Chicken Fingers

I made a quick batch of these Chicken Fingers to include in Marcus' bento this week. It is one of those really quick and easy meat dish I make on days I want to add some meat protein and don't have much time for chopping and messing around in the kitchen with multiple ingredients. 

There are so many ways to make this and I often vary the ingredients here and there, or at least the marinade, depending on what I want to serve it with. So here, I shall include just the recipe for the batch I made this week since this will suffice as the basic recipe to rely on.

Ingredients:

6 strips of chicken fillet

2 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce 

1 tablespoons of sesame oil 

corn flour for coating 

oil for shallow frying

Preparation:

1. Marinade chicken fillet with teriyaki sauce and sesame oil. Leave in fridge for at least 30 min. 

2. Coat with corn flour and shake off excess before shallow frying for a few minutes on each side. 

Total preparation and cooking time: 40 min (including 30 min for the meat to sit in the fridge).

I used chicken fillet to save the need for slicing and cutting the chicken. But chicken breast will work just as well if you want to cut into chunks and make into nuggets. I do that too. You can use breadcrumbs or plain flour instead of the corn flour; vary the marinade by excluding sesame oil or add in chopped red chili or chili sauce or black pepper to add spiciness etc etc.. You can serve it on its own or with ketchup or even fancy dips, but if so, adjust the marinade since obviously a teriyaki/sesame oil marinade won't complement certain types of dips. I personally prefer eating it on its own or just some sweet Thai chili sauce.

This is a sure crowd pleaser. It is in my home and with my friends.

Pork and Watercress soup

Yippee! 

Boys finally ate the watercress and drank bowls of this pork and watercress soup! In the past, I always had to fish out all the watercress before serving but last night, Marcus ate all the watercress and liked the soup and veg so much that he asked for seconds. So did Little Chipsy who ate the leaves and drank more soup in that one sitting than he ever did - probably about a chinese rice bowl full. 

I made this for dinner last night and served it with brown rice. 

Ingredients: 

250g soft pork bones

1 large yellow onion, cut into 4 parts

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

250g pumpkin

150g watercress

1.5litres of water

sea salt to taste

Preparation:

1. Dump all ingredients except watercress into the water and bring to boil. 

2. Simmer for 1.5hr before adding the watercress and add sea salt to taste.

3. Simmer for further 30 min and serve.

The brown rice was cooked separately using stove absorption method and just added to the soup before serving. 

I kept the leftover soup in fridge and for the next day's lunch, reheated it over stove and threw in some organic Nai Bai (leafy veg) and firm tofu. I was never successful in getting Marcus to eat this vegetable before, but this time, he finished everything and announced proudly that he loves to eat leaves now. 

Lunch for the following day.

Funnies - The Next Survivor Series

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.

There is no fast food.

Each man must take care of his 3 kids;
keep his assigned house clean,
correct all homework,
and complete science projects,
cook, do laundry,
and pay a list of 'pretend' bills
with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends

and relatives and send cards out on time--no Emailing.

Each man must also take each child to a 

doctor's appointment,
a dentist appointment 

and a haircut appointment.

He must make 

one unscheduled 

and inconvenient visit per child to the A & E.

He must also make biscuits or cakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house,
planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will ONLY have access to television when 

the kids are asleep
and all chores are done.

The men MUST
shave their legs,
wear makeup daily,
adorn himself with jewellery,
wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes,
keep fingernails polished
and eyebrows groomed.

During one of the six weeks,
the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches,
and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or
slow down from other duties.

They must attend
weekly school meetings, church, and 

find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.

They will need to
read a book to the kids
each night and in the morning,
feed them, dress them,
brush their teeth and
comb their hair by 8:00 am.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information:
each child's birthday,
height, weight,
shoe size, clothes size
and doctor's name.
Also the child's weight at birth,
length, time of birth,
and length of labour,
each child's favourite colour,
middle name,
favourite snack,
favourite song,
favourite drink,
favourite toy,
biggest fear and
what they want to be when they grow up.

