Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Just Family Time

The month-long school holiday has come and gone.

Like the past school holidays, I did not sign the boys up for any holiday programme. There was minimal structured learning of any sort too, not that we had much time for it either.

The highlight of their holiday was the family vacation we took to Langkawi (more about that coming up) and spending the remaining weeks with their grannies who hailed from London and stayed with us for five weeks. 

The foursome bonded daily, through meals, playtime and even at bedtime. 

Marcus has grown incredibly close to Grandma who acquired the reputation (from me) of being his personal short-order cook. Though normally this is not a good thing, I let her indulge him since it was only for a few weeks. 

Every morning, she would greet him with a 'What would you like to have for breakfast, my darling?'. Then she busied herself in the kitchen for the rest of the day to prepare for him lovely small meals, several times a day. Who wouldn't enjoy a pamper like that? :>

They played Blokus a few times daily and read a lot together, including his comic books. She was his biggest fan when he played piano and would exclaim and praise heaps when he drew her something. 

He would run to her out of the blue to shower her with kisses and cuddles. They snuggled up close on the couch to watch movies (boy, they sure watched a record number this month!). On days when she went out, he would count the hours before her return. 

I just know that for the rest of his life, my little Marcus will remember Grandma's gentle ways with him as part of his childhood memory. How precious is that! 


Grandma's loving science project with the kids when E and I were away! Sweet! 

Peanut performing a 'stunt' to show Grandma what he learnt during swimming lesson.

A maze that Marcus made to test Grandpa.

Chipsy, on the other hand, has claimed Grandpa to be his BEST FRIEND! He would head straight to the grannies' bed in the morning and placed himself right between the two sleepy heads. Sometimes drifting back to sleep in their arms.

The duo would fly the model helicopter, shape some creatures with playdoh or create with Lego. Every now and then, they would take a break from play to watch some TV while grandpa dozed off. Or they would chill by taking turns to tickle each other till Chipsy collapsed into a helpless, giggly heap.

Both boys drew for hours everyday with Grandpa who is the real artist in the extended family. 
Marcus learnt a great deal of how to draw objects in 3-D and shading/shadowing etc from Grandpa. 


For me, it was a great respite. I simply let the grannies take over the daily care of my boys during most of that period. It was refreshing to have the extra help around.

The weeks of bonding finally came to an end last Friday. The boys were sad to say goodbye, especially Marcus who cried buckets at the airport and again the moment he returned to an 'empty' home. 

Such is reality, unfortunately. When loved ones live 10,000 km away from us, we can only look forward to infrequent visits and be contented with the limited time that we can spend together. 

But because of this, they (kids and grannies alike) cherish the time together more. Considering that they spent 35 full days a year, it is not too bad and probably is already more physical time than some grannies would spend with grandkids who live in the same city. 


Monday, June 28, 2010

Comic Moments

My 3.5 years old has officially taken over the role of 'family clown'. 

The baton has been passed from the oldest (i.e. the papa) to the youngest over the years and now the succession is complete. Training must have taken place behind my back, since I have never witnessed any sessions of vigorous training of the boy. 

Comic Moment #1
The daddy called out to the boy, 'Hey, little prince..'. 
The boy exclaimed, 'I am NOT a prince! I am the SUPER PIG!'
(In his mind, a pig is the most superior creature since he loves Piggy Wiggy so much.)

Comic Moment #2
The little boy, 'I tell you a joke. Do you know what the fish is doing in the toilet? (Pause for effect) It is doing a FISH-POO!  Hahaha!'

Comic Moment #3
He walked out of the bathroom after his bath, stark naked. Came to me with a straight face and made eye contact. Then turned around slowly so his back faces me. Nothing moved for a second or two. Then I heard a small sound from his lips. He turned around 'That was my butt pretending to fart, Mummy!'  He laughed and ran away. 

