Puzzle Extraordinaire!

Children are what they are exposed to by their parents. Since about 18 months, I have employed puzzles to attract him to "settle down" given his active ways. His attention span is surprisingly long on this one.

He started with this. 2-piece puzzles. Took quite a while to get the concept of puzzles, and to piece two to make one animal. But once he grasped it, he never looked back!

He then moved on to this. Bought this from Popular for $9.95. Contains 8 mini puzzles, each ranging from 6 - 10 pieces, some as small as a 10-cent coin! They have different themes - transport, farm animals, around the house, etc. Matt played with the puzzle, day in, day out. He really mastered all 8 puzzles.

And during Christmas last year when gugu was back from Australia, she challenged him by putting out all 8 puzzles. With all the little pieces strewn behind him, he sat there and slowly worked through them all. We were impressed, part at his ability, but more so at his patience.

We further encouraged him by buying him these rather pricey 15- and 20-piece puzzles from Growing Fun. Big mistake. It took him only 2 -3 days to master each of the puzzles. But he loved them and played with them for weeks.

video's a tad bit long .. don't know how to cut

Seriously, I did not make much out of Matt's ability with puzzles, until my friend recently pointed out that her god-daughter is much much older, and is probably not half as fast as Matt. I guess ultimately, children are what you expose them to.

The Get-Away to Koh Samui

Once we decided on Koh Samui, everything fell into place quickly. Air tickets, accomodation were all sorted within 3 days.

We had 3 great great days - wonderful weather, glorious sun, nice resort, and above all, a relaxed husband and a happy kid!



We enjoyed playing with the sand by the beach, although he was initially uncomfortable with so much sand on him. It bothered him all of 15 seconds, and then he was watering the sand and commanding me (!) to build him train and crab out of the sand moulds I bought him from Toys"R"Us.



This trip, Matt expanded his repertoire of vehicles experience - the plane, the van, even the tuk-tuk, which he pronounces most cutely. He has taken plane twice before, but this is the first time he is aware that he is in one.

Stars! Tinke tinke star!

The highlight of the trip for him has to be the ATV!! It was also hub's and my first time, and we had a ball. At the start, Matt sat with daddy, but started whining and seemed fearful. So I was prepared to stay back while the rest went ahead. I wanted to go, so I sat him with me instead, and started the engine. Slowly, a big smile spread across his face. I guess he needed some confidence from being with his most trusted person. He rode with me for about 10 mins, then with daddy for the rest of the 1-hour ride.



This trip, Matt really surprised me. As always, actually. I guess I often underestimate my son for many things - unable to eat this this that that, go without nap, to tahan the long drive to KL (on a seperate occasion), to tahan the long flight - but I have come to believe that all these negative thoughts are derived from my own fear.

Before and throughout the trip, I constantly reminded myself to be cool, to let go off my preoccupation with routine, to be more chillax with him not eating well. In fact, he ate pretty okay, well, with some help from the iPhone. I was recommended some games like First Words and Wheels on the Bus, and they kept him preoccupied during meal times (and plane rides, too!) Matt was a darling through and through - he was obedient, well-behaved mostly, the sweetest boy who gave me smile after smile, assuring this pathetic mama that he is doing fine and having a good time.


Enjoying milk with gentle sea breeze; daily conversation with the koi fishes

I guess that is all I ask for, that my 2 boys are happy. It didn't matter that I didn't go for a massage, or had time to get a sun tan which I so need. I am happy if they are happy.

Family photo courtesy of our friend

I guess I can be ready for more trips after enjoying this one. Till the next beach holiday ...

My Little Pig

Matt seems to have an affinity to pigs

He loves his pig piggy bank which goes oink-oink.

Whenever he sings old MacDonald Has a Farm, he only sings the part with the pig. And the part that goes " .. oink oink here, and oink oink there ..," he sings "oink" 6 times :)

Of all the characters in WordWorld, he likes pig the most, too. Always smiles and tells me what the pig is doing on the screen.

And his latest favourite book is "The Three Little Pigs."

