A Milestone of Sorts

The boy can walk down the stairs one leg down each step at a time! I never really thought about the amount of co-ordination and confidence needed to go down one step at a time (rather than both feet on each step going down) but I'm glad the boy is sure footedly making his way down staircases. 

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One of our favourite Sunday activities these days is taking the bus to Yishun (bus 85 passes by Jalan Kayu - note to self if craving prata for supper). Then we would have lunch and then make our round on the bendy bus (service 804). Sometimes we'd take a bendy bus back on bus 858 which stops at the TPE bus stop, and walk home from there. Sometimes we'd take the train back. 

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Loving these adventures around Singapore. I've also started trying to clock 10k steps daily, and been going for walks with the Hubby after the little boy has gone to bed. It's a good time to chat and catch up, and get to know our neighbourhood better. 

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I've finished most of my coach training classes and feeling excited. Not sure what the future will bring but I've met new people and made some friends. Need to explore getting more experience coaching a wider range of people!

Birthday Presents

AC is watching a YouTube video on some toy trains and saying "I want this train for my birthday! I also want this one for my birthday! Can you buy for me?" For every single train. 

So I said, "Mama's birthday is coming first. What are you going to buy me for my birthday?" 

AC: "A watermelon."

Me: "A watermelon?" 

AC: "A watermelon and a nice cake."

10 Weeks!

I took an online course, which had classes every Saturday morning over 10 weeks. This meant waking up early (classes started at 8am!) and missing out on sending the little one for swim class. 

10 weeks later and I've completed my course, and this Saturday I happily brought the little one down when it was time for his swim class. 

Swimming lessons went on as usual, while I caught up with some of my neighbours and had a nice chat. After the kids were done with class, I noticed that they ran from the baby pool to the medium pool. Unsupervised.

I started to panic and ran after them when I saw AC getting into the water. It's not safe!!! 

However when I reached the medium pool, the kids were happily playing and jumping around in the water. Jumping? They were tall enough to touch the floor? When did that happen? 

+3 and one of my other neighbour finally came over and he remarked that he was wondering why I ran over in such a panic. They had been watching the children every week and knew that the kids had progressed and grown tall enough to be comfortable in the medium pool. I hadn't known because I was stuck at home having zoom calls. 

How things changed in 10 weeks!  

One plus side of this is that now I can bring the little one down to the medium pool and not have to worry too much. Yes, of course I would still need to keep an eye (water safety to), but today when we were down in the pool, I managed to get a few laps in. Yay! 

Anyway I've enjoyed my course, made new friends, and hopefully have a new skill that will be useful for me and my career. I'll still need lots and lots of practice but I have a good feeling about things. 

Dreams

One of our bedtime routines these days is to talk about our dreams. 

"What is your dream?", the little one would ask. And I would pretend to sleep for a couple of seconds then make up a story for him. 

We'd take turns and he would "sleep" then tell me his dream.

Children are so imaginative. He would tell me stories of people cut out of paper, of walking in the sun, of orange and grey trains that fly in the sky. 

Tonight he told me a scary dream.

In an appropriately low and slow pace, he told me of ghosts and goblins where the light would turn off, and another light would turn off and another light would turn off. 

A storyteller he is becoming! 

4.5yrs

What is mama's favourite thing? 

Apple juice 

What makes mama happy?

Apple juice, and kisses, and chocolate

What makes mama angry? 

When you don't listen 

When you don't keep your toys 

What is your favourite thing? 

Also, I love eyeballs 

Gong gong like to eat eyeballs? Why?

Me: it's tasty

AC: it's not tasty! I don't like eyeballs! 

Who is your best friend?

The mushroom is the best friend (enzer who has a mushroom like hairstyle)

What is your favourite toy?

Blue bendy bus but it is not plastic 

Me: but you don't have it

AC: you need to buy 

What is your favourite toy that you have? 

Eyeballs! Lego eyebaaaaaallls!

What is your favourite food? What do you like to eat?

A good french fries for my tummy not get cough

What is mama's favourite food?

French fries one but it's good for mama's tummy 

What is daddy's favourite food?

French fries but is good for daddy's tummy hahahahaha so funny

Nanny's favourite is the French fries for nanny's tummy hahahahahahhahaa 

How old is AC?

I'm not old! 

How old is mama? 

4 years to go! 

How old is daddy?

4 years to go! HAHAHAHAHAHA 

Who is older? Daddy or mama? 

Daddy!

What do you like to do before sleeping? 

Play! 

What is your favourite song?

'ello how are you? 'ello how are you? 'ello how are you? How are you today?

Goodnight Sweetheart

So tonight, I was patting the little one to sleep, as I always do (or nanny does if I'm busy/sick). We have a cute little routine, which started from one of the books we read at night (Goodnight Moon) where we touch noses. 

Nose to nose. And we boop our noses together.

Cheek to cheek. 

Ear to ear. 

Chin to chin.

Forehead to forehead.

Long hair to short hair.

Nose hole to nose hole. 

