Conversations with my sons

At the shopping mall car park 

Me: Bryant, do you want to sit in the stroller or walk?
Bryant : mummy carry


On the way home from school

Joshua : Mummy, did ah ma (paternal grandma) go to the hospital to give birth to a baby?
Me : yes she did
Joshua : where is her baby now? She doesn’t want it? She gave it to people?
Me : Josh, her baby is all grown up now
Joshua : so where is the baby?
Me : Josh ar...... Didn't mummy teach you that daddy 's mummy is your ah ma? Ah ma is the mother and your daddy dearest is the son. Her baby is your daddy!
Joshua : (thinks for a while).....    Hmnn, so I am right. She doesn't want her baby.
Me: huh?
Joshua : she doesn't want her baby!! She gave her baby to us, mummy.

B self feeding.

Bryant likes to feed himself. At times he would get angry if I don't give him the spoon to feed himself. I prefer him eating finger food by himself but not wet messy food like porridge or cereal. However, I just close one eye and give in to him as I know it is good for him to develop his motor skills.

He also prefers our food, thanks to his beloved brother who introduced him to tasty food, as compared to his bland toddler food. In the picture above, he was eating my lunch, my bolognese beef wrap and he really liked it a lot.

He can get really cheeky during mealtimes. After he has spilled water on the table (many times on purpose), he would say 'wet' and gesture for the cloth or tissue to wipe his mess.

When he is not creating a mess, he would request for books by pointing to the bookcase and saying 'book'. His favourites are the Nursery Rhymes and Noah 's Ark. He can play Pat-a-cake round after round. And he can correctly tell us the sound that these 3 animals make, the duck, the sheep and the cow. I am so proud of his love for books and pray that this will continue.

PE open lesson

Today was PE open lesson in Joshua's school. Parents were invited to stand in during the class. 

First, they played a warm up game known as Stuck Mud. It looked really fun. It was something like tag actually, but with some more exciting features. 

Here is J running during the game. 

Next was gymnastics. Here is J rolling down at one of the stations. 

And the balancing station. Instead of obediently balancing the bean bag while walking on the elevated platform, Joshua and his friend Frederick was fooling around. Boys will be boys. 

We ended by doing the Hokey Pokey with the kids. 

Happenings in Joshua's school

Couple of weeks ago, parents were invited for Chinese open lessons. We sat through the 30 minute Chinese lesson and had a rough idea of what our kids learn. It was a good opportunity for me to observe how Joshua behaves in class........(he wasn't paying attention all the time, haha) and also to gauge the level of Chinese taught.

Here is a picture of Joshua and his classmates. They were waiting for the Chinese teacher to arrive. Pictured below is their class teacher. 

Chinese lesson. The kids took turns performing for the parents to see. They sang a Chinese song with actions. 

And a week later, it was Pirate day in school. Children and teachers were encouraged to dress up as pirates. As Josh had outgrown his pirate costume, I borrowed one from a friend. Here he is, with his parrot :) Behind him is the assistant teacher. 

Little pirates having a discussion.....hehe.

H F M D

Yup, both my boys got it. Bryant had a mild fever last Monday, followed by Joshua on Tuesday. I thought it was just the usual Upper Respiratory Tract Infection. Actually I brought Bryant to see the paed on Monday. I was told that his throat was red, but as it was still very early, no ulcer had surfaced yet. I only suspected HFMD after checking Joshua's throat on Thursday night after he complained of sore throat the whole day. I saw ulcers in his throat and upon checking his body, found some spots on his inner thighs. The next day, he had a red spot on his wrist. 

As for Bryant, I only managed to check him on Friday morning. No chance of checking his throat so I focused on his body and limbs. Found a blister on his big toe. So off we went to the paed who confirmed that both boys have HFMD and are to be quarantined till Tuesday. I felt really guilty as Josh had been going to school. He only had a mild fever on Tuesday afternoon and was all good after that. Thus, I packed him off to school on Wednesday. Being responsible, I informed the school and apologised for not suspecting anything earlier. Thank God there were no further cases of HFMD in school.....or else I'd feel even worse. 

Blister on the big toe. 

