Issac is such a parrot and I suppose attention seeking. Phoebe calls me "mum" instead of much preferred "mummy" and he does the same. What ever his sister asks, he has to ask as well. He asks not right after Phoebe asks, but only after I have answered Phoebe. So nowadays, I have to answer the same question twice. Whatever his sister does, he will do as well, including imitating her in her mannerisms and her tone of voice.
I do admire his language abilities, considering he is a boy. A few weeks ago, he started speaking in sentences. Now you can hold a conversation with him. Before that, we would have to guess pretty hard what he was talking about. He now asks "what?", "what happened?", "why?", "where are you?" very appropriately. If we don't understand what he is saying, he is very persistent in repeating until we understand him, helping us by pointing or describing in another way. Very easy to teach him to pronounce now, he is all willing to repeat after you. Somehow, he has no problem with "you", "I" and "me". Its common for toddlers to be confused and say "you" when they mean "I".
At one point, a few weeks ago, whenever you talk to him, he would answer you with a "huh?". You ask again, and he says "huh?" again and again. Funny sometimes, but otherwise quite rude and irritating. I know he doesn't mean it and anyway, that phase is now over. Thank goodness!
He knows his colours well- yellow, orange, green, pink and blue. His favourite is yellow. He is not very interested in learning the sequence of numbers though. He would point to a number and say its 9 but if course its never 9. He knows that there are numbers on the clock because he would point at the clock and say a number. His favourite line in a song presently is "up above the world so high".
He likes his "Tell the time with Thomas" book. Although, he doesn't particularly like the toy itself. He loves Wiggles the show, followed by Playschool.
He is still active, not as active as some very active kids. Perhaps his dad did manage to tame him down. He is still pretty clingy to me and his sister, so I guess he would never run too far away. He likes sunday school but not enough to make him separate from me for 1.5 hours. He only goes when Phoebe goes to the same class as him.
On a side note, once we lost him in Ikea and when Hendry found him, he was just where we left him, not crying, just standing around, pretty calm. Maybe he didn't realise he was lost.
He is a cheeky boy. Sometimes, after he does something wrong, he will give you the cheeky look. And you think "Faint!" and make you want to take out the camera, but of course, those 5 seconds looks are never caught on camera.
He has been crying alot since a week ago, very stubborn, wants to get his way. Whenever he starts to cry, I just lock him in the bedroom until he stops crying and he is willing to correct his wrongdoing. Today, I didn't even have to close the door, I told him to come out when he wants to stop crying and he did. He knows the drill.
He has been attending swimming lessons for almost a term now. He is doing well, not afraid to go underwater right from the start, so thats good. Anyway, he generally has good psychomotor skills. He will be missing a term when we are back in Sg, hope he won't forget all that he has learnt. Will try to revise with him as much as possible while we are in Sg.
Oh... almost forgot his drool. Its constant!!! And when he turns 2 and still doesn't stop, can I say he has been drooling for years??? He has been drooling for a long time, but it has gotten worse in the last few months. I call it the "flooded neck". His clothes are always wet, so he changes like 3 times a day, and now that its cold, he is using ever more clothing because he wears double layers at times. Sigh more washing for me. Can't imagine when it gets even colder and he has to wear jackets 24/7, hope he doesn't use more that 1 jacket/sweater a day. His saliva is everywhere. On the floor, toys, books, sofa, his clothing, our clothing. Phoebe says "Isaac saliva on me." instead of "Isaac drooling on me". She doesn't mean "Isaac's saliva is on me." I think its a cute term-"Saliva on me", so I don't correct her. He doesn't like wearing bibs, unless Phoebe wears it with him. So don't suggest that. I don't think a 3.5 year old should be wearing bibs, but I must say, Phoebe thinks its a novelty and totally enjoys wearing bibs. This is such a long paragraph just on drool, now you know how much it bothers me.
Maybe I should write something about his sister next. Thought I would just note these down here as well, not only on FB.
Conversation 1 I told Phoebe that next week the owner is going to change our carpet to normal flooring. She asks why. Told her coz carpet very dirty, drop crumbs/rice etc also cannot see. She said ask the ants to come eat. I said but the ants won't leave after coming in. Its not like we can talk to them and ask them to leave. She said "sometimes right?". I told her I can't but maybe she can. She got embarrassed and said daddy can.