The kids vote them off the island
based on performance.
The last man wins only if...
he still has enough energy
to be intimate with his spouse
at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win,
he can play the game over and over
and over again for the next 18-25 years
eventually earning the right
To be called Mum!

I didn't write this! A girlfriend sent it to me for a good laugh. 

Bento #23 - Inarizushi and Chicken Fingers

Marcus' school lunch this week. 

An inarizushi with sweetcorn and tuna and another with surimi and sweetcorn. Steamed broccoli, quail eggs, cheese cubes and 3 homemade chicken fingers with ketchup (in blue strawberry container) for dipping. See here for recipe of chicken fingers.

Verdict: He loves the lunch so much and kept thanking me for making him the delicious food for lunch. Ate all up and told me I should include more food for him next week. After more probing, he admitted it was enough but he was being greedy as the food was yummy and he wanted to eat more. 

All about Veggies and Fruits

The boys got their first peep at the contents of my fridge when they were a little over 3 months old. Ever since, they look into the fridge as and when I allow them into the kitchen and we usually fool around with the cold veggies and fruits that sit optimistically at the bottom drawer and talk about what to cook for lunches and dinners. 

Whenever we go to the supermarket, they get to touch or hold (depending how fragile the items are) the fruits and vegetables and we will chat about their looks, tastes and textures etc.. 

At home, we have a few sets of large and small size cards with good quality pictures of vegetables, fruits and food items which the boys look at from time to time. I especially love the general knowledge segment printed at the back of each card that consists of interesting information about the fruit/veg. Sometimes I complement the learning with the real things which often amuses them. 

They know what a broccoli is already and have held it countless times. But when they sighted it lying cheerily beside the capsicum in the fridge, they couldn't resist picking it out to compare the real veg with the photo. They had such a good laugh though I still don't know why they found it so funny. 

I laughed when I see how hard they giggled.

Bedtime Reading

A typical night of bedtime reading can take well over an hour and half if I were to read to both boys. They are not fond of me reading to both at the same time, since they prefer very different books. So they take turns. Usually Chipsy goes first while M stays in his room and read on his own while waiting for me to finish with the little one.

But I must admit that after many tiring days, I do dread it a lot at times when it comes to bedtime routine, especially after I have to do this for 9 consecutive nights when E is away.

Despite my strong belief in the benefits of reading to my kids and my passion in reading and books generally, I have to struggle through it sometimes as this has become a really mundane activity that I must check off my daily to-do list (and I am not counting the time I spent reading in the daytime). Well, I have been doing this for 4 years and yes, I am aware that there will be many more to come. 

I do it solely out of motherly love and I try to sustain their interest (which luckily is not difficult to do at all, but on the contrary, my boys are very enthusiastic about their books) and passion by reading with passion. With each sentence that I read, I get questions and remarks and stories that they spin (yes, even from little Chip), which adds to the fun and benefits them tremendously, but it can also be tiresome and makes the whole activity very lengthy.

Like tonight, a typical night of bedtime reading, Chipsy requested for "Goodnight Moon", "Chocolate Moose for Greedy Goose" and "Train". 

I read 'Goose' first for 3 times as he would ask for "one more time" everytime I reached the last page. Next he wanted "Train". So I read that another 4 times and that simple book alone took almost 30 min as he kept wanting to examine the details on each page and repeat every word that I read. Last, we looked at 'Moon' and he made me read it 5 times!! 

By the 3rd time, I was so thirsty and brain-dead, but I pressed on and told him that it would be just 'one last time'. But I gave in later and read for the 5th time. Just as I put the books away and kissed him goodnight, he sweetly asked 'Mama, read My World. Last time.' which made me laugh. I didn't but promised to read tomorrow morning.

I know, I am weak and should be the one in control here. But I do love the fact that he enjoys his books so much. I am aware of the possibility that he may be using this 'one more time' and 'again' tactics to delay bedtime. But then again, my instincts tell me it isn't the case. I know my baby so well; he just loves his books, so I usually oblige. 

Next was M's turn and he was reading a Richard Scarry's book while patiently waiting for me. When I showed up in his room, he promptly selected 3 big books and instructed that I get started immediately so that I can finish reading all the pages in these 3 books before he gets into bed. Of course, I didn't. 

