1st outing to East Coast Park

We finally brought Kayden to East Coast Park on 26 Oct. Have been saying that we wanna bring him there but there's always something on during weekends. the weather looks bad when we were about to leave. prayed for good weather till we leave the place. amazingly, the sky cleared and we went there.

Kayden with his 'chou chou' while we were on the way there.



When Kayden walked on the sand for the 1st time, he found the feeling 'weird' and kept wanting me to carry him. but we removed our shoes and encouraged him to do so. after that, i guessed he was alright with it.

Andy bought him a bag of toys to build sandcastle. haha... he did not build sandcastle at all. he was busy digging the sand, putting them in the bucket or throwing them. lol.





then we brought him near the sea. he was a bit hesitant about going near and would run away when the waves came near. it again took him some time before he was willing to try. by then, he was having such a wonderful time and refused to leave when it was time to go.


Andy having a hard time getting Kayden to leave.

Must really thank God for answering my prayer. The rain only started while we were on our way back. :)

would definitely bring him there again!

Pretend play

Just realised that Kayden has been doing a lot of pretend play recently and we have to act along.

1) bathe his rubber duckie and wash its 'hair.
keep asking the duckie to 'look down and close your eyes' during his shower and then keep scooping water and pouring it over the duckie's head. guess he's copying what i always say to him when i'm washing his hair'.

2) feed his stuff toys and his 'chou chou'.
recently, he'll take his food or water bottle and attempt to feed his stuff toys. i told him repeatedly that they can't eat but he just ignored me. haha... guess he thinks they are just like him, can eat, drink and bathe...

3) talk to plants and animals
will go 'hi cat/dog/flower'when we walk past animals or plants. even tell them 'see u tmr'when we are going off. he's also fascinated with laptops and will want to switch them on. told him we need to switch it off after sometime but he'll throw tantrums. he only accepted it when my sis told him that the laptop needs to sleep.

hope this is just a developmental phase and he'll outgrow it when he's older cos i have a poly mate who is very kind and will even apologize to objects if she knocks against them. haven't got time to research on this yet. will most prob do so during the dec hols.

Shy?

Kayden's latest habit is to say 'shy'and to cover his face with his hand or to hid his face behind me. keke... dunno where he learnt it from.

if we're taking the lift and there's others in it, he'll hid quietly and then take sneak peeps at the people in the lift. we'll tease him then and he'll say 'shy shy'. haha... only when the others are leaving the lift, then he will be more active and say 'bye'loudly to them. haha... talk about being shy.

he did that too when he's at the clinic. he'll look down, use his hand to cover his face and peeped at the doctor behind his fingers. even the doc asked him whether he's shy. lol.

Singing

Kayden has started singing more often recently. his favourite songs are 'wheels on the bus', 'abc' and 'Happy birthday' (where he'll end up blowing at an imaginary candle, haha... )

he will also want others to sing too, especially his dad. he'll go on and on such as, "papa sing, papa sing...." until his daddy joins in. lol.

realised that he enjoys attention. after he sings a song or does something well, he'll go around asking people to clap for him. he can say 'clap', 'pai shou' and 'pa pok' (in hokkien, especially to my grandma). he always asks my grandma, 'ah zou (great-grandmother in hokkien), pa pok'. think children are really very versatile. can pick up different languages and dialects and even know to code-switch when they are talking to different people).

Actually, i'm glad Kayden speaks to his great-grandmother and that she responds to him. It's rather seldom that my grandma will take interest in the surroundings and to clap. so touched to see that my grandma will also involve herself in the daily happenings even though she's always very tired. she has parkinson disease and has lesser energy compared to the past. she dozes off very easily and seldom interact with us nowsadays. how i wish she could be better or there's a cure for parkinson. so sad to see the usually very energetic grandma being so quiet and inactive.

Bird Park

11th Aug was a school holiday in lieu of National Day. Kayden's childcare organized a trip to the Bird Park on that day and my sis and I decided to go with them.

