First-Time Mum

Violin Lesson

2012-02-12T21:10:00.001-08:00

AJ started Ukulele lesson with Cristofori in Jan this year. After 2 lessons, the Ukulele teacher suggested him to learn violin instead as he has perfect pitch. It is a useful asset in playing violin, & he thought that it would be easy for AJ to pick up violin.

After discussing with the father, we decided to go ahead. We asked his current piano teacher for recommendation & we got him started with the father of Chan Yoong-Han (Singapore Symphony Orchestra First Violinist). His father, Chan Yong Shing, coached him personally.

Mr Chan took AJ in as student & AJ had his first lesson on 10 Feb. He set our expectation that learning violin is tough. The first 2 months can be a torture because correct posture would be emphasised; leaving the child feeling aches on the neck & arms.

True enough, AJ expressed that he did not like learning violin. But we are not letting him give it up yet. :-)

Bach BWV927

2012-02-07T18:32:00.000-08:00

2012 New Year Testimonial Time

2012-01-01T03:38:00.000-08:00

Joyful, joyful we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, Hail Thee as the Sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin & sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day.

Mortals join the mighty chorus which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning over us, Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, Victors in the midst of strife;
Joyful music leads us onward in the triumph song of life.

The Year-End Christmas Piano Concert

2011-12-22T21:09:00.000-08:00

优优猫录影现场剧照

2011-12-11T07:05:00.001-08:00

和优优猫主持人拍照

我在颜色很重要里扮演'豆豆'

AJ Appearing in MediaCorp's Mat Yoyo soon!

2011-12-09T01:52:00.000-08:00

AJ has been selected to cast in the children's programme in Mat yoyo.

His reoording will begin this Sunday 11 Dec 2011. Stay tuned for more updates!

AJ's K2 Graduation Concert

2011-11-24T10:49:00.000-08:00

After 1 Year of Training in EG2

2011-11-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

The Mcdonald's Birthday Party

2011-11-15T07:41:00.000-08:00

AJ is finally 5. This year I decided to have a birthday celebration for him at Mcdonald's. inviting his peers in church. The purpose of having this is to give me an idea how to conduct a birthday party for young children so that we can plan the subsequent one at our place. I have lost touched & have not been invited to a child's birthday party before, thus I need to have some ideas what games to play, the flow of the party, etc.

I had wanted the Mcdonald's at Kallang but it is booked. It has a seperate room for parties, which I like. I think to book that venue, one has to book 1 year in advance because it is as hot as hotcakes! I had to make do with the location at Bedok Reservoir, which turned out to be a convenient location for many who didnt drive.

Thank God that it turned out quite well. Most importantly, the children have enjoyed themselves - the food, the games & the door gifts.

旧爱新欢

2011-10-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

这本字典陪了我超过二十年了. 它是我旧家邻居送的.
那天, 我拿了出来教恩赐如何查生字, 想不到他居然爱上了它, 更爱上了繁体字.
他每天都会自己翻阅它, 自己学写生字(繁体和简体).
我这旧爱就这样成了他的新欢.

Kiss the Rain - Yiruma

2011-10-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

I have been enticing him to practise this song. It is really romantic, isn't it? He hesitated. Then I suggested to him that we can help burn his piece to CD & give to Li Jie, his beloved in school, as a farewell gift. When she listens to the music, she will always remember him. & you have guessed it right, he was so willing to do so.

So enjoy the original now. I will post his version when he has perfected it (hopefully). :-)

两小无猜

2011-10-15T03:35:00.000-07:00

恩赐学校里的好朋友

AJ's Piano Grade 2 Exam Results

2011-09-23T07:55:00.000-07:00

Yay!

Our New Place

2011-09-08T04:20:00.000-07:00

We have moved to our new place effective 3 Sep 2011. The old place will be on lease. Here are some photos of our new place.

ABRSM Grade 2 Piano Exam

2011-08-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

AJ will be having his exam on 23 August 2011 12noon. Oh, I am excited yet scared ... ...

This is 1 of the exam pieces which he likes most - yea, very jazzy. Hope he will do well in the exam.

KK Children's & Women's Hospital

2011-07-22T06:54:00.000-07:00

AJ had high fever of 40 degrees & above over 2 consecutive days that gave me panic. I made the decision to admit him to hospital because this was the 1st time he had such high fever & for 2 consecutive days. I wanted a thorough check to be made on him.

The funny thing was he had fever of above 4o degrees at home but when he was sent to hospital, temperature would drop by 1-2 degrees. He was sent back home once in the early morning because the temperature had dropped when he reached the hospital. But on the same day (5 July 2011) afternoon, his temperature went to 41 degrees & we sent him back. His temperature dropped to 39.3 when we reached but I insisted to have him admitted. An hour later, it went up to 40.

During the stay, they took his temperature every 1-2 hours, drew blood to do tests, collected his stool for examination, etc. After 2 days of stay, when his temperature went to normal, he was discharged. A week later, we received the diagnostic report (see here).

So it was the flu bug. Nowadays the bugs seem to be fierce, sigh ... ...

During his stay in the hospital he updated his personal blog. You may read it here.

Here is a clip which I have recorded. He did a show & tell on his hospital stay.

Mental Mathematics

2011-07-01T03:04:00.000-07:00

We have been teaching AJ mental math like ‘what makes 10’, ‘same number add to same number’, ‘10+ something’, etc. He knows them all but when it comes to doing addition sum, he still resorts to counting with fingers.

Argh! Hate that! So I told him the 4 rules he should look out for for easy addition & get him to read out the train of thought. I sat next to him as he did all the sums & reading out the working. It works! He is getting the hang of it. Am so glad!!

The 4 rules are:
(1) use +1 whenever there is
(2) use 10 + something whenever possible
(3) don’t forget what makes 10
(4) know same number add to same number very well

Example:
(1) If there is 5 + 1 + 1, use 6 + 1, instead of 5 + 2 [Rule 1]
(2) If there is 9 + 5, think 10 + 5, then minus 1 [Rule 2]
(3) Know 1 + 9, 2 + 8, 3 + 7, 4 + 6 & 5 + 5 very well [Rule 3]
(4) One must know multiples of 2 i.e. 1 + 1, 2 + 2, 6 + 6, 8 + 8, 9 + 9, etc [Rule 4]

Mozart & 4 Hands Extravaganza 2011 - 26/5/2011

2011-06-04T09:30:00.001-07:00

These were taken on the day of full-dress rehearsal

The Joy of Learning to Ride

2011-05-25T00:41:00.000-07:00

AJ has really gotten into cycling. I can understand the great satisfaction one gets when one can balance on 2 wheels. I was over the moon when I could cycle in my childhood days. I still remember the whole process of learning it. I was so glad that I did not fall at all.

And here he is, cycling non-stop round & round. I have to cut my video because I don’t know when is he going to stop :-)

The Cycling Journey

2011-05-15T17:16:00.000-07:00

The father decided one day to remove the 2 side wheels (stablizer) & the foot pedals of AJ's bicycle, converting it to a training bicycle to get AJ to learn balancing. Cool! AJ loves the pedalless bike & within 3 practices he got the hang of it & can balance relatively well. I suggested to the father to put the pedals back, observing that he might be ready to pedal on 2 wheels. Lo & behold! He can balance & pedal indeed! The next thing forward is to have more practices & after that controlling the speed. Woohooo!!!

Mozart & 4 Hands Extravaganza 2011 - 26/5/2011

2011-05-05T03:50:00.000-07:00

Birthday Present for His Beloved

2011-04-20T05:51:00.000-07:00

It was 李婕’s birthday on 16 April. AJ had wanted to give her a birthday present. I suggested a storybook & urged him to work for it. He was enthusiastic about it. Being a slow eater, the natural way to earn $ was to eat faster, within a stipulated time. We only had 3 days to work on it, with most meals outside, so his meals at home, if finished within a stipulated time, would earn him S$1.

Eventually, he earned S$4.50 over 6 meals. We proceeded to Popular bookstore to get a storybook and gotten this as he said this is her favourite story. The book cost S$4.60 after discount so I am donating 10 cents to him to help him top up the purchase.

EG2 勇敢大舞台 - 寻唐记

2011-04-14T02:55:00.000-07:00

EG2 勇敢大舞台 - 寻唐记的演出终于结束了. 恩赐还在演出的两天前来个肠胃感冒
, 真是急坏我了. 排练了一个多月, 不上台表演不是很惋惜吗? 感谢主! 他很快就
康复了.

这是他第一次表演脱口秀, 他非常享受整个过程. 老师们, 工作人员们和台下的观
众们都很喜欢他, 让他非常开心. 他也很期待以后有类似的表演.

Multiplication Table

2011-04-06T03:08:00.000-07:00

I have been teaching AJ to remember the time table since he was 3.5 YO. Progressively, he has mastered 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11 & lately 9 & 8. I am stucked with 6 & 7 because I cant think of any easier way to teach him. For 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10 & 11, they are pretty simply, as for 8, I taught him +10-2 formula since he knows his number bond pretty well. My ex-church friend suggested to me to put up all the time table into a table so that he can see the linkage. Huh? I am wondering how to do the table!! After some thoughts, I think I can simply teach him to remember 6x6, 6x7 & 7x7 because the rest of the time table he already knew (eg. he knows 5x6 is the same as 6x5). So, that means I have solved the problem on 6 & 7 time table. The only one left is 12 time table. Silly right? Why is there a need for 12 time table? Why doesnt MOE (Ministry of Education) stop at 10 time table?

