My first big and thick book

A day out with daddy led S to chance upon this BIG and THICK book (with BIG font). In a matter of 4 days, he has finished reading the book! She read it in the car, during breakfast, before she slept and brought along the book wherever she went. I was amazed by her keen interest and more importantly the speed!

I’m praying that this love to read will continue for life… a skill that mommy lacks

Call it forth

There is power in our spoken word (or name being called). Her name means wisdom. And indeed we are seeing this being manifested every day, bit by bit.

Last night, in her usual nightly bargain-not-to-go-to-sleep talk, she asked why some of her friends don’t attend full-day school everyday?

S: “Why is Gabriella (her best friend in school) on half-day everyday? I want to be on half-day and not full-day…Her mommy picks her up everyday…”

Me: “Because Gabriella’s mommy doesn’t work.” (And I was prepared for her to ask me not to work and  be like Gabriella’s mom)

S:…. (pause) “Sometimes you also don’t work right. Sometimes we go holiday together right?” (with her eyes all lit up).

I was touched. Thanks babe. For understanding that mommy has to work. And I will spend every moment that I can with you when I’m not…

Happy Mothers' Day

 

What S thinks of me as a mom:-

I play with her - do I really? I always think that I don't play with her 'enough'.. so there is such a thing as quality time vs. quantity.

I cook - erm... not as often as my maid?!

I read stories - yes! no dispute!

My family

Daddy M found this in S school bag! We're not sure when she drew this but I believe this is her perception of "My family".
The big face is Sonia, two at the top are both daddy M and I. The bottom is her as a baby.



I can write!

S was very proud to show off that she could write her A, B, C!
I was excited when the vertical line for "B" was written , "Wow, that's a big B!" I said.

But, it turned out to be mini-B!


And this is her C (inverted).

When’s my baby coming?

Since the first time S saw Yvonne’s tummy (pregnant) a couple of months ago, she’s been asking me when is her baby coming!

“Issit coming tomorrow?”,

“No dear, not tomorrow, but it will come…”

Recently it’s getting more ‘rampant’.  “Mommy, your tummy is getting bigger like aunty Yvonne” (gasp). She started to share everything with her baby- saving her favourite raisins, biscuits, for her baby! She would look at the pram and say, “I will stand behind the pram to push my baby, she will sleep in the pram!”. Her face lit up every time she talked about the baby…

Last night she brought me to tears when she said her baby’s clothes are very small and I should get bigger ones because the baby will grow very fast…

Her faith is stronger than mine. It’s a timely reminder that we adults, should have faith like children. They say what they want to see. But we often say what we see…

Mommy can cook, daddy and granny can read

 My mom-in-law takes pleasure in reading to her grandchildren. Over the years, she has taught the nieces and nephews how to read, using her collection of the traditional Ladybird’s Peter and James series. S will be her new protégé soon, I think.

Reading is department that I'm lack in. Apart from the usual bedtime stories and monthly visits to the library, I have no grand plans in the pipeline to teach S the how-tos. Perhaps my MIL can take over!

Oh dear Lord, let S will take after daddy M's love for reading and my passion for cooking :)

Rainbow and God's promises

 Spotted: rainbow appearing in our home!

Last Saturday afternoon, S and I were playing at the car porch when we saw a stripe of RAINBOW, from the tiles of the pond to the grass. I was thrilled! How cool is it to have rainbow in your own yard? We started to jump on-and-off the rainbow, touching it, taking pictures, fearing that it might disappear soon. You don’t get to have a rainbow under your feet everyday! By the time we alerted the rest of the household, the rainbow was gone. It was a little miracle for me, a confirmation from God of His promises of good treasure for us...I hope the rainbow stayed in S’s heart, just like it did in mine.

“The Lord will open his good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to you in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed his commandments of the Lord your God…” (Deuteronomy 28:12-13)

The Never Land Pirates

I had not planned to dress S up for the school’s pirates party until the teacher reminded me to do so.

“Mommy, please make sure S comes in a pirate costume tomorrow, it will be fun”, I grimaced.

“No need to buy, just improvise”. Right.

I was consumed by slight guilt on the journey home from school, thinking that I should have done something considering my do-nothing-but-watch-TV schedule over the past 2 weeks!

