Wednesday, 29 April 2009

Picking the right book at the library for story time with nat always takes a bit of luck. Sometimes, she takes to the book right away. Other times, she takes a look and chucks it.

Recently picked up this title <Shhh! Little Mouse> for her. She likes it. I realise that she loves "interactive" stories, in this case, the mouse appears on every page, hiding from the cat and she likes to point out to me where the mouse is hidden. And when the cat wakes up and shows its sharp claws, nat will hide behind me as she is scared.

Sunday, 26 April 2009

It's been a weekend of shopping. Various great sales going on in town, so I stocked up on the kids' clothes, gary and I bought a few pieces for ourselves as well. We bought didi his very first big boy shirt, linen, just like daddy's and he looks so handsome, we couldn't stop taking pics of him.

Didi lucas has learnt how to wave his hands. Tell him you are going out and say bye bye and you will see his hand flapping away excited in a wave. I am hoping to catch it on video, it's really cute. If you look carefully, you will also see that his hair is growing, little tufts of grass on his head. I wonder whether he will have pokey hair like his dad when he grows up, or the Japanese boy shaggy look. He is also starting to blabber a lot, like he is trying to speak. Wonder what his first word will be?

We were also trying to take some nice pics of him as we are thinking of making his first passport. Haha, only managed to capture this pic of him looking a bit blur, think we will try again. Although nat's pic in her passport looks rather pissed as well.

Wednesday, 22 April 2009

Being a mummy brings on lots of new emotions and feelings. Firstly, there is the feeling of guilt. Whenever you leave the house for an extended period, feelings of guilt start to creep in. What are the kids doing? Do they miss me? Can the maid cope? Should I be enjoying myself shopping? These are feelings that you have to manage when you leave the kids at home and decide to go dating with the spouse.

Today, at the playground, nat tried to hit another little girl (yet again). I got upset with her and scolded her. Thereafter, felt guilty. Am I a bad mummy for scolding her? What's the best way to teach her? Reasoning doesn't seem to work, yet scolding is not the solution. Letting her get away with bad behaviour just encourages worse behaviour from her. These days, she likes to smack didi lucas on the head, which always freaks me out. I read in a parenting book that one should treat your toddler like a little caveman, someone who doesn't really understand what is going on and cannot really be blamed for bad behaviour. Sometimes nat can be the sweetest little girl and on other days, she makes me feel as if I'm a bad mummy.

Sigh, whatever the case, I guess this is just a phase that we have to journey together. Give me patience ...!

Sunday, 19 April 2009

We bought nat a new addition to her room - a big girl Dora bed just for her. She had been sleeping on the pull out mattress for a while, but I had recently been toying with the idea of buying a bed for her. The other day, when we were browsing around Plaza Singapura, I chanced upon this toddler bed and was immediately attracted to it. It even comes with a table, 2 stools and a toy organiser, very worth it. She loves her new bed and says goodnight to Dora before she sleeps now.

As nat grows, I realise she goes through different "tantrum" phases. Before, she used to scream at any and everything. These days, she screams less. Her new pet phrase is "Go away". When she is angry with you over something, she will ask you to go away. We are trying to teach her not to, but I guess it takes time. No point getting too angry or upset, like the screaming phase, I am sure this will pass. You just have to reinforce to her that it is wrong. We also taught her a way to manage her anger. When she is angry, we taught her to fold her arms, which tells us visually that she is angry, instead of having her scream away. She's learnt the art of doing this, and several times a day, you will find her folding her arms, pouting and telling you "I'm angry, I fold my arms and pout." At least, this way, we can quickly find out from her why she is angry or frustrated.

As for didi, he is getting to be a real charmer, always ready to give a smile. He loves attention and will always coo in appreciation when you play with him. He loves his sister and you can see his face light up when she decides to be loving and showers him with kisses. It's nice to see the two of them playing together.

We brought the kids swimming over the weekend. Didi lucas is such a water baby, he absolutely loves the water. He doesn't even mind the water splashing on his face and chuckles away. Swimming really tires the kids out and it's not even 9pm yet and both are fast asleep.

It's been a month or so since I moved didi lucas back to my room at night and it was the right decision. I enjoy looking at him sleep and have managed to pick up his quirks. When he stirs in the night, quickly get the milk ready for him and do a round of dreamfeeding. This is usually enough to keep him asleep instead of waking up in hunger. Other times when he does wake up, I usually just rock him back to sleep. I love it, although it does make me tired out at work sometimes.

I always remind gary, the kids are one of the greatest blessings in our lives and we must always keep that close to our hearts.

Sunday, 12 April 2009

My baby goes grocery shopping at Cold Storage. As you can see, very quickly, she has filled up her trolley with milk, ham, bread .. the works! Although, it did get a little heavy later on and she needed our help to push the trolley.

Every day, the kids surprise me with interesting things they say and do. Just today, I asked nat if she would like a bottle of milk. She was drawing and colouring with her crayons and extremely focused. Then she turned to me and said "Don't disturb me, Mummy, I am drawing." I didn't know whether to laugh or get angry over her insolence ... haha.

As for my happy little man, he is 7 months old and growing up fast. He crawls really fast especially when you place something attractive in front of him, like a remote control. He likes to watch Mr Bean (???) ... I wonder why. He is extremely grumpy just before he falls asleep. He loves food, just like his daddy. He looks great in shirts of all colours, from red to blue to green, believe me, I have tried it all. He is much stronger than nat was, at his age. Interestingly though, he doesn't respond to music as enthusiastically as nat, and is rather ho-hum when I play the French Boy Choir DVD.

Enjoy spending lots of time with the kids. I realise that these days, I have learnt to relax a little and not get so super uptight. In fact, sometimes when the maid is off on leave and it's just me and gary with the kids, I'll ask gary to have a nap. Nat will nap with her daddy, while me and didi will chill in the living room for a while till he eventually falls asleep. Although, I must admit it is quite tiring managing the kids the whole day. Just today, gary said something that made me chuckle. The maid was off, we were driving home after lunch with the kids in tow. I was driving, nat was crying and didi lucas did a major poo. Poor gary lamented that he was stuck at the backseat with his 'crotchety' daughter and 'smelly' son. I am glad though, that gary is such a hands-on dad and it's great that the kids adore him.

Monday, 6 April 2009

Kids will be kids and accidents will happen, no matter how much you try to prevent it. The other night, we were playing with nat just before bedtime. I would hide and then suddenly reappear and try to catch her. She loves this game and it never fails to get her screaming with delight. However, in her excitement, she lost her balance and fell flat on her face. Of course, this was followed by her loud cries. I quickly picked up my baby and comforted her as she rested her head on my shoulders. A moment later, I looked into her face ... and horror of horrors, I saw blood oozing from her mouth, staining her pyjamas. It's really quite distressing. Fortunately, when we inspected the wound, it was just a cut on her lips/gums, and the bleeding stopped after a while. Small as this incident may be, it reminds me never ever to take my children for granted and do my best to protect them and keep them safe.

My babies! A wonderful day at the zoo.

Friday, 3 April 2009

Yesterday was didi's first class at Playdays. Overall, quite enjoyable. Most importantly, it gave me some 'alone' time with him, when I could focus all my full attention on him. He seems to enjoy it. Currently, still thinking whether to continue with this or to go to Julia Gabriel, which is what nat did. Only difference is that for Julia Gabriel, I would have to go twice a week which would add up to 4 times, if you add nat's classes. Might as well camp there.