Primary One

I'm joining in the bandwagon to blog about Brendan's first day of school.

He managed well, having two of his friends from kindergarten in the same class and a few other friends in other classes. The teachers in the kindergarten has prepared him well for primary school, just like the principal has promised.

Brendan was surprisingly quite enthusiast about going to school. I met a mummy friend I know from a mummies group whose daughter is also studying there. I also bumped into a client and a few neighbours whose kids are also studying there. It's such a small world to know some people in the school.

Things were so different back then when I was in primary one. I remember playing and playing only, and I had wonderful teachers who were extremely experienced in teaching. Nowadays, we have to be careful of our kids' well-being and all.

I've put Brendan on the school's food programme at RM80 for two months. Don't think I can prepare food for him everyday and decided to go ahead with the food programme which have quite different variety of food every single day, inclusive of a drink. Brendan takes his lunch at 11am which means by recess time he'll be so hungry that he'll chomp down on his food. He only reaches home at 7:30pm which means he'll be hungry.

It's the start of the year and big challenges are coming ahead. Get ready to rock-and-roll!

A decade in pictures

Some fond memories of my kids from the time Brendan was born in October 2003, followed by Eryn in June 2005. I'm getting older.....

Brendan proved to be quite an alert baby but was quite a difficult baby to take care as he tends to wake up at night and cry. He started speaking a little later though, compared to Eryn who would start speaking at age 1.

Brendan was under the care of my mum in Johor and I used to travelled every weekend to see him from KL to Johor, transporting frozen breasmilk in a cooler box in the KL-Johor bus. The breastmilk stopped at around 6 months and I continued my weekend visit, travelling alone most of the time as hubby was busy working until I was 8 months pregnant with Eryn. Brendan is actually quite a matured kid for his age, but can be quite mischiveous when he's with his maternal grandparents or his little sister.

Eryn was a very smiley baby and was so much easier to care for. Eryn was under my care and with the help of a maid, it was time for Brendan to be up in KL together with us as a family. I'm so grateful to my parents for their great commitment in taking care of Brendan in the first one and half years. Eryn was lucky to be breastfed until one year old, before supplementing with formula partially until age two where she only suckle at night.

Eryn can be quite cheeky and is quite a messy girl, compared to Brendan. She started walking at 10 and a half months, compared to Brendan who started walking at 12 months plus. She loves posing and can really dance so naturally with her soft body movement.

Together, Brendan and Eryn makes a perfect sibling companion, playing masak-masak together, toy cars, combat, and many more. However, sibling rivalry is always there. It's always a case of 'I first, you second' or 'He/She disturbed me', or 'This is mine, not yours', etc.. Well, you get the idea.

A decade has passed and it has been an interesting one, with the birth of my two beautiful children, a great gift from above. They stressed me up, I screamed at them, they whine and fight, but they're still my love and my sunshine and their surprises never fail to bring a rainbow on after a rainy day.

Happy New Year 2010!

It's a brand new year and we are now moving into a new phase as Brendan is entering standard one and I'm starting all our in a career that will be me more time for me and my family. Life is getting interesting.

We didn't celebrate new year eve in a grand manner but went to join our housing area's New Year Eve party, organised by the residents and the association on top of the hill overlooking the township, with tons and tons of hawker food available, and lots of prizes for lucky draw. There were performances by a lion dance troupe, a cheerleading group from some secondary school, lots of other performances including a singing group from some club. Great night and beautiful fireworks at the hilltop and the surrounding township at the stroke of midnight.

We also chose not to have hawker food at the residents' party and opt for our small family dinner at Sakae Sushi and for the kids, it was something fun and interesting, as long as they get to jalan-jalan, as usual.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010! May this year bring you lots of wealth, health and joy!

School Orientation

It was Brendan's school orientation yesterday morning. He took it very well and was pleased to have two or three of his kindy friends in his class as well as a few other kindy friends in other classes. The demand for the school is so high that there are 8 classes consisting of 50 students each and the headmaster was announcing that he'll stretch it to 11 classes.

