Thursday, February 28, 2008

Mama, I think ..

A very common response from Marcus in the recent months. He likes to offer opinions and when asked, he usually will offer his 2 cents' worth, provided he is not too occupied playing. He will tell me what he thinks about the garbage truck that is stopped by the road, or the man who is standing at the corner and why the little girl is being carried by her mum instead of walking etc etc.. He is very observant and is constantly telling me about his environment especially when we are out and about.

At the BBQ last Boxing Day, I asked Marcus why was Kana crying as he watched his little girlfriend sob a few times while the adults were busy comforting her. He looked puzzled and confused at my questioning, then shrugged his little shoulders and suggested 'Maybe some trouble!' and promptly threw up his hands in the air and sighed concurrently. It made the adults who heard him roared with laughter. Ever since, this has been his standard explanation to anyone who likes to know why someone is distressed. We can't fault him for his sharp observation and innocent interpretation. He is after all only a 3 yr old and anyone crying must have some kind of trouble.

Earlier when he complained that he was hungry and demanded Cheerios for snacks, we had to tell him that we forgot to buy Cheerios today, so there is none in the house. He was starting one of his chanting tantrums, during which he would increasingly raise the volume of his voice as he chants "I want Cheerios. I want Cheerios". Sometimes he can go on chanting for 20 min non stop.. As a bid to save the situation, I cheerfully suggested "How about we pretend that we are eating Cheerios? I can give you a bowl and you can have a different snack that is as delicious as Cheerios?" He promptly stopped chanting, looked at me quizzically and said "Mama, how about we buy the Cheerios so I can eat it now?". I told him the shops are closed now, so we can only buy tomorrow. And he would have to pretend that he is eating Cheerios if he wants them now. This time, he shook his head, stood up and walked away shaking his head as he assured me "Mama, pretending will not help!" and let out a sigh! I burst out laughing and he was visibly amused that he had made me laugh and somehow forgot about his needs for Cheerios.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Lemon loaf cake

I love baking and cooking in general. It makes me feel accomplished and is the sort of challenge that is slightly stimulating for the grey matter and with a rewarding result in the very near future. I don't remember making anything that is near disaster yet, but then again, as a perfectionist as I am in every other ways, I am usually not as critical about my own culinary skills. Oops! I think most stuff are edible anyway, the only questions are 'how heavenly do they taste' and 'how beautifully are they presented'. There is always room for improvement though.

After hesitating for the longest time to bake another cake, I finally baked a lemon loaf cake. Easy peasy and tastes yummy. I like the rough texture which is a cross between bread and cake. It is not the silken smooth texture that is all buttery type, which is definitely sinfully divine in itself. This, I think, has its own appeal and already I have eaten a quarter of the cake while admiring it. 


Saturday, February 23, 2008

Mine!!

Sounds like the pigeons from Finding Nemo which chanted "Mine! Mine!" while fighting over a piece of Marlin and Dory.

That is what my 2 boys say everyday during their episodes of toy snatching. Even little Chipsy says "mine!" in the loudest little protest he could summon up as he uses all his might to pull the toy away from Marcus. He is easily 20-25 cm shorter than Marcus and it is quite an amusing sight really to see how the little tot doesn't want to lose out to his stronger older brother. Whenever he loses, which is more often than not, he doesn't give up easily. He would kick up a fuss with literally lots of kicking and crying and throwing the toys within his reach around to demonstrate his displeasure and return to Marcus for another round of wrestling. In another year or so, Marcus will have to put up a real big fight as this little fiesty baby is growing up fast and heavy. He may never be the sumo wrestler. But he probably would give Marcus a good workout very soon.





Boys bathe together sometimes, pouring water on each other's back to make the other laugh and snatching bath toys which result in lots of screaming and "mine! mine!".

Friday, February 22, 2008

Bedmate

Sometime last Dec, we decided Marcus is big enough to sleep in a big boy's bed, so E converted his cot into such and it took no effort to convince him to climb into his "new" bed. He has always been very fond of his own bed and even refused to sleep on our bed whenever we invited him to, on nights when we suddenly felt all lonely and missed having a little warm body to cuddle. I know it is a bad and unfair practice to invite him on some nights, risking him wanting to be sleeping with us. Luckily, he usually declined our invites. Most times anyway.

