Happy "Niu" Year!

Chinese New Year for us this year was very much a family affair. We welcomed in the year of the Ox with a steamboat dinner at home, which was just perfect for a cold winter's night. And of course Yee Sang was a must have, imported all the way from Harp Kei in Seremban. Over the next few days, we continued the festivities with even more yummy meals with family and good friends.

CNY celebrations started off with lots of fun activities at school for Ryan. Each day he came home with his art master pieces, as well as CNY themed songs. The highlight for the Woodlands children was their CNY party. They had been told that a "lion" would be coming to school so Ryan was waiting in great anticipation for the day. 

Special handmade CNY decorations

Shakin' it up at the Woodlands CNY Party - Star Bears Kiddies

Can't you tell that this little boy loves his food as much as his Mama :)

Lion Dance Performance at the school - they did an excellent job teaching the kids about the instruments, music, and "dance" movements

Just a little too loud you think?

Shopping for seafood for our CNY Eve dinner at Sai Kung - how much fresher can it get?

Vegetables galore at Sai Kung 

"Shall we get some chesnuts too?"

Good luck "kat chai" trees

"Lou Hei" and steamboat reunion dinner with our parents and my cousin's family

Since both my parents and Shad's parents were here to celebrate CNY with us this year, we decided to start a new family tradition for Ryan and Mia. We had a litle tea ceremony on the morning of "Chor Yat" (first day). Ryan was fascinated by it and thought it was great fun to serve tea and then be rewarded with red packets. Hope he doesn't expect this next time he gets me a cup of tea! 

Mama, Daddy, Ryan and Mia

"Lou Hei"again! Dinner on the first day of CNY with my parents, Alex and Deanna

The main star of our dinner - "Pun Choy"! Looks a little plasticky? Well, it is. This is the wax version at the HK Museum of History. I was so busy eating that I forgot to take a pic of the real thing :)

Traditional "poster" of the upcoming "tai hei" performance. 

Lion dance in Sai Kung

What a feast of red packets!

Kong Hei Fatt Choy Everyone!

New Faces

We've had two months of "family time" since Mia was born. First my parents were here followed by Shad's parents and brothers. Mia has met all four of her grandparents and both her Jek-Jeks (paternal uncles), now we just need to have Karen, Alan and the kids, and Tania come visit then this "Meet the Family" cycle will be complete :)

This holiday was a special time for Shad's family because we not only celebrated Mia's arrival but we'd also planned a belated celebration for my father-in-law's 60th birthday. Jason and Roger flew in to Hong Kong on the quiet, and the look of surprise on their parents' faces when they saw them that night was priceless. We had a second laugh the following morning at the confused look on Ryan's face when he walked into the livingroom and saw his uncles sleeping there. We hadn't told him that they were coming because our little friend still can't keep secrets!  

Mia - One month and six days old

Kiddies with Ah Kong and Ah Ma

Meet the Jek-Jeks

Dinner at Aqua to celebrate Dad's 60th

Deelicious!

Three Monkeys

Fancy a Ryan cocktail anyone?

Mmm... what could they be thinking about - just look at their eyes!

"Who's Ryan?" Spot the imposters (Story behind this pic - Ryan has a birthmark on the right side of his tummy, incredibly Mama also has a mark at the exact same spot)

Lunch by the beach on a beautiful winter's day

Well... at least those school fees are coming to good use! Actually the only thing Ryan wrote were the squiggles around his name :)

Kite flying at Shek O beach

Little scaredy cat using Ah Kong as a shield from the incoming kite

Remember these from our childhood days? Amazingly they still sell them now.

Buffet lunch at Cafe Too

Chocolate Art

Ngam Family Portrait

Paddling on Inspiration Lake

Full Moon

The days just fly by now. Mia will be seven weeks old in a couple of days. We had a belated Full Moon celebration for her on 4 Jan with some family and close friends. This day was all the more special as we had both sets of grandparents with us.

Our little Miss Chubby now weighs 3.5kg. Yay!!! Quite an achievement given how small she was at birth, a mere 2.39kg. She's growing so quickly that she's truly lost that new born look.

My days are now taken up with feeding, changing nappies, as well as trying to keep the same routine for Ryan as before. I now can appreciate what other mothers mean when they say that with the second child, there's really no such thing as a fixed routine. Unlike Ryan who had a very fixed schedule for nap times, poor Mia just gets dragged along in the pram regardless of whether she's awake or in the middle of a nap, when I have to go pick Ryan up from school or take him to his taekwondo lessons etc. But I have to say, she's handling it like a champ. She seems to sleep through just about anything, waking up only when she's hungry or uncomfortable.

Where it all began...

6 weeks later...

And now we are four :)

Family table - enjoying the Peking duck

Good friends and good food

Girlie talk with Aunty Dee

The Patersons meeting Mia

Uncle Peter getting a little clucky ;)

Ryan and Nic enjoying their own little dessert buffet

Keeping the kids occupied while the adults enjoy the food and company

 

We're missing two here!

Three cheeky monkeys

Sweating it out on the playground

Three generations of Hans and Ngams