for all her papers. I am very proud of her. I hope she will continue to produce As for her papers next year, which will be her last year in kindy. But I'm worried how she will cope in a Chinese primary school given her dilly dally attitude. I hope she'll change.

Totally Diaper-Free Now

Finally, the long awaited day arrived 3 days ago when Sherilyn went diaper-free at night, at 4 years 9 months old. I know it's a tad late for her as I have been too lazy to wake up at night to bring her to the loo to pee. I just let nature take its course and I knew that she will be ready on her own. Actually, she has been resisting wearing a diaper at night quite some time back but after a few pee accidents, I didn't want to take the risk ... so I forced her to wear a diaper to sleep at night. And actually I wasn't ready yet to let her go diaperless at night so soon but my maid and I had forgotten to put on the diaper for her 3 nights ago. But the following morning she woke up and happily announced "mummy, I didn't shee shee in my diaper!" That one successful night turned into another, then another and yesterday was the 3rd night she was diaper-free. I am so happy coz this means hubs can save the money to buy diapers for Baby!


See how samseng and unlady-like this rascal is here!

Weaning Sherilyn Off Diapers During Nap Time

As I had expected, it has been really difficult to wean Sherilyn off diapers during the afternoon nap. I had a tough time potty-training her when she was 2 yo. For Alycia, it was a breeze potty-training her and weaning her off diapers, both during nap time and night time. It was also very easy to wean Alycia off the pacifier and it only took her 3-4 days to get over her pacifier.

With Sherilyn, it's tough. The first day, there wasn't any pee accident. Second day, she peed in her pants. Third day, she wore diaper to nap. The fourth day, no pee accident. Fifth day, pee accident again ..... and she would pee in her pants every other day though I had made sure she peed before she napped. She even peed in her pants half an hour after she had peed in the toilet. It's already 2 weeks since I ditched the diaper but she's still peeing in her pants during her nap. Many times I just felt like giving up and just put her on the diaper but I keep telling myself that I should not regress but should put in a little more effort. If I give up, both of us would have to go back to square one and start all over again. Hopefully over time, Sher would have learnt to control her bladder even during her sleep. Oh gawd, it's so tiring having to train Sher and take care of an extra clingy baby.... a baby whom I have to ensure that her diaper is changed after every pee to prevent another UTI. God help me please!!

Sherilyn's First Day Of Pre-School

That's Sherilyn on her first day of pre-school yesterday. Sherilyn and Alycia have polar opposites in terms of their character and disposition. While Alycia cried for 3 days straight on her 1st day of school last year, Sher who was very well prepared for school, having had followed daddy in the car ride to bring cheh cheh to school every morning for the past 1.5 years was very upbeat and excited. She showed no fear or separation anxiety but treated the school like her second home and even cheered up other kids who cried! I did not even accompany her to school as I had to stay home with Baby C. Daddy just brought her into her class, snapped some pix of her in her classsroom and left. Her teacher said she is really outgoing and demanding too.

Sherilyn with Alycia at the porch of the pre-school.

Sherilyn in her classroom. She's the most outgoing kid in her class.

Sherilyn Is Finally Eating Meat!

I can't believe that Sherilyn is starting to like to eat meat. Last week I bought a Terriyaki roast chicken for dinner from Jaya Jusco @ Mid Valley. I did not intend to let Sherilyn try the chicken as she has never liked chicken meat. While we were all eating the roast chicken with rice for dinner, Sherilyn who was eating sandwiches asked to try the chicken since she saw her cheh cheh enjoying the chicken. Sherilyn has a tendency to follow her cheh cheh Alycia in everything that she says and does, most of the time. So I gave her a small piece of chicken, but nope, Sherilyn wanted a bigger piece.... and I gave in. I was surprised that she loved the chicken and kept asking for more and more! I found out that Sherilyn actually loves to eat meat that is very well marinated, i.e. salty and sweet and not too tough for her to swallow. Since that day, I have been introducing meat to her every now and then and so far, she's been accepting the meat, provided they are coated with lots of sauce.

Alycia and Sherilyn attacking and savouring the Terriyaki roast chicken.

Sherilyn's 3rd Birthday Dinner

Read more about Sherilyn's 3rd birthday dinner here.