When he tells a joke, he expects laughter from us. If we didn't, he would come and look us in the eyes 'Why didn't you laugh, Mummy?'. Undoubtedly, our approval and support reinforces his sense of humor, which is also motivated by his need to make us happy. 

A soap bubble beard!

Of course what we deem as comical is highly subjective. But with all kids, their innocence shines through their comic attempts. If we don't judge and just take their words and actions at face value and seeing their world through their lens, it becomes easy to appreciate their sense of humor.

We are also rather relaxed with the toilet humor at the moment. Most boys will go through a phase of enjoying toilet humor regardless of parental approval. So instead of forbidding them to make jokes or laugh about it, we might as well laugh with them till they outgrow the phase. 

But at Marcus' age, some lines have to be drawn in this respect, so he doesn't end up telling jokes all night on inappropriate content, in front of a bunch of jaw-dropping guests, however innocent his intent may be. He has a real wicked sense of humor, which he hones daily by his ravaging appetite for renowned comic strips


Telling his cousin a joke!

Well, when the father of my children is reputed among our social circle as the guy with an incredible sense of dry humor (certainly helped by the fact that he grew up in London!), which I have grown to adore tremendously, I don't expect anything less from the little ones. 

You can't teach a child how to tell a joke. But we certainly can influence them (somewhat) to gain a sense of humor.

The last thing I want is to raise a highly intelligent child who doesn't understand a laugh when he hears one. 

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Family Vacation 2010: Langkawi

On a whim, E and I decided to take his parents with us for a beach vacation to Langkawi in late May, a week after they arrived in Singapore for their annual visit.

We did so much during this trip and the boys had such a fabulous time that they wanted to stay in Langkawi for a whole month! :> 

All geared up! A daily sight as we headed to the beach and pool after breakfast. 


Chip drew big circles in the sand for us all to hop in and out of. And we played hopscotch - one of my childhood favourites!



Armed with big shovels, boys dug trenches and competed to build the tallest volcano everyday.

From time to time, they would take breaks from digging and piling and just strolled along the beach, picking seashells and examining rocks. Sometimes, time stood still for them as they watched crabs and other creatures appearing and disappearing into the tiny holes that dotted throughout the beach. 

We made an effort to leave the resorts a few times to explore what the island has to offer. The boys always enjoy boat trips, so we did a half day tour to the Kilim Nature Park.

Love this photo of the boys! The resemblance is so obvious.


Nature coming too close for comfort. A few monkeys came on board the boat and had to be shooed away! Boys were curious, but I was wary and ready to defend! 

The other highlight was the visit to the Bat Cave, which was quite an hair-raising experience!

The moment we entered the cave, all we could hear was this horrible high pitch noise that was almost deafening. And before I could say 'wait', someone shone the mega torch at the ceiling and there staring back at us were hundreds, if not thousands, of fruit bats hanging upside down from the ceiling of the cave. SPOOKY! 

But I am glad we made it. For the boys to experience it all, it was worth it! 

Chipsy, outside the bat cave, visibly exhausted after the walking around in the heat.
Forbidden ground - we couldn't stop staring at the stairs, wondering what creatures we could find up there. 

Examining nature up close is always fun! 

A comfortable trek the next day to check out the waterfall. Boy, was that disappointing! More like a trickle if you ask me. 

Boys being surrounded by over 15 bunnies, all starving and badly looked after. Poor animals! Reminded me of our babies (I only have photos of Toffee, but not of Bunny and Flopsy).

The ONLY family photo we had of this trip! Even then, little Chip is not in this photo as he fell asleep before the food was served. 


Whatever remaining time the boys had in the room was spent in the jacuzzi, followed by tons of Lego playing and way too much TV. 

Now, I must not forget the pancakes and waffles every morning for breakfast and 4-5 hours in the beach/pool daily. No wonder they didn't want to come home anymore! Haha...

Well, I suppose we should be happy as this means it was money well-spent. 



Friday, June 25, 2010

My Marathon

A few weeks ago, E was right by me as I flipped the Starhub cable magazine. I mumbled something about a TVB soap which I would love to watch if I had more time. 