The morning after his first night on his big boy's bed, our helper told us how she had to carry Marcus back to his bed twice in the night as she found him sleeping outside our bedroom door. E immediately told him he could always just open the door and come in, instead of sleeping outside if he misses us. Mistake. Ever since, he would come into our bed in the middle of the night and sleep between E and me. Every night. Like every adorable toddler, he carries his Pig with him without fail as he ventures out of his bed into ours and soundly falls asleep diagonally across so that within minutes one of us would get kicks. We don't have the heart to talk him out of it and don't think it would have worked anyway. So we have come to accept this habit as a middle of the night exercise for E - to get out of bed, lift up the 15kg boy and carry him back to his bed. Sometimes twice. And daddy does it ungrudgingly.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Snacking

I used to be so strict and careful about what Marcus ate since he started solid food and even by the time he was past 2, he wasn't given candies, or chocolate or any junk if I could help it. As a result, he dislike juice of any sorts, anything too sweet like candy, chocolate, cake or even ice cream. Since he started school in May last year, he started getting cakes and sweets in school whenever there is a birthday party and one day I was surprised to see chocolate all over his mouth when he walked out of classroom. Later he told me he had 2 slices of chocolate cake and 'it was yummy, mummy' according to him. That sort of started the precedent. Anyway, at that age, I started to be more relaxed about junk getting into his system as I was fairly convinced how strong his immune system is by now after his daily dosage of superb quality USANIMALS.

Now he gets treats from me and E all the time and I am shameful to admit we buy him choc-n-nuts donut, egg tart and mashmallow a few times a week even. Well, just looking at how his eyes shine in delight as he watches me unravel the mysterious treat from a bag is enough to give me the satisfaction and deluded sense of accomplishment of making my son happy. Haha! In a small sense, it did. Anyway, I rationalise that he eats well most of the time and some treats once in a while is not going to hurt.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Little Guilin






After living in Singapore for 5 years, E finally visited the Xiao Guilin at Bukit Gombak in late Dec with the family. It was one of those places that I passed by occasionally on the MRT rides and tell myself I will go check it out one day, but never given it the priority on any given day. On a whim that morning, we decided to take the boys for a walk around the supposedly scenic escape and I was hoping for fresh air, wide pavements to walk on and a large lake of some sort! What was I thinking? Hmm...

It was absolutely tiny. We were slowed down significantly by the pram which was very difficult to push around the uneven ground, lots of stone paved steps and a toddler who fussed non stop that he was too tired/lazy/small etc.. to walk and hence had to be carrried. It was a beautiful place nonetheless, and would have been a nice place to go if one needs a place for solitude and self reflection.

Friday, February 15, 2008

I Read To You



I always can't stop smiling when Marcus reads to me and he loves to do that from time to time.
 
One of his favourite books is Thomas The Tank Engine Story Treasury and he can read all 64 pages on his own. It comprises of many stories and he was read to and has read them on his own so many times that he can pretty much have decent conversations about the different adventures the tank engines have. 

Personally they are really boring to me, but like all loving parents, we pretend to love the theme and stories to bits and summon up our best acting skills in order to come across as convincing fans in front of my 3 yr old. Well, he shall be 3.5 in March. We are so pleased that he reads so well, especially since we have never pressured him in any way to read. It has always been out of his own interests that he picks up new words and would repeatedly read his books on his bed all on his own.

Recently, he has been asking me to translate for him very often. And it is usually just whatever that comes to his mind and he would just say 'mama, how to spell xxx in chinese?' though I repeatedly told him that the question should be 'how to say it in Mandarin?'. I guess he is too young to get that maybe, hence after weeks of telling him so, he still reverts to his own way of questioning me. And he is also very fond of getting E and I to spell for him. Today he asked me to spell 'swimming pool' while we were in the pool and he just repeated the word 'pool' afterwards to himself and nodded satisfactorily.




Cheeky Marcus couldn't stop monkeying around in front of the iCamera.

Home Sweet Home

Just got back from watching Jumper and it is really rather crap in my opinion. I thought it would be some group of cool looking people who could teleport around and do some important work. Oh no... there were only 2 guys we saw in the whole film and they didn't do anything important. I wasn't hoping for them to save the world, like in Heroes, but not exactly doing nothing much either. And with really one dimensional lines and bad acting. Boring!

It is nice to be home after a long day, or what felt like a long day to me. Let the boys played in the pool with me for 2.5 hrs after my lunch with Carol and after pool and bath for both, I went straight to the gym for an hr of cardio and some resistance training. Back for shower, quick dinner and bedtime kissing the boys before we headed out for the 9 pm movie. It felt like a full day, so I am satisfied.

