Bunny & Stickman

Making craft dolls is not my forte nor interest but when push comes to shove, I just have to deliver. 


It all began in March when me and my big mouth promised to make XX a bunny rabbit during Easter. However I didn't have the polyester fill then and I told XX I can't make it until I bought the fill from Spotlight. Weeks passed without me making the trip and I thought XX had forgotten all about it. Then one day in May, I needed to go to Spotlight to get a roll of thread. As soon as XX heard I was going to Spotlight, he reminded me to buy fluff to make his bunny. Opps, so you didn't forget. No excuse, I can't break a promise and a child's heart.


Once I got the fluff, I was reminded and pestered everyday to start work on the bunny. One thing about XX, he can be quite persistent and naggy, in his quiet and not-aggressive fashion. He will keep asking until you give him what he wants. So with my elementary sewing skills, I converted one of his old baby jumper suit into a bunny. It really wasn't good looking but my son loves it. It reminded me of a similar bunny soft toy I had when I was a teenager. A friend had given it to me and I loved to hug it until it got so torn and tattered beyond repair. I even brought it to hostel in university and Hubby could remember it till now. 


Anyway, seeing XX get a bunny soft toy, KK requested to have one as well. In order not to appear bias, I agreed to make one for him. And he requested for a Stickman. A stickman? Not a bear or dog? How huggable is a stickman? But then again, my son is weird. KK's favourite cartoon drawing and favourite computer animation is stickman. Sometimes, he'll create some comic strip of 2 stickmen fighting. So I cracked my head again and used another of XX's old baby t-shirt pyjamas to make a doll with skinny legs, arms and body with no eyes.

So here we have it, the latest addition to the family: Stickman and Bunny.


Actually, these two dolls pretty much embodies the characteristics of my 2 sons. One is bony and kooky, the other cuddly and cute.

Kinder Fun

I can see why XX really likes going to kindergarten. Each time I drop him off at school, I see that enthusiastic sparkle in his eyes mirrored in so many other kids there. Since the 2nd week, all those kids that had cried and clinged on to their mothers had now adjusted to the separation and shows no signs of homesickness. I credit all these to their teacher, Sue and a well-planned and fun-filled kinder program. 

To keep 28 restless 4 year olds occupied for five and a half hours is not easy but in XX's kindergarten, there are always so many different activities to do and play that time passes easily. Each time I send XX there, I take a look at the tables of activities laid out and I get a glimpse of what they are gonna do that day. All sorts of materials are used for the kids to create stuff in addition to painting, stamping and simple handicrafts. Recycled cardboard boxes and cartons are used to build models with sticky tapes; bottle caps, patty cups are pasted onto paper for some crazy artwork; a big basin of gruel is prepared for the children to mix with a handheld mixer. 

Today I had a chance to get a deep experience of what they do after the parents leave. It was my turn to do "parent duty" at the kinder. I took this opportunity to see how my son behaved in school as well as get to observe him at play. At the same time, I also got to know some of his kinder friends better.

As it was a sunny day, Sue brought them outside to have their lunch. The children settled on mats and rugs with their hats and sunscreen to enjoy their food. First thing I realise, compared to the other kids, I gave my son too little for lunch. I usually just give XX a ham or tuna sandwich, 1 type of fruit and a few biscuits. Even then, he couldn't finish it. The other kids' lunch boxes have basically the same things, but the portions are bigger. Like they had two or more fruits (like a whole apple/pear), cheese and even yoghurt for their lunch and afternoon snack. Guess I need to add in a few more stuff to increase the variety. No wonder some of them are so big-sized.

Right after lunch, the children played outside. Even outside, there were so many options for them. They were free to choose to go to the sandpit, which XX loved, and play with the buckets and spades. They collected water from a special tap that pumped collected tank water, to make mud pies or sand castles. Or they could go on the swings, take a slide and jump on the trampoline. There was also a shady area set up with some books on a carpet for them to browse. Under a big tree, an easel stand was set up with paint and brushes. Sometimes, they pretended to be carpenters. Real pieces of wood and nails were available for them to hammer. I thought that was kind of dangerous but the teacher thought it was good for them to learn how to use these tools early. Surprisingly, I saw some of these 4 year olds hammering away on the nail quite proficiently. No one came away with a nail in their hand thankfully.

I spent half the time there just walking around the different "pit stops" in the yard and watching the children. They were basically left on their own to play with each other, the teacher and assistant went around to help them a little. XX spent a great amount of time at the sand pit until one of his friends, Matthew, invited him to play on the swing. Then they ran around with a few other boys playing hide and seek. XX didn't do any of the painting or quiet stuff today. It was all active play. I managed to get talk to some girls as well. They were pretending to be twins and I got them to do fun "twin things" like sing a song or run together. Soon more joined in and they were all racing to touch the fence and come back. 

Later on, one boy asked me to make him a paper aeroplane. I folded for him one of the most un-aerodynamic aeroplane, but he was happy. Another one saw it and wanted as well and before I know it, there were like 10 other kids crowding around me that wanted one too. It's funny how little it takes to amuse these kids. Just a bit of our time and attention. 