Future Homes

This is how it was supposed to look like -


If Matt were to be an architect in the future, your homes might look like these ...

... highly unstable

Mother-Son Morning

I've always longed for a nice mother-son outing. One that is different from the usual swim class, or grocery shopping. One that we can SIT DOWN, do nothing, and look at the world go by. But when I look at Matt and his active ways, I often wondered if the day would ever come.

Last Thursday though, I decided to try. I came home early from running an errand in the wee hours of the morning, and told him we'd take the bus and train. His eyes literall lit up :)

After his breakfast, he grabbed his bus and train toys before we boarded the shuttle bus from our estate, and then, the train to Bishan. I decided on Toast Box for breakfast. Got my teh-c but had to wait for my otah toast. I propped Matt up on the wooden stool, and we sat there waiting while Matt amused himself with the no. tag that was given to us for the otah toast.

"Tunnel!" he exclaimed. "I want bus. I want twain."

These kept him amused for a while until my otah toast came. I took his strawberries/blueberries snack out and we ate "together." It was a really nice feeling, a great mother-son moment for me, and hopefully for him. He grinned at me as he chomped on the strawberries, and I think he must be happy, too.

After breakfast, there was still plenty of time till the next shuttle bus comes along to bring us home. As we loitered around, I remembered there was a library nearby, and I've been wanting to bring him to one for a long time.

And oh my! The library is so changed from the times I went in my schooling years. Everything is so ... automated. And the library at Bishan is awesome - it has a room in the basement specially for children, complete with colourful stools and chairs and tables the right height for little toddlers. We picked some books, and Matt quietly sat there reading.

It is easy to sign kids up as members. All you need is their birth cert no. And they'd get their own library card! Cute eh?! Unfortunately, I didn't have Matt's with me that day.


It was a wonderful wonderful Thursday morning with Matt :) I guess I underestimated my little boy. He is capable of sitting down and letting mama enjoy a cuppa. A toast to more of such days!

Training Bike

Matt received a training bike from his gu gu last Christmas, and is finally showing some signs of being tall enough to ride it.

It goes by many names - walking bike, balance bike - and is popular in the European countries. Essentially, it is a bike without pedals, and aims to teach toddlers to maneuver the bike using their own feet. The over-arching objective is for them to learn balance, steering and coordination without relying on training wheels. Eventually, they graduate onto bigger 2-wheel bikes more naturally and with greater ease.

At the moment, Matt carefully "walks" the bike around the house. He seems to be getting more confident with each try. Once he is more sure-footed on it, I will let him bring it outdoors to the parks.

I have seen it in some bicycle shops in Singapore, with a rather hefty price tag, though. We were fortunate enough that gu gu kindly bought it for her little nephew from Aussie!

I Know Some Alphabets

I showed this to Matt in the car one evening en route to the beach.

"Matt, what' this?"

"Oh"

Looks like he knows some alphabets ...

His favourite sinful snacks now, by the way.

Sherlock Holmes in Shock!

It was gone! Left my favourite pair of earrings on my study table, and one morning, there was only one side left. I searched high and low, determined to find it. I finally gave up after days of combing the house, and concluded that it might have fallen into the bin nearby and the helper cleared it. Boo hoo hoo!

One night, a few days after I gave up, I looked at the earring, then at Matt who was playing nearby. I decided to humour myself, afterall, only one side of earring, as good as useless. I said in a jest to hubs, maybe Matt will know where to find it. Hubs laughed at me and called me a lunatic, something to that extent.

Hubs laughed even harder when I got into Sherlock Holmes persona, pretended to look suspicious as I handed over the earring to Matt. He smiled, and I thought he had this look. Of recognition. I must be imagining things. He fiddled with it, then got up and traipsed over to his room.

Sherlock Holmes followed suit, tip-toeing as (s)he followed the little toddler, providing lots of entertainment to the strange man laughing behind. Weirdo!

He climbed onto the sofa, and dropped the earring into the crack between the cushions.

Ah-ha! There you go! Caught ya!

