Mum's Inventions

It was not difficult at all, ideas came about due to boredom, and lots of recyclable materials, like packet milk and bottle caps, boxes of cereals and some straws.

I started to notice that Nathan is fond of bottle caps. He managed to screw and unscrew them from the bottles, and other containers, then I thought, how about making a ‘piggy bank’? So I used an used tea box, cut a circle, and have him put the caps through the hole. He succeed without any difficulty, and soon grew to love this new game.

I moved on to making a smaller hole using colgate box, I wanted something longer so he could put straws in. I cut the straws up into three parts, so its more manageable for his little hands. And again, he did it, and had fun.

The cool thing about this age is, once they get acquainted with a game, it tends to occupy him for a good amount of time. I should start recycling more things now in view of the limitless activities you can use them for.

Smiles At Swing

http://picasaweb.google.com/carisbay/SmilesAtSwing

Nathan loves going on the swing. You can see it for yourself, all the smiles while he was on the swing - my boy, the wind in his face, mummie pushing him, and making funny noises, he absolutely adores it. I enjoy bringing him to the playground, though we can't go very often these days as the weather is fast turning cold earlier everyday. The best time to get out of the house is at noon, but that's also nathan's nap time, so i usually only bring him out after his nap about 2. Today's a great day to be out in the sun, but it is still very cold.

Nathan @ 18 months

Nathan turned 18 months this month. What has changed? Today at Sunday service play group, he got into a lot of trouble pulling people’s hair, scratching faces and hitting heads, got a few parents upset with his violent behaviour.

He picked up some new skills, like stacking according to sizes, finally, throwing balls in a given direction, do fly kiss. What surprised me was picking up a book I ordered. He got it right quite a couple of times. I would say, ‘ Nathan, bring mummie ________ (title of book), and he would go to the shelf and picked the correct one up. I don’t know how he recognised it, but he just did it. I’m definitely looking forward to discovering more about him everyday. This phase is not to be missed.

How a day turns out

Does it matter which side of the bed you got up from? Not really, it's all in the mind. The choice to decide if you're going to have a gd day or bad.

I made that choice this morning - to be happy. For most of my other days, I depend alot on how I feel that morning to decide my fate for the rest of the day, which is not wise at all. The people around you could change it for you, make it worse, or better, but it is still up to oneself, to wallow in misery, or stand up against all odds.

I used to rely on how Nathan feels sometimes. When he behaves well, makes my day, or otherwise, I would be sad and miserable, ringing LC up to complain and pleaded for him to come home quick. I'm getting better now, much better, to overcome that hurdle of dependency on my little boy to decide my happiness for the day, I choose Jesus, my souverign source of JOY, no matter what happens.

Today went really well. Nothing extraordinary happened. Not becos I've mastered Facebook, or becos Nathan had a longer afternoon nap, or if the weather was extra cooling and nice, I mean all these things do help to make the day merrier, but most impt of all, I started it with God, read his word, did my devotion, and committed my day to the Lord.

How important it is to start the day with God, shows your priority, what and who is the most impt to you. If I got on with housework or some other chore, I wouldn't have had a better day than sitting down at Jesus's feet, and feast on his bread, his eternal dose of refreshment.

Rainy Monday

It was 3rd Sept, Teachers' day holiday, so incl my mum, she was on leave. She came to my place early this morning.

It started raining early.Carol came to visit us too. We took a cab to Thomson, hoping to eat some HK tim sum, but to our disappointment, it was closed on Mondays, as predicted by my mum, as do some hawkers who have their rest days on Mondays. We had noodles next door instead.

Went home, hoping to put Nathan to his second nap, then Carol and I could head to J8 for some tea and chatters. Both of us took a stroll from home to J8, just when we put our first step in the shopping mall, my mum rang me up saying that Nat was cryin uncontrollably. Oh shoot, we hailed a cab to take us home immediately. And when we reached the lift lobby, we saw a very tired boy sleeping on my mum. What a wasted trip I thought, but taking Carol's advice, we stayed home anyway, in case the boy would wake up and look for mummie and started wailing all over again.

We sat at the dining and chatted. It was always nice talking to old friends. We were truly transparent, nothing to hide, no big secrets to keep from each other, just sit and talk openly. Itruly missed this kind of fellowship. I had alot more of such during school days, esp after exams, when the brains were nearly half baked, we relieved ourselves by talking non stopped for hour. Somewhat over the yrs, we got busy with life, work and husbands, and now, children, we lost that precious kind of comunication.

Still, if one is willing to make the effort, we can make it come true. I had a wonderful day, although it was pouring cats and dogs, no nice cake or coffee to take us through our afternoons, we had a good time, enjoying the breeze from the rain, and talked.

Farewell with some old friends

http://picasaweb.google.com/mrsglam

Tuesday night, 28th August.

Some old friends came to our place for a pot luck farewell dinner. Grace prepared curry chicken using Prima premix, it tasted excellent, we almost drank up the entire pot of curry, and of course, no chicken pieces left over. Andrea asked her maid to fry bee hoon,she brought a really large pot, could have easily fed a class of pupils, haha, but also tasted yummy, loved the pork rib streaded meat in there ... and I fried some veg, and 'fake' breaded scallops.

Oh, the best part, Tina and Jim suprised us with a chococlate cake, with really nice engravings, I mean, simple but nice, "God bless your Family." Indeed, we need alot of that as we depart from home and head to a brand new place, far far away from the familiar.

As usual, we chatted about almost everything, talked about everyone, some nice old friends whom we missed that night, like Roger, who had to work, and some not so nice old friends we had before.