And whatever funny combination we can think of. 

After the giggling and laughing, I patted his bum as he settled down. His eyes were getting heavy and his breathing getting steadier. He looked at me through his sleepy eyes and shot me a sweet smile, before closing his eyes and falling asleep. *LOVE* 

These are moments I treasure so much, cos I know that there will be a time when he won't want me to pat him to sleep at night. 

Back To Work

So Singapore has exited the circuit breaker and we are now in Phase 1 of the post circuit breaker whachamacallit. My workplace has implemented working on split teams so one week at home, one week in office so i'm back in the office this week. 

And it's disgusting. 

After more than 2 months of being away, I kinda expected some dust on the surfaces but when I stepped in today - my office chair had MOLD. Icky, possibly asthma inducing, mold. 

Yuck. 

Anyway some thoughts being back :

1. It's disgusting - my office furniture is all moldy

2. I was on MC when the circuit breaker came into effect, so I didn't get to clean up my desk. Coming back to it was so strange, like time stopped and you're looking at how life used to be before a disaster

3. Social distancing among colleagues is hard. Got to remember to keep 1m apart when walking to canteen etc

4. The toilet is so far away (compared to my tiny home where everything is within 5 steps)

But I really shouldn't complain. Today I took the bus and I'm thankful that the (private) bus services had resumed, even though there were significantly less passengers (6 compared to a full bus of 40) on the route today. 

And I still have a job. 

Nighttime Conversation

Me: What is AC good points? 

AC: I play with mama. I can poopoo and wash hands. I wipe my bum bum. And also there is eyeballs. 

Me: Are you nice? Is AC nice? 

AC: Yes yes yes yes yes. Yes no yes.

Me: What else is AC good at? 

AC: Playing with nobody. Play by the self. That good point. 

Me: What else? 

AC: I'm sitting on mama's pillow. And then there is sharp thing that is not so sharp. 

Me: What else is AC good? 

AC: There is weewee on the poopoo and then it melted the poopoo. 

Me: What else? 

AC: AC is good at playing and lying on mama's pillow. Got virus.

Remembering part2

Today, a moth flew into our home and fluttered its way around our living room and into the hallway where the bedrooms were. 

Am I reading too much into things? 

.. 

My heart hurts and aches. I've loved you since the moment I knew about you, and I've never stopped loving you since. 

Remembering Orb

Today we lit a candle. 

Put up a photo where we were at the beach. 

A piece of candy, a toy excavator. 

And we said a little prayer. 

I miss you, Orb. Every day. 

The Covid-19 Pandemic

It's been about 6 or 7 weeks of working from home, and I thought I'd post something here just to remind myself of this really interesting time in history. 

A global pandemic, Covid-19, has brought the world to a standstill. +3 and I have been very lucky that we still have our jobs, unlike so many others who have either been laid off or had to take pay cuts. 

We are also lucky that our jobs allow us to work from home. For the last month, I've been giving my classes and briefings online, to the point +3 says he could probably do my briefings too since he'd heard me repeat myself so many times. Hehe. 

My nanny has stayed with us, and she has been such a big help taking care of AC and cooking meals for when we have been too busy to do so. I'm thankful that my parents were understanding and let her stay with us, and they managed everything at home themselves. I tried to ease ma's load by ordering tingkat delivery meals for lunch and dinner so she doesn't have to cook or wash up (too much). They say the meals are tasty and finish up all the dishes mealtime. 

My favourite discovery this circuit breaker period (food wise):

- Wang's curry paste. Makes really yummy curry chicken and this is definitely gonna be a staple in our home! 

- CP chicken gyoza. So easy to heat up, so tasty. Another staple to be. 

- Arcade fish soup delivery. This was a recommendation from our neighbour and it is so yum. So yum. And not too pricey too. Just gotta pay for delivery fee. I wonder if they will continue with delivery services next time. Ordered this for the oldies once and papa gave it 2 thumbs up.

- Burning Oak - they sell smoked beef rice bowls and omg it's so good. You really can taste the smokiness. 

- Woon Woon white beehoon from Changi village. Another yummy dish (seafood soup with beehoon) where you can really taste the wokhei. Ordered for the oldies and they really enjoyed it too. 

- Windowsill Pies. We managed to get these as part of a group buy from the estate. Awesome to have foodie neighbours. The pies are so good. My fav is the pecan pie. +3 likes their apple pie. 

Some other things we got as part of group buys - carrot cake, rojak, chicken pie, curry puff, soju (remind me not to order alcohol again). 

We really can't complain. I've enjoyed spending time with +3 and AC, playing and just being silly together. I'm glad he isn't in school yet, so we don't really have to worry too much about his academics for now. Play boosts a child's development, so yay to us! 

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Time flies and soon the circuit breaker will be over. We are looking tentatively at 2 June but of course we have to wait for the official announcement and all that. 

The majority of cases have been foreign workers in dorms, and I hope that after this, tangible changes will be made to ensure a better quality of living for them. 