In the end, I read part of the Richard Scarry's Busy Busy Town and a few pages of "Young Learner's Encyclopedia of Science" and got him to read the whole 28 pages of "Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type" to me. I had to promise him that I will continue tomorrow and we shall start earlier so that we can read more. 

Now I can't wait for E to be back so we can split this duty. 

Boys' favourite song

Ever since the boys started watching Piglet's Big Movie, they just fell in love with this really enchanting song. 

M sings it all day long with little Chip humming along with him. Sometimes they would perform pretending they were strumming a guitar (when they were really just strumming their ribs :D) or they would set up an orchestra of piano and drums with all the other instruments we have.

With a Few Good Friends (see here for video)

sang by Carly Simon

With a few good friends
And a stick or two
A house is built at a corner called Pooh
With a friend and a stick
Or three or four
A house is built where it wasn't before
With a window here
And there a door
And a nail and peg
For the coat of Eeyore

With a few good friends
And a stick or two
A house is built at a corner called Pooh
With a friend and a stick
Or three or four
A house is built where it wasn't before

Dress it down
Or dress it up
Invite Tigger for tea
And Owl for supper

With a few good friends
And a stick or two
A house is built at a corner called Pooh
With a friend and a stick
Or three or four
A house is built where it wasn't before

Craft: My Face

Nicholas has been doing quite a bit of simple crafts at home lately, but I just didn't get around to upload the photos. Anyway, here goes the first one. 

I guided his hand to paste the eyebrows and pretty much left him to paste the other features, with some guidance as to where they should be. Stood in front of the mirror and looked at our faces for a while, made funny faces and flashed some word cards relevant to the craft. 

He already knows most body parts (like face, hair, head, eye brows, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, ears, chin, cheeks, neck, shoulder, arm, armpits, elbow, hand, thumb, fingers, tummy, belly button, butt, willy, leg, knee, foot, toes), so this craft was really way too easy for him. 

A related craft to do next is 'Body Outlining' and accessorizing. 

Bento #22

The plan originally was to enjoy these bentos by the swimming pool but the weather didn't look promising enough, so the boys ate them at home instead. 

Bento above for Nicholas. 

Mushroom omelette, forbidden rice, stir-fried kailan stems with surimi and seasme oil, and a small banana (the boys call it 'baby banana).

Bento above for Marcus. Similar food, just larger portion and a 100g plain yogurt instead of banana. 

Chipsy's pretend play

He placed Piggy in the dump truck and moved it along the length of the table and sofa, to and fro a few times. All the time whispering..

'Ok, here we go. Beep beep beep...'
'Not so fast? Ok, slow down.'
'Again? Ok, one more time.'

He paused to tickle Piggy and takes Piggy out of the dump truck for cuddles. Put it back into the dump truck and continued...

'Ok, here we go again. Beep beep beep...'
'More? Is it fun?'
'Ok, last time Piggy.'

He entertained himself with this pretend play for well over 15 min, all the while oblivious to his amused mummy who was sitting behind him sipping coffee. 

Bento #21

Snack time bento for Marcus yesterday.

Avocado, cheese slice, cashew nuts, steamed corn, Japanese rice cracker with black beans and peanut butter and jam sandwich with 12 grain bread. 

New puzzles

It has been a while since he touches any of his old puzzles. So we got him some new ones. The 36 pieces Goodnight Moon puzzle was really too easy for him, though it is indicated for ages 3 - 6. He completed on his first attempt with no help. 

The 20 pieces fire engine puzzle was given to us by Kana's mum as Kana has stopped playing with it. He also did it at first go on his own. 

Hmm.. luckily we have little chipsy at home to hand these ones down. 

First Haircut

Chipsy's first haircut. By mama!

3 Playdates

It has been a while since the boys had 3 play dates in 5 days. It is common to have play dates, but not that common in their routine to do so many in less than a week.