春夜喜雨 - 杜甫

2011-03-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

好雨知时节，当春乃发生。随风潜入夜，润物细无声。野径云俱黑，江船火独明。晓看红湿处，花重锦官城。

The Alphanumeric Pasta

2011-03-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

For some reasons AJ likes to play with alphabets and numbers. He likes the alphanumeric biscuits I bought previously & had often asked me to pack them into his school snack box. At the back of my mind I had wanted to get this alphanumeric pasta to entice him to finish his meal quickly. One fine day I decided to go to the newly opened Cold Storage in Nex Shopping Centre as NTUC Fairprice does not sell. Lo & behold, I spotted this & grabbed it. That night I cooked this pasta for him. & yes! He was so excited to eat it. He will look out for the alphabets or numbers & eagerly put them into his mouth! I wish there were bigger size one though. This one is really tiny, the alphabets & numbers break easily. So if you know of any, please let me know.

勇敢大舞台

2011-03-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

更香的来
更糯的来
我家的粽子来
说说我这粽子好
让您吃了不会老
上下左右咬一咬
越吃越嚼运气好
大表哥，小表妹
来个粽子开开胃
吃了粽子身体好
爬坡上山不嫌累
买了粽子回家转
消食化水又解馋
蜜枣猪肉和板栗
又香又糯，甜如蜜
更香的来
更糯的来
我家的粽子来
卖粽子来

EG2 Course

2011-01-31T05:03:00.000-08:00

This is the course that I have signed AJ up. It specialises speech & presentation in Mandarin, not the usual Chinese enrichment course.

Andrew's 1st Concert

2011-01-15T00:14:00.000-08:00

I am both excited & scared. Scared because the pieces are not easy to master & 2 weeks more to the concert, AJ has not fully mastered them yet. I think teacher Buchan has set too high a standard for him :-(

I Want To Marry Her

2010-12-26T06:41:00.000-08:00

This was our conversation one night:

AJ: how old would my son's or daughter's mummy be when I am 48 yrs old?

Me: who is yr son's or daughter's mummy?

AJ: 李婕啦! (she is his classmate)

Me: you' want to marry her?

AJ: nod

Me: have you told her?

AJ: no

Me: when do you want to get married?

AJ: err...33? err..... no 23

I can't help but laugh. How on earth did he get this idea of marrying a lady? Other than news & some cartoons in Playhouse Disney, we don't usually turn on any adult shows on TV. It really puzzles me.

On the other hand, I know my son is a sentimental boy. He is stubborn on the outside, but very soft & tender on the inside. Pretty much the mother's trait :-) I am not surprise that he prefers quiet demure damsel. I personally like this girl very much (not that I approved this 'relationship'), she is very well-mannered, polite, kind & gentle to him. Her mother has brought her up well.

Well, another year more to go for AJ to be in the same class as her. After that, it is bye bye to this 'puppy love'. :-)

The girl standing next to him is the one he is interested in.

Blessed Birthday Son!

2010-11-24T18:23:00.000-08:00

AJ is 4! I really cant wait for him to grow up, I needed my freedom badly! Yet, I believe I will miss his young old days as he grows up, as he grows more rebellious, as he grows up to be more individual. I will also not be able to hug & kiss him as often as when he was younger.

Initially I wanted to hold a Mcdonald’s birthday party for him inviting his church peers to come, but the Church Choir decided to hold a BBQ at Downtown East Chalet on 5 Nov itself to reward everyone who has participated in the Reformation Cantata on 31 Oct. So I decided to call it off.

As 5 Nov was a public holiday, we had a small celebration in AJ’s school on 4 Nov instead. He cut the cake & everyone got to eat the cake, nuggets I have prepared & a goodie bag to bring home.

On the day itself, we met my sister’s family for lunch & then headed to her house to rest. In the night we went for the BBQ. It has been pouring since lunch, not really the kind of weather for BBQ. Nonetheless, I have already bought the cake & did not want to disappoint the boy too. So, we went despite the rain. Thanks to Kenneth who managed to gather the kids around & AJ got to blow the 4 candles under a big umbrella! Haha …

Gospel Rally 9 Oct 2010

2010-10-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

This is the first time AJ sang with the church’s Children’s choir. The poor boy was having a very bad cough with lots of phlegm on the day itself (9 Oct 2010). I was actually contemplating not to send him there, but I know his heart desired to sing. Moreover, he has been practicing very hard for the 3 songs & the memory verses. After much consideration, I still sent him there so that there will no regrets.

Oh! I must say he looked so smart in the black & white attire! And he said he looked smart too – haha.

This is also the first day I was trying out my new Canon E1000 DSLR camera. Some shots were off focus. Never mind, I will get better with it!

Bye Teacher Hara; Hello Teacher Buchan

2010-08-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

AJ left Seimpi School of Music end June 2010 though he got into the school’s SMART programme. Prior to this decision, we researched on other opportunities for AJ as we think his talent needs to be brought to higher height at faster speed. Seimpi School of Music does not focus that much on individual grooming as the school tends to mass produce. Anything outside the textbook that the teachers want to do is probably restrained by its red tape.

Farewell photo with teacher Hara from Seimpi School of Music

We chanced into Buchan’s Tedd Joselson School of Piano . Though it is pretty much an OMO, it is her association with Tedd Joselson (International Concert Pianist) that interest us. It is the kind of network & exposure we want for AJ. Upon contacting Buchan, we quickly arranged a meet up with her & AJ played a few pieces for her to assess. She was spot on in her assessment & took him in as her student immediately.

The Seimpi School of Music had plan for AJ to sit for ABRSM Grade 1 in March 2011, but under Buchan’s guidance, he may proceed on to Grade 3 in 2011. So we can clearly see the systematic hierarchy & red tape that AJ has to go through.

Thank God that AJ likes teacher Buchan too, so what she says, he will listen & obey. Buchan wants AJ to practice piano min. 2 hours daily, which can be quite a task to achieve. We are struggling with an hour daily already :-( . We hope that as he grows older, he will understand the need to practice more often in order to further excel in music.

Back to School

2010-07-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

AJ has gone back to school, this time, back to Zoophonics. Well, the dress code issue is resolved. The teachers now wear Polo-T uniform, regardless part-time or full-time. And Zoophonics has opened a new branch in my area, which is 15 mins walk together with AJ or 7 mins walk alone. Moreover, they did an assessment for him, so instead of going into Nursery 2, he gets into Kindergarten 1. At least he gets to learn something more advance, which should not be too boring for him.

Though academically he is more advance than his peers, mentally he is still a 4-year old boy. The school actually recommended Kindergarten 2 for him, but I would rather not because I think mentally he is still not there yet. So we settled for Kindergarten 1.

He has enjoyed going to school so far. I have also constantly reviewed what was taught in school & find the curriculum in-line with the Singapore education system & that it was not too easy nor difficult for him. I am quite comfortable with the pace.

You may ask, so what happened when he is officially 6 in calendar year as he would have finished Kindergarten 2 by 5. Well, there are still many enrichment classes he can attend to prepare him for Primary 1. He can also focus more on music by then. Let’s see how it goes by then.

Some Music Pieces AJ Played Recently

2010-06-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

These are some pieces which he has practised recently:

Piano Audition Passed!

2010-05-28T07:10:00.000-07:00

AJ recently sat for the piano audition set by his music school - Seimpi School of Music & he passed it. He is allowed into the school's fast track programme called SMART (Seimpi MIM Accelerated & Robust Training) programme. They planned for him to sit for ABRSM grade 1 exam in March 2011 if he is ready. We are glad that he has proven his talents in music.

We have not decided if we will go with the school's SMART programme as we are also exploring other schools or teachers which/who can bring out the best in him. We know that this boy is talented in music, so as parents, we want to provide the best for him if we can. Talents are given by God, thus it is our duty to maximise our talents for His glory. May the Lord lead the way.

学华语

2010-04-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

感谢‘千字童’，‘四五快读’，‘小太阳阅读计划’和 ‘快捷汉字认读教程’，恩赐的华语真的进步了许多。现在，他会大胆尝试在外头看到的词语。碰到不认识的他会问我那是什么。

我现在在努力寻找‘小太阳阅读计划’之后的书。‘小太阳阅读计划’类型的书真的很棒，真希望能够找到更多这类型的书。

‘快捷汉字认读教程’以三字经的方式教小朋友看字背字认字。它琅琅上口，恩赐很快就能够朗读，也因此认识了字形结构，觉得华文也蛮有趣的。

Zoom-Zoom-Zoom

2010-03-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

AJ loves car. He loves it so much that he knows all the car logos on the road literally, & is now learning their models. On any mode of land transport, he would want to look out of the window to look for -- CARS! If you pass him anything flat of any shapes - round, rectangular or squarish, he will imagine that as his steering wheel & drives it. In this aspect, he has my genes. I love cars too & I love to drive.

We brought AJ to Changi Airport T3 on 22nd March to take these motorised car rides. He loves it so much that he said he wants to go again, & again, & again, & again. The car selection is quite wide, ranging from normal conventional cars, to police car, to BMW convertibles, F1 race cars, Harley Davidson look alike bikes & quad bikes. Each ride is 10mins & costs $3 to $8 depending on the car selection. The car is quite real in the sense it has brake pedal & accelerator. You can control the level of the speed (constant) you want with a button & it has forward & reverse gear. In the sense, the child gets to learn a little about driving.