Was initially worried cos I would not be bringing the stroller along. dunno if he would be able to withstand the walk and the journey to and fro.

Luckily, things turned out to be fine. he was rather well-behaved on the journey and did not kick up a fuss. guess he likes taking rides.


Kayden with his friends, waiting for the show to start.

We watched the showing and Kayden was so amazed when the birds flew across us. Some of them include the falcon, hawk, macaw, etc.





We then had our lunch there and then took a monorail ride around the Bird Park. The view was indeed spectacular. The older children (K2) in the same cabin as us kept telling Kayden that he's cute and kept pinching his cheeks. keke... besides that, they also told me, "Kayden mummy, kayden's very naughty. he always throw our toys onto the floör". Ai yoh, so young already got complains. he did that when he was initially at the centre and the teacher did inform us earlier. we scolded him and taught him not to. luckily, it was only a phase and he changed. hopefully, with an early intro to school, he'll learn to follow rules and be more ready when he attends formal schooling.

We then walked around the bird park and took a lot of pictures. He kept wanting to put his hand into the enclosure and I had to stop him. He also ran around, stopped at each enclosure and said 'Hi, bird!" So friendly hor...

The teacher then informed us that we had to leave. During the walk to the exit, Kayden pooed so I had to bring him to the washroom to clean up. Haiz... kept everyone waiting for us. So pai seh!

Kayden konked off on the bus and had a great sleep during the journey. Would definitely love to bring him on more excursions. :)

2nd birthday

Time really flies. My lil prince turns 2 on 5 Aug 2008. He's now a very mobile and active boy. Thank God for watching over him all the time and blessing him with good health.

His latest development over the span of 18 months to 24 months include:
- singing (at 23 months)
- speaking in simple sentences or 3-syllable words (at 23 months)
- counting from 1 to 10, identifying 1 to 10 and the alphabet (at 22 months).
- jumping
- removing his shirt and shoes
- self feeding (around 22 months).

guess the childcare centre really train them to be independent. he knows how to remove and puts on his crocs, carry his bag and puts at his cubby (even though it might be the wrong one at times :)) and to feed himself messily.

We decided to have a mini family celebration to celebrate his birthday and achievements over the past 1 year. We have 2 themes cos we'll be celebrating over at my parents' and at my own place on 2 different days.

Elmo and Barney were chosen to be the themes this year as they were his favourite characters. We bought an Elmo cake from Polar(for Andy's family) and Barney cake from Prima Deli (for my family).



Kayden was very excited about the cakes.



haha... he joined in the clapping when we sang the birthday song. However, he was rather hesitant when we asked him to blow the candles. He only blew it after we blew the candles. lol. then he wanted to be the one to cut the cake, kept trying to sink the knife into the cake. in the end, cos we wanted to take his photos, he got impatient and dipped his fingers into the cream instead. haha... my lovely greedy boy! mummy loves u very very much!

Happy Birthday and may you have many more to come. Stay healthy and happy all the time :)

Our New Baby

We finally decided to purchase Honda Jazz after much consideration. Luckily, got to know an agent from Honda and managed to get a pretty good deal at $55K. Supposed to get our baby at the end of Sep but our agent (Jeslyn) managed to rush things. In the end, we received our baby on 2nd of Aug. This was great cos we could collect Kayden's cake for his birthday celebration which would be held on the 3rd of Aug. keke...

Was apprehensive at the beginning as there was no longer a driving instructor sitting beside me. After a month of driving, think i'm slightly better now. but i still have problems with parking and directions at times. haha... Hopefully, Andy will pass his driving at the end of the month so that he could take over.

Driving Test

Was very nervous on 28th June 2008. It was the day of my driving test. I couldn't sit still and I kept pacing around the house until my mum could not stand me. Andy kept reassuring me that everything would go smoothly and I kept praying that I would pass. Don't want to spend more money learning (I have already spent $2200+) and time (Cos i wanna ttc liao. :) ) so I wanna pass it once.