Play date 1

Val and Luke came over for a nice play date last week after a brief stay at the playground. Marcus did really well at sharing his toys and Nicholas tried too, despite a few quick episodes of snatching and shouting 'mine! mine!'. It is interesting to note how different the boys played with Luke, as compared to their regular female play dates. At one point, Marcus wanted to draw Luke a vegetable truck, which he did and sweetly gave it to Luke as present to take home. 

He enjoyed the play date so much that he pestered me to invite Luke over more often for play dates in future, but had to be disappointed when I told him we can't do that unfortunately since they live in London.

Play date 2 

We headed to Alexio's house this morning for the first time. This boy is a classmate of Marcus who likes him so much that he mentioned to his mum how much he wants to invite Marcus over for play. His mum waited in school for us one day, introduced herself and invited us. After a few postponements, we finally made it today. 

The boys were immediately at home when they spotted the big cars and tricycles at the balcony. Before long, the 4 boys were playing really well together with only occasional conflicts that were very quickly resolved amongst themselves. Maybe because Alexios is 5 and his brother is almost 3, they are very good at sharing their toys with their guests which kept them happy enough to leave me in peace to chat with Alexio's mum. The kids stayed for a good 2.5hrs and had to be coaxed to leave the place. 

This photo of the 2 boys makes me smile. 

It is so cute to see how much Marcus enjoyed his minestrone for lunch. That was his first bowl of minestrone. In the past, he used to dislike tomatoes so much that I would never dream of serving him a bowl full of minestrone for lunch. Now he eats his sphagetti with tomato sauce and loves his lasagne which is already a huge victory. So he greatly surprised me today, in a pleasant way, when he finished up every drop of the soup. 

He was so well-behaved at the dining table. Sat like a posh little boy and fed himself every spoonful carefully. He sipped his soup quietly and chewed with his mouth closed while giving me sweet smiles and little winks from time to time across the table. He even said 'thank you auntie for the delicious lunch' which was such music to my ears. Aww.. my little boy! 

Nicholas, on the other hand, obliged with a taste of the macaroni in the minestrone and expectedly spat it out without a chew. He still dislikes the taste of tomato, regardless of the form it appears. Well, I look at Marcus today, and I am not a wee bit discouraged. One day, my Chipsy will also love tomatoes. 

Play date 3

After a well-deserved nap, the boys woke in time to welcome Emma and Ethel. These 2 girls who used to be their regular play dates for a while haven't been over for almost 3 months. We were originally planning to play sand at the nearby playground, but the weather played havoc (yet again!) to our plans so the kids played with toys instead. They spent quite a bit of time working together fixing the Marble Race structure which was just excellent opportunity for encouraging team work and honing their social skills. 

After having tons of fun at the 2 play dates today, little Chipsy was so tired that he slept like a baby soon after his big dinner of brown rice, honey teriyaki salmon and stir-fried cauliflower. Marcus ate heartily too, and even finished up a large cup of yogurt for dessert. Straight after bath and bedtime reading, he gave me a few tight cuddles and told me he had fun today. 

Seeing how much the boys enjoyed these recent play times with their friends, I planned ahead. Play date 4 has been arranged with the lovely Kana. 

Marcus has been talking non-stop about how much he misses Kana and wanting to invite her over to play with him. He even drew her a beautiful truck and kept asking me if Kana would like that truck, if she would find it pretty enough. It made me laugh when he informed me in a really serious tone "Mummy, I draw this specially for Kana because I love her." So of course I have to invite the pretty girl over and a date has been arranged. My little prince shall be pleased.

Bento #20

New potatoes with avocado and panfried prawns as main dish for both boys. For sides, Marcus had apples, cashew nuts and home made banana with chocolate muffin, and Nicholas had a cream cracker with brie cheese. 

Funny rationale

I offered M some bananas for snacks just before his nap time. 

M: No mum, I can't eat the bananas. 

I: Why not? 

M: Because if I eat the banana, it will be painful for the banana. I don't want to hurt the banana.

I: Oh! Hmmm.. But what about the prawns you ate at lunch? Wouldn't it hurt the prawns when you eat them? 

M: No, no.. that is different. When I eat the prawns, they will be happy because they can now join all their friends. 

I: Huh? Where are their friends? 