After they packed up, the teacher decided to keep them outside, making them lie down and look at the clouds to soothing background music. It was not easy getting twenty over fidgety kids to lie still but she managed to keep them down for about 15 minutes. Along the way, she talked to them, asking them what they could see in the clouds and later, to imagine that they were in the clouds. By the time my duty was over, it was time for them to eat their snack, again, out under the clear blue sky. 

It's pretty clear to me by now how the kindergarten program here is different from what I know in Singapore. There wasn't any alphabets recognition or numbers taught in class. Certainly no homework or anything too difficult. It's all fun, creative play but along the way, the teacher do incorporate some counting skills and general knowledge into the activities they do. Like asking what day (Friday) was today, yesterday, tomorrow and XX was asked to look at the sky outside and report on the weather (thunder/snow/sunny/rainy etc). They did a headcount together and learnt about grasshoppers when they found one outside. Social skills were being emphasized. The children were reminded to respect the teacher by not yelling at her and speaking one at a time. They were not supposed to play rough and were taught to ask for their turn at activities politely. I'm not an education expert but I sure wished my kinder was fun like this when I was a kid.

 

XX Loves School

All ready with schoolbag and hat

What a difference 1 year makes. Last year this time, we were struggling to send a reluctant and tearful XX to experience 'school' two days a week at a childcare center. We gave up after about 2 months. He wasn't enjoying it and obviously not ready to stay somewhere unfamiliar, away from us, for a prolonged period of time. 

Based on my experience with KK, I knew XX still needed more time. When I tried to send KK to playschool at age 2, he didn't like it either and we stopped. When we sent him to nursery the next year, he was so much better. So for the rest of 2010, XX stayed by my side. This year, however, there was no more excuse to delay his entry to official kindergarten. I was both eager yet anxious to know how he will react about going to school now. 

I had enrolled XX for a two-day kinder program that stretched for 5.5 hrs each day. Versus the three-day, 3.5hrs program, I thought this would give me more free time at a stretch and less hassle of bringing him in and out. Well, it was a decision based on my covenience and as the day approached for the term to begin, I started to regret if I had been too selfish and if I was subjecting XX to torture. Would he be able to adjust suddenly to spending 5 long hours at school? Furthermore, he had swimming lesson on one of the days before school. Would he be overtired? What a bad mummy I was.

Washing his hands after hanging up his bag

Luckily, after I voiced my concern to the teacher, she was pretty understanding and suggested that if he can't cope, I could bring him home earlier and slowly lengthen the amount of time he spent in school. At home, that first day, XX was pretty excited about preparing his lunch box, a present he got for his 4th birthday. I made him a ham & lettuce sandwich for lunch and packed some cransins and biscuits for snack. He happily packed the Thomas Train lunchpack it into his rollerbag and obediently dressed up. No fuss, no tears. Good start, I thought.

XX sniffing on the floor with his tissue

On the way there, I took a few photographs of him and he posed like a pro. Inside the class, he looked a little distracted by all the toys and kids around. After hanging up his bag in his designated "mouse" locker, I brought him to wash his hands and led him to the play area while waiting for the teacher to organise everybody. I already saw 2 other boys clinging tightly to their moms. (Notice it's boys again?) XX was still looking cool until I said that I'll have to leave soon. Then he started to wipe his eyes. He knew the inevitable was coming. As the other mommies started to leave, one of the clingy boys started to wail. He was comforted by the assistant and immediately distracted with a basket of toy trains, which was good cos I was worried that XX would be affected and start yelling too. I hung around for a while as the teacher started to talk to the children. I had given a tissue to XX and I watched him busied himself with it clearing his nose. After a while, I waved goodbye and walked out. As I closed the door, I heard fresh wailing. Phew, it wasn't XX but another boy who just realised his mom had sneaked out with me.

I stayed around for another 30 minutes outside, talking to another mom and secretly went to peep at him again. He was eating his lunch. I couldn't see his face but I saw his swinging legs. A relaxed posture. About 3.30pm, after I picked KK from school, I couldn't resist dropping by XX's kindergarten to check on him again. This time, they were having their snacks outdoors. I saw him, (he didn't see us) sitting under a tree with the teacher and other kids. The teacher saw me and came to update me that he was doing very well. No sign of distress and tiredness. She reckoned I should just let him stay till the end.

  

Yay, we finished our first day! (XX and Callum)

From that point on, my fears were thrown out of the window and things got better and better. By the 2nd week, XX declared he LOVED school. He even asked him when is it time to go to school and would say 'hurray' when I told him today he's going to school. On the day itself, he would keep bugging me if it's time yet. At school, he's still abit uncertain as he didn't know everyone yet. So he told me "Can you stay until Callum (his only friend)  arrived? Then I'll stay with him." When Callum came, I said goodbye and I got a big hug and kiss and a happy wave from him. I cannot ask for more. This is the perfect scenario already. My toddler is going to kindergarten and enjoying it and I have 3.5 hours of free time all to myself.

          

Innocent Prayers

Even though we are Christians, we admit that we are not the dilligent kind who goes to church every Sunday. But we do talk about God to KK and he's been believing that there is a spiritual Father out there who can make miracles. He does not believe in Santa Claus but he's treating God like one sometimes, judging from the prayers he makes.