Went to Ubi very early and reached there around 12 noon (even though my warm-up is at 12.30 pm) cos I had a nightmare the night before, dreaming that I was late for the test. Loitered around for quite a while before it was time for warm-up. Met an Indian guy in his mid-forties. He could see that I was nervous and shared with me his experiences. This would be his 3rd time taking the test. We chatted for a while and then we went off separately with our individual instructor.

I took car 203. The instructor wasn't very friendly and he took me to the courses and then one of the test routes. Everything seemed ok even though i was nervous. finished the warm-up in 30 mins even though it was stipulated to be 45 mins. Was brought to a room where I placed my test slip and PDL in a box. Instructor told me to come back to the room in another 30 - 40 mins. waited very anxiously outside the room. met the Indian guy again and we chatted for quite long to ease our anxiety.

Soon it was time and we drew lots. I was assigned to Route 10. Think it was one of the simplest route. Also has Mr. Asli as my tester. My heart was pounding like mad when we walked towards the car. The tester was rather quiet and had a serious face. My palms were sweating and I often had to wipe them on my jeans during the test. LOL... Thank God the traffic was quite smooth and I din have much problem changing lanes.

We soon came back to the centre and i was led to a room. The tester suddenly asked me, "Passed or Failed?" and then he quickly answered "Passed!" in a happy tone. haha... think he was trying to create suspense for me. Said that i was a pretty good driver for my 1st attempt. lol... he should have seen the mistakes i made during my lessons. always scolded for having no guts during lane changing. 12 marks were deducted (8 marks for not checking blind spots. he said that i din turn my head enough so not considered. 4 marks for slow driving.) must really try to be more careful in my future driving cos it's a big responsibility. lives are at stake.

anyway, I was elated and quickly smsed my sisters and andy. No need to spend more money on lessons but could start thinking of buying a car now. Yippee!!! must start searching for info on car liao.

Father's Day

This year, we din really celebrate Father's Day cos MIL was at home. She din go for her mahjong session. So sian...

We went to Ikea and had dinner there. Kayden presented Andy with the things he made in school. He prepared a card and a tie with the help of Teacher Firlys. Teacher Firlys said Kayden was rather afraid to use his finger to touch the paint initially but later overcame his fear. :) Brave boy, Kayden!

Andy was delighted to see the gifts from kayden. Could see him grinning with pride.


Pics of Kayden's gifts for Daddy.

I gave him a tie as he requested. But i think he doesn't really like the design even though he thanked me for it. haiz... guess will have to try harder to get something he fancy next year. keke...

Barney Show

A few mothers from the forum have been talking about the Barney Show. I was interested to bring Kayden there but was worried whether it would be a waste of time or not if he's not interested or did not want to sit down. However, after discussing with Andy, we decided to bring him there to try it out. If he's not interested, then perhaps we would not bring him to any more such shows until he's older.

So I booked the tickets online very early (kiasu, haha...) the show is in june and I booked them in April. We booked the cheapest category though we managed to get seats that are quite in front.



Pics of the tickets

We went to the book fair 1st. It was very crowded and Kayden took his nap in the stroller. Did not get anything this time round though. After that, we went to Chen Fu Ji to have dinner before going for the Barney Show. We were slightly late for the show. Kayden was very excited to see Barney and he kept saying 'Yarny'. Still can't pronounce the 'Bar' yet. LOL. He danced and jumped throughout the 1st interval. Poor Andy! His thighs were hurt. Kayden was very clingy during the interval. Not sure it's due to the effects of attending childcare or because of separation anxiety as I went to the washroom for a while earlier. He refused to acknowledge anyone. After the interval, he just sat down quietly on my lap and watched the show. Could see that he was very tired. He soon fell asleep inside the taxi ride. Haha...

More adjusted to preschool life

Once again, must thank God for allowing Kayden to adjust well to his preschool life.