M: In my tummy! (laughing out loud)

 

Just you, me and Chip

With E away from home to faraway London for 5 days now, the boys have been grumbling about missing daddy from time to time. 

Even little chipsy knows that daddy is in London and will talk about it as and when he remembers. It is funny how he often asks rhetorical questions and answers himself, like when he mumbles at bedtime 'Where is daddy? Daddy in London. Is daddy home? Nooo..' 

M complains to me that his daddy is away for too long and would ask me a few times a day when will he see daddy again. It is hard to explain the concept of 11 days, so as I try to be creative and come up with different explanations of how long E will be away, I just don't know if they quite get it. 

We used Skype to chat with E tonight so they could see E on my Macbook. But despite their frequent grumbles about missing daddy, they were so distracted by the piglet and Pooh movie that was playing concurrently on TV, that their attention was divided between the two screens. 

Like M frequently mentions recently, that 'there is just you, me and little Chip left in the house'. I must admit that I am beginning to feel the strain of the accumulative stress and tiredness and it is getting to me. I find myself taking more deep breaths throughout the day, trying to cope with the rush hours and handling the boys who are perfectly capable at driving me up the wall. Only another parent who is in similar circumstances can empathize.

Songbird

The 2yo is not only a chirpy little chipsy, but also a little nightingale these days.

He sings all day long to himself as he plays, to his two little piggies while relaxing in the cot, and to his excited audience (usually me and/or Marcus) as and when he decides to entertain.

His memory is also amazing, to me at least, as he seems to be able to remember lots of tunes and most of the lyrics. Sometimes after listening to me sing a song just twice or thrice, he surprises me by humming the tune perfectly or attempting to sing part of the song with the right lyrics.

In no particular order, these are what he entertains us with lately:

1. Incy Wincy Spider

2. Wheels on the bus

3. Twinkle twinkle little star

4. Baa baa black sheep

5. Ten little Indians (but we sing the "fingers" version)

6. Rainbow song

7. Five little ducks

8. Once I caught a fish alive

9. Alphabet song

10. Sing a song of sixpence

11. B.U.T.T.E.R.F.L.Y

12. Row your boat

Though the list is long, he hasn't yet mastered most of these nursery rhymes. There is always a part in each rhyme which he is still perfecting.

Marcus used to hum all day long and sing all the nursery rhymes he knew or just make up little tunes too. He still does that, but just up a notch. Now, he pretends he is the star of a concert and will play different musical instruments as he sings. That makes him a great idol for little chip to model after, so sometimes I just watch them as I sip my afternoon cuppa and be totally amused as they attempt to wow me with their musical talents.

A card for Grandpa

My 4yo made this last weekend so papa could bring it to Grandpa when he goes to London.

The sweet little boy was so excited that he could make something for his grandpa and he diligently worked on the card based on the few suggestions that papa made on what to draw and write.

When E asked him who these 2 characters are, M said it is mama and little chip. And why does Mama have such an expression? The boy replied 'oh because little chip destroyed mama's things, so she is very angry!' 

Haha!

Of geniuses and prodigies

I watched this performance a few nights ago and was so moved by what I heard. 

Concert pianist and composer Jennifer Lin was only 14 when she performed at TED, drawing tears with her extraordinary improvisation. A student of the Yamaha Music Education System from the age of 4, she has an unusual talent for improvisation. Her virtuoso performances, particularly the improvisations, are profoundly moving, and -- even via podcast -- have been known to reduce listeners to tears.

Watching this podcast prompted me to think a lot about what we as parents should and must do to help our children develop their fullest potential.

I have always believed that every child is a genius and each comes to this world with a huge potential to be discovered, nurtured and developed into something great and wonderful. I also believe in Maria Montessori's theory of the sensitive periods or 'windows of opportunity', which partly explains how E and I nurture our boys. 

So for the few truly fortunate kids who get the right exposure, at the right time, their talents can be developed and geniuses and prodigies are born. 

A child at a tender age of 4 or 5 can only have a chance to develop her fullest potential if her parents are wise enough to recognise the possibility of that talent she has or at least kind and generous enough to give her an opportunity to pursue an interest which could take years to develop and show results.

