As requested, here is my list:
Do Again
- Put him in school as opposed to being home with maid/grandparents
- Read to him right from birth though he may not respond
- Try different foods with him so that he will not be picky about food
Do Differently
- Keep him in the cot, move him to his own room earlier
- Self-feed earlier
- Bottle-feed earlier
Think we are really blessed cos he was a relatively easy baby to take care. Was pretty fuss-free and had no mega problems with all. Of course it was was tiring the first couple of months but at least it was not difficult. I actually much prefer and enjoy it now when the little fella is a little more grown up and can interact better. I like talking to him. Of course, the difficult thing now managing his tantrums and disciplining so that he does not grow up ill-disciplined. I have always liked the mission statement of St Andrew’s School which is “From boys to men, men of grace, polish, wisdom and stature, in favour with God and man.” I used to see it when on the expressway on the wall of the school building. Always thought that it is so nice. And that is something that I want for the little fella to.. to be a man of grace and polish. 
Who is Leila? What is Leila? Just yesterday, the little fella and me were drawing. Out of the blue, he said,”Leila”. I thought it was something he wanted me to draw. So I asked..what Leila? Ladder? But no..it wasn’t anything. THEN it dawned on me that he was speaking Mandarin..he actually meant to say “Lei le” ( meaning:tired). He was tired and wanted to go sleep. It amused us cos he sounded all funny but it was a good thing that he is starting to speak more Mandarin. It is all thanks to his ‘lao shi’ in school. Now when we pick him up..he can say,” Wo de mama lai le” ( my mummy is here) to lao shi. I think I should start buying him more books in Mandarin.
by Wendy on April 29, 2008
This is something that I have have observed about the little fella and find quite interesting. His concept of a family. His concept of a family is modelled after ours and it always has a Daddy, a Mummy, a boy and a dog. Recently,we have spent quite a bit of time drawing and no matter what I draw, he will always ask to draw a Daddy one, a Mummy one, a boy one and a a dog one. It could be anything, stars, flowers, cars, snakes etc etc. His concept of a Daddy/Mummy/boy/dog is differentiated by size,
What is interesting is that he seems to think that all things must exist as a family and as a family, there has always got to be Daddy/Mummy/Boy and Dog. Presumably this is because he learns by association and he associates ‘family’ with our family.
We were passing by a house that day and he asked whose house it was. So I just said..Uncle’s and Aunty’s house. And he asked..where is the boy and where is the dog? That caught me for a little while and finally I said..maybe they are in the house too.
by Wendy on April 9, 2008
Was a little tired of the previous blog skin so got Iz to help get it changed.After much choosing and looking around for one I liked, I finally settled on this on. Think it is nice and sweet without being cloyingly so. And of course..it still has to be pink!
So…do you like the new blogskin?
by Wendy on March 31, 2008
It was a really lazy weekend with lots of time spent at home. Guess it was a good time to rest since we were all sick the previous weekend. But I got a bit bored towards the end so brought the little fella to the park and explore playgrounds nearby. It was the first time I was bringing both the little fella and Jeremiah out. I made the little fella promise that he would walk and not make me carry him. So he was really good. In the midst of our walking around, we found this quite nice playground and it was meant for little kids. The equipments were all from Little Tikes so the playground was nice and safe.
by Wendy on March 26, 2008
Call me a sucker for looks but somehow I always find it hard to believe that someone who look is so good looking is capable of doing anything bad.Whether it is reel or real-life, I always find myself finding it hard to believe that all the good/decent looking guys would be capable of doing anything vicious.Call me naive or silly but somehow that is just how my wee little brain functions. I find it so odd sometimes but sometimes, towards certain people, I find it really hard to think badly of them..no matter what they might do.
