Monday, July 30, 2012

10.5 Months

Another 6 weeks or so and my baby Olivia will be celebrating her first birthday. Where has all the time gone?! So much about her to blog about, but sadly, I just couldn't find the time to do so more often.

Though I am not new to baby's development phases, I still can't help celebrating whenever she does something new. :)  Just can't resist jumping with joy and shrieking with excitement. Much to my boys' amusement. :P

Oh Olivia understands so much! I know, I always say that babies are born geniuses, but still... it excites me to no end to discover everyday, the big and small things that she understands.

Cutest thing she started doing recently - she nods!! When I ask her if she wants something, she seems to understand my 'yes?' and will nod. A few weeks ago, her nodding was just random. Recently, she started nodding to mean 'yes' and would shake her head to indicate 'no'. Just thinking of her doing this makes me smile.

She has also started baby signing. I began signing to her a few months ago, introducing only the few common ones that I used with the boys when they were infants. (I never bought any book or resource on this and had just depended on a few websites for some introductory signs, which was good enough for me.)

A few weeks ago, she started signing 'all done' whenever she was full up at meal times or when I said to her 'all done' after feeding her the last spoonful. This week, she started the 'milk' sign. The first time I saw her sign 'milk', I exclaimed. She laughed. She signed again. I exclaimed again. She let out a happy shriek. Signed 'milk' again and nodded vigorously. Hee hee.... I LOVE babies!

She has been waving for a few weeks now. Nowadays, she will wave happily when she hears us say 'bye-bye' or 'hi'. Whenever I return home from errands, she always waves and claps with mega smiles and would usually shout repeatedly to get my attention.

After showing her how to give a hi-five, she got it after a few tries and now, would always oblige with a giggle.

She calls me 'mama' and everyone else 'eh'. Haha.

Whenever she sees me eating, she mumbles 'mum mum' repeatedly until she gets her share. Hee hee..  Very strange though, since I have never taught her to say 'mum mum'. Not wanting to disappoint her, she has been snacking a lot with me, since I munch throughout the day. Her Organix baby snacks, a few Cheerios, banana or brown rice grains.

Though she has only two teeth, she has learnt to eat fairly chunky food and seems to prefer coarser textures to smooth purees. So I have been adding mashed up food to her thick homemade purees and ensuring that she gets different textured meals with wide variety of tastes everyday.

A sample of her meals:
Day 1:
Lunch - wholewheat pasta with carrot and tomato puree, served with cod (poached in whole milk)
Dinner - thick puree of brown rice with stir-fried pork, apple and spinach

Day 2:
Lunch - thick puree of millet with chicken, peas and pumpkin, served with mashed silken tofu
Dinner - thick puree of brown rice with stir-fried beef, broccoli, corn and portobello mushroom

Day 3:
Lunch -  Cheesy red lentils with mashed sweet potato
Dinner -  Steamed mixed wholegrains, served with cauliflower and tomato puree and mashed egg yolk.

She is a wonderful eater who eats every mouthful delightedly. Ok, 99.9% of the time. Besides water, which she sips from her sippy cup, usual plastic cup or spoon, her only other beverage is breast milk which she takes from the source.

Despite her good appetite, she weighs a petite 7.54 kg and stands 71 cm tall. So yes, she is fast losing every ounce of her previous chubbiness. Boo hoo!! I blame the (good) genes for her high metabolic rate. At least I know that she eats well and is achieving all her developmental milestones, so I am trying HARD to care less about this growth issue which has tormented me for a good part of the past 7 years because of the boys' feather-light weight. But like what a friend said recently in good humour, it is always better to be a petite missy than a sumo wrestler. :P

She understands some simple instructions and carries them out accurately. She will pass whatever she has in her hand to me when I say 'give mama'. When she hears 'come to mama', she crawls to me.

We have been playing 'peek-a-boo' games and recently I realized she understands the instruction to 'hide bunny' and possibly the concept of taking turns, though I am sure the latter is too advanced.  She would hide bunny right under a pillow or blanket, whichever is closer to her. And almost immediately after hiding bunny, she will retrieve it from the hiding place and give it to me, as if to say, it is my turn now.