Without parental support and nurturing,  a young child's talent and passion for any particular field may need to be shelved and with each passing year of age, that hidden talent may never ever resurfaced. So for the majority of us whose parents insisted on academic development over the pursuit of hobbies when we were growing up, or were simply too poor or busy to notice a child's passion in some areas, the hidden talents remain hidden.

Grocery Shopping

Any grocery shopping trips with the 2 boys are always very noisy affairs. 

As we pass by the seafood section...

M: Mummy, I want to eat some fish! Buy me the salmon please. I want the biggest piece! (and picked a pack to put into my basket)

N: Touch fish! 

As we pass by the eggs/bread section... 

M: How about we buy bread? This and this and this.. (helping himself to 3 loaves). 

N: Hold bread! Hold bread! (literally screaming)

M: Little chip, you can't hold the bread.. How about you hold the eggs? (trying to pass chip a pack of kampong eggs as I snatch it from him in time)

N: Eat eggs! Hold eggs! Touch eggs! Give me the eggs! 

As we pass by the vegetables section... 

M: Mummy, can I eat broccoli today? I haven't eaten broccoli for a long time. (though he just ate it the day before)

N: Eat broccoli!! 

M: What about some potatoes, mummy? Do you need potatoes? 

N: Buy potatoes! Eat potatoes! Eat potatoes!! 

M: How about we buy some tomatoes? 

I: But you don't even like tomatoes! What shall I do with the tomatoes? 

M: You can cook them for yourself. (And proceeded to pick a few tomatoes for me)

We pass by the fruits section.. 

M: Let's buy some avocado! And some grapes too. I want to eat grapes tonight. 

N: Eat avocado! Hold avocado! Touch grapes! 

We pass by the ham section.. 

M: Oohh.. I love ham, mama! Buy me some ham, please. Lots of ham! They are my favourite! 

I: Ok, we will buy you some ham. 

M: aww.. thank you mama.. I love you!  (as I place the pack of ham in my basket)  I want to eat a piece now! I want to eat now! I am starving!!! (voice getting louder as he speaks)

I: But we need to pay for it first. How about I give you a slice when we get home? 

M: NOoo! I want to eat now!! I am starving! It is not nice for little kids to be hungry. It is very bad for me! (emphasizing the 'very bad' loudly)

Urgghh!! Try to do this a few times a week...  

It is very funny to read it sitting at a desk, but not so funny when you are pushing a stroller with a screaming tot in it, a heavy basket full of groceries in the other hand and having to keep track of an energetic and enthusiastic kid who can't stop dashing about putting stuff you don't need into your basket.  

Rain or Shine

Papa, grandma, grandpa, look at me!  Chipsy all ready for gai-gai, regardless rain or shine.

Bento #19

Bento for Marcus' school lunch consisting of homemade beef lasagna, endamame, baby corn, Oreo and a Japanese rice cracker with black sesame seeds. Plus a pack of 250ml UHT full cream milk (not shown). 

 

The lasagna was leftover from the dinner I made the night before. After the lasagna was cooked, I packed the portion for his bento in a Lock n Lock container before putting it in the fridge. In the morning, all I needed to do was to transfer the LnL to the microwave oven to warm up the lasagna, let it cool before placing it in the bento box. This saves lots of time. 

I used the 480ml bento box since the lasagna is pretty heavy stuff for a kiddo's lunch and I gave him a good portion too. Lasagna is especially great addition to bento since it is one of those yummy food which is so nutritious and still tastes good even if it is not eaten pipping hot (unlike other cream or tomato based pasta). 

A bonus, to me, is that it freezes really well. So whenever we make lasagna (and I do at least once or twice a month), we can stash some into freezer for those crazily busy days. A few minutes in the microwave oven and we get a nice main dish for the bento. Using a LnL is great here because it can be transferred from freezer to fridge to microwave without moving the contents, which helps the lasagna stays in shape. And it helps that I can just throw it into the dishwasher afterwards.  