Conversation 2 Phoebe came to me asking why we want babies. I actually don't know how to answer her, told her because we want to look after a baby, like how Isaac and her used to be a baby. She said she don't want Isaac, wants another baby. I told her even if we get another baby, we might still get another boy (I know she wants a meimei). If she wants to choose girl, unless its other daddy and mummy don't want the baby, then we can choose. She said she wants to choose one and I choose one. So we have 3 children including her. She changed her mind and said she will choose when she grows up. So she agrees that we go choose another baby from other other auntie and uncle then Isaac will go live with another auntie and uncle.
Conversation 3 After I told Hendry what she just said about not wanting Isaac. Hendry told her we also don't want her already (like how she don't want Isaac), asked her to pack her clothes in a paper bag to get ready to go with our friend later. And she did! Still asked me where she should put the paper bag. The whole day, she was looking forward to go live with our close friend. They were coming for dinner anyway and she really wanted to leave with them at the end of the night. We played along with her, me thinking that she will regret it once she got into the car. In the end, she really left with my friends and even slept all alone in a room. When I went to pick her up the next day, she asked why she had to go home and was not keen to go home with me.
After this stayover episode, I realised that we now have to be careful with how we talk to Phoebe. She is no more the little scared of everything girl that we used to have. She has become really independant. All these happened a couple of weeks ago. This week, she has said she does not want her brother and that she wants to go live with our family friend again. Haiz... I have no idea if she is just excited or she really does not like it at home. My gut feel is that she is envious of my friend's daughter who has lots of attention from her parents. For quite abit of my childhood, I never liked it at home and I would 往外跑. I just hope Phoebe does not feel the same. I do endeavour to provide our home as a sanctuary for her, so that as she grows older, she knows how to come home when she meets with any setbacks etc. I pray that God will lead us in our family life.
Gosh! I haven't touched this blog for such a long time. It is indeed very tedious to blog.
Phoebe is already 3.5 years old, awaiting to taste her first "legal" sweet because I told her she can only have it when she is 4. I say illegal because Hendry's brother has given it to her secretly and she reported back to me. Ha! Isaac will be 2 in three months.
We will be going back to Singapore for holidays from mid-may till end july to celebrate their birthdays. Birthday celebrations here in Brisbane are pretty boring because we don't have much close friends. Hendry was saying that Phoebe doesn't have many friends to invite in Singapore as well. I think have lah... at least we can celebrate with family. Thinking of just celebrating with family for Isaac's and a poolside party with kids for Phoebe. Phoebe has asked for a jelly cake. Lurve it! So easy to make and cheap! Just great for a poolside party. She also thought of marshmellow cake. Wah, even easier. Just pour a whole bag of marshmellow in a big bowl then make sure the candles stand. heehee
The two of them can play pretty well together now. Just that Isaac is pretty rough, keep pushing and hittting Phoebe. Its probably pretty bad because another toddler doesn't want to go near him anymore. Phoebe complains about him a million times throughout the day. But then again, Phoebe is so gu niang. Abit abit, complain. So sometimes, if I get to see what Isaac was doing, I would have to decipher when he is playing or when it is intentional or just plain rough. Tough leh, coz I am not always with them. Perhaps I have to make an effort to be with them more to discipline this "monkey", as we always call him.
To be continued... Isaac just woke up.
So happy that they can play together now. Can't hear her voice very well... she kept asking Issac if he wants "bikini"... think she meant "zuchini". Super funny. Watch how fast Isaac was in avoiding Phoebe.
I chanced upon kindy, which is a shorter day programme than childcare. Its for children who are 3.5 years old. And children attend only 5 days in 2 weeks. So you wither attend Mon, Tue and alternate Wed or alternate Wed, Thur and Fri. I starts around 9am and ends at 2.30pm. They have outdoor play, morning tea, indoor learning, lunch then after noon nap. Thought since it ends at 2.30pm, the kids would go home to nap, but no... nap then go home. Also, bring your own meals.
The system here is pretty funny. Kindy is for 3.5 year olds and Phoebe would be 3.5 year old next year. But she is not due to start kindy yet coz its only for kids who turn 4 by June 30th. Which means she can only start in 2012. Which also means she will always be one of the oldest in the class when she starts school here. In Singaporean terms, it means she loses a year.
