My CNY Outfit

Papa saw this set of Chinese New Year clothes when he was at Bukit Timah Plaza. After he called Mama to ask about my size, he came home with this set of clothes for me. Mama just handwashed the outfit. Hopefully, they will dry before this coming Thursday which is the first day of Chinese New Year. :D

Papa also bought me a pair of sandals. The kind that makes a squeaking sound when you walk around in them but for some reason or another, I stubbornly refused to put them on and that disappointed Papa.... ;p

Rainy Days

It has been pretty rainy and cold for the past few days in Singapore. Great opportunity for me to try on the raincoat Papa bought some time ago. But I much prefer to use Mama's umbrella...

A Fashionista in the Making?

Mama had long suspected I am a vain person. Last week, she bought her I-magazine which came with a pair of 3D glasses as the magazine was published with some 3D images in it. So Mama let me try on the glasses. Can't see the above image clearly? It's not a 3D picture. It's because Mama's hands moved when she took the photograph.

Here's a clearer picture.

I loved this pair of glasses so much that I insisted on wearing them to Nai nai's place when we were about to leave home. Along the way to the car park, the glasses fell to the ground a few times and Mama had to help me perch them on my head again before we moved on. What a vainpot I am! ;p

What is This?

Hi all,

Want to make a guess what is this?

It's the first piece of art work that I did using water colours when we were at home! :)

For a long time, Mama had chosen not to buy me water colours for me as she was mostly afraid I will make a mess at home. I only had a chance to work with water colours in school last year.

This year, Mama decided to give it a try and last week, she came home with a set of water colours for me. Last Sunday, she took out the water colours to let me try. Nice! See me work at it!

This is the finished work. But I worked too hard and made a hole in the middle of the paper. See the white spot in the middle? That's the hole! ;p

You would have thought that such a memorable piece of work would have been kept for posterity. But not my parents. Mama just threw it away after she had taken the pictures.

Here's the second piece I did soon after the first piece was completed. See the consistency in style?

Papa got enthusiastic too and drew me this number 1 for me to fill in the colour but my interest had waned by then...

My First Wind Instrument

Mama is not sure if you will hear me clearly as the background may be a little noisy but this is kind of like a first wind instrument for me. Hear me make music.... :)

Photos taken at Nai nai home

See how I am loved by everyone at Nai nai home!

Mama!

shu shu!

Randy gor gor

of course, Nai nai herself....

Peeling Eggs

The day before was my 34th month birthday but it did not stop Mama from her child labour plans.

Nah, just kidding. It's just that I woke up from my nap when Mama was making lor bah for dinner. She wanted to add 2 hardboiled eggs to the lor bah to beef up her dish. Since I had never

peeled an egg before, she thought it will be a good experience for me try and so she cooled the egg down in water and showed me how to peel it.

I am 34 Months Old

Hi all, yesterday, I turned 34 months old. It's a coincidence that it was also a Tuesday yesterday. If you remember, I was actually borned on a Tuesday and so, it's kind of like I was exactly 34 months as well as X weeks old. (X because Mama already lost count of how many weeks old I am)

A week or two ago, Mama wanted to update about my development as she saw quite a bit of changes in me but she procrastinated and now, she can only write based on her memory.

The month that passed, I started going to a new school. I also started to use the terms "Papa" and "Daddy" on my father interchangeably. Papa commented that this means I know they are the same in meaning. Likewise, I call my mother "Mama" or "Mummy" nowadays.

Also, a phrase I used everyday is "Gugu online". I picked this up after our last video conversation with Aunty Cheyanne and Uncle Denton. Since then, I had always said "Gugu online" to indicate I want to turn the computer on and perhaps, to have a video chat with my Uncle and Aunty in USA.

I even used this as an excuse to turn the computer on by myself. Mama had warned me that if she caught me turning the computer on by myself, she will cane me. Mama thinks it's not so much of me missing Aunty Cheyanne nor Uncle Denton but more of an excuse to turn on the computer. Yet, there had been a few occasions when Mama obliged me by logging on to MSN and to see if Aunty Cheyanne is online and I had obediently waited for Mama to log on. So perhaps, I do want to have video chat afterall. :)

Sometimes, Mama let me type her userid and her password by showing me where to find the buttons of the letters on the keyboard. I will use my right index finger to type the letters one by one.