When the evening meeting came to a close, our dear friends surrounded us and prayed for us. Brought me back to all the good old days when we often did that in church in the days of our youth. They prayed for our safety, health, new friends that we would meet, and the fondest of all, a great time of intimacy with God, and with one another.

As much as we look forward to an exciting year ahead in Cambridge, we are starting to miss home already, our mums and dad, our friends. No matter how efficient technology might guarantee us, the closeness will never be dearer than being with with one another.

Play time

Nathan's at a really fun age now. He loves to play. The best part, he's learning new language, following instructions during play.

So we started playing games, like hide-and-seek. I would run nosily and repeat his name over and over untill he finds me. Whenever he approaches, he slows down and peeks, and gives a scream when he finds me, sometimes, he gets startled too, surprised by my 'wow'. This gamecan go on for a while untill mummie gets tired from running and hiding. He doesn't know how to hide yet. It'll be even tougher when he does that... when i need to find him.

And we like to play 'put your thing on my head'. We usually use the plastic coloured ring to do this. I would try balancing one on his head, he would take it out, then put it on mine, then himself. of course, he's yet to master that balancing act. But we always have lots of fun just passing the ring from one head to another.

Games are simple, yet really fun, and a great way to past time. Besides feeding and sleeping, at least we have one more thing to look forward to now, playing. He can play by himself too. He walks to his usualy corner where his books lie, take out one at a time to flip the pages. He can do that for a while. Sometimes he still gets the book upside down.

Last night, Chong and I were watching Oceans 12 on TV, and Nathan was keeping himself occupied the whole time, messing with tissue paper from the box, then with a little plastic cup and cover. This little explorere, you really don't know what he's thinking about during play, if he smiles, he's having fun, and to me, that's the most important thing.

Out and About in the Neighbourhood

Each new day, nathan looks forward to going out and getting down. Once I carried him to the6th fl, he would want to get down on his feet to walk. I would play 'chase', he would run after me and walk right into the lift.

Once we get downstairs, he usually stands around and gaze for a moment, as if wondering where his adventure might begin that day. Most of the time, he heads straight to where the sun would be shining, not under the block of course, either at the badminton court, or unfortunately, the car park, on good days, not a crowded one.

He likes to climb stairs too. Not that he is capable of walking up by himself, he would hold on to me for help. When mummy refuses, he is determined, he would go down on his fours to do it, upwards, no problem at all,but when he turns around and wants to get down, I had to go to his rescue, which he delightfully appreciates.

A boy,he is, very active nature, quite adventurous. I even saw him chase after a rather huge dog which I dare take a step nearer, and strangely, that dog ran away from him, my boy.

My dad often comments, if only he has a play mate, well, not yet, but we certainly hope in time to come, just not now.

Self Feeding

I started teaching Nathan to use spoon and put food in his mouth. Read a bk which enouraged me to do it now before he starts rejecting this very tedious task. So, while he hasn't got quite lazy with food being served for him each meal, he should work at it himself.

I started with hardier food stuff like pear. I slide it in cubes, helped him scoop it onto his spoon, then direct it to his mouth. He could cup it with his mouth pretty well, and in slide the pear. He knows he's accomplishing a new task, and looks proud of himself, indeed.

Nathan@16months

In 2 days'time, Nathan would be 16mth old. So, why wait, blog while I ve the time, and he's pretty occupied with Sesame str on TV from 9-10 every morning.

Nathan's been waking very early everyday, at 700, some days, even before Chong's alarm clock rings. And that's frustrating, esp on rainy and cold mornings, when you wish to snooze longer and lie around on bed, this little otod just won't take 'no' for an answer, he wants mum to get up and make his milk.

The past month has been high on medical bills, He started coughing 24th July, and after seeing 3 pd, he's stil coughing bad, lots of phlem, watery eyes and nose. Mean time asking around for reco for CH doc instead, really want him to recover before he faces the cold in England in less than 3 wks time.

Nathan's a darling too. He loves to kiss, with loud sound, mind you. Usually, we would have him wave his goodbye, then fly his kisses, granny loves that very much, Imsure.

Granda brought us to TPY central for lunch andstroll. Nathan loved to watch the flags flying in the sky. He would stand very still and watch for a good minute, fantazie by its movements. Some aunties and passer by would stop and look at him too, commenting he's so cute, yes they're right, haha.

Granda bought him a pair of new sandals, easy to put on and take off. It gives out a twit twit sound too, how adorable. he loves to step on it real hard to make that sound when he walks.

Has he said any word yet, nope, just lotsa of noise, the usual ones, but he definitely understands more things now, like being scolded, what's permitted and what's out of bounds, and he chooses to obey sometimes, and others, not quite a good boy. We pretty much let him be still, considering his young age, don't intend to spank yet, but we'll see, prefer reasoning to brutality.

May God give us wisdom in this matter.

Pictures with Beth

Farewell Lunch with Pagon

The day before, Pagon and I met at Bishan park with our kids for a morning play.

And Beth left one side of her shoe in the car. We met again on Sunday for lunch to return the princess her shoe, and bid farewell to each other.

Here's some shots from the meeting.

Botanic Gardens

Nathan woke up very early as usual, the weather looked perfect for a day out in the sun. Shortly after Chong left for work, I rang Eileen up, she agreed to go Botanic with us!

She took a cab and picked us up about 9.30am, then off we went...

We found a shady spot, laid down the poncho, and off Nathan went, roaming about on his own, initially constraint to the grass patch, but shortly after, he found more interesting grounds - the roads and drains. Mummie went in time to catch him back.

