Wednesday, March 31, 2010

That Love/Hate Relationship

The day M brought the animal back from school, N claimed it as his own. M didn't really mind anyway.

Oddly, N named it Donkey and has maintained since day one that he doesn't like Donkey. Despite our protests after closer examination that it has to be a camel, the stubborn boy insisted otherwise.

He looks for Donkey everyday. He buries him deep in his Lego box to be 'flattened' by all the huge blocks.

He cooks Donkey in the toy kitchen, boils him in soup in his pots and pans. He tells Donkey that he needs to go to jail because he is naughty and drops Donkey in cardboard box.

He tells Donkey that he will be placed in the open at night so that the witches will find him and take him away and the Piggies will be safe. (The Piglets are in the room, and N's most precious. So Donkey is being sacrificed to the witches). 

He makes big ship out of his Lego and places Donkey in it, before announcing to everyone that Donkey will be sailing away to a very faraway land and will never be coming back again, that he will be alone and die alone.

Hmm... his pretend play with Donkey (and some other toy animals) can be rather mean with twisted endings. Sometimes I wonder if it is normal for a 3 y.o. to come up with such stories. Where did he even get his ideas from?

We always ask him why he would want all these nasty things to happen to Donkey. He just replied simply 'I don't like Donkey'. So we offered to give Donkey away to other children. He refused. Donkey has to be trapped, he said. Hmm...

Like the other afternoon, he busied himself for 15 minutes with a single goal - Donkey has to be trapped in this bag.


And last week, I came out of the room to see my 3 y.o. pointing proudly at the door....



I must admit it made me laugh. He was all serious though.

I am sure it is nothing to be worried about. It is all child's play, albeit a little 'violent' for my expectations. But then again, boys will be boys.....

Monday, March 29, 2010

Breaking The Code

As a teenager, I used to be intrigued with cryptography, having survived on a diet of the mystery novels/suspense thrillers of my time. 
 
But I have never thought of exposing my 5.5 yr old to any of these fun stuff just yet. It is one of those things that I always know I want to try with him, but never gotten round to doing. 

Last July, Uncle M introduced him to encoding and the boy, 4.5 yr old then, surprised everyone when he understood the instructions and encoded a funny message on his own. 

Here is him working on another one recently. The letter was sent to Uncle M, who has just decoded it and promised to reply. 




Hmm....  life for a 5 yr old can be so much fun! :> 


Saturday, March 27, 2010

Experiences That Count

Sometimes, when we get busy, we tend to forget the fundamental - kids are only going to be young this ONCE. 

To them, nothing is more real and rewarding than their personal experiences. 


My little Chip on an elephant with Papa. In Phuket last Dec. 


Our canoes entering the caves. In Phuket. Last Dec.

He still talks about them with incredible clarity and details. He doesn't like the caves though! 


Thursday, March 25, 2010

What One Dollar Buys in Abundance!




A chocolate bun from Cedele which translates to utmost enjoyment for them. 

A treat to be savored with delight, gratitude and love!  

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Crayon Resist: Leaves

Boys had so much fun one hot afternoon in February with a few leaves, lots of crayons and water colors. 


By my 5 yr old. 

By my 3 y.o.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Keeping Busy with Pencils

Last year, my 3 y.o. started drawing recognisable details which excited us to no end. His themes are varied and reflect a lot on the topics surrounding the household and his fancy imagination. It just gets more interesting every week. Here is a quick look at some of my favourites.

(Below) Airplane with pilot. The little thing next to the pilot is the toilet with the seat up, because the pilot needs to poo!!! Hahaha!

The next drawing is of a train with carriages.

(Below) Scared Lambs.  They were scared because of the fire! He started drawing the lambs first and then came running to me, asking me to spell the words. He wrote all the letters on his own. I just adore his stick lambs!! Too cute! 

(Above) - lambs stacking on top of each other for a performance. He said some were very nervous and I can tell if I look at their faces. :) Haha!! I love the originality. 

Above - Papa, Mama, Marcus and him on a rocket. :> 

In the recent months, this kiddo has been really inspired to write. I say 'inspired' because it is NOT part of what I introduce to him. He picks up the papers and pencils on his own initiative and gets busy for a substantial period of time! Just like how his older brother used to do at this age and still does daily. 

He often adds his own storyline to his pictures and write a bunch of letters to represent (in his mind anyway) words that tell his story. Sometimes, he asks me to spell words for him. Other times, he is quite contented to depend solely on his imagination. 

Here are a few pieces which he drew/wrote between Jan and Feb 2010. 


Below - his story about a witch on 3 strips of papers!! But I can't remember the content now.

This next drawing done in Jan '10 shows the control panel in a spaceship. All the letters and shapes are buttons on the control panel for the astronauts to press for landing, flying and another is the emergency button when spaceship is going to crash!


Friday, March 19, 2010

A Little Wall-E

My boys watched 'Wall-E' for the first time on DVD a few days ago and fell deeply in love with this utterly cute robot. Even my heart melts after watching him with the kids.

Two hours after watching Wall-E, my 3 y.o. drew this from memory. 


I must admit I jumped up and down with utmost surprise and pride when he showed it to me. 


Two days later, after my 5.5 yr old watched the film for the second time, he produced his version with incredible details. 


This is just like the time when M (at 2 yr 9 mths) was crazy about Monsters Inc.. and he drew Mikey from memory.



Thursday, March 18, 2010

A Little Imagination Works Wonders

For a good part of the last 6 months, my boys have been wishing out loud for a chance to sail on an ocean liner.