I have been rather hooked on a Chinese drama serial and even though one of the male leads is so wicked, so vicious and so scheming..I find it hard to not sympathise with him and think that he would do something evil. All because he is so decent/good looking.Though I know this is just make-believe, I believe that I tend to think like that too in real life.I always want to believe in the good side of people and that there is a reason for the way they behave.But perhaps I am being overly-simplistic here.
by Wendy on March 14, 2008
Since my work trip cum holiday was postponed, we decided to take a trip to Adelaide. It was partly a holiday and partly also to recce the place.And because it was such a last minute trip, we had problems getting a direct flight. So had to transit in Perth. The flights itself were an experience but more about that later.
This is the 3rd flight (1st was when he was 6 months and 2nd was when he was 1 year old) for the little fella and we were initially a little apprehensive as he is a lot more active now. So we were wondering how much we had to do to occupy him. So we armed ourselves with plenty of snacks and some of his books as well. I think it helped that he chose the books himself. He was then a little more keen to read it onboard the flight. Overall, he was quite a good kid on the plane, slept some, ate a little and watched quite a bit of the in flight entertainment stuff. It was good that there was Playhouse Disney And of course, it helped that there were 2 of us taking care of him.
All in all, we had a good trip and like always, we tried to balance it with activities that he liked and stuff that we like. So that no one gets shortchanged. It was a great thing that we brought the stroller along so many of his daytime naps were spent in the stroller. We discovered this nice Japanese place that sold udon soup so meals generally weren’t a problem. It was funny but I think the little fella missed eating fishballs as he kept asking for them.
We did lots in Adelaide. Shopped, attended 2 fringe festival events, took a day trip to the hills where the little fella thoroughly enjoyed picking strawberries at the farm,went to the beach, went to the zoo.Was a bit sian that I had to work some of the nights but guess I cannot complain since boss agreed so readily to my 2 weeks leave though it was a busy period here. But then again, when it is really not busy?
The trip gave me a better sense of the place and what to expect should we shift there anytime soon. Definitely want to move but there are tens of trillions of worries in my mind now. Must really learn to keep the faith and not let the worrywart in me take over.
by Wendy on January 28, 2008
I have decided that we/I should bring the little fella out more for outdoor play rather than to stay at home and watch telly all the time. He loves his Playhouse Disney but I reckon he should not be watching too much telly. So over the last weekend, I tried to engage him in as much outdoor / non-telly activities. As Daddy was working, I brought him to the playground on Sat morning and after that, trooped off all hot and sweaty to MM and GG’s house. At the playground, there was the usual slides and steps.But he has gotten more adventurous, now he wanted to walk across the concrete slabs by himself. It was a nice little walk because the concrete slabs were on water and laid across a little stream of sorts. It taught him focus and balance ‘cos there were gaps in between the slabs and if he was not careful, his lil feet could very well slip between the slabs. We did that till it threatened to rain and I whisked him away.
At MM and GG’s house, he could feed the fishes and prawns and there he probably had a little ecological lesson. He saw the fishes and prawns eating.Oh..he also saw a little prawn that had jumped out of the tank and was being attacked by the ants. That probably traumatised him a little. Hee..
Yesterday, we had a nice easy morning playing with his toys and watching a bit of telly. Had a nice pizza/lagsane lunch and played a little while more before it was nap time. He was good cos I told him he could play with bubbles after he woke up. So we did and after that, I brought him downstairs with his soccer ball. Had a rather nice ( and hot!) time chasing and kicking the ball all around. People who saw us probably thought of us as 2 weirdos who held hands and just ran all around with the ball. Whilst resting, he saw a man loading up boxes on a lorry and covering them with the canvas. So he asked questions like what is he doing, what is the cover for etc etc.
The after an hour plus downstairs, it was shower time. He wanted the tub and he also wanted to bathe the ball. So together with his ball (rinsed already), he went into the tub. Played with the bubbles and bathed his ball. Oh..before he showered, he helped me cook his dinner by scooping the brown rice porridge into the cup and then into the top. So told him that he was such a big boy already and could help cook his own dinner. Think that made him rather pleased.