He's coping much better today. Only cried at the beginning when I brought him to school. They went to the playground to play. Realised that he's more used to following the teacher's instructions. Soon after, they came back from the playground, he started clinging to me again. But later, when the teacher came, she took over and distracted him with toys. To my amazement, he was alright with the teacher and never bother about me at all. Soon, the teacher signalled to me, saying that it's alright for me to go home. Was rather worried at 1st that he might realised that I wasn't there and cry.

As a anxious mum, I went down twice and peeped at him from outside the school during the 2 hours period. Had controlled myself from going down more often. He seems alright and was playing with his teacher and friend.

I must say that I really restrained myself from going back to the playgroup until the end of the session where I fetched him home. Teacher Firlys said he ate well (finished a whole bowl of porridge) and din cry. Also commented that he's very active. Will wander around to look for me at times and then after a short while, forgot about it and started to play.

Really proud to see that he's adjusting better and is more independent and vocal now. Am also proud of myself for withstanding the negative comments arising especially from my dad.

2nd day in Childcare

Things started rather badly together. He clung tightly to me and refused to let teacher Emily check his mouth. Took a lot of persuasion to let her check his hands and feet for HFMD. Kayden was supposed to wash his hands but he cried loudly and refused to come down. insisted that I have to carry him all the time. he's not so clingy usually.

However, things were better when they were brought outdoors to the playground. He ran practically everywhere and played alongside with the others. It was good to see him cheerful again.

After the outdoor activities, he went to wash his hands again. Once again, he clung like a koala bear and cried. Finally, managed to wash his hands. There, Teacher Emily brought him to sit with the group with me sitting beside him. They sang songs about making fruit juice and then drinking the water from their bottles. After that, Kayden wandered to the play area and started playing with the toys again. He is more comfortable with Aaron now.

Soon after Teacher Firlys arrived. Today, she taught them how to make tea by dipping a teabag into the cups of water. Kayden was very attentive and pronounced tea bag, tea, water and cup. He also enjoyed stirring the cup of tea. However, he refused to drink the tea when offered.





Kayden's attending a tea making session. :)

They then proceeded to colouring where Teacher Firlys taught him to colour within the picture. After that, they played some games with the linking cubes. He sat inside the basket instead. LOL... Thinking that he's alright then, I then wanted to get a drink but the teachers told me to inform him. Told him but then he got agitated. Moved away from his seat and stuck himself to me again despite me reassuring him that I would be back. In the end, I din manage to get a drink.

He started to get restless and wandered off again. He smelled food being cooked and moved towards the kitchen. He stood outside watching the auntie cooked. Teacher Firlys went over and she mentioned that Kayden might be hungry. True enough, when the food was served, he finished them quickly. It was noodles soup today and he enjoyed them. Wanted to feed himself so I guided him in finishing up the food. He then approached Teacher Firlys for apple and said, 'Please'. Teacher Firlys was glad that he used his 'p's. :) He took the apple and moved over to the other group and sat down to eat the apple with him. Not sure why he started crying halfway. Then, he moved to the door again and signaled that he wanted to go home.

Teacher Firlys then brought out 3 toy vehicles for them to play with. Really feel good to see Kayden moving around happily.



Having fun with Aaron

He fell though as he tried to climb and stand on the vehicle. Luckily, he was alright despite the shock.

Brought him back after that. He was more cheerful and sociable and started to talk a bit more compared to usual. All in all, guess today is still alright as it could be due to the hands-on activities. Thank God for answering my prayer. Will continue to pray that he will get used to the environment soon. :)

1st Day In Childcare

Felt that Kayden doesn't really know how to socialise with others and hence have decided to enrol him in a playgroup for him to socialise with others. I'm so worried cos he was friendly to others when he was younger but he seemed to be rather anti-social nowsadays. he refused to talk to strangers or even smile to them which is so unusual compared to the past.

As a result, I sent Kayden to playgroup this morning. He is now a pupil of ABC Children's Place which is just behind my parents' block. It was the only one which my parents agreed to despite me taking the effort to call a number of centres and visiting a couple of them prior to that. reason is that it is convenient for them. Sometimes, I really wished that I could be a SAHM so that I don't have to trouble them and yet be able to send Kayden to a more reputable school.