So far, we have yet to make their dreams come true. But at least, they had some good fun last Christmas canoeing at the James Bond Island. A proper cruise holiday will come soon enough. 

In the meantime, my 5.5 y.o. decided to do something about it! 


His model... 



There is no reason to wait that long for the opportunity to paddle and have some fun! :> 

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Our Hide n Seek



One of our games. 

My 3-year-old dashed out of bathroom after a shower to hide from me. I came into the room to seek him.... and I found this. *.*

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Fossil Hunters



One thing that never fails to thrill my kids is the opportunity to dig up fossils. 

They embrace the idea that some incredible findings are waiting to be discovered and better still, they be the ones to bring the stunning bones to the world's attention! 

It is kind of funny to watch my boys squeal with excitement as their small hands and fingers worked hard to uncover whatever that was lying buried underneath the earth.



When they found this (pictured above), they got all tensed up with anticipation!

'Mummy look at this! Wow! Could this be a dinosaur's foot? Which one? Wow! Wow! Wow! Let's dig more! Quick! Help us, Mummy!'

I love their gasps of exhilaration that exhibits much of their innocence. It is all so precious! 

It got to be wired in the little men's genetic code. After all, their papa spent a good part of his childhood digging up dirt and turning over stones, hoping to find a breakthrough as an amateur paleontologist. 

A few years ago, the doting dad even bought M (then only a wee tot) a superb set of fossil kit which he shelved for a while. It finally made appearance late last year and needless to say, the boys went wild over it. 

I have to give him full credit for his ability to find the best presents. Daddy knows best of what makes my little boys tick! *.*

Friday, March 12, 2010

That Funny Bone





A few months ago, my 5.5 yr old M chanced upon the world of comics!

First, he tiptoed in with a few peeks at daddy's Calvin and Hobbs, out of sheer curiosity. It didn't take him long to realize the treasure he had uncovered amongst E's huge stack.
































For the days that followed, all he wanted to do was to sandwich his face between the pages and laugh himself silly. A potent source of merriment indeed!

He read the thick comic book from cover to cover, pausing only to go to the bathroom. I had to drag him to the table for meals and after that, he would head straight back to the books for more humor!

Once he was done with laughing over the antics of the ever-so-adventurous and imaginative 6-year-old Calvin, he moved on to Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts and is now acquainted with Charlie Brown and Snoopy! Haha! 

Last week, when I was in the midst of shampooing his hair, he chuckled and eyed me cheekily before asking me the funniest question I have ever heard in the last 5.5 years - 

'What is the difference between a garden slug and a two-inch living booger?  Hahaha!'.... 

I LOVE this boy! 


Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Pee Size Matters

It has been a fabulous two months so far, with plenty to celebrate and cheer about.

Now, about my Peanut's recent milestone. As I said before, there is one thing which I hate about parenting

About 6 weeks ago, he started favoring underpants to disposable nappies. And I am celebrating mainly because it means I am past the hurdle.

He has been incredibly dependable to keep his pants dry throughout the day and it took ONE DAY (yes 24 hours to be exact) for the transition. So it was a painless process with only ONE teeny mess on the floor. 

I admit we have been really slack with potty training, compared with other areas of development. We are definitely a million times more enthused with areas of development and milestones related to the BRAIN (read: learning-related stuff).

There seems to be very few advantages to get the boys to the stage of 'nappyless', besides monetary savings. So procrastination became my game. 

Physically, Peanut was ready a long time ago. He would announce before his #1 and #2 arrive with great accuracies. 

The stumbling block was somewhere else. 

Up till a few months ago, the boy would fuss big time whenever he sees my colorful display of fancy small pants donning a wide range of characters from the Thomas Tank Engine, Spiderman to Lightning McQueen. Faced with such protests, the only thought that crossed my mind was - why bother? - so colorful pants went back to storage.

Then one day, I asked him again. He took a moment to consider. 

'OK, I want to try underpants now. And I will pee and poo in the toilet.' were words tumbling out of his cute little mouth. 

Just like that! No need for potty too. Straight to the toilet! 

It was my turn to make a fuss over his newfound independence and we all celebrated with a few M&Ms to mark the occasion.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Dad And His Elfin Spock

That is what happened when I left my boy with a geeky daddy who gets easily inspired and is always looking for a quick laugh.




Now, compare with the original... 

When the unwitting mum got called in to pose with a dying moan.... 



I know.. go ahead and laugh!! We all did!  

Monday, March 1, 2010

From Tiny Acorns

After months of preparation, I am most excited to finally announce that The Tots University is now renamed From Tiny Acorns. 

As the famous saying goes...  'from tiny acorns mighty oak trees grow'.

This is the inspiration for the new name. It is most befitting to encompass the vision I have for this enrichment centre which started with the most humble beginnings. 
 
A BIG Thank You to all mums and dads who have so warmly supported our programmes.  

Because of YOU, we have expanded faster than I ever imagined - from our initial one class a week to our current eight! 

As many of you already know, we have moved to a new premises recently to accommodate the increasing demand for our classes. This relocation and our expansion plans has kept me busy and thrilled me to no ends for months! And for now, let me just say that this is only the beginning.... 

I am also grateful to readers of this blog who have so generously and positively recommended The Tots University and our programmes to your friends, colleagues and relatives! Thank you for taking the time and effort to spread the word! 

Enough said. 

Now, do pop over to our new website - From Tiny Acorns (URL: www.from-tiny-acorns.com ).  See you there! 


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