Good morning!

This was such a brilliant start to 5 Dec 2012. J was happy and in a hugging mood ;)

Happy New Year!

Hello, I haven't disappeared but my laptops are dead and so it has been a tragic end to 2012 in terms of technology... Anyway, I shall start to update on Nov/Dec period now!!!

 

Conversations with J (7)

P: 婆婆住哪里?
J: 住这里
P: 为什么住这里?
J: 看 Boy Boy!

Upon seeing the cane, he will
1) shout "DON'T WANT CANE!"
2) say "妈妈/爸爸, 不要打boy boy"
3) allow his palm and soles and/or bum to be hit

Me: (whispers) Who make Popo angry?
J: (whispers back) Who make Popo angry?
Me: (whispers again) Who make Popo angry?
J: (whispers back) Boy Boy!

On detecting that I'm angry with him,
J: 妈妈生气了
Me: Yes, mummy is angry
J: 妈妈不要生气
And then of cos I shall be slightly mollified.

A case of T2

Not Terminator 2 but maybe close since it feels as if terrible two has started before J turns 2 in Aug... I have been informed (or complaint) by his teachers that he beat/push his peers when the teachers are not looking.  While he is able to say that it is wrong to hit others, he hasn't been able to keep his promise :(

G says at least he's not bullied but it is not exactly an ideal situation either... hoping for things to become better as he outgrows this phase (fingers cross).

Conversations with J(5)

J holding his toy phone and pretends to call his 阿公,

J: 阿公没有听电话

P: 阿公在睡觉

J: Popo, message 阿公

*Stunned* He must have picked up the messaging bit from our daily speech.  Kids are simply amazing!

On another occasion,

Me: Popo is going home.

J: Popo 搭地铁回

J's speaking more so in sentences nowadays but there are still times when we can't understand him and it frustrates him!!! 

Astroboy at Science Centre!

As I promised myself to spend some time with J alone after his little bro's arrival, we went to the science centre.  J seems to be most fascinated with the array of exhibits though I am really not too sure how much he comprehended but it was a great outing! :)

Conversations with J (4)

J walks off holding a 'bag'
Popo: 你要去哪里？
J: 去 Kopitiam
P: 做什么？
J: 喝 Kopi
P: 和谁？
J: 和阿公！！


On another occassion,
P: 你的朋友在哪里？
J: 在中国

HUH??! Since when did my father bring him to coffeeshop opposite our place and he's never been to China!

Conversations with J (3)

Popo: 你拿 Mummy 的 bag 去哪里？
J: 去中国
Popo: 为什么？
J: 找阿公!

J's first sentence is...

Mummy, 拿 rabbit 给我!

Conversations with J (2)

J is rather talkative and he loves to imitate what others are saying... he is also able to articulate his name, G and my full names by now. He's also fond of listening to kids' songs and he even knows their titles and order by heart!

Some of the conversations that took place recently:

Me: 小星星 从那里来?

J: 这边来!

Me: 世上只有...

J: 妈妈好!!!

Me: Shall we brush your teeth?

J: DON'T WANT!!!!!! or NO NEED!!

Me: Then you want to see the doctor?

J: (whimpers) Don't want...

J: Papa, sit down (points to a spot specifically)/ stand + kick ball

G: Don't want

J: whimpers....

Me: say "Papa, please"

J: (quickly) Papa please

Upon hearing his little brother crying, J dashes off to his cot to check out the situation. Then he runs out to tell the confinement nanny "Auntie, 弟弟哭哭!"

Introducing Didi... who shall be named soon :D

Bringing us much joy since 9 Apr...

J is also excited at finally meeting his lil brother!

My recovery since op this time round is much faster...

I am so sleepy after feeding!

J is trying to touch his didi!

Preparing to go home...

Home Sweet Home!

Just before Didi's arrival...

1) date with G at Sandy Lam's concert (free front row seat tickets!) even though I don't understand the canto songs and G wasn't too sure who she is!

2) outing to Marina Barrage and MBLM with J

Conversations with J

This morning...

Me (while changing his heavy diapers of pee): Darling 臭臭!
J: Mummy 臭臭!!
I was temporarily loss for words...

Me (trying a different tack): Mummy 香香 :)
J: Boy Boy 香香!

----------

Over the phone sometime last week...

My mum: Call 'Mummy'
J: Mummy
Me: Are you a good boy?
J: 不是!!!