Kayden's in his sleepy mode. woke him up to change him into his uniform.


Anyway, this is really a stressful experience for Kayden as well as for me. We went there around 8.30am. He was still alright until his daddy decided to leave for work. Cried and clung onto Andy. I took over and brought him around to see the room. From there, we moved over to the assembly area where I think a Chinese prayer was being chanted. Kayden thought it was music and danced and clapped his hands. He was laughing. The rest of the children were serious and then, they proceeded to have their breakfast.

I took Kayden to have breakfast with the toddlers 2 class. He had cornflakes and full cream milk. He fed himself with the spoon with me holding onto the bowl so that he won't spill the food. he din eat much. guess it wasn't to his liking and perhaps he was still full as he had taken some milk prior to that at home.

The teacher-in-charge, Teacher Firlys, was not in yet as she was only working from 10am to 7pm. Hence, Kayden and his classmate, Arron, were with Teacher Jenny. They sat at the toys section playing with the toys. They played side by side and were alright with each other's company. Kayden would occasionally pass some toys to Arron and vice versa.




Kayden with Arron, playing with the toys.
Soon, teacher Firlys arrived. She sang a welcome song and wanted to do High-Five with Kayden but Kayden did not respond. She then moved onto numbers like 1, 2 and 3 as well as food which Kayden knew. Kayden started roaming around the room and exploring the place. Teacher Firlys managed to get him to sit down and they then moved onto animals. She brought out a box of toy animals. Kayden was very excited and started to take the toys out. Seeing that he was rather alright and was concentrated in the lesson, I slowly removed myself from the class and moved to another corner where I observed him playing. He was very focused and din seem to remember where he was. However, there was a point where he suddenly remembered that I was not there. He cried for me which the teacher tried to hug him and to console him. He refused to be consoled. I then came over and carried him.

After this, on and off during the lesson, Kayden started crying and saying 'pa pa' ('Scared' in mandarin). Soon after, it was lunch. Kayden sat on a chair and i fed him rice with soup, with some beans, beancurd and vegetarian meat. He finished the whole bowl. As he saw teacher Firlys holding onto a container of apples, he moved his chair beside her and asked for apple. Teacher Firlys gave him one and he grinned. He moved over beside me and started to eat his apple. He was very cheerful then and even wanted to play peek-a-boo with Arron. After eating, Kayden started roaming around again. He even moved to the wooden door and started doing flying kiss, thinking that he would be going home. When he realised that he wasn't going home, he tried to climb the door but to no avail. It was really upsetting for me when he gave up and sat down dejectedly near the door. I was trying to hold back my tears, thinking why did I wanna make my boy suffer at such a young age. Did I make a wrong decision? I felt so guilty for causing my boy to go through such a traumatic day in his young life.

We were supposed to leave at 1pm but we left earlier as he was really very cranky. I was very upset and cried for causing him to have such a stressful day. My parents bathed him and I fed him milk afterwards. He was so tired that he slept halfway while drinking. It was so depressing to see him so sad and tired as he had to adjust to a new environment. Although I understand that separation anxiety is a passing phase that happens irregardless of age, I really could not stand the thought of him crying and feeling depressed for the next couple of weeks.

I really dread to bring Kayden to school tomorrow. Would it be the same or better? I really pray that I would have the strength to withstand his crying and that Kayden would be able to adjust soon to preschool life. God, please grant me my prayer!

A collage of Kayden's growing up phase (up to 18 months)

Have been thinking of doing a collage to put up as a wallpaper on my office laptop so I could see Kayden during my free moments. Happened to have an hour free and I don't feel like doing any other work so I looked through the past 18months photos and selected a few that I like.


Here's the end product even though it wasn't as nicely done up as I would prefer. Just a basic one. Hopefully, I can brush up my IT skills and create a nicer one in the future.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day. It was really after being a mother that I understood how my mum felt and sacrificed as she brought us up.