When I ask if she wants to read books, or mention any of the usual book titles or just the word 'book', she will look around the room for a book. In our bedroom, I keep a stack by the window sill and she always looks in that direction when I mention 'books'. Her face never fails to light up when she hears me reciting lines from her favourite stories. She freezes and stares intently at my face and gestures whenever I sing her favourite rhymes. Yet another reminder of how rewarding it can be to spend quality time with babies. :)

Her attention span is good enough to last through 3 books now, from cover to cover. Sometimes, she will just quietly flip a book by herself for a good 5 min, examining the details and occasionally pointing at them. A few times, she was seen pretending to 'read' a book aloud, pointing at the illustrations at each page. Too adorable! But I have yet to be able to capture this on video. Must try again.

She moves swiftly from squatting to standing and back to squatting and has been seen repeatedly standing up in the middle of the room without support. She explores confidently, alternating between cruising and crawling. We are guessing that she will walk in under 2 months, most likely about the same time the boys took their first steps.

Now I need to find time to upload all the photos that we have taken of her in the last few months.




Friday, July 27, 2012

Softie

The boy sobbed. Big fat tears. Declared he was heart broken. So miserably sad. He wanted to die.

Why?

All because I threw away his mini tube of toothpaste.













A used tube. His first tube of Colgate.

It was thrown in the bin two nights ago. He retrieved it and left it on the bookshelf. Forgotten. It went down the chute today. Gone forever.

What's the big deal? We adults just didn't get it.

But he insisted to keep it forever, so he can remember his past.

Sigh.

Why keep junk? After explaining, cajoling, coaxing and nagging, I gave up.

I found him a plastic container to keep his 'treasures' and promised to find him another mini tube tomorrow. He was so touched.

'Thank you, mummy', he whispered and gave me a big hug. My sweet little boy.

There are many good lessons to teach him from this episode. And a few for me to learn from too.








Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Gross

Pick it.
Lick it.
Roll it.
Flick it.


Only boys would come up with something so gross. Big and small boys included.

We had the heartiest laughter as a family though.

They called this their Bxxxxx poem.     >.<





Dragons, Monsters and Beasts

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Drawn in July 2012
Chip started sketching these recently, after being inspired by what he saw in films.


Monday, July 23, 2012

Husband 1.0

A friend emailed this to me. Too good not to share. 

~~

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed that the new program began making unexpected changes to the accounting modules, limiting access to flower and jewelry applications that had operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.9 but installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0, NBA 3.0 and PremierLeague 7.2. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs and HouseCleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

Signed:

Desperate Wife

(keep reading)

- - - - -Reply Separator- - - - -

Dear Desperate Wife,

Keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an entertainment package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Try to enter the command: C:/I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME and install Tears 6.2. Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Guilty 3.0 and Flowers 7.0. But remember, overuse can cause damage, with Husband 1.0 defaulting to GrumpySilence 2.5, Happyhour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will create "Snoring Loudly" wave files.

Be especially cautious about the HotChik virus – it’s programmed to corrupt Husband 1.0 utterly (as well as all future Husband upgrades).

DO NOT install MotherInLaw 1.0 or reinstall another Boyfriend program. These are not supported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.

Consider buying additional software to improve performance. I personally recommend HotFood 3.0, Lingerie 5.3 and Keep-a-nice-body 10.1.

Good Luck,

Tech Support

Gesundheit Comic: The Big One and the Pig

Created in June 2012 by Chip in one sitting.


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Pages 1 and 2
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Pages 3 and 4
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I love these two pages, so here are the close-up shots. Of page 3.
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and close up of Page 4. Super cute!
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Pages 5 and 6  (with pull out tabs!! How awesome!)
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To be honest, I don't understand the story though I am sure he has a story line.  He drew the pages during his free time and I only saw them days after when he was in school. I took photos of them but kept forgetting to get him to explain them to me. Regardless, the drawings are just too cute to ignore. What a gem! We are going to keep these forever. Adding them to our treasure chest. :)




Friday, July 20, 2012

Web

An intricate web created by the boys after hours of play.


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Created with the flexible pieces from the Wammy set. 

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They claimed it was not to keep me from entering their room. 

Hmmm.... I was not convinced. 






Thursday, July 19, 2012

Grasshopper Gift

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Chippy made this as a gift for me one day. He was itching to make a craft and was walking around the house looking for scraps of papers or any 'rubbish' that he could recycle and play with. He eventually found a few thin strips that I had thrown into the wastepaper basket. Some twisting and cutting and glueing later, he emerged from the study with the sweetest smile and in a tiny voice, asked me if I would like to keep this grasshopper that he has made with love for me. Awww...

The five-year-old never ceases to amaze me.


Focus

Ideally, I only coach one boy at a time to get the max out of each kid. And I spend unlimited quality time with the infant to stimulate her growing brain, the way I had done with her brothers.