Recently he complained of having nightmares at night and as a result of his overactive imagination, would come to our room at bedtime to report hearing strange noises. I suggested saying a prayer before he sleeps. XX got his first introduction to praying that night. Three of us sat around on the bed in the dark, closed our eyes and clasped our hands. Here are some examples of what they prayed:

KK
Besides praying for himself, KK has learnt to pray for others too.

"Dear God, I wish XX would beat me in one of the games.
I wish Mummy would cook salty AND healthy food for me.
I hope Papa would work 7 hours a day and earn $1 million dollars a day.
Amen"

XX
For his very first prayer to God, he didn't really know what to say. And given he's not too eloquent with words yet, it was a really short one:
"Dear God, I wish I like you. Amen"

On the second night, he improved on his wish:
"Dear God, I wish I like so much food and I can't finish it. Amen"

It was really funny to hear the children pray, especially XX, I nearly burst out laughing. He had no idea what to say so what came out from him was probably the only thing that came to mind. And he was constantly checking if I kept my eyes closed! KK also has this habit of 'adding' on prayers after he has said Amen and interrupting other people's prayers with his!

Even though they treated praying to God like making a wish list, I think it's alright at this stage. It was their very first step in communicating with their Heavenly Father. And if they believed God can help them grant their wishes, they will continue to turn to praying in times of trouble and when in need.

XX Turns 4!

After being haunted by "Is it my birthday yet?" questions every other day for the last 3 weeks, the day finally arrived when I can say, "YES, it's your birthday today!" Happy Birthday to my dearest XX!



The pirates landed on Marshmellows
Chocolate island



We had a little party yesterday for the little boy. I wanted to have it at the coastal park nearby, where I envisaged the kids running around, playing at the playgrounds and we adults have a beer and BBQ chicken wings in the midst of nature. Unfortunately, Mother Nature wasn't very cooperative yesterday. After a whole week of monitoring weather reports, I still couldn't really tell if it was going to be a fine day. On the day itself, I gazed at the sky and couldn't find any blue amidst the thick clouds. Well, it'll probably be cold, but maybe it won't rain. I was still holding hope one hour before the party is supposed to start. Then it started to rain. We decided to hold it at our house instead.

So it was a mad rush as we unpacked the things that we had already packed from the car and set up the BBQ at home. All the guests were informed and luckily it wasn't a problem as our home not much further. Despite the last minute decision, it turned out to be a wise one. The weather was freaky that day. At times it was cold and windy, then it poured, then sunshine for about 10 mins, then it poured for 5 mins and stopped. It stayed like that for the whole day. What kind of summer is that? Then again, 2 years ago, when we celebrated XX's 2nd birthday, it was also pouring cats and dogs. That was the wettest day of December 08.

Regardless, XX had a great time. Compared to 2 years ago, he is now much more aware of what's going on. He knows it's his party and he looks forward to it. He has also associated "birthday = presents". He knows he's getting a birthday cake and he knows to blow the candles right after the birthday song. He even knows how to make a "V" sign when posing in front of the cake. And it didn't take him too long to tear open the gift wrappers (with help from a few friends) and start playing his presents.

I managed to keep the tradition of making a birthday cake for him for the 3rd year. It wasn't by choice though :p. Because of the anticipated summer heat and outdoor venue initially planned, I suggested having a pyramid of donuts instead to substitute a birthday cake. We even bought a half dozen of Krispy Kreme donuts to sample. In the end, due to a lack of planning, we were delayed in ordering so dear o'mummy became the back up plan. And I'm happy I did it. XX gave me the idea for the decoration as I was grocery shopping. He loves marshmellows. As I eyed a pack of disposable decorating nozzles and piping bags, he haggled me into buying him a packet of multi-coloured marshmellows. A bright idea came to my head and I put the nozzles back to the shelf.



XX playing with one of his birthday gifts.

 The chocolate frosted butter cake recipe came from a baking book I bought recently called "Easy Home Baking". One of the cake turned out a little burnt at the bottom and sides and I wished they were taller. But after I cut off the brown parts, the inside was buttery and soft. The cake also 'grew' taller after I combined the two layers and sandwiched some marshmellows inside. Coupled with the chocolate frosting and the colourful marshmellows on top, I think I scrapped through this time in terms of presentation and taste. There wasn't any cake left overnight.

Mini-golf set from us

My only apologies were to the little guests who may have been pretty bored at my house. Besides a big green backyard, which they cannot use because of the on-off rain, there was little space inside the house for them to play. There was only 1 television and on that day, the Wii handsets decided be low on batteries. Especially the girls. One of them asked me if I have Barbie dolls.... err...I have Transformers, Bionicles and Bakugans though. The older girls entertained themselves watching movies and the boys were happy chasing each other and gate crashing the girls' pretend tea party. Yet, somehow, none of them asked their parents to go home early. The party started at 11am and ended around 5.30pm. 

KK and XX's favourite gift - the Nerf gun from Bradley

To all our friends who came, hope you all had a good time. XX and us certainly enjoyed the company. Thanks for your presence and presents!

Almost Four

XX is less than a month to being 4 years old! To me, that's officially the age my Baby X can no longer be called a toddler. Next year, he begins official schooling. Right, not playschool, not nursery but kindergarten. It will be a significant milestone.