I was also acting on his feedback that he was always the last kid to finish his lunch in school. I figured it is probably because most kids eat sandwiches, fried rice and noodles kind of food with very little vegetables, nuts and fruits which require more chewing. Perhaps they have lesser food or just gobble up their lunch. So anyway, I decided to give him slightly less food, but still nutritious and filling. 

Verdict from the prince: The lasagna was so yummy! He ate all of it, including the slightly chunkier tomato pieces (which I included on purpose to 'test' if he would eat them since he normally wouldn't eat a tomato). Needless to say, everything else in the box and the pack of milk went to his tummy. When he got home from school, he gulped down another 250ml of milk. 

One of those hobbies...

This was done leisurely in the cold months of 2001 when I was still living in London. During those pre-kids era when I had lots of time to pursue leisure and hobbies. It has always been one of my dreams to be able to paint really well. One day when the boys are grown and I have more time, I shall resume this time consuming hobby.

Boys Talk

Yesterday..

The 2yo came to the living room to find the 4yo standing at the small table drawing. 

2yo: What you doing? 

4yo: I am drawing a triple decker bus. (He was busy finishing up the drawing and starting to colour it.)

2yo: A blue bus!

4yo: yes and this part will be yellow later. 

2yo: Why? 

4yo: Because I like it to be blue and yellow. 

2yo: NOooo! No yellow bus! 

4yo: It is not just yellow, chip. It will be blue and yellow. Here (pointing to the top deck), will be red. Alright? 

2yo: Alright. (seems satisfied enough and walked away happily)

Few minutes later.. the 2yo came back to the 4yo who was adding the final touches to the drawing. 

2yo: What you doing? 

4yo: Colouring the bus. Ok. Here you go, chip! It is all finished!

2yo: Wah! Blue, yellow, red bus! Giant bus! Mama, look! M draw giant bus!

Today.. 

Background: M decided to call himself 'M Quok' for some unknown reasons, probably just because he thinks it is really funny. Even in the paper work he did in school, he renamed himself. I remarked that it is funny he would write 'Mama Quok and M Quok' on a piece of work he brought back today, which brought a loud laugh from M.

Chipsy overheard and contributed 'Papa Quok, Baby Quok, Piggy Quok, Rabbit Quok'! Haha! The last 2 are stuffed toys which are dearest to N and M respectively. 

First Book by 4yo M

Yes, this is the first book written and illustrated by M! 

Ever since he invented the idea of a triple decker bus, he would talk about it from the moment he wakes till he is tucked into bed. Frankly, he has so many ideas about what that special bus is and can do, that sometimes I am both amazed and amused by his imagination. After listening to 'err.. Mama, a triple decker bus can/is... ' 30 times daily for over 2 months, I suggested that he writes a book about triple decker buses, so he can document his ideas and also include his drawings. Of course that excited him a lot and we promptly started working on it. 

How it works:

I let him decide what to write and draw on each page. He told me the sentence and I wrote it on a paper for him to copy onto the page after he has completed the illustration. All sentences are composed by him and all writings, drawings and coloring in the book are entirely his own. 

Book cover

Triple Decker Bus Book by M Quek, October 2008

Page 1

Brmm brmmm! What is rushing by very very fast? It is a triple decker bus.

Page 2

A triple decker bus is the biggest vehicle in the world. 

Page 3

A triple decker bus can travel over roads and rough land. 

Page 4

Some triple decker buses are very long. This one has 22 wheels. 

Page 5

A triple decker bus can be as tall as a building. 

Page 6

A triple decker bus can carry lots of passengers. See the smoke coming out of the chimneys on the roof of the house. 

Page 7

The two triple decker buses are going in opposite directions.

He has lots of fabulous ideas about the triple deckers that he wants to include in the book but we just can't, unless he write essays. So for now, we will settle for just these pages. After all, it is his first book and I am sure there will be more to come.

Already he has lots of ideas for his book #2 and #3 etc.. and even wanted to write a chinese book about triple decker buses!! 

I can't be more pleased and proud that he is so enthusiastic about this whole little project and would want to work on it the moment he gets back from school. Because of the perfectionistic streak in him, he tends to discard many drawings if he thinks that they aren't good enough for the book, so some days, we work on about a page or two only. 