But in reality, it doesn't work out this way as often as I like.

Usually, it is a little time in the morning with Chip when O is happily playing, followed by time with O in the midday when boys are in school. By 3pm when M has finished his late lunch, it is a little time with M if O is still happy and/or play with O if she is too clingy. By the time Chip is showered after school and boys had their afternoon snack, it is rarely productive time for any structured learning activities.

The catch-up often happens on weekends.


I must tweak our routine again.



Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Power Lunch



Minestrone with wholewheat pasta, soya beans and veggie chunks.

Wholesome goodness made with love, which the boys have come to enjoy.




Monday, July 16, 2012

Siblings Without Rivlary


Being only two years apart, it is inevitable that the boys have their share of sibling rivalry. It is developmentally appropriate behaviour anyway.

I always try to look at those situations positively as opportunities for them to learn better behaviour and for me to teach them. Overall, they have learnt to play very well together, though there are still unavoidable episodes which result in much frustration and tears. 

At nearly 6 and 8 years old, they can be the best of friends in the afternoon and also each other's most annoying person on Earth by night fall. They call each other names and have shouting matches that usually last about for minutes until I enter the their room.

They also wrestle more now. Mostly friendly until one experiences pain and play may get a little out of control. Recently, a boy punched the other on the lips in retaliation to a rough knock. The result: a slightly swollen upper lip, a bruise on leg, an angry mum who withdrew some weekend benefits and a dad who shrugged with a remark 'that is what you get when you play rough'.

When they aren't fighting, be it just friendly play or not, they often collaborate. I love it when they put their minds together and work as a team towards the same goal, helping each other achieve something greater and bigger. 

I am not going to hide my disapproval of them spending precious time on the iPad playing Plants vs. Zombies but the one good thing that comes out of playing this game is they work as a team to achieve the bigger goal.

To have a brother to tell stories to and discuss ideas and plans with is so precious. It's even more so to be able to lie next to each other to tickle and giggle.

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In this photo: one early weekend morning. A bright and cheery Chip was the first to wake. As usual, he climbed into M's bed all ready to whisper the day's plans.

There are indeed many advantages of growing up together with a sibling. I hope they would cherish such childhood memories in future, just as I do of mine. Those years of sharing a room with my sister were some of my best childhood memories. 



Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The King of Comics

Have you heard of The Beano ?

This is the most recent addition to our growing comics collection. To someone like me who grew up reading Chinese comics, this so-called King of Comics is a complete stranger.


Ever since the grannies dropped a few copies of the retro-Beano on the boys' laps two months ago, the kids have pretty much plastered their faces to the pages of the Beano comics whenever they have some free time. And they do have plenty of leisure hours, which means whenever I glanced at the directions where the boys are, I see two Beano covers and two giggling bodies behind.

The cute fact is this: the few copies that grannies brought belonged to E and dated back to March 1998 when it cost only 45 pence a copy. How precious!

Now each copy cost thrice as much in London and a whopping $4.50 per issue in Singapore. I consider it a little pricey since it is a weekly issue, which means one can look at spending an average of $20 a month on this comic alone. E has started indulging the boys and buying the recent issues but I may discourage him a little, just so the boys don't come to expect it as an entitlement. Maybe we should consider borrowing it from the library. Just maybe.... (I know if he is reading this now, he will roll his eyes.)

I can see why the boys will enjoy the humour. They have been memorizing the jokes and riddles mentioned in the comic and quizzing us twenty times a day. Despite the repetitions, they still find the jokes hilarious, so I can also understand why the dad thinks it is money well-spent.

So it's your turn:
(1) what do you call a penguin in a desert?
(2) What do you call a pig that knows karate?
(3) What do you call an octopus with no arms? (scroll down for answers)

For brief moments, I even entertained thoughts of keeping those retro-Beano copies and a few new issues from the boys for another 3 decades so we can hand them down to my grandkids! Another addition to the 'legacy'. Haha!









(keep scrolling.....)











Answers: (1) Lost  (2) Pork Chop  (3) A bubble
Chip just corrected me..... the first two jokes are from Beano. The last one is from him. Hee hee... My funny pig.



Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Dirty Dozens

Now that Olivia is eating so much more at each meal and is showing interest to eat my food ALL the time, I plan to start her on three meals soon.

She is still on mostly organic produce, from whole grains to vegetables and fruits. Nearly everything she ate was home-cooked, except for the few boxes of Healthy Times iron-fortified cereals and the jar of Earth's Best baby food she had recently when we were out at Sentosa.