Sometimes, Nathan still loves to go on fours, even outdoors. He loves to explore what it feels like with his hands and fingers. He crawled on the grass patch for a while too, messing with muddy ground, leaves, twigs, and ants too. I just got to let him go for it, regardless how dirty I thought. Clean him after will do ....

We went to Taka to have lunch, then tea at Coffee club. It was fun hanging out with a friend and her 4mth old baby too. Quite a lot of fun today.

Bishan Park Outing

Last Saturday, we met with pagon and Beth, her daughter at Bishan park. It was a beautiful sunny and windy day, lovely for the kids to be outdoors getting some vitE.

My mum stayed over the night before, so she was with us to help baby sit too. Nathan loves the swing. It looks like a huge bucket where the child could sit and swing in it safely. Since it was Beth's first try on it, she was apprehensive.

Nathan loves sand play too. He's definitely better at walking now. He managed to balance himself walking on the sand that day. Quite a sight. He would also go on fours once in a while, dig his hands and feet in the sand. He does looked very rugged indeed.

Been enjoyable just watching them play, not together though, both in a world of their own.

Clapping hands

Wow, imagine my joy the day Nathan could clap his hands when asked! It was sometime last wk.

I thought I should start teaching him more tricks, cos it always warm my heart to see him learn and catch on something new. He looked absolutely adorable when he claps his hands. And when he does it, he does it a good many time. I don't like my mum, whenever I tell her something I thought exciting for Nathan, she always gives a negative comment, like ' Others could clap their hands at 6mths!' Makes me not want to share anything with her altogether, also reminds me that I should never do that next time, should always remain excited and thrilled about each new discovery, be it the first child or the second or the third.

Since 2 Mondays ago, Nathan never got really well. His nose has stopped dripping after 2 wks, exzema's healing fast too, but today, he ran a fever - 37.5. I felt his body warm and head turning hot at every hour, appetite dropped significantly, and very inactive, cling on to me the entire day, I knew immediately my boy's unwell. When he has fever, it's the toughest for me, coughs and flu don't seem to take as much from him compared to fever.

Poor boy, hope he gain back his health soon.

First Brush

I was thinking about this for a while, finally settled on buying this toothpaste that comes with a finger brush, with milk enzymes, and apple and banana flavour (REAL), and safe to swallow, flouride free, and guess how much it costs??

$21.70 from Carefour.

We only realized the costly baby toothpaste after purchase when we checked the receipt. LC asked me what I bought, there were so few items and yet costs more than expected, so, it was the toothpaste, eh?? OOps ....

That night, I tried it on Nathan. Smeared some paste on the brush, stood him in front of the mirror, and wen brush brush. Of course, I faced some strong resistant initially, but when he got to taste the flavour, he kind of liked it, good grief, else LC would b screaming at yet another wasted expenditure.

Second night, I did the same thing, a brush before bed time, after last milk feed, this time, he took it even better, allowed me to go all over his gums, and in and out of teeth, good boy. Well, perhaps that explains the price we paid for it, hmm, consolation??

Still, too high a price, is it? Every brush's a dollar down his throat.

Lunch at Grace's place

Today' s an unusual day.

Whenever we get to go out, esp meeting friends for lunch or tea, it will be fresher than staying at home. I'm not sure which is better or preferred for Nathan, he seems quite the same either. One thing out is, he won't get his nap right. The moment I carried him down to the car and buckled him, he fell asleep, all the way home, and on his bed, slept another hr, oh boy, he must be beat all the time we were at Grace's place.

It was a nice afternoon. We spent much of the time entertaining and being entertained by the three kids- Sara and Nathan, the two tods, and even 9mths old Aidan, though not moving much at all, he just kicks about, makes some noises in his pram, sitting down playing with a truck, he makes us smile big time too. How lovely the watch kids, " let the little children come to me, " Yes, Lord, I understand why.

Grace prepared chicken rice, soup and veg. What a sumptuous meal. How time has changed. We grew up in Sunday school together, continued at teenagers, now we're married, some with kids! And we go to one another's house to eat and chat, something we couldn't have done earlier.

We talked about our kids, how nice to see them grow up together, just like us! But a pity, we're not in the same church anymore, if only. Well, God will put us together somehow, that's what friendship is about, not just where you are, but who you are that makes us friends for alife time.

Nathan's sick

I knew my cough was contagious. Even bought a packet of cloth masks, but didn't keep to it. Being the sole caregiver, how am I to refrain from close contact? He kept wanting to pull that mask off my face, and needed my hugs and kisses, which I so willingly lavished on him before, but when I'm down, boy's not happy too.

So, he fell sick. Tuesday ago, brought him to Mt A to see T.T Gave him 3 types of medicince, since mummy has no immunity against the virus, it was going to hit the tod even harder, he said. Yes, it did hit him hard. Third day, he broke out in rash. Started on his face, then, his hands, and back and a second week, his legs too.

Thankfully, he's still an active boy, pretty much his usual self, except occasional coughs and his nose a running tap... the rash didn't affect him a bit, not itchy at all, but it pains me to see and feel his rough red skin.

Taken off his medication, let him find the rest himself, his appetite is back too, no fever, so one less cause of worry.

I hope this is it.

Weaned

Three Mondays ago, I fell sick. For the longest time, I didn'tneed to visit the doc. But I finally did.

In the morning, my sis in law came over to help baby sit, I felt so terrible, high fever and coughing. Managed to see the doc and took the medicine. Nathan was well behaved. My dad came over too.