As usual, I can't celebrate Mother's Day with my mum as I needed to have Mother's Day dinner with mil. Luckily, I had dinner with her the day before and gave her a red packet before and even though I should be thankful for my mother everyday and not just on Mother's Day. She was very happy though and never demand for anything. just any simple gift would make her happy. My youngest sis cooked for her. Andy was very thoughtful. He bought bird nest from Eu Yen Sang for my mum and grandma. Both of them were delighted with the gifts. keke.... Why I din think of it huh? haha... Just really want to thank them for raising me up as I know I wasn't an easy child to take care of.

Kayden and Andy had also prepared a gift for me. A bear carrying a few stalks of flowers. Andy gave it to Kayden and Kayden passed it to me even though he was scared of flowers. It was so dear even though it din cost much.


A pic of the gift they bought me.

Told Andy that I don't need any gift. The best gift is to see Kayden growing fit and healthy, intelligent and well-behaved. Really love the 2 of them very much...

Now, it's my turn to think of Father's Day gift. not too sure what to get for Andy though. couldn't possibly get flowers right? :)

1st visit to the airport

Since mil was home on Sunday, we decided to go to the airport and jalan jalan. It was Kayden's 1st time going to the Airport and taking the train.

See Kayden at the train station.

Kayden in the train. He loves to hold onto the handles and swing them together. He also enjoyed holding onto the pole too. kept saying it's cold cold. haha...

Kayden with his grandma in the train.



I called my sis when I was in the train and she asked me to go to T3. We went to T3 1st. found that it's big and not so so crowded. Kayden ran everywhere and it was tiring to chase after him. refused to let us hold his hand and walked. notti notti...

he finally sat down on a chair to rest. but not for long...



After that, we took the skytrain to T2. again, he ran everywhere until we brought him to a place where there're flowers. not sure if he's really scared of flowers but he always love to see them and say 'flower'repeatedly and yet when we bring him over, he'll always cringe and cling onto us. Kept wanting us to carry him and bring him away and yet wanting to see the flowers. this funny boy. anyway, mil wanted us to take photos of him with the orchids as they are really nice so we took a few. It was very difficult for us to capture nice ones as he was always looking back at the flowers or trying to get us to move away. haha...






We then went to Burger King for a break. Ordered some chicken tenders and fries. gave him a small fry to try and he was hooked. Took another from the pile without asking and just popped it into his mouth. He then continued on and on until we refused to give it to him. did not want to give him too many so we hid the rest and told him there were no more fries. of course, he cried and wanted us to give him more. we refused and quickly brought him to another place to distract him.

Walked around a while more and then it was time for dinner. Went to Swenson. There were so many people. I ordered a kids'meal and shared with him cos I wasn't hungry.

After that, we rushed back home cos my sil's family came over. Kayden was so tired that he fell asleep on the feeder bus around 7plus. din even wake up for his nite feed. i was tired out too. haha... in the end, din manage to iron any clothes at all. andy was so nice. he did not wake me up and ironed his own clothes. he's really a wonderful husband.

Smacks

Not sure if I've been doing the right thing but I've smacked Kayden a couple of times when he throws things when he's angry or when he wants to climb without supervision. he'll stop after a while. seems like he understood that such behaviour is undesirable and will stop. but sometimes, he will purposely want to attract my attention. he'll go to the double-deck bed, wait for me to look at him and purposely climb the ladder without waiting for me to move over.

however, smacking or threatening by 'ta shou'(beat his hand) seems to have negative effects on him. nowsadays when he is frustrated with himself, he smacks his hand or leg and say 'ta shou'or 'ta jiao'(hit his leg). Furthermore, he's also learning to use it on us. When we don't give in to him, he will threaten 'ta jiao ah'. Ai yoh, dunno what to do. There are differing views. Some said that he's using 'ji jiang fa'to stop the punishment and I should continue. I'm not too sure too cos I dun want him to use violence on himself or on others. But reasoning or asking him to sit in notti corner doesn't work. He'll throw tantrums if he's put in his notti corner which defeats the purpose of punishing him.