It does seem fun to me too & we are definitely going back again (available until end of Jun'2010).

Minuet in G by Bach / Lover's Concerto

2010-02-24T08:12:00.000-08:00

This is the music piece that AJ is requested to play for his music school concert in July 2010. I remembered that there was a song composed to this tune & searched the Internet for it. Finally, I found it! It is a love song. I played it for Andrew to listen & he fell in love with the song immediately. Really, I didnt know my son can be so romantic. He requested me to play it over & over again. He can now sing it by heart. We havent tried playing the music & singing at the same time though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5kc5IxtbBk&feature=related

学成语

2010-02-01T00:18:00.000-08:00

我一向很注重华语。我觉得华语是一个很美丽的语言。偏偏这年代的学生大都排斥它，真叫人遗憾。

在家里我都尽可能用华语与儿子交谈。但在他从婴孩起，家中就有了个印尼女佣，爸爸又不精通华语，所以家中的主要语言是英语。儿子从小就英语了得，而华语他就差很多。直到他三岁生日过后，印尼女佣回家了，我才快马加鞭，赶紧把儿子的华语补进。

我以前的中学是中正中学，是纯华校。华文老师常常逼我们背成语。虽然不喜欢背书，但也为了应付考试而背了。虽然不是名列前茅，但我的华语也算是顶呱呱的。我尤其喜欢成语，总觉得它很美，就凭四个字，就能把事情或事物形容得凛凛景致。再加上我早已把它给牢牢记上了，要我教成语是如鱼得水。

有些朋友建议我教儿子三字经和唐诗。坦白说我对唐诗毫无兴趣，叫我怎么教得来呢? 而三字经嘛，我又过不了自己这关说‘人之初，性本善’。对于我而言，‘人之初，性本恶’才是。这么多的顾虑，算了，就教成语吧！

我尽量都教儿子日常生活会接触到的。比如说，很多人是人山人海，很多车是车水马龙，很多颜色是五颜六色。说也奇怪，他似乎也喜欢四个字的成语，学习的进度让我惊讶。如今他已能掌握这些成语及它们的用法：

满头大汗
凉风习习
乌云密布
倾盆大雨
慢条斯理
车水马龙
人山人海
四脚朝天
头破血流
雨过天晴
五颜六色

Food Companions

2010-01-10T20:37:00.000-08:00

Those who know my family would likely know that AJ is an extremely sloooow eater. Every meal is min. 1hr – breakfast, lunch & dinner. It started since the day he was born. When he was liquid diet, it was the same. Feeding time is like wasting time.

Though he now eats on his own, he cannot be left alone to finish his meal. He will usually not take up the spoon without us nagging, scoldinging or bringing the bowl to him. Since he takes this looong to eat, I will usually eat with him & when I have finished my meal, I will do my work on the computer while monitoring him to eat (and of course, nag, scold & bring the bowl to him).

I am most envious of parents with kid(s) who love to eat. It has never happened to my son so far. He doesn’t go to the refrigerator door & attempt to open to search for snacks. He never says he is hungry before. Wah, sounds like he can go without food huh.

To entice him to eat within the 1 hour (else it could be 1.5 to 2 hours), these are his food companions during his meals … … Arnott’s crackers, rice cake, Korean seaweed, Japanese seaweed, cornflakes, seaweed crackers, etc. Anything crunchy, crispy & savoury goes well. Honestly, I can’t live without them yet. They keep me sane during mealtimes.

Melbourne & Tasmania - 2 to 24 Dec'09

2010-01-04T00:52:00.000-08:00

AJ & myself left for Melbourne on 2 Dec night. I have booked for Air India & it turned out to be a nice surprise - a SQ airbus due to the Star Alliance arrangement. The plane was almost full with pockets of 1 seat vacant here & there. The couple who sat next to us suggested to us to change seats with the man sitting in front of us. There were 2 men occupying 4 seats thus I could have 3 seats (2 for AJ to sleep). Thank God that he was agreeable to change seats with me & thus AJ was able to sleep for 5 hrs on the 7 hrs flight.

This is the first time I stayed with James & Pauline in their new house (I called that palace because it is really big – 5 bedrooms, 3 lounges, kitchen & dining area). It is nice to visit Melbourne once again after 8 yrs. Melbourne has changed a little. I noticed that there are more cars on the road now. Pauline said there are many Mainland Chinese migrants nowadays. Well, they spoilt the property market once again by flooding it with liquidity, buying houses on hard cash, making property prices sky high.

AJ’s cough got worse in the harsh climate, so much so that it has developed into asthmatic cough. Thank God for a doctor friend of the King’s family (Pauline’s parents) who gave us free consultation. We only have to pay for the medication.

My friend Pauline’s elder son Joshua was having Christmas recital on 7 Dec and we went to watch. It gave Andrew a good idea what a recital is since he has missed the one from his music school. Incidentally, Preacher Paul’s elder son Timothy was also performing on the same night at the same place because both children have the same piano teacher.

We went to Chesterfield Farm, not far from Pauline’s place on 8 Dec. It was quite a comprehensive farm, we saw many animals. Apparently, Andrew is not used to farm. He dislikes long grass, haha. But he had the chance to milk the cow, which was quite an experience.

We went to Werribee Open Range Zoo on 12 Dec with Pauline’s family. Though Singapore has one of the best Zoo, the open range Zoo is no where to be compared. Animals have plenty of space to roam around. The Safari Tour Bus Guide was interesting. We also went to Botanical Garden in Cranbourne with Pr. Paul’s family on 14 Dec.

We headed to Tasmania on 16 Dec night, almost immediately after AJ’s father touched down in the morning. It wasn’t interesting on 17th because it rained heavily throughout in Tasmania - Hobart. Thank God it was sunny on 18th & we were able to visit Port Arthur – the Convict Trail. We literally spent the whole day there. Too bad, we have to leave on 19th evening so after checking out, we visited Richmond town. It was just too short a trip in Tasmania to visit other places, sigh.

AJ had another round of cough & runny nose when he returned to S’pore. This boy’s immunity system is so low, it really caused me a great headache. I am so afraid of exposing him to a group of children, fearing that he will catch another round of virus again. Sigh, I pray that he will be stronger with the regular TCM intake & as he grows older.

AJ's 2009 Praises

2010-01-01T23:12:00.000-08:00

This is AJ's video clip on night of praise 31/12/2009 in Church.

New Digital Piano

2009-12-25T16:20:00.000-08:00

This is Andrew's new Yamaha Claninova Digital Piano which we bought during the year end Yamaha promotion. We sold our old Yamaha Digital Keyboard through ebay. The father & I were debating whether to get an acoustic piano or a digital piano. While an acoustic piano can possibly last him till Grade 8 & beyond, it doesnt provide the flexibility of other functions. The technology in digital piano is so advance now that the touch & feel of the keyboard is so close to the traditional acoustic piano. It also has many functions which can help to keep a yound child interested in piano. It can probably last AJ till Grade 3 or 4 only. After these considerations, we decided to get the digital piano instead. And when he advances to higher level, we will then switch to acoustic, when he is more sure with his direction on music.

The Yamaha Claninova Digital Piano is now his new toy. He meddled with the functions more than us & probably knows the features more than us.

Birthday Photos

2009-12-25T16:12:00.000-08:00

We have been quite busy since the maid left us for good in mid Nov. I am also home schooling AJ for his Pre-nursery & Nursery years. This boy is so prone to falling sick so I think I had better take the opportunity to build up his immunity first before exposing him to community living.

These are the photos taken from his 3rd birthday celebration. I am hoping we can throw a party or something when he turns 4. We'll see how it goes.

Camera for Birthday Present

2009-10-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

AJ gave me a pleasant surprise recently, one morning when I was in the bathroom. My ex-colleagues bought him a magnetic easel stand when he can write/draw on the white board with the markers or use the magnetic numbers/alphabets to form simple equations or words. That morning he made 99 + 2 = 101. I am pretty impressed. Even though in Kumon he was given the opportunity to learn up to 220 & is now doing addition of XX + 2 = XX, he hasn’t reached addition up to 3-digit yet. From this, it tells me that he has understood the addition of 2 regardless of the numbers. All thanks to Kumon’s learning materials.

AJ likes to take my mobile phone to snap photos, especially sequential shots. And I always had a hard time deleting them because there are simply too many. One day, he took my mobile phone to take photos again. But this time, more. He deleted ALL my notes stored on the phone and ALL my appointments. It was too late when I discovered it. From then onwards, I did not lend him my mobile phone any more. But I would still want him to enjoy snapping photos, to keep this hobby alive. So the husband & I agreed to buy him a camera for his birthday.

I went to Toys”R’us & saw 2 types of children camera. 1 for 3+ years old costing around S$130 & the other for 5+ at half the price. The former looks like a toy literally, the latter looks like a real camera. Which one do you think AJ would like? The ‘real’ one, of course. He has been playing with real mobile phones, why would he want to play his toy mobile phone?? So I bought the ‘real’ camera for him & get a surprise S$10 off as a Toys’R’us member :-D

We are going to celebrate AJ’s birthday on 7 Nov (Sat) with my sister’s family. Will upload some photos then.