I suppose there's some truth in this :P

Bad and Good News

The bad news is that after 2 weeks of wheezing, flu and a week of fever, we realised J's down with bronchitis :(

What a frustrating experience for J! Clearly, during this period of time, he's not the most cheerful toddler around, has a severe loss of appetite and sleeps with much difficulty. This translates into lack for sleep and immense anxiety for us as well. Also, J has been vomitting due to coughing reflux after taking his milk and G has had to clean up the mess for a number of times, inclusive of bedsheets etc in the middle of the night :(

Well, the good news is that J's fever is mostly gone by now and the nebuliser seemed to have reduced his wheezing and coughing over the last 3 days... so far, J's school has been suspended and it will probably be restarted late this year.

The other good news is that didi's looking great for now (3 kg already!) and we are going to welcome him latest on 9 Apr (via C-section)! :D

J can say his name!

Today is another milestone in J's linguistic development. What a delightful thing to happen this morning :D

Even then, a mother never stops worrying. Over the last week and early this week, J has not been going to school due to his cold. After sending him back for 2 days, I discovered a spot near his mouth last night so he's staying at home for the time being as I fear for him being infected with HFMD. His little brother is also at risk so fingers crossed that I am overly pessimistic in this instance...

When I grow up 3

I want to be a soldier! ;P

J is playing with G's cap since he has reservist this morning... a pity the picture is too dark!

I am immensely proud of J especially today. After 2 weeks of starting school, he’s reached the milestone where I am able to leave him without any fuss at all. I am inclined to think that my pep talk with him may have helped since I reminded him many times while we got ready that he’s going to have fun in school after we breakfast, brush teeth, changed etc... and that his popo will be picking him up in a few hours’ time. Nevertheless, the process of adjustment was rather gradual since he could be blur initially and hence not experiencing separation anxiety plus school was still a novelty. Then he wise-up and began to cry whenever we drive near to school and had to part. Today, he managed to wave goodbye and followed his teacher with an understanding of what school’s all about. I hope he will continue to enjoy his time in school since he’s rather outgoing and sociable. Here’s his current look right now:




And here’s how we are helping him to overcome his ‘showering’ fear (at Birdz of Play in Jurong Bird Park):

Challenging transition

Sigh! J is finding it challenging to cope with school afterall. He's started to cry/whimper when I drop him off and even when he's being picked up. Worst of all is that he has developed a shower phobia after showering there (standing, not in a tub). Frankly, we are at a loss here beyond sending him to school for half a day for now...

Reaching milestones...

J is about to turn 18 months! He has quite a rich vocabulary by now (ranging from people, numbers, animals, modes of transport, fruits to furniture etc), is able to say words with 3 syllabus (BAH-NANA!) and can string together 'phrases' like mama-take, papa-carry.

Today is the first day of 'school' for him since it's time he learn to interact with other kids around his age on a more regular basis plus he's increasingly a handful to be looked after at home. Here's his sleepy look at 8 am:


It turned out to be a very good start (and fingers crossed that this will last) since he played with toys happily when we dropped him off. On the other hand, G seemed to suffer more of the separation anxiety since he took leave and was prepared to camp in school. But, he was sent packing off by the principal and basically was melancholic the entire day, thinking of J and how much he missed playing with him... Here's a shot of him having lunch:


In any case, any worries seemed unnecessary since J was rather contented (again with toys) when we went to pick him up and took some time to leave school! On the whole, he seemed to have adjusted somewhat though he appeared to have been 'starved' since he managed to eat an extra portion of porridge for dinner... This is definitely something that we will continue to monitor and here's hoping that J continue to enjoy 'school'! :D

... Hello Dragon!

This is J's second Lunar New Year but really the first one that J is able to enjoy, remember and best of all, say GONG XI! It is very funny to see him perk up and dance to the new year tunes from commercial jigs. J is also quite good at passing any angpows he receives to us since he doesn't quite understand the concept of money yet! While the past 2 days of 'pai nian' seemed to have tire him out (which is great for us since he sleeps more soundly), he has generally enjoyed the past 2 days of visiting and there are still a number of gatherings lined up :)

May the Dragon year be a joyous and prosperous one for one and all! GONG XI GONG XI!

Our Family Portrait (J guarding his red packet from us)

J in his 'long' (dinosaur = kong long) outfit and his 'kum'

J still holding tight to his 'kum'

... all the way to his grandma's place

... and my relatives'

Hm... so many goodies... what shall I eat?

At the Sentosa Flower Show... second year in a row with J