I am brushing my teeth more regularly. In fact, for the past few days, I had kind of brushed 2 or 3 times a day. Mama was careful that I do not use the toothpaste more than twice a day as it's not good for me to be ingesting so much fluoride. To be more precise, I am not really brushing but more of biting my tooth brush though Mama had been a little more successful in helping me brush a little by raising her voice at me, insisting I let her do a little brushing ;p

Talking about raising her voice, I am very quick to apologise and do what Mama or Papa says if they raise their voices at me. Particularly, when Mama gets frustrated with me. Papa often says that though I say sorry but I am not truly repentant because I will soon make another similar mistake. ;p

I love to drink water too. If possible, I much prefer to drink it from the cups and bottles rather than use my drinking bottle that comes with a straw.

A couple of weeks ago, Mama bought me a pair of training chopsticks to help me learn to use chopsticks. See, this is me practising. We first used it on real food but it was a little messy and Mama came up with the idea of rolling small pieces of kitchen towels into balls or pieces and teach me to "clip" the pieces into a clean bowl. This was rather a good way for me to spend time as well as develop my fine motor skills.

I am also pretty creative with some ideas.


Last week, Mama took out some Chinese New Year Decoration which she meant to put on the wall of our living room. When she handed the boards to me, I quickly ran to my room to attempt to put them there. Mama had never thought of decorating my room. Perhaps she should decorate it as well.

Another instance was when I told Mama "rub eyes". I was actually referring to being intimate, you know, like two persons rubbing their noses together but instead of rubbing noses, I said "rub eyes". Of course, that's kind of almost impossible to do but Mama thinks it's a clever idea.

I am also imitating many things I see. Just now, I saw Papa use his toe to press the button on the DVD machine and I soon tried to do likewise when I had the opportunity. I am also getting cheeky. Mama observed that I started swirling my body when I pee in the bathroom. She thinks I probably learnt it when I saw my friend pee in school as she thought I was not intelligent enough to figure that out.

Then again, she found out that in school, we use the small Ikea stool to elevate ourselves so that we can use the adult toilet bowl and so, it can't quite be I was imitiating my school friend. Well, maybe it's really because I am a boy and well, boys will be boys. :D

This month, I started attending a new school. It's a few bus stops away from our place and Mama has to learn to plan her schedule well or end up spending $3 or more on bus fares each day because each trip on the bus cost her $0.71. She will bring me to school, make another trip to Yew Tee to do marketing and if she is in a rush, she will take a bus home to leave her grocery at home before going to the school to pick me up. From school, we will take another bus home or to Yew Tee MRT station where I often take my train rides. Looks like Mama should plan her trips more carefully to minimise taking the bus so often.

Ok, that's about all for the moment. Mama will update again if she finds more things she can write about. :D

The Great Escape

All along, the playpen has been used to confine me when my parents needed me to be safe and yet of their way say, for example, when they are getting ready to leave the house.

This morning, I showed Mama I could actually escape from it. Mama told Papa I could come out from the play pen on my own. She meant to let me drift off for my nap in the playpen while she showered but I actually turned up at the toilet door with an empty milk bottle in my hand!

Papa asked how did I do it and Mama guessed the zippers must had been at a position where I could reach and I had escaped by unzipping the playpen and climbing out of it. If so, it was interesting to note that I had actually tried to zip the playpen after escaping because after Mama came out from the shower, she found the playpen partially zipped with some part open in the shape of an arc.

Well, she found out the answer a few hours later......

Papa said I am really very smart.... :)

Some Development Milestones in Year 2010

Since we are still in the first month of the new year, Mama thought it's still not too late to pen some of my development milestones in year 2010 in no particular order.

1) I started talking

And yes, talking I did. From the meagre vocabulary of some single words, I just started picking things up real quick at around 29-30 months. Even now, I am still picking up new vocabulary. If you asked me what did I learn in school today, I should tell you "A". Teacher Usa said I could recognise this letter when she wrote it on the board.

2) I started to use potty and wear underpants.

Out of the lack of motivation, Mama started toilet training me pretty late. By the time she started, I was pretty advanced and now, I go to school without my diapers. I am a big boy now! :D

3) I started attending school

Initially, I did show a little resistance and then, it became whining and after a few months, I am fine with the idea of going to school.

4) I learnt the letters of the English Alphabet and Numbers from 0-10 (and still counting)

It's probably a combination of schooling and prolonged exposure to Sesame Street DVDs. I had learnt to recognise the letters of the alphabets and recognise the Arabic symbols for numbers from 1-10. This year, it will most likely be numbers from 11-20.... :D

5) I took my first flight

Not a real development milestone but it marks an important progress in our family movement. My parents had since learnt that taking an overnight flight is a bad idea and perhaps for the next couple of years, no long distance flying for us. :p

Is there any other milestone that Mama might have left out? Hmm....