Unfortunately for me, my dear hubby was down with a high fever, body aches and sore throat on Friday and Saturday. And my maid had similar symptoms to my hubby on Saturday. Did they contract HFMD from the boys? I have no idea. They had no blisters on their bodies. My maid saw a doctor who said it was tonsilities though........ But seems such a coincidence that all of them are down with different viruses at the same time. Thank God I was spared. 

Generally my boys coped very well. Perhaps it was because theirs was a mild strain. Their only discomfort was being quarantined. It was easier for Josh than for Bryant. At least he could entertain himself with toys and tv. On the other hand, Bryant kept wanting to go out. He kept bringing his shoes to the door and cried when we carried him away. So I had to rack my brains and think of ways to entertain him. For eg, playing under the covers. That kept them happy and occupied for quite a long time. Hehe.

And some artwork on the face......hehe.

Both boys were all good by the end of their quarantined period. Blisters dried up. I even checked Joshua's throat again and was relieved to see no more ulcer. =)

We were all grinning from ear to ear when the boys finally stepped out of the house.........Freedom, yay!!!

B talks

He is such a cute chatterbox. In this picture, he took Joshua's pants and tried to aim his legs into the pants opening. I had a good laugh looking at his attempts. I then decided to let him wear it, just for laughs.

At 14 months, these are the words that B can say.

Mama
Dada
Koko
Back (meaning put back)
Ba-bai (meaning goodbye)
Arg (meaning hug)
Top (meaning stop)
No no
Pop pop (meaning he wants to play the Balloons Popping app on ipad)
Baba (meaning bubbles)

Besides all these words, he babbles a lot throughout the day. Cuteness to the max. And I am treasuring every moment of it.

Disciplining Bryant

B can be really naughty at times...........For example:

1) Hitting / punching his brother (no prize for guessing where he learnt that from);

2) Crying and stomping his feet on the ground when his demands are not met; and

3) Attempting to climb out of the high chair most of the time (very dangerous, now we need to request for high chairs with safety belts whenever we dine outside).

So, I had to discipline him. Sometimes, I beat his little hand, and sometimes I put him in the naughty corner. He seems to understand the naughty corner concept, maybe from observing his brother. He would stand there most of the time. Rarely would he escape.

Parenting is not easy. I feel it is easier to discipline and punish when they are older, as they have the ability to understand and question you. At this tender toddler age, I sometimes wonder if Bryant knows what he is being punished for.

Bryant's antics

Our cute toddler never fails to make us laugh everyday. He discovers and learns new things very quickly. Children at this age really absorb things at lightning speed. It is really awesome but scary at the same time as we as adults have to be careful in our actions and words. 

I was feeding B halfway when there was a notification on my phone. Thinking it was a phone call, he put one hand to his ear and started babbling away.

Monkey see monkey do. J loves the PSY Gangnam song and would always sing and dance when the song is played. B also knows how to do the Gangnam hand action. 

Oh oh.......where is the dish cover????

Introducing him to Mickey in preparation for our Hong Kong holiday. 

'Mmuuuuuuuacks!'

Lol.....I laughed when I saw this. Sometimes when I am carrying B, I just use my big toe to turn on the switch as I do not want to hurt my back. My little cheeky decided that he also wants to do the same.

Our Music Studio

After a two month hiatus of not attending any classes, we signed Bryant up for music classes in January. I have been wanting to sign him up much earlier but the timing of the classes have always clashed with his lunch and nap time. However, now that he is older, he is a bit more flexible so I quickly booked him in for a lunch time class.

Our Music Studio, which was previously known as Kindermusik is located at Tanglin Mall.

Here are some snapshots of Bryant during the class. It is a parent accompanied 45 minute class.

Playing with the metallophone. 

Tap tap tap........

Beat the drum, rum pum pum.........

Colorful parachute.

Just like his older brother, Bryant enjoys the class a lot. He would attempt to sing most of the time. And he also doesn't sit still on our laps. He prefers to wander around and observe other kiddos.

Morning conversation with Josh

J: Mummy, I think we need one girl, then we will be complete.
Me: huh?  What do you mean one girl?
J: I need to have a baby sister!!! You have a baby in your tummy. You become pregnant, u know!
Me: oh? U sure? Then u will have 2 babies......
J: yes, I can take care of them
Me: you go tell your daddy
J: no, it is a secret
Me: cannot be a secret from daddy........ Only daddy can make mummy pregnant.
J: how???
Me: ask your daddy

Sibling love

I am so thankful that my boys love each other a lot. Even though Joshie may be rough at times, he loves his little brother to bits. Of course there are numerous times when he snatches a toy from Bryant, hits him etc etc but he is still a very loving and protective brother.

