1 Jan 2021

So the first day of the new year is almost over. And you know, once you get older, the new year doesn't really feel any different from the other days. 

Festive gatherings this year are kept to a minimum, due to the restrictions on the maximum number of people allowed to gather. I met a handful of people towards the end of the year - Lin and Sharon, some of my colleagues, some people from my coaching class, cousin.e, cousin.sf, Jeanne and Ching, and of course the parents. 

Christmas was a simple dinner with the oldies. There was roast chicken and lasagne, and way too many presents for the little boy under the Christmas tree. We headed out on New Year's Eve to buy a couple of stuff, then had a pasta dinner at home. Dinner with the oldies on 1 Jan, where ma made a Filipino (I think?) version of paella called arroz valenciana. I made takoyaki this morning in my brand new Bruno compact hotplate. 

Reflections on the year that just passed - 

Covid-19 really, really sucks. You can't help but worry about family and loved ones in countries that don't have things under control and all you can do is pray they take care of themselves and stay safe.

I feel so blessed to be in Singapore where life has somewhat gotten back to normal, at least as normal as things can be in times of a global pandemic. 

I love that our family has grown closer this past year, and that we got to spend so much time with the little boy. So proud to watch him grow into the kind, young man that he is. 

The boy's EQ is top notch! He is mindful not to say things like "ewww so yucky" but will gently say "it's a little not so nice" or "the taste is a little not good". He is stil obsessed with trains and now, the train map. And we spend many weekends taking the different train lines around SG. 

There are some food dishes that I love that was discovered in 2020. Wang's curry chicken paste is now a staple in our kitchen. Just add chicken, potato and water! Dalgona coffee is another regular item that I indulge in. Other stuff include Chinese style carrot cake, and eggplant sauce (onion and garlic blended, fried in oil, then add balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, sriracha and boom! You've got a sauce which can be used as a soup base, that goes extremely well with eggplant too). 

Food delivery was something we did fairly regularly too. We found a chicken rice stall/shop that we like (chicken rice is one of the boy's favourite foods. So is roast pork rice). Tenderfresh, Lenu, Arcade Fish Soup were also regular places we ordered from. 

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Hopes for the new year? Good health, good luck and good fortune to all. 

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.