We have opted for a chinese school. Though I didn't like the idea of sending him to a chinese school, I had to change my mind after scouting around for a kebangsaan school which really pulled my confidence down with the standard of teachers dropping in the few kebangsaan schools that I went to check out. Pathetic. It's therefore not surprising to see quite a few Malay and Chindian kids in the school.

It will be a tough challenge with tons of homework and with strict discipline a but it will prepare Brendan for  later years I hope. Brendan's kindy has prepared him well and surprisingly, Brendan doesn't find it boring, at least for now. If things doesn't turn out well, we'll have to find other alternative. (cross fingers).

The number of textbooks and workbooks are crazy, just like when Brendan was in kindy, but for him, it looks too easy as he had done all these work while he was in kindy. I hope he can still say that when he reaches standard 4-6 and secondary school. We'll have to wait and see.

Lost World of Tambun

It's been a quiet school holiday for me as this month I haven't really been working as my mum was in KL and the kids were at home with me, making lots of noise and making it impossible for me to make business calls when they would come calling "Mummy,........" or they would start bickering.

Hubby has been busy with his work as well even though he was on leave for 2 weeks. We only went for a local break in Penang and Ipoh while some of our friends are travelling to Thailand, Australia, Indonesia, Disneyland, etc.. We have to be prudent in our spending and I too didn't want to spend so much on a holiday this time round.

It was a pleasant family day we have at Lost World of Tambun and for the kids, it didn't really matter where they go as long as it's fun, fun, fun! And boy, did they have tons of fun in the sun and water from morning to the late afternoon when it began to rain a little.

Dinner that night was barbeque buffet which was sumptuous and delicious. It was a good time together with other families and my business associates. It's been tiring, and we are all sunburnt, but it's time well-spent after those month long of 'babysitting' the kids :-)

Short visit to Penang

This holiday, we didn't make earlier plans to take the kids anyway except for my company's family day in Ipoh. So we decided to head up to Penang first prior to the family day and visit my sis there. Ever since she had her baby, we only get to see her once in a blue moon. Our visit to Penang is always about food and of course spending time with my little sister.

Seafood and other Penang local food are always a must, though this round we didn't have time for muar chee, cendol, ice kacang and many more. Due to time constraint, we go to our usual asam laksa place at BB near Sunshine Square.

The kids remembered the fishes and the turtles at the aquarium and so we took them there, only to find out that the place is under renovation. The turtle and huge aquarium was still open though and I don't understand why the kids just simply love watching the turtles swimming around. It's a pathetic sight though when we see adults and teenagers acting like hooligans, touching and even hitting on the turtles and disturbing a tiny little alligator there. Was really pissed with these uncivilised people.

On our way to Penang, we stopped at Bukit Tambun for dinner and on the second day, we ate at Teluk Kumbar. It was a satisfying meal and the price was pretty reasonable too. I would say that the food at Teluk Kumbar or the one somewhere near Batu Maung is so much more better than Bukit Tambun.

A special seafood laksa in Bukit Tambun (can't remember the restaurant name, but it's not very deep inside the road), which is cooked in tom yam soup. This is very nice dish.

Crabs with a tinge of tom yam taste. I personally still prefer sweet and sour style, chilli style or kam heong style. It's still good, just that my taste bud was yearning for something else. hehe

Steamed prawns at Bukit Tambun. Very fresh and nicely done

Never tried this style before. Clams in some special cili and lime sauce. Kinda nice, but again, I was dying for the clams in ginger and wine sauce or chilli clams.

Everybody's favourite. Perfectly done, and not so rubbery like some places. The kids love this.

Assam laksa is always a must in Penang.

Brendan and Eryn sitting on the swing by the beach while waiting for our food to arrive at Teluk Kumbar.

It's year end already

In just a few days' time, it will be another brand new year. While I try not to think too much about it and enjoy my December break, it's now back to reality.

Anyway, Christmas this year was a quiet affair for us as we had to skip a Christmas lunch and headed to Penang to visit my sis there.

Christmas set in when we took the kids to Midvalley, Sunway and Curve to see the decorations. The constant bickering at home is already driving me up the wall this holiday season, and their frequent pestering to go 'kai-kai' to see Christmas decorations is just those little delights for the kids. Just having the opportunity to step out of the house to go 'kai-kai' for them bring so much joy to their little faces.