Now as E plays his video games, all I can think of is how much had happened in the last few months and what a ride it has been. At the pool earlier, I reflected a lot while watching my boys patiently scooping water with a spade into the pail and then pour it away and repeating the whole process. Perhaps life is really just this simple. There are just so many "what if"s and "if only"s and of course we only have one life and will never have the answers to our questions. Sometimes it felt like maybe there is really a master plan somewhere and someone out there, really has all the answers. And maybe it is pure wisdom when wiser friends tell me that everything happens for a reason and every new person we meet has a purpose to serve. Everyone who crosses our paths serves a purpose - to teach us a lesson or two, to straighten something out, or to solve a problem somehow. Some are here to stay for a long time, some only for a brief moment. And when they have served the intended purpose, we have to let them go and say goodbyes. Instead of remembering the loss of a friend, perhaps we should cherish the good moments and remind ourselves that such is life.. it is akin a gathering and we are the host. When the party is over and our guests leave, we bid farewell gracefully, clean up the house and remember the good times.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Evenings & Valentine's Day

Both boys went to bed at 730 pm last night and E left at 8 pm for his 2.5 hrs cycling. Left alone, I had my Secret Single Behaviour (SSB) out... drank a huge glass of Baileys, ate too much peanuts seasoned with basil and chili which we got from Bangkok and watched 2 hours of Sex and the City. That was a wonderful way to unwind if you ask me.

For Valentine's Day, my Valentine took me to one of our favourite restuarants - Long Bar Steakhouse at the Raffles Hotel for yummy steak. It was a nicely planned surprise which turned out divinely enjoyable.


Wednesday, February 13, 2008

10 km

One of my new year resolutions which I set with Carol - to do a 10 km run together this year. The furthest distance I ever competed on was 3.2 km when I was 15 and I have always disliked running. But I guess it is a good goal to aim for and I have always been competitive. So why not now!

I did a 5 km on the treadmill on Sunday, which consisted of jogging, sprinting and brisk walking and it took me 30 min. Not good enough as I know I can push myself further. Targeting 20 min for 5 km. Did a 30 min cycling in the gym yesterday and did 15km on alpine trails, level 7. I got all inspired by this guy who was besides me on Sunday and he was huffing and puffing so much on the stationery bike for over 45 min. He looks strong to me, so perhaps he was on level 10! Went to the gym and yoga on alternate days recently and the result - I feel great! 

Whenever I leave home for the gym or yoga, I get questioned by Marcus if he is around. A typical Q &A follows: 

Marcus: Mama, why are you going to the gym? 

Me: To exercise, sweetheart. 

Marcus: Why do you want to exercise? I want to come along too. 

Me: To be healthy. It is not for kids. Only adults can go to the gym. 

Marcus: Why not for kids? I want to exercise too. I want to be healthy too. 

Haha! 

Lego craze


Marcus started playing with his Lego quatro set since he was 14 months old. He has since come a long way. Now he plays with the Lego sets for ages 5 -12 and is always so zealous about assembling the tiny pieces himself. If left to me, I would probably have slowed him down by introducing the larger pieces sets meant for younger kids. Luckily for him I guess, we left it to him to browse through the Lego catalog he picked up at Toys R Us months before last Xmas and he indicated enthusiastically to papa that he wants the Lego Cement Mixer for Xmas. He wrote to Santa requesting for it, which was promptly delivered on Xmas. He has been playing with it since, almost daily and now he has the Lego Fire Engine, Garbage Truck, Police Car and Sweeper sets, all for ages 5-12. Last night, he completed the Garbage Truck all by himself and made papa promise to buy him the Digger set next. 

Monday, February 11, 2008

Cuddles




On the cheek!

"Papa, kiss this cheek!"



"NOT on the back of my nut! Urggh!"

16 months old


Nicholas is over 16 months now and is such a chatty little boy. He has lots of conversations with Marcus who likes to ask him questions and gives him orders, and the baby just responds in his sweet little voice and confident mannerisms. Not the least bit intimidated. I am sure he always has some witty responses for his big brother as he points his little finger around and moves his head in tandem and sometimes just facing Marcus and looks him in the eyes. Whenever Marcus raises his voice, either out of frustration or just trying to demonstrate a point (which I suspect he learnt from his parents), we can almost immediately hear the sweet little voice go a few pitches higher too. It is nonetheless wonderful and amusing to watch and as long as they don't end up in tears, I would love to watch the little drama with a cup of aromatic coffee while the helper stands close by to stop any fight.

After months of saying the same few words, at least the ones that I can recognise, Nicholas has entered his phase of word spurt. I am sure he is saying a lot more than I can remember right now, but off my head here is the list - mama, papa, bird, car, taxi, bus, decker, digger, bath, flower, leave, dog, cat, auntie, ah-ma, shoes, walk, hi, bye bye, bubble, water, up, thank you, star, knock knock, no, give, this way, five, where, yeah, crane, night night.

