My chatty toddler (part 2)

What happens when he is naughty and I've just raised my voice at him.....

Joshie : Mummy, don't angry.........shows me a sad face

Mummy : Then you'd better listen to mummy. Be an obedient boy.

Joshie : Sorry mummy......

Mummy : Ok, good boy!

Joshie : Hugs (then he hugs)....kiss (and he kisses)

My chatty toddler

As I was driving home from the market today, I heard this conversation between my helper, M and Joshie who were both sitting at the back seat.

Joshie : Daddy love you, Joshie......

M : How much does daddy love you, Josh?

Joshie : Too much

M : How much do you love daddy?

Joshie : 1

And earlier on in the market....

M : How much do you love mummy?

Joshie : 20 cents

(He learned this from a classmate who answered "16 dollars" when their teacher asked how much he loves her)

And during the weekend, he was singing this.

J : Hot dog hot dog hot diggety dog, the mouse ran up the clock......

Mummy : No Josh, you are mixing up two songs. If you want to sing the Mickey Mouse theme song, it should be "Hot dog hot dog hot diggety dog, now we've got ears it's time for cheers" or if you want to sing Hickory Dickory Dock, it should be "Hickory Dickory Dock, the mouse ran up the clock"....

J : I dunno........then giggles cheekily

My 2.5 year old is a real chatty boy. It's really difficult to read him a story too as he would always interrupt and tell me his own version of the story. His teacher has also commented that she needs to ask him to tone down during lesson time too. However, since he is shy by nature, he'd keep his mouth shut when he is amongst strangers or unfamiliar friends/relatives until he warms up to them.

Ah ma's visit

The MIL came two Thursdays ago. And she's going back tomorrow. So what did we do when she was around? Stayed at home mostly during the weekdays as she wanted to teach our new helper how to cook.

During the 1st weekend that she was around, we brought her to the Jacob Ballas children garden. This garden is part of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Entrance is free if you are accompanying a child who is 12 years and below. If not, there is a fee, but am not sure how much. This garden provides a unique and fun place for children to learn about plants. Besides, there's a treehouse playground, sand play area and water fountain.

Here's a picture of Joshie with ah ma in front of a fake durian tree.

The hubby and I got the opportunity to jog around while ah ma watched Joshie at the fountain area. After our exercise, we went to Lei Garden at Orchard Plaza for brunch. The dim sum was delicious =)

In the evening, after Joshie's afternoon nap, we headed over to Marina Bay Sands. Did some window shopping at The Shoppes and Joshie had a little run outside before we headed for dinner.
Cheeky posing with ah ma.

Certain phrases picked up from school

Since he started school in January, he'd been really chatty. Picked things up really fast. Anyway, here's a few of his recent verbal expressions:

Are you ready, mummy?

Not again!

Thank you everybody.

Is it funny?........then he giggles

It's playdough time/ It's colouring time etc etc

Let's go/let's eat/let's pour etc etc

Oh my God

Besides, he's speaking in full sentences most of the time. Has correctly used prepositions and tenses too. Hmnn, I think his Mandarin would also improve by leaps and bounds when he starts his classes very soon (i hope)!

Oscar's farewell

Joshie's dear friend, Oscar has gone back to Australia for good. They relocated back more than a week ago. Since then, Joshie has asked for Oscar a couple of times, but usually he'd answer his own question by saying "no more oscar......Oscar go back Australia".

We were sad to lose a friend but I guess farewells are part and parcel of life, especially when your friends are expats. We attended two farewells for Oscar, and the week before their departure date, the boys played with each other nearly everyday.

This was at the playground at Spruce cafe, located near Tanglin. The two boys were playing in the playground while waiting for the rest to arrive.

Hubs with both boys. He was entertaining them while we waited for our food to arrive. No pictures of the food as we were real busy keeping up to the boys' demands. I shared a banana pancake with Joshie which was delicious. Very big portion, and Joshie loved the cookie bits that were sprinkled on the pancake.

Oscar's mom also organized a farewell playdate for her son. It was held at the fountain area of City Sq Mall. Here's a picture of both boys in their swimmies, munching on homemade cookies while waiting for the others to arrive.

They had a blast at the fountain, running around and shrieking happily.

To Elke and Oscar, we wish you the very best. Do call us when you come back to Singapore for a visit.........We miss you.

Central Fire Station @ Hill Street

Two weekends ago, Elke and I brought the boys to visit the Central Fire Station. We were not sure what to expect. We were thinking that maybe the boys would get a chance to sit in a fire engine and maybe try on some helmets. But we were in for a surprise. There was a flurry of activities for the boys.

We saw firemen preparing to attend to an emergency call. This was "real" and not a show put on for visitors.

An opportunity to ride on the cherry picker. Since the boys were very young, we were only lifted up to the 2nd-3rd level of a standard building. The boys were also strapped as the gaps were really huge. We saw some older children being lifted up much higher.

The boys were given the chance to try on the firemen helmet before trying their hands on the hose. However, both boys refused, maybe because the helmet was a tad heavy for them. My son enjoyed this a lot =)

Pretending to drive the fire engine

Joshie and friends playing in the puddle. He was really filthy and dirty. Even got his pants wet. Mummy had to close one eye lar.......

The central fire station is opened for public visits on Saturdays between 9-11am. I am not sure if this is a one-off and regular thing. It was really a good, educational visit for the kids. An eye-opener for adults too.

My recent goal.....

.......is to teach my son how to ride the bicycle.

We did not buy him a tricycle as we figured he'd outgrow it very soon. I know it's much easier to push the handle from behind with his feet at the pedals, so that he'd get the hang of it. I have heard moms telling me that it's much easier for them to learn that way. However, to save cost, we bought him a big bicycle, which should last him till he is 6 yo.

Went to Carrefour to have a look but the bikes don't look good. Rough finishing and doesn't look stable. Headed to Toys R Us and hubby OK-ed this bicycle. SGD139!!! Children's things ain't cheap huh?

The cheeky knows how to move his feet in a cycling motion. However, he moves it backwards, instead of forward. So, my aim now is to get him to cycle forward, so that the bicycle will move forward, instead of staying stationary. Problem is, this boy can be too independent at times. He doesn't want mummy around helping him. That's my obstacle.

E&O Hotel

My bedridden grandma lives in Penang, and we try to visit her twice a year. Of course once would be during Chinese New Year. Each time we go to Penang, we'd stay in a hotel as her house is too small to accomodate all three of us. Furthermore, there's no air-cond and I bet my high-class son would have trouble sleeping.

During the recent Chinese New Year, we actually planned to stay in Shangri-la hotel but due to our last minute booking, there was no room for us. Hubs then decided that he wanted to try staying at E&O hotel. So on the third day of CNY, we drove straight to this luxurious hotel after visiting grandma.

Our suite.

The view from our suite.

Cheeky goofing around.

This was taken in the morning after/during breakfast. As usual, Joshie stuffed himself silly with all the sugary breakfast cereals which I don't normally buy at home - Koko Krunch, Honey Stars, etc etc........ He followed hubby out for a walk after the hubs had finished but he still wanted to hold on to his cereal bowl. Sat down here and enjoyed the cool breeze while eating.

No baby pool in the hotel. Not very child friendly........but nevertheless, the little boy had a great time at the pool.