The kids were moody at Sunway except for the second time when we sent to Sunway Lagoon night park where they were beaming with joy.

Eryn loved her photo with the 'golden angel' taken above.

Midvalley was packed with people but I personally loved the ambience there.

Gardens was more quiet which makes it more soothing.

Dentist visit

I finally took the kids to see Dr Priscilla of Pristine Dental yesterday.

It was a surprised that Brendan took it so calmly and sat with his mouth opened wide without a tinge of fear being shown. He had two patches done up in his baby molar and it's due to accumulation of food particles between two teeth on both side that caused the little cavities. It was a difficult place to brush and hubby and I only started flossing the kids teeth in recent months.

Eryn, on the other hand was an even bigger surprise when she threw a tantrum before going in to see the dentist, and didn't want to go on the chair, unlike her previous visit. All this was due to us asking her to stop seeing the root canalling magazine. sigh!

After seeing her kor-kor having his teeth done, she then quickly climbed up onto the chair and opened her mouth wide. While Dr Priscilla was cleaning her teeth, she started giggling non-stop. She had one big hole on her bottom right and a very tiny small one at the top right. The patching could have caused a small pressure on her tooth, I think, that she started crying after her bouts of giggles. She refused to open her mouth to get the second one done and used her hands to cover her mouth. Though the doctor says that that can be done at another time, I decided to get it done once and for all. It took a few minutes before we manage to persuade her to open up with much difficulty. double sigh!

The bill came up to RM260 for both kids for both molar patches each. A little pricey, but worth the trouble and the TLC shown by Dr Priscilla.

Scary, but just had to get it done. triple sigh!

Holiday mood

Yes, we're all in a holiday mood at home. I haven't been getting much work done, and been at home busy with the kids and doing some reading while the kids turn the house upside down! haha...

It's a wonderful feeling and after visiting Midvalley yesterday, it makes me so dreamy of Christmas and not doing anything. Oh boy, just can't imagine the hectic schedule I'll have to draft for myself come 2010.

I took this photo at Midvalley using my camera phone. My own camera has almost gone kaput and though I do wish for a brand new one, I've decided to just stay put with my ever-handy handphone with a camera function. Never mind the lousy turn-out. Afterall, it's the memories that are for keeps..

Lack of sleep kills!

Time and again, we hear of health issues arising which we normally tend to ignore till it's too late. I've been hearing news of acquaintances with heart problems and cancer for the past one year.

Today, I received an email from one of my ex-boss which is as appended below. This is getting scary and people are just way too ignorant about their precious life.

This story reminds me of a top CEO guy in Malaysia many years back, who died upon touching down at the airport, after coming back from a holiday with a fiance.

Here's the story which appeared in newspapers in India not too long ago :

Ranjan Das Passed Away on Wednesday, 21-October-2009
SAP India CEO Ranjan Das Dies After Gym Workout

Carried : Wednesday, 11-November-2009
What killed Ranjan Das and Lessons for Corporate India

A month ago, many of us heard about the sad demise of Ranjan Das from Bandra, Mumbai. Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in India . He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner. It was common to see him run on Bandra's Carter Road . Just after Diwali, on 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapsed with a massive heart attack and died. He is survived by his wife and two very young kids.

It was certainly a wake-up call for corporate India . However, it was even more disastrous for runners amongst us. Since Ranjan was an avid marathoner ( in Feb 09, he ran Chennai Marathon at the same time some of us were running Pondicherry Marathon 180 km away ), the question came as to why an exceptionally active, athletic person succumb to heart attack at 42 years of age.

Was it the stress?

A couple of you called me asking about the reasons. While Ranjan had mentioned that he faced a lot of stress, that is a common element in most of our lives. We used to think that by being fit, one can conquer the bad effects of stress. So I doubted if the cause was stress.

The Real Reason

However, everyone missed out a small line in the reports that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep. This is an earlier interview of Ranjan on NDTV in the program 'Boss' Day Out'.

