I was horrified to find out in April that should I intend to send Gabe to school next year, I would have to register him almost immediately. Apparently it is typical of many church kindergartens to hold their registration dates in April. Barely have we celebrated the little boy's second birthday, and I have to get going on his playgroup registration?!
After I recovered from the shock and stress of the impending deadline, I sat down and evaluated the situation. The main reason for sending Gabe to a structured learning environment this early was due to his lack of a preference for interaction with other children. He would stand aside and watch while his peers play. Or turn to his parents or familiar adults and declare that he does not want to participate in the xx activity along with the other children. He'll benefit socially from school, that's for sure.
I needed the school to be within walking distance from home. Then began the search for decent groups within the vicinity. I didn't have high hopes; what could I expect from a few blocks of heartland HDB flats? But I was pleasantly surprised. We found a branch of Apple Tree operating two traffic junctions away. So we went down on registration day and signed him up. My son is starting school next year! I feel so overwhelmed. My little boy, who seemed to have popped out not too long ago, will be dressed in uniform and saying bye to me on the other side of the school gate. Well, such sentiments will probably exist only for Gabe since the novelty will wear off by the time it's Rou's turn.
So, come January, it'll be a new routine for the family. A new phase for the boy, and surely, for the mummy too.
Oh, did I forget to mention how RED the uniform will be?!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Hot Fox!
If you're regular on this blog, you would know that Gabe picks up my weekly copy of a local magazine and flips through them every now and then. It happened that this Foxy lady graced the cover not too long ago. Derod was with Gabe when this incident happened, and told it to me like this:
Derod: I have to show you what your son did when he was looking at the cover.
Cheoklet: Ok...
Derod: He was holding up the magazine and ogling at the picture.
Cheoklet: You used the word "ogling".
Derod: Yes. Then, he used his right pointer and started scratching here. *proceeded to demonstrate the attempt of a peeling motion at the location marked with the red arrow*
Cheoklet: Ok...
Derod: He was holding up the magazine and ogling at the picture.
Cheoklet: You used the word "ogling".
Derod: Yes. Then, he used his right pointer and started scratching here. *proceeded to demonstrate the attempt of a peeling motion at the location marked with the red arrow*
The next day, I took a risk at my ego and asked him if "this auntie" was pretty. He replied yes. I pushed my luck further and inquired if he thought "who was prettier: this auntie or mummy?". And with a quick, cheeky slant of his eyes, he answered, "Mummy".
Oh God, give me strength and wisdom to deal with my son when he reaches that age where hormones rage over brain cells.
Stomach Flu Part 2
About two weeks ago, Gabe woke up complaining of stomach pains. It was very unusual but I thought he probably needed a bowel movement and we began the day with breakfast. I made the boy his favourite half-boiled eggs and he happily gulped his food down. Within a few minutes, he threw the whole thing up. Then he needed to use the toilet. Rou was still fast asleep and I was glad to have the time and space to attend to him and clean up the mess.
In the next hour, I would have washed him up at least twice for he soiled his diapers. He also vomited twice on my bed and in the living room. By this time, Gabe was screaming to be changed and cleaned and to be hugged because of the immense discomfort, and Rou was up and she must have sensed something was amiss because she looked at us and just started bawling, which was very unusual for her. I do not remember a time I was ever at a loss of what to do. I called for help and firstjohn asked me what exactly I wanted her to do. I couldn't answer her. I called my neighbour and she volunteered to go to the doctor's with me. We took the two kids (Rou's running nose and cough were getting a little out of hand), left the house in its messy condition and headed to the pediatrician's two junctions away. By noon, Gabe was no longer having pains, vomit or diarrohea. He was constantly hungry and thirsty but we were warned against feeding anything more than three teaspoons of food or liquid. But he was active as usual and in the next week and a half, recovered at an amazing speed.