In the afternoon, my fever shot up to 38.9. I was terrified. Rang up my dad to help baby sit Nathan cos I needed to sleep and rest. Dad came in no time at all. He was the only available person around to help. Chong didn't even pick up his phone, and my mom couldn't take last min leave.

By night time, I was feeling better but still running fever. Thought with all the medication, I would take the oportunity to wean my boy. He didn't really look for it (the breasts), he was well fed at dinner time, and milk feed before he slept. One day gone by.

No engorgement. Prob cos my system's down and not much milk supply anyway. One wk passed, and the second week too. He woke up mid night a couple of days looking for milk, but after a few mins crying, he went back to sleep. Easier than I thought.

Nathan@15mths

Nathan is exactly15mths old today. And what a day to have to visit the doctor!

I brought him to the chinese medical yesterday to pick up some herbs for myself, and got a brown powder mixture for him too, but apparently, didnt work well for him. Both of us were coughing so badly last night, sleep disturbed.

I woke up this morning, very determined to bring him to th doc at Mt A. Upon wakening, made an appt, and drove down. It was a wise decision. Though it was alaways quite nearly a hundred bucks each visit, somehow my heart is put at rest.

Poor boy, it's been harder to feed him the medicine. Used the stringe, but he would gurgle in his mouth and spit out the mixture, I wonder how much actually went in. How can I do this better? My darling, it's all my fault. Had a game of tennis with friends on Sat night, had someone else baby sit him, allowed him to walk barefooted round the court, it was an unusally cool night, I believed he must have caught the chill there. The usually strong boy couldn't fight that and gave in to the viral infection.

Thankfully, he's stil active, walking and crawling about, smiling, not eating very well though. And the fever hadn't struck him. That, I'm rather relived.

Nathan@14mth

It is way too overdue. As today, he's in fact 15mths. Nevertheless, I wish to jot down a few things he can do by age 14mth instead of recording them in the 15th.

Words clearly voiced:

ma, da, ah, ta, mum-mum (when he sees milk)

Instructions understood:

give me
kiss mummie (my favourite!)
wave bye bye
see/ look (follow the direction of finger)
shoes (walks to the shoe racks and look for his, usually before going out)
duckie (bath time toy)
Where's daddie, mummie,

Past weeks, i've been bringing him to the park for walks every evenings, yes, not a day gone by without visit to the park. Not that he would be screaming his heart out to get out there, but somehow, the timing's always right, the skies looked perfect to be there. He would want to get down from my arms, hand held on one side, usually the right hand, then we walked and walked, at least for half an hour or more. Time past quite quickly when you hang out with this little explorere, he keeps me busy. He would pick up a leaf, then walk over to the canal, bend over and drop the leaf in, watching it slide down the sides of the canal. Sometimes, into the drain.

He loves grass, big green fields, he would always 'drag' me into the bushes where he stepped on happily. I worry for insects, esp red ants, he's got tiny bites, but nothing to shout about.

I love bringing him to the park, looking at him walk and explore, seeing him enjoying himself, gazing at the fluttering leaves, and admiring the birds soaring in the open sky, all these make my heart glad.

What he likes to do:
His favourite toy is still the tow truck. He would wheel it everywhere he goes, experimenting with its wheels on the cushions, chairs, and even on me! Balls are his second best. Walking and kicking a ball with one of his feet makes him feel like a big man.

"Stand up"

The first time I witnessed for myself Nathan's ability to understand - "stand up"

Well, he would have been able to understand more things, but no evident proof as yet until few weeks ago when he was just starting to be keen on walking. I said, "stand up, Nathan", and immediately, he looked at me in the eyes, and did exactly what he was told. I was so happy, and impressed with that new found knowledge.

I've used 'no' many times, and sometimes, he seemed to know it and obeyed, but other times, either I didn't catch his attention, or he refused to comply. I just wasn't quite sure he knew 'no'. But now I know for sure, he knows!

And "come here" too. Sometimes I need to gesture, other times, he could take my voice as the instruction. Dad got a longer way to go, cos for now, he only listens to me. Dad's his nice playmate for now. Mum's the caregiver, and I guess, disciplinarian for now too.

Oh the nicest discovery, he called me 'ma' when I asked him to. Haha, wow.

Seeing him accomplish new milestones is always an exciting journey, and I think our journey has just started. A toddler is harder to handle, but the comforting truth is, it's getting more fun each day too.

Fall

I was just saying to myself the other day that it has been a while Nathan had an accident.

And there he was, yesterday evening, while I was so engrossed with my reading, he fell.

He was just practicing his usual walks, then he fell on his face, lips and gums got cut, cos he was sticking his finger in his mouth at the fall. Blood was dripping from his mouth. Oh, it was a horrid sight. When mum sees blood onher tod, she could faint. But God sustained me.

I hurriedly took a hankie, wet it, and stuff it in his mouth. I had to wash it a few times. He lost quit alot of blood.

I carried him, stroke his back, and prayed. Sang a song to him, and he slept, rather peacefully. He must have been exhausted. Probably nodding off while walking, and he fall occured.

Poor boy.

New milestone - from crawl to stand

Last weekend was fun.

Sat morning, Chong and I went for a parent seminar, left Nathan at home with granny for 3 hours. It was the second time Nat stayed home with granny. And it all turned out well.

But, unfortunately, he fell sick. He was feverish! Gave him a dose of paracedomol, and he was much better at night. The last time he was down, was at 10mths old, when he had runny nose and recovered all by himself, no medincine. But having fever is a different matter. Got to get it down.

Sat night, Nathan discovered by himself how he could stand up from crawling position. He slowly pushed his hands up and used his legs for support. We were so thrilled seeing him achieve this ability.