Here he himself admits that he would love to get more sleep ( and that he was not proud of his ability to manage without sleep, contrary to what others extolled ).

The Evidence

Last week, I was working with a well-known cardiologist on the subject of 'Heart Disease caused by Lack of Sleep'. While I cannot share the video nor the slides because of confidentiality reasons, I have distilled the
key points below in the hope it will save some of our lives.

Some Excerpts:

* Short sleep duration ( less than 5 or 5-6 hours ) increased risk for high BP by 350% to 500% compared to those who slept longer than 6 hours per night. Paper published in 2009. As you know, high BP kills.

* Young people ( 25-49 years of age ) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006.

* Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999.

* Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!

* Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease. Paper published in 2004.

* Sleeping for less than 5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for less than 6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.

Ideal Sleep

For lack of space, I cannot explain here the ideal sleep architecture. But in brief, sleep is composed of two stages: REM ( Rapid Eye Movement ) and non-REM. The former helps in mental consolidation while the latter helps in physical repair and rebuilding. During the night, you alternate between REM and non-REM stages 4-5 times.

The earlier part of sleep is mostly non-REM. During that period, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair your body. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type.

For you to be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important. No wonder when you wake up with an alarm clock after 5-6 hours of sleep, you are mentally irritable throughout the day (lack of REM sleep). And if you have slept for less than 5 hours, your body is in a complete physical mess ( lack of non-REM sleep ), you are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and your immunity is way down ( I've been there, done that ).

Finally, as long-distance runners, you need an hour of extra sleep to repair the running related damage.

If you want to know if you are getting adequate sleep, take Epworth Sleepiness Test.

Interpretation: Score of 0-9 is considered normal while 10 and above abnormal. Many a times, I have clocked 21 out the maximum possible 24, the only saving grace being the last situation, since I don't like to drive (maybe, I should ask my driver to answer that line ).

In conclusion:

Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising ( marathoning! ), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours. In my opinion, that killed him. If you are not getting enough sleep ( 7 hours ), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.

I always took pride in my ability to work 50 hours at a stretch whenever the situation warranted. But I was so spooked after seeing the scientific evidence last week that since Saturday night, I ensure I do not even set
the alarm clock under 7 hours. Now, that is a nice excuse to get some more sleep.

Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the  same, perhaps out of ignorance. Please forward this mail/article to as many of your colleagues/friends as possible, especially those who might be short-changing their sleep. If we can save even one young life because of this email, I would be the happiest person on earth.


Source : news

TwoPixels anniversary giveaway

"A picture paint a thousand words", especially with photos, which brings tons of sweet memories.

I first came across Two Pixels when it first started out.

TwoPixels was started by Jazz and Sue, two wonderful women I know through the mummy blogsphere, who self-taught themselves to take superb photos through their special touch and very attentive details. They're so specialised in taking beautiful photos, focusing on babies, children, families and even pregnancy. I remember a friend, Caitlyn, telling me that Jazz and Sue are just so patient, creative and they're very good with babies.

TwoPixels is giving away three photo sessions and I just have to participate in this contest. I simply can't resist a photo session with the two lovely mummies. The only time I had a real photography session was for my wedding album taken about eight years back I think. Our family has also not taken one before.

TwoPixels creates a memory for a life through their natural shots, made to pefection in their self-learnt skills which I've never seen. So, I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be one of the chosen one (^-^).

Happy anniversary to you, TwoPixels! All the best in the coming years!

Dentist Dentist here we come

It was about a year ago, when we were experiencing Eryn's tooth problem. I called up numerous dentists and finally found ourselves the best dentist for Eryn with the best advice I've ever heard after many attempts in finding a suitable dentist for Eryn.

Lately, Eryn has been complaining of food getting stuck in her bottom right molar while Brendan seems to get food stuck in his molars on both side. Their molars seem to have small holes which could be the cause of food getting stuck. So far, there's no pain, but we will have to nip the problem, if any, before it gets worse.

The kids used to brush their kids on their own but now, hubby and I have taken the task of brushing it again and flossing it as well after they've brushed their teeth.