Looking at XX nowadays, I just can't help but notice the changes in him. Not just physically taller, his face has changed too. Well, he's still very adorable but his face seemed to become more boyish. Or maybe it was his facial expressions, gestures, language and behaviour that have matured so much.



A most recent photo of XX



Of course, I'm happy. My job as carer is getting easier. He feeds himself, on most days. He sleeps now in a separate room, with his brother. He doesn't have to hold my thumb anymore to sleep but I need to spend at least 5 mins in bed with him before he sleeps. He doesn't wake up in the middle of the night anymore but reports to my bed at first light.

I can no longer keep up with his progress in my blog as he surprises me everyday with his abilities. In the area of toilet training, he's almost completely independent. He goes to the loo like a big kid and did away with the training toilet seat some time ago. I even taught him to climb onto the toilet himself using a step stool and I only had to help him with the cleaning of backside. One day, he went all the way and even cleaned his backside himself! I am amazed at his independence but I'm not sure about his ability to do a good job. To be safe, I wiped his backside again.

In the linguistics department, the four year age gap between KK and him has almost vanished. Now the two of them can have very engaging conversations, about their favourite topics like LEGO, Spongebob, Iron Man and Ben 10. XX even have very engaging conversations with me, telling me what he saw in the cartoons and how he wished he can have this toy on the advertisement. His volcabury is still limited but I can understand him perfectly. Recently XX's learnt to express his wishes and desires using "oh, I wish..." If you tell him no, he'll even ask you "why?" He's no longer the 'gong gong' baby you can safely bring to the toy department and hope not to spend a cent.

Right now, I'm scratching my head about how to celebrate his 4th birthday. I think this might be the last year I can get away from having a party....but there'll definitely be a celebration. XX's done well this year and his progress is worth celebrating.  

       

The Holy Sheep and Cow

The good thing is, kids learn fast and they quickly pick up new words from what they hear around them. The bad thing is, even though we don't speak them at home, they will still get to learn some bad words from friends, TV and whoever. Fortunately for XX, his innocence has saved him getting corrupted too early.

From I don't know where, the expression "Holy S**t!" was heard up by XX. His older brother had used a similar "holy cow!" expression before, so straightaway, my 3.5 yr old son made an association and started saying "holy sheep!"

There you go. Suddenly the cow and sheep attained sainthood in my household but I'm happy to let them be for now.

Groundhog Night

Everynight for the past 2 weeks or more, a similar scene has been occuring at bedtime. My 3.5 yr old has established a routine of reading a book before he sleeps. Which is a good thing, except he only wants me to read him ONE book - "Spongbob Goes To The Doctor". And it has to be me reading it. One night I sent his Dad as a replacement but apparently it doesn't count. After enjoying his dad's narration, XX came back to me and wouldn't go to bed until I read it to him again!

That's something about children that I cannot comprehend and remain very amazed with. Once they like something, they will do it over and over again until they get tired of it. Some of the boys favourite shows are Transformers and Spongebob cartoons. Even though they have watched it many times before, each time it's playing, their eyes will be glued to the television like they're watching it for the first time.

XX is particularly fond of this Spongebob book which we had bought years ago for KK. After so many nights of reading, he can continue many of the sentences as I read. And everynight, at the exact same page, he will point to the same pictures and make the same comments or ask the same questions. Eveytime I give him the same answer to that particular question, which is "I don't know". But that doesn't deter him. Next night, he'll ask it again regardless.

Honestly, I'm very bored with reading that same book over and over again. But whenever I suggest no reading that night or to read another book, I'm met with violent objections coupled with desperate pleadings from my dear son. Seeing his enthusiasm (and he remains very much engrossed as I'm reading) and so as not to dampen his love of reading books, I suppressed my own boredom and go through the whole ritual of reciting the words. Sometimes, Hubby tries to cheat XX by skipping parts but he didn't get away with it as XX knows it! Haha!

Swimming Lessons Continued

When we left Singapore, there were certain things we quit along with it. One of which is KK's swimming lesson. He was on the verge of mastering the freestyle before we said goodbye to our olympic size condominium pool. I regretted that we hadn't started earlier. 4 years we stayed there and we only started to send KK for lessons 6 months before we left.






Here, we had KK participate in the swimming programs organised by the school. They were intensive 5 to 10 days programs aimed at improving water confidence and were part of the school hours. KK enjoyed them but we don't see any results in terms of his swimming skills. He was still paddling like a puppy in the water. Now, after a gap of two years, we finally got him back to the pool for some formal training.








The indoor swim school, only 10 mins away, is a really small one, just big enough to house a 4-lane x 25m heated pool, a set of bathrooms and a small reception area. We decided to sign XX up as well.








For XX, this was a new experience for him. During his first lesson, he initially didn't want to go as he was afraid once he heard the words "school" and "teacher", shadows of his childcare days. But that day we arrived early and once inside, he had the opportunity to sit there watching the babies have their swim programs with their mummies while we waited. Pretty soon he warmed up to the idea and was getting eager to get into the pool. I had no problems getting him undressed and he slipped into the pool as soon as his 30 minute lesson began. He sat there with 2 other little children and didn't resist when the instructor took him for a swim. I coolly sat by the bench nearby, waved at him whenever he completed his turn and even chit-chatted with another mum. Even when the instructor purposedly dipped his head under water, he didn't cry. And she did it a total of three times. I'm so proud of him. At home, when he washes his hair, he makes a fuss when water trickles down his face and will ask for a hankerchief to cover his eyes. So I can see that while he was shocked and didn't liked being dunked, he was trying hard to be brave. It's funny how they are such good boys when they're with outsiders and then become a baby again once they come home. KK was like this too. See Swimming Lession #1.