So I redeemed myself.

In 30 minutes, we whipped up a Captain  Hook look with a scarf, red ribbon, plastic cup wrapped with aluminium foil and pipe cleaner (left over from her 1st birthday party!). I was impressed by myself.

But S was not satisfied and kept demanding that she wanted to be “Easy”!?? What??

“I want to be “Easy” the girl”. We finally googled and found the character “Izzy” in Jake and the Never Land.  Gosh, I didn’t even know this cartoon existed. 

 

Alright alright. Let’s cut a pink T-shirt, reuse the red ribbon earlier, find something yellow (play-doh mould) and there we have it!

 

Mommy is fully redeemed.

Family tree

At the beginning of the school term, parents were tasked to work on a home project with the kids – to create a family tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We plucked a few leaves from the potted plant to create a ‘real’ feel :) Then we outlined the trunk and started painting!

We printed pictures of grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins from all three continents and stuck them by the leaves. Voila!

Note the additional family member named “S mei mei” whom S insisted to paste next to our family portrait, by the tree trunk. I was dumbfounded. She called herself “jie jie” in the family portrait.  Speaking of strong faith from children!!!

This is S, showing off her family tree to the class (pic taken by the teacher). I’m not sure whether she did talk about the additional family member though.

Psalm 8:2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies
you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries,
so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy. (NET)

December’s fruit- playing housewife

I spent the last week of December playing housewife. Post HFMD, things got better.
My life as a ‘freelance’ housewife (with my blackberry within reach)- cooking, washing, caring, housekeeping, playing, art & craft and some time-off in the afternoon to watch a few episodes of  TVB series when S takes a nap. It is almost a replica of my maternity leave. 
My favourite part is planning the daily menu and see S’s appetite increase tremendously.  One evening, she looked at me and shouted: “Mommy! Thank you for cooking!” and that’s my reward!  The thought of being a stay-at-home-mom is luring if it means I can make her eat more?? It’s just a thought.  In any case, I thank God for letting me ‘experience’ how it is like to be a stay-at-home-mom (with no help). I’m not sure if I really love it but knowing that it’s short-lived and ending soon makes me cherish every bit of it.
It has been a perfect week to end this unceasing fruitful 2012.

Blessings

Every night before she sleeps, we say our prayers together and I would pronounce blessings over her.
Every morning on our way to school, daddy M would also do the same, a prayer and blessings.
The blessings can be of favour, wisdom, courage or whatever that comes to our mind.
This morning, we said our usual goodbyes and gibberish stuff. And just before I left the house she said: “Mama (that’s my new name this season), you will have favour today!”.
I thought I heard wrongly and asked her to repeat. “You have favour, mama!”.
I knew immediately that I have to remember this moment and pen it down.

Thank you Jesus.

Hello, mommy!

 

A few weeks ago, I called home and a 3-year old answered the phone: "Hello, mommy?".
I was pleasantly surprised that S knew how to answer the phone - we definitely didn't teach her.

Today, I received a call from home and the same 3-year old was on the line: " Hello, mommy? Can I watch TV, pleeeeze?".

This is the phase that definitely needs to be posted for my future reminiscence. I'm not sure if I'm prepared to see her grow so fast... 

La Petite

She’s often being mistaken as a 2-year old, because of her petite size. Technically she is a 3-year old (2 more months short). Most of the 3-year olds are one head taller than she is, as seen in pix. According to the teacher in school, bigger kids in class like to seat around her, to ‘look after’ her like a lil’ sister. Sometimes, teachers have to pull her away from the bigger-sized boys to prevent a stampede. Joy of a year-end baby!



Sweet dreams

We have quite good success in our project S.L.E.E.P in the past few weeks since we moved into our new home. S has been able to sleep through most of the nights. We went overboard to ensure that the room is enticing.  A kitchen set from Ikea that took 3 hours to assemble, colourful tent for hiding, and the most important of all – DORA quilt cover* (only available in Spotlight Singapore!). The added incentive for her to sleep in the room is Play-Doh–  new colour or mould each day she sleeps through. My stock of Play-Doh colours and moulds are running low….