School Suspended

2009-09-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

AJ's bronchitis is back, just after 1 week of rest. He is like a walking bucket of mucus and phlegm. Sleep to him becomes a chore. He dislikes going to sleep now as the block nose will cause him breathing difficulty and his phlegm will cause him to cough and vomit. It is very painful to see him going through all these. We reckon that he is probably not ready for big community living, because I remembered he also fell sick after 3 consecutive days of VBS in my church during the June school holiday. So we called the school and requested for suspension till possibly Dec'09 or Jan'10. Thank God that the lady owner is fine with the arrangement. Meantime, i went to TCM Hall and get 冬虫夏草 for him. With regular intake, i hope it will help to strengthen his lung.

My Saviour's Love

2009-09-18T23:11:00.000-07:00

Andrew was taught to sing this song because I am putting a video of him for my FEBC project presentation. Lyrics:

Stanza 1
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene
And wonder how He could love me - a sinner condemned, unclean

Chorus
How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be
How marvelous! How wonderful! Is my Saviour's love for me

Stanza 2
He took my sins and my sorrows, He made them His very own
He bore the burden to Calvary, and suffered and died alone

34-mth Old

2009-09-09T00:20:00.000-07:00

Andrew started attending school on 1st Sept and he enjoys every moment of it! School has done him some good even though he has just attended it for a few days. He is now eating slightly faster, he puts on his own sandals and takes them off himself. He attempts to wash his hands himself properly. Credit goes to the teachers, they have been encouraging the children there to do these things themselves.

We went to KL/Genting during end of August. As it was raining cats and dogs in Genting during our 3D/2N there so we were restricted to Indoor Theme Park only. Anyway, AJ is too young to know what he has missed, so it didn’t really matter to us whether it is Indoor Theme Park or Outdoor Theme Park, although air is fresher outdoor.

AJ recently had bronchitis. It got me really worried. The poor boy was like a walking bucket of phlegm. The doctor has prescribed steroid for him as there was no better way out. Thank God he can breathe better now.

Time flies, AJ is 34 months old now. In the next 2 months, he will be celebrating his 3rd birthday. What greater joy can there be than to see happy healthy smiley child?

ExplorerKidz

2009-08-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

AJ's New 4-Wheel Drive

2009-08-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

We have given away AJ’s small tricycle as we think that he should be ready for a bike. I happened to go to Giant at Vivo last Saturday and saw this bike on offer. Wow! $49.90! I cannot resist but to get it at once because the size fits AJ nicely and the price is so attractive.

AJ saw this bike the moment I opened the door and he climbed up on it swiftly and confidently. I was relieved to see that his confidence level has gone up significantly. I think the swimming lessons and the trips to ExplorerKidz have helped in boosting it.

He can ride this bike pretty well, except he tends not to look straight, but all around. Thus, he may hit into pillars or other objects if there is no close supervision. But I guess, with constant reminder, he should be able to cycle with less close supervision.

One of my friends, Sin Wei, gave tips on how to teach a child to cycle in a week or so. Here’s what he said, “
want him to learn to cycle within 1-2 weeks? Remove the side wheels, remove the padels, lower his seat till both his feet can touch the floor. Let him sit and move forward by using his feet. Go around till he feels the technique of balancing. Once he is able to balance ie, both feet up and going down a gentle slope, put back the padels. He now is able to cycle and bring him for a celebration!"

We will definitely try on this tip once he is ready!

Practices on Keyboard

2009-07-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

Sentosa - Underwater World & Pink Dolphin Lagoon

2009-07-02T23:38:00.000-07:00

1 of the advantages of stay at home mum (for me is work at home) is the flexibility of time. I can sign AJ up for enrichment classes during off peak hours (cheaper & better teacher to children ratio), bring him out to places of interest when it is less crowded.

The market was expected to be quiet on 2nd July (Thurs) so I decided to bring AJ to Sentosa Underwater World & the Pink Dolphin Lagoon. Just a half day outing because I would prefer him to have a proper nap at home in the afternoon. With his father’s corporate pass, our admission was free.

I think he enjoyed watching the stunts by the pink dolphins very much. When I asked if he would like to take a photo with the dolphins and touch them, his answer was ‘Yes’. But when I told him he has to get into the water to do that, he hesitated. He probably thought that he will be in the water alone. Anyway, we didn’t do that. We may be better off doing that when we visit Australia in the near future.

AJ has grown to be more assertive these days, insisting on what he wants. & if we told him that the cane will come if he disobeys us, he will cry first to win our hearts. Children these days are very good at manipulating parents.

But, overall, AJ is still quite an obedient child, & has a teachable spirit. He is also quite mature for his age. When I explain things to him, he will listen & will try not to do it again. When I told him that my back is aching I can't play certain games with him, or when I was carrying heavy stuff so I can't carry him & that he has to walk, he understands.
I am grateful to be able to be with him in his early childhood, & to play a part in nurturing him.

Amazing Grace

2009-06-28T17:03:00.000-07:00

Andrew has been sick on/off thus we have delayed this recording. He could have caught a bug when he attended the church vacation bible school. He was down with fever, cough with phlegm and runny nose. After the healing of the first round of runny nose, he caught another one just few days later – poor boy.

We are hoping he could record the Chinese songs soon but his father has to search for the music first.

Funny Faces

2009-06-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

Visit to Marina Barrage

2009-05-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

Singapore‘s First Reservoir In The City

Marina Barrage, a project by PUB (Singapore‘s national water agency), is set to boost Singapore‘s water supply, alleviate flooding in the low-lying city areas and become a hot spot for recreational activities. We visited on 9 May 09. I will not be visiting it again until the whole construction work in Marina Bay is completed. Until you visit Marina Bay, you cannot imagine the scale of the constuction work that is going on there. It is dust, foreign workers, cranes, cement mixers, dump trucks ... ... everywhere.

Lord, here I take my cross

2009-04-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

A song dedicated to late pastor - Rev (Dr) Timothy Tow. Thank God for his faithful service & steadfast faith.

Lord, here I take my cross now to follow thee.Worldy gain, empty fame, are but dross to me.Men may sneer, men may jeer, pain may come or stay.Naught can cause me to stray from the narrow way.Thru His word, by His grace, I would faithful be.Till at last, I reach home, there's a crown for me.A bright crown for me.Yes, a crown for me.

Car Logos & more

2009-04-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

I introduced to AJ a series of car logos recently & it was a hit. He is absolutely obessed with the car logo cards, playing with them almost everyday. He knows every logo, & will be eager to look out for them when he is on the road. Off road, he will take his car logo card & pretend to drive. He will also invite us to drive, giving us a card each. So the family will drive different make of the cars together (how nice if it is real :-)).

Riding on this phenomenon, i did the flag cards, introducing him to the flags of different countries. It is also another hit, though not as hot as the car logos. He is able to tell the countries of those flags in English & Chinese (with a little help). How cool these cards are. Now I have to think - what's next?

In Remembrance of my Mother (II)

2009-03-24T23:21:00.000-07:00

Time flies, it is the 2nd anniversary of my mother’s death. As I see AJ grows, I cant help but feel sad that I cant share this joy with her. Even until today, I still have this thought that I was partly the cause of her death. It is like the thorn in the flesh that Paul had which he wished that the Lord would remove but the Lord didn’t. It should remain with me, to keep me humble, reminding me that there is a sovereign God who controls everything.

Click here to view my blog on her 1st anniversary

The Lord's Prayer

2009-03-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

This is AJ singing the Lord's Prayer. Not easy to get this recorded because he kept coming to the camera, curious to see what was being shot. We are preparing this for thanksgiving song presentation for our church anniversary.

AJ's First Watercolour Artwork

2009-02-26T06:37:00.000-08:00

This is AJ's 1st piece of artwork with watercolours. Apparently he enjoyed playing with it.

Zoo-phonics School

2009-02-23T23:06:00.000-08:00

AJ went for his zoo-phonics class today. After learning how to read with Glenn Doman teaching method, AJ is now able to read simple English book on his own. To expand his reading capability, we signed him up on phonics classes so that he can blend more words together to ease reading.

We enquired a few phonics schools but most will only take in children of 3 years up. However, we didn’t want to wait till then. Eventually, we came across Zoo-phonics, which takes in children of 18 months up. So AJ was off to this school.

We are not sure how effective it will be, thus we would try it out for 1 month or so before deciding whether this would be the school for him for this year.

After note: We have decided not to continue with Zoo-Phonics after 2 lessons on the following reasons though AJ enjoyed going - (1) The teachers do not speak proper conversational English; (2) 1 of the teachers' skimpy dresscode puts me off. She was wearing spaghetti-stripe sundress & fantastically short dress on the 2 occasions which I find is inappropriate & (3) The teacher was teaching the sound of ALL 26 alphabets in 1 go which I think even a genius cant remember that.

KL Trip 30 Jan to 2 Feb'09

2009-02-04T07:10:00.000-08:00

We went KL during the CNY season to visit AJ's paternal grandparents. His grandfather was unwell but thank God he is regaining energy & is eating better. We flew up via Air Asia this time. After all the waiting & transfer, I reckon that it is better off driving up or taking a coach. The time taken was just not worth the price paid for the air tickets & transfer. Our next trip to KL would probably be in Aug/Sept. I am contemplating going there by coach ... ...

First Trial Swimming Lesson

2009-01-17T06:03:00.000-08:00

AJ went for his first trial swimming lesson provided by aquaDucks at Suntec City. We are pretty comfortable with the coach. He is friendly & child-oriented. We like the way lesson was conducted. The coaching principle is primarily getting the child comfortable with water & enjoy playing with water. We like the class size. It is small, so every individual child gets sufficient attention. We are comfortable with the environment. It is a private pool, so there are lesser distractions. As such, we have decided to sign him up with aquaDucks instead of Happy Fish.

