Happy 5th birthday, Emmalyn!

It has been a year of learning - learning to be a big sister, learning to be a preschooler!

14 months into her role as a big sister, I'm so thankful that things are working out very well between both of them. Praying hard that they keep it this way!!! Every other day, Emma still say "I love you, mei mei" and "mei mei, you're so cute". Lots of hugs and kisses! Just yesterday, she said she's her best present. Awww~ They are in the same centre but different classes thus they don't get to meet each other in the day. Teacher shared that there was once Emma bumped into Avalyn's class at their "outings" and she ran towards her to give her a tight hug as if they didn't meet for days. How sweet! Honestly, Emma's overly passionate, sometimes too rough and careless, towards Avalyn. She would even carry Avalyn over a distance though sometimes accidentally knocked her down. She helps to take care of Avalyn and even feed her snacks. From witnessing Avalyn's milestone to celebrating her growth, Emma has been so involved. It has been a great joy to watch the sisters grow up together. 

Another 1 year and 4 months to get her ready for primary school! 

Entering K1 marks Emma'a new phase of learning. Her current teachers are more strict and focused more on lesson proper & discipline to prepare the children for primary school. While I was worried to kill her interest to learn, I'm thankful that she took all with great stride and made good improvements. Just a year ago, she was still struggling with her alphabets but now, she's writing/copying phrases. She has also progressed from drawing stick men to detailed drawing. She still needs to work on her reading! She talks like a big adult, more in English than mandarin. On some nights, she even asked to be the one praying. 

At the start of K1, her teachers told us that Emma's foundation was weak and we should actually start to drill basics when she was at PG2. Enrichment classes and homelearning. Honestly, we really left the proper learning in the good hands of the school and just did the fun stuff as that was what I could cope with while expecting Avalyn. But I guess, K1 is still a good time to do learning proper while developing the creativity, curiosity and confidence. We spent slightly more time but still keeping it light and fun. 8 months into ballet and Kuno Methods, and she's still enjoying her classes. She's now exploring English and music instrument. She's also in the church children choir since 3 years old! I believe in exposing her to various learning, to unleash her hidden potential. Of course, only if she's interested, opens to it and enjoys it!

A year went by and she's still her usual reserved yet sociable and cheerful self. But, we saw a different side of Emma last Saturday. She's rode the bumper car like a real Vanellope - fun-loving and fearless. At the end of her party, she was totally sugar rushed. She burst countless of balloons with a pen. Here comes our preschooler! She surely getting more brave and confident. These days, we let her play independently with her friends in confined area (eg. at church) by herself. Just recently, I had a 40 mins nap with Emma, who refused to nap, drawing by my side quietly. 

While she's mostly manageable, she always have a mind about sleep, clothes, shoes, food and TV or maybe on almost everything - sometimes unreasonable ones. We don't cane, so there are lots of chasing, explanations, nagging, negotiation, scolding and sometimes spanking.

Besides playing with Avalyn, Emma enjoys drawing, writing and watching shows! She likes to play with dolls, baby and cooking. She's active, enjoys water play and playing around with her friends. Still no TV on weekdays, so she gets to watch Netflix and YouTube on the weekends. Now that she's able to understand the shows better, it's more fun to let her watch plays and movies! After watching Incredible 2, she insisted to grow her fringe as she wants to be like Violet. Thus, her super long fringe. 

She loves outings and we conquered zoo, river safari, bird park and night safari last year! We also traveled to JB for church retreat and Bangkok! Traveling with the little ones are fun but tiring, especially when Emma need Daddy to carry her a lot in Bangkok. 

She's eating a greater variety of food but still in very small portions. Thankfully, she loves her fruits so much that her teacher asked her said she should join apple eating competition. She has been refusing naps and skips them quite a lot. Even without naps, she can last till 10pm or so. On normal days, she would roll from 9ish till 10pm. At times, we would just let her sleep later so that it takes shorter time for her to fall into sleep.

On her last birthday, Emma had her ear pierced but one of them dropped off when she took out her clothes at school. Her ear loop was slightly bruised and the hole just closed up within half a day. So, this girl has been living with just a hello kitty earring for most of the past one year. Thought it was unique but we should really find some time to pierce another hole for her! Haha!

It has been a really fast and furious year as our family adjust to our new bundle of joy! I give thanks for God's blessings, protection and provision. It's definitely not a challenging year for all of us, but I'm thankful that it has been a very fruitful one. I pray that Emma will grow up to be a more faithful, sensible and bright girl. May we have more wisdom and strength to parent a preschooler and toddler in the coming year! 

Happy 5th birthday, Emmalyn! 

And, cheers to us for pulling through 5 years of parenthood, by God's grace!