God Answered Our Prayers

Today, I said,"Call Gu Gu" to Mama when we were in front of the computer. Mama thinks I meant video call. Maybe I associated the computer with calling Aunty Cheyanne and so she decided to try doing a video chat with Aunty Cheyanne who is studying in US with Uncle Denton.

Initially, things did not work out very well for us. It seems like either side or both sides get "kicked out" of MSN after we connected. So Mama and I prayed to God and told Him we want to talk to Aunty Cheyanne and Uncle Denton, see them and hear their voices.

After a few more tries, we succeeded and had a really great video chat! Thank God for answering our prayers. :D

Clamouring for Attention

Today, it occured to Mama that perhaps my love language is time, more accurately, attention. This is me on my first day of school and the lady in stripes is Aunty Irene, the teacher assistant.

According to Mama, I was clamouring for her attention. Certainly not a shy guy, at all. :D

Dinosaur Hair

Mama just had to upload this one.

The other day, when she was helping me shower, she decided to "style" my hair on the spur of the moment and she called my new hairdo dinosaur hair as the spikes kind of remind her of the plates on the back of a stegosaurus.

A few days later, she took the video clip below.. Enjoy ...

A Video For Me

Papa meant to buy me a model train from the famous Thomas the Train cartoon last Christmas as a Christmas gift for me. We kind of did a grab-and-go and we ended up getting Gordon the Train instead.

The clip below is a made for me by my most beloved Papa and I love watching it on his handphone. Enjoy! :D

Family Habit

It's a family habit.

When my parents were dating, Mama noticed that my grandparents' bedroom door was closed when they were not at home. A few weeks ago, Mama took this clip just slightly before we left home.

Ok, we are ready to go now. :D

My New Uniform

Hi all, I am in bus 302, on my way to school. This is me in my new uniform.

It says 8 Intelligences Developing Everyday.

This is the full view from my back. :D

Mama was supposed to keep me accompanied on the first 3 days of school but since I appeared very comfortable on my first day, she decided to let me attend school on my own after she sought the opinions of my teachers who are fine with the arrangement. From the second day, she brought me to school and left after I enter the doorway.

By the way, this is my teacher and she is called Teacher Usa (read : woo-sa). She was taking my temperature and checking my hands and feet with a small torchlight to ensure I do not have Hand Foot Mouth Disease. This was taken on Friday, the last day of the first week of school. I was the first to rush in when the door opened. This is just how enthusiastic I am about going to school! :D

My First Day in School

Hi all,

This is my first day in school. Mama registered me in a new school by phone and hence I have yet to have any uniform. The boy below is the first classmate I said hello to. So maybe you can say he's my first friend.

Take off your shoes here and come in with me.

There is an area with big sofa just outside my classroom.

This is me in my classroom. There is this Sesame Street Poster on the wall! There is no windows for you to peep in this time round. ;p

This is Aunty Irene, the teacher assistant. She said I am active and willing to follow her.

And yes, I really clamoured for her attention on the first day of school. My teacher was too busy with the admin work. These are some of my classmates. Most of them are younger than me.

This is what I will be doing each day of the week.

Below is my daily lesson schedule.

Mama has this hunch that I will not stay long in this school. She will probably start itching to find me another school or maybe try to get me transferred to the centre nearer to our place in the days to come. In the meantime, I will just have to settle here. :D

Like Father, Like Son

On a few occasions, Nai nai narrated that when Papa was a child, he had many small toy cars which he would arrange in a long row. That's his way of playing his toy cars.

Me? I don't have many toy cars but I have many percussion instruments and I will also arrange them in a neat row. Nowadays, when I can remember, I will take out my percussion instuments, arrange them in a row and start banging away. That's one way I entertain myself at home.

Mama is just impressed that I actually arrange them in a row before I play. I could have well gathered them in a group, kind of in circle or something. But no, I arrange them in a straight row as you can see above.

My Chipped Tooth

Hi all, want to take a look at my chipped tooth? Here's a closer shot....

Nowyou know why Mama was so sad.... ;(

Mama kind of bugged Papa to bring me to a dentist and even mentioned bringing me to a pediatric dentist. So yesterday, my parents brought me to the dentist at Yew Tee but the receptionist said I am too young and will not cooperate with the dentists and she suggested bringing me to a pediatric dentist.

Papa brought me to my pediatrician Dr Winston who suggested observing me first. He said if I keep saying there is pain, the tooth is shaky or if the tooth turns grey in a few days or weeks or if there is a gum boil, then I will have to see a pediatric dentist. If the tooth turns grey, it means the tooth has died and it might be extracted or if there is a gum boil, it means there is a fracture to the part of the tooth in the gum or something and the fracture has caused an infection to bring about a boil.