New Additions to Thomas & Friends' Collection

2009-01-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

These are the 2 more items added to AJ's Thomas & Friends' collection. The train set was bought by James & Pauline. They passed them to me through my church's Deacon who went to Melbourne recently. The DVDs set was bought by Adeline. She saw my blog & passed this to Gina who has returned from Shanghai holiday. AJ has been kept busy with his collection.

Accident at the Playgorund

2009-01-02T04:36:00.000-08:00

AJ had a minor accident this evening at the playground. He was climbing up the stairs to take the slide when a teenage boy, sitting on the horizontal railing on the slide, was about to come down. He lost his balance & fell. He hit AJ accidentally with his arm & AJ fell & knocked his lips against the stairs. Thank God that it was not serious. AJ now has swollen lips.

New Year 2009!

2009-01-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

A new year has come, a terrible 2009 ahead with more economic contraction. I doubt Singaporeans have yet to feel the real impact of this severe economy downturn second to the Great Depression in 1930s. I believe more Singaporeans will feel it when the heavy layoff set in this year.

AJ is 2 years 2 months old now. He is getting more & more mischievous. His favourite phrase now is “I don’t’ want”. “I don’t want to eat … …”, “I don’t want to sleep”, “I don’t want to sit on the stroller” … … the list goes on. The only way to overcome his assertiveness is to be firm. Of course, the cry can melt your heart, still, if we are not firm, he knows that the limit can be tested over & over again.

I was a bit surprised to learn that he can now write/draw ‘1’, ‘0’, ‘一’, when the father showed me yesterday. So we got him to piece them together to form ‘10’, ‘100’, ‘二’, ‘三’ & ‘十’. It is very obvious that children love to learn. He was very happy he can ‘create’ those Chinese characters & numerals with 1’, ‘0’, ‘一’.

AJ is phobia of water. He likes to play with water in his bath tub, but he hates having water running down from his head. When he is in the swimming pool, he can be very apprehensive in putting his legs down in the shallow children’s pool. We then decided that it is timely to send this boy for swimming lessons to overcome this fear. So we have signed him up with Happy Fish Swimming Lesson which will commence on 7 Feb 09.

We are also sending him to this music class which we find it quite suitable to harness his interest in music (Seimpi School of Music).

I have been scouting around for Nursery for AJ to attend in 2010. Thus far, I have shortlisted two - the Montessori Playroom Kindergarten in Hougang and Pat’s Schoolhouse in Kovan. I have visited the former & am pretty comfortable with the teachers & the environment. My church friend, Melissa, who was a former Montessori teacher said that there are many Montessori counterfeit in the market because Montessori is not a trademark but this school seems very authentic to her. With that assurance, I shortlisted this. I have not been to the latter child care centre yet & will likely to do so in mid Jan as recommended by the centre principal.

There are some advantages of sending him to a half-day session in the Pat’s schoolhouse (Child Care Centre) because I need not worry about keeping him entertained during school holidays. But I still prefer Montessori teaching system. There is no authentic Montessori Child Care Centre in the market, sad to say.

We are also planning to move to a place nearer to the father’s workplace in 2010 so that his traveling time can be cut down. So the next thing in the agenda is researching on primary schools around the northern train track.

Church Camp 2-6 Dec 08

2008-12-20T07:13:00.001-08:00

We went to Bintan Agro Spa Resort on 2-6 Dec 08. It is a break I looked forward to as I can be exclusively available to AJ with no work on hand and no maid along.

Unfortunately, we started quite badly for this trip. AJ had motion sickness during the ferry ride. We were caught unprepared because this was his first ferry ride. He vomited at least 5 times throughout the trip. He was crying with much discomfort and the frustrating part was – we, as parents, cannot relieve him of anything. He vomited on my shirt & jeans. I could smell myself, I was very sure that everyone else in the trip could too. With no extra clothes on hand, I had to bear with it till we reached the Resort. The 2-hr ferry ride was like a half-day ride to me.

The vomiting continued when we had to take a 45-min bus ride from the ferry terminal to the resort. The whole experience was terrible for AJ and us. Thank God he recovered quickly once we were on land (i.e. landed in the Resort).

Days passed quickly when we were there. The messages given by Rev Quek Suan Yew was timely as he reminded us that we are only pilgrims & strangers on this earth. We were reminded not to plan too long ahead.

AJ had his chance of playing in the pool for 2 days. However, he is still afraid of water getting into his eyes so he would only play when the water was below his waist. We were convinced that we should send him for swimming lessons soon.

We were more prepared when we returned back. We packed a few plastic bags and some change of clothes into our handcarry for standby. We fed AJ some anti-vomiting medicine given by a kind sister in camp & also fasted him, refraining him from food & water. The poor boy was super hungry when we reached Singapore at night but we thank God that he survived the ferry ride this time with minimal discomfort.

The trip back came with a little hiccup. Someone in our group mistook our luggage causing us anxiety to search for it. The father was frustrated, thinking that I was the one misplacing it since I was the one who carried it to the ferry. But I was sure that the helpers on the ferry did park our luggage with the rest of them. And of course, there was this extra luggage whom nobody claimed because that person has taken the wrong one. So we have no choice but to lug it along in hope that we could exchange it at some point of time.

The luggage, without tag, was not locked so we opened it up to get some clues. The only clues gathered were: this might belong to a family with at least 2 children and there was a coloured string on it. We knew that this luggage belonged to 1 of our members because we were grouped according to colours and we have coloured string attached to our luggages. So we quickly informed the group leader of that colour code to assist us to search for the owner.

Thank God all ended well. The maid of 1 of our members took the wrong luggage. Eventually, we exchanged the luggages.

What an eventful camp!

Thomas & Friends Toddler's Scooter/Story Books

2008-12-17T17:41:00.000-08:00

These are the latest Thomas & Friends items added to AJ's collection. These are bought at Ebay at $18 for each item, and have not arrived yet. I think the scooter is a real bargain (though not brand new). But he is too young to try the scooter so I would have to keep it in the store room till he reaches 2.5-3 years old. Nonetheless, at such bargain price, better buy first lah.

I think he will like the books too, and he would probably hold on to them to read & read everyday. Well, he is still playing the toy train EVERYDAY ever since the opening ceremony on 23 Nov-08, never sick of it. That was like 3 weeks ago. The ROI on this train is indeed high.

After note: he saw the scooter & wanted to play

The Magic Spoon

2008-12-16T06:53:00.000-08:00

AJ takes a loooooong time to eat/drink eversince birth. When he was on milk feed, he took an hour to finish a bottle of milk. Now that he is on solid, he also takes an hour to finish his meal, sometimes hardly half-finished even after an hour. It requires a lot of patience to feed him, which I have little.

AJ loves Thomas and Friends, probably a love kindled since Caleb was staying here with us (Caleb has this toy train). He likes the songs, he likes to watch the short video clips we downloaded from you tube.com, he likes the train toy that James & Pauline got for him.

I went to Bishan Junction 8 BHG to get some gifts and happened to see this spoon. It is inexpensive, so I thought why not get one for him.

This evening turned out to be a record in 2 years. He finished his dinner in 20 minutes! Thanks to this magic spoon! He loves to see that train so much that he kept gulping down his food so that he may see it. It came as a very pleasant surprise, though I am also wondering how long this can last. Well, looks like I may have to get spoons of different characters to entice him to speed up his meal consumption.

Help-less

2008-12-14T06:28:00.000-08:00

I was help-less from 28 Nov to 12 Dec 08. Yea, my domestic helper went for home leave, and the photo on top best described me. My helper has been with us for nearing 2 years & she is willing to extend for another year. We are glad to have her, knowing that having a good helper is by God’s mercy. Most importantly, she adores AJ. She has a son who is a year older than AJ. Initially she did not want to go back after 2 years here. She did not say why, but as a mother, my guess is when she sees her son, it will be unbearable to part. If it is not for financial reason, who would want to part from her young ones. But her husband encouraged her to go back & so she did.

I was all prepared that she might not come back for reason above. Thank God she did, much to my relief.

Out of the 14 days that she was away, we were in church camp for 5 days. And 4 days of weekends and public holiday when the father could be around to lend a helping hand (play with AJ). But for the balance 5 days, I was like an octopus, alone with AJ.

AJ came back from camp with an uncontrollable loose stool. So he shitted on his shorts and floor without giving any signal until it happened. And I have housework & my own secular work to do. It was a REAL struggle. It did not help when the father added that Aunty was nicer to AJ than Mama.

Yup, I admit that I was running a little out of patient when so many things happened at one go. With the mess to clean, the market to watch & a toddler’s hands to keep away from (in case he plays with the mess), how sane can one be. And so I was terribly mad with the father when he passed such irresponsible remark & refused to talk to him for a day. Try working at home for a day with this toddler with loose stool to care for & see if you go insane.

Now I appreciate my helper better, haha. The bonus now is: after being alone with AJ for 5 consecutive days, my skills of handling stress improves.

Vehicles, Vehicles, Vehicles

2008-11-25T19:51:00.000-08:00

Give AJ any type of vehicles & he will play it for the whole day, maybe even up to a week. He just loves vehicles, any types. When my friend Pauline was here, AJ took his son’s toy trains & would not return them. He brought them along anywhere, held each in his hands, & even brought them to sleep. So, I had no choice but to attempt to get a replacement when I went shopping with Pauline.