I have called up a few kindys, many are already fully booked. 2 said I could go down to visit and be put on the waiting list. If everyone in the 2011 cohort has had a place and there are still vacancies then those who want early enrolment like Phoebe can enrol and attend Kindy for 2 years.
We really like one of the 2 kindys we visited. The teacher was very strict... like our Singaporean teacher... me and Hendry like lots ( Hendry says its airforce style. kekeke)! We are still praying hard that we will get a place. This one told us we may hear from them anytime. When the other one told us the earliest we will hear from them is March and we definitely have a place in 2012, I nearly fainted.
Think I better start registering Issac in the airforce one once I know whether we are moving house in Jan.
Well, if no kindy, then Phoebe shall go for enrichment classes, 3 hours per day... about the same fees for childcare, kindy and enrichment class. Why look for school also so difficult???
Have been meaning to write about it, but always procrastinate. Takes alot of effort to write anything nowadays.
We did visit the school for the morning. At 9.30am, the class was singing songs. Phoebe was pretty good, she suggested singing the "Rainbow Song" and even sang it out loud. It was then followed by morning tea which was fruit salad (a variety of fruits). Phoebe was pretty happy to eat that.
After that it was free play time. Anyone could play anything for about 1 hour. There was also a painting activity which Phoebe participated in and loved. But after that she stuck to me as we tried all the different toys. But gosh, that 1 hour was quite draining, coz there were a few kids who neede quite abit of attention. One boy was always screaming and shouting and even hitting the teachers. The assistant teachers and an intern didn't do much about it, just scolded him sometimes, but there was a teacher who was more firm and persevered when disciplining him. Another boy couldn't say much yet and always crying. There was at least 20 children in a small confined area. When I reached home just after 3 hours there, I was so tired and zonked out after listening to constant noise, crying, screaming.
Anyway, playtime was followed by a short story time then lunch. The ang moh kids have such great appetite!!! They were eating like 4-5 slices of bread with fillings like cheese, avocado, jam and vegemite. My dear Phoebe wouldn't even touch a single piece. Not her fault lah, we normally don't eat sandwich for lunch, so I think she is not used to it at all. Right after lunch, the kids went straight to sleep.
I managed to talk to one of the teachers who told me that the usual teacher had to go do admin work coz the director was not around. And that it was an unusally crazy day. For that day, the staff were roped in from different classes. And they were waiting for funding to get one more teacher to look after the more difficult ones. I think Tue and Thur had less rowdy children.
We could have gone to visit again, but some friends said they were coming to visit us in Brisbane, so thought I postpone starting childcare to Jan. In the end, all the friends cancelled their trip. I still haven't arranged for another visit. Partially because I thought I could provide better care for Phoebe. I observed that some children who needed attention just didn't get it thus became rowdy or noisy, but all the signs were missed. Perhaps the usual teacher wasn't there. But I could see that for the assistant teachers, looking after the children was just a job, not that they really had passion to nuture the young children.
Anyway, one good thing from the visit is that Phoebe has started wiping herself after peeing after observing that at the childcare. Peer pressure definitely works! Love it! Phoebe has been self weaning off her naps... which means I have less personal time in the day. But its ok, its a phase that we will eventually go through. What's bad is that she has almost dozed off a few times after dinner, so you have to keep talking to her etc. She did doze off during dinner once even skipped dinner subsequently. Since then we have been trying to get her to take a nap daily.
Prior to what was happening before this videotaking, she was already rejecting jelly and donut as her reward for napping. However, after this videotaking, she actually agreed to go for a nap. My girl has changed.... before, she would rebel all the way and never agree to nap or eat or whatever despite all the best rewards on earth. In the last week, she would really think about it and make the wiser decision. This is life changing and making our lives as parents much easier. Praise God!
Download this and other original video files with Multiply Premium. Since our trip back to Singapore in September, Phoebe seems pretty bored. Guess it was really eventful there and our day here just pales in comparison. There was this day recently that I promised her a sticker after her bath and I forgot about it. Guess what, she woke up at 4am to demand for it. I think her brain was just so under used throughout the day that it was still working while sleeping.
Hendry's 3 months holidays is starting soon, don't think he will be able to tahan 2 kids around everyday, so its a good time to start.