At his age, we're just looking forward to more things he can do. It is an exciting phase. At the same time, he's also absorbing plenty of other things, like language, moods, food likes and dislikes, TV cartoons, and on and on.

He's an attentive kid. Many friends have told us. When we're in a conversation, he would sit quietly and watch us, whatever he may seem to understand, he observes silently.

We also discoverd that he is a social bee too. Each sun, we would sit at the parent's corner where all the kids are too. Nathan always goes out to other children, but more often than not, he faces rejection. No one is bothered to play with this little tod, who can't even walk steadily yet. Poor soul, then mommie, would scoup him up and cuddle him to make him feel better. But, I do wonder if he understood 'rejection'. You never know.

Ignore, all the way

I've learnt the trick. Sometimes, I just had to perservere, to ignore his whinnings, all the way. But on these occasions, I make sure he's not hungry, sleepy or need a change, then he would give up, gets tired from sticking around you, and go play by himself.

Many times before, I've relented too quickly, not realizing that he could play by himself for longer periods. Once I've tried, I KNOW now, which is such a blessing, cos I could read and surf the longer. And with more training, I believe, he would know better too, 'that mummy needs time on her own, I'd better not disturb her now.'

We're still getting to know each other everyday.

An afternoon at Sentosa

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Past months, Chong has been working real hard... had to cancel a couple of his off days, and of course, on those occassions, I got mad. Imagine a stay home, looking forward to a day out with husband and son, all spoilt cos he had to return to office. Last Sunday, he was even called back to office for half a day! Well, perhaps for some mothers and wives, it is common for them that their spouses work this hard all year round, but for me, it is quite foreign to accomodate long working hours, up to this point in time.

We have been sending him to work every morning, becos our dear boy seems to want to greet daddie 'good morning', been waking up as early as 7 each morning, for two weeks now, not sparing our weekends!

Chong called me up, and told me the good news - that he has the afternoon off. I was delighted, really really happy, felt like I just received a wonderful present. So, this is how it feels when you haven't been able to spend much time together for a while.

Once I put down the phone, I was off packing. Mostly for Nathan, picked up his beach ball, trunks, towel, bucket for sand play...

Nathan surprised me with a good one hr nap. Perhaps he knew he had to conserve some energy for the afternoon.

We had lunch at Vivo city food court, Chong got changed and we drove to Sentosa. It was a beautiful day for outdoor. The rain has stopped and the sky was stil cloudy, sun hiding behind the clouds.

We parked the car at Palawan beach, the widest in Sentosa. There was alot of renovation work going on cos of the upcoming resorts. But, guess this is a good sign for developing cities like us.

Nathan was excited, he saw the sand and the sea, wanted to come down to feel it for himself. I hand held him, and going on barefoot, mom and son walked the shore while daddie was trying all he could to catch snap shots of us in the play. Seeing him stumble in the sand was a great delight. He absolutely loves sand play and had no fear of the open sea. But he always stayed close.

We didn't stay long, probably about an hour or so, had moven pic ice cream at a kiosk, quite a rip off, then left.

We were as adventurous as I hoped to be, I even brought along bath stuff for Nathan, but in the end, I didn't even have to wash him up, just dust the sand off him, thinking I could head home fora bath. Well, but that was enough for us - a day out, somewhere different, spending time together, enjoy God's creation. We did felt like we were in some resort in Thailand .... the beauty of the sand, sea and trees!

Reflections 1 - Parenting seminar

Shepherding a child's heart by Ted

Reflections

"The heart is a well spring of life", rightly said. Our actions, words and motivations all came about from the heart. Ted reminded us that we should not simply deal with the wrong behaviour, but examine the heart of the child - what resulted in that incorrect attitude or behaviour.

Behavioural tools are not ineffective altogether. We agreed that they are still useful, especially for younger children who have not been empowered reasoning skills, and who have limited capacity to communicate their desires and thoughts. Immediate correction of wrong behaviour is deem necessary for forgetful minds.But once they reach appropriate age of interaction, we should have heart to heart talks.

My take home for the day's seminar has got to do with God's word at the core. Ted taught us using the Bible - God's word to examine issues relating children. There are so many things God has to say about teaching and correcting children, relationships, and life matters. Are we interested to hear and know tha God has to say concerning us, or do we take matters in to our own hands?

I realized I know so little of the Bible, or perhaps, been so forgetful after all these years been a christian. I feel so inadequate and not equipped to use the word of God effectively, for myself now, and perhaps in the future, for Nathan! If I were to carry out parental counselling or discipline, how am I going to use the Bible to teach him if I am so unsure myself as to where I can find the right verseor passage to use?

I just know I got to start right now!! Find a devotional material and start memorizing verses again. Wait a minute, that's supposed to be my 2007 resolution anyway, what have I done so far - nothing. Oh dear God, please help.

Finally, the rod of correction.

Chong and I have talked about using a cane on Nathan many times, but have yet bought it. Chong said he's finally convinced he won't spare the rod - cos God's said it " Spare the rod, spoil the child.' not just a worldly view, mind you.

There are cautions about the rod, how we can misuse it, in our anger, or simply abuse the child with it. It has to be taken at measure, timely, purposefully, lovingly, and thoughtfully. How tough it is to lift the cane on th child, considering all these .... but failing which, it'snot the end of parenting, God is gracious.

