Wednesday, 30 September 2009

I took some interesting videos of the kids today. Nat still loves reading and is ever ready to sit down with her favourite book and read. Didi has to be forced to sit down to listen to a story, and he has yet to sit through one story book from beginning to end, but at least we get through half the book sometimes, a great improvement already. He would much rather prefer to be watching Baby Signing Times with his sister, see his delighted smile when I played the DVD for them, just before bedtime.

Sunday, 27 September 2009

Didi Lucas loves to sing. His favourite song is from The Wiggles about a big red car. Managed to catch a video of him singing, so super cute. There is another song he likes, which plays on my car CD player, it's an italian song ... whenever it plays, you will hear him babbling away, really makes my day.

Today, we didn't go out shopping or to the park as Daddy is sick with flu. I spent the day with the kids, singing, playing jigsaws, reading. Ok, I know this is going to be one of those mushy entries, but I really love my kids a lot. I like to peer in at the kids when they are sleeping and planting giant wet kisses on their forehead. I love smelling their hair, haha, even though it smells a bit sweaty sometimes. I love the way they chuckle and laugh when I play with them. They grow up so fast, and there will come a day when they will prefer hanging out with friends. So, I will enjoy their company now, while mummy is still central in their lives :)

Wednesday, 23 September 2009

Didi Lucas's favourite word is "bus", although he can't really get the 's' so it sounds like "bud". It's so amusing to hear him say it. He has also picked up the signing for eat, so the other night, he woke up at 4am and signed eat to us, and this was after a full bottle of milk. Gary and I looked at each other, and decided no normal baby eats at 4am, so back we went to bed. At 7am, he looked at us again and signed eat. Haha, this time, we fed him his favourite pear.

Tuesday, 22 September 2009

We had an enjoyable weekend, with a trip to Changi Airport T3 (since we were in the East for a party) as well as a morning spent at the beach.

The new toy piano I bought for the kids finally arrived and they had great fun playing. It's so cute to see them sit on the miniature piano, tinkering away. Maybe if nat is in the mood, I'll even teach her some simple nursery rhymes.

I must say, kids really have the memory of an elephant. Nat had woken up on Monday morning saying that she wanted to paint. I told her, maybe in the evening, if she wasn't tired. That evening, she trooped up to me (truthfully, I was trying to avoid the painting activity) and declared "I'm not tired, I can paint now." Haha, no running away now, mummy. I found some mahjong paper and pasted it on the balcony wall outside. The kids loved it, so much space and freedom to paint, colour and even to imprint their little handprints on the wall. Such a great idea, and best of all, it rained after, so we didn't even have to clean the balcony.

Frankly, I am enjoying this phase of my children's growing up years. Nat never fails to surprise and amuse me with her interesting wit. Just the other day, she came up to me and said in all seriousness "I am going on a mission." Uh, is it like a secret mission? Must have picked that up from some cartoon she is watching.

Didi is ever so sweet :) He loves playing the screaming game with mummy and always ends up chuckling when I indulge him by screaming together with him. He can babble mom and daddy sometimes, and pats his chest to show that he is scared when you tell him there is a lizard nearby. Like nat, he loves dancing.

Saturday, 19 September 2009

Yesterday, after nat's swim class, I brought the kids to watch a free flamenco dance concert at the Esplanade. Thought it was nice to do something different, and I was certain nat would enjoy it. She really did enjoy it, first she looked at them dancing ever so intently, then she started dancing away, with her tippy toes and all. It was didi's first time watching people dancing, so he just stared, poor guy must have concentrated with all his might, before we knew it, he had fallen asleep. It's nice to break routine sometimes and bring the kids to see things that they would not usually have the opportunity to experience.

Didi Lucas has also started his second term at Julia Gabriel. He has changed much within the last month, even the teacher commented on this. He is a lot more confident and roams around the class freely. He loves singing and dancing, just like his sister and proactively engages the teacher to get her attention. A friend lent us this DVD called Baby Signing Times recently, and lucas has picked up some simple signs like eat and more. Interestingly, it is nat who really enjoys the DVD and singing along with the narrator.

Baby Lucas has also picked up a cute gesture recently, it's what I call the "limp-wrist" syndrome. Check out the video below. Whenever he hears music and wants to sway in tune, out comes the "limp-wrist", it's really quite funny.

Check out the before and after pic, the first one was taken when nat was about a year old and the second one, quite recently. Such a big difference, kids grow up so fast.