Also, really really appreciate all the people who have been keeping this country running - delivery men and women, healthcare staff, cleaners. Everyone has played such an important role. 

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Hope the situation stabilises but I don't think that we will be traveling much any time soon. Let's keep staying safe and healthy. 

Straight Lines, Curved Lines

+3 was drawing a map for a treasure hunt this morning. 

+3: Ok let's draw a map of the world! 
AC: How come you don't know how to draw straight lines? 

Lol.

Bedtime Conversations

AC: I want to go to space. I want to be an astronaut. Do you want to go to space mama?

Me: Yes I want to go to space too.

AC: Ok you can be a rock. 

The Magic Time

I don't know what it is about the time 20:20 but each time my clock ticks to this timing, the little one will drop what he is doing and go to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Miss this magic timing and he will negotiate and bargain and generally put up a huge resistance to getting ready for bed. 

Perhaps it is because they are learning about the dates in class, and every day the teacher writes the date on the class whiteboard. 

2020 年， 3 月，29 日 

is what would be on the board if he had class today. Perhaps that's why 20 seems to be his favourite number? Or maybe it's cos he can count to 20 (although now he can do his 30s and 40s too). Hmmm.

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Enrichment classes are suspended for now so we've had to do his Chinese class for this week at home. I was running through some of the words that he had learnt before and I was surprised that he could remember how to read them! 

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Staying home more these days cos of the covid-19 situation. Worried about family overseas but hoping that everyone will be safe. 

I don't think I used to wash my hands so much, and now that I am, I'm actually not falling sick as I was in the past. Eeeks. This hand hygiene thing really works eh.

... 

Almost end of March 2020 and what a year it has been so far. Hope things stabilise somewhat sooner than later. Interesting times we are living in!

Hide and Seek

This morning, the little one and I were playing hide and seek. We were both still in bed, and the little one decided to take a pillow and cover his head. I poked my head inside and asked him what he was doing.

"Hiding!", he giggled. 

"Let's hide together! See if daddy can find us, ok?" I told him as we lay there, face to face, smiling and stifling giggles, waiting to see if +3 was coming in. 

"DADDY! COME FIND US!" 

Giggles. Smiles. Furtive peeks when we hear footsteps coming. We were partners in crime, hiding out in a cave. 

We lay there, waiting. The footsteps were coming closer. 

Daddy was in the room. "Hmmm I can't see anyone...." 

"I'm here daddy!!!" the little boy gleefully throws off the pillow, happy to have hidden so successfully. 

And this is what beautiful mornings are made of. 

From Rapunzel to...

The boy still has the habit of holding on to my hair when he sleeps, sometimes waking up in the middle of the night looking for it. He has a name for my hair now, though, and asks for hairy-hairy. 

Good Monsters

Was pretending to be a monster this morning. So I was growling and telling AC that I eat children. And I'm walking slowly to him arms wide and mouth chomping like I'm gonna eat him. Picked him up and then he said "I love you good monster" and gave me his toy car as a present.. Wah how to eat him like that!

Answers from a 4yo

Without any prompting, ask your child these questions...

What is your name? 

A

How old are you? 

4 yrs old

When is your birthday? 

My birthday is in October [whut]

What is your favorite color? 

Blue 

What is your favorite food? 

Dinosaur food

Who is your best friend? 

Lara 

What is your favourite song? 

Ha ba ha ba ha ba hub ha ba ha ba ha ba hub (to the tune of happy birthday)

What is your favorite animal? 

Baby dinosaur

What are you scared of? 

Of monsters!

What makes you happy? 

Mama and daddy 

Where is your favorite place to go? 

Go to airport 

What is Daddy's favourite thing to do?

Going to mama in the belly

Who you love the most? 

The most is mama

What makes Mummy happy?

Hug 

What makes Mummy sad?

A don't listen 

What makes Mummy angry? 

A don't listen too

How tall is Mummy? 

4 yrs old, 5yrs old 

What is Mummy's favorite thing to do?

Like playing and also playing aircon and also playing the light and also playing window and also playing wall and also playing door and also playing bed and also playing paper [uhm]

What is Mummy's favorite food?

Rice and also noodle and also noodle and also noodle and also noodle [he knows I love my carbs]

What is Mummy's favorite drink? 

Cold drink [is that why I'm always coughing]

If Mummy could go anywhere, where would she go? 

Go to airport [yes!!!]

Do you think you could live without Mummy?

Cannot

What is Mummy's job? 

Go to work and playing toys [not entirely wrong cos he sees me doing that when he comes to the office with me]

How old is Mummy?

4yrs old [uhm]

What is Mummy's favorite color?

Red 

How much do you love Mummy? 

10 and also 20 

Sleeptime Sass

Was putting AC to bed and telling him that it was time to sleep so stop talking, stop rolling around, stop playing etc. 

He then asks me: "You want to sleep?" 

"Yes."

"Then you go to sleep la." 

What Kids Learn In School

Rules for listening 

Eye are open 

Ears are listening 

Lips are silent 

Hands and feet are still