Bryant has also been very cheeky lately. He snatches toys from Josh and hits him too...... But each time he sees Josh, his face lights up. He would smile and laugh happily. Josh is the only one in the family who can make Bryant giggle uncontrollably. 

Thus it is so difficult to separate them when one is sick. They hug and kiss many times a day. I have to repeatedly remind and warn Josh not to hug and kiss Bryant. It is really very heartwarming and I pray that they will always remain loving and protective towards each other. 

Some CNY snapshots

Posing together with the paternal grandparents on the 1st day of the Snake year. Every year, we go to church on the 1st day of CNY, followed by visiting a stream of relatives. By the time we arrive home, it is dinner time. 

Day 2 of the Snake year. Back to mummy's hometown, in Ipoh. Josh playing with fireworks in front of maternal grandparents house.

Next door neighbour's open house on Day 7. Josh posing with the lion head. He enjoyed the lion dance but started trembling when the 'lion' came over to offer him an orange. 

Hubby and I took turns closing B's ears. B seemed ok with the lion dance, but then he was not standing very near them.

The 13 month old

That is his trademark cheeky smile.

At 13 months, he is 76cm tall and 11kg in weight. Much smaller than koko.

He has been very vocal in the past one month. Talking a lot. And without us prompting anymore. He automatically waves and says 'ba bai' when he knows it is time to go out. And he has started kissing too. His flying kiss is no longer just an action of placing his palm over his mouth. Now he kisses his palm before thrusting his hand forward again.

Not limited to flying kiss. He can also kiss mummy, daddy and koko. He seems to prefer kissing our lips than our cheeks though.

Another cute thing that he does is waggling his index finger and saying 'no no'. He knows what he can or cannot do. When he goes near the forbidden stuff, he will waggle his finger and say 'no no'. However, curiosity usually overtakes obedience, so we still have to reaffirm our 'no no' and carry him away from whatever is forbidden.

During the recent Chinese New Year celebration, we taught him to clasp his hands together and do the 'gong xi gong xi' action. He learnt pretty fast and soon managed to say 'gong' as well.

Joshie is delighted that his brother has also started saying 'ko ko'. Bryant doesn't say it very loudly yet though. It is really cute to hear him say 'ko ko' when we wait for Joshie dismissal from school.

Oh..... And this little boy loves dogs. He is not afraid of our neighbour 's big dog too. He would point to it, saying' dog'.

It is really amazing how quickly babies learn.

The walking baby

The day after he turned one, my little B turned from a crawling baby to a walking baby. He just started walking longer distances. It was so cute to see his two little legs toddling away in the playground. And he's been trying to walk really fast, to keep up with the older kids. 

Well done, little B. 

Here are two snapshots of my walking baby. 

The baby is 1

My dearest Bryant,

You are 1 today.

The little baby of the family is growing up. Not much a baby anymore as you are progressing to your toddler stage. In fact, you have started toddling around about a month ago. What started as a wobbly step forward has progressed to 6-7 drunken steps :-), I know you still prefer to crawl as you can move around much faster. But don't your knees hurt, my dear?

Today, your daddy is not around to celebrate with you as he is working very hard overseas. Nevertheless, he misses you dearly and wishes he can plant a kiss on your cute puffy cheeks. To make up for your daddy's absence, mummy has arranged for a few close friends to celebrate with you. As soon as you wake up from your nap, we would be going downstairs to meet them. Mummy's friend has baked 63 mini birthday cupcakes, which have been arranged to spell your name. Your beloved koko is looking forward to blowing your candle (again)!

My dear baby boy. I know I have said it many times, but you are really cute! Cute, cute, cute. An overload of cuteness.

You are trying to talk. You babble a lot. All sorts of sounds come out of your little mouth. Your trademark is 'tekoi tekoi tekoi', thanks to your daddy who just simply babbled some baby language to you and it just stuck to your tongue. When you were 10 months plus, you started saying 'ba bai' when told to wave goodbye. And you have been calling 'ma ma', countless times. That is so sweet to my ears, my dear boy. And when you want to call someone or attract attention, you would say 'ah daaaaaaa' loudly. You say 'ba ba' many times too, but unlike 'ma ma', it is not directed at your father.