Happy Birthday Sherilyn

Happy birthday Sherilyn. Today you're 3 years old. Time really flies when everyone is having fun. In a little less than 2 months, you will soon be a cheh cheh (big sister) to your baby sister. Mummy and Daddy wish you good health, happiness and long life. May you be obedient to mummy and not so naughty.


If you read this post when you're old enough to know how to read, you will see how naughty you have been. You have always caused mummy heart attacks and heart stopping moments with your stunts and accidents. You never seem to fear pain and danger though you had many minor bloody accidents. 2 days ago, you broke your forehead when you climbed on cheh cheh Alycia's back for a piggy ride, fell and whacked your forehead on the sharp side of the wall. Blood was everywhere on your face and you scared mummy who was 7 months pregnant out of her wits.


Mummy and daddy love you from the bottom of our hearts Sherilyn. May God watch over you always and happy 3rd birthday.

You can read more on Sherilyn's birth here.

Good Habits Are Never Too Early To Instill

From young, I've instilled a reading habit in the gals. I normally read to them when they are seated on the potty or on the dining table. Now, Sherilyn always asks for her favorite Dr Seuss mini flip-the-flap books or nursery rhymes books whenever she sits on her potty to do her big poopie business. When I have time, I will read to her, else she will read the books herself.

Art of Eating

Alycia and Sherilyn have mastered using the knife and fork and they would insist to use them whenever we eat Western food. When we eat Chinese food, they would also insist on using the chopsticks but they still have to fine-tune their chopsticks skills before they can eat at a faster pace.

But Sherilyn still causes quite a mess when it comes to feeding herself. She tends to have butter fingers. Blame it on mummy too coz she treats her too much like a baby.


Alycia does not even need mummy or kakak to feed her now. She can independently eat on her own now.

Sherilyn's 1st Attempt On Stage

For days, I have been 'brainwashing' Sherilyn's mind, telling her that she has to go up the stage on Sunday and say "Merry Christmas pastor", put on a big smile and she will get a big pressie from the Sunday School teacher for doing that. I was very worried that she would chicken out at the eleventh hour due to stage fright but thank God, she gladly went up the stage and presented the Christmas pressie to the pastor. I could not hear her say "merry christmas pastor" though as there wasn't any mic but when she came down, she said the pastor said 'thank you' to her when she said "merry christmas pastor". I am so proud of Sherilyn for her courage despite her age.




The Sunday School teacher walking Sherilyn down the stage as Sherilyn was smiling away, so cute!

Sherilyn Loves Books

Yes she does and when I'm busy, she will choose her favorite books and 'reads' them to herself. Not that she can recognize the words but she can memorize the pages quite well. Sherilyn has longer and better attention span than Alycia and her interest in books and writing are also stronger than Alycia.

Sherilyn Is Going To School Next Year

Daddy has always wanted to let Sherilyn attend pre-school but I'm the one who's not so keen. First, I am worried that she might fall sick just as frequently as Alycia. Secondly, I can teach her at home and since she's very much a social butterfly, she doesn't need as much exposure to people as Alycia. Thirdly, it's costly, i.e. at around RM300 per month on average. But since she loves school so much and has been following daddy to bring Alycia to school every single morning, daddy feels that his second princess should be given equal opportunity as the first princess to attend school.

Today, I was really taken by surprise when he told the principal that he is registering Sherilyn for school in January next year. He even asked the principal to let Sherilyn try on the school uniform. So I guess next year, both my gals will be attending school. Sherilyn was grinning from cheek to cheek trying on the uniform and she was hopping and skipping in the school with joy and calling out to the teachers.

Sherilyn Can Pump A Balloon

Yup, my brat can now pump a balloon on her own. Sherilyn has a 'never give up' attitude, just like mummy! And very stubborn too, just like mummy! When she wants to learn something, she will try and try until she gets it, just like pumping this balloon. Both kakak and mummy were too busy to entertain her, so she sat on the chair and spent close to 20 minutes trying to inflate the balloon with a pump and she did it - she got a big bright yellow kitty balloon!

Sherilyn Writes Really Well!

Sherilyn's letter tracing skill has improved by leaps and bounds over the last 2 weeks. She can now trace the letters of the alphabet and numbers really straight and in the correct order of strokes and she can also write random letters of the alphabet on her own. I'm really proud of my baby!