As for KK now, he had no problems of course. One thing the training Singapore has taught him to overcome his fear of water on his face and in his eyes. This water loving boy couldn't wait to jump into the pool. But while he has lots of confidence in the water, his techniques were all haywire. I really hope that he will finally learn to swim the freestyle properly here.

My Bed, Your Bed

Since we moved to our new place, I took this opportunity to give the sleeping arrangement of our family a revamp. First, I insisted on acquiring some bedroom furniture, most significantly, a bed frame. I had enough of the kids jumping all over my mattress like a trampoline and am convinced that a proper elevated bed will eliminate the temptation to bounce. I got my wish and am proven right. This tall bed, with 2 mattresses stacked on top of the frame, seemed so foreign and intimidating to XX, they had not dared to attempt any stunts on it.


Because the master bedroom in our new place is smaller, it was a good time to move the children to sleep in another separate room. From day one, this room has been introduced as KK and XX's room and the room with the tall bed as Papa and Mama's. Vice versa for the beds. This propaganda campaign is targeted mainly at XX who, in case you don't know, has been sleeping by my side since the day he was born. Even with the new bed, my days of sleeping on the floor are not over. To get him used to the new house and his room, I continued to sleep with XX until he falls asleep, then I'll return to my tall bed. Then in the middle of the night, if he wakes up and cries, one of us will go over to calm him and very often end up sleeping next to him on the mattress as well. Up until last week.


During the school holidays, I decided to try training XX to sleep on his own and for its success, I must credit KK for his vital involvement. On the first 3 nights, XX was resistant. He started crying as soon as I switched off the lights and walked out of the room. However by the time I returned from brushing my teeth, the crying had stopped and I heard him singing "Transformers, robots in disguise" with his brother in the dark. However KK can only distract him so much when he's awake. If KK fell asleep first or was not with him, XX could not be persuaded to lie down in bed, much less fall asleep. On the 2nd night, I had to sit by the end of the bed so he will sleep.

Things began to improve from the 3rd night onwards. He'll protest and whine a little, but KK will talk to him and even sing to him to distract him. Pretty soon, I hear only snoring sounds from the room. Though the mid-night wakings continued intermittently, I was happy that at least I could do my own things as soon as I sent them to bed.

For the past 2 nights, there has been no problems saying good night to XX. He even waved happily to me as I turned off the lights. And there has been no wakings in the night! I slept blissfully until morning when I heard the pattering of XX's little footsteps walking into my room. I'll allow him to climb into my bed in the morning and we'll cuddle together, making up for all the cuddles I couldn't give him in the night. These are very nice and affectionate moments that I cherish because I really miss the closeness of sleeping with XX. He's growing up so fast and based on this milestone alone, he's already grown up some more.

Holiday At Home

The 2-week long school holiday is coming to an end soon. Tomorrow, KK returns to school again for Term 2. This holiday has been comparatively low key for us. Same time last year, my parents were here for a visit, followed by my brother and all of us flew to Queensland for a week of fun at the theme parks. This year, with two of our good friends and their kids back in Singapore for visits, even the Good Friday/Easter long weekend is quieter than usual. It seemed like a long 2 weeks ahead.

Division of labour: XX cuts the strawberries and KK stirs the jelly mixture.

Perhaps it was also due to our exhaustion from the recent move, our family spent the first week or so hibernating at home. Of course, with the two boys together, staying at home is at times worse than going out. Hubby tried to make KK catch up on his Chinese during this period, which he did. When not doing Chinese homework, the boys dashed in and out between the garden and indoors, drifted from watching cartoons on the TV to games on the computer and made us crazy with their accidents, spills, mischiefs and quarrels. There seemed to be endless rounds of dishes to wash and childish disputes to settle.

One of their favourite activity: Chopping up and eating up fruits

I tried to make time pass a little faster by involving them in my baking activities and getting them to help make little treats like konnyakku jelly and fruit salads. They were enthusiastic helpers, XX especially. He will drop whatever he's doing and run over wanting to help when he sees me making something at the kitchen countertop. Sometimes they offered more trouble than assistance, like when XX spilled half the rice I asked him to fill and when he toppled the whole pot of flour to the floor, but otherwise it was nice to see them have fun kneading dough, chopping up fruits and beating eggs for a change.

My first attempt at ondeh ondeh on Easter Sunday

A considerable amount of time was spent outside the backyard garden also. While Hubby and I weeded, watered and nurtured seedlings, the boys were seen alternating between their bicycle, scooter bikes and simply digging around the backyard. We thought they couldn't do much damage playing outside but one day we paid the price for a brief absence of supervision when XX drew on our car with a stone....arrgh!