You love to point. With your cute little index finger. I am still trying to teach you to point to your head, tummy, eyes, nose, ears, mouth correctly but you don't seem to want to pay attention. Or mummy is a real bad teacher :-D

And you love to press buttons. You itchy little index finger is always pressing the forbidden switch, trying to switch on/off the electric point pad. Not to mention pressing the buttons on the table fan in your room.

Just like your brother, you love books. Your current favourites are 'lift the flap' books. I like to sit and watch your little fingers trying to lift the flap. This is something I really treasure as I know this valuable moments will soon pass. Books can occupy you for a longer time than toys and I am really proud of that. I hope your love for books continue to grow.

You love your big brother a lot. You will smile and laugh when you see him. Even though he can be rough to you, you love him nonetheless. And you have learnt to fend for yourself during your fights. Sometimes when koko doesn't bother you, you 'stir up trouble' by starting to hit him. You are a real naughty and cheeky one. No wonder koko calls you 'my cheeky baby'.

So my dear boy, mummy wishes you a Happy Birthday. My prayer is that our good Lord continue to bless and protect you. Keeping you safe all the time. And may happiness, health and the favour of the Lord always be upon you.

Mummy, daddy and koko love you dearly. And so do your grandparents, uncle and aunt.

With love,
Mummy

His first day at big school

Since we are neither Singaporeans nor PRs, chances of our boys getting into a local school of our choice is very slim. Thus, we enrolled Joshie in international school in 2010, and Bryant was subsequently enrolled two months ago. Wait any longer and Bryant would have been on wait list. I know, Bryant was hardly 1 when we registered him. 

I had a prep talk with J about big school, and gave him a lot of assurance that all will be fine. It helped that a few of his playschool friends had also started international school in the past few months so I could use them as examples to motivate him. 

His big school had also organized a 1 hour orientation in November so he was quite familiar with the classroom environment. 

This is my firstborn on his first day. We were on our way to school. I could tell he was excited, yet a little nervous. 

His classroom. Parents were not allowed to stay, even though it was their first day. We were asked to keep our goodbyes simple. Joshie teared a bit but I gave him a hug and reassured him I would return very soon. Luckily there were a lot of toys to distract him. 

Dismissal time. I was so glad to see a happy happy face. Even happier when my son said 'I like big school, mummy. School was fun'. 

Joshie says

Scenario 1
(walks into lift and crosses his arms across his chest)
Joshie : Oscar is not going to marry Emilie
Me : Oh really? Who is going to marry Emilie then?
Joshie : Me! I am going to marry Emilie
Me : When is the wedding?
Joshie : Next week

(and the next morning)
Joshie : Mummy, Emilie and I are going to have a wedding party. There will be chocolates at the party. But Emilie and I are not going to dance, cause I am shy.......

Scenario 2
Maid : Josh, drink your milk first
Joshie : But I am playing......wait first
Maid : No, you drink now. And play later.
Joshie : Aunty, I said wait first. You need to be patient.

Scenario 3
(we were on the escalator and he was observing the signs showing the do's and don'ts on the escalator)
Joshie : Mummy, you cannot bring the stroller on the escalator
Me: Why do you say so, Josh?
Joshie : It's wrong, mummy......(points to sign).....look there, cannot bring stroller coz it is wrong!!!

Joshie's first surgery

Our dear Joshie had his first surgery on 8 August 2012. It was a minor procedure, according to the ENT surgeon, but he had to be under GA as he had to be very still. Three main things were done during the surgery; i) adenoidectomy - removal of adenoids, ii) tonsillectomy - removal of tonsils and iii) insertion of grommets (ear tubes). We were told that this is quite a common surgery among kids and it is relatively safe. However, as parents, we had our own worries and doubts as well. 

It all started with an ear infection that would not clear, even with 3 doses of antibiotics, and various cough and flu medication. I was just so tired and scared of feeding him medication. He had a URTI in late May and that was when his paed found out, through an ear check that he has an ear infection. A 7-days dose of Augmentin antibiotics still did not solve the problem, so he was given another dose a week later and told to see an ENT for a more thorough check-up. So in late June, we visited the ENT who said that his middle ear still looks opaque (it's supposed to be clear, transparent). The ENT surgeon said that it probably would clear very soon but if it didn't, he'd need surgery to clear the mucus that was trapped in the middle ear. Otherwise, this could lead to other problems, such as hearing loss. 