E looked over my shoulder and not said a word. 

Besides the news, I only have time to watch the occasional programme with the boys. So we only subscribe to the news and educational channels. I remember commenting that it is not worth it to subscribe to the TVB channel just for this soap and chances are, I would miss it often too, given my schedule. 

No grouse. Just some casual think-out-loud on my part while the hubby played along, all cool and calm. 

The next day, I came home from teaching my classes and saw a box of DVDs of the soap - Beyond The Realm of Conscience that I had mentioned the night before, on the table! 

Wow! No note. Just a brand new box.



I couldn't stop smiling initially, thinking of the odds of him getting it right at first try. 

Since he has never watched any of this kind of soaps in his life and speaks under 100 Chinese words, I can imagine his confusion when he entered a video store looking for it. He wouldn't even have known the name of it! 

But seriously, for him to have the thought in the first place was real sweet. 

My next thought - Shucks! There are 33 episodes! How can I possibly have the time to watch them all?!

A few nights later, I decided to watch one episode with him upon his urging. The man gave up after just 30 min. Too much bitching, he complained. 

I sent him to bed and stayed up to watch another 2 episodes that night. With just my pillow and a giant packet of potato chips. Life was good! :)

In the end, I was so hooked. 

E was shocked when I confessed that I had watched 8 episodes one particular night. I swear my butt was square from sitting so long. 

It was not called a marathon for nothing. I finished all 33 episodes in 4 nights! 

On hindsight, that was real crazy indulgence. But hey, life can afford some craziness sometimes, especially when I am doing it from the comfort of my couch. I like!


Friday, June 18, 2010

Progress Updates: Jan to June 2010

In the Parent-Teacher Meeting (PTM) in May, both the English and Chinese teachers had plenty to say. 

On Marcus
尚豪有很强的语言能力, 是个善于表达的孩子。虽然他所掌握的华文词汇不比英文词汇来得多, 但他在上华文课时总会尽其所能运用所懂得的华文词汇自我表达。

Additional comments from teachers - Very inquisitive and is always asking intelligent questions. He has lots of initiative in learning (always asks when he doesn't know or understand something and wants to do more than what teachers asked/instructed) and very good imagination. Tries his best in Chinese lessons and very attentive. Reads avidly (from reading corner) whenever there are spare moments. Has very advanced understanding in science and general knowledge compared to children his age.


On Chipsy
尚杰聪明好学, 对师长有礼,友善合群, 与同学相处愉快, 上课专注, 认真完成作业,喜爱听故事, 对学习华文充满热忱, 希望他学习使用华语来表达。

Additional comments from teachers - A fast learner who is always attentive in class. Good memory (remembers lessons well) and can understand concepts taught easily. Very sociable and often announces in class 'I want to sing everyone a song'... and would start singing! Shows lots of enthusiasm in learning all subjects and will ask questions. Though he can't understand everything that his Chinese teacher says, he always asks her and tries to repeat after her. Has excellent enunciation and is able to pronounce Chinese words accurately, often at first try. An above-average student for his age.

Compared to a year ago, both boys have made huge improvement in Chinese. 

Now, my 5.5 years can even converse comfortably with my mum (who doesn't speak English at all) in Mandarin and translate for Chipsy or my mum when they can't understand each other. Of course, there are still miles to go before he reaches the satisfactory level (or rather what I deem to be the minimum standard) but we still have time and I am confident and optimistic that we will get there.

I am still adamant on NOT sending the boys to Chinese enrichment (even the widely popular Berries which almost everyone I know is attending) for as long as we can. 

With just his daily 45 min Chinese lessons in school coupled with my efforts at home works well enough so far for Marcus to make the leap from a totally non-speaker to where he is now.

As for Chipsy, I am doing virtually nothing with him on the Chinese front at this point. School lessons shall suffice for now while I work on other areas of priorities with him. 