Luckily there were a few interesting activities to break the monotony. Our family did a photo shoot at the botanic garden in Williamstown last Thursday to commemorate our 10th wedding anniversary. I'll post more about it when the photos come out. But check out here to see what I wore. We also did a day trip yesterday to Echuca, spending more than 6 hours on the road. The weather wasn't too great in the morning, foggy and rainy. Though it cleared up by the time we arrived, it did its damage as we couldn't do our buggy ride as the track was washed out. Althought we didn't do much except take a steam paddler boat ride on Murray River, I always enjoyed long car rides to the country and it sure felt good taking it easy and getting away from homebound duties for a while.

Settling In

As far as the house is concerned, I am happy to say we are more or less settled in and beginning to enjoy the stay. Yes, the floral printed curtains are so 'obiang', the water pipes make loud sounds when someone is having a bath and the kitchen cabinet and taps looks like those in my grandmother's house, but upon living in, there are actually many areas which I appreciate.

The interior walls has in fact been newly painted and the floorboards are also new. Instead of hot and energy wasting downlights, which are very common nowadays in newer houses, there're lamps which we could convert to energy saving bulbs and are cooler. There are ample shades, shutters, blinds and curtains on the windows. This keeps the privacy in and the sunlight out, which makes the house cooler. Though my kitchen is smaller, I have a big walk-in larder. I don't have a walk-in wardrobe anymore but the built-in wardrobe is well compartmentalised and makes efficient use of the space. There are also extra wardrobes in the hall and laundry area for me to store my towels, bedsheets and shoes.

KK is also settled in his new school. In fact, I don't think he had any settling in issue at all to begin with. I'm so proud of the boy. He made no fuss at all when we told him he's going to a new school and on his first day, as we changed him into his new school uniform, it's like just another normal school day for him. Though he was quiet and admitted that he was slightly nervous, he joined the class obediently and we didn't have to stay long. Two days later we stared hearing names of the friends he played with during recess and two weeks later, he was comfortable enough to want to walk to school himself. Of course, we didn't allow that and still walked with him, but at a distance behind, as he requested, to "test" him out.

XX is the cute one. Until today, he'll sometimes ask if we're going back to the new house and he'll tell me this new house is better. The old house has got nothing, he says. He'd seen the empty house when we went back to do the cleaning up. He was so bored as there was no TV, no toys and not even a sofa for him to sit on.

It might not be display house quality but I'm happy enough, and as long as the family is happy too.

Period of Adjustment

From experience, it'll take about 2 weeks, before all the laundry is washed, all the luggage cleared away and before bedtimes become normal again. Adjusting back to the timezone in Australia (3 hours ahead) is always harder than adjusting to Singapore's. Somehow, sleeping later has always been easier for us than sleeping earlier. This past week, everyone including the kids had shown signs of jet lag. Despite shooing them to bed early, they couldn't fall asleep until many hours later. The warmer temperatures over the last few days also didn't help to make sleep come any easier.

KK had started school already and so had XX. After a break of more than 1 month, we resumed XX to his childcare center on Monday. As expected, he started crying the moment he knew he was going to school. I tried to prep talk him, even putting up a puppet show, to persuade him that it's gonna be alright but he still says "no" and finally he admitted, "I'm scared". We brought him into the room and after about 5 minutes of staying with him, we said goodbye. Surprisingly, through his tears, he waved back.

When I went to collect him at about 12noon, he'd just finished lunch and went to the toilet. He doesn't look very happy still but he's walking around on his own and not sobbing in the teacher's arms like the last time. The teachers told me that he only cried for about 5 minutes after we left and he's been a really good boy, playing and eating like the others. I was so glad to hear that and of course, to encourage XX, I praised him. He proudly told me that what he did at school on the way home, like a big boy. I thought he had conquered his fears and the worst is over. But I should have guessed otherwise when I asked him if he'll like to go back to school again and he said no. He became a baby again the days after whenever we mentioned to him about going to school again. Tears will start to well in his eyes and he'll plead he doesn't want to go to school. The word "school" is now a taboo word at home, sure to bring tears and fears to the face of our otherwise happy boy.

This morning we had to send him to school again and we didn't tell him anything as we changed him and fed him milk. But when he finally asked me where we're going, I didn't want to lie to him, so I told him "school". This started his negative reaction. Last I heard from the school, he wasn't doing so well in school today.

XX is 3!

XX turned 3 years old last week and we celebrated the occasion in a low key manner. No big party at indoor playgrounds like his brother and only a small cake cutting ceremony at home with a few close friends after dinner outside. It has been communicated to the boys that they will take turns having parties each year. So next year, it will be KK's turn to go low-key.

Nevertheless we did something special for the day. We bought our bikes out for the first time and went cycling at the You Yangs Regional Park together with our friend Ken. Well, it was more like "attempted to go cycling". The You Yangs was no East Coast Park and we had no idea about the challenges of mountain biking on natural (and unpaved) terrains.

We finally found the parking place after more than one hour's search, by which time it was time for lunch. After gobbling down some sandwiches, we set off, with flies buzzing annoyingly in our faces, on one of the easiest tracks, or so we thought. Within a kilometre, we met an upslope. It wasn't very steep but halfway up, KK showed signs of exhaustion. He had to stop frequently to rest and drink water. Finally he informed that he couldn't go on anymore. We decided to turn back to the starting point to see if there is another even easier track. At which point, I also got a stomachache and had to use the 'compost toilet' there. It was, as the name implies, a toilet that uses natural decomposition in its treatment of your matters. No water, no sanitation. Regardless, I was very much appreciative of its presence in the wilderness.