Going forward, I don't believe it is necessary to put her on pure organic produce anymore, as long as I avoid the Dirty Dozens as much as possible.

Recently I chanced upon a list of Clean 15.

Very interesting.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

It's Not Just About A, B, C

Starting Primary 1 is a big milestone, not just to the child, but for the mum too.

Chipsy will do so in a few months. It is a milestone that I both look forward to with pride and eagerness but also one that I dread.

To me, my boy donning the primary school uniform and attending the 'big school' is symbolic. My baby is no longer a little carefree kid whose sole 'job' is to play. He shall now have bigger responsibilities which is as much about learning all there is to learn, as honing the skills that will help him be more independent and grow as a person.

I am all for a holistic and well-rounded education and all the talk about character building etc.. but if my kids have to spend so much time in school, I will not downplay the importance of academic achievement.

So my boys know I do expect their best effort. I do my part too, in my ongoing effort to instill in them the right learning attitude and readiness for work.

A recent Straits Times article highlighted how some parents, preschools and enrichment centres are preparing children for Primary 1. No doubt there will be some overly zealous parents who over-prepare their tots, but I also know parents who want to shelter their kids from all the crazy competitiveness for as long as possible and not rob them of their childhood which they deem should be filled with nothing stressful and too academically-focused.

Two extremes. But I can understand. All parents want the best for their kids. The difference lies in what 'best' means to them.

Two issues came to mind as I read the article and pondered over Chipsy's readiness and what I am going to do with baby O.

1. Definition of 'happy childhood'. Who says childhood must be filled with only the fun things and nothing stressful and challenging should be introduced (supposedly because this will hurt the self-esteem and self-confidence and there is a lifetime to do that...)?  Yes, I have a lot to say to those who advocate 'let kids learn as little as they want because they are just kids... they have the rest of life ahead to learn/be stressed out.... '. Just because the grannies' and our generations spent our childhood watching TV, read comics and consumed uncontrolled amount of candies and chocolates, does not make that the 'gold standard' for childhood.

I like to think of childhood as a happy time filled with free expression, exploration and unstructured play. But it is also a time when the child discovers his passions and strengths as he celebrates early successes and identifies his weaknesses through the challenges and setbacks that he experiences, and to see himself undergo a transformation of growth and realizes that he can overcome his weaknesses. Through this realization, he shall derive the strength and develop the resilience that will see him through bigger setbacks in future.

2. Definition of what is 'too academic'. Again, this is so subjective and so much of it is up for trial and error. It helps, perhaps, when we have multiple kids since we can always test a 'standard' on the first kid and see if he thrives or flunks in school before adjusting the 'standard' for the younger ones. Haha. Just kidding.

Just because I spent my kindergarten days drawing butterflies and learning just the 26 letters of the alphabet (seriously!) doesn't make this the benchmark to aim for. Time has changed. It is a different world now.

Parents have to decide how much learning is good enough for their kids. Kids are the innocent parties here. They will choose to take the path of least resistance and opt for whatever that provides the maximum pleasure and instant gratification. The kid who will opt for more work and less play is the outlier. Since we parents are the ones deciding the way our kids should spend their childhood (be it all work or all play or somewhere in between), we should be there with them to face the consequences too.

The transition from preschools to primary school curriculum will be tough for kids with a weak foundation. If they ended up as the minority in class who can't grasp what's taught whereas their classmates breeze through the syllabus, their self-esteem and self-confidence surely must take a beating.

Whenever M tells me of a handful of his classmates who struggle at basic stuff, score 20/100 in tests and are constantly scolded by teachers, I feel sorry for these kids. Spending the rest of primary school years in tuition classes trying to catch-up with the rest of the cohort can hardly qualify as a great childhood anyway! And it is probably not their fault that their foundation is weak.

Learning doesn't only begin when kids are in nursery or after they have mastered reading. Learning takes place every day of a child's life, starting from infancy. It doesn't have to involve flash cards and iPAD or DVDs. Laying the foundation for literacy can actually take place way before a child utters her first word, for as long as we believe more in babies' abilities to learn effortlessly.

A child's first two years is such a precious period. With baby O, as I have done with the boys, my focus now is on pure input, with faith that the payback will materialize later.

Ages 3 to 4 is the time to reap the first part of the 'rewards'. If we lay the foundation right in the first two years, we will 'see' the results as early as the third and fourth years. Continuing with a minimum of an hour or two per week of structured, trans-disciplinary thematic learning activities  and the child's language, literacy and thinking skills etc will surely surpass the average kid's, provided of course the coaching method is effective in delivering the learning objectives.