Sherlock Holmes stuck her hands in. Suddenly, Sherlock Holmes was no more!


I FOUND BOTH SIDES OF MY EARRINGS!! There in that crack between the cushions!!!

Oh my darling Matty Matty Matt!!

At that point, hubs and I were literally rolling in hysterical laughter. Matt, seeing us as such, laughed with us, too. I simply cannot believe it!

Latest Craze - Fire Engines

Last Saturday morning, we brought Matt out to the fire station so he can see his latest favourite vehicle in real.

Night before at bedtime, I told him that we will bring him to the fire station to see fire engine. He flashed me a big grin, and got a little too excited to fall asleep. When he woke up the next morning, first thing he wanted was his 2 fire engine toys, and held on to them through breakfast, in the car, till we got to the venue.

Given his excitement, I thought he would be elated. But his response was completely anti-climactic. He looked up briefly in awe at the huge fire trucks, but mostly he just rolled his little fire engine toys along the big structures. Wasn't keen on climbing into the engine at all.

Most importantly, though, we all had fun. And he now has a little plastic red helmet, courtesy of the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

Makan Time

So what's on Matt's plate every day?

Without fail, Matthew has me or granma cook "liang zhai yi tang" (2 dishes, 1 soup) for him every lunch and dinner.

Like daddy, he loves his meats. So a lot of meat talk here.

1. Ngo he (threadfin) - most expensive of fishes we feed him. If it's purchased same day from market, I will steam it with ginger, tomato. The soup is sweet and delicious. More than 2 days since marketing day, it gets kinda fishy, not so great for steaming. Will then pan-fry it and cook it with ginger and black sauce. Recently, I discovered another wonderful way of cooking it - Nomu Seafood Rub - Matt loves it! The spices are also great for our BBQ. Can be purchased from NTUC.

2. Cod fish - another expensive one. Usually steamed with just tomatoes and ginger; or I add in some teriyaki sauce. Nomu Seafood Rub will work, too, I am sure. Will try it.

3. Salmon - this I usually use Annabel Karmel's salmon skewers recipe. Tweaked it a little to use slightly lesser honey as Matt doesn't like them too sweet.

4. All other fishes, usually my mother-in-law will cook for him. Pomfret, ngo he soon, garoupa, and all other fishes I don't buy because it's too big for me and hubs to eat on our own.

5. Beef is Matt's absolute favourite. I buy from the grocer 200g, it's enough for only 3 meals! Styles - with spring onion; stewed (my MIL makes a real good stew!); pan-fried in butter or olive oil after marinating with Nomu One for All spices.

6. Hainanese pork chop, stir-fried pork, chicken, minced chicken, minced pork, roast chicken, grilled pork, sweet sour pork. Meats - he loves!

7. Vege, I would say his favourite is brocolli. The rest - heng cai (Chinese spinach), English spinach, cai xin, xiao bai cai, etc - we hide them under the meat and rice.

8. Soups - potato/carrot, leng ngau (lotus root), watercres, pumpkin, sweet potato, corn, my MIL's many types of herby soups. All he loves.

I still cook separately for Matt, but increasingly I am trying to not do that. But that would mean food is really cold by the time hubs get home, so still working this one out ...

My Cute Pillar of Strength

The one who exasperates me alot sometimes, but also the one who gives me even greater strength.

He has taken to licking whenever I ask him to "try!" a new food.


cold cold, mama!

Just.So.Hard.

I have been feeling overwhelmed a lot lately. Been crying quite often, feeling alone somehow in battling the needs of daily living, caring for a toddler, training a maid, being the appreciative daughter-in-law, the good wife and the perfect mother, all by myself.

I miss my mom. Wish she could be here with me.

Sometimes, I get angry, even bitter. I feel like there's no outlet to vent my frustrations. When hubs come home late from work and feeling tired, I take it out on him. We quarrel. Which only makes me feel worse. Never better.