Ken and Hubby (with XX behind on his child seat) went a little way more exploring the tracks but KK and I stayed at the carpark. He, too tired to move, while I anticipate another visit to the compost toilet. Our energies have been so focused on the cycling that we forgot all about taking pictures along the way.

Not satisfied with our short-lived cycling efforts, we decided to head for Williamstown beach afterwards. This is like Singapore's East Coast Park, with paved tracks and the sea view. KK did much better here and we finally did some justice to our new wheels. XX of course had no problems either way as he was being ferried all the way on Papa's bike.

I returned home and quickly set about frosting XX's car cake which I had baked and assembled the night before. XX had requested for a "strawberry and car cake", strawberries and cars being two of his favourite things in the world. I did a strawberry cupcake recipe and decided to give him a pink car cake. It was trickier than I thought, getting the cream cheese frosting to turn pink! Despite adding strawberry jam followed by raspberry coulis which I made last minute by cooking raspberries and some sugar, the icing only turned as far as a salmon pink. If I had some red colouring, a drop would have saved all my trouble but unfortunately, I don't.

We had a good and literally big dinner at Lazy Moes restaurant. When we came home, our 2 little guests have arrived to help sing the birthday song. XX seemed to have a much better idea than last year about his special day. He looked happily at his car cake, bounced excitedly up and down when the birthday song was sang for him and coolly blowed the 3 candles one by one. It was his special moment.

We had fun talking with our friends over tea and eating XX's salmon pink car cake with chocolate wheels. And guess what? He ate only the chocolate wheels instead!

(ps- have trouble uploading the photos, will try again later)

Spongebrain

I've heard that the young child's brain, especially between 2 - 6 years old, is like a super absorbant sponge. They form the most connections and absorb new information at a rate that will not be duplicated again for the rest of their life. It's amazing.

XX is at this age and I can see it happening. The way he picks up language, music, psycho motor skills and behaviour from KK, movies, books and us. He's very curious and will ask me what is this and what is that. He'll also repeat everything that you teach him. Everything is so interesting to him that he refuses to take naps anymore, even when he's very tired.

When I was in Singapore, I bought him 2 little cardboard books. One of them teaches the alphabets and the other has some basic chinese characters. He was very interested in them and will ask me to read through the whole book to him everyday. Every time I'll point to the characters and say the word, he'll repeat after me. We do this even after we came back to Melbourne. With repeated exposure, XX has learnt to recognise the shapes of the different alphabets and chinese characters and associate them with its pronunciation. Within days, he started to recognise some of the most repeated characters. About 3 - 4 weeks later, he can identify almost all the alphabets and read all the chinese characters of 1 to 10, including many other chinese characters like 海, 火, 水, 石, 土 and 山 that even KK does not know.

Based on this method (thanks to the suggestion from Christina), I've purchased some chinese character cards and pasted some of the more common everyday words (starting with food) on the wall. I got KK to stick pictures next to the matching words. It works. After looking at them and repeating them for a few days, XX and KK has already learnt to recognise those words.

Having said that, XX is also at this age where he's a total blind follower. He's totally non-discriminating about the things he learns. So we really got to watch what he's exposed to. The most 'dangerous' person around him at the moment, yet also the most fun and inspiring, is elder brother KK, who often sprouts nonsense and influences his little brother to do funny things, like dipping fish fingers into the chocolate spread and playing "street fighter 4" totally naked. Many a times, I've got to do damage control (and lecture the instigator) but trying to squeeze out stuff absorbed into XX's spongebrain is not easy.

Mini-Me

Besides our outward appearance, we also inherit a great part of our personality from our parents. And just like looks and values, we hope that our children will only inherit the best from us. But of course, genes are something totally beyond our control.

Many people have commented that XX takes after me in terms of looks. He's certainly got my fair skin, small nose and rounded cheeks. What many don't know and can't tell is that XX is a mini-me in certain aspects of personality as well. He's easygoing and sweet-natured like a cute puppy most of the time but recently, he's shown that he can be difficult and stubborn as bulldog when he's pissed off. Again, I'm not sure if it's just the "Terrible Twos/Threes" phase or his genetic setup but he has been exploding into tantrums over the slightest things, at the average rate of twice every three days.

Just yesterday, we had another episode. We had a good lunch yesterday at a cafe in Flemington. Before we left, I asked him if he still wanted the balance 1/4 cup of strawberry milk shake and I gathered no from his expression. After we left the cafe, we found out on the way to the car that he'd changed his mind and now wanted that milk shake back. Of course, it was too late. He insisted on going back and when we said no, started crying and refusing to get into the car. Another milk shake somewhere else just will not do. When he was forced to get into his car seat and threatened to be left along the street by Daddy, he turned his temper to me, insisting I stay on the street. And he got even more upset when we ignored his demand.