By the time the child is 4 or 5, if he has acquired good learning habits and work ethic, he will be ready for accelerated learning which is likely to be fueled by his own desires as he sets about to satisfy his insatiable quest for knowledge.

I believe in a consistent approach in building up a strong foundation during pre-school years, when the child is relatively free since preschools rarely hand out much homework, if there is any to begin with. Slow and steady, when the child is little. An hour or two a week away from play can hardly constitute a loss of childhood, and is certainly a worthy price to pay to ensure the child is well-prepared for big school (without the need to attend any cram school at Kindergarten 2).

This is what I have been doing with Chip since he was 2 years old. So academically, he is definitely ready for big school, just as M was 2 years ago.

Now the fun has begun with my baby O, who will turn 10 months tomorrow. Other than the pile of board books which she has come to love, my 'materials' have not made appearance yet. But very soon, my baby will be acquainted with the entire stash of 'materials' lovingly developed over the years and I am sure, like her brothers, she will develop a deep and satisfying love for them.





Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Boys: You Just Can't Stop Them!

On any typical day, my boys will roll around together in one tiny bed, wrestle and squash, push and pull, poke and tumble, followed by lots of throwing of pillows and soft toys until the whole room resembles a war zone. They will giggle uncontrollably, completely forgetting about their napping baby sister next door until their super annoyed mum threatens some repercussions.

After a few moments of imposed peace, they will get on top of each other twisting as many body parts as possible, before the other breaks free to 'take revenge'. They pull each other's ears, tickle the other to death, alternating between laughter and shouting, followed by some more pushing, kicking and elbowing until one of them ended up crying.

That is when the super annoyed mum enters the 'scene' to deliver the 'lessons'.

Boys are boys. I know.

Just mention zombies, sorcerers, spells, fighting games, magic, swords, cannons, armour and weapons, and you would have gotten their full attention. They love nothing more than keeping you abreast of their latest inventions and strategies to defeat the most incredible villains in their latest fighting games. They never get tired of telling you more. And there is always more to tell.

And oh I must mention the mess. Big, big mess of the smallest things I can find. Heaps of the tinniest Lego pieces strewn all over the floor and their beds and on every table and chair. They don't seem to care one least bit. I can't tell you how much that gets on my nerves. Every Single Day.

But yet the things that make them laugh are the very things that bring me smiles too.

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They do have the wackiest humour and incredible originality. I must not forget.

By now, I should have gotten used to this whole aspect of raising boys but I can't say I have.

There is always the unmistakable energy and the accompanying noise that sometimes drive me crazy. Day in, day out, I find myself trying to stop them from doing certain things in certain ways. The boys' ways. But really, I should control myself more. They may be messy and noisy and playful, but they are mostly harmless.

What they need is a mum who is less of an adult but more of a kid herself. This, I must do better.







Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Rare Sunday


In the past year, most of our weekend outings would always involve a restaurant meal of some kind. Itineraries were planned around lunch or dinner and the final destination would be more quickly approved if there was good food around the area.

Truth be told, it has become harder to get the dad out of the house for extended hours of kids' play without accommodating his needs. I suppose everyone has his threshold for beach and playground visits, especially after a few kids.

So this was one of those rare outings that didn't involve checking out a restaurant.

The kids jumped out of bed when they realized they were going to the beach and everyone was fed and ready to leave home by 8am. A departure from our usual lazy Sundays.

I was determined to give the kids time to enjoy the sand, breeze and sun to their hearts' content, hence the dad had to be convinced to give the midday fancy lunch a miss.


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The baby's first visit to Sentosa and her first-ever sandy adventure!

She spent quite a while just watching the boys toiling away and checking out all passers-by. 


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After her long 'stroll' in the pram by the Palawan beach and many yawns later....  


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A little tumbling and fooling around with Papa on the mat .....


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Just before leaving for our late lunch, the final shot of the boys' Chasm of Death - a rather neat and impressive looking tunnel. They sure worked hard that morning. :> They even had a good story about  it, but I have forgotten most of it by the time we left the beach.

I was ready to crash when we got back at 4pm. The lucky boys (big and small) headed straight for their pillows after their hot showers.

Unfortunately for me, the baby didn't feel like napping anymore after her midday catnap in the pram. So I depended on plenty of caffeine to get me through the hot afternoon while listening to their not-so-quiet snoring.

But it was all worth it. 




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