To cut the long story short, he caught another URTI, possibly from school, so his ear never got a chance to heal. He had frequent fevers, and his cough/runny nose just wouldn't go away. It was a constant battle for us; fighting against the infection. He lost weight, didn't sleep well and I was seriously beginning to consider surgery. So we had a discussion with the ENT, talked to friends who had gone through this and of course consulted our Mr Google. The ENT suggested adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy as well as he said that when he checked Joshie's throat, his tonsils were really large and swollen. He reckons the same with the adenoids too. So a date was booked. And here are some pictures of our Joshie on that day.

I prepped him about the surgery but only casually mentioned the post-surgery discomfort as I did not want him to go into OT crying and screaming away. Here he is in the taxi, still in his pyjamas, at 7am in the morning. He had to fast from the night before. Thank God he didn't fuss about not being able to eat/drink. He is hugging his new Angry Bird soft toy, given by Uncle Gideon who visited him and prayed for him just the night before the op. Thanks so much Gideon. 

Hubby accompanied him till about 9ish am as I had to feed Bryant and put him down for his morning nap before I left house. I felt so torn, wanting to be with my big boy but at the same time, I knew B needed me too. 

Got there early, changed into the OT gown.
Still oblivious and in a really happy mood. Seems so 'new and exciting' to him.

Looks like a big, brave boy, surrounded by all the medical equipment.

And finally he was out at 9am, earlier than I expected. Look at my poor boy. He was feeling the after effects of the GA. Of course he cried and all I could do was to soothe him and tell him that this discomfort is temporary. He didn't really feel the pain and soreness in his throat yet due to medication. He only felt it a couple of hours later.

After about an hour or so, the GA effects were nearly gone and he started fooling around. I was so happy to see his cheeky self again.

We were discharged about 3 hours after he came out of the OT. Throat started feeling really sore by then and he was cranky and crying a lot, especially during bed time. However, he recovered really quickly; he was all OK on day 5, unlike hubby who stayed in the hospital for a week after his tonsillectomy years ago. The method used now is coblation, which is gentler and not so painful.

And look at his hospital tag. I was so blur that morning that I gave hubby Bryant's birth certificate instead of Joshie's. And hubby was equally blur. Luckily they were willing to operate on him without his birth certificate.

It was the RIGHT decision to agree to the surgery. Doctor said there was a lot of mucus inside, which could not be cleared with antibiotics. Oh, and while he was under GA, they performed a food allergy test on him and the result is MALT allergy. So we have been abstaining from food/drinks containing malt and I see an improvement in his health. Hopefully he outgrows this allergy quick. Malt is present in a lot of biscuits, breads, cereals, etc....and he also has to forego his favourite barbeque pork ("char siew") as it is made using malt sugar - maltose =(

Crawl, baby crawl.....stand, baby stand.....

Our little one has managed to progress from commando style crawling to proper crawling at around 6.5 months. He's been elated to discover that he can actually move so much faster with his tummy off the floor. I also discovered that his legs are quite strong, they can even take him up slopes.

The above picture was taken at Gymboree, whereby he was encouraged to crawl up a slight elevated slope of about 30 degrees. He managed to reach the top and this mummy was so happy......hahahaha.

And a month later, he started pulling himself up to a standing position in his cot. I know, I really should lower that cot before he falls off.

He is really growing too fast.......and I know I will soon miss this baby stage.

Play, baby play

This cheeky baby is no longer interested in his own baby toys. He is more interested in koko's toys as seen in the picture above. Although there is a 3 year age gap between Josh and Bryant, they play very well together. Of course there's the occasional snatching of toys and resulting cries but nevertheless, it is a joy to watch them playing together. So heartwarming to see them enjoying each other's company.

Recently, B has been babbling more and more. And we can finally make out certain sounds. At 6.5 months, he could say "ba ba". J started with "ma ma" first. And a couple of weeks later, B included "ma ma" in his vocabulary. He loves to "talk" a lot. And he is really cute when he does so.