When his 'bomb' gets set off, nothing, NOTHING you do or say can soothe him. He's beyond reasoning and he pushes everyone who tries to comfort him away. He will stubbornly refuse any alternative. It's his way or no way. He will rather be caned and beaten than submit. For a tot that's not even a metre tall, that's a lot of nerves and grit. He can be very rebellious too. The more you don't want him to do it, the more he'll do it. I know from my own psychology that the hard approach just makes him harder and I can understand why he behaves the way he does. But yet he needs to learn that not everything in the world goes his way everytime. If he doesn't learn how to deal with it and change his rebellious and stubborn nature, I'm worried it will bring him and us more misery as he grows older.

Isn't it amazing what we can learn from our children? I am of this belief that God gives us children not just to bless us but also to teach us a lesson or two about life. Because we have become parents, we can better empathise with our parents and as a result, we become better children. Because we see ourselves in our children and because we want the best for them, we learn to be better people. With age and maturity, I don't 'explode so often nowadays but everytime XX goes into one of these tantrums, I'm reminded of myself and greatly humbled. While genes are not within our control, I'm hoping we can teach our children skills to understand and deal with their natural inner setup.

The Art of Persuasion

Both my sons have very different fruit preferences.

They both started their fruit diet with pureed steamed apples at aged 6 months. KK now don't mind cut apples but he prefers oranges more. He also takes watermelon and grapes.

XX on the other hand shuns both grapes, apples and oranges. He's only willing to drink a bit of orange juice at most. He used to take grapes and bananas when he was smaller but when he turned 2, he suddenly refused them all. Up till 6 months ago, he shuns all fruits except apple puree. I was pretty stressed up trying to get him to eat any fruits. Thankfully, he now enjoys watermelon, strawberries and bananas. He will even take canned peaches and pineapples (on pizza), thanks to the positive example of KK.

How did I get XX to start eating these fruits? I had tried the 'benefits' approach of persuasion but it obviously didn't work. Who cares about Vitamin Cs and healthy skin? Not a 2 year old. In the end, it was the 'consequence' approach that did it. "Eat this strawberry or no Xbox!"

Once he tasted the yummy taste for himself, there's no need to persuade further.

First Dental Check-up

It was XX's first visit to the dentist today. Hubby arranged to go for his dental check-up before him to show an example for him so he knows what to expect. XX was curious seeing his father on the dentist's chair and wearing sunglasses. He seems quite intrigued, so that was a good sign. My only worry was whether he will open his mouth when it's his turn.

When it was his turn, he eagerly sat down on the chair. He got sunglasses too and he laid down like he's sunbathing as the dentist moved the chair up and down to thrill him. Surprisingly, he had no problem at all opening his mouth to the dentist. He even closed it and bite his teeth when told! He doesn't even obey my instructions all the time to do that when I brush his teeth at night!

It was a relatively short and pleasant experience. The objective is to make the FIRST EXPERIENCE a positive one. No scaling and polishing, the dentist just did a check for him and the verdict is ALL'S CLEAR. Phew! No decay = Save Money!! Next check up is when he's four years old.

The Computer Generation

This generation's children are so at ease with technology at an early age that even before they master their ABCs and 123s, they're taking pictures with the mobile phone and surfing the World Wide Web on a mouse. It's almost intuitive for them.

As a true child of the generation and following in the footsteps of his brother, XX has progressed from pressing buttons on mummy's mobile phone to using the stylus on the Nintendo DSLite. Touch the screen with your stylus or finger and move things around. Easier than 123. His favourite game on the DS: Cooking Mama.

And after months of not getting it, XX finally caught the "mouse" on the computer last week. Suddenly he realises that if he moves the mouse, the arrow cursor on the screen moves in tandem. He can control where it points and can also "left-click" using his index finger. So now, he can navigate the LEGO website on his own without having me sit next to him. While I celebrate the psycho-motor achievement, I'm not looking forward to the additional competition for my laptop. Already he bugs me to let him play on the computer everyday and he can sit there for a long time, clicking away, though he has no idea where it leads to. It's getting harder to tear him away from the computer now to play other things.

Toilet Training

Despite the irritation and discomfort caused by the flu, XX is progressing very well these few days in terms of his toilet training. Since 2 weeks ago, we have already stopped wearing diapers for him when we go out and he's done incredibly well. He made it through long car journeys and grocery shopping trips without wetting his pants. We nearly backed off when initially we struggled with getting him to pee properly at public toilets. He didn't wet his pants but we got parts of his jacket, shirt and even shoes wet when the sitting or standing position wasn't right. But I'm glad we didn't take the easy way out of putting his diapers back on. With some time and practice, we and him soon got the technicalities figured out.

At night and for naps, I'm still very cautious so I've been putting on a diaper for him. Occasionally, he'll wake up with dry diapers but for the last 3 nights, XX's been waking up suddenly in the night saying he wants to "shee shee". Inside my warm quilt and still somewhere in between dreamworld and reality, I'm very tempted to tell him just pee into his diapers. But I stopped myself. That would be regressive. So I struggled to stand up, got him to the toilet, took off his still dry diapers, and he did it like a big boy. In the morning, the diaper would be still dry and he'll ask to go to the toilet when he wakes up. Last night, after his mid-night pee, XX actually refuses to wear the diapers again. I took a big risk by allowing him and he didn't fail me.

I think my 2 yr 7 mth old is getting to be 100% toilet trained very soon. The only thing is, I've just bought a new bag of diapers, what am I gonna do with them?