He was really really good…after he was changed and all, i placed him on the couch ( with the telly) and told him to stay there whilst I took my shower. And when i came out some 20 mins later, he shouted from the couch ” Mummy, I am playing with your coins.” He had found my coin pouch on the table by the couch, unzipped it and was playing with all the coins. A good thing he has learnt not to put things into his mouth.
After that, had his salmon and mixed veg miso brown rice porridge..Finished all and asked for more soup! No..not the end of the day yet ..still had about 3 hours before bedtime. So I decided to bring him shopping since he wanted a new water bottle. So we went to Causeway Point and shopped. He was being really good..walked with me all the way so brought him to Kiddy Palace to choose his water bottle.As usual, he took ten thousand minutes choosing one he liked. Finally found one he liked cos he said that his classmate had it too. It was some unidentifiable bear character. Then wanted to buy him a pencil case so that he can use it when we go out. But after looking at the pencil cases there( there was Thomas the tank engine, Bob the builder, Strawberry Shortcake etc etc), he said..”I don’t like any of these.” So I told him we will go elsewhere to look and he agreed without a fuss.
After that it was off to Mothercare..I wanted to get him jeans for our NYC trip. And they were having a 30% discount for their winter wear collection so it was perfect. Tried some on for him and let him choose which one he liked. So he did after much deliberation.
After shopping and a bubble tea treat..it was off to the Library. He was really happy especially when he saw Daddy! He told Daddy who was on the 3rd floor, ” Wait..I am going to look for my books..Wait..Patience.” So off we trooped to the J section in the Library.
The day ended about 10 or so and think with all the activities, he was tired out. So slept rather quickly. All these activities in a span of 2 days…I need to find more things to do. I have been toying with the idea of creating a little garden for him in our corridor..then he can learn about plants and maybe insects. Wonder if he will like that….
by Wendy on January 12, 2008
I believe if the trip is meant as a family trip…it will happen.Just got to believe that all things will fall in place…
by Wendy on January 9, 2008
I have been wondering if perhaps we both need parenting classes. On how to be a better parent and how to communicate better. Through the past year especially,I realised that both Iz and I have very diffirent parenting styles. Of course, they are things we agree on but there are also others that we simply can’t seem to find middle ground. And of course, when that happens, we both end up being unhappy. And it bothers me a whole lot cos one of my pet peeves is being faced with someone who is really grouchy.
Who is right?Admittedly, I am the less fierce one at home and tend to give in to the little fella more. But I feel that I am firm enough when I need to be. Obviously, Iz dosen’t think so and he believes in ‘discipline’ when the need arises. Of course, I do agree but I also feel that talking to the little fella helps too in bringing the point across..instead of mere punishment and scoldings that will only result in more tantrums.
I used the ‘distraction’ tactic quite a lot and I like it because it seems to work but Iz feel that that is giving in. Just like earlier on, the little fella was throwing a tantrum because he saw Iz playing on his PSP too. So he wanted it too. This is where you can clearly see our diffrent parenting styles.
Me: I tried coaxing him and distracting him with other things..tickling him..asking him to read etc etc. But he still continued crying so I just persisted in talking and pacifying till he quietened down. Only after he quietened down, then did i ask if he could take someone else’s toy and whether it was right. So I asked…can u take Teacher XYZ’s toy? Can u take Teacher ABC’’s toy? He shook his head and said no. So asked if he was still going to take Daddy’s toy and he said No. So, it worked for today and I am hoping that he will remember it and I will reinforce with all these ‘pep talks’ whenever i can.
Iz:When the little fella started crying, he very firmly told him ‘No’ and just stood his ground. That, to him, is not giving in and just persisting in being firm and consistent about not giving in to demands.
So obviously, there is a difference in our styles and sometimes they clash. Is there one that is more effective/ That is where we then become unhappy with each other and the problem escalates from one of the little fella to us. Of course, it passes but then I do think it is very unhealthy..that it will have its detrimental effect in the long run.
But how do we reach middle ground without stepping on each other’s toes?Do we need to be reminded that we are first husband and wife before we are parents?