Two weeks later, we came home one night after dinner and the boy complained of stomach pains while walking back from the carpark. That night, he threw up all over derod, the bathroom, his bed. I gave Derod a list of the medicines the pediatrician gave, instructed derod to request for a suppository to stop the puking and he whisked Gabe to a 24-hour clinic while I stayed home to clear up the mess. Some things I had to throw for they were impossible to clean up. But this time, his condition was far worse. He had stomach cramps for the next two to three days, hardly ate or drank (this time he had absolutely no appetite), was terribly grouchy, needed me to "sayang the stomach" all the time, refused his medicine (as usual)... it was horrid. He suffered and lost so much weight he was reduced to a bag of skin and bones. Poor boy.
We took him to his pediatrician again two days later and she informed that the child's gut requires about six weeks to completely recover. She put him on a course of antibiotics and warned us never to feed him half boiled eggs ever again. We were startled. We were fed half boiled eggs as a child but nothing ever happened to us. Apparently, things have not been the same since the bird flu and the government has encouraged all poultry and poultry products to be fully cooked.
So there goes Gabe's favourite breakfast.
In the next hour, I would have washed him up at least twice for he soiled his diapers. He also vomited twice on my bed and in the living room. By this time, Gabe was screaming to be changed and cleaned and to be hugged because of the immense discomfort, and Rou was up and she must have sensed something was amiss because she looked at us and just started bawling, which was very unusual for her. I do not remember a time I was ever at a loss of what to do. I called for help and firstjohn asked me what exactly I wanted her to do. I couldn't answer her. I called my neighbour and she volunteered to go to the doctor's with me. We took the two kids (Rou's running nose and cough were getting a little out of hand), left the house in its messy condition and headed to the pediatrician's two junctions away. By noon, Gabe was no longer having pains, vomit or diarrohea. He was constantly hungry and thirsty but we were warned against feeding anything more than three teaspoons of food or liquid. But he was active as usual and in the next week and a half, recovered at an amazing speed.
Two weeks later, we came home one night after dinner and the boy complained of stomach pains while walking back from the carpark. That night, he threw up all over derod, the bathroom, his bed. I gave Derod a list of the medicines the pediatrician gave, instructed derod to request for a suppository to stop the puking and he whisked Gabe to a 24-hour clinic while I stayed home to clear up the mess. Some things I had to throw for they were impossible to clean up. But this time, his condition was far worse. He had stomach cramps for the next two to three days, hardly ate or drank (this time he had absolutely no appetite), was terribly grouchy, needed me to "sayang the stomach" all the time, refused his medicine (as usual)... it was horrid. He suffered and lost so much weight he was reduced to a bag of skin and bones. Poor boy.
We took him to his pediatrician again two days later and she informed that the child's gut requires about six weeks to completely recover. She put him on a course of antibiotics and warned us never to feed him half boiled eggs ever again. We were startled. We were fed half boiled eggs as a child but nothing ever happened to us. Apparently, things have not been the same since the bird flu and the government has encouraged all poultry and poultry products to be fully cooked.
So there goes Gabe's favourite breakfast.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Shoe Habit
Everytime Gabe runs into the house, he'll sit on the stool placed at our door and remove his shoes. Then he'll take a shoe in each hand, place them together purposefully and then dash off to his toys. It would only take a couple of seconds but there has never been a time where he forgot to arrange his shoes; that little pair of adidas has never been carelessly thrown aside.
I think it says something about his personality. It's the same with his cars. If he lines all of them up, they have to face the same direction. He would run across the room repeatedly to correct me if I had purposely (unknown to him) lined them randomly. I wonder if Rou would be like that...
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Stair Master
It was our regular visit to Gabe's great-grandfather's for dinner. There was a lot of commotion in the house and we found out that not too long after our arrival, the one and only lift accessing the entire block of 21 floors broke down.
Derod's parents, who are past 60 years of age, had to climb up 19 floors to get to their dinner, and to their two grandkids who were waiting for them.
When it was time to go, the lift was still not working so all four of us had to trot down 19 floors. I am amazed and proud to say that my dear son worked those stairs all on his own, holding my hand of course. Way to go, little boy!
Derod's parents, who are past 60 years of age, had to climb up 19 floors to get to their dinner, and to their two grandkids who were waiting for them.