Monday, 14 September 2009

Kids say the darnest things. Sometimes when nat sits on me, I will exclaim to her, don't sit on my bladder, or else I will need to go to the loo. The other day, gary tried to place didi lucas on his sister. Indignantly, she told him off and said don't sit on my bladder. Haha! You really don't know whether to laugh or shake your head.

Monday, 14 September 2009

I was watching a show on cable yesterday about a couple who had quintuplets (5 kids). The stress of pregnancy and caring of 5 newborns at one go is really quite intimidating. I wonder how they do it? Looking at my kids, I'm glad that at least I have the option of having them a year apart. At least, I can spend some one-on-one quality time with each child individually, bond with them and love them.

Saturday, 12 September 2009

Another evening spent at the Hort Park. I just love the pics that are taken there. Today, there were groups of families there and nat happily found herself a "jiejie" to play with. Looking at her, I am glad she has gone pass her terrible twos stage. She is slowly learning to socialise with others and has learnt to manage her feelings when things do not go her way. When she picked up jiejie's frisbee and started playing, we told her that she could only play with permission from jiejie and she listened, reluctantly yet dutifully returning the toy until jiejie said that she could have a go at it. My little man prefers wandering around on his own, oblivious to all the big kids running around him. His favourite action now is this pointing action, looks as if he is saying "Referee Kayu"! hor.

Wednesday, 9 September 2009

My little man was born exactly a year ago. Time seems to have just flown by. I remember the excitement we felt as we welcomed our baby boy into the family, the fears we had of Nat being jealous of her brother, the sleepness nights from the constant breastfeeding of a newborn. Yet, looking back, there are no regrets. Lucas has been a wonderful addition to our family, bringing us much joy with his twinkly eyes and impish smiles. As he reaches his 1-year milestone, I sense some changes. He is delighted with his newfound walking ability and insists on walking everywhere. He is starting to test the boundaries and limits, when he does naughty things (like throw something on the floor), he will look at you and see your response before doing the deed. He still adores his sister, and is always watching and imitating her.

Happy Birthday, darling!

Monday, 7 September 2009

Last week was a stressful week, with didi being sick with high fever. It took almost 3 days for his fever to come down and just when I thought things were normal, we spotted rashes on his body. My first thought was HFMD, but after calming myself down and a consultation with the pediatrician, we were relieved to find that it was roseola. Symptom is high fever followed by a rash. It's been a few days and his rashes have almost cleared. Thankfully he is back to his normal cheerful self.

Yesterday, we decided to bring the kids to SSO concert at the Botanical Gardens. It was super crowded but I was glad I made the trip. The kids had fun roaming around, kicking the ball, listening to the music in the background. The atmosphere was really nice and relaxing. Nat was rather finicky about the slightly wet grass and promptly planted herself on daddy's lap and refused to move much. Didi was off a-wandering, pleased with his newfound mobility.

Didi lucas is almost a year old and I noticed some changes in his personality. From a mild little baby, he is becoming real fiesty. He screams when he wants attention and refuses to be left in the cot or playpen. He can babble some words, mama dada, popo, pear pear, jiejie. He loves birds and cats and will point excitedly when he sees them in the neighbourhood. His favourite toy is the Little Tikes car which I bought for them recently at a steal. Sigh, I know it's indulgence, but these were things I desired when I was younger and if it's not too unreasonably priced, I do try to let the kids enjoy themselves.

Both didi and natalie have a new favourite TV programme called The Wiggles. They love the songs, particularly this one as well as this one. Gary and I have listened to the songs playing umpteenth times and seriously the tune keeps running through my head all day. But I do think it's not too bad, very catchy.

I am also proud of my baby girl, she is almost fully potty trained and willingly tells us when she needs to pee or poo. I am confident that in a few more months, she will be off diapers.

Friday, 4 September 2009

My little man! Always the sweetest, picked up his new Thomas the Train lunch bag, walked towards the door, thinking he is off to school.

Wednesday, 2 September 2009

My little man has been down with a bad bout of flu for the past few days. Had fever raging from 38-40 degrees, making me very worried and concerned. Took him to the GP first then pediatrician when the fever didn't go down. Was sponging him with ice water to bring down the temperature at night. It made little man very angry and he would still struggle and protest, but no choice. Luckily, since this morning, the temperature has remained at the normal range and he is a lot more active and vocal. Poor little guy seems to have lost some weight in just a few days. I was telling gary, when your children are sick, this is one area you will never outsource to your maid. No matter how tired you are, you will still stay up the whole night, watching over him, and making sure he is alright.