I got a fire engine of similar size to the trains. He happily took it & played with it. It was that moment I secretly hid the 2 toy trains away, otherwise I may not be able to return them to Caleb. At some moments, he would ask for those 2 trains, but we could easily distract him with the new fire engine.

Little did I know that James & Pauline were secretly planning to get a train set for AJ. And so, they did. They wanted to give to AJ that very night when they were about to depart but I have restrained that, else AJ would not want to sleep! He would want to play with his new train! So Pauline requested to video shoot the ‘present opening ceremony’ so that they can see his expression.

Farewell Twin

2008-11-23T16:46:00.001-08:00

My friends left on 21 Nov 08. The twin parted. When would they meet again, we really dont know. Maybe in 2009, maybe in 2010? Maybe longer then that. By then, they should be able to play very well with each other.

Meet the Twin

2008-11-18T17:41:00.000-08:00

The twin meet again – a year later. The last time they met each other was in Dec last year (2007) when they had just turned one. Now, they are in their naughty two. Caleb (my friend’s son) is definitely a chatty & friendly boy. He can instantly open up to anyone & is warm towards anybody. On the contrary, AJ is more of the reserved type. He takes time to warm up but he is also friendly & chatty after the warm up.

My friends are staying with me during their stay in S’pore. Naturally, my house has turned instantly to a child care centre. The noises made by the 2 boys & an older one of hers can sometimes be unbearable, haha. Now I have a taste of parents having 2 or more children, haha! It is really not easy.

Andrew is Turning 2

2008-10-31T23:38:00.000-07:00

We celebrated AJ's 2nd birthday on 1 Nov (Sat) with my sister's family because it is the only day when both families are free. We went to this indoor playground at Tanglin Village (http://www.gogobambini.com/index.php) because they have facilities catered for children under 2 and a nice cafe to rest & relax.

AJ was quite hesitation to play initially. I guess this is his personality. After some warm up, he was able to enjoy himself with the father. I hope he has enjoyed himself. It is his birtjday celebration, most importantly, he must enjoy it.

Grandma's Visitation

2008-10-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

AJ’s paternal grandmother came to Singapore over the long weekend to visit AJ because he is approaching 2-yr old. The grandparents cannot visit him that often because AJ’s grandfather is not of good health. She is certainly overjoyed to see AJ when she saw that he can now read, recite songs, dance and do simple Math.

Her stay was short so we did not really go anywhere except to bring her to One-North Park at Buona Vista MRT vicinity. There is an interactive playground for the little ones to explore. It is quite a nice place for a family short outing. After playing in the playground, the family can settle in for a nice meal in the same place. For those who do not drive, the train station is within walking distance.

The father is now studying into adopting Suziki teaching method to start AJ on his piano lesson. With that in mind, we are likely to get a piano & an adjustable seat for AJ. The next worry that the father has is whether he is qualified to coach him because he has only passed grade 3 piano :-(

Exploring, Experimenting or Testing Limits

2008-09-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

AJ is getting naughtier. There were days he attempted to urine on the sofa (yes, he’s off diaper except during sleep) but was stopped on time, urine on his mattress (stained a little). Recently he learnt a new skill – spitting out the water. He acquired this skill while we were brushing his teeth. He was experimenting spitting out water from his drinking bottle one night. We warned him not to do that again. Just yesterday, he did it again. He got whacked from me for doing that because we have already warned him.

AJ can really cry – cry for sympathy I meant. If he got whacked or scolding, he will cry as if he has just suffered from a fall. You know, that kind of cry that will pierce your heart & melt it. Sigh, kids these days can really manipulate parents.

We really need a lot of godly wisdom & patience to teach him.

Naughty Two Symptoms

2008-09-04T20:01:00.000-07:00

AJ is 22 months old today & he is already showing signs of a naughty two. He is now more assertive, & will insist on his wants. If he does not get what he wants, he will either sit on the floor, shed a few drops of tears and asked ‘why not?’. Or he may wiggle his legs & body, trying to express his frustration.

We have been trying to eliminate the explanation of ‘why not’ to him by cutting out the word ‘because’, because I am of the opinion that it will only encourage him to ask more of ‘why not’ rather than listening. So, we simply tell him the reason once & distract him with something else, or, if we can catch it on time, we will distract him before he has the chance to throw tantrum.

Guess where he learnt ‘why not’ from? No, not from us, not from friends, it is from ‘Sesame Street’! Ironically, he has turned the good ‘why not’ from the screen to his way of getting what he wants.

What’s next?

KL Trip 28-31 Aug

2008-08-31T18:50:00.000-07:00

We went to KL again on 28 Aug to visit AJ’s grandparents & to settle some outstanding matters. The previous time we flew up, this time round we decided to drive up, renting a car from Singapore. The entire journey was about 5 hours door-to-door. If we were to take a coach, it will be 5 hours coach station to coach station. When AJ gets older, we may consider this.

AJ did not quite enjoy the car ride though. He was quite excited at the beginning when we started off from Singapore. He was willing to sit in the borrowed car seat because the seat & the ride were new to him. We timed our departure time to coincide with his nap time so that he can sleep in car. We had quite a peaceful ride, stopping only once for toilet break, until the very last hour when AJ turned cranky. He has sat on the car seat for too long & did not want to sit on it anymore. We had no choice but to take him out.

Thank God we reached AJ’s granduncle & grandaunty’s place on schedule despite the late shower when we reached KL. AJ, my helper & myself stayed there while the father stayed in his parents’ place (there wasn’t sufficient room to house us in AJ’s grandparents’ place).

Thank God for AJ’s granduncle & grandaunty’s hospitality. We had a very comfortable stay in their big & nice condo. AJ enjoyed the stay there because it was a new environment to him, many things to explore, ample space to roam around in the house, a loving granduncle to play with & a caring grandaunty to attend to his needs.

The grandparents were excited to see AJ again. They were thrilled to see that he can sing & dance now. Time flies, the last time AJ visited them was half a year ago.

30 Aug (Sat) was a half day shopping day at Mid Valley. I always like to go to Carrefour in M’sia to stock things like AJ’s diapers, clothing, shoes, toys, toiletries & others because of the good exchange rate that we are enjoying having a strong S$. We bought a tricycle for AJ, though he has one in Singapore already. This one was much smaller which allows him to rest his feet on the pedals nicely. The purpose of buying this is to get him to learn how to pedal well.

We left on 31 Aug (Sun) late morning. Thank God for reminding AJ’s grandaunty that we have left our passports with her otherwise we may have to spend another 4 hours driving back from JB checkpoint to collect the passports & may have to extend another day of stay as a result. As expected, AJ refused to sit on the car seat. So, for the 1st hour on the journey, I gave him this freedom. After lunch at the 1st break, I had to force him to sit on his car seat despite his protest because it is nearing his nap time. Fortunately he did not struggle that long & he soon slept. So we had another 2 hours of peaceful drive under the rain until we reached JB checkpoint when he requested to be out from his car seat again. We reached Singapore at about 4pm. Thank God for journey mercies.

Toilet Training

2008-08-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

AJ is nearing 22 months old and we have just started toilet train him few days ago. Though he can speak relatively well, he would not tell us whether he wants to pee or poo. So, we are bringing him to the toilet to pee hourly.

He wetted 4 shorts on the 1st day of training. We ran out of shorts for him on the 2nd day because it is the rainy season here and clothes take long time to dry. So on 2nd day onwards, he was on pull-up diaper. He doesn’t like to sit on his potty to pee, so we can only make him stand on the bathroom floor or on the seat of the toilet bowl. We see some results after 2 days, he is getting better at controlling now.

Getting him to poo is more challenging. He doesn’t tell us whether he wants to poo or not. The moment he squatted down, it could probably mean it was in the process of coming out. He hasn’t gotten used to the potty, so shitting in the potty may mean unfinished stuff. We have had this experience twice, when we brought him to the bathroom to wash his butt after his business done in the potty, his business continues on the bathroom floor!

Well, this is part & parcel of toilet training. Hopefully he will pass this stage very soon.

A Typical Weekday

2008-07-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

My typical weekday starts usually at 7am. AJ wakes up between 7-7.45am, so it forces me to wake up at 7am regardless whether it is a weekday or weekend. I then switch on my laptop to check Dow’s performance the night before, read Dow Jones Newswire, read Business Times & Strait Times online. In between, if AJ wakes up, I’ll stop my reading, bring him to the kitchen & prepare breakfast for him & myself while my helper mops the floor. He will be glad to be in the kitchen because it is a restricted place. He cannot roam freely here unless an adult is around to accompany him. We installed a gate to the entrance of the kitchen so he cannot roam in & out of it freely. He has many things to play in the kitchen, his 'toys' in the kitchen include plastic containers, coasters, clips we use to clip our clothes, straws, covers of the pots, pots, sometimes fruits like oranges, apples or pears, etc.

AJ & I will then have our breakfast together. If the father does not have to go to school that early, he will join us too. AJ usually eats breakfast cereal, biscuits, bread with peanut butter or ham & cheese sandwich with a small cup of milo for breakfast. On weekends, he will sometimes have ‘pao’, yam cake, chee cheong fan, rice cake, soon guey or zui guey. Like his mother, he is not very adventurous with food, so we have to go slow in introducing him with new food.

During breakfast, I will continue reading my online news & watch half an hour of Channel News Asia.