When it was time to go, the lift was still not working so all four of us had to trot down 19 floors. I am amazed and proud to say that my dear son worked those stairs all on his own, holding my hand of course. Way to go, little boy!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
New Room-mate
Gabe was a pretty cooperative boy after the arrival of Rou but with time, he began showing signs of not coping too well with sharing everything he possessed.
Rou's cot is parked in our master bedroom and round about her fourth month, Gabe started his bedtime tantrums. He'd want us to stay with him in his room indefinitely, request for one final song after another to stall for time, request specifically for us to switch off his air-conditioning, open the door, bring him to our bed, etc. It was so difficult to get him to fall asleep, and a vast difference from our usual routine of song, prayer, goodbyes, shutting the door and leaving him to fall asleep on his own quietly. Then began the midnight tantrums. He'd wake a few times in a night and make the same demands. And it further extended into the day-time naps. All descriptions punctuated with tears, screams, howls and what-nots. It was horrid. And heart-wrenching. It drained us physically and emotionally. We were frustrated constantly. No amount of psycho-ing, explaining, threatening, hugging would solve the problem. We figured it has to be the presence of his sister being able to be in the same room as us, and he was left alone elsewhere.
So after some thinking through and conversations between us and with some more experienced mothers, I decided to bring forward the day Rou would join her brother in the same room. My initial plan was to wait till she could sleep through the night so that I won't have to trot between the two rooms in the middle of the night. This move would eliminate the object of jealousy and we figured its banes would still outnumber those in the current situation.
Rou was about five months old when we shifted her cot over to her brother's room. He was told to stay in the same room as her and protect her. But the main message we sent across was that all of us would sleep in our own beds, in our own rooms and neither meimei nor him were going to share our beds (and deprive us of sleep).
In the next two weeks, his tantrums gradually died down. It never went away completely, with him still wanting us to be in the room for as long as he can stall, but the situation improved dramatically.
Unexpectedly, Rou slept through the night ever since she was shifted to her permanant location. She used to clock about 6-7 hours straight but now does 10 hours through the night. Both kids wake at about 7.30am and my day begins when they do.
Rou's cot is parked in our master bedroom and round about her fourth month, Gabe started his bedtime tantrums. He'd want us to stay with him in his room indefinitely, request for one final song after another to stall for time, request specifically for us to switch off his air-conditioning, open the door, bring him to our bed, etc. It was so difficult to get him to fall asleep, and a vast difference from our usual routine of song, prayer, goodbyes, shutting the door and leaving him to fall asleep on his own quietly. Then began the midnight tantrums. He'd wake a few times in a night and make the same demands. And it further extended into the day-time naps. All descriptions punctuated with tears, screams, howls and what-nots. It was horrid. And heart-wrenching. It drained us physically and emotionally. We were frustrated constantly. No amount of psycho-ing, explaining, threatening, hugging would solve the problem. We figured it has to be the presence of his sister being able to be in the same room as us, and he was left alone elsewhere.
So after some thinking through and conversations between us and with some more experienced mothers, I decided to bring forward the day Rou would join her brother in the same room. My initial plan was to wait till she could sleep through the night so that I won't have to trot between the two rooms in the middle of the night. This move would eliminate the object of jealousy and we figured its banes would still outnumber those in the current situation.
Rou was about five months old when we shifted her cot over to her brother's room. He was told to stay in the same room as her and protect her. But the main message we sent across was that all of us would sleep in our own beds, in our own rooms and neither meimei nor him were going to share our beds (and deprive us of sleep).
In the next two weeks, his tantrums gradually died down. It never went away completely, with him still wanting us to be in the room for as long as he can stall, but the situation improved dramatically.
Unexpectedly, Rou slept through the night ever since she was shifted to her permanant location. She used to clock about 6-7 hours straight but now does 10 hours through the night. Both kids wake at about 7.30am and my day begins when they do.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
My Goumet Son
He's gobbling down:
Sashimi
Lotus roots and red dates (soft from double boiled soups)
Ho see (dried oysters common in Cantonese food)
Sashimi
Lotus roots and red dates (soft from double boiled soups)
Ho see (dried oysters common in Cantonese food)
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