Looks like I have to take the two kids to Pristine Jalan Gasing. I called them up and booked a time for them some time next week and it was such a great pleasure to know that the nurse, Ms Prema, actually remembers Eryn.

academic result

Brendan and Eryn did extremely well in school and was positioned number two and number four respectively.

During the exam week, Brendan came back from school everyday saying that he can't answer some questions and don't think he can get good results. Well, I scold him to pay more attention in class instead of disturbing his little sister all the time. Deep in my heart, I wasn't particularly concern whether he'll be at the top in his age group especially Mandarin, since I can't read Chinese and was never the top in my class. I was placed in the top class through school but was never the top in class due to the pressure I felt from the top students and my involvement in extra curricular activities and practice in sports and netball.

Coming out from school, I was satisfied though, for being all-arounded and I didn't do too bad at all. Likewise, I would hope my kids to be well-rounded as well instead of being too studious. Emphasis would still be placed in their studies still, without giving the pressure that they're already facing in school.

Anyway, for Brendan to achieved 2nd place was indeed a surprise for the school principal and teachers and for me and hubby. The subject that pulled him down was Moral, which was really wierd for us. He achieved 100 for mathematics, 91.5 for Chinese, 98 for maths, 89 for BM and 82 for Moral. A big, big clap to you, Brendan.

They have very tough questions like identifying the Abdul Samad building, Twin Tower, Planetarium and KL Tower and stuffs like grammar errors and spellings. I think I only studied what Brendan is studying now when I was in year 2 or year 3!

Eryn was an even bigger surprise at 4th place as she only started school middle of this year. She has adopt a keen interest in books now and achieved 100 for Maths, 94 for English, 98 for Mandarin and 88 for English.

I wasn't very happy with the academic based in the beginning, but am now very pleased that I sent them there cos they seem to enjoy their kindergarten school. The teachers are very patient and kind in guiding them in all the reading and writing. They only need to come home and play and watch TV, without having to do any homework. For Brendan, going to primary school will not be the same anymore. I hope things turn out fine.

An example of Brendan's chinese paper - I don't understand what it's all about.


A page taken from Brendan's Moral paper - I don't understand this as well.


A page from Eryn's BM paper. "Ekor"?

kaya fun

Whenever we go back to our hometown, my mum will make a big pot full of kaya (a sweet and creamy coconut pandan jam cooked in gula melaka). Brendan and Eryn loves the kaya so much and will wait for their grandma (my mum) to finish cooking the kaya before they pester grandma to give them the empty pot.

They just love to lick from the pot. We pour the kaya out into a few jars but the kids only want to lick it from the pot. And they'll lick it clean. Brendan says that it's more fun to eat it that way. Oh boy!

When Brendan and Eryn knows that grandma is making kaya, they'll go chanting "I want kaya pot! I want kaya pot!" If only the kaya they want is the malay word kaya that means "rich". hehe

Brendan's entering Standard One

It was a tedious hassle more than two months ago when I learnt that my application for Brendan into SJK(C) School A was rejected. Thus, began my journey for appeal, going to School A and School B, the other school that Brendan was assigned to.

So, up and down I went, again and again. In my appeal form, I have to give two options for the appeal and all parents were advised by the parents to put two options in case the first option for School A was rejected.

Imagine, 90% of the application to School A were rejected. All because another school, let's call it School X, was undergoing renovation and were therefore, transferred to School A and School A has to be transferred to School B! I do wonder why can't they just transfer School X to School B instead.

So, back to my appeal form, I decided to only put one option and that is back to School A despite hearing that it's quite impossible to go back to School A. Well, I decided that's the way I want it to be and then, the waiting began.

I have yet to received the second letter, but went direct to School A yesterday morning to check for myself. The teacher was very doubtful that I could get it and went through the list, which is not in alphabetical order, one by one, and at page 3, I decided to help the teacher to search for it and immediately stumbled upon Brendan's name!! The other teachers were surprised and asked to double check on the full name and IC number.

Boy, am I glad to see that, but there were fury coming from other parents nearby, who were still appealing for the third time.

I don't know how good School A is as claimed by some parents, but the convenience is something that I've been asking for. I personally felt that our local kebangsaan school standard has dropped, unlike my time, when our teachers were so good.