He will play for a while after breakfast before having his bath at 9am. And that is when I have to sit in front of my laptop, so my helper will bath him. I will bath him on weekends & public holidays.

He will have his milk at 9.30am & continue playing in the hall till his lunch time at 11.30am. He will occasionally come & ‘disturb’ me when he wants me to read to him, carry him, dance or sing song with him. If there are not much activities in my work, I will do the GD’s flash cards (English/Chinese/Math) with him.

AJ will usually nap about 12.30-1pm till 2.30-3pm. During this time, my helper & I will have our lunch. After which I will do my quiet time or reading & have a half an hour nap before the market opens at 2pm.

AJ will have his fruits & snacks when he wakes up & watch half an hour of Little Einsteins, Sesame Street or Learning Chinese DVD. He will continue playing until his dinner at 5.30pm while I wrap up my work. I may bring him out to the neighbourhood park or supermarket if the father is not coming back home early. Else, the father will take over the time with him. AJ loves his father very much because the father can really play with him. It is a great relieve when the father is around because AJ will always stick to him – heehee. If the father is around, I will continue with my work or read.

We will have our dinner at about 7.30pm. As AJ had his at 5.30pm, he will join us for soup only. He is now able to say his own grace so we will make him do so during his meal & milk time. Then he will change to his pajamas & have his milk at 8.15pm. I will then have a last round of GD’s flash cards with him before he goes to bed between 8.45-9pm.

My work starts again after he sleeps. I will usually go to bed about 11pm after a last glance on Dow’s performance.

To the Pool

2008-07-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

We brought AJ to the children’s pool in the father’s school last Friday. As usual, he hesitated to go into the water. This was his second time to the pool, but first time wearing swimwear, so I can understand his anxiety. So we had to carry him & go into the water, & slowly dipped him in as & when. Ultimately, he found that the water was no threat to him. He eventually reckoned that it was safe for him to stand & walk in the pool, playing with the water.

We deliberately chose the pool in the father’s school because we can literally have the pool all to ourselves (there was only 1 other adult swimming in the adults’ pool). The life guard was feeling bored when we were about to leave.

AJ has enjoyed playing in the children’s pool so we would most probably go there more often.

Hired Swing and Slide

2008-06-11T01:14:00.000-07:00

We rented this swing & slide for S$48 a month from rent-a-toy.com. AJ loves to sit on both the slide & swing. We had rented a slide from them a month ago & it took him a while to have the courage to slide down. Now that his confidence is built up, he can climb & slide on his own. I can see that he enjoys the swing more, i think most kids like to swing more. It is certainly worthwhile renting toys like these than buying them as kids get sick out their toys easily. With renting, we get to change the toys regularly at a fraction of the price without having our house like a toy garage.

I Really Can Read

2008-05-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

This is the results of 6 mths of training using Glenn Doman's teaching method on 'How to teach yr baby to read'. I am very impressed with his teaching method. AJ is now proceeding on with English couple words, Maths & Chinese single words. I have tried out Maths for about a month & have seen some results. As for Chinese, I have only started him today. I really look forward to the day when he can read a book on his own.

New Used Tricycle

2008-05-10T06:18:00.000-07:00

I got this used tricycle (with music) from Yahoo! auction for S$20. It is considered cheap. I have checked around my place new ones with music would cost S$50 up & those without S$40 up. AJ loves this tricycle because he is able to cruise with it with adult's assistance. His legs are not long enough to rest on the pedals so they are rested on the platform. Since he cant cycle, an adult has to push the tricycle with the pallet handle. That's not too bad for an adult as the pallet handle is adjustable. He has learnt how to get up & down of the tricycle within minutes.

We have also rented a slide & rocker for him from rent-a-toy.com & I think, for a least a month or more, he will wear us out - on the tricycle, on the slide, on the rocker!

Excursion to Sentosa

2008-05-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

We went to Sentosa during May Day public holiday. I thought AJ would be able to postpone his morning nap till after lunch, but lo & behold, the same episode that happened in zoo happened again in Sentosa.

Our first stop was the Butterfly & Insects Park. He was still excited to see so many beautiful butterflies though he has somewhat seen them in the zoo too. After which, we proceeded to Underwater World. By then it was nearing 11am. He looked tired. The Underwater World tickets came with free entry to the Pink Dolphin Lagoon which had a show at 11.30am but it was at the other end of the island. The father suggested to go to the Lagoon first to catch the show but looking at AJ, I told the father it was not advisable to. It was an open-air show, right under the hot sun, AJ would definitely be more grouchy then. So we decided to give the Pink Dolphin Lagoon visit a miss & just stayed on in the Underwater World.

AJ enjoyed himself at first as he was able to play with the water, touch the fishes & stingrays in those touch pools. But as we proceeded to the conveyor belt where we got to see those turtles, sharks, stingrays & other fishes around us, he lost steam. He wanted to sleep already!!! If he could communicate with us in proper sentences, he would probably say, “Forget about this mummy, just let me have my morning nap!”

When we left the place & proceeded to the bus stop to take the bus to the Sentosa train station, he went to his dreamland in his stroller immediately. He used to take his pacifier when he napped. He didn’t need that at all that morning, he just could not take it any more, he needed his nap.

We had a peaceful lunch at Vivo City & he only woke up after our lunch. It looks like I have to plan future excursion in the afternoon instead :-(

Improved Dancing Skills

2008-05-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

2nd Hair Cut

2008-04-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

The photos shown here are AJ's before & after hair cut. Yes, AJ had his 2nd hair cut today. It wasn’t as smooth as the 1st though & we reckoned that probably the father did not cut his this time so AJ has no reference to what to expect. He cried twice, irritated by the hair falling onto his face & the nice aunty trying to clear them away.

Z for Zoo

2008-04-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

AJ can identify alphabets now & can tell what each is for. He knows quite a fair bit of animals now - from books, pictures & television, but he has not seen real ones except for dogs, cats, fish & birds which are in our neighbourhood. So we thought that he should see the real ones now.

We brought him to Zoo one morning, thinking that he, at close to 17-mth then can probably skip his mid morning nap.

He was excited to see the monkeys, penguins & sea lions. But soon, he became sleepy. He wanted his nap. Alas! We did not bring the stroller which he can sleep in. The stroller we took was not meant to sleep as the seat cannot be declined. The poor boy had to sleep on sitting position - just like you & me, dozing off on the train, bus or car.

After his short nap of half an hr, we continued our journey. It was very hot, I think that could have caused him to be more tired. Soon after we have reached home in the afternoon, he napped for 2 hrs.

Even though it did not turn out as what I wished, I hope he has learnt much from this field trip. Our next trip will be Sentosa - Underwater world!

In Remembrance of My Mother

2008-03-28T23:47:00.000-07:00

It’s my mother 1st death anniversary. I want to write something, to record it down, as a remembrance.

My mother was an industrious lady, she could not stop being busy. Even though she was 73 years of age at death, she was still eager to work. She was working as a private school bus runner before AJ came. I asked her to stay with me & help me to care for AJ when he was born. She did.

I was not aware that caring for a new born is not easy. I did not realize that:-
(1) there was cue that my mother was not prepared to give up her job to take care of AJ full time. She did not shift in with me until the day AJ & I were discharged from the hospital. It was a cue, but I was not sensitive enough to pick up then. I believe she would still prefer to work, but probably find it hard to turn me down;
(2) my mother has not been caring for new born or babies since at least 15 years back;
(3) my mother, though looked like 60+, was already 70+, & might not be physically strong enough to care for new born

AJ, as a new born, needed to be fed every 2-3 hours in the beginning, even in the night. That had tired out my mother, who volunteered to feed him in the night, sacrificing her sleep to do so. In the day, she had to cook confinement food for me & do some light house chores. These were tiring, but my mother did not utter anything.

When AJ was 2-month old, I have to plan & decide the ‘back-to-work’ arrangement. My mother told me that she was not too comfortable caring for AJ alone if I were to go back to work full time as she was afraid that her weak arms might not be able to support a growing baby. The father had wanted me to give up my full time job, but I was not prepared yet. My mother also discouraged me to give up a well-paid job. Then we explored into looking for a nanny. Looking for a nanny whom we, parents, were comfortable with was not easy. Initially my 50+ year-old cousin said that she could help us, she later withdrew as her son needed her to help with his 2 children. Then my sister suggested my mother to shift in with her instead, & AJ would stay in my sister’s place too. She has a maid at home, so at least there would be 2 adults caring for AJ in the day. We were not too comfortable after much thought as that meant we would have less time with AJ.

Finally, we opt for a domestic helper though the father did not quite like the idea of having a non-next-of-kin staying with us. The whole episode had caused me much stress & was one of the contributing factors to my post-natal blues.

We settled for a domestic helper from Indonesia. Thank God she has been quite responsible & she adores AJ. She also respected my mother & could communicate with her well.

Possibly due to prolong fatigue, my mother had a mild stroke late one night after she came back from Malaysia. It was my helper who spotted it as she was sleeping in the same room as her. She woke me up from sleep quickly. You can imagine how terrified we were. I called an ambulance & my mother was admitted.

During that period, I was completely worn out. After a full day of work, I had to visit my mother, then to rush home to pump milk (AJ was on partial breastfeeding) & to ensure that AJ was well taken care of by this new helper. She was discharged after a few days’ of stay in TTSH. At that time, another fear came to me. Could my helper cope with an infant of 4 months old & an elderly who had a mild stroke.