I'm also sick of telling people that she hasn't started school and they will be like abit taken aback.
Anyway, her school is actually childcare. She will be there for only 2 days a week- Mon and Tue. Coz fees are subsidied by government for 2 days a week only. Likely, we only have to pay $20 per day. Unsubsidised rates are $60-70 per day- high right? So most families with non-working mums normally only send their children for 2 days a week.
She will only be entitled to holiday discount of 50% for 2 weeks. Sianz, which means we can't anyhow don't let her not go to school coz we wanna go out etc. I guess we can, just lose the money. Haiz, my girl has grown up, gone are our carefree days.
Fees are paid weekly, interesting right?
Well, one good thing here is that children and parents are allowed to visit and stay for a few hours 2-3 times before we officially enrol them. Nice. Hendry brought Phoebe to check out the place on Monday and we (me and her) will be there again next Mon for a few hours. Hope it will be good. Apparently, she will be the only Asian there but don't think that will be a problem. Likely her character will "stand out" rather than her skin colour, coz she can be quite difficult at times. But then again, the power of peer pressure is great so she may just conform to the norms. Hendry said there are a couple of rowdy kids there so lets see...
|  | Only took photos of events different from last year. Phoebe has grown up so much in a year. Last year, she only took kiddy rides, but this year, she took the Giant Ferris Wheel, the slide, bumper car and Fungee Bungee. But, she was even more afraid of touching the animals. Isaac was only slightly better. And of course, she chose such an interesting face painting design. Also, she could appreciate the fireworks that night, although after that she told me that she was still scared. Enjoyed Yunni'e company as well. |
At playgroup.
There was a dad who was pushing a 10 month old in a car along the expressway. Told him to be careful. He said she needs to get use to the traffic. Hmmm... such different mindsets.
Download this and other original video files with Multiply Premium. | | Time flies, Phoebe is 3 already. Amazing journey and Thank God for this precious gift in our lives.
Thank God for the Best Weather that day.
Look out for my "son-in-law" in the photos. |
For months, he would only look forward to tipping them over once we stacked everything neatly. Finally, he can do it himself now.
Needed pants for him for a few hours and P's was lying around so... he became Isabella. For the afternoon, he was the 2nd daughter I always wanted.
 | Emo King | May 19, '10 2:44 AM
for everyone |
Fako Fako... agua agua... actor... call him anything you like
Download this and other original video files with Multiply Premium.He is so destructive, never thought this day would come
Isaac is going to be one in 8 days time. Will I say "How fast!"? I don't think so. I really struggled with him. His bad sleep, lousy appetite, superactiveness, super bad separation anxiety and now keep bullying Phoebe and Phoebe is starting to do the same. Sometimes I "wanna die liao".
Well, the turning point came when he got his high fall and high fever about a month ago? He started taking longer naps, no need to standby every 30min. Also, not so crazily hyperactive- during his fever days, he started using his brains abit more, he just sudddenly demonstrated keeping stuff, figured out how to stick a magnet back onto the dishwasher instead of just throwing things out constantly- he couldn't stand things in the right container, everything had to be out on the floor and loved pulling the magnets off. Often I find magnets in our rubbish bin which is next to the dishwasher and of course we already have a few missing.
Eating wise... well, he still doesn't eat well by normal standards, but at least he is more accepting of foods. Generaly eats his breakfast morning cereal or even cheese sandwich well, lunch is i think the worst meal of the day and dinner varies, depending if he has had enough sleep in the day. BUT, but, he eats. To me, thats good enough. Anything is better than spitting out food all day long and not wanting to try it again.
He is walking a few steps to up to ten steps each time. Walksmore when "no one" is observing or stressing him about walking.
Still smiles alot. But very emo nowadays, scold him abit then waterfall already. Hendry calls him "agua".
He has also learnt how to nod his head yesterday... yeah!... I like that. I remember Phoebe was the special kid who could nod before shaking her head and we really appreciated that.
Lastly, his poo is still very smelly... and he is pooing quite often nowdays... so more yucks and disgusting... really smelly, Phoebe's was never so smelly lor.
Well, one year old liao, my wish is that he starts to talk, then we can communicate, can find out why he doesn't eat etc. How nice. The "word" he can say correctly most consistently is "jie jie".
God Bless your life Isaac boy and God Loves You.
Keeping stuff
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