Overall, I am very pleased with boys' progress. We shall march on!! 

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

In The News!


The positive result of it all - our family was interviewed and featured in the newspapers! Haha! Like it or not, we had our few minutes of fame! :D 

Click here for the article on Weekend Today and here for the write-up in The New Paper, which is also mentioned in The Online Citizen.

At first, it was a little overwhelming for the family actually, especially when it all happened so quickly.

E and I were still in Hong Kong (more details about our vacation later) when I noticed the spike in blog readership and there were a lot of emails from strangers. Thousands flocked from Facebook and Twitter and through links of several popular local blogs and forums. 

Once we got home, I received emails/calls from reporters who liked to meet with the family. I managed to arrange 3 interviews to take place in 2 days over the weekend. It was all so surreal! 

Coincidentally, we had visitors with us and were expecting more visitors for the weekend for some wedding photo shoot and a family dinner. The weekend as originally planned, was hectic enough. It also didn't help that I had 10 hours of classes to conduct in the same period. To top it all up with another 3 interviews was kind of crazy! I was practically rushing from place to place from Friday morning up till Sunday night. The kids were totally spent by the time Sunday dinner was served.

But when we saw the articles in the newspapers, it was all worth it! Relatives and friends called to cheer and everyone in the family was all smiles. I just wish Marcus had a better haircut in that photo of The New Paper and if only we had a toy ship of some sort at home that day. (Hee hee.. Marcus held up a toy plane in that photo!)

Nevertheless, the newspaper articles will make wonderful keepsake for the children and we are pleased that the boys experienced the interviewing process. 

Before I accepted the interviews, I had a chat with Marcus and explained what it meant to be interviewed and why we thought he should give it a shot. It will be a learning experience anyway for him to share his thoughts with strangers and have them write about it in the newspapers. How cool it must be to read about himself in the news and what others have to say about him, especially since he is just a little boy now! 

One of the reporters asked Marcus how did he feel about being 'famous' (now, don't take this the wrong way!) and the little boy replied candidly 'but I don't want to be famous!'. 

Haha!  The age of innocence! 


Thursday, June 10, 2010

Craft: Making a Cardboard Alligator

Another craft using recycled materials! 

Boys were given a few boxes of different sizes, egg cartons, clothes pegs, toilet rolls and some paint and we made an alligator together. I can't say that they made this entirely on their own as they had help in the taping and assembling. 




The transformation process from boxes to reptile is fabulous though and I love their poses with the creature! 



Not quite ferocious enough, eh? 

Check out our other arts and crafts here

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

If Only I CAN Draw

Sometimes I look at my boys' drawings with much envy. 

Since young, I have never been able to draw. Neither can my siblings. I dreaded all my art lessons in schools, especially anything involving drawing. On hindsight, I wish I paid more attention during my art classes. If only I had embraced the challenges with as much enthusiasm as I did with other subjects.

I often wonder if my siblings and I were given more opportunities when we were preschoolers, how different would we turn out, especially in this area. Perhaps one of us had a hidden talent artistically or musically but remained hidden. Maybe.... oh well... 

Marcus churned these out recently, amongst his hundreds of drawings in a week. I couldn't stop smiling whenever I look at them.

All models of submarines. Clearly, it is a still a HOT topic as I mentioned recently.

A welcoming gift for grannies. He called these 'brain-wrecking' mazes for them to figure out upon arrivals. Haha! But if you look closely, they are TOO EASY. The boy has no experience creating mazes prior to these. But since that day, he has acquired some quick tips from grandpa and now is making fast progress.

His 3-min version of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. We LOVE it. But he HATED it. He cried when it was finished, damning it as RUBBISH! :> 

Instead of words, he drew this to depict a weather forecast for Singapore.

Here is a pyramid with hieroglyphics and some machinery at work digging underground to build the Pharaoh's tomb.  


A robot inspired by the Wall.E film.