Discussions with other like-minded parents at the seminar was insightful. Those in our group have more years of experience with older kids. As they shared about their challenges over the yrs, in my heart, I was praying, dear God, help us to be godly parents, cos we can never achieve the standards you set for us, but by your mercy and grace, bring up our child to know you, glorify you and enjoy you. True, there can be countless numbers of goals we can set for our child, but we should be focused on just one thing, what it mean to live under God's rule, everything else that we do should be subsumed in it.

Red Meat - Beef

I decided to try feeding Nathan with a new meat instead of his usual fish dishes - beef.

Bought 100g of topside minced from NTUC, separated over 2 days. After two dinners, he seemed to take it well. The only thing is, I haven't seen his poo yet, so I'm not sure how well his system is digesting the food. Plus, he smells of beef the whole night, like how he used to smell of fish after a fishy meal, but only for a couple of days. I reckon that it's probably like this for babies. When a new food is introduced, they take a while to recognise it, and everything goes well in there, he is gamed for trying more new things.

It's not that I'm not happy with hs growth, in fact, we're both contented with our chubby tod. I've read enough to be convinced that he should taste more meat, rather than sticking with the mashed veggies and fish. Meat has a rougher texture which he needs to get used to. It will prepare him better for table food in future.

New findings - food

During the june hols, I met up with some friends, well, most of them teachers. And each time we meet with mummies, we talk about our kids, how they are growing, and naturally, what have they been eating.

A new discovery - Tiger food jar.

Apparently, this food jar contains heat so well, it cooks uncooked grains in an hour. Simply pour 2 tablespoon of grains, and hot boiling water into the jar, let soak for an hour, and wala, food all ready to be served to your tod. Funny, I haven't tried it myself, but talked as if I've done it a zillion times. That's what happens to you when you are 100 per cent convinced by a trusted friend. I'm definitely going to try it soon, but haven't got the need yet.

Food - Si sen brown rice powder.

I've been having trouble cooking brown rice quickly enough for my hungry tod. Heard from a friend about brown rice in powder form, so gave it a try. First time Nathan took it, not bad, no complains. Certainly helps when you're rushing for time and wants him fed quick.

New bedtime - 9p.m.

This week, to our pleasant surprise, Nathan started knocking out by 9p.m. each night.

The usual night activity goes like this - Chong would return home at 8p.m, get himself changed, then I would fry the veggies and get dinner ready. We would finish dinner by 8.30. Chong bathed, followed by me, then Nathan.

After his milk feed, he would be asleep. I wonder how I would ever be able to help him sleep without a bottle ... one step at a time.

Each night this week, Chong's been saying,'It's still early for bed time, for us.' But when mummy finds herself lying on the bed, who cares about bed time, boy sleeps, mummy rests too. And daddie, follows after. He shouldn't be complaining about too much rest.

Last night, the usual took place, but instead of falling to sleep, we were chatting in the living room, about the boy. I was relating the day's events to him, about how Nathan was happily playing with sand and the swing, we just laughed and smiled when we thought of him and talked about him. Boy, does he bring joy to our lives, yes, ever since.

What's up with my big toe, boy?

Nathan has recently developed a new obsession - my big toe!

He would find every opportunity to get near it, and is possible, bend his head down to suck it, of course, he managed once or twice, but most of the time, I was able to stop him in time.

He's a cute little boy. Well, it is indeed quite weird, this hobby of his. Whenever he was stopped, he would grin at me shyly, as if knowing he had done something annoying. I don't scold him for it, I just shrill in wonder, 'Why, boy?'

He does the same to dad too. Strangely, he hasn't tried on strangers, thankfully. He has gotten near enough, to their feet, and I pulled him back before he gave a second thought about lowering his head.

With toddlers, it is amazing how many times they can surprise you with - endless.

A morning with sand and grass

Mums and babes group met at Bishan park this morning at 9.30am. We didn't meet right next to our block, so I had to drive a distant away to blk 252 where the children playground is located. There's a child swing there, some rocking horses, and lots of sand.

It was nice windy morning. We found shade under a large tree. Ocassionally, we were welcomed by breeze, but much of the time, it washumid hot. The children seemed to enjoy their play, the mums were the ones complaining about the weather, well, as if we had no better experience.

Nathan was barefoot on the ground. He walked all over the place, felt the sand in his toes, hands and alittle on his face too. He nearly went on fours feeling the sand all over his body, but mama did not allow. I was so unprepared, no wipes, no wet towels to clean off his sandy hands. Fortunately, he didn't get them into his mouth.

He looked absolutely adorable on the child swing. I gave him small pushes and sang him a swee lullaby. The sun was way too hot for him to enjoy the ride.

There was another girl, 4mths older who couldn't stop whinning and fussing about the sand and grass, kept wanting the mum to be carried. There I was, a contented mum of a brave tod, wandering and exploring the new found place, if only he could walk on his own, he would be in a world of his own, need not pull mummy along.

I was beat by the end of the 2 hour outdoor. Had small chats with the mums, asked about discipline, boy, do they have more horrifying stories to tell of their rebels, mine seemed mediocre all in an instant. Don't we have more to thank the Lord about than to compare and complain about that little mistakes our tods make?

Another fall from bed

Last night, we went out for dinner with some friends, and only reached about 10p.m. Nathan was beat. He had only half an hour nap for the entire day. So he knocked out shortly when we reached home. But careless me, I left him on our bed, and went to have my teeth brushed. Chong was out in the kitchen washing his milk bottles.

I had just finished when I heard a tug on the floor. There was my boy, face down, hands and legs spread wide. He wailed.

I didn't see his fall, so I was worried where he was hit. But he cried bad. When things like that happen, we parents could only pray. I shone some light on him, couldn't see any visible bruises, just lots of tears streaming down his little red cheeks. I hugged and stroke his back, comforted him as best I could.