For the past 3 months, he has been communicating his needs through lots of pointing, or he will come over and grab my hand or finger and pull me towards the 'object' which he wants me to do something with... e.g. to open the door or window, drawer etc..

He is extremely sociable. Waves at everyone (strangers included) when he meets them and says 'hi' loudly with a smile and waves 'bye bye' to everyone (strangers included) when he is leaving the group. He chuckles at small kids who make faces at him and laughs when he watches older kids play chase.

He still loves to cuddle his Piggy to sleep and it always brings a smile to my face to watch him fall asleep soundly with Piggy next to his face.



His favourite toy is anything that Marcus is playing with at the moment and he just likes to be in the middle of everything that Marcus is playing with. The Result - lots of toys snatching, 'no no', and lots of lessons about sharing and lots of tears!

He walks around the house and walks around the condo facility and playground at least twice a day, sometimes up to five times a day. He doesn't love looking at books or be read to as much as Marcus used to, but I suspect that is just because he hasn't been exposed to books as much as Marcus. It used to be a lot easier to just read to Marcus and get him to spend up to half hr on books at a time. But with Nicholas, he is always checking out what Marcus is doing and won't sit still enough to look through more than 2 books with me. Well, I am not discouraged at all though, there is still plenty of time to change that.

For now, my little beautiful baby is turning into a gorgeous little boy who is ever so affectionate and cheeky. He always dashes to me with a mega smile and grabs my legs whenever I come home from yoga or the gym. He blows kisses and hugs me whenever I ask him for one and would kiss me on my lips if I lower my face to his.

It is heartwarming when Marcus tells me how much he loves Nicholas and these days, it is evident from many of Marcus' daily activities that he is enjoying being the big brother. And who wouldn't when their little one is as irresistably adorable as my baby Nicholas.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Love is all around

I am a sucker for romance and anything romantic moves me tremendously. Few days ago during one of our CNY visits, I heard a truly romantic story about a couple's love which moved me to tears.

E's maternal grandma is over 84 and has been suffering from Alzheimer's for 9 years now.

When I first met her in 2001, she was a really cheerful old lady with whole head of white hair and a cheeky grin on her face all the time. She could play the piano with her aged brother in law whom I could tell she was very fond of and when I heard her play that first time, I teared. She played by ear and never had any formal training and couldn't read the music scores. But to me, she played beautifully and looked like she had great pleasures from it.

Then, she could still remember her children and talked often, though repeatedly the same stuff about her life. Over the years, her memory got a lot worse and now she can't even remember the daughters who lived with her. She doesn't know their names and show no sign of recognition either, or I was told. 

She is well looked after and appears cheerful, but she doesn't talk anymore, at least I have not heard her say a word in my visits the last 2 years. Despite how her memory fails her now, there is one person in the world whom she still remembers and recognises whenever she looks at his photos - her late husband. 

Everyday she would tell her daughters when they are looking after her about how much he had loved her, what a wonderful man he was and that he made her so happy, but he is gone already... He passed away in 1998 and the following year, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

I couldn't help but admire the kind of marriage they must had and how loved she must have felt throughout her life for him to be the only person she remembers and recognises now. If he was still around and healthier than she is now, I wonder what he would say to her to help jog her memory and what he would do to make her happy. 

I guess it is in a way, a great blessing, to have such beautiful memories to hold on to and accompany us as we walk our last leg of life's journey. To have a true love and a wonderful marriage of 60 years filled with love, are to me what most people seek, but few would find in their lifetimes. 

I am inspired and reminded, once again, of the possibility, however remote it might seem at times, that I could be one of those fortunate few who look back with a smile and contentment of my life filled with love and I could truly say that I have no regrets. 

Photo tour (Part 3)



Cheeky Marcus grinning.



Marcus with mummy at the zoo.




Marcus with Kana, whom he fondly refers to as his girlfriend.

Superman

It tickled me a lot today in a cab ride when Marcus said to me that only Superman can fly. When I asked if he could fly too, he said, 'no mummy, but I can pretend to fly'. He continued to inform me that Superman is very strong and he can carry cars, buses and airplanes (citing a scene he saw on the film) and that Superman wears his pajamas! Hah!

Marcus saw a small part of Superman Returns one night and had E explain to him about who Superman is and what he could do. He got excited when he saw Superman in his pajamas, oops! No, not really. Superman was in his famous attire and Marcus has a similar looking set for sleeping.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Water baby





How my baby loves the water! 

Photo tour (Part 2)



Nicholas in daddy's luggage before his business trip in Oct 2007.



Nicholas hating the sand at Sentosa.



Nicholas' first birthday cake. Small but warm celebrations for my sweetie.

Funny Face

My baby Chip charming us at Spizza in Oct 2007.



 

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