Saturday, June 5, 2010

Navy Open House 2010

Just a few weeks ago, my 5.5 years old told us he wanted to be the Captain of an aircraft carrier when he grew up.

The daddy informed him that there are no aircraft carriers in the Singapore Navy.

'How can I be a Captain of an aircraft carrier if there is not even ONE in the first place?' sulked the disappointed boy.

The daddy gently suggested that the boy take actions to make his dreams come true. At first, there was a little reluctance and uncertainties.

'Huh? How? What? etc' ... After lots of questions and a little research on the Internet, it was decided that the boy would write a letter to the Singapore Navy, addressed to the Chief of Singapore Navy.

And so he did.

The 5.5 years old sat down and wrote a very personal letter to the Rear Admiral Chew and even drew a cute little picture to accompany his letter.




We posted the letter in good faith and congratulated the little boy for his efforts and initiative. I remember joking that it would be so funny if we received a reply.

A few weeks later, we got this in our mailbox!! Totally unexpected!


With the letter came a big wall poster and tickets for the ship cruise and frigate tour at the Navy Open House 2010. We learnt later (at the event) that the public had to ballot for the privileged few tickets, so we were very delighted with ours.

On 23rd May, armed with hats, plenty of sunblock and ample energy, we headed to the Expo for the Navy Open House 2010. The mood for adventure was written all over my boys' faces, it was simply awesome!

Here are a few photos to remember the outing by...

All comfortably seated on board the minesweeper during the ship cruise.

Of course like EVERYONE else, we had to have a photo of them in front of a ship, whether they liked it or not! :P It seems silly now, but I am sure we will cherish such photos in future when my boys are grown up!
Pretending to shoot down some airplanes!

One of Marcus' favourite vessels that day. He kept hurrying us to go home so that he could draw it on paper. Once he reached home, he drew it from memory straightaway.

We had to coax them to pose for us. They were tired and hungry by then. So the reluctance showed on the faces.



The ship cruise was a fantastic experience for them - to have their cheeks caressed by the sea breeze and ears blasted by the howling of the wind while they admired ocean-liners and other marine vessels as far as their eyes could see.

The boys were totally knackered after the few hours in the torturous heat. So we decided to skip the Frigate tour and had a quick bite (of really crappy food at the Show) instead to refuel before heading for the exit.

Though there was still so much more that we could have checked out if we had stayed a little longer, I am glad that we made it to the event. A small adventure is better than none. After all, how often would little boys get to sail with a minesweeper and see a submarine up close!

It is indeed a nice addition to their childhood memory.


Friday, June 4, 2010

Acts of Love

I was once told 'I will do anything to make you laugh'. 

The words made me smile. That thought warms my heart. The memory is nothing but precious.

Like most people, I have my fair share of falling-in-love and breaking-my-heart. And I don't regret any part of it. Life is a learning journey and every experience is enriching and adds uniqueness to my journey. I have been very blessed and I want to always count my blessings.

Here's another random thought I had just the other day.... 

I don't need glorious declarations of love or expensive presents or flowers. The acts of love that mean the world to me cost nothing! Truth be told, above everything else, I value hand-holding the most. Simple as it may seem, it isn't easy to accomplish. 

Hmm... the undeniable level of intimacy and connections when fingers are laced and palms caressed. 

A couple that holds hands is a couple in love. 

Period. 


Thursday, June 3, 2010

All Smiles


It is hard not to fall in love with these faces ALL over again every day.

Each day, I find myself telling them 'I love you' a million times. I am sure one day, they will probably tell me 'Mama, stop telling us! We already know. You are so naggy!' 

At a field trip to the zoo recently. I can't believe how chubby he looks in these photos.


That sense of satisfaction on his face can't be mistaken. It is a tough IQ test and my boy figured it out in one sitting. 

Little Chip's Mickey mouse creation with his snacks.

Another way to play with a giant dump truck - ride in it!  


Ahh! Children are such blessings. They deserve only the best! 

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