In the next 10mins or so, he slept again, peacefully.

Boy's truck

We bought him a red tow truck when he was 10mths old at Toyrus, but he didn't fall in love with it untill past two weeks. He would pinch it with his fingers, and wheel it along wherever he goes - from the living, to the kitchen, to the bedroom, following mummy's track. He really surprises me sometimes, without even lifting his head to look where I was going, he could sense my movements, with his keen ears, I guess.

Nowadays, he's been crawling so fast, and rather silently too. He came me frights sometimes when I missed him.

Besides his regular feedings and nappings once a day, we go out most every other day. It's great to have the car to drive around, so much easier to bring him out. And he finally took the liking to the pram. I could shop around, and he would be contently sitting in there, until he needs a biscuit or drink.

But, there's just this much you can do in a city. Going for walks in parks can be hot. So we only do that in the evenings, and much of the time, we only end up at Bishan Park, which I think it's good enough an outing, where there are birds to watch, chasing dogs, trees, plants, flowers, other joggers, walkers, sounds of children, quite a pretty sight.

First time on bike

It was a rainy morning, slight drizzles after a heavy down pour overnight. The ground was wet. Still, I insisted on doing something special that morning. We did!

We drove to East Coast beach. Carried Nathan in Chong's arms, and holding my hand on the other, we sang our all time favourite beach song - We are at the beach, east coast beach, walking side by side, hold your hand in mine, we are at the beach, east coast beach.

Reliving our dating days is always fun and sweet. We did so many memorable things at the beach, well, all during the bright day light. In fact, we decided to officially 'date' here too! Came one dawn to catch a glimse of sun rise, Chong tried to stuff a soft toy in a balloon, took walks, jogged, roller bladed, wow, just one whole long list of things together!

To our surprise, the beach was rather isolated, considering the last wk end of the school hols, we wondered where else in Singapore a mega sale was drawing the crowd away from the shore. The weather was perfect, cloudy and windy, not a single drop of rain. We went to the bicycle kiosk. Rented two bikes. Nathan sat in a chair infront of me, Chong rode his own. It was cool! I must look like a proud mom, steadily riding along with my cute little tod, attracted some attention.

We should do this more often, I thought to myself.

An hour with Grandma

31 May, Thursday -Vesak Public Hol



Chong and I celebrated our 5th yr anniversary. We had lunch buffet at Traders Hotel. The food was so-so, international spread. But like Chong said, we are beyond the age to eat alot at one go, we are buffet 'wasters'. High tea would suit us better.



Anyway, the adventure came later. I called my mum and asked her to help babysit Nathan for an hour while we went for a PC show, wanted to get a lab top. And she agreed! She asked a friend along for an extra pair of hands.



Once we deposited the boy with her at Marina Sq shopping mall, we headed off to Suntec. It was such a terrible rush, walked as fast as we could, hand in hand, cutting through the crowds of people.

There were so many people at the fair. Everyone's here to get a better deal for something. We were toddlering between Toshiba and Acer, and finally decided on the second, just because we could get it on the spot, while the earlier, we had to wait another wk to be delivered to our home.

Within an hour and a half, we managed to see our son again. I was so anxious to see him - parent's anxiety, wondering how he coped without me! Guess what? He looked perfectly fine, as good as he can be. Boy, did I give him a great big hug when I saw him.

We should do this more often, we told each other. So long as mum is agreeable, watch show, shop, swim, whatever the activity, just time away from the tod for an hour or two. I think it does good to our relationship. Not let our lives revolve completely around him non stop.

Recover from Flu

Nathan was down with flu for two whole weeks. I was contemplating to visit the doc for the longest time. But since he had no fever, I decided to let him stay home, give him plenty of water, and rest as much as possible. He lost his appetite, but overall, he was as active as any other day.

And lo and behold, his flu just stopped altogether! I think that's a great way to test his immune and recovery. The next time the flu bug strikes, he would withstand it even better. Hmm, that's my boy!

Soon, he started eating again, and gained back his 11kg.

Our 5th yr anniversary

It wasn't our first time celebrating an event with Nathan. In fact, we had our 4th yr with him around last yr as well. Gosh, time flew by so quickly, I can't quite recall what exactly we did??

This yr is no different. Usually, we would have a nice meal together and write each other cards, mine made, and his, bought. This time, he actually wrote his ann note in a bday card instead?? Well, like every other yr, he would 'complain' that two important dates are too near, he can't think of enough words to say for each occasion. But, he always managed anyhow. That's my hubby.

On 1st June, e didn't get to go out cos his leave was cancelled and he had to stay in office. We didn't do anything particular, just had dinner. Was it at Marche? Oh no, short term memory loss, I can't recall now. Where did we go?? Lotsa of qn marks in this blog, haven't been blogging for a long time, lost track of words.

Anyway, every yr, our prayer would be the same as well, that we would love each other more, considering the other better than ourselves, be more patient, (esp now with Nathan, we would get rather short tempered easily), and trust God to lead our paths ahead.

Jab-MMR and Puemoccocal

June 3rd

We brought Nathan to a clinic at Dawson place to have his jabs done. Since there's a high chance we're be leaving for UK, we thought it better for him to be protected as much as possible, so we intend to rush it alittle.

The doc's a gp not a pd, guess he isn't very experienced with young tods. I had to hold him down with his hands clapsed tightly, while the doc and his assistant prepared the jabs. I'm quite certain I won't be returning to his clinic for his second dose of P jab. And I'm glad it's over for now untill August, 2 months later.