Edited to add: It is hard to say how long he took to write and illustrate this book, since he took a long break after completing the first 6 pages and decided to draw only trucks and other vehicles. He finally did the Page 7 and the book cover which I just added.

Specially for Mama

He thinks it is not enough to just draw me a few triple decker buses everyday. Because he loves me so much, so he drew me a really special bus that has 8 decks one evening! Haha!

The bus was drawn on half of a blue heart cut out of a construction paper. The other half has a drawing for papa. 

According to M, below is a drawing of a really big school in India for small children. Note the details he added this time - lots of smoke comes out of the multiple chimneys, a tree on the right and the crescent and stars. When I asked why is the tree not coloured, his reply 'because it is winter!' Heehee! 

Bento #18

A weekday lunch for Marcus. 

Left: rice with nori seaweed, siew mai and stir-fried lotus root with carrot strips

Right: homemade mini sweet potato croquettes, apples and mashmallow.

Guppy Fish

A guppy fish!  My boy drew the whole fish according to teacher's instructions and coloured it with hues of his choice. 

Phase of the 'Monster'

Just like I mentioned here recently that the boys are into roaring and clawing each other as if they were two little dinosaurs or monsters... here are 2 more recent photos of the bigger one.

No special effects here, but I just love the first photo! He was very spontaneous there, instead of flashing a toothy grin or gorgeous smile, he promptly decided on that superb expression and pose with his 'claw'.




A supposedly scary monsterous hairdo done by daddy, and of course the loudest 'roaawwwrr'' for maximum effect!

Nasty Preston

He just couldn't resist drawing more of Preston, the nasty cyber-dog from Wallace & Gromit's 'A Close Shave' story.

So here is a nasty and angry Preston.



And another of Preston all ready to bite! Note the funny toes on the dog! It is a drawing for Papa, hence the name next to Preston. 

First piano lesson

I never thought M would be keen on learning piano, so I have never expected to write about his first piano lesson. But here it is and I am smiling as I type. 

Ever since I paid for the class on Friday, he kept asking if he could have his lesson straightaway. He had his first 30 min lesson yesterday, 1 to 1, and he loves it so much that he refused to leave the room even after the lesson ended. It is hard to say if the teacher is great in just that brief session but M seems to like her. He learnt about 'crotchet' and 'minim' and some clapping rhythm, and the teacher commented that he is good at pitching and keeping his fingers nice and curved when playing. Already he is looking forward to his next lesson, so I am hopeful that he can keep this enthusiasm up for a while.

Legacy

When Marcus was only a few months old, E bought a really special guitar which cost a hefty sum. The intention is to leave this beautiful piece of instrument for his precious first-born as part of his future inheritance. 

What I didn't know of was the even more beautiful black and white photo and a very moving message on the back of the photo, which the daddy had handwritten for his son. I read it recently when E took the guitar out from its case and it just melted my heart. Every line is so evident of his unconditional parental love and just so touching! Needless to say, he also bought another equally awesome guitar for Nicholas when he was born and left a similar photo and message for the little one.

I am so impressed with the wonderful and meaningful way he has chosen to share something he loves so much (i.e. guitars and music) with the ones who mean the most to him! By the time the boys are grown and receive this as part of their inheritance, it would be so wonderful to be able to look at the photo and remember their daddy playing the guitars in the past and how much he enjoyed that. 

That made me reflect on my own experience that when my dad died suddenly a few years back, I tried desperately to recall as much of him as I could and to search for something that meant a lot to him which I could hold on to. But he left very little belongings behind and there wasn't anything that was really significant or representative of him. He didn't make any legacy planning so all that we have of him was some memories which become more vague as the years passed.  

The boys will need many more years before they can play these gorgeous looking babies, so in the meantime, daddy will be the one enjoying them to the fullest. But the intention is beautiful and sincere and just such an inspiration to me. I have always wanted to leave a legacy for my children and grandkids and indeed, legacy planning shouldn't have to wait till I am old and wrinkly (and penniless)!