My mother did not recover very well. She still complained of some discomfort here & there & had urged us to bring forward her appointment. Knowing how restructured hospitals worked, bringing forward the follow-up appointment was simply impossible. We thought that we might as well admit her to hospital straight the next day.

She never lived to the next day. I was waken up by my helper in the sleep again in the wee morning (around 4+am). This time, worst thing had happened. My mother collapsed on the floor of the common bathroom. When my helper & I were transferring her to the kitchen floor, she was already stiffed. I knew she has gone, her lips were purple, her body was cold. I rang for ambulance again. They pronounced her dead.

My sister decided that the wake should be held in Haig Road as all her friends were there. AJ was near 5 months old. My milk supply dropped tremendously so at near fifth month, AJ was on full formula milk.

I suffered from another round of depression again – this time from my mother’s death. My house was full of memories of her. The bed she slept on, the usual place she liked to sit at the dining table, her favourite sofa seat, etc. For about a month I wasn’t able sleep without having the bathroom light on in my room, I dare not face the kitchen because my mother laid there when she died, I dare not take a look at her bed or lied on her bed, I did not want to sit at the dining table. I felt really miserable. My sister blamed me that if I had not asked my mother to look after AJ, she might not have left the world this early. I came to believe that I played a part in causing her to die early.

I decided to call my pastor, Rev Prabhudas Koshy, one night to pour out all these as I could not take them anymore. Thank God for his wisdom of words, I felt better.

As I looked back, I still believe that I played a part in causing her to die, though not necessary this early. For there is a time for everything as planned by God. So He planned for the departure of my mother this way at this time, & I was in the plan for this.

It was through all these events that I requested to work part time in my former company & eventually work from home with this current company. Without God’s intervene, I could be still working full time outside, leaving very little time for AJ. Now that I work from home, I have more time with AJ, teaching him & seeing him grow, developing from infant to toddler. One can only have peace obeying God's Will.

KL Trip 8-11 March

2008-03-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

We went KL to visit AJ’s grandparents via budget airline on 8 Mar. That was the first time AJ took a plane. He took it well, no cry on board - phew. He got to see the real plane, not just on television or book.

The grandparents were overjoyed to see him. The grandfather last saw him was when he was 1-mth old & the grandma 1-yr old. Now that AJ can call them, they were even happier.
AJ is learning to put 2 words together now – blue car, two aunties, nice cup, good morning, etc. I think it is soon time to start him on Chinese followed by Maths.

He can run really well now. We brought him to stadium to jog & he was able to follow us without falling down for about 50m on & off. He is able to climb up & down the stairs by holding onto the handrail without aid from adults. He is trying to jump on the spot now. Naturally, he can’t yet, & at times, he landed himself on his bum. I thought he would be a rather timid boy as he was afraid of physical challenges when he was younger. It is good that he has managed to overcome that as he gets older.

The Alphabets Wall

2008-02-24T23:08:00.000-08:00

I used to have this alphabet cushion tiles, which most parents would also have. I regretted buying it because the tiles are small, so it became very time consuming to remove & tile back. I am not keen to leave them just on the floor. Nope! My house is along the main road & the floor gets dusty easily. If I just leave them there, very soon it will be stained with dirt.

So, I decided to remove the alphabets & throw the rest away. Then I stick one each day, on the wall of his room, as I teach him. How ingenious of me :-)

Now when you ask him what is each alphabet for, he will tell you:

A is for Apple (sometimes it is Aunty or Andrew)
B is for Bus
C is for Cow (sometimes it is Car)
D is for 狗 (because he doesn’t know how to pronounce ‘dog’)
G is for Goat
H is for 马 (because he doesn’t know how to pronounce ‘horse’
M is for Mum Mum (meaning ‘eating’; sometimes it is 妈妈)
O is for Orange
P is for Papa

A Mother's Heart

2008-02-19T20:31:00.000-08:00

I cannot help but to believe that one has to be a mother in order to fully understand her mother. Before I was a mother, I cannot fully comprehend the depth of love of my mother. When AJ came, I began to go through what she has gone through. And now, I understand.

A mother who cares for her child wants to be there when her child needs her, when the child cry out of fear, pain or discomfort. She wants to be there to assure, comfort, console and support her child. The mother will feel the pain, if her child hurt her/himself; the mother will feel the hurt when her child gets disappointed; and the mother would want to bear all these herself if that be possible, instead of letting her little one goes through them.

Yea, I do not fully comprehend my mother’s love, until I became a mother myself. It makes me understand my Father’s love better too. The Lord Almighty who created the universe & us, loves us more than any humanly love. When you are a parent, you will understand God’s love better. If we, as human parents, can love our children with that kind of depth, how much more is our Father’s love to us, as His children. Yea, what greater love than One who is willing to sacrifice Himself for His loved ones?

I Can Read

2008-02-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

It has been about 2 months since I started AJ on the GD’s reading programme and I must testify that it seems to work. As he has now started to learn talking, he can pronounce certain words. When I went through those words with him, he will try to pronounce them after me if he can. After a few times, I can just flash the cards without having to read it out – he will read it out instead. Some words that he can now read includes:- ants, ball, bottle, bus, cup, car, cake, egg, eyes, goat, mango, orange, purple.

I brought AJ to the Children's Library yesterday at our block & found out that they have a whole series of the Chinese teach-a-tot books written by my friend & her mum. They used the GD method & publish books on Chinese. So glad to see them there. I borrowed some, just for introductory purpose as I have not officially started AJ on Chinese. Certainly, their books on Chinese sentences & short stories are very helpful as we progress along.

Dancing with His Fav Music

2008-02-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

The first piece of music is his favourite & thus he tends to dance more enthusiastically whenever he hears it.

Waterplay @ Vivo City

2008-01-27T20:17:00.000-08:00

We brought AJ to Vivo to play on 26 Jan 08 (Sat) since the father was in KL. The water was not as clean as I would like, but AJ did enjoy himself playing in the shallow water.

Finally, It's MaMa!

2008-01-17T16:36:00.000-08:00

Yes, finally, it’s ‘MaMa’. AJ started calling his father ‘Pa’ when he was about 13-month old. But he could not call me yet. As I started teaching him Chinese pronunciation, I introduced the word ‘妈妈’. Lo & behold, he started calling me ‘MaMa’ since. Sometimes he can get so carried away & called his father ‘MaMa’ too, & that has gotten the father jealous. So I have to conscientiously correct him, this is ‘Pa’ & this is ‘MaMa’. In addition, he has added ‘eyes’, ‘yum’, ‘botak’ & ‘manja boy’ to his vocab. These days he has started to walk backward, probably learnt from his mother because I walked backward to watch over him as he freely roam around our neighbourhood.

First Haircut

2008-01-11T22:32:00.000-08:00

AJ had his first haircut today. Yes, he hasn't been cutting his hair since he was borned! Afterall, unlike the father & the mother, he doesn't have much hair. But those hair were growing long, & were untidy, so we decided to let him have his first hair cut.

The father decided that he should accompany AJ & cut his hair as well. He said that the father should cut first, & AJ watched as the father has his hair cut so that AJ gets to see what it is like & thus is less likely to freak out.

& so we did. The entire experience was smooth. The hairstylist said she will be gentle & that she will not force AJ if he decided that he didn't want the cut. I thought that was very professional. AJ watched what the father did. When it was his turn, he sat on my lap & the razar went all round his head. No cry!! The father also managed to distract him by playing with him. The haircut went smoothly. It was a relief!!

Now AJ is almost 'botak' but, at least, he looks neater now. :-)

Sweet Kisses

2008-01-02T04:58:00.000-08:00

AJ is turning 14-mth in a few days’ time, & he is getting real sweet now. I taught him how to kiss when he was about 11-mth, & at that time, his kisses were more like bites on your lips (I taught him to kiss on the mouth). As time passed, he gradually learnt that he doesn’t need to bite. These days, when I ask him to kiss me, he will gently plant his lips on my lips. Sometimes, he will automatically kiss me if my face is near to his. That’s how sweet this little boy is.

AJ is a very ‘manja’ boy. He needs people to play with him, sleep with him, read to him, etc. He can play alone, but not for long. He will go and look for familiar adults to accompany him after a while. When he fell or hurt himself, even if it is not a serious one, he will want people to comfort him.

He seems to have gained some understanding on simple instructions. He is able to give & take things on instructions. He will automatically sit near familiar adults whe he saw him/her holding a book that is meant for him as he knows that it is reading time. It is really a joy to be part of the milestone in his growth & development, I have no regrets making the move to work from home.

Blessed Christmas and a Prosperous 2008!

2007-12-24T22:40:00.000-08:00

I like this season of time, where we get Hari Raya Haji on 20 Dec, Christmas eve (half day of work) & Christmas on 24 & 25 Dec, New Year eve (half day of work) & New Year on 31 Dec & 1 Jan. The father can be at home with AJ, playing with him, giving the mommy the much needed breather & rest. The father is an excellent playmate of AJ, he plays soccer with him, turns on the notebook & plays sesame street games for babies with him, amuses him with all kinds of entertainment one can find at home. AJ adores him too, he knows that the father can play with him, & when he wants to play, he will look for the father. AJ will only come to the mommy when he wants to snack or seek comfort after a fall. Children are smart, therefore we should give them more opportunity to learn so that they can be smarter, give them more advice & teach them so that they can be smarter & wiser as they grow.