Mama called a pediatric dentist and the receptionist said for first consultation (chipped tooth or not), it will cost about $90 to $110 and the amount will increase depending on what needs to be done. That sure is expensive. Mama prays my tooth will be alright.

Don't tell my Nai Nai about this, ok? ;)

Never Mind

Yesterday, while waiting for breakfast to arrive at Amoy Hawker Centre, I fell off the chair again and this time, another part of my tooth chipped off! My parents did not know I had chipped off part of my tooth when they picked me up from the ground. They only saw I had cut my lower lip on the right hand side and there was blood. Papa offered me a piece of tissue to help stop the bleeding while Mama held me in her arms to comfort me. I was especially clingy to Mama for quite a while after the fall. I sat on her lap and held on to her right arm which I wanted to be placed across my chest like a sash worn by beauty queens.

Mama thought it was the pain caused by the bleeding lip and the fact that I lost some blood that caused me to be so clingy. Maybe I was tired too. After a while, perhaps 10 minutes or so, I felt better and could sit on my own again. I even ate some half-boiled egg and some beef noodle with soup. I even took Aunty Lorraine for a walk back to church when she and Uncle Bernard came to join us for breakfast.

It was only after we reached home and Mama was showering me when she discovered my chipped tooth and my, it was a big piece chipped off this time. Mama felt like crying as she was very sad that I had lost such a big part of my tooth.

Papa said it's ok and it will probably grow back over the year. But Papa also said precautions will be taken and I will have to sit in a pram if we eat at Amoy Hawker Centre again. He said the stools there are higher than the chairs I usually sit on which caused me to mis-judge the distance between stool and ground and hence I tripped when I try to come down from the stool on my own.

Last evening, Mama stood next to me when I brushed my teeth and she started feeling sad over my chipped tooth again. Although she said nothing, it was as if I could read her thoughts and I said 'Never mind". I even did it twice. Mama was glad I could comfort her. Don't worry for me, I am still pretty much my cheerful and happy self, chatty too except that my tooth felt a little uncomfortable. Mama want to touch it to see if it was shaky but no, she is not allowed to do that. I won't allow her. ;p

Roller Coaster

No, not the real one at those theme parks but Mama thought this should be called a roller coaster ride because I was going up and down too..... :D

New Year Day Afternoon

Hi all,

This was taken on New Year Day afternoon when my parents were trying to put me to nap.

Normally, I will take a shower and then be put down in the playpen with a bottle of milk before I drift off on my own. Mama is very thankful that it's easy to let me nap in this manner and on days when Papa is around, Mama can leave me with Papa to put me to nap while she goes out or when she goes to work on Saturday afternoons.

But not today. I wanted to come out of the playpen because I wanted to join Papa at the computer. However, I could only perch myself on the playpen and I do not know what to do next to leave the playpen.

Perhaps it did cross my mind to just flip over but Mama had warned me that I may fall and hurt myself if I do flip over on my own. Plus since my feet could not feel the ground at this point, I felt it's not safe to flip over and could only perch myself here.

Since I could not figure out how to flip over the playpen to escape captivity, Mama decided not to help me with it either. This is one of those little things which Mama believes since I do not know, she will not teach me too. She will only help to bring me out occasionally when I was perched and at other times, she put me back into the playpen.

Looks like I can only stay in the playpen this time round. Hmm.....
Publish Post

Great Way to Start the New Year

Blessed New Year, everyone! I had a tender loving start to the new year. Mama was down with her running nose and Papa took over the duty of sleeping with me at night. He even closed the door to my room when he came in but it didn't stop me from opening it on my own to go look for Mama who brought me back to my room before returning to hers. Mama later found out Papa made a bottle of milk for me in the middle of the night and I had slept in until about 9am this morning.

Papa then brought me out to get breakfast for the family so that Mama could sleep in. When we came home, I went straight to Mama room and had a conversation with her. This conversation delighted Mama greatly. It was just a trivial conversation as she asked me where I had been and I said Yew Tee. I also mentioned "breakfast" to her. Later on, she asked me how did we go to Yew Tee, like did we walk there or we went in Papa's car and I told her "Papa's car".

Mama thinks it's such a great way to start the year together with me. To think that a year ago, she was a little worried that I was nearing 2 and not even saying much single words when the books mentioned I should be progressing to stringing words together such as"play toys", etc. ;)

God sure is good and has blessed me with the ability to speak in His time! :D