Guess must go read up some books on discipline during the june hols liao. :(

Activities for the month

Kayden's getting naughtier. His 3 favourite activities for this month are stacking, climbing and scribbling.

STACKING
He stacks everything that is in sight. From packet drinks to can drinks, from can drinks to bottles, from bottles to jars, etc. Everything can also be stacked. LOL... somemore, he will refuse to stop if I want him to stop. will smash the stack of things down. kenna told off and smacked by me. haiz...






CLIMBING
He simply loves to climb. Want to climb the stairs, ladder of the double-deck bed at my mum's place, tables, chairs, cupboards and even window grilles. it's so dangerous nowsadays to leave him alone.

SCRIBBLING
"Paper please?" That's what I always hear from him over the weekend. He's always asking me for paper to scribble. I've introduced him to pens and crayons a couple of months ago but he's only very obsessed in scribbling this month. He loves to see the star and flower so I tend to draw them. He'll be very excited and say, ' star' and 'flower' and kept repeating these words. haha... he scribbles all over. even the big mahjong paper is not enough. The floor, the walls and even the furniture at my parent's place became his drawing materials. My father even joked that I have to 'pay' for my boy's artwork by cleaning or repainting the walls. haha... now still waiting for the crayola supplies to arrive. have been waiting for them for a couple of months. hoping that they are really washable as mentioned. :)

The after effects of swimming

Have been bringing Kayden for weekly swims at Tampines Swimming complex for the past 2 months. He's more accustomed to the water now and enjoys the swim. In fact, it's difficult to bring him out of the pool to swim nowsadays. He'll cry and insist that we let him continue with his swim.

His skin has really darkened a lot after these few swimming sessions.

See the difference!

He's getting more vocal

Hihi... din blog for some time again. Just to add on his latest development in case i forgot about it. he's getting more vocal and can use his tone to show whether he's happy or frustrated. he knows more words now and is starting to use them in his communication with us. he can also end the last word of each line in 'twinkle twinkle little star' and can complete some number patterns such as '1,2...' and he will say '3'. however, there are also times when he refused to say anything at all. he seemed to be more interested in numbers than in languages. prefers dvds that shows counting or related to numbers. seems like he'll be different from his mum. haha... i can never do well in maths.

Trying to act independent

Think he's trying to be more independent by copying what we're doing. he'll want to vacumm the floor, use the mop to mop the floor, wipe the table with a cloth, feeding himself, folding clothes and handkerchiefs etc. i know that we're supposed to praise him (which we did) but sometimes, it's really tiring as we've to redo everything again.

met up with my nephews during CNY. They are now in sec sch and can see that they are not so close to the parents anymore. it makes me a bit sad as time is really passing very fast. it would be soon when he'll want to spend more time with friends than with me. sometimes, really wish to be able to hold on to the precious time we have together. am seriously considering part-time teaching and supplement my income with tuition.

Cleaning his 'bao bei'

Was laying Kayden down one day to clean his bottom using wet wipes. surprisingly, he took a piece of wet wipes and clean his 'bao bei'. he was looking at me to see my reaction. i was astonished and laughed. he also laughed along. he then took a dry tissue to clean again. haha... it was so comical as he was looking at me all the time and trying to clean his 'bao bei'. i praised him for being trying to clean himself and he smiled. however, he din really do a good job so i've to clean him up again.

16 - 18 months development

Kayden has been blabbering a lot these days. sometimes, i can't make sense of what he's saying. but I'm sure glad that he's trying to communicate. haha... think he's picking up rojak language (a mixture of hokkien, teo chew, english and chinese). now hoping he'll be able to code switch when he gets older. basically, he'll try to say what we say but he'll be rather reserved in public and will not talk when we asked him to.

Am trying to teach him some manners now cos he's getting really naughty. knows how to 'sai nai'(saying 'please' in a pitiful manner) or use his tears as weapon to get us to give in. now he knows how to say 'please' and 'xie xie'.