Each day, things have to continue moving. No time to stop and take a meaningful breather. Crying seems the only thing that make me feel momentarily better. And of course, seeing Matthew toddling around me. Sometimes, he sees me crying, and he'd scrunge up his face and give me "a big hug and a big kiss."

Sometimes, I would outrightly ask him for it. I trudge on. I am sure one day, things will become more manageable.

"Xiao Beh!" (Mad Horse)

Little Matt when excited. It's a no wonder that he can hardly put on weight despite eating a lot.

Where is Mommy?

One of Matt's favourite book is Where is Mommy? (Peek and Find) It's a really fun lift-a-flap book. I guess it reminds Matt of us playing hide and seek at home. He learns the many places that one can possibly hide - behind the curtains, under the bed, under the table; and also the many different animals under those flaps telling him to look elsewhere.

The Bigger Baby

This morning, we popped this frozen otah we bought from the market for breakfast, and left hubs to handle it while I fed Matt breakfast. He took it out after 15 mins, cut it into half and placed them onto slices of bread, walloped his portion and pronounced, "the texture not quite right, but quite good."

I finished feeding Matt, ate mine, it was cold. Undercooked definitely. It was still slimy-ish. I believe that's the "not quite right texture" he was referring to. Popped them back into the oven, and it was yummy alright, with the right texture.

Sigh. I am, really, living with 2 babies!

Corporal Punishment, High Pain Threshold

Whenever Matt falls, he doesn't cry. He would just look at me and calmly exclaim, "Matt-chu fall down!" Which is great, I think.

Sometimes, though, we worry. We witnessed many seemingly painful falls, but he doesn't even whimper. I would like him to be able to tell me where he is hurting so I can check.

For example, last week, he tripped and fell. He did not manage to break the fall with his arms in time, and ended up with his chin hitting the floor. The hard impact had his teeth sinking into his lower lips, and it bled quite a fair bit.

My little boy cried for all of 20 seconds, at most.

The cut eventually turned into a very nasty ulcer. I have never had an ulcer that big in my life. His appetite plummeted, poor chap. Each time that I fed him, he'd put his finger into his mouth and wince in pain, whimper a little, and ask me to "put lotion," his way of telling me to soothe any of his pain.

Then there were ocassions when I smacked his bottom really hard, till there are actually finger marks on them. He just scratched them cutely with his little fingers, then he went about his naughty ways. Makes me wonder if I rotan-ed him, would he feel anything?

Speaking of which, hubs and I think that we need to start using the cane soon. He is getting way too spoilt for his own good. While we do not want to ever use corporal punishment, we also do not want to bring up a brat. I don't know. I hope reasoning will work with him soon, but I am not hopeful looking at the state of things.

Honey Bun Sugar Bun

One day, when Matt is older, he may kill me for posting such intimate details of him. But for now, they are the cutest thing, in equally cute underwear.

Hope This is a Keeper

I timed the new helper, Amy, to join our household while Matt was taking his nap last week.

First impression - she looks (almost) nothing like the photo in her biodata. She is shorter than what she declared. She must've given a photo from at least 10 years ago, and perhaps grew a little shorter since ...

Ok, I am being nasty!

I am seriously maid-out.

But she mostly smiled as I talked to her. That helped ease my apprehension a little. But I was still on my guard.

I gave a quick tour around our home, and shortly after, we heard Matt whining, awoken from his slumber. He walked out groggily, had eyes only on me, and was completely unaware of Amy who was standing by his side. I said, "Hey Matt, meet Aunty Amy!" He held on to me, blinked and blinked and blinked, as I held my breath. Then to my surprise, he held her hand and led her to the living room!! Breathe out.

About a week has passed. All I can say is, she is not very clean, well, at least not to our standard, and does things very slowly. Attitude-wise, so-so, alright. A bit deaf, doesn't quite listen to instruction sometimes.

But, and this is a very big BUT, Matt seems to get along well with her. I think for now, that is all that matters. Whatever Amy is lacking in currently, is habitual; can be trained &/or changed. Ren yuan - this one is, as the word imply, fated.

Keeping my fingers firmly crossed!