* design is thrown out of the window as we hedged the Dora bedsheet with Winnie the Pooh bedsheet underneath!

Contemporary art

The latest addition to our weekend activities- 45-minute art class on Saturday mornings.
It all started because a friend is trying to set up art classes for kids (in his office). S is the no. 2 kid he recruited after his 5-year old niece.
Enrichment fever is a phenomena that has gripped a lot of parents. Parents who can afford and kiasu (aka competitive and ‘plan ahead’) start sending their children to all manner of enrichment classes from as young as six months old. Flash cards, Shichida, Mindchamps, growing up gifted, power Chinese, you name it they have it. These classes are intended to help the children to ‘excel’ in their education years later. I had always been reluctant to send S for any program mainly because our weekends are too precious to be spent on car rides, queues and waits in the name of enrichment.
However, if I must and willing, I would start her with swimming (for survival??), piano (free of charge because my cousin used to give piano lessons), or violin (I think she looks cute with it!). Art is the last thing on my mind because I can’t draw to save my life! On second thought, this might be the right choice of enrichment - to pick up a skill that is not inherited genetically nor can be taught by the parents.

The first session was enjoyable and we managed to rope C along for the second session. So now we have three kids in this not-so-proper-set-up-but-intimate art class. It shall be fun!

Eggs home remedy part 2

My mom’s remedy to bring fever down - let the child hold two eggs.

Two years ago, we tried a home remedy concerning eggs, and ended up at the doctor!

This time round, it's definitely 'safer' with breaking the eggs being the only risk. 

I’m not sure how this old wives’ tale work but it did. Well, I can't prove it totally because a dose of Volteren suppository was administered concurrently.
She was happy to 'play' this egg game and told my mom that chickens may come out from the eggs??

 

Meet S at 31 months.  She drives me up the wall sometimes. Everyone tells me that she behaves perfectly in my absence but turns into a whiny, demanding kid the moment I get home from work.

With the move and unpacking, we have been focusing on the house more than her, which I believe is the trigger for some defiance in her, to get our attention. I have been questioning myself if I am doing the right thing or being a 'good' mom, with the recent increase in time-out sessions (stand-in-a-corner-and-'think'-what-you-have-done-wrong).

God knows my heart.

A few days ago, S had a boil on her hand and came to me with her eyes cringed: "Can you pray for me?". Immediately after I prayed, she continued with her activity, as if the boil is gone. During our night prayer, she said: "Thank you Jesus for my new room, my new house, my kitchen, my tent, my milk, my bottles, my toys…". I was moved. It was like an affirmation from God that yes, I’m on the right track, I'm not a horrible mom because she has caught what we want to impart in her - Jesus being the centre and give thanks in all things.

Operation S.L.E.E.P

The sleep/milk battle has ended. Praise the Lord. The wee hours milk requests have reduced significantly. Even if she did ask for it, we have been ignoring her.

Moral of the story: When the parents are ready (to let go or refuse to give in), children will be ready to move along…

Next up: moving to her OWN ROOM.

I have read tons of literature on sleep training methods and consider myself theoretically very competent. It’s all about execution now. Stay tuned!

Logistics, logistics, logistics

My in laws (S main care giver and driver) are in the US and this comes with plenty of logistics arrangement. It involves lots of help from friends and “international aid”, which we are thankful.

Firstly, we switched her to morning session. In order to let her settle in slowly, daddy M will send her to school at about 8am while I make myself to work earlier (our norm was to leave for work together at 7’ish). My dear friend, Shih will pick her up mid-day for the next 2.5 months until my father-in-law returns to resume the role of the designated driver.

On days that Shih cannot make it, daddy M or myself will squeeze our lunch hour to pick her up (and grab a quick bite at home). We are also looking at training our helper to take a cab to pick her up. Last but not least, starting this weekend, my mom will be here for a month, followed by my dad...

On certain days, our dear friend, Selvam is also activated to help (last resort).

I know there is a short cut to these cumbersome arrangement- send her to full-day school immediately where we can pick her up after work. But I am not ready. Period.

Perhaps I need to go through this to let go... Meanwhile, we are tapping on whatever help that we can get...

PS: there is no school bus available.