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.