Later did we find out that medical bills are free in UK for students and accompanying spouse and child. How nice?

Independent steps

Nathan is able to take at least 5 independent steps now. Sometimes I like watching him try it on his own. He would let go of the furniture he's holding on to, turn around, stare real hard for a moment, then move his legs forward, always having his both hands halg raised in the air, for balance I guess, but he looks really adorable each time he does that, definitely worth a kodak video and shot, but you know, it's hard to catch him on the spot, and by the time the camera's ready, our dear boy is down on his fours crawling happily to other corners. So, I hope to note this down so that I will always remember how it all started.

We bought him another new pair of shoes, hoping that he would be able to walk in them better, no shoes seem to fit him well enough, cos he's got chubby feet, like his dad, well, that helps him to maintain his stability too, which is good at home, but not great for shopping pretty sandals. Now, he has 4 pairs of shoes, wow, that's a sum.

Stumbling

It's often fun to watch Nathan move from place to place, especially when he stumbles about. He's walking fine now, still with help, but only needing one hand hold. And he's cruising on his own too, holding on to furnitures, he could move from one end of the hall to the next!

Just yesterday, I saw him holding on to the wall and moving from left to right and then back. He's gaining confidence with each new try - walking on his own. I can't remember how he couldn't crawl forward and kept lying down, refusing to move and crawling backwards, and now, seeing him learn to walk. Soon, like many mums said, he would running, and I would have wished he was just lying on his belly. I don't think so, cos I would have him out to the park everyday for walks and runs the moment he's able to move independently!

Granny comes often these days to have dinner with us and help us baby sit. We went to the park yesterday evening, and brought little mickey down too - his tricycle. He enjoyed it! The wind in his face and the fluttering of the leaves. He loves looking up in the sky, I wonder what he;s admiring - the clouds? Or looking at angels smiling down at him?

Nathan@13Months

Nathan finally reached 11kg after stagnating since 10kg at 10mth. Now, he looks like one active lean tod, no longer as chubby as he looked when he was just a babe. But, many friends said he still has got his 'tunder' thighs, well, I won't complain.

Day by day, month by month passes, I can see that he's bahving rather different, testing our limits, noy taking 'no' as an answer and wants his ways ALL THE TIME. Sometimes we really needed to calm ourselves down and pray, pray for God's wisdom to discipline him and teach him correctly. We have heard many parents saying how they themselves have shown negative examples, thereby causing the ill behaviour of their child, and we certainly do not want that to happen to us.

So, we remind each other - not to shout at him or use our hands on him. Then how to make him know we're angry at his actions? CANE?? We haven't got one yet, perhaps soon. Spare the rod, spoil the child, NO WAY.

Having said this, there were many joyful and fun moments with this little tod. He laughs and smiles more easily these days, like being thrown in the air, and the one thing I love about him is - no stranger anxiety - anybody's fine, well, so long as he's not sleepy or angry, else only mummy can settle him.

Meal times' been a struggle too, which i try very much not to make an issue out of it. I have learnt my lesson, prepare lesser and give more regularly, instead of forcing him to eat a large portion for each main meal. That helps, make meal time shorter and easier, and hence, cleaner!! I really dislike washing up during and after his meals, so messy and sigh, my hands are getting rougher everyday. What to do, the choice of being a housewife.

Meal time troubles

I used to be able to say that I actually likes feeding Nathan, be it milk or solids, but since he turned one, things have become far more challenging, and I certainly do not look forward to meal times, sometimes I even drag it.

He has picked up a really bad habit of spitting his food out. He would keep the food in his mouth and then spit them all out. I try to convince myself that he's not being naughty, he's simply experimenting with his food and find out what his mouth can do. It is hard. He would spit it all out and dirty my whole shirt, floor and table, and he looks like one unrecognizable 'creature' with bits of food smeared everywhere.

Once I got so fed up, I rang LC immediately and asked him to buy a cane back home. I was really thinking of canning him if he pushes his limits too far. But I do wonder if I had the cane in the house then, would I really bare to lift it up on him. Dad consoled me to hold back my anger, give him another week if situation improves, and at the meantime, explore other alternatives.

From Babe to Tod

That's what made the 1yr old birthday celebration a great one, cos it promotes Nathan's status from a babe to a tod!

Well, when I bring him out in the pram, I still get the remark, 'baby' from passer by, especially when they have kids that are walking. Too bad for him, he's not on his feet yet, and so, still look like a little helpless boy.

We're still very happy with his progress. He eats and sleeps well, gaining weight at a much slower pace now though his appetite has increased. I try to give him chunkier food now, like tiny florets of brocoli mixed into his porridge and pieces of fish. This also means that cooking time has lengthen, and no more puree food. I read a bk that recommends giving kids pass 1 yr old 'chewable' food stuff so that he could work out his gums more rather than simply swallowing whole food down.

I'm also trying to let him self feed, to little success unfortunately. Maybe i started too late, cos he has developed the habit of throwing everything down to the floor, regardless of how nice looking his food may seem. I gave him cheerios, raisins, bite size carrots, he loves smashing them and throwing them about. Oh, what a terrible mess. Can I do without self feed altogether untill he's much older? I think I should hold back for alittle while more.

Nathan's pretty adventurous with walking lately. Holding on to furnitures and walking sideways. When dad's around, we would encourage him to walk from one to the other. He took his first 2 independent steps already. Well done, big boy.

Whenever I wheel him to the park and see how other tods stumble around, I couldn't help myself but give alittle laugh, wishing that I could chase him around soon.