Growing up with Kayden, Tristan & Reanne: Thankful for a great 2015

There has been so much joy and sunshine in the family with baby Reanne's presence! Adults speaking in cutesy gibberish, the tone and pitch of voice used was cheery and higher than usual and everyone seem to be tickled by and cheered by her little developments and antics. We have all missed the presence of a baby in the household so much without knowing it and so blessed are we to have her in the family.

The boys are growing up and maturing fast too. Friends or relatives who have not seen them for a while have commented that they have grown so much and have got the big boy look on them (especially K) already! As a big brother for the first time, T is doing really well as he tries his best to coax, rock and cheer his little sister up when he is called upon and will shower her with impromptu hugs and kisses too. K has no problem assuming the role of the big brother to the youngest ones as it is part of his personality and he has been trying to be helpful around the house as much as he could.

We have documented the growth and development of baby R diligently as we know how fast babies grow and are so glad that we managed to keep up with the records despite everything else.

For the boys, they have definitely grown in height and appetite, especially K! He continues to amaze us with the amount of food he could consume in 1 sitting. But, his weight has been under control as he had to for the sake of his sparring competitions. While he excels in his taekwondo and makes good progress with his violin, he needs to put in more effort in controlling his anger and more effort should also be channeled to his studies as his results have slipped this year. T is catching with K in terms of height and friendly neighbours and strangers are still asking if the boys are twins. He is progressing well in taekwondo too and enjoying the training sessions. He practices about 5-6 times weekly on the piano and is still his enjoying lessons at Yamaha though many of his friends have dropped out of class this year. T has put in a good amount of effort this year in his studies too and his efforts have paid off. We were so proud of him when his Edusave Certificate of Academic Achievement came through the mail in early December. We hope the achievement will boost his confidence and motivate him to fulfill his 2016 resolutions to be more responsible and careful as he starts P2.

We have been bonding as a family of 5 during the past 2 weeks, not without porpor's help of couse, as Sujiah has been on home leave since 21st Dec. Although we are looking forward to her return tomorrow evening, we have enjoyed these 2 weeks tremendously as we fuss over baby, clean the house, complete the chores, hang out together and brainstorm about food choices during the chef's absence. We were out most of the time and at some point, we even ran out of out ideas of where to go! As we ready ourselves for school and work on monday, we are hoping for a smooth sailing year ahead where everyone stays health and our days are filled with lots of sunshine even if there is the occasional rain!