In my search for schools early last year, I've checked out a few kebangsaan school and found that the teachers can't even speak proper English, what more teach! Oh dear... I can't read Chinese myself, but am glad that Brendan's current kindergarten principal is a well-qualified educator, who is able to provide some tutoring to Brendan in his early years.

It's going to be a new challenge next year. We'll see how it goes.

My boy turns 6

This post is so over-delay cos' Brendan celebrated his 6th birthday 2 weeks back and I'm only posting this up now.


I was looking back at old photos of Brendan and he has just changed so much, not just the look but the personality and his own independent decisions in knowing what to do at times. Then, looking back at my own pics then, I can see that I'm getting older as well!! aaarrgh...

Now, that's the sign of 'growing gracefully' cos I didn't know that I've aged (knock head!). I mean, the tell tale signs are there, I'm having backaches sometimes and getting tired and lack or energy at other times. To think I was a school sprinter and sports girl. Where has all the vim gone? I know! It went to the kids! haha



Anyway, just want my boy to grow up and enjoying his childhood fun..

girls will be girls

My little Eryn can be quite picky as to the type of clothes she wants to wear. On weekends, she'll want to wear a dress as I normally tries to avoid letting her wear a dress in the daycare as she runs and climb like a monkey. Imagine a girl in dress behaving so tomboyish. Nothing bad about that, but I don't trust perverts out there.

Whenever we go out, she'll sometimes request that she only wear a dress or skirt and not pants. She'll says, "all my girl friends wear pretty dresses every time". Oh well, she's a girl afterall. So, I'll let her be, depending on situation, but definitely not when we go to the park and swing on the monkey bars.

She likes to play make-up, comb her hair and look at the mirror, dance, sing, play princess and do the things most little girls like to do.

Monopoly

Now that I've left my full-time job and do my own business in freelance media and also, being in the financial services sector, I sometimes, teach my kids the value of money and the importance of not spending unnecesssarily.

And there's no better way I've found than the game of monopoly. Though, my kids may get frustrated when they're out of money and cry when they lose, the games somehow taught them the importance of proper planning and knowing what to invest when their monopoly money runs out.

At only age 6 and 4, I would never expect them to really grasp the importance of savings until Brendan came up to me and say, "Mummy, I think we don't buy this because it is not really important. We save the money and buy it next time ok?" or when Eryn came up to me in the shopping mall and say, "Mummy, I like this beautiful dress but no need to buy because I think it is expensive.."

Oh well, I was pleasantly surprised at their mature thinking. Well, they don't always say these unless something strucks their little mind, like the game of monopoly. Anyhow, instilling this experience is somehow fulfilling for me as a mother.

I remember starting my first investment into unit trust in my early 20s and buy my own insurance at the age of 20, and I'm glad that my own kids are beginning to understand the importance of savings at an even younger age.

naked fella next door

Oh boy! Our backdoor neighbour is undergoing some renovation and there's some contractor worker staying there at night. And this fella always walk around the house naked, except for his underwear. And there's no curtain over the windows.

What's he up to, I wonder.. He'll walk around like superman, drinking water while standing IN HIS UNDERWEAR, walk around IN HIS UNDERWEAR, scratching his crotch while IN HIS UNDERWEAR... aiyo

I'll always ask hubby to quickly come and stand with me when I'm washing dishes in case he sees me and thinks that I'm watching him. So susah payah have to close curtain now..

Eewww...........

Damn it!! It's so disgusting. Disgusting!! Must grab my camera next time and record it down.

Concert 2009

It's Brendan's and Eryn's very first concert and it was such a wonderful feeling having to attend my own two kids' performance 2 weekends ago.

Brendan was in a Mexican dance and he has grown from a very shy boy to a boy that is willing to dance in front of the crowd. Though his movements were a little stiff, he did give his very best and it was such a wonder how he has changed over two years.

Eryn, on the other hand, seems to be the 'leader' of the dance group, ever so talkative and so confident in her dance. She loves to dance and her body movement is just so natural. I'm considering sending her for a dance class - probably hip hop or modern dance. Ballets would be too rigid for her. hmm....